What Else? Football

You thought I would write about the unfortunate departure of Rafa Nadal from the US Open; or Serena going all McEnroe, without the charm….

Score Update — The Green Bay Packers, Yes MSG bandwagon team (see below), trailing the Chicago Whiners (in honor of Jay Cutler), and facing third and one with only 1 minute to go, just threw a 50 yard bomb to take a 6 point lead.  Green Bay only needed a field goal, and caught the Bears by surprise.  Gutsy call, and makes me wonder if Lovie is glad he let Ron Rivera go.  Go ‘farve’ yourself Chicago, Yes MSG is firmly in Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood.

Score Update II — Jay Whiner just threw an interception, his fourth of the game, on First and Ten and now the Pack runs out the clock.  Unfortunately, Yes MSG has already used all the vitriol and bitterness for which he is most famous!  Oh, wait, I can be bitter that my Niners took Alex Smith instead of Aaron Rodgers.  Not exactly Bowie-Jordan, but still up there.

Phew. Caught my breath.  Let’s start with College as that was more interesting (Note: I will not in general comment on Top 25 programs that played against Betty Crocker (cupcakes, get it?)).

1. Thanks to the Blue of Michigan for quashing EARLY the ND playing in the National Title Game, or, it is hoped, even a BCS bowl.  What a finish.  Of course, I did not see it as I was at Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey (&%)#*&@! Circus.  From what I understand, Charlie (Unparalleled Schemer) Weis, had his team throw twice with under five minutes to go.  Both passes incomplete, so it stopped the clock and aided Forcier, who threw the winning score with only 11 seconds to go.  Now Charlie may have actually been right as Michigan was stacking the box, but he will still be pilloried in South Bend, which is only fair when you have a $30M contract. While Forcier’s drive was impressive, it seems to have been overshadowed by…
2. Matt Barkley, freshman starter at USC, drove his team an effective 95 yards in the final minutes to defeat the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe.  As a Pac 10 guy, albeit one who does not go with the conference always, I was actually pleased to show that the Big 10 sux. So tired of hearing about it.  Of course, now Penn State probably walks to the title, and maybe a BCS Title Game since the rest of the Big 10 stinks.  Iowa almost loses to N Iowa; Michigan will not be that good; Wisconsin needs OT v Fresno State; Illinois coached by Ron Zook.  Yawner.  But also being from the Pac 10, someone better take out ‘SC this year as I want no part of Barkley in the two remaining years after this one before he goes to the NFL.  And to think Pete Carroll was like the 4th choice to coach USC years ago…..dammmmmmmmmmmm
3. Oklahoma State may have received $160M from T. Boone Pickens, but they are still Chokelahoma State after losing to Houston.  And not the Houston of Phi Slamma Jamma, or even of Andre Ware or David Klingler
4. Lane Kiffin of Tennessee is about to be humiliated.  First of all, they lose to a totally mediocre UCLA team at Rocky Top.  Next week they go into the swamp (Gainesville, FLA) to take on Urban Meyer and his love child quarterback, Tim Tebow.  Kiffin also pi$$ed off Urban Meyer with some ill advised comments during recruiting, and also, supposedly, stole a recruit.  Can you say 40 point beatdown?  Seriously, I am thinking like 52-13.  This just goes to show that Al Davis was wrong-right-wrong (for hiring Lane, the way he fired Lane, and for firing Lane).  What Tennessee was thinking?  I am giving this 2-3 years tops
5. And a special shout-out to my local Washington Huskies, who won for the first time since the 2007 season.  Sure, it was Idaho, which has not put out a good player since Mark Schlereth, but still, nice to see the kids do well.  Of course, SC comes to town next week, so maybe the fact that the head coach is Steve Sarkisian (ex OC at USC) and the defensive coordinator is the ex DC at USC, will help. Oh, and maybe not.

And a few thoughts on the pro game, which, if you watched, were pretty sloppy affairs, although did have some exciting finishes

1. First of all, let me admit biases — I am a Niners fan, but they stink.  I live in Seattle so support the Hawks, but they play in an AWFUL division.  Therefore, I need to bandwagon.  So I like the Pack, as they are QB’d by Cal grad Aaron Rodgers, and he goes against the Diva in Minnesota and the Whiner in Chicago.  Also like the Eagles as think they are deserving of the Super Bowl, even though I am also, paradoxically, a supporter of The Humane Society.  The Saints — total  underdog pick; the Titans, Fisher is a great coach; San Diego, DC is Ron Rivera from Cal
2. And who I hate: Cowboys — doesn’t everyone.  Vikes (I like All Day and the team, but outweighed by signing Favre, who treated Mr. Rodgers poorly, and cannot handle the drama each off season); Chicago (cannot pull for Cutler); Pats, even though Mr. Brady and I are both married to Brazilians; Pittsburgh — 6 is enough; Denver, as the Seahawks have their first round draft pick next year
3. Cincy lost on a fluky play, but if Heisman winner Carson Palmer and Chad Ocho Cinco cannot generate more than 7 points against the Denver defense, well…..
4. Cleveland stinks, but then again, since Joe Montana, has any good quarterback come from South Bend?  Ron Powlus?  Rick Mirer?  Add Brady Quinn to the list. Amazingly, Cleveland had not scored an offensive touchdown in 7 games, until getting a garbage time TD with 28 seconds remaining.  How is this possible?  7 games?  If you are not scoring touchdowns, you are losing, and if you are losing, the defense normally let’s up.  So no garbage time touchdowns in the final 6 games of the previous season?  Flabbergasted.  Takes ineptitude to a new high, or low
5. Adrian Peterson is a man.  If you did not see his TD run yesterday, find it on NFL.com or YouTube, if some viewer had the audacity to post a copyrighted video
6. The Cardinals stink and were a fluke
7. The “New” Bills — if new means new Offensive Coordinator, new Wideout, but old success (or lack thereof) – will get crushed by the Pats tomorrow.   Expected Terrell Owens to go off in the 3rd quarter.   Oh, and the Raiders play in MNF II at 7:15pm PDT; I am certain the east coast ratings for that game will go through the roof

Ciao!