there is nothing better in the world than:

realizing there is another game on after you thought all games had kicked off already.  This was the Ok State Mizzou game.  You turn it on, and you say this is live?  And it is.  Then within 5 seconds you hear "has five, has ten"  and you immediately realize that this game is gonna be really fun to watch.

OCtober 10th

Okay, I had a huge hiatus.  I actually had to start doing work, and I had no time to effectively work on this blog.  But, thanks to K-Piece, Im back, for the time being.  Im sitting here, sipping on my coffee, listening to Pam Ward try to announce a football game, K-Piece texts me why I havent been posting, and I just said "fuck it".   Will it be possible to accumulate all my thoughts from the past 5 weeks, and look forward to the next 10 in one, unprepared post?  Here goes nothing:

The first thing I notice about college football this year is that Ron Franklin might be funnier than Musburger.  I dont even think he knows hes at a football game half the time.  He says "has five, has ten" after the guy is already tackled for 13 yards.  The only downside is that he doesn't do the "seven seconds left, down to six" when the play clock is running down anymore.  I hope hes still signed up for Big Monday Big12 basketball, and that the clock call returns (its more of a basketball thing anyway.)

Musburger is either the coolest announcer to listen to, or the most annoying if you have a rooting interest in the team that he doesn't.  I noticed this first last year when he bet on Penn State -14 against Illinois.  THe only silver lining of Illinois losing that game was that they lost by 10, and therefore Musburger lost as well.  He definitely had money on Ohio State vs USC, and he might have had OSU money line, cause otherwise he would have covered the OSU +7.  Yet, he was genuinely concerned on the Trojans' final drive, and sounded dejected once USC scored.  

There are a few things to mention about Illinois.  THe short story is theyre pathetic.  The long story is that theyre really pathetic.  Last year, CanMan came over to my place and watched the Illlinois Iowa game, and the Bama-Miss game (bama-miss playing today made me think of this).  We got Hooters wings.  Illinois somehow won that game 27-24.  At this time, Illinois was looking OK.  They were still one year removed from the Rose Bowl, had held their own with Penn State, had beaten Michigan, were 5-4, just a mediocre team.  Iowa, on the other hand, were in a downslide, people were calling for Ferentz' head, they were 5-4, but that wasnt good enough?

Do you realize what has happened since then (this was on 11/1 last year by the way).  Iowa has not lost.  They have beaten Penn State twice since then, and won a New YEars Day Bowl.  THey are primed to be in a BCS bowl this year.  Illinois has not won.  Correction, theyve beaten Division II Illinois State.  But, counting only division I teams, they HAVE NOT WON SINCE THEN.  THis includes losses to Western Michigan, Northwestern, Mizzou for the 100th time, and yet, Zook got his contract EXTENDED over the offseason.   Ughhh.  What a difference 11 months makes.  Not only that, but Illinois figured to be steady, and have all these "weapons" return on offense.  Well, we all know that Juice has been benched.  Iowa was supposed to fall because they lost Shonn Greene.  Wrong again.  The point is, maybe, this is just as simple as Ferentz is the game and Zook isnt.

In the long run, I was talking to my dad, and I asked him "Will Ron Zook be coaching the Illini on game 1 next year?"  And he said yeah.  Apparently Zook has some buy out clauses that if he fired his dumbass hed receive wheelbarrows full of cash.  AD Ron Guenther will have to figure whats more cost effective, keeping him, or paying him to leave central Illinois forever.  The guess would be the former.

Maybe 3 years after hes fired, Illinois will win the national title, and they can say that whoever the coach is won with Ron Zook's players, like they did with Florida in 07.  (Sarcasm).

I guess the best way to sum up my thoughts would be to give you my top 25 as of now, and overall assessment of each team:

1. Florida.   Im taking Florida tonight in Death Valley, whether Tebow plays or not.  That being said, I really like LSU - as you know I had them rated highly in the preseason.  It should be a great game.  Florida has been untested thus far, and that could pose a problem.  People are concerned about Florida being able to move the ball, but how is LSU going to move the ball?  

2.  Texas.  I honestly haven't seen Texas.

3.  LSU.  LSU could have been winning by 20 something at the half last week.  But, they were winning by 6.  THey turned it over in the endzone, passed on kicking a FG, etc.  BTW, when are people going to get on Les Miles?  I guess hes winning, so it doesn't matter, and more often then not, his gambles pay off, but what if they didn't?  Hed be considered one of the biggest idiots ever!  If they lost by less than 2 last week, everyone would be upset at him for passing on the FG attempt at the end of the half.  What about in 07?  The game against Auburn where they were losing by 1.  What if that play took one second more, and was incomplete, and they lost?  THats not that big of a what if?  Not to mention, they are the only team I think ever to lose twice and win the title - 07 was the craziest year.  They lost the second to last week to Arkansas, and still sneaked in.  

As far as their team this year, they oculd be dangerous on offense, and when it does click, they will be.  Danielson and Lundquist, who were calling the game last week, together still dont have 1/4 of a brain, and they didnt realize that when LSU ran the option, they ran it too close.  That is, you need spacing, so that when you pitch, one guy can't cover two people, as Curran did every single play for UGA last week.  Thats the type of shit thats inexcusable.  Defensively, I like #7, cant think of his name, a ton, as Danielson does as well.  

4.  Alabama -  I think Bama will be in for a tough game today against Ole Miss.  But, Bama's defense has looked as good as anyones.  And, theyve scored 30 points every game this year.  Just solid all around.  SEC West is going to get wild very quickly.

Quick interruption - Robert Smith just said on ESPN2 halftime that doctors have to actually look at TEbow, that he can't just say hes fine to play.  Really, thats how concussion analysis works?  THey have doctors involved?

After this, to me, there is a considerable drop off in talent.  I dont want to attempt to rank them all, but I will give a quick blurb on teams that I think are significant:

USC -- mediocre the first 4 games, then looked good against Cal.  At Notre Dame will be a great game.  I give credit to Wash for their win over SC, cause Wash definitely played good, but SC could/should have won the game still, and thats the type of game you have to win if you want to win a title.  

Boise State -- Heres where Ill talk about this.  A friend of mine and I were talking last week about SC's chances of getting into the national title.  First, SC would have to win out.  Second, we know that 2/3 of these teams will lose: Florida, Bama, LSU.  Assuming SC jumps them, that leaves Texas and Va Tech to leap.  I dont think VA Tech will run the table.  Texas has a tough stretch coming up, but could run the table.  Lets assume they lost though.  The only team left is Boise.

What if, Florida wins out.  Bama has 1 loss, LSU would have 2 (and be out), Texas has 1 loss, and Va Tech loses again.  USC runs the table and has 1 loss, and Boise wins out.  Who do you put in the title game?  WOuld it be SC, or would it be Boise?   Who gets in?  I would say not Boise.  Anyone, other than Boise.  They would not have a Boise Florida national title game.  We already saw it happen kinda.  Va Tech looked mediocre against Duke, and they still jumped Boise in the rankings, a sign of things to come.  

Should they be in though?  Id say, yeah.  Especially if Oregon keeps winning.  I made an argument that Utah should have had a shot last year, and Ill make the same argument for Boise this year.  USC can get away with turning the ball over 3 times in the red zone vs Washington and losing to them, and Boise is perfect, but they get penalized?  I dont like it.

BIG10:  The Big10 figures to come down to Iowa @ OSU.  Penn state isnt out of it, and their best chance would be that OSU beats Iowa, and then PSU beats OSU, creating a 3-way tie.  Either way, Iowa seems like they are headed for the Rose/Orange Bowl.  It would be hard to leave a 1 loss Iowa team out of the BCS.

Cinci plays South Florida next week for the inside track in the Big East.

ACC seems to be in control of VaTech.  They have the tiebreaker over Miami, who looks like the second best team.  WEveryone else is average (UNC, GaTech), or just bad (FSU, UVA).

BIG12:  Texas' biggest obstacle is still Oklahoma, which will play out next week.  I don't know why Texas wouldn't win, but as usual, it should be competitive and close.  Nebraska has the inside track in the North after their come from behind win on Thursday.

PAC10:  2 Losses could be good enough for the title in the Pac10.  Stanford is undefeated now.  Cal is out of the competition (strangely, one of the first teams eliminated, if you forget about Wazzu, which you should).  Every team poses a challenge though (again, other than Wazzu).  We saw Wash pull an upset.  Both Zona's are dangerous.  UCLA should be back in a bowl.  Stanford leads the Pac10.  Oregon is probably the 2nd best team.  Oregon State is down thus far, but still has a lot of talent.  

Im running out of steam on this post.  I hope I can return to posting regularly.

Week 1 Thoughts

Here are a large collection of thoughts on different things about week 1.

First off, I know, I went 4-7 with the Miami +6.5 pending.  Im glad I refrained from putting money onto an account, because I would have lost most of it.

Second off, SMALL GAME BOB, SMALL GAME BOB!!!!!  I do feel bad for Bradford, because although I dont like Oklahoma, and never really liked Bradford, it sucks that he came back to play this year, he got hurt in week 1.  I am really happy that BYU won though.

If I have to hear "why i am" by DMB all year as games go to commercials, as Randall Floyd would say, remind me to kill myself.

The first thing I noticed was the mixup of announcers.  I dont know if this was temporary or not because there were 2 Thursday games, but I would imagine that this is permanent.  I like how Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge have been separated, and it looks like the Todds Taste of the Town experiment is over.  

I almost peed my pants when I saw that Millen was announcing.  I talked about this idiot enough already, so I wont reiterate most of what I said, but, not only did they hire him, but they made him an announcer?  On top of that, they say, "yeah, you can go and do the 2nd biggest game of the weekend (UGA @ OkSt)."   There are about a million people in this country that would have liked to have gone to this game, but couldn't for one reason or another.  But Millen, who was fired months ago for being incompetent and the worst GM in the history of any organization (not just sports --- maybe not as bad as execs at Enron), gets to announce the game.

Here is a conference by conference break down, the teams that looked good, and whether or not the conference moved up or down in my mind.

SEC:  Is still the best conference, and it was business as usual for them.  Florida won.  Tennessee won.  Auburn was more impressive than I thought.  Alabama took care of business.  Ole Miss looks very talented.  LSU has so much fucking speed on offense it is sick.  Vanderbilt and Kentucky look like they could make another run at bowl games.  

The only SEC team to lose was Georgia.  They were expected to lose.  They didn't play overly bad.  They failed to convert a crucial 4th down.  I still see a lot of promise for them in the long run.

The SEC is hands down, still, the best conference.

PowderPuff12:

I was already starting to think it even before Bradford got hurt.  I said to myself, see what happens when a team can actually get pressure on OKlahoma?  This was something that was not present last year.  I think they said that Bradford got hit a total of 45 times last year, and he was hit 3 times on one drive yesterday.  Then he went down, and Oklahoma shit the bed.  Make no mistake, BYU played really well, and deserved to win.  

Texas, Kansas, Nebraska all took care of business.  Oklahoma State emerged as an extremely dangerous team, as my new top 25 on Tuesday will reflect.  This was the type of game that you dont really expect OSU to win -- a 24-10, physical, low scoring game.  Most of their games still may end up being high scoring, but they definitely showed me something.  

