Victory Is Mine

Weekend reveiew

2006-09-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

I hate Auburn. I'm not going to bitch about the officials, since we had our chances and didn't take advantage of them. I'm just happy that Les had the team ready and we put up an awesome effort on the road. We're clearly still a top ten team, and I think the outcome would have been reversed in Baton Rouge. Congrats to Auburn, I hope Florida and Georgia beat 'em!

I'm just at a loss for words with the Saints. Yeah we just played two pretty terrible teams but to come out with wins on the road with THIS defense boggles my mind. I expected 4-5 wins all season from this team. Now with Tampa looking so bad, having three Ws by the bye (week 7) seems very possible. The biggest story yesterday was Brees' ability to come back from that gawd awful start: fumbles on the first two possessions and a pick deep in GB territory on the third. So we spot GB a quick 13-0 lead and all signs point towards our being well on the way to a repeat of the 52-3 annihilation they handed us last year. And yet we turn it around - WITHOUT any gift idiot plays from the aging Brett Favre - and win 34-27. Somehow, after two games, we're 10th in the NFL in total yards per game, 7th in third down conversions, and 6th in fewest penalties (with #s 1 and 2 playing in tonight's game so we may wind up even higher).

And now, some random NFL observations, some of which I'm sure my roommate will pontificate on at length this week:

NBC's Sunday Night football pregame show is terrible. The music is more fitted for the Olympics. Bob Costas isn't a good highlight guy - my roommate agrees with me here. Dammit, I just miss PrimeTime.

CBS is using the same graphics for NFL and college football, it seems. Wow, way to be original guys.

Fox dropped the annoying robot sound from Week One. Thank God. And the halftime graphics which were inexplicably garbage the last couple years are finally gone, and the halftime show is now watchable.

I can't believe how bad so many teams are this year, and more than that - the fact that the Saints thus far ain't one of them. I don't know whether these defenses are insanely good or the offenses they're facing are just gawd awful. I guess the Bears and Ravens get the benefit of the doubt for having a proven history, but the Chargers for instance I'm waiting on. The Raidahs - led by former Aint Aaron Brooks - and Titans are by no means juggernaut offenses. I emailed the roomie yesterday (again, he's on an NFL broadcast crew so not here during games) at halftime of the afternoon games, and of the five, there were four shutouts in progress and one in which the trailing team had put up 3. Anyway, thus far in the season we have:
1. Tampa with 3 points through 2 games
2. Oakland with 6 points through 2 games
3. Kansas City missing Al Saunders (OC who went to Washington) much? 10 points vs Cincy at home and then 6 at Denver. Yikes.
4. Denver, traditional machine on offense, with only 19 points (and one TD) through two games.
5. Ditto Carolina.

I'm glad ESPN gave us the drawings of what Big Ben's inflamed appendix looks like. I was just dying to know, assholes.

Ok Ok Ok, I'm back

2006-09-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence through the first couple weeks of the season. Couple quick thoughts:

1) ESPN Sucks. The graphic this afternoon on the main screen was celebrating how tonight is the greatest day in, like, forever! Because it's football on ESPN! The poll on the main page was even "Are you ready for some football??" with a simple Yes/No answer. Given 90% of the country has already seen their team play, I just find this celebration of MNF idiotic. The self-promotion just has to stop. They dominate televised sports. Now it's just getting annoying. Quit it, idiots. Also, they overcharge for everything, their magazine is too big, and their anchors suck. Of course, EDSBS discussed all of this last year on November 29th, and the thread is still getting comments.
I have a clearer version of this if you don't believe me, fools.

2) LSU's performance this year has been beyond anything I could have imagined. I had concerns going in about 1) Offensive line cohesion; 2) Front seven ability to create pressure; 3) Russell cutting out the idiotic decisions; 4) It's Les Miles, do I even have to mention brain-dead coaching?; 5) Ability to seal the deal - which admittedly had been answered emphatically with our season-ending romp of Miami in the Peach Bowl - but who knew how that would carry over?

We've turned the ball over 5 times this year, on two punt returns vs ULL and a couple fumbles and a pick in the AZ game. So that needs to be cured, and damn quickly. But every single other aspect has been superb. I would like to think that the fumbles will go away against Auburn since we'll be more focused (i.e. all the turnovers vs AZ came after we were up 24-0), but I know better than that.

Clearly ULL and Arizona aren't teams to use as a measuring stick against most anyone above I-AA ball, but nonetheless given our problems executing in the past I'm all smiles going into the Auburn game. Despite our tremendous talent, I'd chalked Auburn up as a pretty certain loss before the season; now I dare say I have hope that ole Les can pull this off.

3) I was blown away by the Saints performance versus the Browns on Sunday. I caught 30 seconds of Around the Horn today and they were discussing how great Reggie Bush looked against the Browns. Bill Plaschke mentioned that it's a 5 compared to what he will do, and I have to say I agree. Reggie got a lot of tough yards, which was different than what we were used to seeing out of him in college, but nothing flashy. I suppose from that aspect it was almost a let down. But he was a huge cog in the win for us.

Nothing to argue with Bush's 120 yards rushing and receiving and another 20 on punt returns, but my biggest props go to Deuce McAllister. I thought he'd lost it prior to the knee injury last year; afterwards, I was certain he was done. After 22 carries for 90 solid yards (i.e. no 50 yarders skewing the average), it appears like Deuce has regained something pretty close to his old form. I think it's safe to say we all knew Reggie could play in this league; what we didn't know is how well Deuce would look in real action. What a relief.

Still a stud.

Meanwhile, I suppose it's a testament to how poorly prepared the Browns were that our defense just dominated them in the first half - the Browns didn't get a first down until 28 minutes into the game. Our inability to execute in the redzone made it a closer affair than it should have been given our respective first halves, so hopefully we can work on that.

Honestly though, I'm not even sure I care if we fix it; my expectation all along has been for a 4 to 5 win season at best. Getting one in the books in week one, on the road, against what seemed to be an up-and-coming squad (at least defensively), is just super. Juuuust super.

30-7

2006-08-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Good to know we still suck!

JC, for your cat

2006-08-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

Nick Mangold's sister suiting up at OL/DL for her high school

2006-08-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I would not wish to mess with her.

Incidentally, we Saints fans were dying for Mangold to fall to us in the 2nd round so that our hearts could be ripped out when Mickey Loomis took, I dunno, another running back or something. Clearly, this is a family that loves football. We Saints types have a good history with Ohio State centers. Well, one actually, Le Charles Bentley, who was the best player on our team the last few years. Definitely was a bummer seeing the news that the Browns lost him for the year.

Heisman Pundit at Pac-10 Media Day

2006-08-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

HT CFR for the link.

Hopefully I'm not the only one confused as to why he was able to get a Pac-10 coach (hint: rhymes with Mike Belotti) whose team plays at least 7 games a year in the Pacific Northwest to utter the following:

"Back East you have regions with wind and rain, so offenses played things a little closer to the vest. Out here, the weather is not an issue, so the offenses can be more open. There are some leagues where you can just play defense and special teams and win, but the Pac-10 isn't one of them. It's not that there is a lack of defense, it's just that the quality of the offenses is just so good." (Emphasis mine.)

