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Hey Manundso.. this is for you..
In honor of the Italians winning the World Cup, we present this from Youtube.
Season two of the new Doctor Who wraps up tonight.. just aired in the UK..
I'm, ahem, retrieving it now and hope to be watching it tonight..
and from what I'm reading, it's going to be great!
Geek out!
... of watching this..
the closing seconds of the 1988 'Catholics vs the Convicts'.
And thank you, Jimmy Johnson, for giving us the prototypical 'Face of the Sore Loser'.
Okay...I've been saying for a year or more that A-Rod just isn't clutch.
Nice stat sheet. Good numbers at the end of the year. But even I had to wonder if he could really be called MVP last year.
That position has only been amplified in recent weeks as Big Papi in Boston looks to be getting the game-winning walk-off hit in every game the Sox play..
So mark it down: tonight, A-Rod hit in the clutch. A two-run walk-off dinger in the bottom of the 12th inning to beat the lowly Atlanta Braves 4-3.
So for today, at least, A-Rod is clutch.
There, I said it.
Let's see about tomorrow.
Well, I'm surely no boxing fan. And I'll be even less of one if, after last night, Tommy Zbikowski decides to leave football behind. But it's still nice to see him do so well in his pro debut, dispatching Robert Bell-- a guy who adopted Ohio State colors for the fight, apparently thinking that flashing buckeye colors in the ring would intimidate Zibby..
I don't know about you-- and maybe this is just the sleep deprivation talking-- but I can't imagine a worse tactical error. Poor guy had no idea what was coming. That much is clear.
Okay, so is it football season yet??
| You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (66% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test |
Working tonight.
You know how they say to never talk about work in your blog.
Well, I won't either.
But suffice it to say, I'll be here a while-- til about 2am tonight-- then back again in the morning.
Spending a little time reading manundso's blog here
Downtown Nashville is pretty at night.. but looking out my window, there are some strange (and scary) characters roaming around down there.
Oh, and I've got to shake Nevin O'Donnell's hand for the way he goes back and finds all these snide, ridiculous things that Mark May said about ND over the course of last season...
My friends down here in Tennessee will hate to see this, but, much like all these other little highlight films Nevin O'Donnell has put together, this one still just plain give me chills.
Steve Jobs interviewed on CNBC:
The buying experience and ownership experience of owning a Mac are about the best of any product I know.
"I'm the Doctor. And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!"
Geeking out again on Doctor Who.. second season, with David Tennant, this time.. and he is just having too much fun .. good show!
In case you're wondering, from looking at this picture, if we just bought an empty lot.. you can rest easy, friends.. obviously this satellite image was taken before the new house was even built. The sellers built the place in April 2004, so it's truly just a couple of years old...
And despite my best intentions, as you can see I am, in fact, buying another house with a drainage ditch running across the back of the property.. but this one is much more scenic than our current one.
We've got some big news this morning..
We put an offer on a new house yesterday evening and this morning, it was accepted! So, if all goes well, we'll be moving into the new house in mid-July (the seller's are building a new house, hence the lenthy wait before closing-- but that's fine with us.. gives us plenty of time to work on selling our current house.
Pros-- about 700 more square feet, a great floor-plan, and an awesome yard just a short walk away from the neighborhood pool-- and best of all-- neighbors with TONS of kids Aidan's and Bryce's ages!
Cons-- Aidan had his heart set on a house with "two garages" (i.e. two garage doors).. this house has a garage built for two, but alas only one door. This afternoon, when we were showing him pictures of the house, he saw the door and said "But I told you that I wanted two garages!"
Discovered YouTube a while back.. but didn't really give much thought to the idea that we could post and share our own little home videos..
Haven't had much time to clip any recent video together, but this is a little montage I put together early last year...
Just watched (again, thanks to ESPN Classic and TIVO) the 92 Sugar Bowl.. Mirer, Brooks, Culver, and of course, Bettis.. love to see them "Gator Chomp" all over Florida (and a much younger-- and more goofily dressed-- Steve Spurrier)... just right to get me back in the mood for next football season.. oh, it's going to be a long summer...
When did we all become such pop culture nerds?
It all started when DVDs started rolling out season after season of all the great TV shows.. Star Trek, The Sopranos, the X-Files. Now it's Knight Rider, The A-Team, Millenium, and Battlestar Galactica (the original 1979 edition)...
I wasn't into buying those boxed sets, but I did think it was a pretty great thing that any time I wanted, I could run out to Best Buy and pick up a copy of Season 2 of the Dukes of Hazzard, whenever the impulse struck.
