Hey there sports fans. It's that time of year again...the best time of year. There's excitement in the air and every fan thinks their team can win the league and maybe, just maybe, make it to the BCS and the big enchilada known as the National Championship of College Football. Fortunately for you all, Pancho Palica, the Polish Mexican has agreed to combine with Spider "Dan the Friendly Neighborhood" Stanfield and yours truly in offering the best in football wagering prognostication that you can get for free.

In fact, I should apologize for the late start since the college season opened last night. Good thing for me, I had LSU giving the 19 and they covered handily. On the other hand, I took Syracuse tonight and got pasted, so thus far into the season, I'm even. Tonight was a good reminder of one of my general rules for college football. Never bet a team from New York. Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, lets look at some of tomorrow's gridiron contests.

Nevada @ Nebraska. The Huskers roll, take the corn farmers and give the 21.5 pts.

Ole Miss @ Memphis State. Memphis' most famous alumni is running for President now and the Tigers roll the Rebels....take Memphis and grab the 2.5 pts.

Georgia Tech @ Notre Dame. The Ramblin' Wreck does a number on the cantankerous Celts. Take GT and the 2.5 pts.

Monday night special, Texas Tech @ SMU. The brains from Tumbleweed Tech roll over the Ponies and make it look easy. Give the 9.5 and take the Red Raiders.

Teaser pick of the week: Tease Mizzou at Illinois to Cal over Tennessee. Makes Cal-Tennessee a pick'em and gives Mizzou a point on a neutral site over a Illini team that should be outgunned.

Hopefully come Monday night, we're all a little richer.

If only certain Republican legislators had a little more interest in a healthy outlet, like football wagering, instead of playing greyhound in airport men's rooms, then perhaps they'd still have their Senate seats to employ them. Of course, if you want to get caught trying to have gay sex in public and maintain your legislative seat, you can always register as a democrat.

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

Hey there sports fans. As any legitimate American knows, this Saturday marks the transition from productive months to comatose months for most American males with any measurable level of testosterone. Another season of gridiron glory is upon us and once again my beloved Texas Longhorns will be among the top teams in the country. The big question seems to be whether or not any schools' combination of pre-law students and scholarly future missionaries can overcome the lethal team of felons, parolees and grifters that USC has once again managed to assemble. In the PAC 10 it looks like we'll be pulling hard for Cal or Oregon or ASU to find some magic and knock them damned ol' Trojans down a peg. Like they were saying down along the Sunset Strip after the 2006 Rose Bowl, "You dumbass Lance! Trojans stop STD's...not UT TDs..."

Speaking of unholy messes, back in the day, after a long night of boot-scootin', beer drinking and hustling snuff queens, nothing went down better than a chicken fried steak breakfast at some all-night greasy spoon. I was reflecting on the noble chicken fried steak a couple weeks ago. Back in the day, if you saw Spider, Bull, Chop or myself doing something completely out of character and unbalanced, chances were we'd gone a week or so without a chicken-fried steak. Hell we loved chicken fried steak so much, we even co-authored a song about it, but I'll save that for another time. In the meantime I was jonesing for some cfs and figured I'd have to get it spoused up myself. So next thing I know, I'm perusing my considerable collection of cookbooks and low and behold, I find a Rachel Ray 30 minute special. I've got to say, even my boy loved this steak and it sure was tasty to me. So, apologies to Ms. Ray....here it is folks, Chicken Fried Steak, Rachel Ray style...

