Week 9 October 28, 2006 Part 1

This week’s theme was close but not quite..... (Unfortunately this applied to my gambling as well)….the exceptions were in Corvallis, Oregon and Blacksburg, Virginia. Texas was down 21-0 to Texas Tech, Auburn and Florida were both pushed late into the 4th quarter, Tennessee trailed South Carolina for one drive late in the third quarter and even Michigan struggled with lowly Northwestern.

Let’s begin with the Thursday night game between Clemson and Virginia Tech. It was only 5 earlier that Clemson looked like they could beat anyone in the country. Their convincing win over GA Tech in front of College Game Day and the entire nation had Clemson and their fans riding a high that hadn’t been experienced in many years. This team was a legitimate top 10 squad who had manhandled GA Tech, the same Tech team that took ND to final minute and soundly beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Talk of a BCS game and who knows what else was widespread in the Clemson football nation. When I spoke to my Clemson buddy Doug…aka “Fresh” on Thursday afternoon he said he was so nervous he couldn’t even think about work. (Considering that he once walked in on his former boss breast feeding in her office I’m sure this wasn’t the first time he had trouble focusing at work) but nonetheless it forced me to take a second look at this game which at first glance seemed to be a mere speed bump on Clemson’s schedule. In college football you can never under estimate the importance of emotion. Clemson has been hearing how good they are for 5 days and now has to face the large expectations that come with winning. What made matters worse was that they had a short week to prepare for an underachieving but dangerous Hokie team, at night in Blacksburg. Could this have been a worse set-up for the Tigers? Apparently not. (Let’s not forget about one other key factor. Pine aka “Flytrap” called me Thursday before the game and told me he loved Clemson. He said he had doubled the game and would have tripled it if that was possible. His last words were “How can you not love Clemson?” Oh god they never had a chance…..Just in case you doubt the mojo of Pine, he made 6 bets Thursday night and lost all 6.) Clemson is probably the best team in the ACC but barring a miracle they will not be in Jacksonville on December 2nd. On the other hand GA Tech definitely should be in Jacksonville after beating the “U” on Saturday as long as they can avoid pulling a GA Tech circa 2003 (or any other year) and lose to Duke or UNC. They can only hope Pine stays away from betting on them.

Then there is USC, who Gil and I loaded up on at -10. Right before the game Gil says don’t you think something is wrong with that game? Shouldn’t the line be more than 10 points? Of course I ignored him and picked the game anyway. If you would have told me Booty would throw for over 400 yards and Steve Smith would have 258 receiving yards I would have said we were laughing all the way to the bank. However, every time we turned this game on something bad was happening to USC. (We actually stopped flipping to the game and when USC made their late comeback we refused to switch back to even watch the 2 point play believing we might somehow be affecting the outcome.) After 3 fumbles, an interception in the end zone, a punt return and a missed 2 point attempt in the final seconds USC had their first regular season loss in 3 years. What’s worse is we also took them in the 2nd half and the 2 point conversion could have saved us.

The door has now been opened for many teams. The winner of next week’s West Virginia at Louisville game may have the most to gain, but don’t rule out the possibility of an Ohio St. - Michigan rematch in Glendale, Arizona. Here is why I say this…..#1 I am not convinced the West Virginia - Louisville winner will just cruise to an undefeated season. Both of these teams still have to play Pitt and Rutgers, neither of which are a pushover….#2 If OSU and Michigan play a very close game on November 18th it seems very likely that the loser will not fall very far in the BCS. This is especially true if the loser is Ohio State. I can guarantee you if Michigan goes into Columbus and wins by a point or on a last second field goal there will be an excellent chance OSU will remain #2. (Remember Florida St. 1993) They have been such an overwhelming #1 all season that a narrow loss certainly wouldn’t drop them below Texas or a one loss SEC team. It also would not be unprecedented to see two teams play each other in back to back games with the 2nd being for the NC. Under slightly different circumstances it happened in 1996 when #2 FSU beat #1 Florida 24-21 in both teams regular season finale. That year Florida had one more chance to state their case in the SEC Championship and did so by beating Alabama. They also got some help, first from Texas, as they upset a one loss Nebraska team in the Big 12 Championship and then from the old non-BCS format that required an undefeated ASU team to play in the Rose Bowl, where they were beaten on a late Ohio St. touchdown. Just don’t think it can’t happen we have seen some crazy things happen under the current system why should we expect this year to be any different? The best part of an OSU – Michigan rematch would be their fans having to co-exist in Arizona for a few days. I’m sure that would be amusing.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Atlanta Thrashers – I know they don’t play college football, but who has had a better week then the Thrashers? They are on a season long 5 game road trip (in 8 days) and so far they have 6 out of 8 possible points. (An OT and SO loss) Saturday night they went into Buffalo and knocked off the 10-0 Sabres, who were looking to set the NHL record with 11 straight wins to start a season. Onhand covering the game were representatives from Sports Illustrated and the Hockey News and pairs of tickets were selling for more than $430 bones. Yes, this all for a Thrashers game. After the 5-4 shoot-out win the Thrash find themselves with 19 points, which is good enough for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and only 2 points behind the mighty Sabres. This team is for real!

Coming tomorrow……a preview of week 10, including the much anticipated match-up between West Virginia and Louisville.

"This is the most beautiful site these eyes have ever seen"

-Rudy's Dad


Week 8 October 21, 2006

It’s not often that a memorable day starts off the way mine did on Saturday morning. Friday Johnny G. and I flew up to Chicago to begin our football extravaganza weekend that would take us to South Bend for the Notre Dame – UCLA game and then to Indianapolis for Colts – Redskins game on Sunday afternoon.