Mizzou just dominated the Illini (more on this later).   As predicted by me, Baylor got off to a good start.  They should be lined up for a bowl game now.  Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Mizzou were the bright spots for the Big12.

The negatives were Colorado and Oklahoma.  Overall, the Big12 stayed about even.

Big10:

Not a good start to a conference already under a lot of fire.  Ohio State barely beat Navy.  Iowa should have lost to Northern Iowa.  Minnesota needed OT to beat Paulus.  Illinois looked like it took 15 steps back and was the Illini of 2005.  Terrible.  The bright spots were Michigan (very bright), and Purdue.  Purdue looked really good offensively for a team that was picked by some to finish in dead last.  Michigan looks like they have a lot of talent on their team, and I can not wait until the game next week vs ND.  For the first time since 2006, ND Michigan figures to be an important game - a sign that this will be a good college football season.  

Overall, Ill put the Big10 down a little bit, but next week is very important.  Michigan has ND at home, and Ohio State has USC at home.  If they both lose, then there is no excuse, and the conference will suffer a big backlash in the media.  If they win both though, they will look very very good.  At that point, Ohio State will have an inside track to Pasadena, be a top 5 team, along with Penn State in the top 10, and Michigan and Iowa in the top 25.  Next week is huge for the big10.

ACC:  

By far the worst showing by any conference.  Va Tech loses to Bama.  UVA loses to William & Mary.  Maryland loses by 5 touchdowns. N.C. State scores 3 vs S. Carolina.  Wake lost at home to Baylor.  Duke lost to Richmond.  That isnt good at all.  Ga Tech and UNC won, but against very weak opponents.  The FSU Miami game tomorrow should be good, and the winner will probably be one of the top 3 teams in the ACC.

Pac10:

Im kinda torn on the Pac10.  The USC win over SJSU means nothing to me.  Washington looked a little better, but still lost.  Wazzu might as well not exist.  UCLA struggled with San Diego State early on.  Arizona put forth the best effort, showcasing a strong defense vs the Chippewas.  Cal ran all over Maryland, and figures now to be the 2nd strongest team in the Pac10.  The obvious downside to all this is not only Oregon's loss, but their total embarrassment in Boise on all fronts.  They lost, they couldnt run to save their lives, and there is friction on the team already.  They fell as far as anyone.  Overall, Id say the Pac10 stayed about even.

Big East:

Syracuse showed a nice challenge.  UConn won at Ohio.  None of the other games are worth mentioning.  Cinci Rutgers tomorrow will be huge.  I guess the conference is up. 

MWC:

Huge thumbs up.  Utah beat Utah State.  Colorado St beat Colorado in Boulder (which I guess the game is no longer played at Mile High?).  And of course, BYU beat Oklahoma.  Strong, strong week, and the preseason favorites, TCU, had the week off.

I cant mention the BYU upset again without giving props to Bruce Feldman.  I mentioned a few posts ago about how this was the only guy on espn.com that i liked.  Last week, he had BYU in the Fiesta Bowl.  This, I suppose, means that he thought they would go undefeated and therefore beat Oklahoma.  Either way, great prediction on his part, again.

Now for a team by team/game by game breakdown.  Ill give you my new top 25 on Tuesday or later, and I will talk more about the 4 teams that play tomorrow then, but for now:

Florida -- didnt see the game, but didnt have to.  Business as usual.

Texas -- Ditto

Alabama vs Virginia Tech ---  Bama looks just as strong as anyone right now.  We knew their defense would be good, and it was.  IT was a game where even though they were losing going into the 4th, you were pretty confident that they were going to win.  THey had a huge advantage in yards, and Va Tech was kinda lucky to be there.  If the offense can produce the way that they did, along with their great defense, then they have a legitimate shot at beating Florida.  QB McElroy did pretty good for his first start, against a good defense.  Ingram and Upchurch ran all over the defense, and the offensive line looked good.  Another words, all the question marks I had for this team in the preseason were answered in a positive light.  They will remain my #3 team.

Virginia Tech is just ehhh.  I dont have any other way to describe it.  Taylor still cant throw the ball as well as they need him to.  I had them around 16 I think preseason, and that is about right, maybe in the 20s.

USC --- Looked real sloppy for the first 20 mins.  Then, they got a few turnovers and it quickly snowballed.  The defense played really well, but SJSU didn't really try to throw the ball downfield.  USC didn't open up the playbook either.  ABout every pass they threw was playaction, and many of them were dumped off to FB Stanley Havili.  Also, they ran a curl which was open every single time.  I like WR David Ausberry as a replacement to the injured ROnnie Johnson.  I would imagine they need to do more to beat OHio State, and it remains to be seen whether or not they can do it.  I mean, if they can just dump it off to Havili and run the way they did against SJSU, then they will win.  If they have to do something more, then its still up in the air.

Ohio State -- Had trouble stopping Navy.  Navy ran this play where they faked it to the fullback and then the QB just followed him.  OSU is going to be more of a passing team this year than a running team.  Again, I can't tell if this passing attack will work against SC or not, it remains to be seen.  If not for a few fumbles, Navy could hve won this game (not to mention the 2 pt conversion).  Ill need to see the spread and all that before I make a pick for SC OSU.  Id imagine SC would be about -3.

Musburger wasted no time speculating what the spread would be next week.  How much money did he have on Bama last night?  I would imagine a lot.  He only talked about Arenas' punt return skills 500 times.  Every time they were about to punt it he mentioned how hes a threat, then said he has done a good job 3 times.  

Ole Miss looks just as good as anyone.  Snead turned the ball over in teh first half, and it was close.  Remember when I wrote about Ole Miss, I mentioned how turnovers were costly last year.  They still need to work on that if they want to beat Bama or LSU and win the West, but they have the talent to do so.

LSU has a shit load of talent too.  Jefferson has a really, really good arm, but is still kinda raw.  He also tries to run it too much.  Charles Scott I still love, and WR Terrance Tolliver has tremendous speed to compliment LaFell.  Keiland Williams provides a nice compliment to Scott, although he is also a load at 6'1" 220.  

I take back everything I said about Bob Davie being a good announcer.  He said 5 times that the deciding factor in the game was that LSU had better athletes.  Yeah, when one team is good and the other isnt, that usually is a deciding factor.  The only thing that stopped Washington from winning was that they werent as good as LSU.  The only thing that LSU had going for them was that everyone on their team was better.  Do I really need to go on?

The other games where a ranked team played some schwag game, I either didnt see, or it isnt worth noting.

Which saves (maybe) the best for last.  ND

Cant say how impressed I was with ND.  They ran the ball better.  They didn't turn it over.  Clausen was 15/18, and somehow threw for 315 yards, (a 21/completion is huge).  But, coupled with the fact that his % was 83%, and its almost illogical.  

Most importantly, the defense showed up.  They stopped them in the red zone the first drive, and Nevada missed a FG.  Then they got them to go 3 and out a few times in a row.  By the half, it was over.  

I dont know what to expect next week in Ann Arbor, but I cant wait to see it.  Arguably, ND and Michigan were the two best looking teams last week.  That is coupled with expectations of course.  Did they look just as good as Bama or SC, or whoever else?  Dont know, but the fact that Im mentioning ND and Michigan with two top 5 teams speaks volumes of how good they did look.  both of them.  

All of a sudden, Michigan figures to be prominent again.  Which means, this turns into a harder game than ND might have thought.  On the other hand, ND looked better than I think anyone was expecting.  Michigan will be middle of the pack - top half in the Big10 this year, no question.  ND, though, has a hump in front of them now..........but...........if they beat Michigan, and ND and Michigan are as good as they looked week 1, then ND will be headed back to a BCS bowl.  Theres no question about that.  If they lose next week, then they still could get back to one, but they would have to be close to perfect of course.  Next week is a huge game for both teams.  Its a rivalry, and like I said, its good for college football.  A win for ND, and they figure to be favored in every game here on out other than SC.

Yeah, a lot of teams that ND will play looked good Week 1.  They include, Purdue, Washington, Navy, SC, Stanford, and UConn, but still, none of them looked as good as ND did.  ABout 3-4 of those teams will be in bowl games.  Like I said before, its not a hard schedule, but it isnt as easy as everyone is saying it is.  Michigan looked better than any team that ND has to play (other than SC), and therefore, poses one of the biggest threats left to the Irish.

A cover by Miami and I take a nice week 1 lead in the confidence pool.  I need to redeem myself after last season.  Im kinda like ND.  I was good 2 years ago, winning it (in NDs case, 3 years ago).  Then, I did really bad last year, finishing in 3rd out of 3, just like ND hasnt been good the last 2 years.  But then I put up a good performance in the Bowl Pool.  I finished 2nd/5, and ND looked good in the Hawaii bowl.  Now, this year, Im back to redeem myself, as is ND.

Thats actually a better analogy than I explained it to be.

New Top 25s

Im not doing one now, but I will next Tuesday.  I cant wait.  What makes mine different is that there will be radical changes and movements, unlike the AP poll.  Heres an example:

Notre Dame is 23 I think in mine now, and whatever in the AP.

If ND won by 1 over nevada, they would stay about the same, move ahead of some teams that were close and lost, whatever.

If ND won by 50, they would stay about the same, move ahead of some teams that were close and lost, same thing.

If ND loses, theyll drop out.

Well heres my example:  

If ND won by 1, they might drop out in my pool.  The only way would be the unlikely scenario that both teams looked really good, Nevada is a top 25 team, and ND is good despite winning by 1.

If ND wins by 50, and they legitimately look good, not just a result of Nevada sucking ass, Ill move ND into the top 10 right away.  I have no problems with that.

I dont know why other polls dont operate like this now that I think about it.

For example, last year, after Penn State manhandled Oregon State, I said "Penn State is one of the best 5 teams in the nation".  It ultimately was true, they were the entire season, and at the end they were one of the 5-7 best teams in the nation.  Going into the game against Oregon State, they were #19.  After winning by 31, they jumped all the way to........#17.  They werent ranked in the top 5 until week 7.  My goal is to do what I did last year - identify the potential Penn States, Alabamas, etc. early, and rank them accordingly.  OF course, with this enthusiastic outlook will come some "wrong" results.  I will rank teams in the top 5-10 that dont deserve it.  I will rank some teams in the top 5-10 that are not ranked in the top 5-10 in the AP that will ultimately be title contenders.  Those are the breaks.

Id rather do that then be a static piece of shit poll like the AP.  One that sets in stone and limits teams before they even play a game.  

Things that are Zero

This post is a tribute to the number zero.  

-Blutarski's GPA in his 7th year of college.  More technically, 0.0.

-The reporters IQ according to Ditka in a heated argument.  "You see that buddy, thats your IQ, zero!"

-2005 World Series Champion, Shingo Takatsu, more affectionately known as Mr. Zero.

-Amount of respect I have for LeGarette Blount and for the Oregon Ducks period - zero.

-The amount of first downs Oregon had in the first half last year.

-Realistically, the should be combined score of the N.C. State S. Carolina game.  THey could have played 12 more quarters with neither team scoring.

-Money in my fulltilt poker and pokerstars account combined - zero.

