Things I learned about football this week

Ok, I admit it I've been in posting exile particularly on sports topics for awhile. This was due primarily to my seething over various officiating disasters, but like all fans eventually I most move on. The rest of this post will consist of a bulleted list of things I learned from football this week. I hope this will become a weekly post but no promises as usual.

• For the Rice, Middle Tennessee, and Troy athletic departments, I certainly hope the checks cleared because the abuse your teams endured is almost too much.
• I would like to personally condemn Michigan State for letting the most overhyped program in the history of football rise from the dead in the fourth quarter. One more drive and we would have been rid of Brady Quinn and Charlie Weis until Notre Dame was overhyped next season.
• I know it was MTSU but it was good to see Oklahoma play a first half this season. Until this week they had been either tied or behind at halftime in each game. May the playing of complete games reach pattern status* in 12 days at the Texas State Fair.
• Ohio State escaped Penn State only because of the defense and an inexperienced opposing QB, but there are weaknesses in OSU that someone will exploit.
• Mark Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions to start a game. This record should have an asterisk as the Texans are an NFL team in name only.
• Kickers in college football are more important than they should be (right Alabama?)
• My alma mater won a non-conference game on the road for once 24-23 over a 3-0 Navy team. Of course I would have preferred to have it not come down to a blocked PAT in OT but I'll take it. Now the defense of the C-USA title can begin.
• It appears the Houston Cougars are better than I thought as they improved to 4-0 defeating Oklahoma St. 34-25.
• As much as I dislike Chris Simms as a player, I hope he recovers from his ruptured spleen because that even seem painful to me (your heavily medicated, collapsible author).
• Apparently, I'm in the minority of the four-letter network's audience in that I actually plan on watching the Monday night game almost exclusively for the football. Am I happy for New Orleans that their team has returned and do I think that this is a good sign of the rebuilding for the Gulf Coast? Of course. In the end, it's a good football game and I will watch it as such.

* Standard criterion for pattern status from my usual mantra applied

Ok, there's the list from my perspective. As always comments or additions to the list are appreciated. Also, Mike due to the low remaining numbers of Last Year's New Thing, your copy is en route to sunny Tampa independent of the results of Navy-Tulsa.

A rather painful blog...

Three quick topics to fill the void until tonight preview of potentially the best Saturday of college football viewing in a long time:

Someone please explain to the jurors in Pennsylvania that a well-aimed baseball to the ear and one similarly aimed below the belt constitute serious bodily injury. Jurors found former T-ball coach and future seventh level of hell resident Mark Downs not guilty of solicitation of aggravated assault for offering to pay one of his players $25 to bean his autistic teammate and prevent him from playing in a game. Not only in my eyes is the act itself wholly despicable but the jurors' explanation for the deadlock and not guilty verdict on the wreckless endangerment and aggravated assault charges boggles my somewhat overcaffeinated mind. While the physical injuries are reported as bruises and an infected ear, the jurors did not believe these constituted serious injury. Given the circumstances of intentionally attempting to injure a disadvantaged kid, I would have preferred an example be made of this wretched example of over-competitive slime, but it was not to be.
(steps down from soap box and puts on objective glasses)

In musical circles I'd like to provide a brief 3 sentence review of 3 CDs I've listened to quite a bit this week (Revelations not included).

Counting Crows New Amsterdam...:
This is one of the better live performance recordings I've purchased. It is consistently entertaining from "Rain King" opening to the ending combination of "Hard Candy" and "Holiday in Spain." Although many of my favorites didn't make this set, I still strongly recommend it if you're a fan.

Hurt Vol. I
I bought this disc a while back on the strength of the lead single "Rapture" which gives the impression of Hurt as just a typical dark, brooding metal band; however, they show a very multi-faceted musical structure which I was not fully expecting but very quickly learned to appreciate. While the lyrics and messages in "Rapture", "Overdose", and "Falls Apart" are very dark and in places almost macabre, musically these songs stand out because of the layering of almost orchestral arrangements which separate them from many bands in this genre. One uplifting track here is "Danse Russe" a very solid ballad which helps solidify the entire effort. Other tracks of note include "Losing" and "Unkind."