Going to Notre Dame for a football game is always one of the highlights of my fall. Last year Kimberly and I were able to get our picture taken with Rudy during the ND – Tennessee game so I knew going in that something pretty cool would have to happen to top that moment

Saturday started early as G and I were hoping to leave Chicago before 8am (9am South Bend time) so we could be in SB by 11am to start the day. That schedule took an immediate hit as I spent 10 minutes in the bathroom praying to the porcelain gods. I can’t even recall the last time that had happened to me, it had been at least 5 or 6 years….if not longer. According to G the sounds that came from the bathroom were some of the strangest he had ever heard. The thing is I really didn’t drink that much Friday night…..I mean normally a half a bottle of Saki and 4 or 5 Vodka tonics isn’t going to make me hate myself in the morning. Clearly, I must have had some bad Sushi.

We finally got on the road and to my dismay I was not feeling any better. I chose to drive because I didn’t think my stomach could handle being a passenger. (Big mistake) After stopping for some breakfast (A plain ½ of a bagel, some water and Coke) we finally got on the highway towards Indiana. The highway was packed due to construction and I thought to myself can this day get any worse? All of a sudden as we crept along, and G devoured a Sausage egg and cheese sandwich from Dunkin Donuts that I couldn’t even look at, a terrible wave of nausea hit me. My window was already half way down as I hoped that the fresh air would somehow make my stomach and head feel normal again. (Does fresh air ever really work? Do you ever hear someone say….Wow I was sick as a dog but I got some fresh air all of a sudden I feel great again??) I was certain that I could fight through the nausea and eventually would start feeling better, all I needed was time. (I think actually told me this……thanks G) I really only had about another minute before all hell broke loose. In an instant my worst nightmare came true and I lost the battle with my stomach. So here I was driving a white Chevy Monte Carlo rental car 5 miles an hour in the middle of thousands of cars on highway 90 just outside Chicago and there was nothing I could do to stop the upheaval inside me. Without even having time to think I threw my head out the window and began projectile vomiting towards the cement barrier to my left. There was no where to pull over and at this moment the only thing I was truly concerned with was keeping my head far enough out the window so I would avoid vomiting on myself or in the car. (I was already in game day gear and didn’t want to ruin my green shirt) As I puked I somehow managed to slow the car down almost to a complete stop and in between heaves I told G to grab the wheel. This went on for another 20 or 30 seconds until I finally felt it was safe to pull my head back inside the car and regain control of the wheel. I glanced at G who was not sure whether to laugh or ask if I was ok. I probably helped him out by laughing out loud first. G then says “I can only imagine what the car behind us must be thinking right now.” The good news was that whatever toxins were inside me were definitely gone now. Time could now start to work its magic and hopefully the rest of the day would get better.

Luckily I had stopped on the way to South Bend to clean up the side of the car and the window because our parking pass was in the main lot next to the stadium and as we pulled in we probably passed 5000 tailgaters. I am sure I would have been a big hit if I had pulled in with chunks of puke all over the side of my car.

Notre Dame Day

The first stop was the hospitality tent and on the way out we saw Notre Dame radio play by play commentator Don Criqui. If you don’t remember who Don Criqui is, think back to the 1984 Orange Bowl or any big AFC game in the early to mid 80’s. As a football fan his voice is one of the most recognizable of the 80’s. He may sound the same but man he looks old. (A little known fact about Criqui is that Irish grad was the announcer in the 1970 NFL game when club footed kicker Tom Dempsey made his record shattering 63 year field goal.)

We headed to “The Gug” building which is home to the ND football program 6 days a week. The tour included close to 100 people and was being led by former ND and NHL player Dave Poulin. As we sat in the theater style meeting room where the football team meets each Monday to watch film, Poulin told us about the building and the donors responsible for this beautiful $24 million dollar facility. One interesting tidbit is that all of the clocks in “The Gug” are connected to the clock in Weiss’ office by a satellite on the roof. Clearly there are no excuses for being late in this building. The other wacky thing he told us was about the timing of our tour. Anyone not affiliated with the football program or the ND staff are forbidden to be in the building while recruits are visiting. This is another one of those crazy NCAA rules that tries to protect athletes from getting in trouble. The highlight of the tour was walking through the ND locker room. This huge room had the players spread out by positions and people stopped by Quinn, Zbikowski and Samardzija’s lockers to take pictures and see what kind of stuff they had in their lockers. Sometimes it’s easy to forget these are college kids we are talking about. We finished the tour by going through the enormous weight room and walking onto a small indoor field with new fake grass on it. The field was about 40 yards long and 20 yards wide it would have been perfect for a bunch of guys in their 30’s and up to play flag football on. The best part of this area was the wall pictured above. God, Country, Notre Dame….You think they have the same message at the University of Miami? Or is it “Mom, Jesus and The U.”