-But the real reason I wrote this article.  The % of space taken on my DVR after I cleaned house!!!!  Thats right, I geared up for the big one tomorrow.  I have the following taped:

at the 12:30 hour, Illinois vs Mizzou on ESPN and UGA vs Ok. State on ABC.  I declined to tape ND Nevada, because it is the game I would least like to see out of the 3, but also because itll probably be on replay on NBC some time during the week.   Then, I of course have the things after each of those games recorded for when they go long, college football overdrive or recap or some bs in both cases.  The next big invention for DVR companies will be to somehow know to extend a recording just based on the fact that it isn't over.  Even though they schedule a game for 3 hours, we all know that we should record the thing after it, for another hour to give us some time.  BUt sometimes, this isnt even enough.  THe worst experience of the last 5 years of my life was the Kentucky LSU 3 OT game in 2007.  You would think that 4.5 hours of recording would have been enough, but CBS' extra long commercials, plus a 3 OT game had the DVR crap out before the game was over.  This is when DVR was relatively new to me as well, so I didnt even see it coming.  I can still remember the rage.  Luckily, when games are on ESPN, and you are recording them consecutively, even if it goes wayyyy long into another one, youll have it recorded just because you are recording the game at the next time slot.

at 4:00 I have recorded the BYU-Oklahoma game on ESPN, and nothing else.  I guess the Alabama VT game doesnt start until 5:00.  

at 5:00, I have a 7 minute "college football preview" recorded, and then the Alabama game at 5:07.  I cant remember if they go directly to Musburger at 5:00, or they wait until 5:07.  Im pretty sure they go to James, Saunders, and Idiot of the week in the studio first, and then Musburger, but better safe than sorry.  Then I recorded the things after this game and the things after the BYU Oklahoma game, which I guess is being replayed early in the AM on ESPN.

At 7:00 I have recored LSU Washington.  THis is what the new college football season does.  I legitimately want to watch this game.  I am recording this game.  Washington went 0-12 last year, and I am excited to watch them play LSU.  I really cant explain it other than its opening weekend baby!  

Which is also why I plan on staying in tonight, getting up around 7 tomorrow, watching the beginning of gameday (something I rarely do), going to Ralph's, buying some beer, and heading over to the Coliseum at 9.  It should be a long, great day tomorrow.

I dont know how all this is going to work out.  THe only thing I am legitimately concerned about is this west coast time.  I have talked to a friend of mine from the Tampa area, who was of course on Eastern time, and he is also legitimately concerned.  Imagine normally watchign NFL games at 1 PM, and now you have to watch them at 10 AM.  Plus, I have to make a 25 minute drive out to his place in Culver City to watch the Sunday Ticket, so I am going to have to get up and leave around 830ish every Sunday morning.  Thats the price you pay for 4 TVs hooked up to the Ticket.  

Anyway, Im torn about whether or not I like that I get to see every game.  What I mean by that is, LSU Washington comes on at 7 here.  You could watch the entire game in the comfort of your own home, then go out, and not miss anything.  Where as in Chicago, you would have to leave at like halftime, or before the game is over, and watch the game in a crowded bar where no one else in interested in it but you, and your chances of getting laid decrease every second that you ignore the rest of the people you are with, and squint at a tv off in the distance of a close up of Steve Sarkesian.  It would seem like the West Coast has an advantage in that.

But the thing is, I kinda like when that happens.  I like when games go late.  I like staying up until 2 AM when a game goes late, and you say, yeah, this is an instant classic.  Let me put it to you this way, "no penalties, no penalties, yes" would have been way less funny, and probably wouldn't have happened, if we were on the West Coast.  It was Hawaii Washington (which was actually on a few weeks ago), and Im estimating that the game got done around 130 AM CST.  If its 1130, then youre still inside, at the bar, but you are not already crashing and eating at a late night breakfast place.  Not only that, but you aren't in that late night mode where everything is uproariously funny (not to say No penalties no penalties yes wouldnt have been funny otherwise).  Finally, no penalties no penalties yes guy wouldn't have probably been there if it were only 1130.  He probably would have been at wherever place he was beforehand that led him to be the no penalties no penalties yes guy.  I guess what IM saying is, by moving every game forward 2 hours, you kinda lose a nostalgic effect.

The obvious downside is that all the games start way too early in the morning.  9 AM for college football-Big10 Football, something Im obviously interested in?   Thats rough.  

The other thing that is problematic when it comes to attending USC games is 1) the travel, and 2) the timing.  Let me address these in reverse order.  Illinois was normally on at 11 CST.  The best games of the day are usually on at 230 CST, or at night.  Therefore, you are only missing other Big10 games when you actually attend an Illinois game.  You could record them if you want, but you aren't really missing anything.  You can record the beginning of a 230 CST game, and get caught up to the live moment pretty quickly.  It was never a problem.  So for example, this week would be the exception, as Illinois is on at 230 CST.  But say you went to Ohio State.  You could go watch your dumbasses play Navy at 11 CST.  You can recrod the beginning of the UGA OK St. game at 230.  Get home at like 3:00.  Get caught up, and not miss a beat.  

Well, USC, and all other west coast teams, as a result of being on the west coast, are not going to play 11 CST games, because that is 9:00 AM over here.  The normal starting time for games out here is 12:30 PST, which of course is 2:30 CST.  Which means what?  Which means that the games are on at the same time that all the other good games are on.  Does that mean that USC game is going to be good?  No, it just means that its on early for PST purposes.  So USC vs San Jose State is played at the same time as marquee games, just because of geography.  Its frustrating.  That, or they play in the late afternoon, at 5:00 PM PST.  THis is even worse, as were now kicking off at 7:00 PM CST, right about as Musburger is ready to kick off the game of the week.  Games on the west coast present many conflicting schedules, conflicts of interest, whatever.

The other thing I mentioned was the travel.  At U of I, you could walk to the game in 10 mins, and if it sucked (as it most often did the first three years I was there), you could just walk back in 10 mins and plop on the couch, order a calzone, and be in the zone for the next 10 hours.  Well, in the case of USC, I expect it to take a hour to get home tomorrow.  It takes me 30 mins to get home on a school day, and I figure double tomorrow.  Nobody in their right mind lives around USC, so its impossible to walk to the Coliseum and home in 10 mins.  Its back to the NFL game mentality, where you dont just go for 3 hours, you go 2 hours before, the 3 hour game, and then at least an hour to get home.  It sucks.  I wish I could walk over, get drunk, leave if I wanted, and walk home, but thats not the case.  But the point Im trying to make is that, I will be away from a tv for longer, which just means that I need to do more prep work on my DVR.

Its a new experience, and I will let you know how it goes.  If I had to guess, I would say that I dont like it.  I dont like the games starting early, I dont like that USC plays at a marquee time slot, and I dont like the travel involved.  All of these except the first will be remedied when USC plays on the road, and I dont have to worry about going or even committing to one game.  For instance, next week, Ill just get up at 9 and watch football all day, culminating in USC OHio State at night, which I would watch anyway.  BUt say in 7 weeks or whatever, when they travel to Arizona State, yeah, Ill watch the game, but I will definitely flip between other games.

The only other problem is you run the risk of hearing what is going on in other games before you get to watch them.  It was hard to avoid last night, and it was just Oregon Boise and S Carolina NC State.  The only game I really want to avoid hearing about tomorrow is Illinois Mizzou.  BUt think, youre at a football game.  The announcer could announce the scores, the scoreboard can show them, kid in front of you with an iphone can read them off, you can overhear the guy in the bathroom, you can hear them on the radio on the way home, you can accidentally turn on ESPN when you walk in, and the bottom line will be on the game you dont want to see at that exact moment.  It takes a lot of effort.  I dont mind if I know whos winning the UGA Ok State game, and Im going to watch that either way, but I would like to watch Illinois Mizzou fresh.  Ill be just about home by the time Oklahoma BYU and the other late games start, so I just have to avoid the computer and accidentally turning on ESPN at that point.  There is no longer the risk of overhearing someone talk about the games.  

Then its just a matter of how disciplined I want to stay.  I see a potential conflict.  Say I dont hear about anything.  I get home at 4:00.  I sit down, and watch the Illinois Mizzou game.  First off, there will be updates of the UGA Ok State game on the bottom of the screen and live look ins during the Ill Mizz broadcast.  That hurts.  There will also be updates of ND Nevada, which will be nice, cause then its like Im watching it unfold before my eyes, even though in reality the game will be over.  Thats the conflict.  But, this brings a new idea to my head.  

1) I could watch UGA Ok State on tape, even though I may know what happens, and continue to record BYU OK and VT Bama.  

2) I could watch BYU OK / VT Bama sorta live get caught up, still taping both of them, flipping between them, and watch UGA Ok State later.  THis may be what I ultimately do.  I guess it depends on how much I really know/find out about the UGA game.  If I know who won by the time I finish Illinois, then it wont matter.  I could watch the late games with no fear of finding out who won the UGA game - Ill already know.  I think I will watch the Illinois game, find out who won UGA by watching it, then turn on probably the VT Bama game on tape delay, and probably get caught up the time its over.  THis presents the same problem then, though, as by watching the Bama game, I will get live updates of whats going on in Oklahoma BYU.  But, either way, that was bound to happen.  I dont want to look and see the scores and then determine which game I want to start watching, so its kinda a coin flip of which game I think will be better.  I think it will be Bama VT, so Ill start to watch that, and get to the end of it live.  At this point it will be late, and Ill have 2 games on the DVR which I know the result, but wont have seen any of.  Then maybe I can join the LSU Washington game in progress, again, which wont reveal anything I dont know, go on the computer, check other scores, etc.

Then after all that, I can watch the tapes of the games I have on DVR.

Sounds like a plan.

THis all came from clearing my DVR.

Thursday Night Reaction

It took like .0001 milliseconds for me to remember the things I DONT like about college football.  Sean McDonugh is the first voice I hear.  Then I have to see James and Palmer.  Then I have to see a Kenny Chesney montage.  Then I have to hear its friendship week or some bs.  3 hours later (1.5 in DVR time), I see that its Bob Davie and Mark Jones doing the game.  Its a bad state when you watch two games on opening night, and the best announcer of the 5 is Davie.  Even worse when the second best is James.  Keep in mind that Davie said "highly innovative offenses 15 times", and I still think he was the best of the worst.  Let me get all the non-football things out of the way:

I saw two things I have never seen before tonight.  

1) Them calling an illegal man down field on N.C. State on a post pattern 35 yards deep.  Obviously James or Palmer, or both, were both right on it saying that this is now a point of emphasis, and will be called this year.  Umm, okay.

2) In the Boise State game, they ran a play, throwing it to the tight end for a first and goal.  Then the refs threw a flag.  They said that the offensive lineman lined up in the neutral zone, and the play should have never been run, but it was.  5 yard penalty.  Never saw that.

The officiating figures to be a constant problem all year.  It has shown no signs of improvement.  I think it is ridiculous that in a non conference game, one of the conferences involved has officials calling the game.  SEC officials called the S Carolina NC State game, and WAC officials called the Boise Oregon game.  Its beyond dumb.  

Could Mark Jones be more un-intelligent when it comes to the game of football?  Just listening to the first 2 minutes, I said to myself, oh boy...this is gonna be a long game.  