Then BitTorrent and TIVO entered my life.. and lately, it seems like my entire social and intellectual existence revolves around which TV series I'm thoroughly immersing myself in.. well, immersion is always a relative notion with me. It can sometimes be several days or more than a week between times when I can sit down and really watch something.
So what have I been watching lately?
Well, I downloaded the whole first season of Doctor Who a few months ago.. the new edition with Christopher Eccleston. It aired in England last summer.. I downloaded it this winter.. and now Sci-Fi Channel is re-airing the first season here in America. David Tenet takes over the role this spring... and they're off to a pretty good re-start.. although I do have to take issue with a few moments throughout the show where you can hear the editorial voice of the BBC speaking through the characters voices (making one or another off-handed quip about the American President... and when did the Doctor become such a big environmentalist?)
Also watching 24 and Battlestar Galactica week to week...
Battlestar had a few down weeks this past season, but otherwise, it remains, I think, the best show on television right now.
Went out and got the Firefly series on DVD a month or two ago and spent about three weeks working my way through that.. what a great show! How did I miss it when it was originally airing?
Now I'm on into the first Season of Arrested Development-- a brilliantly written comedy.. and another show that I'm discovering only after it's been killed...
And I downloaded the first season of The Shield the other night.. thanks to TIVO, I've been sucked into a couple of the recent episodes.. and since it's like the 6th or 7th season, I figure I ought to go back and get a little of the back story...
TIVO.. what a marvelous invention... and perfect for those late-night bouts of sleeplessness when I'm up with one of the boys.. or just for those scraps of 30 or 40 minutes in the in-between times when the kids aren't in high-need mode..
Watching the NFL Combine on the NFL network this afternoon and something occured to me...
this is like C-Span..
More commentary, perhaps.. but basically , what I realized is that, like C-Span, watching the Combine has that same kind of empty, lonely feeling.. the feeling where you realize that you're watching this with only a handful of other people in the country watching with me...
"Ah, here comes the 'Off-Tackle Reaction' drill. This is a fun one."
Fascinating stuff.
Did another stint on the HappyforApathy.com Podcast with my good friend, Manundso.
It's such a good time getting to hang out with those guys.. a nice break from the every-day grind... it was a low-key evening for me, so I don't feel like I really added that much this time around, but it was a great time anyway... and a good drink. Thanks, Manundso! See you next time.
All I've got to say is: I'm looking at CNN.com and stumble across Anderson Cooper's so-called 'Blog'... emblazoned with his narrow, earnest ("I'm so J. Peterman") mug and these sage words across the masthead:
"Be honest about what you see, get out of the way and let the story revealHe's so humble, that Anderson. He even quotes himself.
itself." Anderson Cooper
Again... more from my ongoing email conversation about Battlestar Galactica with a buddy from grad school..
Finally watched the latest Battlestar on TIVO last night... "The Captain's Hand"...
And egads! Are we rushing Lee's character along at this point, or what??
I HATED that opening scene with Dualla.. with all it's "while you were away" exposition thrown in there..
I realized during that scene that my problem here is that I have NO idea what the trajectories of these characters are...
I feel like they did a pretty good job milking some of Starbucks development earlier in the season... but now it feels like we're just rushing the characters along. Starbuck is drinking herself to death infront of projector screens full of young pilots getting waxed (remember a few eps ago) while Lee sleeps with (quite literally) every woman he encounters (except the president and the terrorist leader) and jumps from CAG to Pegasus Commander in a matter of weeks...
That said, it felt like this episode kind of found itself somewhere about 2/3's of the way through... around the time when I was REALLY ready to give up (as I was thinking to myself "is there even one single competent officer ANYWHERE on Pegasus?")... as what's-his-name Pegasus idiot took himself down to the engine room and the battle ensued with the Cylons, it's like they were able to capture some of the original tension and pacing of the early episodes.
And just when I was ready to feel better about the show.. then Baltar announces himself for President...
And I realized that so much of what's been missing these last few episodes has been Baltar. He really has been terribly underused recently.
But to use him this way, was really more like abuse than anything. I didn't care for it... this all just feels really very ham-handed.
Did I come to expect too much from the first season and the first half of this second? What the hell is going on here?
All the same, this ep does give me a small glimmer of hope.
They are going to have to figure out how to write a subtle Pegasus character, though... and having Lee running the ship over there gives them some opportunity to do that, I suppose...