It was getting close to game time and I actually felt somewhat normal. I was able to eat and wanted more. After leaving “The Gug” we walked through “The House That Paddock Built” better known as the Joyce Center where our host once played and the current ND hoops team still plays. As nice as the football facilities are the basketball facilities have a long way to go. The Joyce Center is badly in need of a facelift, which is apparently on its’ way. It is now time to head to the House the Rockne built, Notre Dame Stadium. We time our arrival perfectly as we show up at the same time as the ND band, oh by the way we have field passes so we can walk right in without waiting in line or even having our tickets checked. I could have taken a ½ gallon of bourbon in with me and no one would have had a clue. When the band finishes we walk through the old part of the stadium and right in front of us is the tunnel the players come out right underneath one of the goal posts. Of course all I can think about is Rudy running through that tunnel on to the field for the one and only time he did so. This is the same tunnel that Rockne, Leahy, Horning, Bertelli, Lujack, Theismann, Parseghian, Holtz, Montana and Tim Brown have all walked through. Now Chris Beaudin and Johnny G. are making their walk…..albeit to much less fan fare than Rudy or any of the others. Once on the field everything is just a blur. Weiss and the whole team are anywhere from 3 to 20 yards away from us. After the team finishes stretching the offensive lineman come over to go through their drills about 5 feet in front of us….I mean these guys, actually kids are huge. 6’4” to 6’8” and big. One funny thing about them is that every single lineman has these awkward looking braces on each of their knees. It actually makes them look like robots, big ass robots. The braces make noises every time the lineman move or go through a drill. It wasn’t quite like the reeky, reeky, reek my college buddy’s rusty knee brace would make during intramural soccer in college, but it was a funny noise nonetheless. Some jackass with the same field pass as us started yelling at the lineman…..”This is where the game is won boys, this is where you win it” He then hits one of the lineman on the shoulder pads and keeps repeating this over and over along with some other crap they could care less about from some glorified fan on the field.

As the players leave the field to head back to the locker room we start to make our way around the field to our 50 yard line seats on the UCLA side of the field. As we are walking I told G that all these people looking at us from the stands are probably wondering who the hell we are to be on the field. Little did they know that I was the jackass puking out of the car in front of them on the highway just a few hours ago!

As the game starts it becomes abundantly clear the lineman we just saw up close are not going to make this an easy game for ND. The Irish struggle running for positive yardage (Quinn sneaks are their best running plays) and the pass protection isn’t much better. UCLA sacks Quinn 5 times and registers 9 hurries. Something that was news to me is that UCLA’s defense was ranked in the top 10 in the nation and was first in the Pac Ten coming into this game. I know it is the Pac Ten, but still. The Irish led 7-0 on a short Quinn to Samardzija pass but UCLA connected on 2 long passes for touchdowns to make it 14 - 7. Considering the Bruins only had 4 passing plays of more than 20 yards all season that was concerning. Also, the second TD is to a tight end that had never caught a pass before, that didn’t stop him from running through 3 ND defenders. The half ends with Quinn calling his own number on a QB draw from the 6 yard line. Since he has already done this several times from the same empty backfield formation UCLA stuffs him and ND settles for a field goal to make the score UCLA 14 ND 10.


I don’t think too many people gave UCLA much of a chance to win this game…..I would say after 30 minutes that opinion had changed. An interesting thing I noticed on the fan in front of me is that the UCLA B is exactly the same as B of the Boston Red Sox. Was this always the case or did they change it to try and capitalize on the Red Sox popularity? Ponder that for awhile.

The 2nd half doesn’t produce much excitement or any touchdowns for 29 minutes. The teams trade field goals, UCLA’s coming after a terrible call on a pass interference penalty on 3rd and 18. With the Irish down 17-13 the crowd is silent…..time is ticking away and ND is running out of chances. On their 2nd to last position ND drives into UCLA territory and fails on 3rd down. (4 for 19 on the day) On 4th and a long one they try another sneak…..I mean everybody in the whole stadium knew it was coming again and UCLA stops Quinn again. (They were 4 for 5 on 4th down) Because ND saved all 3 time-outs they may get the ball back one last time but there won’t be much more than a minute left. This is where 2 things come into play. The first is the new rule about the clock beginning right away after the change of possession. ND is forced to call a timeout as soon as the measurement is short on 4th down. Some people in the stands understood this but many yelled in disgust at Weiss like he was just calling the time-out to talk to his defense. After using 2 more TO’s UCLA runs again on 3rd down knowing ND can’t stop the clock, at this point I question one of Karl Dorrell’s decisions. Rather than punt with 2 or 3 seconds left on the play clock he took a delay of game penalty. (They didn’t have any time-outs left) First of all, this was a mistake because it backs the punter up 5 more yards and gives your opponent a chance for better field position. ND actually returns the punt to their own 38 yard line with just over a minute remaining. However, there was a flag at the line of scrimmage and somehow they called holding on the ND nose guard, I was pretty sure this was going to give UCLA a 1st down and end the game…...oh god the 5 yard delay penalty had moved them back to 4th and 13 so the penalty left UCLA with 4th and 3. Now that was the luck of the Irish. The punt found the endzone and ND started from the 20. What happened next was totally unexpected after everything we had seen for 59 minutes. People say UCLA went to a prevent defense, the truth is they had only rushed 3 or 4 guys the whole second half and pressure had not been a problem. With a minute left and no timeouts you have to play some kind of conservative defense that is just being smart. One tackle in bounds and ND is basically done. Two quick passes that stop the clock and now I think we at least have a prayer. It was First Down on the UCLA 45 and Quinn rolled right, faked once and found an open Samardzija coming across the field…..oh god he breaks one tackle….inside the 20…..another Bruin misses…..he barely keeps his balance…..TOUCHDOWN IRISH! In all honesty I really didn’t celebrate much…..mostly because I was in complete shock. After a day of very few big plays I just didn’t see this coming.

FINAL SCORE: ND 20 UCLA 17

You can see the UCLA kids are stunned. They don’t know whether to stay on the field or drag themselves back to the locker room. A minute ago they were going to be ranked and flying to Southern Cali with a win over a top ten team on the road using a QB who just made his second career start. Maybe they can call John L. Smith for some advice on how to recover. Wow what a Saturday…….I can’t wait to do it all again….well maybe not all of it!

Teams of the Week:

Clempson (Georgia fans say it like this) – Bad schedule or not this team proved it is for real by hammering GA Tech and holding Calvin Johnson without a single catch. (I still don’t understand that) Now the Tigers need some help to get to the ACC Championship. Assuming Clempson wins out they need BC to lose one ACC game.