Greenwheel Bridges for Burning:
The St. Louis group returns for a long absence after Soma Holiday, which shall be remembered for among other things the correct and proper version of "Breathe", with a 5-song EP. This is 17 minutes of quality melodic rock. Of the 5 songs, the tracks "Lonely Afterglow" and "Caving In" stand out but "Trigger" and "To Each His Own" aren't far behind.

As a final topic a couple notes to ESPN and other sports channels. First not every Saturday of football needs a catch phrase nickname. The games on this week's card can carry themselves without the unnecessary marketing as "Separation Saturday." If you have to waste time this week with a nickname, I fully expect in six weeks or so when all the contenders are facing conference doormats to see a week hyped as "These games really suck Saturday" just in the interest of fairness. Also, you can stop showing Trent Green's near decapitation any time now.

Tulsa-BYU preview

Admittedly it's tough to judge Tulsa's performance againt SFA last week. Yes, the offense was crisp and executed well, scoring on it's first six possessions. That was, however, against a mediocre at best Division 1-AA opponent. BYU should provide more of a measuring stick. Their defense contained an Arizona team which was supposed to be improved behind their new quarterback. I expect Paul Smith to still have a solid day though his numbers may not be as strong as they were last week. The key to Tulsa's chances revolve around keeping a balanced offense with the trio of running backs and defensively containing BYU's passing attack. John Beck leads the Cougar attack which appears to be a standard Mountain West offense in that it appears passing dominated. This may be good for Tulsa as their defense has been the stronger aspect of the last few years' teams.

The game is a road game in Provo so I expect a close game but in the end I expect TU's balance to gain them a victory.

Prediction: Tulsa 31 BYU 24

College Football Week 1 recap

After two days of solid football watching, I have no better idea what to expect than I did Wednesday of last week. There were a few games I watched or at least followed in detail. They're summarized below.

Tulsa 45 SFA 7
Paul Smith had an effective day at QB (16-20 f0r 229 and 3 TDs). The three headed tailback of Brandon Diles, Courtney Tennial, Tarrion Adams combined for 144 rushing yards and significant contributions in the passing game as well (Adams and Tennial both had rushing and receiving touchdowns.). Tulsa scored on every possession in the first half as they (are you listening Colorado?) properly dealt with the 1-AA opponent set before them.

Oklahoma 24 UAB 17
As we all knew when Rhett Bomar's idiocy came to its climatic conclusion a month ago, Oklahoma's team will only go as far as Adrian Peterson decides to carry them. Peterson had 136 on the ground, a rushing touchdown, and 69-yard touchdown reception as Oklahoma overcame inconsistency and turnovers to outlast the Blazers.

Houston 31 Rice 30
The more things change the more they remain the same. With a new coach, offense, and outlook Rice rallied from an early 14-0 hole in the first quarter to score 30 consecutive points behind surprising performances by Chase Clement and running back Quinton Smith. As always, Rice however could not stand prosperity giving up the last 17 points. Memo to Cougar fan, Rice is rebuilding with 90 percent of the roster playing out of position. If you truly have aspirations of competing for the C-USA west division berth in the conference title game, you'll have to vastly improve to compete with UTEP and Tulsa. You may not want to celebrate like you're the greatest team the conference has to offer after a one-point escape.

Michigan 27 Vanderbilt 7
See Mike's post for details as I was a bit distracted.

Finally, for the second consecutive game in Colorado's football existence, they have again embarassed themselves, their conference and the rest of Division I football by losing 19-10 to Division 1-AA Montana State. While I'm happy for Montana State since I have few friends there who may have enjoyed the victory, I continue to lose respect for CU on a game-by-game basis. Dan Hawkins built Boise St. from a laughing stock with a discolored field to a nationally competitive small conference team so I trust that he will turn CU around; however, do we need to paint Folsom Field's turf ocean blue so you feel more at home Mr. Hawkins?

That's all for now.