Its 19-8.  Oregon Ball.  Its 4th and 1 from the 22 yard line.  Theres 10 mins left.  Oregon goes for it.  THey get stopped in the backfield.  Biggest play of the game really.  He is like, barely alive as he calls it.  Why would this be?

a) He has a paycheck on Oregon

b) Hes shot up with sedatives 

c) He doesnt know anything about football

Probably c.  How come when I watch the NBA, as infrequently as that is, and its Lakers Suns or something, and as they go to a commercial, and show Kobe Bryant doing some average crossover on Raja Bell in slow motion, I have to hear Mark Jones yell "Kobe Bryant says, I got something for ya!!!!!" yet when they get a 4th down stop, I hear "Oregon is stopped,"  in a Joe Buck monotone voice?

I dont think Jesse Palmer said one original thing the whole game.  90% of the time, he just repeats what Craig James says.  At one point, Craig James asked him "What do you think of Ole Miss?"  Palmer responded "I like Ole Miss, they play LSU and Alabama at home"

Really?  That is why you like someone?  I talked about this obsession with schedules in an earlier post.  Imagine though, having this same discussion in any other sport.  It just doesnt make sense.....

Me: "How you think the Bears are gonna be this year"

Person: "They play Green Bay week 1 on sunday night"

Does that make any sense?  Of course not.  Why does it make sense in college football?  It shouldnt.

The dumbest thing in the history of any television broadcast, not just ESPN, is how they show the starting lineups on top of the screen, above the clock.  First off....you cant look at both those and the action on the field.  So its dumb right there.  Second, theres a debate in psychology that some people are audio learners, some visual.  Well, with the old system, you had both.  Whats an easier way to memorize something?  Read it, or read it, hear it, and see a picture of the person to go along with it?  And as a result of this, combined with poor announcing, its impossible to even know the players on any team.  Finally, football is the ultimate team game.  There are 22 starters.  Over 30-35 people get legitimate playing time.  Then, add in all the special teams play (which was beyond bad by all teams tonight), and you get a lot of people playing.  ESPN narrows it down to 3 "impact players".  Why?  Why cant they just highlight those people as they go through all 22 starters?  Even if they are so bent on using their lingo, why can't they just go through 22 starters, and say "LB Eric Norwood is an impact player", and have a picture of all 3 linebackers on the screen with their names on it?  I know this isnt that hard, because this is the way it was done for 20 years.  

Pretty sloppy play on all teams' parts.

South Carolina vs North Carolina State.

The only touchdown resulted from a turnover, and USC only had to go 20 yards or something. Why did N.C. State refuse to throw the ball down the field?  I thought USC's defense played pretty well.  Obviously Norwood had a good game, but CB Akeem Auguste played well, as well as Rodney Paulk and Darian Stewart.  Im still not sold on Garcia at QB, but he looked better than any point last year.  

N.C. State should be embarrassed.  THe only thing to hang their hat on is the play of their defense.  They just have no weapons on the offensive side.  They really need to open up the playbook a little more.  I dont wanna talk about this anymore, because Im kinda embarrassed I gave NC State any kind of credit.  

Boise State vs Oregon

The first half, Boise State looked, really, really really, good.  They played great defense.  This is an Oregon team that scored 40 points + or something three straight games.  They had a top rushing offense.  And they didnt get a first down until the third quarter.  I only got to see Boise a few times last year, and in the Poinsettia Bowl, Kellen Moore looked just okay.  Then, I pick up an athlonsports this year, and its just all Moore, Moore, Moore.  Well that is all deserved.  There were some touch throws he made that were great.  He looks like the real deal.

I dont really need to discuss how sloppy the play was in the second half.  Boise could have won this game by 24+.

I also dont appreciate having to hear Davie talk 100 times about how "as long as the BCS standings come out in December have Boise in there, they dont care how they got it done, how sloppy it was", and all other Boise in the BCS talk.  Its September 4th.  Please.  I have never heard a more premature BCS crowning for ANY team.  

If LeGarette Blount were such a badass, you would think hed have had more than negative five yards rushing.  The old saying is do your talking after the fact, off the field, not on it, right?  

This brings me back to my "there is gonna be a brawl some day theory".  Blount was totally out of control.  Now, imagine, if for no good reason, Boise State fans rushed the field.  Fans have rushed the field for less in the past.  Imagine if there were a couple hundred of fans in the tunnel and in the end zone that Blount had to walk by.  

I really dont know what to say about Mark May at this point.  He has new glasses.  In the Coors LIght six pack of "hard" questions, they asked him 3, and then he got time off in-between, probably because it was so excruciatingly difficult. These were the questions, and his answers:

1) How many games will Florida lose (0).

2) Who can win the title not in the top 10 (N. Carolina).

3) Who can win the Heisman not in the top 3 (Best).

I can see how that would warrant a break.

The only other thing that really annoys me about college football is the Heisman.  It isn't even really an award at this point.  It just goes to the QB of the best offensive/best team.  The exception to this would be that Tebow played on an 8-4 Florida team the year he won it.  The last RB to win it was Bush in 05.  Before that, Dayne in 99. Every year in-between, a QB has won it.  Most of them are less than spectacular.  Its a stupid award.  That, and it is decided in the beginning of the year.  Theres no doubt that the 3 big names will be there in December barring some injury or really freaky.  Thats why no one even cares who wins anymore. 

Beyond this, then they ask who can win that isnt those 3.  So they just give the best RB in the nation, Jahvid Best, and then everyone gives the Eric Berry speech.  You know, the speech that you've heard 100 times the past 2 weeks: "Well I like Eric Berry, even though he plays safety.  Hell have to make some plays.  Charles Woodson is the last defensive player to win the award, and he also was featured on the offense and returned kicks."  If you havent heard that yet, you will.  

But the highlight of the whole night was after showing the Blount punch a couple of times, Davie exclaims, outraged: "and this all coming after a pre-game handshake on good sportsmanship night!"

Like he was legitimately outraged.  It sounded like something that would be yelled out in a Rocky movie.  The one I thought of is when Drago kills Creed, and, well before he kills him, after the first round, the black trainer of Creed's gets up and screams "this is supposed to be an exhibition!!!!"

Not really the same thing, but the outrage is there in both cases.

Okay.....

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12147883

Picks for Week 1

So Ill try and give what I think my best bets are for this weeks games.  Week 1 is very difficult, but there is some value to be had, its just hard to find.  Think of all the movement there will be from now until December.

Last year, Alabama and Penn State were ranked in the 20s.  Utah wasn't ranked.

Wisconsin, W. Virginia, Clemson were ranked in the top 10.

Even when teams do well, it doesn't mean it starts right away.  Oregon State looked like absolute shit against Stanford the first Thursday of the year.  They went on to beat USC and win 9 games for the 2nd straight year.  Mississippi lost to Wake Forest, and went on to beat Florida and win the Cotton Bowl.  There is really no way of judging it right now, or even next week.  Teams that are "sleepers" usually pull one big upset in week 4-6, and then get hot, and win all of their remaining games or all of their games minus one.  

If I really had to make a prediction of who those teams would be, Id pick someone like Arkansas, Stanford, or Baylor.

So, that being said, that means nothing for week 1.  Baylor could be 7-5 when the season ends, but they could lose to Wake Forest by 30 on Saturday.  Its difficult to diagnose.

That being said, here is my best chance to diagnose.

Keep in mind, there are no public underdog.  In a previous post, I forewarned about the dangers of a public underdog.  What is that?  Well that means that although a team is an underdog, a majority of people are taking them WITH THE SPREAD.  It is not a good thing to be.  I cant run the numbers now, but if you want, go back to last year, see all the times a team was underdogged but received a majority of bets on them, and won.  I would say its less than 25%.  How do you know what team receives the most money?  Right here:

http://contests.covers.com/Handicapping/consensusPick/daily-consensus-picks.aspx?sport=2&date=9/5/2009&select_type=0

It really is remarkable.  Remember, you arent betting on Penn State to beat Akron.....you are betting on them to win by 27.  Even with that in mind, 80% of the world thinks Penn State will win by 4 touchdowns or more!  It is ridiculous.  So as you can see, the favorite with the least amount of confidence in the public is California -21, with 51% of the vote.  Actually, Boise State has a 50.44% vote, but they are listed on Thursdays games.  That is about as close as it can get to split action.  

Think about this fact.  If you take one thing from this article, take this:

Any team, any spread, this week, the favorite got more people to bet on them than the underdog.

That is really remarkable.  Texas -41.5?   They still got 75% of the world to bet on them!  There is just some natural tendency for people to bet on the favorite.  I guess it is because usually they are the better team.  What people forget is that you are then laying points.  Yeah, Texas is better than La-Monroe, but 42 points better?  But it is hard to believe that every favorite gets more action.

But Vegas likes this.  The more people that bet on a losing team, the more money they win.  In the long run, Vegas makes money, otherwise it wouldn't exist.  It takes an overwhelming amount of confidence to even break the 50% mark, and have an underdog receive more action than a favorite.  That is why, when it does happen, you should be weary.

It is also interesting that only 6 home teams are underdogs.  2 of them are Washington and Washington State.  Another is Syracuse.  You get the idea.  It is rather tough to be an underdog at home, but will be more abundant once conference play starts.

Looking at percentages is one of many things that I look at when betting games.  I cant reveal them all because a) it would take too long, b) my enemy CanMan reads this blog, and I am in a direct competition with him betting on games this year.  I cant reveal my secrets.  

If I were in Las Vegas this weekend, this is who I would bet on:

Louisiana Tech +13.5  @ Auburn

Miami +6.5 @ Florida State

Ohio +3.5 vs UConn

Memphis +17 vs Ole Miss

And thats about it.

The games I would seriously consider betting on, and if I were drunk/hot/won at something else I would take:

W. Michigan +13 @ Michigan

Nevada +14 @ Notre Dame

Washington +17.5 vs LSU

Syracuse +6.5 vs Minnesota   (Would have to be real drunk).

So I clearly like all underdogs.  In the big games/games in my pool, I took:

BYU +21.5 vs Oklahoma (@ Cowboys Stadium)

Georgia +5.5 @ Oklahoma State

Alabama -6.5 vs Virginia Tech (@ Georgia Dome)

Oregon +4.5 @ Boise State

So out of all those games, and even ones I wouldnt bet on, I only took one favorite.  But well see.  If I were a betting man, I would take the first four, then the next four would get some consideration, and then the final four I can enjoy without having money on it/the spread is just about right on and I cant for sure decide on either side.

Well see how it turns out.

Enjoy Week 1

Tomorrow is like Christmas Day.  Christmas Day if you wake up, go to class for 12 hours, drive home at midnight, get home, put a brickoven pizza in the oven, and watch DVRed games from 1 - 5 AM.  I love it.

Why am I not in charge of ESPN Classic or other?

Why am I not in charge of ESPN Classic/ESPNU/some channel that shows classic college football?  I dont get it.  I realized this today when I was thinking about the Boise State vs ORegon game this Thursday.  Can I really be expected to give a thorough preview?  I saw Boise State like 3 times last year, Oregon even less times.  So what I said to myself was, "I wish they had last years game on ESPNU this week".  It doesnt seem like that extravagant of a request, since ESPNU has been showing games from 2008 ALL SUMMER.  Yet, this game has been excluded.  So I went through ESPNUs schedule for the next week, and there is nothing.  All of Monday and Tuesday is something called coaches spotlight.  Dont worry, Ill watch it and let you know how it is.  I can see it being really good, unless it is a repeat over and over (its on all day).  