Rutgers – 7-0 after beating Pitt at Heinz Field. Seriously Rutgers is 7-0. That is like Temple being 7-0 in 4 years.

San Diego St. – Chuck Long finally got his first win as a head coach by beating Air Force 19-12. At least it only took 6 games.


Big Games This Weekend:

The world’s biggest drunk fest: Florida -14 vs. Georgia Can you say drunk fest? I know you can’t say cocktail anymore…..what else will they come up with? Georgia is given me no reason to believe they can win this game, I’m sure that means they will.

Clempson -4.5 at Va Tech (Thursday) This is the Tigers biggest test left in the ACC. On the road in Blacksburg at night used to mean you have no chance. Oh how times have changed.

Notre Dame -14 at Navy – Is this the year? I’ll say 44 and counting.

Oklahoma at Missouri – The Tigers must win this game. Are they for real? Ask me on Sunday.

Miami at GA Tech – This game is the one Tech needs. Can they forget last week and go back to what they do best?…..Calvin, Calvin, Calvin. Miami gets most of their suspended players back for this big game.

USC at Oregon St. – The Trojans have not been blowing teams out lately. If they lose all hell breaks loose in the BCS.

Tennessee at South Carolina – The Cocks found new life after inserting Seville Newton at QB. Can the Old Ball Coach beat Fat Phil again? They will need to force Ainge into some turnovers if they want to have a chance.

Observation of the week:

On Sunday G and I went to the Colts vs. Redskins game in Indy. The Indy fans are awesome, I have never seen more fans wearing their teams’ jerseys then I did at the Colts game. (Lots of #18’s but also many other numbers like tons of Brandon Stokley jerseys? I’m not quite sure why) Anyway, Peyton was just awesome in the 2nd half. He truly is a god in Indy and probably the biggest reason why they will have a brand new state of the art stadium in 2 years. Coming from the city where Michael Vick plays I can truly say that it just felt different….and it’s not like Peyton has played in any more Super Bowls than Michael. Vick threw 4 Td’s last week as well and played great, but if they lose this week fans will continue to criticize him and bring up the name Matt Schaub. I don’t think Jim Sorgi’s name will come up anytime soon in Indy. (Peyton’s back-up)

Week 7 October 14, 2006

Wow what a weekend of college football. You had big upsets (Vandy and Indiana), stars getting hurt (Peterson), more problems with replay (Chris Leak’s fumble or non fumble) brawls (Miami vs. FIU) which included some crazy comments by the Miami TV announcer Lamar Thomas, I’ll get to that later and the release of the first BCS of the season.

Let’s start with the game of the weekend: Florida at Auburn. I had the pleasure of watching this game in Central Florida with 15 – 20 Gator fans, some of which dressed to the nines like only Gator fans can. (Pictures coming) Before the game even began I was outside of the house and met some Gator fans and we started talking about the game. One guy, wearing a camouflaged Gator hat informed me that his buddy, who was standing right next to me, had $10,000 on the game. Apparently this guy was up $20,000 on the season. He said he had some “friends” that were big time gamblers and he was fortunate enough to get some of their inside info. Pine I can probably get you his email address. (He was actually up $20,500 after I told him the score of the Ohio State game which he had missed while huntin all day.)
The game starts and both teams look good moving the ball up and down the field. The one difference is that Auburn can only move the ball between the 20 yard lines, every time they get inside the Red Zone the Florida D steps up and forces Auburn to kick a field goal. During the 2nd quarter Florida finally breaks through as Dallas Baker makes a nice catch and holds the ball up over his head with one hand in the end zone to put Florida up 10-3. (His hands must be enormous) Auburn fights back with a safety and another field goal to make it 10-8. Then in comes Tim Tebow, one play later the Gators score again as he runs a QB draw for 16 yards and a TD. You should hear the Gator fans talk about Tebow. This kid has expectations that Joe Montana couldn’t live up to.

At the half I run into the guy with $10k on the game at the bar. I said “So far so good”….he responded with “I have a bad feeling in my stomach about this….we’re gonna lose.” What? You are ahead 17 – 11 and Auburn is yet to see the end zone. I don’t know what this guys deal is but I know how I get with $50 on the line, heck even with lunch on the line, and this guy is as calm as a cucumber…drinking, socializing and watching some football….yeah right.

Ok I need to jump into live action……Matt Leinhart just threw his second TD against the Bears in the 1st Quarter. Now there is a long way to go in this game, but let me state for the record that I saw this coming. I saw it the minute I got off the phone with Mike “Flytrap” Pine and knew that he was taking the Bears. When someone like Pine gets on a bad streak you always want to be on the other side….right now Pine is absolutely getting killed and anything he touches turns to shit. On Friday night he called me after 5pm and asked about my picks for the week. I proceeded to tell him about 7 college games that I liked: Pitt, S. Florida, Ohio State, NC St., FSU, Hawaii and Cal. (All but NC. ST. covered) I then went on to explain why Cal and Hawaii were locks. After listening to all of this he asks what web-site I am reading this from and he only takes Pitt and South Florida. He actually goes against Ohio St. (asinine move) and takes WVU which I warned him several times against. Now fast forward to Monday…..I need the Cards to cover to win some money in the LYA and I don’t feel good about a rookie QB facing the Bears D. Pine needs help and I explain I don’t like the over/under and I can’t see taking the Cards…..even if they get off to a decent start the Bears will eventually wear them down and win going away. (We will see about that) I tell Pine to find out if Larry Fitzgerald is playing …he says “Who?” ….”who does he even play with” This is typical of Pine….he earlier told me he spent 3 hours researching his picks last week. This begs to ask what was he researching. It clearly wasn’t info about the players’ names or their impact on the games. When he called me back to say Fitzgerald was doubtful I told him the Bears were a lock. The minute the phone hit the handset I realized the Cards, for the first time all week had a chance.