Having lived in Seattle (a city but a few hours' drive north of U of O) for four years, having owned Washington Huskies football season tickets for two of them, and thus by extension having gotten a decent idea of the general weather patterns of the Pacific Northwest, I hereby take the opportunity to declare that I CALL BULLSHIT ON MIKE BELOTTI.

/end of rant

Learn your O-Line

2006-08-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

The good folks over at EDSBS did Amurrika the fine favor of getting some actual former lineman dude to explain blocking.

Part One
Part Two

Read it, and revel in the glory that you will be able to design plays on Madden while actually knowing what the hell you're doing.

SJSU takes Fulmer Cup lead at EDSBS

2006-08-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

The exploits (and if you don't know what the Fulmer Cup is, it's your own damn fault for not reading EDSBS often):

Enter aspiring Craigslist seller/alleged armed robber and San Jose State WR Ellis T. Jones III, who may have pulled off the single biggest free-standing Fulmer Cup score in the brief history of competition by luring potential internet shoppers off Craigslist with promises of deals and into an apartment complex where Jones allegedly robbed them, tasered them, and in one instance even “trunked” a victim. The robberies, which took place between June 27th and June 30th, involve such a flurry of activity as to suggest not only a rapacious criminal instinct, but an outstanding work ethic, as well:

Jones was charged Thursday with 13 felony counts including five counts of robbery, four counts of assault for using a Taser gun on some of his victims and one count of kidnapping to commit robbery for allegedly locking one victim in the trunk of a car. He faces up life in prison with the possibility of parole, according to Leonard James, a deputy district attorney with Santa Clara County.

Holy hell, SI.com is employing Jenn Sterger

2006-08-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I've been in general hibernation for the past 3 months and completely missed the fact that SI on campus has hired Jenn Sterger, of FSU Cowgirl fame, to do an occasional mailbag. Among her other missives, get swept up in her analysis of Kyle Wright vs Drew Weatherford, relationship advice, and if she's attracted to dudes who dip.

What you get for spending $900 grand on some freakin teddy bears

2006-08-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

Good job, dog.

Comment on NCAA 07

2006-07-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Who at EA decided the "Jump Snap" button is more useful that being able to cycle backwards through the players before the snap? And not only that that would be more useful, but SO much so that we don't even have a separate controller config option to turn it off? Someone at EA deserves to get hurt reeeealllll bad.

Open question to the public

2006-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Duke has a linebacker named Michael Tauliili. That last name has 5 vowels out of 8 letters for a 62.5% vowel concentration rate. For any name 5 letters or longer (hence omitting an easy one like, say, Opie), that's got to be a vowel concentration record, no?

The 2007 NCAA All-Names team

2006-07-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Link through EDSBS to a random blog. My favorite would have to be LeQuantum McDonald, DL from Baylor.

Though I-Perfection Harris of Ga Tech who didn't make the list is pretty solid, too.

Only in L.A.

2006-07-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well, if the manufacturer routinely stamps the engine size on the car (i.e. SL 500, SL 600, etc.), why not stamp the side of your car with the exact size of your brand new rims? Good times.

Jose Canseco is back, y'all

2006-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Faithful readers of my blog, all four of you (well, four up until I decided to take the offseason off), likely are aware of my former fandom of one roid-raging wife-beating home-run-hitting ballplayer by the name of Jose Canseco. Well, apparently he is back in the minors, and not only THAT, he's doing it as a member of the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. That, as you may know, is 30 miles from where I am currently situated. That, as you can guess, means I'll be there sometime this summer reveling in the goldness of the Golden Baseball League, they who brought us back Rickey Henderson and - I think but can't confirm through Google - Oil Can Boyd, among others. Hell, Darrell Evans is even the manager of Long Beach. Good times all around.

I saw Nacho Libre last night, and a quote from Nacho about his favorite wrestler Ramses pretty much sums up Canseco for me:

"I USED TO REALLY LIIIIKE RAMSES! I WANTED TO BECOME HIM! But it turns out, he'sss a reeeeallll DOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH."

This is the sort of thing that really ticks me off

2006-07-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

We currently have a system of spelling in the English language that, God forbid it, enables certain children (generally of superior intellectual skills) to excel. So hey, why don't we level the playing field by changing the entire language to a phonetic spelling system? That way, the kids who aren't smart enough or don't work hard enough won't be at ANY disadvantage.

While we're at it, I think 3 x 3 should equal 33. Let's change math too.

As my bro put it today, "Stupid people always want the mountain brought to them." Amen.

Sayings I just don't get

2006-07-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

"Definitely maybe." The hell does that mean? Why be cute about it?

"Have your cake and eat it too." Again, wtf? Who has their cake and doesn't eat it? Who came up with this? He ought to be shot.

Thank you Houston!

2006-04-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Splenda AND Scrubs - in the SAME post!!

2006-03-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

Anyone catch this week's Scrubs, mmm? Best line to me, when the grief counselor Dr. Hedrick got ripped a new one by Cox, didn't even blink, and held up a packet of Splenda and said "God I don't care if these cause cancer, I just love this fake sugar so much!!"

Love it.

More Sports Guy, for you Houston types

2006-03-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

Same mailbag as the Peet's/Starbucks routine:

SG: Hey, Hartford may be dangerous, ugly, uncool, and poorly laid-out … but at least everyone there knows it. Everyone in Houston is in denial. Put it this way: When you ask the concierge of a major hotel in Houston where you should go in the city to walk around, do some sightseeing and kill a couple of hours, and that concierge thinks about it for a few seconds, hems and haws, then refers you to the Galleria Mall and tells you, "That's really about it," then your city sucks to visit. I hate to break it to you.

On Starbucks v its better competitor Peet's

2006-03-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

From the Sports Guy's mailbag:

SG: Not since the Dunkin Donuts coffee cake muffin has the country been in this much danger. I gained two pounds just from reading that e-mail. But you know what? I'll never know what the Starbucks breakfast sandwich tastes like, because they opened a Peet's Coffee near my house a few months ago … better coffee, friendlier people behind the counter, food freebies from time to time, the chance to say "large," medium" and small" again, and no crappy music being shoved down my throat? It's a dream come true. I even own my own Peet's debit card. Wait, should I be sharing all of this? Probably not.

EXACTLY. I order a medium coffee every day at 6am (none of this "tall/grande/venti" bullshit), and get to listen to classical music instead of Sheryl Crow's wailing. The ONLY coffee I find drinkable at Starbucks without cringing is Verona, with Sumatra a distant second. And yeah, I've got the Peet's debit card too. 5% off for each $20 you put on it. I don't even know the names of most Peet's coffee blends, I just had to learn the names of Starbucks' good ones so I wouldn't get coffee on the days they weren't brewing those. Ugh.

On Splenda

2006-03-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

This stuff can turn cat piss into the nectar of the GODS. (I haven't had cat piss, but I've had most of Starbucks' beans, and aside from Verona and perhaps Sumatra, most of them bear a remarkable resemblance to what I would imagine cat piss would taste like.) Anyway, I just bought a 400 count box of the stuff at Ralph's for 15 bucks. Couldn't even wait to hit up Costco for it. Oh well.

Incidentally, why the hell do people at the grocery store who are carrying baskets instead of pushing carts go up to the checkout line and drop the basket on the floor in front of the line with the handle bars criss-crossed over one another so that I have to bend over and risk substantial injury by uncrossing those bars so that I can then place MY basket neatly inside the other one? Why the hell do you need to make it harder for other people/store workers? Bastadges.

