ma

Today would have been Ma and Pa's anniversary. It's early, Pa has taken Kyle to early morning polo practice, then he's heading down to the harbor. Her birthday's coming up in just over two weeks.

This coming weekend is the local Relay for Life... Kyle is participating through his high school... I've given him an assignment to find out how to get a candle for Ma.

For the first time, with all this types of events and thoughts converging, I don't feel like crying... maybe I can ease off the meds... (it didn't work so well about six months ago... so I'm a little leery....)

riddle me this

$UC loses to UW, drops from 3 to 12, then after a completely lackluster win against lowly Wazzu (sorry, Diana), they climb to 7.

UW, which had been unranked, rockets to 24 after beating $UC, then falls out of the top 25 after falling to Stanford.

Cal, which had been ranked 6, loses to (OK, gets killed by) Oregon, and drops all the way to 24.

Oregon, which had been unranked, beats Cal and rockets all the way to 16.

$UC (3-1): number 7
Oregon (3-1): number 16
Cal (3-1): number 24

Stanford (3-1, but 2-0 in the Pac-10): unranked (but with enough votes to get to number 35

UCLA (3-0, and the only team in the Pac-10 with an unblemished record): unranked (but with enough votes to get to number 30)

WTF

karma's a bitch, petey

So the national media is finally starting to question the coaching messiah that is petey carroll. No, not for NCAA rules violations (those will be a looooong time coming, given the cash cow that $UC is...)... but for his, er, coaching.

From the Sporting News (article 1):



From the Sporting News (article 2):


Of course, more losses like the one against UDub, and they won't be a perennial title contender, their cash cow status may dissolve, and the NCAA might just come a-callin'...

cage dancers... really?

all I can say is:

VEGAS NEEDS A FOOTBALL TEAM

STAT!

can you EVEN imagine the "entertainment" for the "cheap seats" there???

yowza

poll - ish joke

OK, so the Bruins beat K-State (by 14, beating the ever-growing spread... Can't believe Vegas was so right on the money... but more on the victory later). AND the Trojies of Southern Cal (yeah, I love callin' 'em that, since they hate it so much that they sent out a press release telling media outlets that it's either SC, USC, Southern California, etc. ... screw 'em)... yeah, Southern Cal lost to Washington (Can't believe Vegas got that one so wrong).

So the polls come out, and SC took its tumble down the charts from 3 to 12. Understandable. But guess who's in the AP Top 25?

It's not us.

U-Dub. A 2-1 U-Dub at #24.

We're 3-0 and we're (if you count the votes) ranked 30th. UCLA 3-0, and behind TEN 2-1 teams (Oklahoma, VaTech, Southern Cal, da Ohio State Uni, OK State, FSU, BYU, UGA, U-Dub, Nebraska, and Georgia Tech). With a bye week this week, and our next games at 2-1 Stanford, then home for the 2-1 Ducks... I figure we'll have to be 6-0 (which means winning both those games, PLUS beating Cal at the Rose Bowl on October 17) before we get a sniff at the Top 25.

Polls. Gotta hate 'em.

[by the way, Lisa still says 12-0... which means we'll get to 6-0... but I'm pretty sure we won't get to 6-0 (Best is just too damn good)... let alone 12-0... so I don't think we'll see the Top 25 until sometime in 2011...]

Regardless...

we looked all right Saturday night... not that we were there... Lisa and I were both sick at the end of last week, so we tailgated in the living room (after I missed Gaslight Anthem AGAIN... dammit).

Craft looked improved over last year (how could he not be?), but he still scares me every time he throws. Defense looked good. Running game looked good. But we have GOT to do something about the stupid penalties. But that's what bye weeks are for, right?

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on the weird front:

U-Dub and Wazzu both won Saturday... the last time that happened was Sept 8, 2007. Utah and BYU both lost on Saturday... that last time that happened was...

you guessed it:

Sept. 8, 2007.

Weird, huh?

today's line

12.5 points... and we haven't announced a qb... damn, it's a world turned upside-down.