Back to the Florida game. Turns out Mr. $10k was right as Auburn blocks a punt for a TD, gets a lucky call from the officials and eventually Chris Leak turns into the player Florida fans can’t wait to see graduate in May. The horrible call on Leaks fumble/incomplete pass leaves a bad taste in the drunken UF fans mouths. If the rule (which it is) is that if the QB’s arm is moving forward at all and the ball comes loose it is an incomplete pass then there is no question that Auburn got some home cooking. (Which they repeated 15 times over the next 30 minutes) 2 things that come to mind here…..One is that Thursday night I saw almost the same play in the Va Tech/ BC game and the play was reviewed and over turned as Glennon’s arm was moving forward. Leak’s arm was 2 feet more forward then Glennons’. Secondly, the review process is normally one of the most painful parts of a 2006 football game….in this case the review lasted only 1 minute and 4 seconds. Hmmmm The shame of this is that Auburn may have still won the game, as it would have been 20-18 with 8 minutes remaining. Now all we will hear about is the refs. Well we will also hear about how Chris Leak fell apart down the stretch. Whether it was a fumble or not….Leak was battered by the Auburn D in the second half and looked indecisive on that play and threw a terrible INT off his back foot on the Gators next drive effectively ending the game. He is going to hear whispers about Tim Tebow for the rest of the season….no matter how he plays.

The Miami vs. FIU game was the debacle of the week, but it gets even better off the field. During this melee, in which players used their helmets and cleats as weapons, the Miami TV color analyst Lamar Thomas had some interesting comments. Lamar, a former semi-star wide receiver at the U, who I am sure graduated with a degree in communications of a different kind put his own flavor on the melee. "I say, why don't they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby," Thomas said. "We've had a down couple years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house.”

"Now, that's what I'm talking about," Thomas said as the brawl raged out of control. "You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2628184

I love the fact that he calls the Orange Bowl “The OB”. I have seen hundreds of games on TV from the OB and that is the first OB reference I have ever heard. Monday I listened as Lamar called into the Dan Patrick show and it got even better. The first question Dan asked was “Do you know if there will be any repercussions from your comments on Saturday?” Lamar responded that Comcast had called but he hadn’t spoken to them yet…..he was calling Dan first! Good move Lamar….not surprisingly shortly after the Patrick interview Thomas was fired by Mark Fuhrman of Comcast (Whitey don’t you know this guy) After the interview Patrick also ran down Thomas’ rap sheet….and it was quite impressive, far more impressive than his list of football accolades. You wonder why Miami has the perception of being thugs??? They have this reputation because that’s what they are…..Larry Coker has lost control and his time is up…this was the last straw.

The best irony of the whole incident is that Saturday Night was deemed “Join a team not a gang night” at the OB and the Miami Dade police brought 700 kids to the game. You think they learned a valuable lesson?

Teams of the Week

Vanderbilt and Indiana – Vandy went on the road and beat Georgia 24-22 on a last second field goal. Vandy has played tough all year against Michigan and Alabama and last week they were finally rewarded. For Georgia things went from bad to worse…first they gave up 51 points to Tennessee, then they lose to Vandy and after the game they find out Thomas Brown will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. The saddest part of this loss is that McGruder has officially given up on football this fall and started preparing for hunting season. (He didn’t return a single email this weekend.)

Indiana came from 21 – 7 down to beat Iowa on the legs and arm of freshman QB Kellen Lewis. This guy’s bio says he is 6’1” 177 pounds. Look at him this week, he might be 165 soaking wet, but he can make plays and what do you know Indiana has one 2 straight Big Ten games. Guess who they get this week?? The Buckeyes…bye bye winning streak.

Next week:

Texas -6.5 at Nebraska – One of UT’s last possible games they can lose. Has Nebraska really beaten anyone? I can't pick Nebraska until they show me something against a quality team.

UCLA at Notre Dame -13 – No Ben Olsen for UCLA, so they will be starting a frosh QB. The rainy and cold weather in South Bend won’t be to the Bruins liking or their pretty uniforms.

Iowa +13 at Michigan – The Hawkeyes are reeling, can they save their season? Michigan has allowed something like 228 rushing yards all year. I think Iowa will scare the Michgan fans for 2.5 quarters before losing by 10. We are headed for a classic Michigan vs. Ohio St. game. In case you never looked on Google....type in Michigane sucks. There are more than a few sites put together by Buckeye fans

http://www.michigansux.com/

Alabama at Tennessee-12 – Bama has struggled lately, but in this rivalry game you never know. UT pulls away by 14 and barely covers.

Washington +23 at CAL – A week ago this spread would have been 14. After UW’s loss and Cal’s dominance the spread has finally caught up.(Cal has covered every game since Tennessee.) Pine take CAL this week….

BC +4.5 at FSU – FSU still favored…interesting. The more they lose the happier I am.

Georgia Tech +8 at Clemson – Game of the week. Fresh vs. Abs. Orange vs. Yellow. Game Day comes to Death Valley for the first time ever. Every time Clemson has played a legit team they have been in for a battle. I think this game will be the same….Tech is tested on the road and they have the best player in CFB, hopefully they will use him. The real question is what do you do when the teams that you should never bet for or against play each other?? Someone has to win. I like the points.

Rutgers +6 at Pitt – Unsung game that could go a long way in the Big East picture. Pitt has been scoring by the boat load. My rule is never pick Dave Wannstedt in a big game, I’ll apply that this week.