1 1 /2 pounds (1/2-inch thick) round steak
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour 1/3 cup cornmeal, eyeball it
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt, 1/3 palm full
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, eyeball it
2 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons water, 2 splashes
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups beef broth or stock
1/4 cup half-and-half or cream, 2 turns of the pan
1 package bake-off biscuits, prepared according to package directions
Waxed paper

Preheat large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Set steaks on to a waxed paper lined work surface and cover with another piece of waxed paper. Pound steaks to 1/4-inch thick. Pull steaks off work surface and set to the side. Line work surface with more waxed paper. Pour 1/2 cup flour into 2 piles on opposite sides of the work space. Add cornmeal, paprika, salt and pepper to 1 pile of flour. Beat eggs and water in a pie plate or shallow dish. Cut steaks into 4 portions and coat in flour, eggs, then seasoned flour and cornmeal. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot pan and cook 2 steaks at a time. Brown steaks about 2 minutes per side, or until cooked and remove from the pan. Add 2 tablespoons more oil and repeat with remaining 2 steaks. Remove steaks to serving platter and pour off all but 2 to 3 tablespoons of drippings. Add 2 tablespoons flour to drippings and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and season with salt and pepper. Whisk half and half or cream into gravy. When gravy bubbles, remove from heat. Serve steaks and warm biscuits with gravy on top. And don't forget the mashed potatoes...good eatin' on ya!!

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family

Those of you that have been with me for awhile know that sometimes I take the time to make an observation about a particular date. Today is one of those days. You see folks, today marks the 62nd anniversary of the saving of millions of lives. Though you won't hear that particular take on it in any media coverage. On August 6, 1945, the United States of America unleashed atomic warfare on Japan in an effort to bring hostilities during WWII to a close. This decision was made by a man I consider to be among the last good democrats, Harry S. Truman. Of course, the American left vilifies the decision and will never concede that the decision to drop the atomic bombs was the correct one. America has never been forgiven by leftists here at home and Eurosocialists abroad for the decision to drop the "big one."

The American left would much rather have seen hundreds of thousands of Americans maimed and killed in a horrific invasion of the Japanese homeland. The American left wallows in the might have been's which an American invasion of Japan would have wrought. Starvation, annihiliation and slaughter of civilians. Japanese casualties would probably have never been known and most certainly would have been in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. This is not hypothesis, this is simple extrapolation based on the determined resistance put up by Japanese soldiers and sailors throughout the Pacific. Forget that the dropping of two atomic bombs hastened the close of the war, a war which had already claimed the lives of 400,000 Americans and countless combatants and citizens of other nations. Forget the vast sums of treasure expended fighting the war and the fact that it had already dragged on for 6 years. The American left can find no argument persuasive enough to concede that the decision was correct. I only need to recall that my father, then serving with the U.S. 7th Infantry Division would most probably have seen further service in Japan. He had already been wounded twice, in the Philippines and at Okinawa. Could he have come through the invasion of Japan safely? Fortunately, President Truman made the decision.

And as if we needed any more proof of the left's utter inadequacy in providing for the defense of this great nation, along comes presidential wannabee Barak Hussein Obama, stating conclusively that he would not authorize the release of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. Either he is incredibly naive, an islamic agent (my personal bet) or he is utterly devoid of any grasp of history. As if this poster child for democrat national security measures wasn't enough of a demonstration of the mortal danger of entrusting our welfare to the left, a Clinton appointee judge has determined to undermine our security just a little more. U. S. Justice Florence Marie Cooper has issued an injunction against the U.S. Navy, prohibiting them from using sonar during upcoming maneuvers off the Southern California coast. She cites the potential to harm the environment. You can read the story here.

Folks, while I'm not paying a whole lot of attention yet to the upcoming 2008 election, it remains apparent to me that while I may not be enamored of the Republican party right now, national suicide is the way of the democrats.

Hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful summer. Engaging in urban combat at Disneyland was agony but Monterey was as beautiful as ever, once you got past the Hillary and Obama bumper stickers on cars. At least they still turn out great seafood. Of course visiting the familia in the old homestead was beautiful and relaxing. That said, I took a moment out to reflect on the first morning back. I was out feeding the horses early and I looked up at a sky that could only have been painted by God. I looked around at brown and purple mountains and a 3/4 moon shining down on the desert below with a sun blossoming behind Spanish Peak. I breathed clean desert air and listened to the sounds of....Nevada at dawn....and I thanked that good ol' Boy who painted that sky, that I was back home again.

Smilin' Paul Villa U.S. Senate 2010
cyber-Congressman, R-Reno
Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and 2 SUV Family