Preview makes it look like the next episode will be another character-sketch... this time on the Cylon side... could be interesting.. but I just feel like these previous character-excursion episodes they sent us on somehow caused them to lose the thread on the larger story... so I'm concerned about how or if they'll ever get back on track...
A little Battlestar Galactica commentary after watching this week's episode:
Okay... after watching the latest BG over the weekend.. I'm honestly now starting to feel like I'm watching these episodes out of sequence.
What's the deal with Billy? you know, an episode or two ago, I remember wondering where he'd gotten off to.. even thought he might have been killed and I'd just not noticed it... and is it just me or did this little romance between Apollo and Dualla just spring up virtually out of nowhere? I do recall them setting it up a bit a few weeks ago, but even then I was wondering: What the hell happened to Billy? And my but isn't Apollo having a go of it lately-- that hooker on Cloud 9 he was keeping under wraps, a near tussle with Starbuck, and now Dualla.... geez-louise!
Makes it hard to believe Rosalyn when she's getting all weepy over Billy-- I mean, I'm talking to the TV: Geez, lady, you haven't seen the kid in like 2 months.. comes back on the scene, he's about 2 inches taller, got a new haircut, and he's clearly been working out at the gym... anyone care to wonder where he's been. Did his re-appearance not have "I'm back for one day's worth of shooting so they can kill my character and I can move on and work on my new pilot" written all over it??
Other questions: where's the good Doctor and Ms Tricia Helfer? Are they on vacation??
Has anyone seen the Chief since he and Helo were released?? (They were released, right? See, I can't even remember)..
All this adding to the ongoing drama of "What the hell happened to Pegasus?" I know, I know, they've made a couple of mentions of the ship, but who's at the helm of the freaking boat??
This ep was generally better than the last one, I thought, and loads better than 'Black Market'. More tension, a few good lines (Adama: "Cut the line."). But I'm starting to feel like Moore and the gang are either a) starting to feel a little too bullet-proof with their writing; or b) these were just filler episodes they figured they could shoot in any sequence and drop into the lineup when they needed some time to work on some larger story-arcs. I wonder.. from the preview, it looks like we're finally getting back to the Pegasus...
Let's hope so. After the last three or four episodes, this show is gradually starting to lose its grip...
Well done. Well deserved.
He announced, in the post-game, "the bus has made its last stop in Detroit!"
Happy Retirement, Jerome!
Tom Brady says Charlie Weis i the best coach he's ever been around:On Sirius radio, Brady acknowledged this was a trying season, especially after losing offensive coordinator Charlie Weis to Notre Dame and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel to Cleveland.
“From the start of the year, the word coach (Bill) Belichick used was truth,” Brady said. “He was going to tell us the truth where we were at every single week as a team. We weren’t looking at the past. We had quite a bit of changes. We lost Charlie, who’s the best coach I’ve ever been around. We lost our defensive coordinator, who’s a head coach in the NFL. We lost some key players, had some tough injuries, and even through all that, were very competitive at the end of the year and had a shot to host the AFC Championship.”
Clip from an email I sent a friend regarding BattleStar and Firefly:
Just watched this week's BSG on TIVo--
Scar"-- and I've got to say.. I think it may be the most uneven episode I've seen (in a while at least)...
Since when did Cat become such a hot-shot? Maybe I haven't been paying proper attention...
Also seems like they introduced a lot of new pilot characters.. or at least the camera gave them special emphasis we haven't seen before..
This plus the overwhelming emphasis on Starbuck's drinking... and I've also lost track of who's CAG on which boat.... is Starbuck no longer attached to Pegasus..
Just weird.
I still loved the episode, but I just found myself scratching my head when it was over....
Also finished watching Firefly and Serenity this week.. and I'm totally IN LOVE!
Read a rumor somewhere along the line that the DVD sales of the show and movie are good enough that Joss may try to make the case for a return to TV for the show... that would, I think, be best... as good as the film was, I just think the pace of the writing and the style of the show lends itself best to the weekly TV format...
Random things you notice when you're kids are watching Toy Story non-stop for a week-- Joss Whedon got top writing credit for the first Toy Story screenplay.. not sure I realized he worked at Disney or Pixar... wild.
Just wish I weren't in my office quite so early in the morning..
but the view is pretty.. (not sure how well it comes through in these pictures..)
I never figured I'd be one of those guys with the multiple devices clipped to his belt (well, I'm still not, for the record)... I mean, who really needs constant access to their email anyway?
But I must say, now that I've got this little thing in my hands, I'm totally geeking out.. I can't put the damn thing down.. it's ridiculous!