I will in South Bend on Saturday for the UCLA – ND game and in the RCA Dome on Sunday for the Colts vs. Redskins game. There should be lots of pictures for next week.

This is the wacky story of the week: Prior to Lamar Thomas.

How bad are things going for the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers right now?
Well, in a classic you-won't-believe-this-one moment, the Steelers have lost a starter for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs because the guy actually got too much treatment in trying to come back from an injury.
Right guard Kendall Simmons will sit out the game because of an ice burn on his left foot.
It seems that Simmons, who has not practiced this week, fell asleep with a cooling device on his foot as he attempted to treat a heel injury. The result: Even though winter hasn't arrived yet in Pittsburgh, the fifth-year veteran suffered the equivalent of frostbite. How long the injury will sideline Simmons, whose heel was left raw by the incident, has not yet been determined.
"It's disappointing anytime [an injury] is something that simple," a sheepish Simmons told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's more of a freak accident."

Random email of the week: 1:01 AM Sunday morning Whitey emails me….I don't have my pants on. I saw macgruder. I'm happy. He's not. Life is good. Surprisingly enuff, I'm drunk.


Week 6 October 7th

I think Whitey’s email pretty much summed up the Tennessee vs. Georgia game. Two years ago I witnessed the shirt come off after a 19-14 Vols upset win.....….I think it's good his wife was there this time! There were 2 other big SEC games to discuss: Auburn vs. Arkansas and Florida vs. LSU. Yes this was the SEC’s big day. On the national scene only Texas vs. Oklahoma and Cal vs. Oregon registered as big games on a relatively quiet day in college football. Clemson got some help from Wake and GA Tech held on for dear life to make their battle in 2 weeks a huge one. But since this was the SEC’s day let’s rank the SEC teams from worst to first. Along the way I will judge them against the Big Ten +1 just like they do in basketball between the ACC and Big Ten..

12. Mississippi State – I have never been to Starkville and I am going to guess I will never make it there. They didn’t score the first 2 weeks of the season. They have one win against UAB. The defense is actually pretty solid but the offense just gives them no chance. Before the season I actually heard many of the so called College Experts picking Miss. St as a potential pit-fall for West Virginia….please.

11. Mississippi – The title of worst SEC team may come down to the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving. Although they hung on and beat Vandy last week 17-10 they are ranked below the Commodores. Vandy out gained Ole Miss 400 to 179, had a 23 -7 advantage in First Downs and had the ball for 10 more minutes and still lost because of 4 fumbles and 2 Int’s. (YES I’m pissed because I picked Vandy) This year has been a huge disappointment with Brent Schaeffer as their QB. Why did they let David Cutcliffe go? They could probably have him back after this year. Big Ten match-up with Northwestern - edge Ole Miss -6

10. Kentucky – They beat Ole Miss badly and they hung in with Florida for 3 quarters before losing 26 – 7. Last week’s 7 point loss to South Carolina probably ended any hopes of making it to a Bowl game for Rich Brooks and the Cats……Oh Tim Couch where have you gone? Big Ten opponent Illinios – Edge Pick’em

9. Vanderbilt – Jay Cutler gave them a chance in most SEC games the last few years, but Vandy continues to be a pesky team. They only gave Michigan 27 points (20 less than Notre Dame gave them) lost by 3 to Bama and 2 to Arkansas, and you already know about the Ole Miss disaster. The problem is without Cutler Vandy has to play mistake free football and when they don’t they lose. Big Ten Opponent Indiana - Vandy - 6

8. South Carolina – The next 2 are tough to call. South Carolina played UGA and Auburn at home and gave Auburn a scare after getting shut-out and shut-down by the Dawgs….(we should have seen Auburn’s loss coming after the way they played in Columbia) Clearly Spurrier has to find some lineman and a true QB before he can even think about coming to Atlanta with the Cocks. Big Ten opponent Michigan St. – SC -3.5

7. Alabama – How good are they? Well, when they were up 10-0 on Florida I thought they were pretty good. When they were down 14 -10 to Duke at the half I was pretty sure they were bad. The truth is still to come. With Tennessee, LSU and Auburn on the schedule they could easily lose 5 games. Big Ten Opponent Purdue – Bama -8

6. Georgia – A week ago or even a half ago the Dawgs would have been much higher on the list. I asked myself if Georgia played Arkansas right now who would be favored and who would I take…..I think you would be looking at a pick’em or a point or 2 for the home team. Right at this moment I would have a hard time picking UGA in that match-up. Unfortunately they don’t play so we won’t actually find out. I can’t imagine the wave of emotions in Sanford Stadium on Saturday….up 24 – 7 down 38 – 27 only to see Thomas Brown run the kick-off back 99 yards to cut the margin to 4 with plenty of time to go in the game. But even after having Smokey lay 51 on them they can still be 7-1 going to Jacksonville in 3 weeks. More importantly Mark Richt and his staff have to restore some confidence to the Dawgs and find a QB that gives them a fighting chance. That guy is not Joe T. Big Ten Opponent Minnesota – UGA -8

5. Arkansas – Yes I know they just won at Auburn by 17 points….but one game does not make a season. The big question is can the Hogs keep the momentum going? They actually control their own destiny in SEC West. They still play Kentucky, SC, Miss. St, UT and LSU…..but losing only one game still puts them into the title game. Who would have thought you could go into Auburn throw for less than 100 yards and use the modern version of the fumblrooski and still win. Darren McFadden is a difference maker, who as McGruder said is “Scary Fast”, he can go 80 yards anytime he touches the ball. I still think they find a way to lose 2 more games. They did play USC….so give them credit for playing a tough out of conference game. Big Ten opponent Penn State - Even

*Strange stat of the week: Arkansas entered Saturday last nationally in time of possession. It then held the ball for 31 minutes, 50 seconds, 3:40 longer than Auburn. ...

