This is going to take a little getting used to. In the past, if I was on vacation from work you could bet I was on beach somewhere with a drink in my hand. Hawaii. Cabo San Lucas. Bahamas. I rarely missed a chance to get away. Took advantage of the bye to take vacation time this week. But my big trip has been driving over to Target to purchase another load of butt wipes and Huggies (my son is in the process of setting a record for most used diapers in a month. Someone please alert the folks at Guinness.) But I wouldn't trade it for anything. The kid's great. He even lets me sleep a couple hours at night.

Don't know if I can take another year of watching the Yankees blow it in the ALDS. Had to turn the channel after watching Joe Torre neglect to bunt Derek Jeter in the top of the fifth, costing a chance to tie the game at 4-4. Then, he removes Chien-Ming Wang with two outs in the fifth for Russ Ohlendorf? The chances of Wang getting the third out are infinitely better than Ohlendorf, he of the 6.2 career major league innings, trying to get through an inning without wetting his pants. The move might have held a shred of credibility if Torre hadn't bought in Phil Hughes in the seventh with the score 11-3. Granted, both Ohlendorf and Hughes are rookies. But why would you insert the guy whose barely pitched with the game still within reach, then bring in the dependable one to mop up? Shrewd. No doubt Don Zimmer was the brains behind the operation for all those championships. Can we get him back? I think he's in Florida watching the People's Court with Morty Seinfeld over at Del Boca Vista.

On to the picks:

Game 1: Wisconsin (+3) over ILLINOIS: Does this line make sense to anyone?

Game 2: SYRACUSE (+27) over West Virginia: Orange coming off big win (if you don't count last week's pathetic performance against Miami-OH, which I forgot about. Hey, I've got the Winnie the Pooh song running through my head 24 hours a day, people. Cut me some slack), 'Neers off big loss. Orange will still cover, though I'm, having second thoughts.

Game 3: TEXAS (+12) over Oklahoma: Feeling the underdogs this week

Game 4: Georgia (-1) over TENNESSEE

Game 5: Cincinnati (+3.5) over RUTGERS: How good are the Bearcats? Was Rutgers a one-year wonder? We find out Saturday.

Game 6: South Florida (-16.5) over FLORIDA ATLANTIC: Seems like it should be at least 21 points.

Game 7: Arizona State (-9) over WASHINGTON STATE: Sun Devils relevant again?

Game 8: CLEMSON (-6) over Virginia Tech

Game 9: Ohio State (+7.5) over PURDUE

Game 10: LSU (-7) over Florida: Yep. The national champions and runner-up are each getting at least a touchdown in week 6.

Game 11: Nebraska (+6) over MISSOURI

week 5 results
1. Dan 9-3
pete 9-3
kooch 9-3
4. Chip 7-5
kevin 7-5
sammy 7-5
tigershater 7-5
caleb 7-5
will l 7-5
ian 7-5
vinny 7-5
12. seano's ghost 5-7

Overall standings
1. Kooch 36
2. Ian 34
Chip 34
4.SeanO's Ghost 32
5. Sammy 30
Vinny from East Haven 30
7. DetroitTigersHater 28
8. Kevin 24
Pete 24
10. Will L 23
11. Caleb Mandrake 19
Dan 19
13. sturge-rock 18
14. Alex 16
15. Steve P 8

Get you picks in...you know the drill