Well, that may be too strong a way to describe my feelings in the aftermath of ND's loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Do I feel like the Irish deserved to be there? No question.
At the same time, I do feel a bit that the Irish were being ranked as much for their potential as for their accomplishments.
And, as a friend pointed out, I think Ohio State could, at this moment, give Texas or USC a run for their money if a playoff were part of the deal.
So all in all, I don't feel too badly. Disappointed..
But in years past, as in the Fiesta loss to Oregon State, or the Gator (?) Bowl loss to NC State-- I felt a sense of the lost opportunity, as though another season like this might not come along for a long time to come..
But this year, it seems terribly easy to say "Yeah, well wait til next year."
Here come the Irish.
and the Red Sox 'Nation' (which stretches as far as 495, last I heard) weeps with the 'defection.'
As though Damon were born a Red Sox...
Gotta love this note from the Dayton Daily News coverage of ESPN's College Football Awards show:
The zinger of the night came from Penn State's Joe Paterno, the Home Depot coach of the year. After he gabbed on the air with Herbstreit, a former Buckeye and Centerville High School quarterback, Paterno cracked, "It sure is great to be interviewed by a guy from Ohio State who can speak English."
Well, it may be bowl season-- odd that that means that there are actually NO college football games for weeks and week...
But this morning, I am, as my pseudonym implies, very very sleepy.
The younger of our two boys, 19 months old now, is still battling the last of this latest round of winter-time sniffles.. and last night seemed to be the worst of it-- he just could not get himself to sleep.
Add to that the stress of settling into a new job-- not to mention getting up at 4:30 this morning so I could be in the office by 5:30 (don't ask).. and it just was not a good night all the way around..
Coffee, coffee, coffee...
The boys have both come down sick this weekend-- stuffy, runny noses, little coughing, sneezing, and not a lot of sleeping... and I've started having to go into work at 5am.. why do these coincidences always happen to me like this?
Okay... now I KNOW that Congress, and politicians in general, are an easy target for this kind of thing.. but I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read this headline on ESPN.com:
"Congress to look into 'deeply flawed' BCS system"
HOUSTON -- Calling the Bowl Championship Series "deeply flawed," the chairman of a congressional committee has called a hearing on the controversial system used to determine college football's national champion.
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, charged with regulating America's sports industry, announced Friday it will conduct a hearing on the BCS next week, after this season's bowl matchups are determined.
Had to listen to the ND game last night via WLS radio, over the internet... local ABC affiliate here decided to show us Georgia-GA Tech.. can't say as I blame them, given the pre-game no-hype over ND-Stanford...
But man, did they miss out on a nail-biter!
And so did I... almost.
With a couple of minutes left in the 4th quarter and ND leading by only 6 points (30-24), the WLS internet radio broadcast was interrupted by a message indicating that they had to end their copyrighted broadcast over the internet or something like that... it was Heidi-like timing...
What's that sucking sound you're hearing?
Geez-Louise I HATE games like this (no kidding).
And just as I was cursing the gods of Internet radio (okay, well, that's a bit melodramatic)... over my shoulder, I hear ESPN News switching over for 'bonus coverage' of the closing minutes of the ND game... and man, am I glad they did!
I have to say-- in that closing two minutes, once again, the Irish showed the kind of poise I can't recall seeing for many years before this season. Starting from their own 20, ND moved swiftly down the field (with two long pass plays to Samardzija) and scored on a powerful run from Darius Walker, reaching out and holding the ball over the goal line for the win... so tough! (capped by a two-point conversion made on a direct-snap to Walker who went in untouched)
So today, both the AP and Coaches Polls have dropped the Irish from #6 to 7... not that I can say I'm crazy with the way the Irish won.. but how may times before, in reference to USC's many close calls this season, have we heard "Just win"...
Ah well.. I'll still be munching some tortilla chips for the New Year... and for the first time in a decade, I feel like the Irish have a legitimate shot at winning the thing!
Heading out with the family tomorrow for a bit of an excursion.. So I'll be out of pocket for the next week or so. Not sure if there'll be internet access or not-- and there's no laptop coming on this trip.. so the blog will go silent for the duration.
But I'll take notes and come back with lots to say, I'm sure.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Got home a little while ago from my friend Manundso's house, doing a little stint on his Podcast.
He's the proprietor of Happy for Apathy.com. He's a former co-worker, a stand-up comic, virtuoso composer.. and all around good guy.
Check out the website..
Check out the podcast..
Try not to be too disappointed in me..