Not that I'm sure we'll be there in person to see it. Lisa and I are both feeling under the weather, she slightly better than I... slight fever, sore throat, headache, body aches, nasal issues... last night, I sweated like a dog in bed, and I feel a bit better this morning, but I've been feeling fairly good every morning, only to hit a wall about 2pm... we'll see how it goes today

vegas on crack

are the oddsmakers in Vegas on crack? Sunday, we were 10 point favorites to beat K-State. Then we found out about Prince's jaw. By Tuesday, the line was up to 10.5 points. Then Neu suspended four players (all talent guys, all contributors, including one starter). And today the spread is up to 12... wtf?

and, Jim, you're right... it is BREE-HO... that's what I thought I typed yesterday, but obviously not... maybe I'm on crack, too

football

ok, it's a busy week, as I have to catch up from a long weekend away... I'll try to write about the experience (suffice to say: best tailgaiting travel experience ever), but may not get the chance right away... but here's a couple of mantras for today:

don't mess with Neu: he'll bench your ass... Viney, Knox, Carroll, and Presley all benched for the K-State game this Saturday... the usual unspecified "team rule violation"... but suspensions... guess that's how Neu handles problems "internally"... which cannot be said for the $CUm (where Petey has them run an extra bleacher... which can be put off to the end of the season or run by a graduate coaching assistant)... btw, I'm not going to miss Viney (the only starter of the four) much: I'm tired of watching him get picked on and burned by receivers and getting knocked on his ass by runners...

how do you say that: BRAY-HO ... after months of calling the kid anything from Bruh-howt to bray-hoot... now I've got it... hopefully, we'll get a chance to hear it a lot from the PA announcer Saturday night.

wear your freakin' mouthpiece: nuffsed

an artist's dream

Jack had a dream last night:

there was a planet that had cartoons living on it... a rocket shot out of it and landed on earth... and the cartoons came and lived on earth... and I could draw things in the air and they would come to life. I drew a plane, and it was there. I drew a cloud, and it was there. And I drew my best Barack Obama, and he was there.

[that last reference I'm sure comes from the fact that during yesterday's school speech, Jackson drew the President behind a podium, mic in front of him, his head tilted and the hand outstreteched and pointing in the Obama fashion]

I didn't ask if his power made him king of the cartoons.





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UPDATE:

here's the drawing Jack did yesterday:

loving Bruin Football

Saturday was wonderful, wicket hot, but wonderful... the frosh acquitted themselves admirably, and the senior showed their leadership (particularly ATV)...

the future looks really bright

ATV

for a nice alternative to D(umbf)uck Blount -- see below -- check out these articles / stories on a GREAT college football player, Alterraun Verner:



here's a link to the story

and check this out:



oh, and he is one nice kid... here's a pic of ATV and Jack from two years ago...



here's a link to that pic on Lisa's Facebook page


And where does he go to SCHOOL?

The best damn university in the world, baby

U (clap clap clap) C (clap clap clap) L (clap clap clap) A (clap clap clap)

UCLA!

let it end

the thuggishness, I mean

last night's display by the Ducks was dismal, and I'm not just talking about their play... I mean their "player" Blount. He had run his mouth off-season on how the Ducks owed Boise State an "ass-whoopin'" for their cheap shot on Masoli in last year's game.

well, kid, don't let your mouth write checks your body/talent can't cash

I'm sure his bulletin-board fodder quote was given back to him at the end of last night's game... right before he sucker-punched the kid from Boise State (and kids, a lesson to all of you: KEEP YOUR HELMET ON UNTIL YOU'RE IN THE TUNNEL!).



Hey, first-year coach Chip Kelly and A.D. Mike Bellotti: revoke that kid's scholie.

Hey, new Pac-Ten commish, Larry Scott: ban that thug from our conference.

Ugly field

Uglier uniforms

Ugliest behavior I can remember from the Pac-Ten (those boys from "the U" in Miami still take the cake for overall atrocities in college football, though... and the $Cum? we'll leave them to the courts)

let it begin

college football kicks off tonight

the ugliest uniforms (the Ducks) on the ugliest field (Boise State... blue... really, BLUE?)... glad I'll be watching it in hi-def

no word yet on Saturday's game... could still be postponed or moved (I hope for neither... 'specially since I still have nightmares about the last time we had a game postponed... I still hate hurricanes, Miami, and the name George[s])

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UPDATE (noon): the game is ON... gotta get spray water bottles to keep cool... 90's the forecast... let's play some football
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if it goes off as scheduled, the high is supposed to be 90... which means probably closer to a century in the Bowl... egads... we need to pick up spray water bottles...

speaking of tailgating (we weren't but go with me here, folks)...

if money were no object:



and



Let the season begin...

(nothing can ruin this weekend [not even a letter from Coastline's lawyer)]

No, TJ, Reading YOUR Column is a Brutal Experience

TJ Simers is a tool.