(Updated Sunday Morning)
Yes MSG is lucky to have two friends who attended the matchup today of #8 Cal and Big10 opponent Minnesota. What makes this truly special, is that while these guys are finance geniuses, not of the non-Enron/Lehman brothers variety…(wait, one of them did have a partnership with Lehman, nevermind), they are technological Luddites. However, they overcame their inability to Facebook, Twitter, etc. and used their cell phones for important texts and photos. So before moving on to the “less” important action, let’s get the recap from the Mini-Apple.
My two correspondents, let’s call them Ray and Silent Q (any similarity to Jay and Silent Bob, is intended), turn out to be big hitters that got to fly to Minneapolis on one of the team planes. Even better, it was the plane not with the players, but with the Cheerleaders. Kudos gentlemen, kudos! Now share the photos please! (In the absence of photos, here are some placeholders)
The Gophers were opening a new stadium, no dome, and for that my correspondents certainly thought: thank goodness this game is not in November. Anyway, for fans of new stadia, here you go:
So the Bears got out to a good lead and it looked like the Jahvid best-led team was going to have a cakewalk, despite the 9am PDT start time; a time, you all remember, that cost us so dearly against the UM Terps last year. Best had two TDs in the first 7 minutes, then jet lag hit. Early in the second half, it is tied 21, and all Cal grads feel the sphincter tighten.
However, Cal regroups, and thanks to an illegal procedure penalty against themselves, Cal gets another 3rd down try, converts it, and goes on to score. They tack on a later touchdown, providing the 14 point victory. And Jahvid put himself into the second tier Heisman discussion after carrying 26 times for 131 yards and 5 (FIVE) TDs.
However, even Ray admits that Cal escaped. In fact, he and presumably Silent Q (aptly named since he cannot return an email), think Minnesota will upset Penn State, which we all need to prevent another crap Big10 team in the BCS Title game.
Ray and Silent Q, I do expect a photo essay (expose) from the Midwestern Clevelander.
Other notes from the weekend (read to the bottom for Notre Dame):
- USC loses to Washington. Just one of my bad picks from below, but we all know that readers of Yes MSG do not use to bet, but to laugh. Amazed that regardless of QB, SC could only get 13. How does Pete Carroll lose to Oregon State, twice, Stanford, and UCLA all in the last 4 years, but beat the living crap out of all the reputable competition the other BCS conferences — Arkansas, Ohio State, Penn State, Auburn, Va Tech, etc.? Nevertheless, this is the year for someone to rise up and take out Tommy Trojan. Will it be…
- Oregon, who may have righted the ship by ending Utah’s 18 game winning streak. However, Purdue losing to Northern Illinois does take the shine off of last week’s victory. Cal gets Oregon in Eugene next Saturday to see who wants the Trojan’s throne. But Autzen is a frightening place to play. Most attendees don’t appear to have college degrees, or even a full set of teeth; they also appear to have chain saws in their cars. Um, gulp, Go Bears!
- Utah’s loss removes one BCS pretender from the Mountain West from contention, and…
- BYU’s destruction at home at the hands of Florida State, giving up 54 points, removes another; only TCU remains, and at #15, pretty far to climb. (Note to my Mormon readership: you were upset that I did not give enough props after the Oklahoma victory; consider the lack of criticism here for an egregious home loss as a ‘makeup’ call).
- Of course, Boise State is still undefeated and plays no one in the Weak WAC. Don’t see it happening at end of year, though.
- Tennessee, despite all the idiotic comments of new coach Lane Kiffin, was NOT blown out by Tim Tebow and his head-sycophant, Urban Meyer. A ten point loss was pretty impressive for a program (Tennessee) that has nowhere near the talent, had the audacity to predict a win, and, wrongfully, accuse Florida of recruiting violations. Verdict? Florida, watch out for LSU. And maybe…
- Georgia v Arkansas — 93 points, 1000+ years of offense. UGA wins. Its own highlight show.
- Va Tech is losing to Nebraska, 15-10, with less than a minute and a half to go, and no timeouts. So what happens to the Bo Pellini (ex LSU DC) coached Cornhuskers? They give up a bomb – 60+ yards, down to the 4. Then on 3rd and goal, Tyrod Taylor scrambles for about 40 seconds then throws a touchdown strike. Va Tech wins. Go online for the highlights.
- Ohio State beat Toledo, and Terrelle Pryor had a rebound game. C’mon, it was Toledo. Do it in Happy Valley. ‘Nuff said.
- Notre Dame, are you kidding Lou? I have to suffer with the insufferable Lou Holtz waxing his dolphin about Jimmy Clausen and the ND offense. Umm Lou, if the Sparty QB had not totally overthrown a WIDE, and you have to see it to see how WIDE, open wide receiver in the end zone with only a minute left; and then followed that up with an interception despite being down by 3 and in field goal range, ND would be 1-2, Charlie Weis would be on his way out, and we would not have to listen to UNRANKED Notre Dame going to a BCS bowl game talk. The nation (sarcastically) thanks you, Mr. Sparty QB. Conversely, annual ND opponents may be pleased that ND won since, with Charlie Weis as coach, you know they will never be that good. Just good enough to keep his job.
At one point in time today, Yes MSG had access to 6 games on TV simultaneously. Now I have to give my eyes and remote control thumb a rest, in order to prep for tomorrow’s NFL action – highlighted by NY Giants-Dallas in the official inauguration of Jerry Jones wet dream Stadium.
What I endure for my readership.
Yes MSG 