So then I check ESPN Classic.  In the past, Classic has shown games from previous years of games that were to be played in the week.  So for example, for this week, they would show old FSU Miami games, last years Oregon Boise game, Rutgers Cinci maybe, and whatever good games of teams that are playing.  This makes more sense once conference starts, and the teams have 80 previous encounters or whatever.

Again, no Boise Oregon 08!   There is a lot of college football on though.  Which I like.  The games you could probably guess.  There is some good and some bad.  From now til Thursday Night, you have:

2002 Nebraska Mississippi Independence Bowl (I have no recollection of this game.  I can place it, its a year after Nebraska was in the title game.  It was a year before Miss played Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.  Eli Manning was of course on Miss.  I even went to a Nebraska game this year - loss to Colorado, and I dont remember this game.

2004 Oklahoma LSU Title Game - this game sucks, but Ill enjoy watching SGB lose a game he was favored in, (and shouldnt have been in).

1983 Sugar Bowl  Pitt UGA  - Good game, but Ive seen it 1000 times.

1979 Sugar Bowl Penn State Bama  - I dont think I have ever seen this, maybe parts.

2003 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State Miami -- I honestly think this is an over rated game.  I mainly think this cause they fucked Miami big time.  How could you say a game is classic when a team gets so obviously screwed?  THat and I dont like Ohio State.  IVe seen this game 1000 times.

1998 Virginia Tech Miami - This is an okay game.  Its pre Vick, and not the season in which they go to the title game.

1996 NW USC Rose Bowl -- Pretty good game.  Keyshawn Johnson was obviously unstoppable.

1988 Oklahoma OKie State --- Never seen it, but looking forward to it.  Barry Sanders obviously is the main attraction.

2008 Oklahoma Texas - Obviously wrote a whole post about this game already.

1997 Sugar Bowl Florida FSU  --- Terrible Game.  Florida bombed it every play, and it worked.

1991 Miami FSU --- Wide Right I.  Definite classic.  Which brings me to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR3SXPfO-Qk&feature=PlayList&p=6D6569A4EF988344&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

One of the best things Ive seen on youtube.  Its a ripoff of the 1986 Game 6 World Series to RBI baseball, but rules anyway.  I love Keith Jackson.  If they played that song after the missed it to the right in the stadium, that would be awesome.

So that is 11 games.  With no rhyme or reason.  Those are the best 11 games they came up with?  Theres some title games, some bowl games, some regular season games.  If you could pick 11 games from all time to watch - would you pick any of those?  How many?  Not to mention, they show the SAME games over and over.

There are some games that I would love to see again, or have never seen and would like to see.....

Where is ND Miami 88?  ND Penn State 92?  Where is Alabama Miami 92 SUgar Bowl?  Where is the Michigan Alabama Orange Bowl.  If I had to rank the best BCS games --- id put Michigan Bama Orange Bowl #3 --- behind 2005 National Title (which gets a little boost because of the fact it was for the title), and 2005 Rose Bowl (whatever year was Michigan Texas). This ranking puts them right ahead of maybe Boise Oklahoma.

Its fun, I might do this soon, to rank all the BCS games.  THe ones I would rank as the worst are probably, in no order:

Utah Pitt 05 (that is in order, that was the worst), UGA Hawaii 08, Oklahoma Wazzu 03, Colorado Oregon 02, Florida Maryland 02, probably LSU Illinois 02 and even the title game of 02 - Nebraska Miami.   It is undeniable that 01-02 was the worst year of BCS games.  Not even close.  Not one of them was good.  

I never saw the 07 Orange Bowl betewen Louisville and Wake Forest.  Some of the early BCS games are kinda fuzzy ---- I dont really remember Syracuse Florida 98, and for some reason I dont remember Miami FSU 04 Orange Bowl.  I dont know why.  Maybe Ill rank the 47 games sometime soon.  

BUt back to my point, why do they play this shittiest stuff on classic?  

Where is Penn State Miami 86?  Where is any game from 1994 other than Colorado Michigan?  Where is any game from 1995?  Where is the Nebraska FSU 1993 title game?  How many times have you seen any of these games?  Where is the Earthquake Game?  Instead, I have to watch part 1 and part 2 from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRl9jrD0FI

How come there are no Michigan ND 1987-1993 games featured?   Where is the game of the century - ND FSU 1993?  Where is the ND MSU game with Charlie Rogers and Arnaz Battle providing late fireworks (02?).  Where is ND Nebraska where Crouch scores the game winner?  Where is Nebraska Oklahoma 01 with the throwback play to Crouch?  

Where is Ohio State Michigan State 98?  Where is Ohio State Purdue 02?  Where is Northwestern Michigan whatever year it was whatever, 55-45?  (02?).  Where is Purdue Georgia Capital one Bowl?  Where are those Iowa Michigan games from the early 2000s?  Where is Penn State Minnesota 99? (This one is actually kinda on often).  

Seriously, where the fuck is Arizona State Ohio State Rose Bowl.  This could be a top 5-10 game of our lifetime, and Ive seen it maybe 3-4 times.  Not to mention, you get the absolute greatest Musburger of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1HtofWTGGk

Just seriously take 10 mins out of your life and watch those highlights.  You get Musburger.  You get Vermeil.  The national championship is on the line for the Sun Devils.  If that lateral on the blocked field goal wasnt forward, that would have won the title for ASU. That would have been one of the greatest plays ever.  Snake Plummer was so cool under pressure.  Burger had the Sun Devils, which leads to the absolute greatest announcing moment of all time.  I wont ruin it if you never heard it - 6:17 - 6:27.

I kinda hate these youtubes, cause fanboys of a team post them.  So this fag from OSU posted this, and you get biased highlight footage.  

Musburger sounds more heartbroken that Plummer looks.

Ill leave it at that for today.

Where 

LVSC index

The Las Vegas Sports Consultants Index - POwer Rankings are finally up.  

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/story.cfm/story/895090

I use this as a holy grail of everything.  That is, its a pretty accurate ranking methodology, and it sets spreads.  So for example, Florida has an index of 121.4, and Oklahoma 118.4.  That means if they played in Pasadena for the tile right now, Florida should be a 3 point favorite (121.4-118.4).  Generally, home field is worth 5 points.  So if they played in Gainesville, Florida would be favored by 8, and if they played in Norman, Oklahoma would be favored by 2.  THis is just a guideline.  Sooooo....in our hypothetical title game again, in Pasadena, if Florida was less than a 3 point favorite, you should take them.  If they were more, you should take Oklahoma.  LVSC is just saying that on a neutral field, Florida is 3 points better than Oklahoma.  

So lets try to apply this to Week 1 games. 

Boise State is rated behind Oregon, and would be about a 3 point favorite.  IN reality, they are a 5 point favorite.  So its pretty close.  Remember, that 5 point addition to a home field is just a benchmark.  In Boise States case, it might actually be more, since they have not lost at home in a few years.  It is about right on.  When this happens, I would say that you might get some value in taking Oregon +5, but it doesnt mean that they are a lock to cover, will cover, or will even lose by less than 21...it just means there is a LITTLE value there.  

Im imaging that these rankings take into account the injury to VT RB Darren Evans.   Since his injury, the spread has gone up to Alabama -7.  Again, Bama is about 5 points higher on the index rating, so very close (remember this game is on a neutral field, which is what the index is based on).  So same thing, you might get some value in taking Virginia Tech, but inconclusive overall. 

Ok State should be favored by 7, and they are favored 6.  Again, right on.  Cant wait to watch that game on DVR.

You could also look ahead and see that depending what happens, USC and OSU will be a pick em. 

THe obvious limitation to this is that it only ranks 30 teams.  However, sometimes you can get a grasp on a spread no matter what.  E.G.   Rutgers is ranked.  Cinci isnt.  Rutgers is AT LEAST 0.5 points better than Cinci (as the lowest team ranked is 0.5 below), and Rutgers is at home that week.  So, they should be at least a 5.5 favorite.  Rutgers could be a good pick Week 1.  

This doesnt work when we want to measure the value in the Notre Dame Nevada game, as we have no idea where Nevada is ranked.  All we can say is, ND should be at least favored by 9, but since they are favored by 14, we can't argue any which way.  

Other than that, there always figures to be some interesting - different teams on the list.  What jumps out at me of course is Illinois.  I said earlier that they should give Penn State trouble this year.  Well, if that game was played tomorrow, they would be favored over Penn State (its in Champaign this year).  The #1 rule of betting is that you dont know anything that Vegas doesnt know...think about DeNiro in Casino.  Dont try to figure out some angle that they havent thought of.  So, even though I have seen every Illinois game since 2004, Im imagining that they have as well, or know more about them than I do.  That being said, it is hard to believe that they have them ranked higher than UGA, Boise, or Virginia Tech.  

LVSC does not think highly of Michigan State, which means that a ND -3.5 vs the Spartans price tag looks VERY attractive.  

Thats all I see for right now.  You can play around with future matchups and that. 

Thoughts and rest of the top 25

Yea, I get upset when the preview says 1983 BYU-UCLA on ESPN Classic, and then I turn it on, and its the Little League World Series.  True, I got a Musburger buzz.  Within 25 seconds he made some joke about a kids age, then clarified that he was only joking and that the mother did provide a birth certificate.  Amazing that this week hell be there, next week hell be in Atlanta, 2 weeks hell be in Columbus.

Ive become busy. I hope to keep writing on this blog once the season starts.  In fact, I thought that the blog would become better once the season did start.  Right now I cant really tell you anything more than what you can read in a magazine preview.  

Speaking of which, one of the few people I like on ESPN.com is Bruce Feldman. He wrote a book 3 years ago about recruiting, and Ole Miss is specified in it.  He wrote about how he thought they were building and would be good very soon (obviously was right).  THen you log onto ESPN, and you have to read Pat Forde (who I dont like) write an article about Ole Miss and how HE thinks theyll be good.  Like, thats some newsflash.  Your colleague writes a book three years ago about a team, and then you write an article on the same subject, after the fact.  Nice foresight Pat!   What do you think Feldman thinks of this?   Did scientists go up to Einstein years after his Theory of Relativity and say "hey, Al, I think I figured out this theory."  Or "did you ever hear about this Albert?".  What an ass, but I can't really blame him.  Wouldn't ESPN just ask Feldman to write the article on Ole Miss?

So, going off what I said earlier, you should know that the final 4 teams in my countdown are USC, Alabama, Texas, and Florida, in that order.  I don't really feel like writing an in-depth preview like I did with the other teams, but will mention some brief things about each team.  If you don't know who is on each team, or who they are playing, or whatever at this point, then you probably shouldn't be reading my blog.  Anyway:

4. USC

I ultimately gave the edge to Alabama over USC because the Tide return more of their defense.  I think USC's offense could be just as good as the years they had Leinart-Bush-White.  THe obvious question is at QB, and it is still unanswered.  As of today, Aaron Corp returned to practice.  He was the frontrunner, but Barkley will ultimately be a stud.  I dont know who will start, but I'm sure he will have earned it - (more on this later).  THey have an extraordinary amount of talent on the offensive side.  RBs Stafon Johnson, Joe McKnight, and CJ Gable all return, and all split time last year.  There was actually word of moving McKnight to cornerback.  They also have WRs Damien Williams, Ronald Johnson, and according to AthlonSports, the best Offensive Line in the nation.  If Sanchez returned, many people would be saying that it would be the best offense in the nation.  Could it still be?