Best line from Scrubs this week

2006-03-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

Elliott: JD, I really don't want to do this. Can't we just go home and put on our PJs and watch Grey's Anatomy?
JD: Oh! I really do love that show. It's like they watch our lives, take them, and put them on tv!

Owwweeeeeeee

2006-03-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

And let's be honest here

2006-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

What did the museum think would happen when they offered unlimited martinis for thirty bucks at an art show?

Setting the Outlook reminder for 10 years from now

2006-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

184 proof whisky!

SEC CHAMPS!!!!

2006-03-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

On watching the Olympics, closed-caption style

2006-02-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

I have an iPod which as most of you know gets no radio reception. There are TVs at my gym with the volume off, but as a result of using an iPod I can't tune in to the audio on whatever FM broadcast channel they've chosen. Not only do I not give a rat's ass, I've actually found some amusement the past couple days watching the closed caption commentary come across the screen.

Yesterday: Curling, Canada v USA

If you haven't watched curling, and most of us have at least SEEN it once or twice by now, it basically involves a bunch of surprisingly-fit looking C++ programmers wearing fancy shoes that let them slide across the ice while they frantically sweep a broom back and forth in front of a big ass lump of iron (with a handle on it) that one other chap has calmly let flee down a bowling alley. Only the alley is made of ice, and rather than pins at the other end you have a giant bulls-eye. Yesterday, those friendly-looking Canadians managed to place one of said handle-clad iron lumps in the circle towards the end of the match, eliciting the following response from the booth:

Booth man A: TALK ABOUT SHOOTING UNDER PRESSURE!
Booth man B: NOW THAT IS PERFORMANCE!!!

While the Canadians shook hands and probably sipped a cup of tea.

Me: CURLING!!!! IT'S FAAAAAANTASTIC!!!

Earlier, talking about I believe a member of the US team whose father is the coach:

Booth man A or B: And he looked at [insert Team USA member name here] and told him to follow his dreams and just keep curling.

If you are like me, your reaction to said statement was something more or less on the order of WTF? Follow your dreams? Really, kiddo? Couldn't you have at least dreamt of becoming lead driver for the New York Municipal Waste Management service?

Today: Figure skating, Boy and Girl from Canada in the booth along with Mary (?) and Scott (? Former figure skater, looks like someone famous I just can't recall the face). Boy and Girl from Canada had done a routine the other day which culminated in one of the more painful ass-plant-on-the-ice scenes in recent memory. So what does USA network decide to do? Air the entire routine, beginning to end, while badgering Team Canada the whole time about whether they've seen the replays yet. The general gist of the exchange:

Mary or Scott: Guess what? We are going to show the replay of your amazing ass-bite from the other day. So have you guys watched this yet?
Canada Girl: Oh God, noooo
Canada Boy: Kill me
Me: God bless you, USA Network
Canada Girl: Oh, I don't think I can watch the end of this. I am going to have to turn away
Canada Boy: I can't handle this. Hold Me.
(Replay continues to run, we're a full minute into it and the Canadians are skating beautifully)
Mary or Scott, some paraphrasing here: Man you guys were IN THE ZONE!* How devastated must you be, four years of preparation for what we're about to see, which is Joe Theismann-injury-like in its sheer awesomeness??
* Note: The "in the zone" phrase was actually used by a commentator to describe their performance up until the massive fall
Canada Girl: Yeah, I pretty much don't remember anything about this.
(Replay continues, about a minute and a half in, the bust occurs, eliciting an "OOOF" from me and no one else, indicating that I'm probably the only one watching figure skating, but it's ok because I'm bigger than you.)

Here's the best I can give you:

WHEEE!!!!

WHEEE!!!!

Ow.

Vegas

2006-02-23T18:17:00.000-08:00

We are now officially under three weeks.

Seattle

2006-02-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Didn't rain on me the whole weekend, so I got that going for me. But when your sinuses are giving you issues thanks to an NYC blizzard from a week ago, blasting through the skies at 600mph in a pressurized metal tube can wreak havoc on your head. Almost makes you want to curl up in the fetal position in the middle of the aisle and just take the chance that the guy sitting next to you isn't an air marshal and even still would only maybe shoot you in the knee which could be a positive thing since it'd take your mind off the sinuses.

OW.

Also, Mac and Jack's makes my bowling score get progressively worse. I actually got beaten in game two by a female who in game one had had a score of THREE through the first 8 frames. I don't mind getting beaten by a girl, but I'd rather have it happen while I at least broke 100. Or 80. No more beer while bowling for me. Or maybe no more bowling in Lucky brand blue jeans. No breathing room, see. Gotta rock the Abercrombie baggies from now on in any sort of social athletic attempts in environs in which hot girls abound.

How I Met Your Mother, and mixes

2006-02-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

I just watched the New Year's Eve rerun of How I Met Your Mother, where Doogie Howser had his "psyche-up mix" CD, which begins with Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name." And that got me thinking about my mixes, seeing as I made a hair band mix recently. And how when I watched High Fidelity, I thought John Cusack thought about the whole idea of a mix wayyyyy too damn much. But then I realized that some of my mixes really start to suck wind around track 12, while others I made really for tracks 1 and 2 and then stuck a bunch of other junk on there so as not to waste an entire CD, but I needed songs 1 and 2 in my car so I added the 16 crap songs anyway instead of really thinking about it. But so many of them make me happy only for about two weeks or so. And why is that? I'm thinking that when making an alternative mix, it's really hard to start it out well because let's be honest here, how are you ever going to top "Smells Like Teen Spirit" being the #1 track on your Nevermind CD? Might as well just pop that one in instead. I'm guessing Jamie will have his Pearl Jam thoughts, but I really don't think anyone tops Nevermind with that one. I need to become a better connoisseur of the mixage.

By the way, Janani, I thought about doing your "4 jobs I've had, etc." tag from a month ago that I've generally been too lazy or intentionally forgotten to do, but then I clicked on Mike Toole's website since you tagged him in the hopes he was reading. Well I'll be damned, did you notice that your boy actually did it? He has indeed fulfilled your wishes! Oh, he didn't attribute it to you. But still, MAYBE.

Can someone please tell me...

2006-02-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

...where the Muslim Street manages to find so many Denmark flags? I mean, can you stroll down to your local Tehrani Costco and pick up a flag of choice? Are there street vendors hawking the hated-nation-of-the-moment paraphernalia for burning purposes? Or are there just enough unemployed seamstresses sitting around the cities that they can fire 'em up at anytime to make very official-looking flags? I mean, a lot of those US flags I always see burning look like pretty decent quality stuff, not like they just spray painted a bedsheet or something. AND by the way, in these fits of rage do the prices of said paraphernalia go through the roof? A run on Danish flags, if you will? I imagine there's a killing to be made - pun intended - in that line of work.

I'm sure you all saw the "Freedom go to hell" and "Europe learn your lesson from 9/11" type signs that were flying all over the place. Oh but let us not forget, though, Islam means peace!

Trying to be more regular about this

2006-02-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

Been a little busy lately, and now confined in NYC for a couple conference which just so HAPPENED to coincide with the greatest snowstorm in NYC history. How does this happen? #4 or so on the list was when I was out here in Feb 2003. And of course, I was out here on a work trip on 9/11. How nothing happened during the three month stretch I was out here in 2004 (well, Connecticut, really) is beyond me. But I'm thinking I shouldn't be coming back out to NYC much, unless I were ever offered tickets to a Yankees-Sox game.