4. LSU – The Bayou Bengals have lost at Auburn and Florida and they still have to go to Knoxville on November 4th……talk about a tough road schedule. They are a long shot to make it to Atlanta even if they beat UT and Arkansas. Auburn would have to lose twice for LSU to have a chance. Are we sure Les Miles is a good coach?? Does anyone actually know? All you ever hear is how great their defense is and what athletes they have at LSU. 13 points in their 2 biggest games of the season isn’t going to get the job done very often. Big Ten Opponent – Wisconsin Edge LSU -7

3. Auburn – Tommy should have never opened his mouth…..look at the bright side of things, you can’t get screwed this year. Two weeks ago we saw South Carolina run the ball on the Auburn D and come within the fingertips of a tight end from tying the score at 24 in the waning moments. Last week Arkansas did one better….they dominated Auburn, running for almost 300 yards and controlling the clock in the 2nd half. What was disturbing was Auburn’s lack of energy and urgency when they fell behind by 14 points in the 4th quarter. This is not the NFL….one off week can and will ruin your season. Well Auburn can quickly resurrect its’ season and jump back in the mix by beating Florida at home this weekend. If they do so they might also eliminate the SEC from any hope of reaching Glendale and the National Title Game. Big Ten Opponent – Iowa Edge Auburn -2.5

2. Tennessee – 51 points in Athens….think back one year ago, the Vols with many of the same offensive players had a hard time scoring 15 points. Ainge now looks like the 2nd coming of Peyton Manning and his receivers are constantly running free 15 yards down field. The Vols have a bye week and sit at home and root for Auburn. If Auburn wins and the Vols can take care of business against Bama and LSU at home and on the road against SC and Arkansas they still have a chance to make it to Atlanta. Boy would I like to see Cal and UT play again now….these are the 2 hottest teams in America outside of Columbus, Ohio. Big Ten Opponent Michigan – Edge Michigan -3

1. Florida – Congrats you have beaten LSU and Tennessee…..what do you get? A trip to Auburn against an angry group of Tigers at night! For Chris Leak the best thing about this week is that is gets to go on the road. Tim Tebow is the hottest thing in Gainesville since Emmitt Smith was a freshman running back…..and he doesn’t even start! Florida is 6-0 for the first time…however, remember they did lose a game in their National Championship year since 1996….Is this a great Gator team? Talk to me on Sunday….I’m guessing very good but not great. Big Ten Opponent Ohio St. - OSU -4

People keep saying that the SEC can’t win the National Title because the league is too tough…well I don’t buy that. If they have the best team they will make it to the big game on January 8th. Is it the best conference in football this year? Yes…..was it last season….I don’t think so. (Florida and Tennessee had down years and they didn’t have one great team) Getting through the SEC will always be difficult…..As you can see in the comparisons against the Big Ten teams 3-11 were favored in every single match-up and the SEC winner still has to play in a conference championship game. This to me is the single biggest problem with the current college football system. The power conferences need to have some consistency, either everybody has a conference championship or nobody does. Secondly, if you can’t qualify for your own conference championship game you shouldn’t be eligible for the National Title game….aka Nebraska. If Florida can survive their trip to Auburn this week they could well be on their way to a perfect season. They still play Georgia (who they have dominated and FSU who is way down….actually they suck.)

Big Games this week:

Florida at Auburn -1.5
Michigan at PSU +6.5 (Both of these are night games on the road for an undefeated team…….hmmm) ….and no Mario Manningham.
Virginia Tech at Boston College + 2.5 (Thursday)
Syracuse + 25 at West Virginia…..yes I know I am reaching.
Missouri -2.5 at Texas A&M
Ohio St. -15 at Michigan St. – John L’s revenge……not likely.
Rutgers at Navy -1.5


Disappointing performance of the week: Mike “Flytrap” Pine giving me nothing from the Navy – Air Force game in Colorado Springs. We spoke early Saturday morning and I never heard from him again as the Force fell behind 24-7 and ended up losing 24-17. PS: That makes four straight wins by the Goats over the Force

Spoof on what Weiss said after the Michigan St. game. It got worse for MSU.

Week 5

For the first time in the 2006 football season I was not tailgating at a big game or in front of my TV for 10 solid hours flipping between 15 different games. That being said I did find a way to watch bits and pieces of several games.

What I saw:


GOOD: Ohio State went into Iowa and put a beating on the Hawkeyes. At the start of the season I thought the Buckeyes would have a tough time making through trips to Texas and Iowa in September, now I would be shocked if they don’t go into the Michigan unbeaten and #1.

BAD: Miami’s 14-13 win over Houston. Kirk Herbstreit picked Miami vs. Notre Dame in the BCS title game…oops. The game was played in Miami in front of a half empty stadium and featured plane flybys with signs asking for Coker’s removal.

UGLY: This is simple…..Michigan State. One week after collapsing against Notre Dame in the 4th the 26 point favorites did the unthinkable, they lost at home to Ron Zook and Illinois. It was Illinois first Big Ten win since 2004. With 15 minutes to play a week ago MSU fans thought their team would be 5-0 for their October 7th game with rival Michigan. In reality they are 3-2 and 16.5 underdogs in a game that no one in the world thinks they have a chance. That includes Michigan State itself. I have attached a clip from a Michigan State fan that is a classic. This guy is so distraught after the ND loss he goes on and on about the how they choked away the game. He has completely lost his voice and is a nut. It is at least 20 minutes long, thanks to Whitey on this one.

http://www.hipcast.com/export/P210e2df3bfc42b1d4f91438000c2ac92YlpxRlREYmJ1.mp3


GOOD: Georgia Tech went to Blacksburg and put up the most points by a visitor since 1994. The question now is can Tech build on this win and have a 9 or 10 win season? GA Tech has made a living of pulling off upsets under Chan Gailey (Auburn twice, Miami, Clemson) They also have a history of finding a way to lose to the UNC’s and Maryland’s of the world even when they have more talent. Left on the schedule…Maryland, Clemson, Miami, UNC, NC State, Duke and Georgia. As for Virginia Tech…..they had this coming. If you saw any of their first 4 games it was clear this is not the same offensive team we have seen from the Hokies over the last 8-10 years. Their non-conference schedule is a joke (Northeastern, Cincinnati, Kent State and Southern Miss) and they still may lose 3-4 games starting with Thursday October 12th in Boston.