Well, I dont know.......   how big of a role does the QB actually play in an offense.  The first instinctive answer would be "a ton, are you kidding?"  But think about the Patriots last year.  Did Cassell have a good year?  Were the Pats good?   Yes to both, but not as good probably as Brady and not as good as Pats 2007.  Pats 2007 to Pats 2008 is an unfair comparison, and so is Pats to Trojans, but you get the idea.  Whoever ends up being the QB will be surrounded with tons of talent.  Whenever you have a good line protecting you, a stable of backs to hand off to, and talented receivers to throw to, you'll be okay.  THe problem is is that they travel to the Horseshoe on Sept. 12th.  That will be an extremely difficult test.  It'll be the second start, the first road start for whichever QB, and it should be interesting to see what USC comes up with.  Last year's game was close for a while before the defense took over, something that needs to rebuilt this year.

The only other obvious flaw with USC is that they need to rebuild their defense.  They lost however many players to the NFL draft in 08, and whoever they put in should be good, but how good how quickly?  Can they replace Mauluga, Cushing, and Matthews?  Prob not.  Will they have to?  Eventually, if they want to win more than a Pac-10 title.  Despite being nationally significant every year since 01, the Trojans have not won the national title in five years.  The past 4 years in which they didnt win the title has been a mix of problems.  In 05 they lost to Texas, and really blew that game.  In 06, they would have been in the title game if they didnt lose 13-9 to UCLA --- the offenses fault right?  Well, they also lost 33-31 earlier that year to Oregon State, so that would indicate the defense was at fault.  In 07, they lost to Stanford and Oregon (both Ill blame on the defense), and last year they got run all over by Oregon State (defenses fault).  So oddly enough, the offense has, for the most part, done its part.  

Safety Taylor Mays needs to be mentioned.  I would take him #1 overall in the NFL draft.  Hes 6'3" 230 lbs, and runs a 4.3 40.  That is linebacker speed and CB speed, placed at safety.  He doesn't make as many big plays as Tennessee safety Eric Berry, but is a bigger hitter.  SS Josh Pinkard also returns.

So why so much faith in the defense and the quarterback position?  Well, USC, and probably all of the top programs, have such competition amongst positions.  DO you really think that Corp or Barkley will suck?  I mean, odds are, more likely than not, theyll be good.  That is based on nothing, I know, and if they suck, Ill be the first to admit it, but in the past 10 years, has USC shown any signs of recruiting and ultimately playing a bad player?  

Think about Rudy.  Yeah, the Notre Dame Rudy.  We all love Rudy.  I get chills every time I watch the part where the assistant coach gives the wanna-bes the speech of how none of them will ever dress, and will be used as tackling dummies and run the oppositions plays, and then they hit the ropes and the music plays.  If you don't like Rudy, you are an idiot.  

Anyway, think about what Rudy brought to the table.  Intensity in practice.  What happens?  He tackles Vince Vaughn.  Vaughn gets upset.  Coach Parseghian yells at Vaughn, and says something along the lines of  "if you had half the heart of Ruettiger's, then you would be All-American, instead, you just got demoted to third team offense".  

There are two points to this story.  One:  Vaughn was expendable.  ND, USC of this decade, and most major programs this decade have such an embarrassment of riches, that if the heralded recruit has an attitude problem, or if for any reason isnt living up to potential, they just sit him.  You don't wanna work hard or aren't filling your potential, then we will put someone else in that is just as good as you.

Two, Ruettiger could never really move up.  He was limited by his size.  Despite having the biggest heart and fire in him, he was, as Fortune says, "five foot nothing, 100 and nothing".  So, all of his shortcomings could not be made up for. At the top programs, such as USC, everyone is a freak athlete.  Well, not everyone, but there is more competition.  Im not saying that anyone on USC or any other program has Ruettiger's psyche, I'm just saying that the more competition, the better.  Any single week that you are slacking, there is someone behind you that is just as big, just as physical, and if they are outworking you, they will play instead of you.  Whoever ND's defensive ends were never were threatened by being overtaken by Rudy on shear size alone.  

That is the case at USC though.  Imagine that you have 30 all americans in high school.   Say 30/100 of the best defensive players in the nation, and that could be being generous.  Then, say 6 of those are safeties, and are going to sit behind Pinkard and Mays.  So now, you have 24 people competing for 9 positions.  Doesn't that sound like something that will produce good results?  Not only that, but dont keep up the good work?  Play like shit against San Jose State, etc?  Then someone else will play.  That is how you get to be better, the best, and fulfill your highest potential.

The same thing is in play at QB.  BIll Simmons has talked about the spirit of competition many times.  He talks about it in reference to Kobe, Lebron, etc, all being on the USA Olympic team.  Well, this is different because the QBs are on the same team.  BUT..................say Sanchez returned.  He would kinda be the chosen one/projected to be the starter/the favorite, etc.   He probably would not be pushed as much as the 2 QBs who are competing now.  I would make a Tebow/McCoy/Bradford comparison here, but I think that those guys have enough fire under their ass to motivate themselves (Tebow especially).  I mean, there is no way that anyone can compete and take the job from Tebow.  So QB X would become lackadaisical, and accept his position.  This isn't the case at USC for ANY position.  The best player will play.

On the flip side, there are times in college, and more often the pros, where prima donna, cry baby player with tons of talent plays despite not being the best.  You ever watch the Cubs or hear of Alfonso Soriano?  Or, for a football case, Martez Wilson for Illinois......   He was rated top 20 by most places coming out of High School, top 5 some places.  He played on Special Teams fresh year, OLB Soph year.  He has been anything but spectacular.  Is he really being pushed?  By nature, he is the best athlete on Illinois' defense.  He is not really facing a threat to lose his job.  He can coast and still play.  He will not achieve his full potential until he lights a fire under himself (I doubt he can), or someone else does.

Right now, picking every game, I take USC to win every game.  Overall, they probably lose a couple, but still win the PAc-10.  They travel to Columbus, South Bend, Eugene, and Berkeley.  Ouch.  They shouldn't lose at home, or any other games.  10-2 shoudl be the worst they go.  

3.  Alabama

As Musburger said, Alabama is going to use Julio Jones in tons of new, inventive ways.  I really can't wait to see what they come up with.  (Bama is up to -7 now that VT RB Evans is out....I wonder if Burger got that at -4.5...knowing his level of intelligence he probably did..................................he might have even been in on this "injury" of Evans.)  Anyway, the combination of this freak athlete Jones (who is built like Owens), and Saban should come up with tons of great packages.  They need to find a new QB, RB, and offensive line.  

Bama is kinda like the opposite of USC, in that, they return almost all of their defense.  Nose Tackle Terrance Cody is a future first round pick, LB Rolando McClain is a future first rounder, and CB Javier Arenas is, you guessed it, a future first rounder.  The only piece they really lose or are going to miss is S Rashad Johnson.  He led the team in INTs last year.    I read somewhere that Cody, despite being 6'5" 356 Lbs, can dunk a Basketball.  That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.  The point is is that the defense is going to be awesome.  If they can get past VT, they have a couple more games to get the offense figured out before they host Arkansas 9/26.

I would say that the under in the opener is a lock, but it could be the situation where the defense is TOO good.  THat is, they pin a team inside the 1, get a punt and return it to the other teams 20.  Now, under most conditions, neither team will be able to drive the field, but only 20 yards?  That, or theres a sack-fumble, pick6, anything.  There are instances where defenses were too good to make an under.  

Most notable instance of this is the 2006 Orange Bowl between Penn State and Florida State.  Not only their defenses being too good, the game went to 3Ots.  It was one of the worst losses in gambling I ever had....including:  Monday Night Football Colts vs Bucs (I wanna say this was 03?), where TB was up 21 with 4 mins left, then lost, aided by a leaping call,  UCONN -2 vs Duke in 04 FF, where Duhon hit a halfcourt 3 at the buzzer to lose by 1, and Auburn -7 in the 05 Sugar Bowl where they were winning by 16 with like 7 mins left.  They then let VT go right down the field, and then bomb it with 230 left for 80 yd TD and win 16-14.  THat was especially painful because I just had my tonsils out that morning, and couldnt even move as I watched it.  

I know you find it hard to imagine I was on the losing end of all these games, as some of them are historically bad, but I was.   To get in a better mood, Ill talk about some of my "luckier" covers:

Arizona +2 in the Elite Eight vs Illinois.  While they should have covered, as they were winning the whole game, I kinda bet on Arizona as a hedge.  If they won, Id be pissed, but win $$$$.  If they lost, it would have been worth whatever I bet for Illinois to make the FF.  Somehow, after all the commotion that we all know about now, Illinois won by 1, which made it a win-win.  

Hmmmmm, thats all I can remember.  Ill need to think about this more.  You really only remember your bad losses, never the good ones.

'Bama though, they go to Ole Miss and host LSU.  Ill say they win both.  They dont play UGA or Florida.  Theyll probably go undefeated and then lose to Florida in the SEC title game, same as last year.

2.  Texas

Texas is very balanced.   They have McCoy, RB Cody Johnson, who should be a battering ram, Jordan Shipley, and 3 linemen returning.  They also have 7 returning starters on defense, featuring DE Sergio Kindle.  I can't believe I would ever like Texas, and I don't, but compared to Oklahoma, theyre the 85 Bears/96 BUlls/92 Blackhawks rolled into one.  Well, not really, but theyre cooler than Oklahoma.  

Ill take them to be the runners-up to.......

1.  Florida

If you don't know who is on this team, then shame on you.

A quick note though.  Think about how remarkable it is that they return 11 starters on defense.  There isn't another team in the nation that returns 11 starters on either side of the ball.  Thats 120 teams, 2 sides, 240 total.  So out of 240, theres only 1 that returns 11 people.  And it happens to be the national champions, and its a unit that finished 4th in scoring defense, and 9th in total defense.  That is probably unprecedented.  If Ohio returned 11 starters on offense, no one would raise an eyebrow, but when the champions return everyone on their already stout defense, well then, yeah, they should be #1.  If that weren't enough, they return 6 starters on offense, including Tebow.  

Their toughest games should be their rival UGA in Jacksonville, and a trip to Death Valley.  They could lose either.  In reality, I dont see them losing period.  If they lost just one game, as they did last year, they would still probably win the SEC East, then the title, and be invited to the title game in Pasadena (just like last year).  First, lets look at the SEC East.  Compare them to UGA.  Say they lost to UGA.  Looking at UGAs schedule, we know that it is difficult.  UGA could beat Florida, and still not win the SEC east (unlikely, but possible).  I dont really see any way that Florida doesnt win the SEC east.  At that point, it comes down to one game (unless you are Oklahoma, who could routinely lose their conf title game and make the championship, or somehow win some tiebreaker over teams you lost to and make the title game), the SEC title game.  They figure to play Miss, Bama, or LSU.  THey win that, which they should be favored in, and theyll advance to the championship game.  What I am saying is, Florida is kinda already in a final four situation.  They need to win the SEC title game, and the national championship to repeat.  That is true of anyone of course, (again, other than OK), but they should advance to that "final four" situation rather easily.