Excuse me while I geek out on the new Doctor Who for the next few weeks...
watching the first episode right now. But as little time as I get to spend watching shows like this, it could be weeks before I'm through.
Christopher Eccleston is the new Doctor.. well, he's the first season doctor.. the 9th Doctor, whatever.
David Tennant is the newest Doctor. In the UK, they're preparing for the unveiling of the second season... but me? I'm just trying to make my way through this first new season..
Eccleston looks great. Too bad he decided to leave after just a single season.
This was a news item a week or two back-- there was some rumor about Charlie Weis possibly scoring 1600 on the SAT and turning down a scholarship to Harvard in order to go to ND...
When questioned about that in one of his press conferences, he responded this way:“That’s a misnomer,” Weis said. “Let’s look at it this way. If I said yes, I’m either smart or a liar, OK? If I said no, what do I gain from saying that? Let’s leave it ambiguous.”
[from the Fort Wayne News Sentinel]
The Rock notes a detail today from the end of the Navy game that should not be overlooked: the moment of respect paid by ND Players, standing together with the Midshipmen, for the Navy Alma Mater.
This note from gomidshipmen.com:From greyknight:
My heart is just too, too full.
It's been a long, long road since my son played youth football, to watching him play in the state 4A finals to a heartbreaking loss, to being at his side throughout the whole recruiting process, to supporting him in his decision to playing for Navy after being offered by "bigtime" programs...to seeing him run out on the field this afternoon at ND Stadium to such a warm, warm reception from the ND fans, both before, during and after the game. The class showed by both ND staff and players alike all contributed to an experience that he'll remember for the rest of his life. I spoke to him by phone immediately after the game, and again just a few minutes ago after the team arrived back at the Yard, and he said that it was truly an experience that he'll always remember. The sincere good wishes from the ND fans, their standing Os for Navy, the support shown for them after the game as they left...so, so very overwhelming. It was the largest crowd he has ever played for. 80,000 fans cheering for something much. much bigger than just a football game...cheering for and giving support to players, some of who will, in just a short few months, be putting their very lives on the line for all that our nation stands for.
Irish 42
Navy 21
Okay, I don't really have a lot to say about this game.
In case you're concerned.. no, you're not really reading a Notre Dame sports blog.. but for my own purposes, owing to my really terrible memory, I've decided to keep a little personal log here about each Notre Dame game and my impressions of it-- key players, moments, thoughts, that kind of thing.
Not exactly the best kind of breathtaking Blog-reading, I realize.
So if you don't care about Notre Dame football.. or you just don't care about what I think about it.. feel free to ignore these posts.. I do actually intend to write about other things.. but at this time of year, there's little else of note on my mind.. so please oblige me.
The Midshipmen had their usual, old-fashioned (and uniquely frustrating) option offense on display.. and it seemed to trip up the Notre Dame defense for a good while (most of the first half).. but the D did seem to adjust.. and their size and skill eventually just overwhelmed the Navy O-line.. so by the fourth quarter, the game was out of reach...
Quinn continues to impress.. and both Travis Thomas and Darius Walker had good games at Running back... and Stovall stole the show with three Touchdown grabs that, I'm sure by now, are making NFL scouts' mouths water.. just a little bit maybe.
And I think Samardzija was held without a TD for the first time all year... oweing in part to the double and triple-coverage the Middies had on him most of the game..
So what do you think? Next year, for the Heismann: Quinn, Walker, and Samardzija??
I know, I know. I'm a nut.
My good friend, Manundso, proprietor of the ever popular Happy for Apathy website, forum, podcast, and-- let's face it-- lifestyle, called last night to have me do a segment on his podcast... and it surely would have been a treat to do if I'd been able to catch the phone.
Can't remember exactly what we were doing or where we were. Short term memory again... but hopefully, there wouldn't have been any screaming Cloonan boys in the background.. that's a big hopefully. In all likelihood, it would have been pandelirium...
I am going to have to make it over there some Thursday night for a Podcast, though.
Check out his site here, take a listen to the Podcast.
He's the original good peoples.
It's fun being me. Is it fun being you?
The boys and I ate some pizza earlier this evening.
After taking his first bite, Aidan noted that the sauce was spicey.
"Spicey" has been a big thing with him lately. He says tomato sauce is spicey.
Green peppers are spicey. Grapes... well, no.. okay, he's never tried to say that grapes are spicey.
So after noticing that the pizza was spicey, Aidan looked at me and said, "Daddy, you should drink your beer. This pizza's spicey!"
.. but still rocky.
