Written by Mike Piper

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Death, taxes, and Lead Pipe making weekends miserable for bookmakers.  Those are the only three things you can count on in life.  And what a debut it was for The Lead Man on TCF, going 4-1 last weekend, being denied a sweep of the board only due to a late, garbage time, back door TD by UNLV.  But Lead isn't here to make excuses. He's here to make money. Which is what he does.  Week in and week out.  Good luck this weekend gamblers!

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." 

-Unidentified area man when he heard that Lead Pipe was now the new http://www.theclevelandfan.com/ prognosticator. 

Virtually every decade holds an event that remains etched in one's memory for a lifetime. A defining moment in which you remember exactly where you were at the time it occurred; President John F. Kennedy being assassinated, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, The Beatles perform on Ed Sullivan, Elvis Presley dies, The American hostages are released from Iran and Magic Johnson announcing he has AIDS (his 3^rd biggest tragedy in his life behind "The Magic Hour" and becoming an NBA head coach) 

And, of course, this generation's defining moment; Lead Pipe's arrival at www.theclevelandfan.com last week. 

That's right players. Last week was the first week of the rest of your life - your life with ancillary income that is. While Neil Armstrong might have taken, "A giant leap for mankind," the arrival of Lead means "A giant spike in your bank account." 

While some may have considered last week a fantastic debut for the Lead Man, regular followers of Western Lake County's top handicapper understand it to be the status quo. Lead put up a 4-1 record last college football Saturday, and if not for an "oh by the way", garbage time TD drive by UNLV, Lead would have swept the board. But Lead isn't here to make excuses. He's here to make money.  

Make no mistake about it. The Lead Man is HOT. Lead is simply crushing college football and annihilating the major league baseball playoffs at the same time. As a matter of fact, Lead is on such a heater, Matt Holiday of the Colorado Rockies called him a couple days back, expressing hope that one day his team might become as hot as LP. Chances are slim. On to this week's picks: 

The Utah State Aggies seek their first win of the year as they host the Nevada Wolf Pack at Romney Stadium in Logan. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they will be looking down the barrel of Nevada's pistol offense which racked up 639 yards of offense last week, not something the 108^th ranked defense in the nation should look forward to. That, coupled with the 117^th ranked offense, and it's no wonder why the Aggies are holders of the third longest losing streak in the nation. Mitt Romney has a better chance becoming the first Mormon president than the Aggies do of slowing down Nevada.

Take Nevada -7. 

Lead doesn't know what was more pathetic last week, a hundred year old, senile Joe Paterno allowing himself to get into a road rage incident, or the Indiana Hoosiers allowing nearly 600 yards to Michigan State. What Lead does know is that the Hoosiers were exploited last week and that should continue again Saturday. And, yes, Lead is well aware how Joe Paterno likes to watch his team pass the ball down the field gaining 10 and 20 yard chunks at a time, and then get in the red zone and run three straight dive plays, but the mismatch this week should be even more than Bobby Bowd..errr..Joe Pa could botch.

Nittany Lions -7. 

Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk. With a big emphasis on the Chalk.

Kansas finds themselves a 3.5 point favorite as they take their act on the road to Boulder, CO to face the University of Colorado Buffaloes. With the Jayhawks putting up 515ypg on offense and holding opponents to 9.5ppg on defense it's easy to see that the fans that fill Folsom Stadium this Saturday are going to leave with the blues. Kansas has been solid all year and seems to have slowed down the turnover problems they had early in the season. Again, go with the Chalk.

Kansas -3.5. 

Let's look at a dog. The Tulsa Golden Hurricanes are "Lead" by Paul Smith. Despite the fact he has the name of someone put into the witness protection program, he can play. He guides the #2 offense in the country at 572ypg, and is facing a Central Florida team that gave up 543 yards last week to South Florida. Look for the Hurricane offense to blow into Bright House Network Stadium and punish the Knights, who are still reeling from last weeks lambasting. Many think this is a "bounce back" game for UCF. Not the Lead Man. He sees Tulsa scoring at will and covering the number. Take Tulsa, and the three.

Tulsa +3. 

Lastly, several games this weekend with Quarterback issues; Northern Illinois/Wisconsin, Cal/UCLA, USC/Notre Dame, and Baylor/Texas to name a few. Make sure you know the QB status before you wager. Baylor is getting too many points if Szymanski is playing and healthy, but right now, word at the Leadquarters is that he's not quite right. Keep abreast players.