Thats it.  

Ill talk more about Oregon boise state next week, hopefully.   NC State losing LB Nate Irving for the season really hurts, and knocks them out of my top 25.  Ill put Oregon State in as their replacement.  That is a tough game to pick now.  

Like I said, Ill be busy.....but I should still find time to preview some games, write recaps of some games, blabber about funny things I see through the course of a Saturday/weekend, etc.  

Random THoughts II

I keep procrastinating.  I know this.  You know who the top 5 teams are.  I know them.  YOu know what I will say about them.  Did you hear about this guy Tebow?   BUt because of this, Im a little more apt to procrastinating.  Its like, I feel like I may be telling you something you dont know when I talk about Kansas or Michigan State, but not if I talk about Texas or Alabama.  So, guess what

RANDOM THOUGHTS PART II:

In no particular order.

1) Who do you think drinks the Miller High LIfe that is in the garbage can of the McFlys in the end of Back to the Future.  THe first obvious answer would be the mom.  She originally is drinking cheap vodka in the original 1985.  Now, it would be that she moved up to the high life (this is definitely intended by Zemeckis).  BUt, I would argue that if she has moved up, is now fit, thin, playing tennis, etc....that she wouldnt be drinking at all.   SO scratch her off the list.   George?  Prob not.   Dave?  I dont get Dave.  Originally, he works at a burger joint or something.  Do you really think hes 22+ in age?  It seems like originally that he would be in community college/not in college and working at this burger place.  But then in the new 1985, hes wearing a suit and is successful.  Why would he be living at home if he is employed at a good place?  That, and he must be 22+.  He must have a degree if he is going to the office every day.  I cant really see him kicking back and enjoying some High Lifes.   They could have had a party since they are all popular now, but there would probably be more beer than just one.   Weird.

2)  I have been watching a lot of Family Ties.  It is honestly one of the funniest shows I have ever seen.  I know that online, its hard to discern between sarcasm and honesty, well, know I am being honest.  It is funny.  I have a teenage crush on Mallory.  If I ever date a girl that is 7.1428% (1/14th) as hot as Meredith Baxter-Birney.  I started watching this in that I have to psyche myself up to watch MadMen because it is a little slow.  The Wire was not slow.

Season 3 of The Wire was the closest thing to perfection, tv or movie, that I have ever seen.  

SPOILERS AHEAD

It is.  YOu have the Avon vs Stringer dichotomy.   STringer was my favorite character.  You get Avon's talk to him "maybe your too dumb for that outside world, and too weak for this right here" or something along those lines.  Then String tells him that he killed D'Angelo and slams Avon and yells in his face.  BEyond intense.  The second best scene in the whole series.  The first best is also in season III wehn Bunk meets Omar on the bench and talks about how it once was.  Its kinda out of place, theres no doubt, but its too poetic to be ignored.  Great acting, great everything.  On top of this, String gets killed, Bunny Colvin emerges, and you have your Hamsterdam situation.

Would hamsterdam really cut down on crime?  I dont know.   I understand it was Bunny's "paper bag" equivalent to the beer bottle that they can do this to drugs.  Well, I think it would work, but also make things bad too.  It seems plausible that this happened.  Season 5 I didnt really like because the McNulty being a fake serial killer was kinda too far fetched for me.  Season 3 was just right.  And then, you get Bubbles walking with his new protege, collecting aluminum, when they run into Bunny.  Bubbles tells Bunny about how the area used to be (dramatic irony, because we know that Bunny knows, but Bubbles doesnt know that), and all Bunny can say, after hes stripped of his job, forced to retire, forced to retire at a lower pension level, says "how did you feel about that?"  

Part of you wants to say, say it was a good thing Bubbles.  BUt that would be way too weak.  He says exactly what you know hes gonna say:  "it was what it was".

How perfect of an ending was that?   I get chills just thinking about it.  Normally I dont like ambiguous/open ended films/tv shows.  I think its a cop out.  I want the writer/director to make a stand, but this wire was perfect.  For example, I dont like the series finale of The Sopranos where we see Tony eating onion rings while listening to Journey.  I mean, yeah, I can imagine what happens (probably gets whacked), but that was kinda upsetting.    Is The Wire the greatest show of all time?  Maybe.  But season 3 is definitely the top 3 seasons of all time.

3)  I was thinking about what teams' winning pct of games that I attended was, and I think that Notre Dame has the highest pct.   ND is 4-1 in games I attended.  Not only that, but big games.  The last time they beat USC, I was there.  I was there in 02 when they beat Michigan.  I saw them lose to MSU in 05 (prob best game of theirs I was at), 05 they beat Syracuse, and 06 beating Penn State.  That is obviously an .800 winning pct.

The Cubs I think I am .0000.  Its the Bluto GPA equivalent, only instead of "zero point zero", I am "point zero."  The White Sox; I have seen too many games to count.  Illinois football is below .500.  But what about Illinois Basketball?

It would be close.   I know they went undefeated at home my freshman year.  On top of that, they won in the sweet 16 vs UW Milwaukee, and Elite8 vs Zona which I was at.  So thats nice.  Then,  I know sophomore year, they lost their streak to Penn State.   BUT, I wasnt at that game.  CanMan and some of his roomates were at school, and I sold my tickets.  So they have a 1.000 win pct through 2 years.  

Junior year they lost to Maryland.  I was there.  I can still see Rich McBride turning it over in a crucial spot.  After that, they lost twice more at home, but I dont think I was at either.  I know I was not at Jan 6 game vs Ohio State (the year they made it to the finals), because that was winter break and you dont get those tickets.  They lost to #3 Wisconsin on Jan. 20, and I dont think that was included either.  So I am X-1 in the whole 3 years.  

Senior year, I couldn't tell you what I was at and what I wasnt.  I honestly only went to maybe half the games.  They lsot a ton of games at home, but again, I wasnt at MANY of them.  The worst home loss in all 4 years came to Indiana in double OT.  It was the worst game ever.  Illinois sucked, Indy sucked, they kept playing, it was horrible.  Pruitt missed 4 FTs when one make would have won the game.  Homo Eric Gordon banks in an NBA 3 to tie the game.  They lose.  Crushing.  Worst overall game was the title game in 05 of course.  This was worst game I saw in person.  Only good that came out of it was that my friend Brad and I, who went ot the game, then saw Kenny Battle in the bar.  So good even came out of that.

So if I had to guess, Id say Illinois Basketball wins, but ND football is a close 2nd.

4)  Edward Norton might be the best actor of my lifetime in which the qualifications are that all of your work must be during my life (1985 - ).  Therefore, DeNiro, while he has made good films since 85, is disqualified since he was in stuff pre-1985.  Without too much research, Ill take Norton.  He is unbelievable in Fight Club.   GReat in The People vs Larry Flynt.  Awesome in Rounders.  And perfect in American History X.  The fact that he didnt win best actor for AH-X befuddles me.  

How do you act this well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hEtN0-vF90

How do you act this well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_vYxupqL2s&feature=related

The answer is, you dont, unless you are the best.

Not taking anything away from DeNiro, but his character gets repetitive.  That, and is he cool cause the movies are cool, or are the movies cool cause of him?  LIke, I would think that Godfather II is awesome if someone else plays Vito.  But, he wins best actor for that role.  Does that mean him learning Sicilian and dominating the role is diminished?  No, but its like, it wasnt entirely unique.

In Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter hes either a vietnam war guy, a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder veteran, or both.  He plays them well (he wins best actor for Deer Hunter).  But then you get Raging BUll, King of Comedy, GoodFellas, Untouchables, Casino, Cape Fear.  What is he in all of them?  Italian.  All with Scorsese sans Untouchables.  It turns into a kind of a one trick pony.

Look at Norton though.  Hes a lawyer in Larry Flynt.  Hes a degenerate gambler in Rounders.  Hes a nazi in AH-X.  He is some sort of a mid life crisis-existentialist crisis, split personality disorder fuck up in Fight Club.  Hes great.

The best actor of all time in my opinion is Dustin Hoffman.   Look at his roles.  If he isn't in Kramer vs Kramer, it doesnt win best picture, and I probably never watch it.  Hes a single father raising a 5?  year old kid.  Hes awesome in it.  Totally believable.  Merryl Streep is great too (probably best actress of last 30 years), and the two of them just kill it.  Replace them with actor and actress X and Y, and its just some movie.  Replace Deniro as Mickey in Goodfellas and I bet the movie is still awesome.

But the best performance in any movie ever is Hoffman as Rain Man / Raymond Babbit in Rain Man.  Do I need to describe this any further?

5)  Danny Larusso is actually a really cool character.  I mean, hes an ass to his mom, which I dont like.  Hes a cry-baby to Myagai.  I dont like that.  But put yourself in his position.  YOu move from (I believe Minnesota) to Cali.  This theme would be copied in Beverly Hills 90210 if you look at Brenda and Brandon Walsh.  But he moves, meets a cool kid in the complex, and goes out right away.  He gets beat up by a senior, Johnny, but meets Elizabeth Shue immediately.  She wants him right away.  He is in Cali for 24 hours, and is already macking on the hottest babe at the High School.  Thats smooth.  

Then, nobody likes him but Shue.  He trains with Myagi, keeps his head up, gets a cool classic car, and then wins the karate tournament.  Thats quite an eventful few months.  He is the new big man on campus.

Why didn't Shue's career take off.  Shes hot.  Shes hot in this movie.  Shes hot in her  limited roles in Back to the Future II/III.  Then, she disappears, only to come back and win best actress for Leaving Las Vegas (where shes also hot).  She could have been big.

Its weird who wins best actor/actress though.  Its like, you kinda have to be lucky.  Marino is top 5 QB of all time and has no Super Bowls, but Dilfer has one.  But for actor/actress, you still need to be really talented.  Its still about some luck though.  I dont know why Norton didnt win for AH-X.  There are some other screw jobs too.

I dont think that if you watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1981, or now, youd see that there are 3 future best actor winners.   Penn, multiple times, Whitaker, and Cage in a non speaking role.  I doubt you sat there in 1981 and said, "That fucking Whitaker is gonna be big."  Or "Hell be great as the Last King of Scotland".  You cant predict some shit that happens.

More to come, maybe?

Ill try to get back to the college football

Random Thoughts - Non Football Kinda

Okay, so I have been on like a 72 hour bender, and unable to post anything constructive on the blog.  Anything related to college football that is.  But, in a rare change of pace, I will post everything that I have observed in the past few days, and I hope that it will be just as enjoyable as the rest of my blog.  Actually, I hope it will be more enjoyable, because the rest of my blog seems to be lacking in fan support.  (I appreciate those who do follow it).  

I dont know if this is cool or not, but I have been retiring to the bathroom every fifteen minutes for the past few days, and every time, I write down notes of something to write about.  Some notes are lost.  Some are illegible.  Some are legible.  Some are legible and non-sensical.  You only get the legible, sensical, thoughts that I can write in a blog without offending anybody (a pitfall of not hanging out with me - you get the G rated version of my PG-13 rated life).  

Without further adieu.......