We had our friends John and Christie and their kids over for dinner and to watch the game. The kids frolic'd downstairs as we cheered through the first half... and as we shouted Zibby to the end-zone in the second half...
Irish 41
Vols 21
So what are we to make of this victory over Tennessee?
The Irish looked great in the first quarter, uncharacteristically slow in the second quarter, and after half-time, the Tennessee defense was positively slicing through the Offensive line to get to Quinn.
Now, as I've said before, I'm no kind of football expert. All I'm putting here are my simple reflections of my experience of the game... my experience from the couch...
But it was clear that the Tennessee defense had worn down the Irish by the second-half.
So by the time the Vols tied it up at 21, I can safely say I was biting my fingernails and worrying a bit about what I'd have to say at work on Monday...
But God Bless Jeff Samardzija. He's the reason I don't have to worry about that tonight.
And my goodness, did anyone else see the way he gripped the baseball and football that Lewis Johnson handed him during his post-game interview.. gripped them in ONE HAND. I mean, he held that baseball in his hand.. and then, while Johnson was making some kidding remark about how Jeff was going to have to make a decision in his future about holding one of these [the baseball] or one of these [the football]-- and he went to put the football in Jeff's other hand.. but instead, Jeff just extended three fingers and gripped the ball so he was holding both in the same hand. No wonder he makes such amazing catches.
A couple of notes:
Great catch, Maurice. Too bad, I don't think you caught a ball all game after that. But you did put on some outstanding blocks (like the one that sprung Samardzija for 73).
Dear Tennessee.. Brandon Hoyte and the Irish welcome you...
A Knoxville TV station reported Thursday night that three busloads of fans totaling ''close to 130 people'' had left the UT campus headed for South Bend. That will leave only 80,665 in attendance presumably cheering for the Irish.
You know, every now and then you run across something that's just totally brilliant...
Great comedy.
And Lala? She ain't no Teletubbie, friend.
“I don’t come here to leave and take a job in the NFL in three years. This is
not a stepping stone. This is an end-all for our family,” he said. “When we come
to Notre Dame, we come here with the intent of retiring here.” - Charlie Weis
Just watched the tape of the Purdue game (finally!) last night and Bob Davie (who was doing the color commentary for ESPN) said at least twice "I'm on the Charlie Weis Bandwagon"... just thought that was interesting coming from a guy who took a talented Irish team 7 years ago and helped them to underachieve so badly....
Also.. and maybe more interestingly, Davie made the remark (something like) "Charlie Weis is giving a clinic here tonight. And he'll be giving a clinic again next year... and I'd like to attend that clinic..." I don't doubt it that you would, Bob. Don't doubt it for a second.
The Irish beat BYU 49-23.. and Weis puts on another clinic.
Well, Kirk Herbstreit said it-- what we've kinda hoped might possible be true (but never really believed anyone outside the NotreDameNation would notice)-- that next year, Brady Quinn will be the man to beat for the Heisman...
But this year, Quinn is staking his claim.
Today's numbers-- 32 of 41, for 467 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Stovall caught 4 TDs-- a school record.
Samardzija picked up 2-- his seventh straight game with a TD catch (also a school record, I think)... so although he didn't catch the three I'd hoped for him, you won't hear me complaining.
You know, watching ND games now-- someone said Weis' post-game press conferences are like coaching clinics-- well, I think watching his games are like watching football experiments. Today, it was as though Weis said to himself, "Let's see what happens if we don't try to run at all." The book on BYU was that they were all about the passing game.. so Weis decided to fight fire with fire and just let Quinn get pass-happy today... and it worked beautifully.
One quick note from half-time...
Irish lead 21-10 at the half.
During the half-time show, they did a little segment on the USC-ND game and they quoted an officiating source (unnamed) with the NCAA who said that although the 'assisting the runner' rule is on the books, "it will never be called."
Well then.. sounds like the rule books needs some revising, doesn't it?
I move for an amendment!
I don't really have a lot to say about this game. Haven't had a lot of time this week to read much about BYU. The Irish come into the game ranked #9 by the AP (who didn't drop them an inch after the hard-fought loss to USC) and #16 by the newly released BCS... and while I have defended the BCS in the past, I am truly perplexed by this year's first poll... I think the whole thing lost a balancing force (and the credibility to go with it) when the AP subtracted itself from the equation. This Harris Poll or whatever is just not a good or reasonable substitute, from what we've seen so far.
