The Riley Factor #26

The Riley Factor

Fort Plain, NY, January 9 -- A beautiful day in Middle-of-Nowhere greeted Riley upon his awakening at 7AM -- bright sun, blue sky with puffy white clouds, slight breeze and five degrees temperature -- oh well, three out of four isn't bad.  Riley spent some time in the garage while we were on a hunt for just that right piece of sheet-rock for neighbor Steve Bartlett's bathroom wall repair job.  He then retreated for that ever-present morning nap in the dog-bed by the kitchen stove.  When asked about his afternoon plans, Riley commented that, "This is NFL Wildcard Playoff Weekend!  The Jets will have a tougher time in Cincinnati than they had beating the daylights out of the Bengals (37-0) in New Jersey last Sunday but should prevail, and that the Eagles just don't seem like a three-and-a-half point underdog in Dallas, in spite of dropping a 24-0 decision there last weekend -- take the Jets +1 and Philly +3.5, if you must bet.  But the smarter play is to wait until tomorrow and pounce on those Patriots -3 and Packers (pick-'em) for the big bucks."

In related news, according to the AP ... "Peyton Manning has become the first player to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award four times.  The Indianapolis Colts' sensational quarterback romps to the award Saturday in balloting by 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. He gets 39 1/2 votes to 7 1/2 for  Drew Brees as only quarterbacks received any backing."  "That is the problem with letting these humans drink on election day," quipped Riley.  "How do 50 sportswriters at a keg party get the authorization to vote for NFL MVP -- Who invented that approach?  Where were the votes for Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, caught-up in some hanging-chad controversy in West Palm Beach?  Where were the election supervisors and observers -- at the sports head injury clinic in Cleveland having their dosages adjusted?"

"Where's my bone?," grumbled an obviously agitated Riley.  "And send one of those cats in here for a chase around the room".