Ive been watching a lot of old school hip hop lately.  The top 100 hip hop videos of all time on vh1 got me hooked.  Im hooked on "Regulators" by Warren G, "Fuck the World" by 2pac.  Both of those are videos NOT on the top 100.  Somehow, on the 2pac Greatest hits double cd, fuck the world is not featured.  I dont get it.  Just type it in on youtube, and listen.  Tell me it doesnt instantly become one of your top 50 favorite songs.    Those are my pump up songs that I listen to while I stretch before I go running every day.  A song I came across today is "real compton city g'z" by Eazy E.............it is located here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btH4e0-WQAo

Truth be told, I never like Eazy E.  Why?  I dont know.  Dre never liked him.  Well, Not never.  They were of course in NWA together, but when they broke up, tensions arose.   They split, Dre made it big, Eazy not so big, and Eazy died of Aids.  Dre forgave him.  If Dre forgave him, so could I.  But, in "The Chronic" he talked shit about Easy'E  throughout.  Especially in my favorite Dre song: Dre Day, located here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTgPUiZkYOQ

Now if you know me, and you were over to my crib in 2007-2008, you know I had this song on DVR.  I would seriously watch it at least 7-9 times a day.  In it, Dre shoots Easy - E.  How could I possibly like Eazy-E when I idolize Dre, and hes killing Eazy?

However, the Eazy-E song "Real compton G's" brought something new to my attention.  

Nothing about Hip Hop.

Just something about wearing a Raiders Hat.

Im just thinking about how awesome it would be if the Raiders (or the Rams, but preferably the Raiders) were in LA still.  For those of you who dont know, I relocated to LA.  I got USC.  I guess USC is supposed to be the pro team in the area (with UCLA building), and San Diego is the team you watch on Sunday's everyday, but I think that sucks.  LA is the second biggest city in the nation, and they dont have a football team?

But think about this......think about if Oakland Raiders re-became the LA Raiders again tonight.  That is, I woke up tomorrow, stole the LA Times from my neighbors doorstop, and it said, "Al Davis moves Raiders back to LA"..........would I buy season tickets???????

IN less than a heartbeat I would.

Think about the Raiders now.

Imagine that season tickets were $420 dollars for 8 games.  That is $54 dollars a game.  That is about reasonable.   Now......do the Raiders sell out the Oakland Coliseum every game?  Lets see...   according to this, Oakland averaged 4th to last in the league in attendance  (why is Denver and SF not applicable?  they dont have new stadiums or anything?)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/attendance?year=2008

BUt, the point is, they averaged 57,850 people a game.  The LA Coliseum holds 93,000 people.   So, would there be more people at the LA games as opposed to the Oakland games?  Im not really sure.  For the sake of the argument, lets say they are the same.  So, 57,850 / 93.000, that means, the LA coliseum is 62% full.   So what does that mean?  It means I can sit in the front row of the upper deck (not really an upper deck, but just halfway up) on the 50 yard line, and no one would complain.  Now, I know that saying that 3 out of 8 of LA Raiders home games would be against Denver, KC, and San Diego, but look at their home schedule over all.

San Diego, Denver, Philly, NY Jets, KC, Cinci, Wash, Baltimore.

Not the absolute best home schedule, but would you pay $54 a game for this?   I know that the Bears games, it is $65 a game to sit in the nose bleeds in the endzone section.  NOw imagine that you are sitting in the prime seating on the 50 yard line.  It is a Sunday afternoon, it is a perfect 80 degree LA afternoon, and fuck the Raiders, you get to see a good team play against them.   I would pay the money.

On top of this.  I am cheating a bit.  If you drove to Soldier Field, you would have to pay AT LEAST $20 for parking, and then sit in the lot for 2 hours to get out.  I have parking for USC that I can park on campus anytime I want (for the low low price of 400 dollars a semester), and thus would be available to me for every Raiders game.  To park on campus for a USC game by the way is $25 dollars, and I therefore get $150 worth if I go to all 6 USC home games, so I get my money's worth.   But, your talking that you can drive 30 minutes to the USC campus (it would be 45 mins + to drive to Soldier Field), free parking, get drunk, watch a pro game in a prime seating situation, drive home in 30 mins (it would take 2 hours plus at Soldier), and then you would be home.  Let alone, your game would be the 3 PM CST game, so you would be there at 1 PM PST, and could watch the first half of the Bears game before you left.   Your telling me it would be worth $54?

Hey, I dont mean to be ragging on the Bears.  I dont like the Raiders.  I dont like the Chargers.  I dont really like anybody in the NFL.  IM just saying, that if the Raiders were in LA, I would buy season tix.  Why dont I buy season tix to the BEars when I was in Chicago?  Wel.........for all the reasons I Mentioned. (more money, the commute, the bad seats, etc).

K-Dawg (not his real name, but one of my best friends of all time, and will be known as this moniker for the rest of the blog), his brother went to U of Illinois when the Bears played in Champaign while they renovated Soldier Field.   I can't imagine how awesome this would be.  I need to talk to him about this.  From my Freshman dorm, if I leaned my head way out the window of the 13th floor, then I could see the field.  Would I watch games this way?  No, but I would walk 2 blocks to the tailgate area, grab some food and beer, then walk back to my dorm and watch the Bears game be played out 1/4 of a mile away from me.   This would all be on Sunday too, and would be played out on the day after I got to see Ron Turner go 2-10.  (Now, coincidentally, or as Mike Patrick would say 'ironically' a coach of Da Bears)

So imagine that NFL team X was playing on your college campus.  Your already paying $25 + to see your college team.   Wouldnt you pay $50+ to see pro team X?   Get this......Im 100% serious....... I have never been to a Bears game..     You think  Iwould pay $50/game to see the Bears in Champaign or the Raiders in LA?  Your damn right I would.

To compare.  I can buy LA Clippers season tickets for $400.  Is that a better deal?   Well.....kinda.    $400 / 41 games is about $10 a game.  Figure that the stadium for the Clippers is the same - 62% full (that is being really generous),   would it be worth 10 bucks even to go see Clippers vs Spurs and sit front row of the upper deck?  Maybe.  What about Clippers vs Grizzlies?  Def Not.

Now, USC is about 2 miles southwest of downtown, where the Staples Center is.  I would have to at least take a  bus on the days where I have school.  What about on Saturdays?  You think I would sacrifice Saturday Night to drive 30 mins to downtown to watch Clippers vs Kings>?????  Am I Bill Simmons?  (unfortunately, no).     I would look at the sheet of tickets, and say, "Fuck it, at the worst Ill watch it on tv".   I would never say that about Raiders Tickets.   

That is about the end of the discussion.  

----------------------------------------------------

Luckily for me, I bought the Criterion Collection DVD of Dazed and Confused.  Dude, you get everything with this compilation.  Please ask me about it for more in depth details.   I will stick with just the bare bones movie though.  Who do you think had the best day out of all the characters in the movie????

I would originally say Don Dawson.  I say this cause hes probably my favorite character.   Hes cool.  I use his "nah....but maybe Ill see you later on 33% of chicks I meet".   He is everywhere.  He is getting high, drinking, breaking mailboxes, has the hottest girlfriend, etc.

BUt here is the answer.

Its Mitch.

Hands down.

First of all, if you watch the behind the scenes....Wiley Wiggins (Mitch) is actually pretty cool.

But, more importantly, his character has not only grown on me, but its become the best.

He has such a great future ahead of him.  Imagine being 15.  You get your ass whooped.  True.  BUt then Randall Pink Floyd takes you home.  He says put some ice on your ass.  WOOODERSON PICKS YOU UP!>!>!>!!>!>!   You go to the Emporium.   You buy Beer for Melvin when your 15.  You smoke for the first time in your life.  You organize a paint pour on O'Bannion.  You go to the moontower.  You hook up with Julie, a Sophomore.  Then you get home, after your sister, and you just crash, not even listening to your mom.  You put on Slow Ride, and you say, "I Did it.   Fuck it, next four years, bring it on"  Its the future.  The future is uncertain for all characters........but Mitch is the only one who has the most time to waste, which is what it is all about.   

Obviously the best scene is when 'Fox on the RUn" is being played, and Dawson gets out of O'Bannions car, and walks up to Wooderson.   O'Bannion says, "Slater you fucking hippie gimmie drugs man", to which Slater says "get some from your mother man"....and then....

Welll....if you dont know what happens next, your not a true fan.   A true fan would know how that convo ends, and then what Wooderson, Pink, Mitch, and Dawson talk about outside of the Emporium...,   Did I say best scene of Dazed and Confused?  I meant best scene of all time....

--------------------------------

Another best scene of all time goes out to John Hughes.  Rest his soul.   There were three movies that I totally loved as a young person.  A young person as in, the first memories of your life.   That is, 8-10 years old.  They were Back to the Future, A New Hope, and Ferris Buellers Day Off.   

Side note, me and the CanMan (again not his name, but will be known as such), had this Spanish teacher 2 years in a row.  We got introuble pretty much every day.   but, one day, we had to translate these movies she brought in from Spanish into English.  She brought movies in in Spanish, and we had to translate them.   The movies she brought in were "Road Trip" and "FBDO" (Ferris).  She says "were gonna watch the end when Ferris is running home".  I yell out "I just lost the damn deal with the Vermont people".

She gives me this dirty ass look.  I thought I was doomed for a 3-6 detention.

Instead she cries, dejected "how do you know the lines?"

See, our project was to translate the lines of the movie.  Unfortunately for her, I knew them already.  I dont know if I should be bragging about this, but I am,  I ruined her project.  She wasnt upset that I blurted out vulgarities, she was upset I beat her.

Coincidentally.  In first semester of Physics Senior Year, I for whatever reason forgot what Sloan Peterson's name was (I have no idea why, I hate myself for this).  DUring a lab experiment, I yell out across the room, "Yo CanMan, what is Ferris BUellers GF's name in real life????"   He responds without hesitation "Mia Sara".

What was the teachers reaction?

The same as in Spanish.

Was she upset I disrupted class?  no.  Was she upset I yelled?  no.   Was she upset I corresponded with CanMan when I was prohibited from doing so?  no.   She says

"that movie came out before you were born....how do you know that?"

There must be something nostalgic amongst female high school teachers when it comes to FBDO.  They probably want Broderick.

I dont know what CanMan said to that, but I can say, its because we live and breathe.

BUT>>>>>>>>>>Getting back to where I was 20 mins ago, the best scene has to be when they drive downtown..  "Big city downtown" is the approximate lyrics to this.  The city is too cool.  If those of you who know why I like this scene know why, then you know, if you dont, then talk to me, its kinda confidential.  When I meet people out here, they ask me where Im from.  I say Chicago.   

It gets to be repetitive.  Dazed and Confused is my favorite movie.  Jordan is the game.  My accent is kinda like the SuperFans' from Saturday Night Live, and if you have every seen FBDO, or the Blues Brothers, that is Chicago.  I have no problem talking about this scene from FBDO though.  Speeding off in a Ferrari into downtown and parking in Italian Village for the day is fun.  

Its a great movie, a great scene, a cool dude, a hot chick, and a great writer/director who will be missed.

I had about 3 more thoughts, and I cant think of them.  THis may be my only totally, non college football post in this blog, so enjoy it.