Meanwhile, walking on the sidewalks here can be a terrible decision. It's not all THAT cold out right now, probably high 20s/low 30s, but no preciptation and actually not all that windy. So I figured I'd walk the 15 streets up from my hotel to my dinner meeting. Well, problem in NYC at night is it's tough to tell the difference between wet pavement at an intersection and a puddle that happens to be icy and glistening and looking like pavement. So once your foot is seven inches underwater, you are miffed and trudging down the street in search of the nearest place to pay $14 for a new pair of socks.

Which, naturally, you got all wet on the way back, as well. Ugh.

Anyway, NYC is fun and all, but I'd really like to go ahead and get back out to L.A.

Best Phil Simms comment of the first half

2006-01-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

"Joey Porter doesn't go for no play action fake."

Apparently Phil Simms didn't paid no attention in grammar school.

Fantasy Fashion League

2006-01-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

Who ya got? Kate Spade or Louis? Manolo or Jimmy Choo?

Real men of genius

2006-01-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Solving a Rubik's cube in 11 seconds. Wow.

Matthew McConaughey

2006-01-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know how to spell his last name. Anyway, on the Terry Awards (Bradshaw's year end awards), the most famous Horns fan around proclaimed that Priest Holmes was Ricky Williams' backup at Texas. 'Fraid ole Matt needs to get his history straight, as it was the other way around.

Does anyone know how to backup a blog?

2006-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

What's the best option? Not finding much on a quick google search so I'll do it over the weekend...but in the meantime if you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Best thing about the Horns' win for this fan...

2006-01-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

...is that now my Aints have a legitimate shot at owning the Reggie Bush pick, which will have absolutely enormous trade value (seeing as we can't afford to cut Deuce to pay him, and we can't afford to just sign him as an alternate back - he will not be a Saint).

Funny how ONE GAME can so dramatically alter the popular perception of two players. And it's not like Bush had a bad game - 180 very quiet yards, other than another Superman touchdown. And Bush's image probably hasn't suffered, it's just that Vince has overtaken him, and in terms of the "HOLY SHIT" scale, deservedly so.

But in terms of NFL prospects? Craig James made a postgame comment on how he'd not been sold on Vince Young as an NFL player at all before the game, but now one should forget all about it and anoint him the Next Big Thing. A 30+ game career, a full season of being entirely in the spotlight, mostly because of his superhuman feats in a Rose Bowl LAST YEAR - forget it. Any opinion you had of Vince based on that 30 game stretch should be tossed in the gutter and this guy is immediately can't-miss.

How many times did Vince throw the ball more than 20 yards downfield? Not to knock Vince, my intention is to knock Craig James, but I think it's a bit irrational to do a complete re-evaluation of a collegiate athlete's career/talent/attributes based on one single game, no matter how big the game or how otherworldly the performance (EVEN in this case, which was arguably the greatest single game performance in the history of college football).

And the thing is - NO ONE will argue with the Houston Texans now if they take Vince Young over Reggie Bush now. He's the hometown guy, the entire state of Texas would be lining up to deliver him their extra kidney should he ever need it, David Carr just isn't working out all that well anyway, and Domanick Davis has generally been a solid option for the Texans in the backfield. So, Carr and Bush or Young and Davis? Honestly, the world won't fault them for taking either path.

So thank you, Vince Young, for potentially giving my Aints some much-needed extra ammunition when it comes to stacking our cupboard come April.

Incidentally, did anyone else know Vince's accent is as thick Southern as it is? I've seen interviews with the guy, but the postgame comment "THE CRYSTAH BAWL IS COMIN BACK TAH AWSTIN TEXUS BAYYYYBEE" sorta caught me off guard. Pow Wow's disco baw (Paul Wall/disco ball) type stuff. (That link is to Paul Wall's website on the WIDE WORLD WEB. Hah.)

One more thing!

2006-01-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

Be sure to read this EDSBS recap of the game, complete with requisite commentary on the fantasticity (I voted for W, remember, the whole making up words part, thanks) of the Texas dancing girls in chaps. Orson, who is undoubtedly the most eloquent CFB blogger on the planet (even allowing for the UF blue jean shorts, I'm just glad he's SEC country), puts it so:

A fine institution,and thanks to a mix of large scale population dynamics, flexible academic standards, and widespread access to modern dentistry, a wellspring of hot ass. Fine decision, Doug.

Well said, sir.

[Update: Pete Fiutak of CFN also comments on the Texas cheer squad's outfits. Dance team, whatever.]

Amazon

2006-01-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Seriously, how the hell does it not only know shit I might like, but shit I already HAVE which I didn't order from them (or any accessories)? I get onto Amazon and they tell me I might like a Samsung 56" DLP (own it) or a Motorola Razr (own it).

Whatever, I shall bask in the glory of knowing I bought my Razr a year ago unlike all you posers who didn't buy it till now. Pfffttttt. It was actually a somewhat exclusive club for the first six months or so that I owned it, and then the first time I noticed its widespread-ed-ness (I voted for W, I can make up words, natch) was among LSU fans who travelled to the Arizona State game in September. And I live in Los Angeles! How devestating.

No matter how much I try, with technology I can't help but get annoyed when prices decline six seconds after Best Buy's 30-day price match expires. Even ten months later, too! Lord help me. I'm a relatively cheap bastard. I suppose that cuts me out well for this value investing bidniss.

Oh, and back to Amazon. Seriously, they've got feelers in your living room now. Look out.

Horns

2006-01-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

What was great about that game, was at 38-26 SC with 8 minutes left, tradesports figured the odds of a UT win to be 8%. Seemed you'd just be betting on a single Horns stop and the simple realization from the UT coaching staff that SC had not been able to stop Vince Young at all, and that the last drive ended in only a field goal because of a poor play call on 3rd and 5 deep in SC territory.

Anyway, thrilled to see the Horns win. One great recurring theme through the season I noticed was that whenever ESPN.com had a vote up involving USC losing a game or winning the title, invariably the state of Louisiana (on their SportsNation map) would have about the highest percentage of anti-USC votes, sometimes even surpassing that of the home state of the team USC was up against in the poll. While I'm not nearly as negatively disposed towards USC as they are, I was getting sick of the endless "Three Pete" talk bandied about by the ESPN types, and as such love to just consider where the BCS crystal ball of years past currently sits:

98 Tennessee
99 FSU
00 Oklahoma
01 Miami
02 Ohio State
03 LSU
04 USC
05 Texas

Not only do I not see USC three times on there, I don't see them twice.

Here's a thread with comments from the incomparable folks at EDSBS, which contains some excellent suggestions on what ESPN's Mark May can go do to himself. (Seriously, 05 Trojans 49, 91 Huskies 14? What the hell is he smoking?)

I'm alive, so here's a quick LSU take

2006-01-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

40-3 was insane. I know we're not 5 and a half touchdowns better than Miami. They threw in the towel after awhile, and it likely would not have been nearly the rout it was had Coker had some balls and gone for a 4th and inches (rather than punting since they were stopped the previous drive on a 4th and short).