So BYU has this 'Air Raid' offense, from what little I've read. The only problem with that for the Irish... our one weakness on Defense is our secondary... so unless the D-line can really break through and create havoc for the BYU Quarterback before he can throw the ball, this could be another shocker for the Irish... but this time, not in the positive way it was last week. And that's the last thing we need is a 'let-down' week after teh strong showing against USC. We've finally got people believing the Irish are for real-- they're finally playing like they're for real. We don't need to let that slide away with a poor performance this afternoon.
So please, Defense. Be swift and merciless. Get to the Quarterback and don't let him 'air it out' as they're fond of doing.
And on offense, I'd love to see Jeff Samardzija have a 3-TD day... maybe another couple of TDs for Darius Walker.. and let's have the two of them join Brady Quinn in the Heisman balloting...
Wishful thinking? Why not!
Thank God I'm not a UT or Alabama fan. For that matter, I'm glad I'm not an SEC fan.
How bad must it feel to be a fan of either school with these images splashed across the front page at ESPN?
Images aside, the story is pretty good-- if you like sordid stories about highschool coaches 'selling' players for $150,000 payoffs.. and then the kind of sleazy sting operation orchestrated by Tennessee boosters (and one former US. Attorney General-turned-liquor-store-owner-- no kidding) to bring the whole ring down.
So where does that leave us now? With UT's coach Fulmer being escorted by THP into Tuscaloosa... and an ESPN story that revels in the ramblings of every drunken booster it can find...
Okay.. all I'm going to say about the ND-USC game is this:
1) Green Jerseys: Nice move, Charlie. Even with the outcome, I like the choice.
2) why should a team benefit by fumbling the football? (how you can fumble backward to the 1/2 yard line is beyond me as well, but we won't go there). Why should the clock stop for this if the player remains in bounds?
3) Reggie Push. The guy doesn't even know it's illegal to push the runner over the goal-line...
Picture two guys from Southern California, lisping behind mouthpieces:
"Hey dude, I just scored."
"Yeah dude. I like totally just SHOVED you."
"Thanks, Dude."
"Dude."
Dan Patrick says guys get pushed across the line all the time without it being called. That's the group-think now-- it happens all the time. Gotta call BS on that one, Dan. If it happens every Saturday, then give me the name of a Div I player who assisted a runner across the goal line last week? or the week before?
And in a game-deciding touchdown?
That said-- Charlie Weis says he'd have done it if it were him.
Speaking of Charlie Weis.. the guy is just class, out and out.
Went to the SC lockerroom to congratulate the Trojans and then used what he said to them as a lesson for his 12 year old son-- that it's easy to be nice when you win; it's a whole lot harder to be nice when you lose.
Gotta say, it was a fabulous game, from what I hear.
Yeah, I didnt' actually get to see it because I was out of town for my college Homecoming and the current members of my fraternity preferred to watch the Louisville game. Dickheads. And they bought crappy cheap beer and only had one bottle of Maker's Mark. Who teaches these kids these days? I guess they won't be getting my usual check for the 'house fund' this year.
Positive notes from the game:
1) Oh my God, for all practical purposes, we just beat USC!
2) ND is back! No question. And the media is jumping all over themselves to announce it.
3) It just gets more and more clear every week: Jeff Samardzija is the man!
4) Were it not for SC's game-saving drive in the final minute, we'd all (well, okay, maybe just me around here) be talking about Brady Quinn's final drive.. and his drive for the Heisman. See this from the Sporting News story on the game:Weis had a short chat with Brady Quinn before Notre Dame's
last possession, when the Irish were behind 28-24 with 5:09.
"I said, 'Hey,
buddy, this is the type of drive that legends are made,"' Weis said. "He looked
at me and he knew exactly what I was saying to him."
Weis told Quinn he was
going to call a bunch of three-step drops and quick slants.
"We're going to
get them reeling, we're going to get some yards and runs after catch," Weis told
Quinn. "We're going to go down there and score. I go: 'Be patient, we have
plenty of time."'
Quinn was 4-of-4 passing during that drive for 53 yards,
while Darius Walker ran the ball three times for 29 yards. Quinn capped the
drive with a 5-yard run, scoring a touchdown when he stretched his right arm
into the end zone as he was being tackled.
The other thing the national media is jumping up and down to do is call this game 'the greatest college football game of all time.' Well, I must say, I'm with Coach Weis on this one: this won't be one of my Top 5 games.. because we lost. It was a great game, no question about it. But ask a Kentucky fan how they feel about the '92 Christian Laettner game-- think they call that one of the greatest games in college basketball? Not likely. I'll take ND's victories over Miami (31-30 in 1988) or Florida State in 1993 any day...
