16.11.03
Sorry about the Zuerst. Had to tell you. Been eating more than my share of pasta and veggies lately. I'm not a vegetarian, but I've moved away from some fatty meats in the hope that I can get rid of (or at least shrink a little) the size of my gut. Suffice it to say that I had a Buddha belly (I'm 6', 210# if you're interested; that works out, roughly, to 1.85m, 95kg, if you're accustomed to metric and are too lazy to do the calculation).
College Football: Now I know what Ohio State fans go through every week. But, nonetheless, a win is a win. That's all I'll say on the subject.
Other quick thoughts:
- West Virginia beat the crap out of Pitt, beating them by the same three touchdowns by which they beat the Hokies. No longer is Pitt in control of its destiny in the conference; Miami is.
- LSU beat the crap out of Alabama, and the road team wins regularly in this series (I'm too lazy to check, so I'll take the announcer's word for it). Something tells me, though, that LSU would have broken that particular curse had the game been in Baton Rouge. They just manhandled both of Alabama's units (offense and defense).
- Texas Tech played closer than I thought they would. I figured that they would put up at least 30 points, because their offense is one of the best in the country, but I didn't expect Texas to put up only 43. I expected about 50 or 60 from Texas, simply because Texas Tech's defense isn't good. If it was, then the winner of next week's Oklahoma - Texas Tech game would, assuming they beat the North's sacrificial lamb, probably K-State, go to the Sugar Bowl. And the loser would, very possibly, get a BCS at-large bid.
- Speaking of K-State, it shows how much the Nebraska program has fallen that K-State won in Lincoln for the first time in 40 years. Since Nebraska has lost to both Missouri and K-State, Nebraska has been eliminated (the best they can do is finish tied with K-State and, possibly Missouri, and they will be eliminated by their losses to the teams with which they are tied). Both KSU and Missouri control their own destiny, as they haven't played one another yet (that's next weekend, in Manhattan). Missouri, though, must win out (their other game is at home, against Iowa State, the following weekend) to get themselves tied with K-State at 5-3 (this assumes that Mizzou wins out). And, for whatever (little) it's worth, the northern team has a home field advantage, as the game is in Kansas City; much closer to Columbia or Manhattan than to Norman.
- As it stands, since Texas Tech doesn't have a defense worthy of their offense (this applies, too, to N.C. State; more on them in a moment), Oklahoma has wrapped up the south crown. Texas Tech is playing for little more than pride, but Oklahoma is still playing for a shot at the title, having taken it easy on Baylor, 41-6. I don't think that the Texas Tech defense can contain Oklahoma's offense (and Jason White), but the key to this game will be whether Oklahoma's stellar defense can contain B.J. Symons and the Texas Tech offense. Early signs point to yes, because Mike Leach, Texas Tech's coach, was an assistant at Oklahoma a few years ago, and so Bob Stoops will know what Leach is liable to try.
- Ohio State, as I noted earlier, gives its followers angina attacks with they way they manage never to pull away from teams. Of course, Purdue is a very good team, and Ohio State won in overtime much the same way Virginia Tech did: OSU's (and Tech's) kickers made their kicks, and Purdue's (and Temple's) didn't.
- Just visited the Texas Tech athletic website, looking to make sure that Mike Leach had coached under Bob Stoops at OU, and found that he got his B.S. in American Studies. Certainly that's to be applauded, considering that that's not glorified p.e., but of what exactly does the American Studies program at BYU consist? Is it history, or sociology, or something like a survey of the two. Heck, is it the historical or sociological analog of basket weaving or p.e.? Just call me curious.
- Maybe Auburn just can't beat the good team, especially on the road. Now that they've lost to both Georgia and Georgia Tech, does that mean that they're the "asshole" (I think I've also heard it referred to as "jester"; in any case, whoever it is that gets shat upon in that drinking game) of the state of Georgia? Moreover, does this mean that Vince Dooley (longtime AD of Georgia, who's being forced out after the season) or Dave Braine (former AD here at Va Tech, now in Atlanta) can make the Auburn AD (like I give a damn who it is) do shots? Or the stupid "waterfall"? Perhaps I should have noted that their first resurgence (after the USC blowout and the loss at Tech) started against Vanderbilt and, if memory serves, Western Kentucky.