But just for kicks, I like to get goosebumps by staring at the drive chart from the game, just to see Miami's final seven drives:

3 plays, -5 yards, Punt
3 plays, 0 yards, Punt
3 plays, 0 yards, Punt
3 plays, -5 yards, Punt
3 plays, 9 yards, Punt
3 plays, -8 yards, Punt
3 plays, 5 yards, Punt

That is the very definition of dominant defense. Great way to enter the offseason.

Running shoes

2005-12-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

So I spent $130 on a pair of New Balance running shoes at Frontrunner's, thinking that as it is the shit as far as running stores go, they'd hook me up. Well, my four year old Brooks Addiction (or something like that) cost $20 less and are still more comfortable. Maybe I need to try insoles or something, but how the hell are you supposed to tell if a shoe is going to be as comfortable after an hour of cardio as it does walking around a store?

They didn't have my old Brooks at Frontrunners, nor did they have any Brooks shoes at all in wide sizes, so I had to settle for NB.

Buying comfy shoes is a pain in the ass.

ESPN's holiday cards

2005-12-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

These are hilarious. I like Manny's and Lance Armstrong's. Michael Vick's...wow.

Gus Johnson

2005-12-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Chirag, is Artose Pinner's first name pronounced Ar-toze, or Ar-toose? Because your boy Gus keeps calling him Artoose. Anyway, with the swings of emotion Johnson goes through calling even a 1 yard run play, I keep hoping he'll flip out and accidentally refer to him as "Artoose Detoose."

Book it.

Random stuff

2005-12-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

1) What the hell is up with random people taking the time to shit talk on my blog? Jesus Christ!

2) Sorry Jesus, didn't need you, just making an exclamation. Feel free to go back to what you were doing.

3) Macy's has LOADS of cashmere and it's 62% off. The tag on the rack says 50% off, but the register marked those items 55% off, then they added an extra 15% off that number for some reason. Wasn't a mistake either. One of the better deals around.

Incidentally, I drove 45 miles this morning to go to a mall in the OC called South Coast Plaza. That thing is huge. And it's got everything - from Versace to Macy's Men's Store to Sears - but not hot girls. What the hell? I thought this is California.

Also, very weak selection of running shoes. One Foot Locker which absolutely sucks. Once again, what the hell? I thought I this is California.

4) King Kong, killing me.

5) I'm in the semifinals of my fantasy football money league, and my opponent randomly decided it was time to pick up New England's defense this week. New England, one of the worst fantasy defenses year to date, promptly goes out and pitches a shutout with seven sacks, racking up 20 points for my opponent. Naturally.

6) [Edit: basically I do not like the way my apartment complex operates. The language offended some folks so I had to take it down.]

7) Chirag, knower of all things football: a few years ago, one of the "Madden" editions included the following ref call on some personal fouls: "Personal Foul, he's giving him the business!" I never could understand what the hell the ref was saying, till Chirag pointed out to me a few days ago that some ref several years ago didn't know what to say and said those exact words during a game call. It always bugged me, and now I may lay that annoyance to rest! Good times.

God damn Kong

2005-12-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Looks like I was wrong on Kong. $9.7MM on opening day. Maybe it somehow turns in a huge weekend but they'll need some kinda advertising blitz to pull off this $100MM in five days business. At this point if it keeps going like this they'll be lucky to hit $75MM. Only Shrek 2 pulled in a weak Wednesday and went on to rake in over $100MM.

KK could still pull in huge worldwide final numbers, but that won't be worth a damn thing on the Tradesports contract. Funny thing is, Titanic had very weak numbers in its opening week but grew from there (actually dropped from #1 at one point but was so strong that it took back over at #1 because people kept going). All time, Titanic has the highest gross ever for a movie in each of its 4th week, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th week. Pretty sick, huh? EVERYONE is coming back from this movie and loving it. So I imagine it will have huge staying power.

Will be interesting to see what went wrong with this one. Perhaps people just weren't really aware that it was opening yesterday.

I'll wait till Friday's box office take to officially declare this bet dead. But Tradesports right now is giving it a 25% shot of making it.

I'm sure all four of you faithful readers are just thrilled to be reading this shit. Whatever, not like you want to hear about the Pasta Roni I cooked tonight. (BTW, that stuff just never looks like it does on the recipe on the back of the box, does it? Still was quite edible though. For me at least.)

Who thinks King Kong banks over $100MM in its first five days?

2005-12-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

I do stocks for a living. Essentially we analyze numbers and shit and try to decide if the market is pricing things correctly. So I've never done this for movies before, and I figure what the hell?

Through history, not a lot of movies have grossed over $100MM in their first five days at the box office. That said, 11 of the 13 which have accomplished it have done so since 2002. Half of those are Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

Tradesports is currently offering a contract which allows you to wager on whether or not Kong hits $100MM in its first five days. As I write this the bid is 20 and the ask is 55. A wide spread, but even hitting the 55 bid gives the possibility for a decent profit. So what do I think?

King Kong is opening in 3,567 theaters, a lower number than any of those top 13 except two of the Star Wars flicks and Passion of the Christ. It's not a huge difference versus the average, perhaps 3% or so, but that could make all the difference. It is, however, the highest screen count (7,500) ever for a Universal release, and they're trying to temper expectations down to the level of the first Lord of the Rings, which grossed about $75MM in its first five days. Of course they're not going to overpromise on this one, and I'm sure they're inwardly hoping for $100MM at the very least - it is clear that $75MM will be an absolute bottom for this thing, as simple inflation since the original LOTR's release in 01 would indicate. Further, Peter Jackson was a relative unknown in 2001 (at least to the masses), but after the Rings series his name sells.

Even further, everyone and their mother has given this thing a glowing review, adding even more to the hype that is sure to surround this release.

The movie geeks at Box Office Mojo are projecting $82MM for King Kong - over the weekend ONLY. So we get an extra two days. IF they're off by 10%, and you can check their historical accuracy here, KK would still only need $25MM over today and tomorrow in order to make it through the $100MM barrier. That would be a bit tough, but certainly doable, especially since tonight's numbers will be an enormously inflated Wednesday total simply from the hype leading up to this. In fact six films have actually accomplished the $25MM single day mark on a Wednesday.

If you dig on the Box Office Mojo forecast history linked above, you'll see that the audience underestimated Potter and Narnia's recent releases, and it's a good bet they're underestimating this one as well. Even still, if I were long this contract I'd be happy with an $82MM weekend, leaving only $18MM needed today and tomorrow.

Oh what fun it is to ride...yada yada yada! (By the way, in case you hadn't figured it out yet, I am suggesting that going long this contract would be the best bet. If you have to pay 75 cents or more for it, I wouldn't do it, but at coin-flip odds or better? No question.)

By the way, did you guys know that Andy Serkis, aka Gollum, is playing King Kong??

Update on Bears-Vikes convergence

2005-12-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I threw out the idea of shorting the Bears to win the NFC North at 83 cents and going long the Vikes at 17 cents, based on their respective schedules in the following three weeks. Since then, The Bears have gone 2-1 (wins over Tampa and Green Bay, and a loss to Pittsburgh) while the Vikes have expectedly gone 3-0.

As I didn't expect the Bears to beat Tampa, this threw a bit of a wrench in the argument. That said, the Vikes held up their end of the bargain and as it stands, the Bears need to lose to either the Falcons at home this week or the Packers at Lambeau next week (neither is likely, in my opinion) and the Vikes need to beat the Steelers at home AND the Ravens on the road, in order to set up a winner-take-all Week 17 clash between the Vikes and Bears at the Metrodome.

