Blanco does it again, edges Hunter

John Blanco continued his winning ways last weekend as he edged “Good” Will Hunter and Jon Cramer by a game to take the latest edition of Miller Lite’s Pigskin Picks with a whopping 13-3 record.

Hunter matched Blanco with identical selections throughout the National Football League schedule until he opted for the Cleveland Browns over the Vikings in Minnesota. Little did he know that Brad Johnson would lead the purple people eaters to their fourth straight victory with a 24-12 win over the Browns.

Cramer had that game picked right but he lost out by picking the Buffalo Bills and the N.Y. Jets. He would have been two games off the pace were it not for the Philadelphia Eagles smacking the Green Bay Packers for a 19-14 loss. Everyone went with the Pack except Mr. PIC, and it paid off.

The weekly win earns Blanco a case of fermented goodness from the folks at Miller Lite and keeps him afloat on the local scene with a record of 126-50 overall, while Hunter is still within striking distance at 120-56. A few missed picks by either of them could allow Cramer to break into the Top 2 as he is safely in third at 117-59.

Believe it or not, the Lil’ Mahi caught fire in the second half of the season and just crossed into triple digits at 102-74 following a respectable 10-6 performance. He could’ve been 11-5 were it not for his misdirected affection for the Arizona Cardinals, and would have been in better shape had Jay Feely not missed three game winning field goals for the N.Y. Giants against the Seattle Seahawks.

It didn’t matter so much that Rich Brooks missed that one, but the fact that he missed another eight picks sent him into another spiral as the last place Psycho Gnome finished 7-9 for the week and fell to 93-83 on the season.

It was hoped that the prospect of a case of frosty Miller Lite might perk up the under achiever, but Brooks has been without his lucky charms as of late. The same holds true for the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.

As a native of Buffalo, New York, I could really care less about the Cowboys, but I feel for the Lions as they not only lost to the Falcons at home on Turkey Day, they lost their head coach Steve Mariucci.

Defensive back Dre Bly ripped into quarterback Joey Harrington for his poor performance over the past couple of seasons and blamed him in the media for Mariucci’s beheading before later apologizing.

Harrington wasn’t the only QB under fire in the NFL, but Jacksonville rifleman Byron Leftwich was hit with bodies instead of words as he broke his ankle in last week’s game against the Cardinals. Brett Favre hasn’t had too many people bawling him out over the Green Bay’s ninth loss of the season, but it’s only a matter of time before Lambeau land calls for first round draft pick Aaron Rodgers to play.

Many have already begun to speculate about Favre’s future with the Pack, but it appears he alone holds the answer if he will be coming back.