That said, Gene Wojciechowski did write a really nice story about the game.. and from what I saw, he was the first to dub the game the 'Greatest of All Time'.
Oh.. and let's raise a toast to Tommy Zbikowski for knocking a cocksur Reggie Bush on his ass as he tried, literally, to waltz into the end-zone:
[this from the Wojciechowski article]
It takes arrogance to do what Bush did during that same drive: bolting through the line, sprinting into the open field, grandly gesturing with one hand as he neared the end zone, and then slowing down just as he crossed the goal line. That's when Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski, who never gave up on the play, popped Bush with a hit the USC tailback so richly deserved.Future opponents take note: Zbikowski never gave up on the play.
Have had no time for blogging this week.. too much work, sick family, then sick me...
But I did want to login just long enough to say two things:
1) no I didn't get to see the SC game last Saturday (that's a story I will have to tell).
and
2) Holy Cow, the "Shark" is the MAN!
Who can resist it? What would it be like if the Irish could pull of the upset this weekend and beat Southern Cal? Impossible. Too crazy to even be imagined. I won't allow myself.
But...
Southern Cal is, of course, ranked #1. The Irish come into the week at #9, benefiting from a couple of losses by Top Ten teams over the bye week.
And the national media seems split. Papers out west like the LA Times seem to be talking up some of the (virtually invisible) weaknesses of the Trojans-- pointing to the weak first-half performances USC has put up in its last three games. Then again, in each of those games, the weak first-half was followed by a dominant second-half performance. So who knows what Trojans team will show up. First half or second?
Likewise for the Irish, who've had some games (especially early on against Pitt and Michigan) in which strong first-half performances were followed-up with underwhelming (at best) second-halves. And how will the Irish Defense really stack up against that vaunted USC O-line. We know the defensive secondary will have to play way over their heads. And finally-- if USC has a weakness, it would appear, similar to the Irish, to be the defense. So the intrigue, as all the pundits are saying now, will be to see how Weis's Offense matches up against Carroll's defense.
Again, I say: Remember the Pats of the mid-90's. Those were the Pete Carroll Pats... can he really be such a genius?
I'll be out of town on Saturday at my college homecoming.. no idea what the internet connectivity situation will be over the weekend, so the blog may go silent.. but I'll have my eye on the game as much as possible. May have to have a pledge come bring me scoring updates every 10 minutes or so.. hehe!
1. Bryce really is a good sleeper. I don't really have anything to complain about, given what a light sleeper Aidan was. Bryce has spent much of his baby-hood sleeping on my shoulder.. but I'm doing what I can to gradually change that, moving him to the bed earlier and earlier. He's taking to it pretty well. And I find that we don't have to worry about him waking nearly as much as we did with Aidan-- who could be woken by the sound of the cat padding down the hall outside his door. In fairness, Sylvie is not all that quiet a cat, though.
2. The best show on television is, without a doubt, Battlestar Galactica-- but it's on hiatus until January (!)-- so my guilty television pleasure of the moment is Boston Legal. The stories aren't all that great... but Allen Shore and Denny Crane are just too much fun to watch.
3. Looks like this may be the end of the road for the Yankees. In their 5-game Divisional series with the Angels, they took the first game (with a great performance from Mussina) and looked like they were in pretty good shape. But then the Angels took game 2. And last night, as Chicago was completing their sweep of the Red Sox in their series, the Yanks gave up 11 runs (after rallying from 5 runs down to take the lead 6-5)-- and Randy Johnson got chased in the 3rd-- to lose again 11-7. So now they're on the ropes.. and the only way to win is in 5 games.. which, even if they wind up winning, spells certain doom in the ALCS...
(photo: nydailynews.com)
Irish win! over #14 Purdue, 49-28... but most of those 28 points came in the last part of the game, when it was already well out of reach for the Boilers...
So the Irish are 4-1 going into the bye week before the biggest game of the year against Southern Cal.
That said, again this week, I missed the game.. not because of regional coverage (or lack of it), but because I was out of town at a friend's wedding.
Another ND grad at the wedding and I kept going back to the bar in the back room at th reception hall to catch glimpses of the game and get the updated score.
I was stunned each time I saw the score in the first half-- 14.. 21... 28.. to nothing? Can it be true?
And Samardzija made yet another SportsCenter- worthy one-handed grab at the one-yard line to setup a touchdown...
The national media is really starting to pick up on him.
So I've got the game on tape and will try to watch it this week...
