Let the Wookiee Win

You know who threw out the first pitch Tuesday night at Fenway Park? Chewbacca. Yes, a wookiee. Chewie is known for his wicked fastball, and his propensity for pulling people's arms out of their sockets when he loses. See the pic in context here.

I Aim to Misbehave

Serenity comes out tomorrow. You should see it. If you haven't seen Firefly, you can catch up by ordering the DVDs of the series here.

Pretty In Pink

You may or may not know that, in a decades long tradition, the Iowa Hawkeyes visiting locker room is pink. This color scheme was introduced by Coach Hayden Fry, who was a psychology major and said pink "had a calming and passive effect on people." Of course, some people are now complaining about this. Specifically, an adjunct law lecturer, Erin Buzuvis. I'm sure she's not a radical feminist. She called the locker room "sexist" and "homophobic" (good old liberal standbys those). She thinks it's a "sex equality" issue. I'm not sure what women feel inequal because of the locker room. Maybe they want theirs painted pink too?

Let's get one thing straight: more than any other sport, college football is about tradition. That's why people fight tooth and nail over almost any change, no matter how cosmetic. This locker room color thing was started by the most legendary coach in Hawkeye history. I've never heard opposing teams complain. This woman is a no-name lecturer looking to make a name for herself in the feminist community by taking on the football team. Let's hope Iowa doesn't give in crazy P.C.

Scoreboard!

The Spartans have been accused of running up the score against Illinois. Yes, they threw 2 TD passes at the end of the game. But they also rushed the ball quite a bit. What can you do when you're getting 10 yards a pop? Also, guys like Hoyer can definitely benefit from the work. The offense doesn't do slow down very well, and when they do they tend to lose, though that wasn't going to be a problem against Illinois. I usually am pretty merciful in situations like that, but not this time. You don't want them to score? Then stop them. End of story.

To Drew

Drew Sharp, who I have called a "butt monkey" in the past, wrote an article today about the UM vs. MSU game. I think it needs some response.

1. "And it's Michigan State that would probably take more insecure delight out of making the Wolverines 2-3 than it would in extending its own record to 5-0."

Hey, we're the Spartans, not the Boston Red Sox. Yes, we cheer at games when we see Michigan lose. But we root for them at appropriate times, like when the Big Ten has to prove its mettle against other conferences. To be defined by your rival is to let them control you. That's not the Spartans. Beating Michigan can be a bright spot in season that are otherwise bad, but it's never enough.

2. "...gimmicky spread option attack"

He thinks this offense is gimmicky? Has he ever seen Texas Tech? The Spartans run the spread. Option? Not so much. Watch some football, you might learn something.

3. "They have the state's best playmaker in quarterback Drew Stanton, but an offense that too often makes him a target for punishment. MSU's one-man show could head straight down the drain should it lose that one man."

The Spartans have been sacked 10 times in 4 games, 2.5 sacks per game. Some of those were Hoyer, presumably. Stanton hasn't been getting hammered. And if Drew had actually seen any games, he'd notice that Drew hasn't been taking the "banzai" running approach that he had last year. He's much more of a pocket passer who can move well. Is he the key to the offense? Yes. Has he been getting punished? Nope. Also, the Spartans have been getting production from everywhere. Like true freshman Javon Ringer, or two-sport star Matt Trannon. The Spartans can survive without Stanton, though they wouldn't be putting up 600 yds of offense.

4. "Lose Stanton, and Michigan State is just smoke and mirrors."

See above. Note to Drew: Watch games, then write. It'll stop you from making a fool of yourself.

Backyard Brawl

The game is early this year. Take the names off the teams, do the analysis, and I think most experts would pick MSU, maybe even by multiple touchdowns. But this is a rivalry game and the rankings don't matter, which Michigan has found out in most of its losses to MSU. Does MSU have any excuse not to win? No. This is their chance to forge a new identity for themselves, and give Drew Stanton a real shot at the Heisman to boot. But UM is going to be very dangerous. The loss of this game will have a huge affect on the team that comes up short. Michigan isn't going to give up their season without a fight. The Spartans certainly have weaknesses that the Wolverines could exploit. It'll be interesting. Scout.com's take here.

Of Polls

College football polls don't mean what it seems like they should mean. Do they give you the teams in order of how good they are? Well, sort of. A little. Maybe. It's all a popularity contest. This is pretty obvious because you can tell what will happen to a team in the polls based on the number in front of the name of the opponent they beat. If it actually meant something, it wouldn't be so consistent. Is Michigan the 27th best team in the land? They're probably better than that. But when you've got 2 losses after week 4 and your wins are EMU and Southen Illinois, you know what the polls will do.

Notre Dame

I'd agree that the media has went a little overboard celebrating Notre Dame; I think they love the Irish a lot more than the regular football watching public. I'd chalk it up to the easy stories that all the history around the golden dome provides. My question is: "Where were all these athletes last year?" Is Charlie Weis really the difference? I had a lot of respect for Willingham and didn't think he was the problem, but it does make you think. As far as MSU's celebration at ND's 50: I'm neutral. It's cool to watch, and it's not like they have a student section there to celebrate with. But it is somewhat disrespectful. It's probably okay at ND and maybe UM, but nowhere else.

52 s

You know how in the Patriots run of greatness you sometimes watch and say: "Man, they're good, but they're also really lucky." A great example: the Patriots received 52 extra seconds on a clock error yesterday, which might have made the difference in them beating the Steelers. Maybe the Patriots could still have pulled of the game-winning drive against the Steelers' soft coverage, but you can bet Pittsburgh would much rather have had that time off the clock.

Yee-hah!

It's a Monday, so I'm sure everyone could use some cheering up. So, I give you Whiplash, the Cowboy Monkey!


Whiplash performs at rodeos and is the spokesmonkey for Taco John's, a restaurant chain in MN, among other places.

What were they thinking?

Can anyone explain to me what the media saw in Michigan to give them a pre-season ranking of #3? I'll tell you what I saw: The defense can't handle running quarterbacks and lost the last two games of the season. Ending the year on two losses is exactly what it takes to become #3 to start the next season. What in the world kind of criteria does the media use to make their picks? Their best player on the team was drafted #4 overall. The defense gave up an average of +23 points per game. Ok, now let's recap for the pre-season rankings. Give a #3 ranking to a team who lost their best player and have a worse defense. Makes tons of sense. All I know is I hope the game on Saturday is blocked out locally because it isn't going to be pretty. Thankfully I'll be in Detroit taking a test so I won't be able to see one single snap taken. I can say this though. It's about freakin' time that for once, MSU will be favored to win, should win, has no excuse not to win, and no one will be shocked if U of M loses. In fact, it really should be taken as a "Big deal you beat Michigan" attitude. "Wow! Congratulations! By the way, Michigan sucks." We all know rankings mean jack squat. If a team can be #14 and lose to an undefeated team on the road by 3 points, it probably doesn't constitute getting kicked out of the polls. Just put them at #22 before the game starts because we know that is where they'll end up after they lose, since they have lost their first road game for the past 5 or 6 years. If they suck and now have 2 losses, they don't need to be polluting the top 25. Stick with me here and ponder this: If they do suck and you've kicked them out of the polls because they are not good, then how can you reward the previously unranked team that beat them a 9 spot jump in the polls? If Wisconsin wasn't good enough before to be in the top 25, how does beating a crapy, overrated team get you to #17 after previously being just an "Other Receiving Votes" type of team? Or, if Wisconsin is for real and is now considered to be "good" since the media chose to rank them #17, then how can a loss to a "good" team on the road by 3 points make sense to be dropped out of the polls? Isn't that basically admitting you don't know what you're talking about in college football? Was it really an upset that the badgers won? At home? Undefeated? By 3 points? Again, Michigan clearly sucks and doesn't need to be in the top 25, but let's try to get some consistency in telling us who you think is or isn't a good football team.

Props to MSU beating Notre Dame. I'm not real sure why so much love has to go to Notre Dame for their "amazing" start. Let's see, you have a new coach who was the former offensive coordinator from arguably the best dynasty of all time. Notre Dame is good? Gasp! It had to be the black coach right? The best part of the MSU-ND game had to be the slamming of the State flag in the middle of the Domers field. Was that a lack of class? I guess, but considering MSU flat out owns ND, they deserved it. If ND can't defend their home turf against MSU after 5 years, then you might as well start painting "State" in the endzones because it's obviously more their field than yours. Quit whinning about how classless it was and just beat them on your own dang field. Heck, if I was a 5th year senior and I went my whole college career beating ND, you bet your ace I'm going to celebrate at the 50-yard line. Honestly, the flagpole in the ground was the best play of the game.

Because You Demanded It

We now have ESPN's Bottomline on, well, the top of the blog. Okay, nobody demanded it, but I thought it would be cool. So, thanks to the killer html skills of The Kid, there it is. Enjoy.

Others Receiving Votes

It's not unusual for the MSU vs. UM game to be #11 against Others Receiving Votes. But it is unusual for State to be the one with the number. Michigan fell out of the Top 25 today for the first time since 1998. UM was in the rankings for 114 straight weeks and was the holder of the longest current streak, which now goes to Miami at 93 weeks. You can see the polls here.

Directional Michigan Showdown

In a game that was sure to have great meaning to some of you here, EMU beat CMU 22-20 in OT on Saturday. Ontario Sneed of the Chips ran for 122 yds, but it wasn't enough. I guess this means Haag has bragging rights over T. That would be, of course, if either of them actually followed their own team, instead of being UM fans.

Go right through for MSU

Watch the points keep growing. They certainly did on Saturday as the Spartans put up 61 against the Fighting Illini. In the process MSU set the school record for offense, 705 yds, and set a team record for TD passes (7), which also tied the Big Ten mark. Drew Stanton set the Spartan record for TD passes by throwing 5 before he sat out much of the second half. The 705 yards of offense tops the previous best of 698 vs. Purdue in 1971, State also approached this mark earlier in the season with a 685 yd effort against Kent State. MSU is averaging 594.3 yards of offense a game. Next up: Michigan, who lost the battle of the ill-tempered rodents to the Badgers Saturday night.

I have returned.

To the internet that is; I'm still in Minnesota. The cable guy, who looked like Rupert G of Late Show Fame, finally got it installed last night. For those of you who haven't been to MN, which is everyone but Andy I assume, it's a lot like Michigan, except all the roads are named Something 10 or Blank Lake Road. We had tornadoes and a nasty thunderstorm here on Wednesday, but I guess that still leaves me second to Grant and his hurricane in the bad weather department. Also, apparently the Vikings and Daunte Culpepper are now terrible since I moved here, but my departure didn't help the Lions. It's done wonders for the Spartans though. More later.

Brainsss...

Web time waster with zombies, the Urban Dead. Your brains may be eaten. You have been warned.

Mindless, shuffling monsters....so its Ann Arbor?

New kid on the block

Everyone welcome our new member, Grant. He needs no introduction, mainly because you know him already. He's also the farthest from CC, taking the title from Adam. Any way say "Hi Grant" or "you suck" or someting.

It's Andy's Birthday!

That is all.

Broken Lamps

In an event that heralds a multitude of broken lamps and bleeding siblings, Nintendo released details of the controller for their next system, code named Revolution. First, let me say before I read this I had lost almost all faith in the BIG N's ability to stay in the market. I was right, because it is totally different and could alter the way games are played compeltely. Full 3-D motion sensing. Including tilt, rotation, etc. If you can move it, it will be detected. Go to ign for more details and descriptions of its possible uses.

There are still kinks to be worked out, but I'm pumped. Some games may even use two simultaneosly. I'm sure all the baseball fans here can see the potential for baseball games, while I look for amazing sword play. Regardless, if they pull this off, it'll be cool, though roommates and end table lamps may suffer from intense gaming sessions.

For those who don't follow this stuff, Nintendo was been mum about pretty much everything, so system specs are unavailible, though it won't likely be as powerful as the Xbox360 or PS3, but that bothers me less, especially since the Rev will cost less and let you download old NES games (Tecmo forever!).