ND/Pitt: Nice. Very nice. ND's so good after bye weeks, they should join the NBA, where an 82 game season lasts about 165 days, averaging an open date per game. Let's start from the beginning. I wish I had a running diary for this one with all the Bob Davie comments I had. It started when the play by play guy saying: "Notre Dame is 1-3." I was waiting for him to say, "...for the first time since your last year, Bob." Was it just me, or did the Pitt cheerleaders look like they were dressed for Heartland? Setta was on Davie's team for 3 years wearing #13 - why didn' t Bob notice when DJ went in? Great job by DJ, though. Won the game for us. Now, if I were cool enough for a cell phone, I probably would have called Ellen to see what was wrong as soon as Setta went out. Dave, you said you felt all your predictions came through. Imagine how I felt when VA, Tuck, and Darrell all had sacks in the first half, and Kyle B again had a great showing. The secondary did give up some catches in the first half, but did a great job adjusting at the half. With all due respect, though, Pitt receiver Brockenbaugh was the secondary's MVP. Bob called Vontez an "NFL caliber" corner. Of course, he also thought highly of Clifford. I will, in all seriousness, give Bob some respect for wanting Cliff to succeed because he thought he was a good guy. Unfortunately, there isn't a place for that when you're contending for a NC. On to the offense. Did Quinn have a bad game? No. He's a freshman, he's not going to have a 183 passer rating. And he didn't need to carry the load the way the run game was going. He did make a key play to keep the last drive alive, with Omar on the other end just doing his job. The run game was amazing. 385 yards. Grant had 84! Question on the oline: does all that pulling and trapping (in addition to the counters) make things easier on an inexperienced line? Mike, Dave, you're the experts here. I liked the use of the HBack as well (TE lined up as fullback). Julius was amazing. I've long waited for a power runner where "being stopped" on a play means he's only getting 3, much as TJ Duckett often did to the Irish. Maybe it was Ray Zellars on the sidlines. The press seems to think that ND finally "decided" to run. No. They established the run, like every team tries to do, and it worked so well there was no reason to stop using it. Also of note: Julius also passed Tim Brown's return record in this game. A note on our 1-3: everyone uses their first few games to work out the kinks - ours just happened to be against top 25 teams. So, fans of other schools have no right to rub our record in our faces. But we've got it together, so it's time to move on. That last drive was similar to me playing NCAA 2004 - the same couple run plays over and over and over again. What a game. The last 3 minutes were great, or so I was told by my dad via cell phone from Mercyhurst College in PA. Why? The end of the game was preempted by...
Wisconsin/tOSU: I told you tOSU wasn't any good. Question, though: when the tOSU LB choked Sorgi, why didn't Barry Alvarez, a former Lou assistant, demonstrate the choke on the ref?
Miami/FSU: I don't think Miami's a good #2, but FSU's certainly not a #5. Rix is just not good. Whoever drafts him better have a good O-Line, and a dome. Bobby Bowden didn't prepare for bad weather? What kind of an excuse is that? Speaking of idiots from Florida, the more I see those locker room interview "no I in team" commercials, the more that guy reminds me of Kellen Winslow.
OU/Texas: OU is the clear #1 - but there's no apparent #2, or number 3...
Tangent: Someone tried to argue the USC deserved to be in the title game last year because they were a better team than tOSU. Yes, they were a better team, but the title shot went to the team that had the better season. Quit mailing in 2 early season losses a year and we'll talk.
Tangent #2: 'Bama. How long are they on probation? Will they ever get off probation? What's going on?
Bob Morton quote: “In a football game, there are two
times you get tired. There’s one time when you are getting physically dominated and you don’t want to go out there for another play. Then there’s another time when Julius Jones breaks a 60-yard run and you’ve got to go catch up to him. In some way, shape or form, you
find a way to get up to him.�
NFL:
Browns/Raiders: Very nice "Just Sue Baby" in the stands. When it came down to that booth review on the Rice non-catch (note: announcers are idiots), all I could think was, "oh great, this is the ref that made that 'leaping' call last week." Note on the Browns radio announcers: the color guy loves to make fun of the play by play guy's tendency to get too excited. After the go ahead touchdown in the Niners game, the p-b-p guy kept repeating "What a great catch!", to which the color guy replied, "so Jim, what did you think of that catch?" And, mimmicking the p-b-p guy's famous "Run William Run!" call of Willie Green's go ahead TD in the final week against Atlanta last year, the color guy called a fake field goal run by our kicker in this game by exclaiming, "Run Phil Run!"