All that said, the trade actually has made money thus far if you put it on. You could have sold that spread at 66 cents and can now buy it back at 53. It's too bad; had the Buccaneers been able to connect on a 27 yard field goal late in the 4th, that game would have gone to OT with Tampa having plenty of momentum after a late surge. And the spread on the trade would likely be a lot closer to 20. Ahh well, it was a fun exercise in market psychology, with the market clearly having undervalued the ability of Brad Johnson to deliver against a very weak schedule (Browns, Lions, and Rams).

Vols fan pimps his fandom out

2005-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

Link through CFR, click there to get to the eBay auction. Hilarious!

Losing a little faith in the Horns

2005-12-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

After all, Vince Young sounded like a complete baby after his Heisman trophy runner-up finish. Not sure why he was surprised, hadn't he been reading HP all year long?

Anyway, I've been rather confident in Texas winning this one but this sort of reaction strikes me as a little bit immature. Kind of feels like the slightest mistake early in the Rose Bowl will completely destroy his confidence. Especially if SC gets up 2 scores.

Dinner tonight

2005-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

1 Lean cuisine pizza
1/2 can of baked beans
2 cupcakes and a glass of milk

And a newfound knowledge that the goal line extends to infinity and beyond. Thanks, Al!

And Jim Haslett made a good coaching move for the first time since that glorious playoff year of 2000 - anyone else know that if your offense commits a penalty with under 2 minutes left and the clock running, you can burn a timeout instead of having the 10 second runoff? Well, Jim Haslett knew it. Good for him.

We suck by the way. So badly that we can't suck enough to jump Houston for the #1 pick in the draft. They'll take Reggie anyway, so 2 will be good enough for me. But will we even do that? I doubt it.

And we just got the Falcons with a safety on us. Awesome.

One more excellent line from Nelly's "Grillz" song

2005-12-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

[Edit: dunno if this one was deemed offensive but edited it anyway. It's the line with a former Democrat President's wife named. I found it amusing.]

I know it's SWAC football, but...

2005-12-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

Bruce Eugene of Grambling threw 6 TD's in the title game victory today, giving him a season total of 4400 yards, 56 TDs, and 6 INTs. Seriously, hat tip to those ridiculous stats. Wow.

97-66?

2005-12-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

You know the good folks down in burnt orange nation have to be getting a leeeetle bit worried at the possibility of losing the football version of the 1 vs 2 this bad...say 55-19?

Severely doubt that'll come close to happening, but good God, Duke is good. 3rd biggest margin ever in a 1 vs 2 game. You know the little bro is going [Edit: he's going crazy.].

Fox Christmas bonuses

2005-12-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

As youse guys know, my roommate works for Fox. This bucket of M&Ms was his Christmas gift from the company. I offered him $100 to eat the whole thing tonight. He wouldn't do it!

You wanna see my what?

2005-12-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

[Edit: I find the Grillz song funny. And Kanye took a line from Happy Gilmore in his song, "Jesus Walks."]

Oh yeah, and football americano

2005-12-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

([Edit: Yes,] I know it's spelled futbol in the espanol.) I'm stoked we (LSU) get to play Miami in the Peach Bowl, but we BLEEEEE-HEEEEEWWWWW against UGA. With Les and Jimbo at the helm, we'll likely BLOOOO-HOOOWWWW against Miami. But I'm still excited we get that matchup. Will our wide receivers learn to catch? Will our offensive line learn to block? Will our veteran leaders minimze ridiculous personal foul penalties in what's still a big game? Tune in and find out!

Also, the sponsor of the Peach Bowl is Chick-fil-a. I love Chick-fil-a nuggets, and their waffle fries. God is good.

One last thing, if USC's 70-17 victory over Arkansas is so telling compared to the measly margins of victory the SEC had over the Razorbacks, what does USC's 66-19 victory over UCLA say about the rest of the Pac 10? Will this even be addressed or just brushed under the rug by HP et al? Probably brushed under the rug, but I'm guessing more because folks are just growing weary of the Pac-10/SEC talk rather than just dodging the question. After all, there's USC-Texas to discuss.

Can't say I'm entirely disappointed with the way the bowls have turned out. I'm not a fan of either SC or Texas but am pumped to watch that game. I could give a rat's ass about Penn State and Florida State (mostly because Penn State should roll easily there), but Notre Dame and Ohio State in the Fiesta should be fun, and hell it'll be intriguing to see the results of Bama-Texas Tech, Auburn-Wisconsin, and Oregon-Oklahoma. Maybe UCLA-Northwestern, but other than that, yech. Hope you have something better to do on New Year's Eve than watch college football, because all you're getting is TCU-Iowa State, NC State-South Florida, and Tulsa-Fresno State. Joy.

Random NFL observations:

- If I'm somehow in the area at the time, you know damn well I will be at the first Saints game back at the Superdome next year, no matter how bad we are.

- Yeah, all signs point towards our being really REALLY bad next year. Let's see, hapless franchise who has an unstable future. No coach in his right mind would want to come here, so we're stuck with Jim Haslett, one of the worst head coaches in any sport, since no one else in his right mind would take the spot. I say his, but perhaps Pat Summitt would consider the opportunity if we gave it to her? Yeah she's a basketball coach, but I mean, her knowledge of rudimentary football strategy has to rival that of anyone on our staff. [Now, this was deemed offensive, but I'm choosing not to edit it as I think my point was entirely misconstrued by someone who was entirely unaware that Pat Summitt is one of the greatest coaches in any sport in history. The point is that she coaches women's basketball, but is a great coach, and thus to me would probably do a better job coaching the Saints tham Jim Haslett.]

- Good God, Brett Favre is just bad. Not that he doesn't have talent still, but his decisionmaking has dropped so precipitously, he clearly trusts no one on that team what with all those injuries to his supporting cast. Still, many of the throws he makes are just inexcusable, particularly the floater off his back foot 20 yards into the endzone near the end of the first half that the Bears took back 95 yards to set up a lead-changing field goal as the clock expired. Brilliant.

- That look Kerry Collins gets when everything is going wrong, it's somewhere between a six year old staring at a linear algebra textbook and your typical pet goldfish. I wonder if anything actually goes through his head. Ever.

- Then again, lately I suppose the same can be said about Aaron Brooks more often than not.

- Just when I start thinking the Texans are going to make it a battle for the #1 pick, giving us hope to move up a bit in the draft, they pull off more gut-punch ways to lose. Last minute length-of-the-field game-winning drive orchestrated against you by perhaps the worst offense in the NFL? Check. Why the Texans even bothered to celebrate the FG with a minute left that put them up 2 is beyond me. We all knew what was coming. (And yet I held out hope for our draft pick anyway. Kill me.)

- Ok so the Bears/Vikes NFC North winner trade isn't working out so hot just yet. But the Vikes have won both games as I expected and host the Rams this week while the Bears travel to Pittsburgh, so the 2-game lead ought to close to 1, with three to play (including a head-to-head). I still think the Bears win the North, I just don't think it's 90% likely.

- Speaking of the Rams, that sound you hear is the Ryan Fitpatrick bandwagon crashing and burning. I'm sure Chirag will have something to say about it, as he actually worked that game for Fox.

[Edit: Nelly's Grillz song is funny]

2005-12-05T20:52:00.000-08:00

[Edited out my commentary here altogether.]

Charles Tillman, student of the game

2005-12-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

On the Kenny Mayne special on the "Fair catch free kick" this morning, Bears DB Charles Tillman discussed the history of the rule and pointed out an occurrence in 1999 in which the Cowboys made a fair catch at the Giants 45 yard line as the 1st half clock expired. Rather than attempting their allowed free kick for a possible three points, the Cowboys went into the locker room for the half.

Tillman: "Ole Chan Gailey forgot the rule!" Leans in, whispering into the camera: "Maybe that's why he's coaching at Georgia Tech!"

AAAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

Sunday Countdown bit on Warrick Dunn

2005-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

Seriously, if a kid is going to have a role model aside from his own father, it would be extremely difficult to find anyone more worthy than Warrick Dunn.

No Joe Addai, and we're terrible

2005-12-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

Also, what the hell is wrong with CBS' audio? There's this awful clicking sound constantly in the background during the game, same with the Arkansas game last week.

Anyway, penalties and dropped passes, great time for all this to be cropping up again.

Another reminder to be reading EDSBS religiously

2005-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

In case you missed their Phil Fulmer apology letter to Vols fans...absolute hilarity.

Mathematics

2005-11-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Currently on Tradesports, the contract for the Bears to win the NFC North is trading at 83 (payoff is 100). Contract for the Vikings to win the NFC North is 17. The Bears are 7-3, and the Vikes are 5-5. Next three games for each team are:

Bears
@ Tampa
vs Green Bay
@ Pittsburgh

Vikings
vs Cleveland
@ Detroit
vs St Louis

So three weeks from now, there seems to be a rather good chance that the Bears are sitting at 8-5 and the Vikes 8-5 as well.

Now, I'm not saying that the Vikes will win the division, but you don't have to hold these contracts to expiry; just hold them till the odds adjust to what you feel is correct. Given that three weeks from now, there will be three games left in the season and I think there's a decent chance the Bears and Vikes have the same record (don't laugh, by the way, Vikes aren't awesome but have won 4 of their last 5), the odds will simply HAVE to be closer to 50/50. They certainly won't be 83/17.

So if you're a betting man, and I'm not saying I am, you might consider your options for making money on that convergence.

19-17?

2005-11-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

Well we won, but Jesus H Christ, that was terrible. No wonder Saban didn't take Jimbo Fisher (offensive coordinator) with him to Miami. He's GARBAGE.

Clearly, the Tigers spent all week gameplanning for the Georgia game. We absolutely deserved to lose to Arkansas. Hats off to the Razorbacks for keeping it that close.

LOT of work to be done this week if we expect to hang with the Dawgs.

Have to admit, we now own the "king of winning ugly" title (as HP penned it a few weeks ago), taken from UCLA. No doot aboot it.

Clippers center Boniface N'Dong

2005-11-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

Have you guys heard of this fella? He's 7'0" and weighs 198. THAT IS NOT A TYPO. He's a foot taller than I am and weighs 4 lbs less than I do.

Awesome. Though I suppose Manute Bol had an extra 7 inches of height and only 25 lbs. Discussion topic: which is more ridiculous? Manute's weight/height ratio was 2.47, while DOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG's is 2.36.

What's up with stadium security?

2005-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Someone got onto the Virginia field and painted a "T" next to the V this morning to make it look like a Va Tech logo at midfield. They've since cleared it, but how in the sam hell did they let that happen?

Hilarious guest blogging from my friends over at the Blunt

2005-11-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

Read this story and laugh your ass off.

Stocks for youse guys to go research

2005-11-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

[Edit: No more stock talk.]

Various CFB Top 10s

2005-11-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's Heisman Pundit's. I won't argue much with Auburn ahead of us, as I wouldn't want to play them again. But I find it absolutely comical that LSU is the "King of Winning Ugly." Once again, I have my doubts as to whether HP even tuned in to the second half of the LSU game. (Psst HP, there were no turnovers in the game.) So that brings me to wonder...is UCLA even on his list of winning ugly? I mean, a 4 point win vs Washington, a 3 point win vs Wazzu, a miraculous three-touchdowns-in-ten-minutes comeback versus Stanford, and an overcoming-500-yards-of-total-offense 10-point win over Arizona State comprise nearly half their wins. Oh, and this is in addition to losing by FIVE TOUCHDOWNS (and a field goal) eleven days ago. OK. So all together now: winning is pretty as long as you roll up 600 yards of offense doing it. There is no other reasonable explanation for this.

Meanwhile, CFR has LSU on the cusp of being in his Top 13 for consideration. One can only wonder where Urban Meyer's Gators fall on the list, what with Louisville (of 45-14 drubbing loss to South Florida fame) on there.

Gatorade commercial

2005-11-16T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to the video of the most excellent Gatorade commercial, finally.

Thanks to some commenter on Darren Rovell's blog for it.

I hope you guys are reading EDSBS

2005-11-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

These guys are legitimately hilarious.

Make sure you read about the Miami Hurricanes rap from last year.

Additionally, their analysis of this Big East ad is brilliant.

So if Bush misled America on the war...

2005-11-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

Then so did:

Madeline Albright
Bill Clinton
Howard Dean
Sandy Berger
Nancy Pelosi
Jay Rockefeller
Joe Biden
Harry Reid
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards (who reminds us that he was ON the Intelligence Committee)
Evan Bayh

Watch the video. I know it's from the GOP's website, but I sat through the bullshit videos from MoveOn, so hie thee, liberals.

[Edit: It seems the GOP could use a sound editor, by the way. Why did that video even need music? Who knows. There. I criticized the Republican Party.]

Don't hate, litigate!

2005-11-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

Kazakhstan threatens Ali G's "Borat" with court...who knew the Kazakhs were of the litigious ilk?

LSU Thoughts

2005-11-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Ugly first half on both sides of the ball, I don't think anyone can argue that whatever adjustments we made at halftime worked tremendously. Now, there will be those who still say our defense isn't executing and shouldn't get off the hook for shutting down an admittedly weak Bama offense, but they'll just be losing credibility in my opinion. No turnovers, for either team, just great football on both sides of the ball. One of the better LSU games I've seen.

The Auburn-Georgia game was one of the more impressive displays of football I've seen in awhile. Nothing was really ugly about that game, you could just tell it was two damn good teams playing. I think both teams may be able to say they played their best game of the year (at least in the conference, Georgia's win over Boise State may have been technically more crisp). One of those games with the proverbial "Hate to see anyone lose" underlying it. If we manage to handle our business vs Ole Miss and Arkansas, playing Georgia is not something I'll be looking forward to.

I'm behind on my rules, but couple questions: In the LSU game, on an LSU 2nd and 22 or so, Bama had a defensive holding called. It was 10 yards from the spot of the foul and replaya the down. What happened to five yards and an automatic first down?

Also, in the Georgia-Auburn game, Leonard Pope got called for a (very weak) pass interference call on offense. The penalty was 15 yards. How long has that rule been around? I thought the only 15 yarders were personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct?

What to make of the Pac 10 when one of its undefeateds got annihilated 52-14 two weeks ago by a team that just got destroyed 38-14 by the rebuilding Washington Huskies?

Here we go...

2005-11-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

(Thanks for the pic to someone on the Tiger droppings board.)

