Yanks get Damon-ized...

News today that Johnny Damon has signed with the 'hated' Yankees...
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...

God Bless Joe Paterno...

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."

Sleepy SleepyDad!

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...

Sickboys

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?

Video iPod

Conan O'Brien's got a pretty funny little parody of a video iPod commercial... it's worth a look.... (courtesty of MacTV)

Congress gets into the BCS-bashing act...

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.

[soapbox]Not that anyone asked, but the real problem with college football isn't the BCS.. the BCS is just the symptom. The real disease here is the Conference system. If the BCS just took the 8 top-ranked teams, who would be complaining? (Oh, well, I guess #9 would.)

But instead, the major conferences only agreed to the BCS because they each get an automatic bid.. meaning a Florida State team with 4 losses could go to a BCS bowl this year...

So while ESPN will have you believe that Notre Dame is really the best example of why the BCS is flawed, I'd argue the Conference system is really at the heart of the problem.

Playoff system? Maybe... but I think a playoff system would become unnecessary if Top 25 teams would play MORE Top 25 opponents...

Get rid of the BCS, get rid of the Conference system (in College football, at least).. and create a super-conference of the top football programs.. and require teams to play a certain percentage of each year's schedule against opponents from that pool of teams. Don't play at least 7 games against top-tier programs? No BCS consideration for you.

Oh.. and no more games against I-AA teams.. not that count, anyway...

[/soapbox]

Apologies and thanks for indulging me in that rant.
Have a happy rest of your Saturday.

BCS-bound

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...

So I watched the herky-jerky play-by-play scroll on the ESPN gamecast for a few minutes-- long enough to 'see' ND miss a 29 yard field goal and then Stanford scores after a 79 yard completion and goes up by 1.

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!

$399

Outrage of the week from the NY Times
For just $399, you too can get yourself a high school diploma...
Just another reason I'm glad I'm an ND fan.. (feel free to flame me for being an obnoxious ND fan on that one; I remain unrepentant after reading crap like this)...

Out of Pocket...

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.

Happy for Apathy

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..

Doctor Who!

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.

Silence is Golden...

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]

Respect...

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.

Beeeeeaaaat Middies!

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.

So I really don't have much to say about this game... we were attending a little party for my sister's birthday, and my Dad and I got to catch a few minutes of the game here and there, kept track of the score, that kind of thing...

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.

Sorry I missed you...

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.

Denny Crane

Denny Crane to Alan Shore on last night's Boston Legal:

It's fun being me. Is it fun being you?

Drink your beer!

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!"

Horizontal

..truly.

Rocky Topped....

.. 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).
• Pat Haden said of Samardzija: "You know, it's surprising when he doesn't catch them."
• It was wonderful to see Fasano rumble toward the end-zone and then get horizontal.. and with just enough momentum to tag the pylon with the ball... beautiful.
  

Dear Tennessee...

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.