Carolina/Indy: Every week when making my picks, I think, "there's no way Carolina can go [so many wins] and 0," and every week they prove me wrong.
KC/Green Bay: How many times will KC NOT be called for blocks in the back on returns?
Tampa Bay/Washington: Reason #337 why Monk has nightmares about Gruden being ND's coach: Jon carries a Hooter's VIP card.
Tenn/Houston: 421 yards from McNair. Insert your own Rush Limbaugh comment here.
Denver/Pittsburgh: How old is Jason Elam? I used to have an old Apple IIc version of Madden, before it was licensed by the NFL or the player's union. So, I decided to make my own team out of players available in that year's draft. My kicker? Jason Elam.
Seahawks/Niners: Wow. Nice call on Alexander lead blocking the FB on that TD.
Atlanta/St Louis: Al Michaels was on a roll last night; his best comment was suggesting using the "SAP" button to translate what school the player says he went to to where he really went to college. I'm beginning to believe that all you need in the NFL is a coach with a good system and an average-skilled QB with good decision-making skills. Mark Bulger, Brad Johnson, AJ Feeley (or do I mean Jay Feeley? Sorry, Stacy Pressman). On another note, I was looking for the BoSox/Yanks game on the radio last night, when I discovered that the commentators for MNF radio are Marv Alberts and Boomer Esaison. You can't make this up. (and Dave, I apologize, I know you actually like Boomer) Atlanta is terrible on 3rd down? They have a 255 pound running back in TJ Duckett! I was thinking this same thing when Warrick Dunn was stopped FOUR TIMES on the Cleveland 1 against the Browns last year.
Monday Night Countdown: Ron Jaworski's analysis is just amazing. I have nothing else to say on that. Thumbs down to the "Jacked Up" (or whatever) segment, showing off the top 10 hits. Way to teach kids that it's a good thing to go helmet-to-helmet, elbow-to-chest to make a "tackle" like Ray Lewis likes to do.
HS Football:
Lorain Catholic 34, Toledo Cardinal Stritch 0: Took mini-Kanka to the Homecoming game, where he officially became the band's good luck charm. Now, he's fired up and wants to go to every LC game. Too bad there's only one left. In other Homecoming news, apparently I'm the only LC grad NOT teaching right now. I'll look into that.
MLB:
BoSox/Yanks: Is Chris Myers a "sidline reporter"... or would that be a "foul territory reporter"? I just missed both of the big fights, but here's analysis anyways. Don Zimmer is a coach. He went after a guy. Pedro is a jerk. Draw your own conclusions on that one. As for the Nelson/Karim "Jailbird" Garcia incident. I caught it just as the annoucers were suggesting that if Garcia had been injured, someone else could take his place until he was better. So, I thought Garcia had fallen into the bullpen making a catch. Upon learning that he went there out of his own will to get in a fight, well, that just reaffirmed McCarver's stupidity. As for ESPN giving all the blame for the BoSox's last win to Soriano: yes, he does suck. Can't play D, stupid on the bases, strikes out too much. But, you're making something out of nothing. Hey, the knucksie doesn't put too much strain on a guy - any chance Wakefield can pitch game 6? (and 7?)
Non-sports stuff:
You've got to check out the Funkmaster Flex car show on Spike. Cribs on wheels.
Speaking of TV, here's one of the best non-Snoop MTV quotes, courtesy of "Fraternity Life": "Those 2 need to stop acting like little girls. This isn't 'Sorority Life'."
Gotta love FedEx's new "but I have an MBA" commercial, especially as a CPEG. Even my dad (an MBA himself) loves it.
Is it just me, or is Playmakers gearing up for only lasting one season? They've got to be running out of plot lines, since they're using about 5 a night.
Watched parts of Raw for the first time in a while. Stone Cold is great - he never takes it seriously.
I think the "and twins" song finally has jumped the shark. First, the Scary Movie 3 tie in, now there's a SportsCenter NFL weekend in review tie in.
Speaking of jumping the shark, VH1's "I Love the 70's" actually shows and discusses the original Fonzie jumping the shark scene. Eyyyyy,
And, last but not least, in honor of our dear friend Matt Slafka:
