Links 'n' notes

The Royals are quiet, so here are some other things I've been up to...
-Some speculation on the Matt Holliday trade before details came out.
-I really really hated that the Chiefs went for two at the end of their game yesterday.
-Some ideas for International Make Someone Feel Uncomfortable Day*.
-Last week's Hot Stove roundup, featuring hotties. Starting next week, I'll be writing on Mondays instead of Thursdays at Ladies..., so update your Minda-stalking schedule accordingly.

*by the way, I started a new blog as a spinoff of this one. No more non-sports here.

Back to Monday Night Football and studying. Toodles!

Random football thoughts

I think the phrase "nearly intercepted" is used way too often in football broadcasts, both on TV and the radio. I don't care if the pass truly was "nearly intercepted;" the phrase is still grossly overused. A good way to die is to drink every time you hear it, no matter who is announcing.

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My heart is totally broken after the Husker loss yesterday. It would have hurt less if we had lost to Texas Tech by 50, because that's what Vegas said we were supposed to do. Instead, Joe Ganz (or MANz, as I like to call him) and his receivers shredded the Tech defensive scheme and scored a VERY late TD to force overtime. You know what, I don't even want to describe that game right now. It hurts too much. Ganz should not have thrown that ball. It hurts. So hard.

Here's what happened, and a bunch of other stuff from Huskers.com.

He was SO GOOD. Until he wasn't. :(


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Turns out the Jerry Jones' strategy for dealing with Adam "not Pacman" Jones' latest scuffle is to not deal with it. Pacman is in the lineup today against Arizona. Also, Arizona ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown, which makes me laugh because I hate the Cowboys.

A football moment, brought to you by Favre's retirement

Before Brett Favre captured my little heart, football was just a thing my parents and brothers watched while I kept myself entertained elsewhere in the house. I'd wander in to the TV room sometimes, but mostly I was in one place, and football was in another. Then in grade school, one of my classmates was all pumped up for a Green Bay Monday Night Football game. Something about her excitement over this Favre guy had my young mind intrigued; for one of the first times it sounded kind of fun to be a fan of somebody in football. Basically, I came of age as a football fan because of Brett Favre.

...and now he's retiring.

I suppose the rest of the writing world has already covered every aspect of Favre's retirement. All I can really add is that I know I'll never love a quarterback the way I love Brett Favre. The man has, at different times in his storied career, been the drugged-up guy you want your daughter to avoid and the guy you kind of want your son to grow up to be.

But he has always been exciting. He has always been easy to root for. It will be easy to miss him next year, to wish he could have donned that familiar green and gold one more time, that he'd give us one last Last Season.

Farewell, Brett. I'll miss you dearly.

One of those days...

Things that did not work for me yesterday:
1) My brain
When I woke up Friday morning, I realized I hadn't done my Spanish homework for the week, and it was due at 11:30. While I was rushing through the (pointless) assignments, I had a sharp craving for Dr Pepper. Which leads us to...

2) The Beacon
The thing I hate about UNL is that it is an exclusively Pepsi campus. There is precisely one Coke machine on the entire campus, but luckily it is right across the street from my building. We Coke-drinkers call it the "Shining Beacon of Hope," and I was looking forward to paying it a visit after I got all my homework done and headed over to class. I had a dollar, and trust me, having a dollar is a rarity, and kind of a big deal; I was ready for that beautiful 23-flavored goodness. So I put the dollar in, and...that was it. The Dr Pepper button did not do anything, nor did any of the buttons for other Coke products. And neither did the Change Return button.

3) The copy machines at the library
In the process of making copies of some magazine articles, I discovered that both of the machines to which I had access were smudging parts of the copied pages. One was smudging the left side of the pages, and the other smudged the print on the right side. So if I really wanted those copies, I had to work doubly; nay, triply hard for them: Make a copy on one machine with the smeared left-hand column, then make one on the other machine, then take both copies home, scan them (another story entirely), splice the readable parts of the page together in Photoshop, then print a third and final copy. I will be scouring other parts of the library for different copiers next time... maybe they're on the fabled half-floors?

4) My (typically wonderful) computer
I love my computer; his name is Eduardo. But yesterday, during the scan/splice/print portion of copy-making, he froze during approximately...every single step of the already convoluted process.

5) My brand new scanner/printer/copier
My motto for technology has always been, "When it works, it's wonderful." When it's functionless, bloated software, it probably came with an HP printer. Dear goodness, I spent so much time just waiting for this thing to DO something; anything to prove to me it wasn't a paperweight with green flashy lights. After about 25 years, it finally worked, but not before my blood pressure skyrocketed. And that was for the scanning part alone...

6) The printer portion of my scanner/printer/copier
The final step of the convoluted copy-making process was to print the spliced-together page, right? That was a simple and wonderful idea, until I had to wait 10 minutes between the time I hit Ctrl+P and the time the 'Print' dialogue box appeared, and even then, nothing printed for a while. I had to unplug and replug it twice...to print one page. When it works...it's so great.

And then there was a false fire alarm in my dorm. Oddly enough, it was my new roommate's best friend who accidentally leaned against the alarm in the basement, but the proceedings put everyone out in the bitter winter cold for a while, delayed my dinner with one of my friends (who is an RA, and therefore had to do a bunch of administrative stuff in the wake of the fire alarm).

So yes, yesterday was one of those days. It's over now, and it's time to gear up for a Husker basketball game today, and two of the roughly seven NFL games I've actually been excited for this season tomorrow. (My picks, plus a huge tangent: Packers and Patriots. If I were to call myself a fan of any NFL team, it would be the Packers; it has been the Packers since I was about 8 years old, and Brett Favre is one of my all-time favorite athletes. So by that standard, I want the Packers to win it all. However, I have this generational inferiority complex, because it seems like in this generation, sports teams (or individuals) come really close to historically significant feats, but fall just shy. One huge example is the lack of triple crown-winning horses recently. Back in the '70s, three horses won Triple Crowns, which led both of my parents to believe it was fairly commonplace. But nowadays, lots of horses win two races but never the third. To me, this is a generation of "almosts," and I kind of want the Patriots to go ahead and be "made it all the way" team. I want to tell my kids about sports history that happened while I was young, not sports history that almost happened. So if those teams win tomorrow, I will be torn come Super Bowl Sunday. But mostly, go Packers.)

Have a lovely day, y'all. I hope it's not one of those days.

Let's go bowling!

This year, I made my bowl picks based on the first random thought that floated through my brain when I read the matchup. This is partly because I've been busy with pre-Christmas stuff and finals, partly because my dad needed my picks right away to get them into a bowl pool, and partly because there's a good chance that my arbitrary picks will do me better than if I had spent more time thinking about the games.

Here's who I have winning, and why. You can skip around, just look at your team's game, or the big games, or whatever. Here we go:

Poinsettia Bowl Tonight, 9 pm Utah vs. Navy
I picked Navy
because I just got a feeling.
Actual result: Utah 35 - Navy 32. I'm 0-1

New Orleans Bowl Dec. 21, 8 pm Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis
I picked Florida Atlantic
because ...well? I don't know. I think it's because the last person I met from Memphis was kind of a jerk.
Actual result: Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27. Back at .500!

Papajohns.com Bowl Dec. 22, 1 pm Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss
I picked Cincinnati
because I finally know how to spell it. (What? Don't judge me.)

New Mexico Bowl Dec. 22, 4:30 New Mexico vs. Nevada
I picked Nevada
because I felt like rooting for the away team

Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 22, 8 pm BYU vs. UCLA
I picked UCLA
because I reeeeeally hate BYU. I mean, I hate them both, but I begrudgingly went with the Bruins because I see them as the (slightly) lesser of two evils.

Hawaii Bowl Dec. 23, 8 pm East Carolina vs. Boise State
I picked Boise State
because we all know they can make the bowl game magic happen.

Motor City Bowl Dec. 26, 7:30 Purdue vs. Central Michigan
I picked Purdue
because the voices told me it was the right pick.

Holiday Bowl Dec. 27, 8 pm Texas vs. Arizona State
I picked Texas
because Nebraska played so well against them. Better for the Huskers if the 'Horns see some success. Plus I typically root for the Big XII. However, I don't totally hate ASU, so I wouldn't mind being wrong here.

Champs Sports Bowl Dec. 28, 5 pm Boston College vs. Michigan State
I picked Boston College
because go Catholics!

Texas Bowl Dec. 28, 8 pm TCU vs. Houston
I picked TCU
because how could I pick against the Horned Frogs??

Emerald Bowl Dec. 28, 8:30 Maryland vs. Oregon State
I picked Oregon State
because I like their baseball team.

Meineke Car Care Dec. 29, 1 pm Wake Forest vs. Connecticut
I picked Wake Forest
because they were a Nebraska opponent early in the season.

Liberty Bowl Dec. 29, 4:30 UCF vs. Mississippi State
I picked Mississippi State
because I like the letter 'S'.

Alamo Bowl Dec. 29, 8 pm Penn State vs. Texas A&M
I picked Texas A&M
because go Big XII!

Independence Dec. 30, 8 pm Colorado vs. Alabama
I picked Colorado
because ...Again, Husker opponent, conference, yadda yadda...

Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 31, 12:30 Air Force vs. California
I picked Cal
because I already picked Navy to win their game, and I can't pick more than one branch of the military to win a bowl game.

Sun Bowl Dec. 31, 2 pm South Florida vs. Oregon
I picked Oregon
because I have a friend or two who are genuine Ducks fans.

Humanitarian Bowl Dec. 31, 2 pm Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State
I picked Georgia Tech
because I felt like it, gosh!



Music City Bowl Dec. 31, 4 pm Kentucky vs. Florida State
I picked Kentucky
because as my dad said, "Do you think ANYONE picked Florida State?" (Hi, Dad!)

Chick-fil-A Bowl Dec. 31, 7:30 Auburn vs. Clemson
I picked Clemson
because ...can't I just say "The Tigers" so I know I'll be right?

Insight Dec. 31, TBA Indiana vs. Oklahoma State
I picked Okie State!
because Mike Gundy is a MAN, and he's FORTY!

Outback Bowl Jan. 1, 11 am Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
I picked Tennessee
because I know a bunch of Vols fans.

Cotton Bowl Jan. 1, 11:30 Missouri vs. Arkansas
I picked Mizzou
because Husker opponent, nose-picking QB, Big XII team, all that jazz.

Gator Bowl Jan. 1, 1 pm Virginia vs. Texas Tech
I picked Texas Tech
because Conference, etc. Sorry, nothing witty here.

Capital One Bowl Jan. 1, 1 pm Michigan vs. Florida
I picked Florida
because I hate Michigan, I love seeing them lose. I also hate Florida, but I think Mr. Heisman Tebow should be able to take the Gators to one more win.

Rose Bowl Jan. 1, 4:30 USC vs. Illinois
I picked USC
because Illinois might be out of hilarious upsets. I'd love to be wrong though.

Sugar Bowl Jan. 1, 8:30 Hawaii vs. Georgia
I picked Hawaii
because it's the last chance for these guys to "prove" they belong in a big bowl. They've got a fire under their bellies.

Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2, 8 pm Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
I picked West Virginia
because I had to go against my "pick the Big XII rule one of these days. It's 2007; anyone could win any game.


Orange Bowl Jan. 3, 8 pm Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
I picked Kansas
because I want to believe that the team that so horribly destroyed my Huskers is good enough to pull off a bowl win.

International Bowl Jan. 5, 12pm Rutgers vs. Ball State
I picked Ball(s) State
because I'm still bitter about how they almost beat Nebraska. See my bias coming through?

GMAC Jan. 6, 8 pm Tulsa vs. Bowling Green
I picked Tulsa
because ...I have no idea. I don't know much about either team, honestly.

BCS "National Championship" Jan. 7, 8 pm Ohio State vs. LSU
I picked LSU
because screw OSU!!

So there you have it. If I'm wrong, you can laugh at me.

No doubt about it

Dear Bill Callahan,
I know you were doing an excellent job in every area -- you must have been, because you said so yourself, but please don't let the door hit you on your way out. We might miss those colorful comments about Oklahoma fans, because deep in our hearts we might agree with you, but we won't miss the way you ended long-standing streaks, the way you made our Huskers an embarrassment when they were once pillars of college football glory, the way you denied until your end that anything was even wrong.

No, Bill, you were not doing an excellent job in every area. How did you say that with a straight face a month ago? You brought down a dynasty. You recruited some of the best kids in the country, and wasted all of their talents. You introduced an offensive scheme that was...offensive. It didn't work out, but you never changed a thing. Please tell me how you thought that kind of stubbornness was going to do any good. Did you really think you were going to hang on to this job?

And did you not realize that your buddy Kevin Cosgrove's defense DID NOT WORK? I know he's your friend and all, but if he was a good a friend to you as you clearly were to him, he would understand if you let him go and got a new defensive coordinator. If he was a good friend to you, he would want your team to succeed, rather than fielding the worst defense in Nebraska's history. You let him put that defense on the field. You could have made a change, but you are too stubborn to do something good for the program when it's personally uncomfortable for you. Nice job, Callahan. Your friendship and loyalty cost you and Mr. Cosgrove your jobs, and cost Nebraska its recruiting classes for the next who-knows-how-many seasons. You embittered fans who previously would have sacrificed their firstborns for this team.

You know, I hate to lose. But thanks for losing yesterday, so all of the pissed-off fans around Nebraska could go to bed with smiles on their faces, knowing you'd be gone by sunrise. It was a pleasant way to wake up today.

Good luck in whatever you do next. Maybe the NFL will take you back, or maybe this whole "coaching" thing is not what you've been called to do at all.

Sincerely,
Minda

Home sweet home

It's weird to be back in front of my computer after a long, crazy weekend. Around Nebraska football and basketball games on Saturday, and my brilliant idea of driving from Lincoln to Minneapolis and back for a concert last night, I feel like I'm a little bit behind everything happening in my own little computery world. So here's some catching up:

Joe Ganz? More like Joe MANz!
If you follow college football, you might have heard about the insane beating that Nebraska handed to Kansas State on Saturday. It was at least as crazy as the score indicated; I had the pleasure of seeing it from Row 3 right behind the "B" in the word "Nebraska" painted in the south end zone. Some of MANz's seven (yes, seven) touchdown passes happened about 10 feet from me, and I loved each one more than the one before it.

After last week's embarrassingly large loss to Kansas (no, I am not consoled by the fact that nobody has beaten Kansas. I still hate losing.), it was refreshing to see the Huskers play with some heart again, the way they did against Texas two games ago.

I am a fan of gentlemanly, sportsmanlike play, but I was not at all offended by some of the penalties called on the fired-up Husker players. Excessive celebration? At least we're in the endzone. Roughing the passer? That means our defense got through someone's line... Hallelujah! I think a lot of Nebraska's losses this season can be attributed to lack of heart. All season, the team has lacked the intensity and attitude to incur the types of penalties I just named. I don't want my Husker players to act like thugs, but it was kind of fun to see them, for once, showing up at Memorial Stadium with a little bit of attitude, that "swagger" that can make winning even more satisfying for this year's beleaguered Husker fans to watch. After that game, I finally feel confident that the Huskers can beat Colorado in the annual day-after-Thanksgiving meeting.

Incidentally, Joba Chamberlain paid the stadium a visit, which got people pretty fired up. Before they introduced him, along with his father, Harlan, the good folks at HuskerVision treated the 84,665 in attendance with a Chamberlain highlight video, complete with many of those trademark fist pumps from his Husker days and his magical time with the Yankees. When he walked behind the endzone, right under my seats, I very shamelessly yelled "Holy crap! It's Joba!" He turned and did a thumbs-up/gun finger gesture in my general direction, which was my first encounter with a Yankee player. I may hate the Yankees with the fire of a thousand suns, but I love Joba Chamberlain. All this stuff that's written about him...it's true. It's all true; it's the story that brought tears to my eyes every time I heard it during Joba's time in a Husker uniform. I was thrilled with his visit to Lincoln this weekend so I had an excuse to spend some time thinking about some of the good that's left in the world, the good that is impossible to ignore even when it's wrapped in Yankee pinstripes.

A father who raises his son to sincerely say things like this is a father more kids should get to have:

"I wake up with two purposes each day: Make at least one person smile and have fun. If I can make a wisecrack or give someone a hug, that day's been worthwhile, even if I give up 15 runs. No matter how bad it is, it'll get better. I mean, look at this ."

His hand sweeps across a beautiful ballyard -- Comerica in Detroit -- shimmering beneath a cloudless August sky. "This is what I do for a living. I get to come here on a weekend day and watch a major league game for free -- and maybe even get to pitch in it. What could be better than that?"

Wow, that was quite a tangent. This post was really supposed to be about Husker football, and then basketball. My bad.

Yesterday three friends and I made a car trip to Minneapolis to see my favorite band, the Dropkick Murphys, in concert. I learned many things, like driving 900 miles when gas is over $3 a gallon was not the most economically sound decision I've ever made. In fact, it may have been the least so. At least I didn't get a speeding ticket -- I'm looking at you, Mr. Posnanski -- and my car behaved splendidly. And my map was reliable and despite the fact that I was navigating, we got where we needed to go and back without getting lost. The weather was unseasonably warm, and most of the people we encountered were kind, even if they were ridiculously shocked that actual people live in Nebraska, and would travel such a great distance for a show. One patron who was not so kind was this kid who apparently loves his elbows so much that he has to share them with everybody by keeping them in the air at all times. In a crowded nightclub, this meant that those lovely (pointy!) elbows were embedded in the side of my neck for most of one of the opening bands' sets. My attempts to dislodge the elbow from my throat ended in him glaring at me and digging it in more deeply. Sigh.

But the really cool thing about seeing this particular show was that it was Veteran's Day, and the Dropkick Murphys' beliefs about war and service are delightfully different from most punk bands. When they offered up a song as a tribute to veterans and to those who are serving right now, the club was transformed, almost as if by magic, from a venue full of all the usual moshing, nosebleeds and chaos that are usual fare for a punk rock show, into a crowd full of people who were belting out the words to the song in respectful remembrance of a lot of people who are normally not respected by such crowds. After the song was over, the chaos resumed, but those three minutes alone were beautiful enough to make the whole trip worth it.

Eating my words -- sort of; the Husker edition

After Nebraska football's win over Iowa State a few weeks ago, it was entirely possible that the team would not win another game all season. Things were looking pretty grim at Memorial Stadium and around Husker Nation. The team hit the road after that ISU game, and fell pathetically to Missouri. They pulled out an ugly home loss to Oklahoma State, which led up to the dramatic firing of NU Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Many fans hoped that the naming of Tom Osborne as interim AD would help the Huskers manage a home win against Texas A&M last Saturday, but it didn't work that way.

The offense has incurred a lot of stupid penalties, like QB Sam Keller's tendency to earn delays of game. The offense has turned the ball over a depressing number of times, and the weary defense never earned any takeaways of their own.

It has been sad.

This weekend, the Huskers hit the road to take on the #19 Texas Longhorns. I'm not going to lie, I was not very optimistic about the Huskers' chances against their Big XII rivals; Texas was favored to win by 21 points. I wasn't sure how this game would turn out. I saw several possibilities -- I figured today's game could be a massacre, a blowout, an embarrassment...I saw a number of potential outcomes for Nebraska, but I was not hopeful that "win" was one of them. I told some of my friends this, but I added that I would be thrilled if I had to eat my words today.

This is me eating some of my words, but not all of them. Texas ended up winning today, but Nebraska was a team of which I was proud today.

Today's Huskers looked like they actually belonged on the same field as their ranked opponents. Though they really never started any drives with good field position, they marched; they made big numerous big plays for the first time all season. The defense showed they could do something besides leave giant gaps for the opponent to exploit, and finally used an aggressive blitz approach which has been missing all season.

Nebraska's drive at the end of the 1st half had me jumping up and down for joy. Despite inexplicably burning all of their timeouts early in the half, the Huskers forged their way down field to take a 10-7 lead with under a minute left in the half. For the first time since the season opener against Nevada, I was watching my team play like winners. They lost none of that momentum coming out of halftime, and pounded Texas with another touchdown to start the third quarter.

I think the Huskers got a little tired around the end of the 3rd, and when Texas scored their first touchdown -- their previous 3 scores had been field goals -- the Blackshirts just ran out of steam. That blitz which had worked so spectacularly in the first half started to turn on Nebraska, but such is the nature of a blitz.

I'm not pissed off about this loss like I have been the last three games. In the Mizzou, OSU, and A&M games, there were guys on the field in Nebraska uniforms, but I was sure it was not an actual football team. Today, the Huskers showed up, and played a tough game. I would call it a battle. Not a blowout, not an embarrassment, not a massacre. Good game, guys.

Final score:
Texas - 28
Nebraska - 25

Happier times ahead for Husker fans

Steve Pederson will no longer be the Athletic Dictator -- errr, Director at the University of Nebraska.

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman probably had to work pretty hard to issue a statement that didn't include the words "program-killer," "idiot," or "Steve did absolutely everything wrong."

Perlman said he believes Pederson is no longer positioned to move the Athletic Department forward.

“We are of course disappointed about the progress in our football program. Steve has done many positive things for Husker Athletics during his tenure but I think only new leadership can objectively assess the state of our program and make the decisions necessary to move us forward,” Perlman said.

I heard an insider rumor earlier today that defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and a couple other coaches will be removed within the next three days as well. That's not a surprise at all, unless you are surprised that we actually had a defensive coordinator on the field.

The same guy told me that someone whom Husker fans L-O-V-E will be filling in for some of the departing coaches. I won't name names, but it would be a blast from a much-more-pleasant past. The name might rhyme with, ummm...Mom Loz-norne. Just saying.

And speaking of the Huskers...apparently my roommate (from last year) and I are featured on the front cover of the Husker men's basketball media guide. I have not seen it yet, so this could be a very cool, badass thing, or very awkward. We'll see.

During one televised Husker basketball game last year, I got a text from my friend's little brother saying, "Minda was just on TV for like 5 minutes. Good thing there was no mic around cuz it looked like she was really mad at the refs." Heh.

The greatest fans?

A famous and beloved inscription above Gate 21 at Lincoln's Memorial Stadium reads, "Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football."

But partway through Nebraska's brutal loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday, I felt rather disappointed in Husker fans, maybe even more so than I am with the team for their awful performances in the last two games. The way the stadium full of so-called "fans" behaved on Saturday makes me wonder if Husker football fans of the last few years have actually been bandwagoners all along.

Before every game, many fans are given red balloons to let go of when Nebraska scores its first points. On Saturday, the Huskers took quite a while to get on the board, and a lot of folks gave up on those balloons, resigning themselves to release them after a rare 1st down instead. Would one of the "greatest fans in college football" show that much doubt that their team could score? What about leaving the game before it was even halfway over, or booing their defense?

It's disgusting. Yes, it is hard for me to watch Nebraska do so badly. I grew to become a football fan after watching the Huskers of the mid-90s dominate everyone they played. It was safe for me -- and all Husker fans -- to demand and expect excellence. Always. Today, the team doesn't quite live up to the standards of excellence we once pinned on them, but I still proudly call myself a Nebraska fan. I will never leave a game early; I have never believed in doing that, and I never will. I will never boo my own team, no matter how poorly they are performing. Booing is for only the most contemptible of figures (the ref who blew two big calls, the other team, and so on) and the team of which I call myself a fan shouldn't fall into that category.

Do I think Nebraska should have played better yesterday, and last weekend against Missouri? Of course I do. But I will not abandon them, not in this season or any other. I will not do anything to jeopardize the status of our mighty Sea of Red as "The Greatest Fans in College Football."

What I will do is make nifty signs to poke fun at the other team's coach.

Good news, bad news

Good news: Joe Posnanski is blogging again!!!
Bad news: I already have a problem with getting things like schoolwork done. Is it possible to accomplish less than nothing? If so, that is what I will do now that I have my regular dose of JoePo bloggy goodness.

Good news: Stanford beat USC.
Bad news: Stanford, by extension, is better than Nebraska.

Good news: It's not like Nebraska losing to Missouri was a big upset, but
Bad news: Nebraska could have at least showed a little effort.***

***Disclaimer: Maybe it was personal tragedy that prevented the Huskers from playing anything that resembled football. I wonder if God could cut Maurice Purify a break; his brother was murdered this summer, and his girlfriend just died this past week. He played anyway, because he's a badass like that. Can I say badass here? I'm going to anyway.

Good news: The Rockies have continued their unreal Cinderella-esque run by beating the Phillies again.
Bad news: The Ladies.... will be quite sad. In homage to the Ladies..., I'd like to say farewell to Pat the Bat, Chutley, and most of all, their beloved Bacon Pants. Sorry it had to end like that, Ladies..., but when Cinderella magic happens, someone has to lose.

I'll be back with something better later, but I'm pretending to be a responsible student this weekend. (Hi Mom!)

Football, football everywhere

For the first time in a while, I missed a Nebraska football home game. Instead, I spent some time in Omaha, spreading the joy of Maverick Mojo towels and hanging out with various pals. Nebraska beat Iowa State, and thank God for that, because if they had a repeat of last week's game I would find actual heads on actual pikes around campus, not just figurative ones.

The day was a ton of fun, but it made me miss some of the craziest college football games I have ever heard of. USC and Washington is still going on, but I'm pulling really hard for Washington. When you get right down to it, almost every game today was probably displayed as an "Upset Watch" at ESPN.com's scoreboard page. Check this out:

Colorado over #3 Oklahoma.
K-State over #7 Texas (again).
Maryland over #10 Rutgers.
Georgia Tech over #13 Clemson.
Florida State over #22 Alabama.

The day isn't even over, but already five different Top 25 teams have lost to unranked teams, the most outrageous of which was the Colorado win.

Hm. As I typed that list, USC scored again, making it 24-14. Hang in there, Huskies!

Quick gearshift:
How is tomorrow already the last game of the season? Wow, 2007 has gone by quickly! I know September has kind of sucked, but I'd like to remind each of you that the season has had its share of highlights (some of which I'll bring to you this coming week, as a way of easing myself in the offseason). In an unusual turn of events, Buddy Bell is actually going to let a September callup play by giving Luke Hochevar the start tomorrow after Jorge De La Rosa was scratched.

After tonight's 2-4 performance, Mike Sweeney's career batting average is 0.2996142306043720531504500642949. (Thanks to Brad for the heads-up on that!) Where exactly does MLB round for this kind of thing? I'd like for my Best Friend to hold a .300 career average going in to this offseason, just in case. Tomorrow might be his last game in a KC uniform, and as far as I know he'll get to play 1B instead of his usual DHing duties. I'd like to wish Mike the best of luck in tomorrow's game....just in case.

The difference between a close game and a good game

Nebraska – 41
Ball State – 40

My Husker player of the game: Sean Hill

Right after I complained to my neighbor about how Nebraska has not made many big plays this year, Hill came through with a pretty big catch for a ton of yards and a TD. I suppose I figured that Maurice Purify or Marlon Lucky would have the big game, but I would give the game ball to Hill.

And while I’m giving things away, I’ll also give some new jerseys to the Blackshirts. After the 1st quarter this morning, they demoted themselves from Black to deep green to various reds, oranges, and then pink. Ball State scoring 40 points was a laughable idea – until it actually happened. Therefore, my final assessment of what color jerseys the NU defense earned is…floral print. Really horrible grandmotherly, you-might-see-this-on-a-muumuu floral.


Being ranked was fun while it lasted. If the voters only assessed Nebraska’s offense, the team might stay in the top 25. But since the defense was so overpoweringly horrible, it’s likely that the Huskers will be as far from the top 25 as Ball State was coming in to today.

It’s odd that I feel this bad about a win, but the thing about growing up a Husker fan in the 1990s was that perfection was never too much to expect. Seeing less than perfection is becoming sadly normal for this generation of Huskers, but I won’t stand for it. I haven’t listened to any fans’ reactions on the radio yet this evening, but I’m guessing a lot of people will call for the immediate decapitation (or at least firing) of Kevin Cosgrove, our current defensive coordinator. This is Nebraska, where we can get pissed off and fire someone after their performance in a win.

Also...Go Big Red? (NSFW)


Oh dear...
Back to baseball for a moment, as it appears the Royals have acquired another 1B/DH. Why?!? This makes me feel unsure about Mike Sweeney's future here, and I don't like it at all.

Seriously?

Seriously, Buddy Bell? You pinch-hit Jason Smith for...anyone?!? I wouldn't PH Jason Smith for my next-door-neighbor's grandmother! The flyout he earned KC was actually a gift; I thought for sure he would ground into a double play.

Also, I would have left Bannister in for the 7th. The more time goes on, the more I'm glad we're getting a new manager next season.


On a happier (or maybe not; we'll see tonight) note, the day of Nebraska vs. USC has come. For those of you who will be watching College GameDay, please take note of the fact that Nebraska students will be very purposefully ignoring Kirk Herbstriet.

Sunday will probably be a college football day, unless I die in a riot after Nebraska upsets USC. (You heard it here first!)

Gil Meche wins, and Husker nation waits

I could have taken a test online while I listened to the Royals beat the Twins, but I decided three things:
1) The game would divide my attention too far away from the test*,
2) The test would take my attention too far away from the game, and
3) I'd rather fiddle with Gil Meche-related numbers.

It's not a secret that the Royals haven't scored many runs behind Meche this season. I noticed it back in April, and then there was a stretch in late May/early June where the team gave Gil a total of two runs in three starts. It's also not a secret that Meche hasn't won in a while, with his last win (prior to this afternoon's delicious victory) coming on July 20. That's an astonishing amount of time for a team's number one guy to go without a win, but the offensive numbers Kansas City put up behind Meche in that time span are quite telling: they only scored 2.3 runs per game in those nine straight losses. On the other hand, in all games this season that KC has won and Gil has started (not necessarily all Meche wins, but rather Meche starts), that average is 6.2.

I realize that this statistic does not factor in at all the pitcher himself. I know he has had a few rough outings this year, like his last start where his own two errors pretty much cost the Royals, and Meche himself, the win. And it also seems pretty obvious; the team scores more runs, the pitcher has better odds of winning. But I find it interesting how wide a gap there has been all season between KC run production in Meche's starts where KC wins, and run production in Meche starts that end in a loss.

As I mentioned, in games in which Meche starts and the Royals end up winning, KC is averaging 6.2 runs. But in Meche starts that end in losses, the average is drastically lower, at 2.5.

Today's Royals win felt fantastic. I realized this morning that I had forgotten what habitually losing felt like -- it's painful, and I get pretty mopey. My attitude, like that of many other good KC fans, has shifted noticeably. I expect wins now. Losing no longer feels so 'normal;'it sucks. I find it encouraging that the 7-game losing streak that just ended for the Royals was tied for the 2nd-longest of the season, because I still have streaks of 17 and even 19 games pretty fresh in my mind from the last few seasons. And most of you know this already, but today's win absolutely guarantees that KC will not lose 100 this year; that shameful reign is over.

One surprise that came out of the sweep by the Yankees was Neal Musser breaking his hand. When I read the headline, I thought for sure they were talking about the wrong guy. The Neal Musser I know is a very gentle human being, and wouldn't lash out like that. Then again, the Neal Musser I know dominated every batter he faced in AAA, and never gave up any runs about which to be angry.

And now, the previously promised shift into Husker football.
It has been said that Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller has only two speeds: walk and kill. This morning, he was irritatingly stuck on "walk" right in front of me while I was trying to hurry to class. Had it been anyone else on the UNL campus, I may have tried to worm my way around him and hustle on past, or maybe offered a verbal chastisement for walking so slowly (perhaps a "Boo! Boring! Walk faster!"). But Keller could probably crush my head with his bare hands, so I resigned myself to walking at his pace for a while. Besides, he may have been mentally preparing for this Saturday's big game against USC, and I do not want to risk doing anything to mess that up.

The anticipation around campus for the Nebraska/USC game has been intense. I don't think I've been this excited about a football game since Nebraska played Oklahoma in 2001. But it's crazy: all I have to say to any of my friends is, "Saturday!" and they will squeal with some sort of delight I don't think I can safely categorize. I'll be there, so look for me on ESPN!

* Hi Mom, don't worry! I'll get the test done!

On LaRue and PGs.

- I was supposed to be in Des Moines tonight to see what turned out to be an O-Royals loss, but due to nightmarish traffic I did not make it to Rosenblatt in time to meet my bus. Sigh. You know when there's a wreck on the interstate, and traffic slows to 0-5 mph? That's how bad I-80 was today, but there was no accident. Just one guy moving a few cones. Yeah, that was totally worth the slowdown.

- I would have been OK with it if Scott Baker had finished his game in a perfect manner tonight. My reasoning behind this is that I've never watched a perfect game before, and I kind of wanted to see one. Besides, if you're going to break up a PG or a no-no, you had damn well better go on and win the game. Still kinda wondering why Bell would put in a PH in that situation, but at the same time I was pleased to see my Best Friend make a splash like that in his first AB back.

TANGENT: Here are a few things I want to see in person before I die:
1) No-hitter (asking to see a PG in person is kind of lofty, no? I'd happily settle for a no-no.)
2) Bench-clearing brawl (any sport. I aaaalmost saw the O-Royals get into one, but it was broken up)
3) A parade for the World Series Champions Royals

- I found an amusing comment regarding my favorite* Royal, Jason LaRue, on this post at the MVN Royals blog:

Remember in Little League or playing softball when you’re a kid and a girl or some other bad hitter comes up and people start yelling “automatic out?” Does that happen in the major leagues? If it does, they do it for sure when Jason LaRue bats. You almost think that Pena is going to be set to lead off an inning and the Twins would walk him and Gathright just to see if they could coax a triple play out of LaRue.

Heh. So true.

*Well, he's my favorite behind everyone else in the organization except for maybe Emil Brown.

- Tomorrow begins Husker football season. Expect a subtle shift into college football as the autumn goes on, but fear not; I will not abandon baseball!

Randoms

• This news story is near and dear to my heart, as I go by the screen name 'Chewbacca' on a number of forums. I extend my apologies to any tourists I may or may not have headbutted.

• In other news, the Super Bowl was kind of lame. I was hoping for...oh, I don't know... a good game, maybe? Instead, we got eleventy billion turnovers, boring commercials, and Adam Vinatieri missing a field goal (I didn't know that happened in the postseason). I'm guessing all the very loud and excited Bears fans I encountered in IHOP at 3 on Sunday morning are not nearly as exuberant today as they were at that time.

However, one good thing about the game was that Tony Dungy is a classy guy. I like that he throws down the G-Word (God!) in his post game speech and you can tell he actually means it. I really like both coaches involved; it's a shame that one of them had to lose.

• I have a new job, sort of. On weekends, I get assigned to various grocery stores around town and hand out free samples of new Pepsi products. It gets a little boring at times, but I still enjoy it. And by now, I could probably recite all the ingredients in Aquafina Alive Wellness Water. I can't believe the number (and variety) of questions people ask about the ingredients ... I get everything from the expected queries about calories to "My wife is allergic to [obscure substance I've never heard of]. Can she still drink this stuff?" Another thing I've noticed is that older people seem absolutely disgusted by the idea of flavored water. Parents with young kids are the best, because of course the kids see free stuff and just have to try it. One benefit is that I'm seeing parts of Lincoln I've never really known before, which is kind of neat. Also, I don't think I will ever turn down another free sample in a grocery store; it can be slightly disheartening.

• 55 days until Opening Day!

A few new things

So it's been a while; my bad. A few things since last posting....

The Big XII Championship game:
The game was last night in Kansas City. As you probably already know, Nebraska lost to Oklahoma, 21-7. Talk about underachieving on the offense. Man, that was a disappointment. However, it was a heck of a fun trip, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if for no other reason than the pregame atmosphere.

It was a lot like a Husker home game, with Nebraska fans outnumbering Sooners at a ratio of about 6:1. We got to the parking lot at around 3:30 in the afternoon and the lots were already packed with massive RVs and people who obviously spend a lot of time tailgating. Barbecues, TVs, tents, and space heaters were everywhere, and everyone was in a pretty swell mood. I think that Husker fans were for the most part kind to the poor outnumbered Okies, because that's just how Husker fans roll.

It's funny how easy it is to get free stuff when you're a college chick. In order to be offered free beer, for example, we merely had to stand around for about 2.6 seconds. Some older folks near us actually fed us their barbecued wares for free, which was great because of course, food in the stadium costs about a million dollars.

The weather was pretty nippy, but really it wasn't bad. Some people would say we got bad seats -- only 10 rows from the top -- but I think they were absolutely awesome. We could see everything on the field very clearly...there's a good reason people put press boxes high up rather than at field-level! Our feet got pretty cold, but we survived without the loss of any toes, so it couldn't have been that severe, right?

Turns out Nebraska will take on Auburn in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. I'm unbelievably psyched for that. I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I got sick to death of the way ESPN drooled all over Auburn all season, when they're really not all that amazing. If Nebraska brings their A-game, they can smoke 'em easily. So basically, the defense can play like they did in the 3rd quarter last night, and the offense can remember what they did all season rather than do like last night.

Other Husker happenings:
The volleyball team rollllllled in their game last night, with a 3-game sweep over Northern Iowa to get into the NCAA Sweet 16.
The Nebraska men's basketball team didn't fare so well, taking their first loss of the regular season at Rutgers, 75-73. They'll be fine, as long as they pick up a win in Oregon this week!

Happy yummy Christmas feelings!
I love the Christmas season. Now that it's finally Advent (for all ye non-Catholics, Advent is the 4 weeks before Christmas in which we prepare for His birth), I can really get into the music, the decorating, and the shopping! It's a wonder my finances ever recover from Christmas; I love to give presents, and I've never met a charity drive I didn't love. But I always bounce back somehow.

I always love the first Sunday Mass of Advent, though. We get to bust out the Christmas music, and it always makes me giddy. I can guarantee I'll be in an unflappable good mood tonight. Off I go to go put up our room lights!!

An almost sad relience on sports

So here's the thing. My life -- nearly every aspect of it -- revolves around sports. I guess that's a good thing, given that I want to write/talk about sports as a career someday. However, it does create some problems. For example, what am I to do when 5:00 rolls around this afternoon?

I'll certainly be watching Michigan vs. Ohio State; how could I not when ESPN has been counting the minutes down to this game for over a week? However, today is one of the biggest games for Nebraska basketball this year, and I need to be in my usual seats (standing on the floor in front of the first row of student section bleacher seats) by 5:30 for the 7:00 tipoff. That means leaving my dorm around 5:00. Do you see where this is going?

If Michigan/OSU is a close game...what do I do? Do I stay here and risk losing my amazing courtside position? Or do I duck out of here as planned, and risk missing a great game of football?

Therefore, I'm hoping for a blowout this afternoon. That will make it much easier to leave.

EDIT: This has nothing to do with anything, but I want to point it out... in case you didn't already know...I'll be in Kansas City to watch my Huskers in the Big XII title game on December 2. I honestly think we can win it. Go Big Red!!!

Something for everyone, and why I hate sorority chicks

From Sept. 18, 2006.

__________________________________________________________________

Random musings for the week:

College football. I'll keep this short, though I could go on for hours. A lot of crazy awesome stuff happened on the college football stage this past weekend. I always love seeing Oklahoma lose, so the Ducks' wild comeback and finish was fantastic to see. It was even more fun, given that I was in a TV lounge full of people who were also passionately rooting for Oregon.

Obviously I'm upset at how Nebraska played. Aren't we all? (well, except Gary. I know he's thrilled about it.) Anyway, the Huskers completely underachieved out in LA. What I've been trying to understand is, why run the ball when you've got a QB who can pass as well as Taylor has been this season? And that LSU dude hurting his leg was GROSS. And yet, I could not look away.

Boston College beat BYU in 2 overtimes. Go Catholics!

I loved the LSU/Auburn game. Some people (mostly girls) told me they thought it was boring, but I can think of nothing better than a low-scoring battle between two highly ranked teams. The one touchdown Auburn scored was the first one LSU had given up in 16-plus quarters this season. Viva la defense!

Sorority chicks:
I have it up to here with sorority chicks. Now, don't get me wrong: there are plenty of perfectly cool chicks who happen to belong to sororities. But you know the kind I mean...the stereotypical "Sorority Chicks" who think they are so goddamn much better than everyone else. They dress as though they're trying out for a bit part on Laguna Beach or some shit, with their tacky giant sunglasses (which, by the way, look as if you're just trying to hide the black eyes your boyfriend gave you, so you had to run to the Dollar Tree and pluck up the first pair of big granny shades you could find) and (horror of horrors!) leggings.

See, every day on my way to journalism classes, I have to walk by a whole row of their houses. And they act like they own the damn sidewalks, weaving back and forth across the walkway so no "normal" people can't pass by without contorting in crazy ways, cutting through the grass, stepping out into the street gutter, or just lowering the shoulder and pushing those bitches right on down. Wait, sorry, that last one only happens in my brain. And then they scoff to some invisable other bitch on the other end of an unceasing cell phone conversation, completey astounded that someone has dared to use their sidewalk.

I don't know what they have to be so snobby about...I have something huge that they will never have: the ability to make friends without paying for them. There. I said it. Sorority girls are the biggest social disasters in the whole goddamn world.

And of course, Baseball!
The American League is looking unbelievably exciting in the next week or so, and I daresay that my Royals will be the deciding factor in who takes the Central division. We've got Detroit at home this upcoming weekend, followed by a 4-game series at Minnesota, and then another series against the Tigers, this time at Detroit. I think Minnesota has said "fuck it" to the Wild Card...they're going for the gold. And they're only one game behind the Tigers right now. Even without Liriano and Radke, they might just have what it takes to surge in the remaining games of the regular season.

This is the heavenly time of year when every single game of the season matters. This is when players truly do have to play every out like it's they're last, because every play is another one closer to their end unless they play their hearts out. This is when I don't leave my room for hours on end, because there's a game on, and there's no way in hell I'd miss it.

Incidentally, the Royals are once again out of the MLB basement, as Tampa Bay has produced that extra amount of suck to become the official "worst team in baseball." Kansas City might actually be able to avoid losing 100 games, which is absolutely astounding when you consider how April and May went. It's the biggest baseball turnaround that nobody is talking about.

One last thing...My roommate and I suck at life.
I've named us "The Strikeouts" because we both officially failed at life this week. Things can only get better though...I hope.