- Michigan does what Wisconsin couldn't. They beat Northwestern at Northwestern. (yeah, like that shocks anyone)
- I watched the second half of the N.C. State - Florida State game. What a wild ride. Philip Rivers is, in a word, awesome. He should be a great quarterback one day. He's very intelligent on the field, his release is very quick, so he won't get sacked too much, and he has outstanding vision. In the overtime, on fourth down (the one that Cotchery - I think - dropped), a guy I watched the game with was yelling at Philip to run, because there was a lane on the right that was open for a fraction of a second (and closed almost immediately; there wasn't any gain in it). Philip, perhaps realising this, tossed it to his left, but Cotchery dropped the damn ball. In any case, the Pack lost, but not because of the offense. Let's face facts, when you allow 50 points, you deserve to lose, but the defense is young, and N.C. State scares me just as much as do Miami and Florida State.
- TailgateFever noted that, since Temple is being kicked out of the Big East and Boston College is leaving (whenver that will be...apparently it may not be until 2006), Tech's final Big East game was a loss to Pittsburgh, involving some shitty fans (with which I don't really disagree) in a shitty city (with which I throughly disagree...suffice it to say that it's better than most cities that I've been to, including Philadelphia and, truth be told, Richmond). They mentioned that the stadium was nice but that the atmosphere sucks, because the fans' only way of getting into the game seems to be taunting. Certainly it's nicer than old Pitt Stadium (where the atmosphere was also terrible, if the Tech-Pitt game in '97 is any indication...it was about half full, and about a quarter of those had made the drive up to support Tech; on the plus side, my buddy - who attended Carnegie-Mellon at the time - and I busted on the graphics: "Those must have been done at Carnegie-Mellon". Fortunately, we got lucky and sat next to a couple of nice Pitt fans who, during the game, chatted us up, and after the game, wished the Hokies luck). In any case, it looks like West Virginia (who, also, have complete assholes for fans...some of them were stupid enough to toss crap at the twenty or thirty state troopers massed in front of, one presumes, the student section last night). In short, Heinz Field is, undoubtedly nicer than Pitt Stadium, but the atmosphere isn't as bad, most of the fans are assholes, and TailgateFever is completely wrong; the city is very nice.
I've been thinking of trying my hand at the "computer poll" game. Have come up with a formula (though how good I don't know...haven't tested it on real data), and have had a spreadsheet to keep game scores for the last couple of years, but now I just have to integrate the two. So this week (and probably for the rest of the season), I give you my subjective top ten:
- Oklahoma
- Southern Cal
- LSU
- Ohio State
- TCU (hey, why not? They're undefeated against decent - though not as good as what the top teams in the BCS conferences face - competition)
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Virginia Tech (hey, I'm still a homer)
- Texas
NFL: I just realised that I've never talked a bit about Canadian Football, or Arena Football, or soccer, or NFL Europe (which, while minor league, is pro). So pro football is, perhaps, a bit broad.
Some thoughts about today's games (all of which come from the scores, as I was unable to watch any of them, and am too lazy to look at silly write-ups or box scores):
- Who should I curse? Stephen Davis, or the geniuses who let him go from the Redskins? That's all I really need to know about that game.
- Nice to know that Philly can beat a mediocre Giants team. Ver-r-ry unsurprising.
- New Orleans beat Atlanta. Again. I don't think they've lost to Atlanta in something like 2 years. Either that or I have it completely backward. And I'm too lazy to look.
- Houston beats a mediocre team on the road. Its defense will keep games close, so they'll finish two or three games better than last year.
- Is it surprising to anyone that Arizona lost, even if it was to Cleveland?
- Tennessee won a home game. Against Jacksonville. Another unsurprising result.
- St. Louis beat Chicago by only 2? I thought their offense was better than that.
- Wake me when the Baltimore - Miami game is...wha...it's over? Nine to six. Exciting. snooze
- And the most shocking result of the early games...I will say about St. Louis' offense that maybe Dick Vermeil is a better coach than Mike Martz, which is why the team started going downhill after Vermeil left, and why Kansas City went through the first half of the season (and the first game of the second half) undefeated. Now, though, I will summarize the game thusly, with two five-word phrases, one relevant to each team:
- KC: 'Phins popping champagne corks tonight
- Cincy: Cincinnati can roar with Lewis
- Indy beat the Jets. Guess it was so close because Chad Pennington played.
- Is Tampa going to even make it to the playoffs to defend their title?
- How the hell does Oakland lose to Detroit and beat Minnesota? Yeesh.
- Seattle beat Detroit at home. Call me stunned.
- Jake Plummer is apparently third in the AFC in QB rating. I found this shocking, to say the least. Dude'll choke at some point. And, I feel I must say it loud, considering that I couldn't say it last week: San Diego sucks!
Not a clue who's winning the Dallas - New England game. Off to find the score. Later - R.
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