BAD: Stay on the subject of bad schedules…..Clemson’s non-conference schedule is pathetic. I mean play somebody….seriously Clemson fans this is a joke. Is it really fun to go to Death Valley every week to see your Tigers play the equivalent of a high school team? First there was Florida Atlantic, last week Louisana Tech and up next……the powerhouse that is TEMPLE. Yes, I know you play South Carolina every year but come on you don’t play in the SEC you play in the ACC step it up.

Just out of curiosity I looked for future Clemson schedules: Take a look….TEMPLE will be back in 07. Bulldog fans you only have to wait 6 more years before another game against your neighbor.

CLEMSON FUTURE SCHEDULES

2007 Louisiana-Monroe, Temple, @ South Carolina
2008 Furman, UCF, @ Louisiana Tech, South Carolina
2009 Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, @ South Carolina
2010 @ Pittsburgh, North Texas, South Carolina, Ball State
2011 Pittsburgh, Troy @ South Carolina
2012 @ Vanderbilt, South Carolina
2013 Vanderbilt, Georgia @ South Carolina
2014 @ Georgia, South Carolina
2015 Mississippi
2016 @ Mississippi


Just to be fair here is what I found on Va Tech. They actually play some cool games…..LSU, Nebraska and Ohio State. This is all I would ask as a fan mix in some unique games against quality out of conference opponents. Do you think VA Tech fans will get more excited about games against App. St. and Western Michigan or games against Nebraska, LSU and OSU????? You don’t have to play them all in one season just play them.

Future Virginia Tech Football Schedules


2007 Ohio, ECU, LSU, William & Mary
2008 Bowling Green, Furman, Nebraska, ECU
2009 Marshall, Nebraska, ECU, Cincinnati
2010 C. Michigan, W. Michigan, ECU, Syracuse
2011 App. St., ECU, Marshall, Syracuse
2012 ECU. Pitt
2013 ECU, Pitt, Marshall
2014 ECU, Ohio St.
2015 ECU, Ohio St.

THE UGLY: Arizona St, Oregon St and Stanford. I am going to stick mainly on ASU who only 2 weeks ago was ranked and looked like a threat in the Pac Ten. Since then they have been destroyed by Cal and Oregon, with the later being at home. Maybe they shouldn’t have run Sam Keller off to Nebraska. Oregon St. was clobbered at home by Cal, who looks nothing like the team that came to Knoxville on Labor Day weekend. Cal and Oregon play this week in Berkeley in what should be a fantastic game that no one on the East Coast will see. Stanford lost 31-0 to UCLA and is 0-5 with 17 returning starters. They are 32 point underdogs in South Bend this week. (Everyone in the Pac Ten plays each other so they may still win a game)

THE GOOD: Two teams are trying to come back from the dead. Washington won again this time over Arizona and is 4-1. Syracuse is 3-2 and more importantly has covered in all 5 weeks. Washington gets USC this week but has at least 3-4 winnable games on their schedule and should be headed back to a bowl game in TY year 2. Syracuse faces Pittsburgh (getting 6.5) before playing West Virginia and Louisville in back to back weeks.

THE BAD: Georgia’s offense. South Carolina was a rival, Colorado was an anomaly…..well what about Mississippi? They are bad. In the previous 4 games they had given up 25, 34, 31 and 27 points going 1-3 in that stretch. Certainly this would be the week Georgia would wake up and start moving the ball like everyone believes they are capable of. Well they finished with just enough points to win the game and left everyone wondering what has happened to the 2nd coming of John Elway. Now comes Tennessee week. We all know you can throw out the records when these 2 teams play because anything is possible. Two years ago in Athens Tennessee was coming off a bad 34-10 loss to Auburn and Georgia was a week removed from pasting defending SEC and National Champ LSU. The spread was in double digits and even the most diehard Tennessee fans weren’t sure they could play with Georgia. Tennessee had 2 freshman QB’s and Georgia had the experienced David Greene. Of course we all know Tennessee jumped ahead 10-0 and survived a late UGA rally to hang on 19-14 sending Whitey into a delirious celebration that ended with his shirt off as he hugged everyone that was in reach. (I once had this on video) My point is don’t be surprised if Georgia wakes up and wins this game …. If they do the question is who will the QB that comes through for Georgia. Rumor has it Joe T. may be healthy enough to start….I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

UGLY: LYA 1 and Two Thursday night picks last week. Five people out of 15 took Auburn and 3 doubled it. One person took TCU and doubled it. That’s a record of 0-10 on Thursday night. Tough way to start the weekend for many. PS: How did Chuck Oliver do this week? I was 9-1.


Big games this coming week:

LSU at Florida
Tennessee at Georgia
Oregon at Cal
Texas at Oklahoma
Michigan St. at Michigan
Missouri at Texas Tech
Nevada at Hawaii

AND

Navy at Air Force – Flytrap will be in attendance and promises some pictures and first hand stories from the battle of the service academies.