It's Gut Check time

It seems every sports writer is an expert on football these days. Every time I turn on the TV, some dude or dudette is telling me who is going to win a particular game or explaining why a team lost. Explaining why a team lost is easy. It's called hindsight and even Stevie Wonder is blessed with it. El Dorado lost at Camden Fairview last week because of, first, the Cardinals' speed and skill, second, the Wildcats' own miscues. El Dorado came out jittery, which is understandable with so many new faces. A mistake here, a bobble there and it's 14-0. The Wildcats never recovered because Fairview never let up. How's that for hindsight? Well, here's a little foresight. This week, I'm going to start predicting the winners of games at the high school, college and NFL level. I'm calling it Gut Check because I'm not doing any research. I'm just looking at the teams and going with my gut. Here are my predictions for the Camden News Pigskin Picks, in which I participate each week: Fairview over Hamburg; El Dorado over Southside; Monticello over Magnolia; Star City over Harmony Grove; Bearden over Hampton; Junction City over Rison; Strong over Smackover in an upset; Alabama over Texas A&M; Ole Miss over Texas and Dallas over Kansas City. My other college picks are: LA Tech over Tulane on Thursday; ASU over Troy; Arkansas over Southern Miss; Oregon over Tennessee; South Carolina over Vandy; Auburn over Mississippi State and Wake Forest over Louisiana-Monroe. My NFL picks are: Patriots over Jets; Raiders over Jaguars; Falcons over Rams, Panthers over Bills; Bears over Vikings; Packers over Redskins; Dolphins over Colts; Eagles over Chargers; Ravens over Browns; Texans over Titans; Saints over Bucs; Lions over Cardinals; Broncos over Giants; 49ers over Seahawks and Bengals over Steelers.