The ongoing Saints ownership saga

2005-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Terry Bradshaw would be an absolute hero if he pulled it off and got his group to submit a bid that Benson accepts...

Public sentiment towards Benson has plummeted since Katrina. ESPN's Outside the Lines did a segment on it, which essentially filleted Benson. The amigos on the Saints message board discuss it here, including one member who was kind enough to upload his Tivo'd copy to the web.

Pac 10 vs SEC stuff

2005-11-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

I'm way behind on putting this up but CFR has now started a Pac 10 vs SEC forum. heh. Good discussions around the place, though.

Other posts:

CFR on the Pac 10

CFR on the SEC

HP's top ten with some discussion of the matter. You just have to love his having a team which lost 52-14 in his top ten over LSU because we only beat I-AA App State 24-0. Give me a damn break. It's been clear all year long that UCLA is vastly overrated, and when they finally capitulate, it's time to give them a break, rather than LSU which despite its ugly play has actually been handling its business.

Another one from HP on the SEC's overrated state, quoting an article out of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

One more from HP. I haven't had time to read most of these but will get around to it this weekend. Undoubtedly, as is usually the case with CFR and HP, it should be intelligent discussion, far better than anything we get out of ESPN et al.

Somewhere in the CFR universe he mentioned that not just our offense but our DEFENSE has been subpar. I need to go back and find it and request some elaboration there. Because as you can guess, I find that assertion to be complete horseshit. But who knows...we'll see if the Tide rolls us this weekend.

O/U for LSU-Bama is 37.5. Tempted to take the under.

Sorry about the AWOL ness

2005-11-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Going to LSU for the weekend. Actually staying in New Orleans Friday night, anxious to see what's going on down there now.

Halloween candy

2005-10-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

I spent $10 at Costco the other day on a bag of mini-candies (3 Musketeers, Milky Way, Snickers, M&M, Twix) so that I wouldn't be empty-handed tonight if any kids walk by Trick or Treating.

Well, I've eaten like two a day since then and my roommate froze a bunch of the Twixes because apparently that's really good, and I'm getting worried that no one's going to come tonight and I'm gonna end up eating them all.

On the worst-case-scenario side, there are 128 of them inside the bag, and at 80 calories each, that's about 10,250 calories total which is a touch less than 3 lbs. You know, in case I wigged out and ate them all tomorrow. Plus at this point there are probably only about 110 of them left, so I got that going for me.

My Mom is funny

2005-10-31T08:28:00.000-08:00

I had an argument with her last night. So she says "You guys are always complaining about 'Mom does this' or 'Mom says that' well MOM IS TIRED OF TAKING SHIT."

That's gotta make a headline somehwere, huh? "Indian matriarch tired of taking shit from ungrateful kids."

Good times, good times. All is well now.

Quick question

2005-10-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

Why did Roscoe Parrish look so much faster in a Miami Hurricanes uniform than he does now in the Bills uni? Was it the black shoes? Does everyone just look faster in a Canes outfit?

Another hilarious College FB picture

2005-10-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Doering's got a TD, thru EDSBS:

Broncos Touchdowns

2005-10-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

So Bell scored (twice), and Devoe scored. Don't they have anyone named Biv who could've gotten the ball today?

Bell, Biv, Devoe.

HAHAHAHAH

2005-10-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

With the Packers down 7 and the clock running with 26 seconds left, a Bengals fan just ran onto the field and stripped the ball from Brett Favre before being tackled by security.

Edit: Here he is in all his glory!

12 minutes into the day of NFL

2005-10-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

We had a score in every game but the Bears-Lions. Lots of scoring today.

Seminal moment in this blog's history

2005-10-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

I am now on page one of the Google search results for Erin Andrews (current hot-as-hell sideline reporter for ESPN).

So I figure, why not leave you with this, and the link to the Yahoo Group "Fans of Erin Andrews" where there are plenty more pics to be had:

(Same pic as last time, only BETTER QUALITY.)

Phil Simms, learn English

2005-10-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

On a Jason Elam field goal attempt: "He hits it good...he hits it so good the ball decompresses."

He announces real good.

Tomlinson has 9 rushes for -7 yards through about 3 qtrs

2005-10-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

Good Lord, wonder what's going on with the Philly D today pulling that off.

I have to say

2005-10-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

That despite Peyton Manning and Daunte Culpepper having had miles more fantasy points than anyone last season (in any reasonable scoring system), I'm seriously considering benching Manning for Bledsoe. Whenever the Colts try to throw the ball around the goal line, they fail. Peyton may not throw half as many TDs as he did last. How aggravating.

Gatorade commercial

2005-10-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone seen that Gatorade commercial where they talk about how important a fraction of a second can be? I have to tip my hat to them on that one. They changed the footage of "The Catch" by Dwight Clark to show him missing it, changed Jordan's buzzer-beater shot over the Cavs to have him miss it, changed Jeter's sick cutoff play in the playoffs vs Oakland a couple years ago to have the A's runner be safe at the plate. Pretty impressive work there.

[Edit: Video here. HT: Darren Rovell commenter named kazimoto.]

Fox's halftime highlight graphics

2005-10-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine who the absolute moron is for Fox who decided it's a good idea to design their score ticker the way it is on the top during halftime highlights. It shows the CURRENT score so you have no idea what the score was when the highlight being shown occurred. Bradshaw's always tripping over his words because he has to go so fast...what a mess. F- for the guys in charge of that, it's pretty much the worst presentation I have ever seen.

Favre's day so far

2005-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

11/11, 167 yds, 2 TD

The Vikings have very Aintslike qualities this year. What a terrible, terrible team.

A Saints opponent booed by their home fans

2005-10-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is great!

We just had a FG blocked but for once we're not making a mediocre QB (Jamie Martin) look like a Hall of Famer.

Quick comment on LSU

2005-10-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

1) I feel sick about that win, but I'll take it.

2) Our D was playing pretty well until Irons broke 1.5 million tackles on the 75 yard TD run. Irons then became The Incredible Hulk and the Bambino combined (since he called his 200 yard game getting off the bus), and rolled us. He didn't even have the kindness to use astroglide while pounding us.

Kenny Irons in the first half:

Kenny Irons in the 2nd half:

3) We wanted the team to cure penalties and turnovers, and it got traded for WR drops. I hope this doesn't become a weekly juggling act; that perhaps by the Bama game we can have all three cured. But kudos for the discipline on penalties and fumbling.

Rams putting in a real Saints like effort today

2005-10-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

TWO penalties on the drive to extend it for us when we otherwise would have had to punt - an idiotic personal foul/ejection on Damione Lewis, and then a defensive holding on 3rd down. We wind up scoring and are now up 14-0.

Honestly, I don't know what to think. It's been years since the Aints have had a start like this.

(In all fairness, the def holding was pretty weak from the look of the replay.)

Good Lord

2005-10-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

Damione Lewis just got up and socked LeCharles Bentley in the nuts, and got ejected. Extended the Saints drive in the process too. Good times.

I woke up this morning

2005-10-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Entirely expecting a Saints 3 and out and another slow start.

Instead, 7 plays, 72 yards, TD. GEAUX SAINTS!

Wow, what a crazy finish to that drive

2005-10-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dwayne Bowe dropped a floater literally through his hands, chest, everything, in the back of the endzone with no one within five yards. Brings up fourth down. We miss the FG. We remain up only 4. Ugh.