Edwin MacPhisto

Even if they did drop out of the top 8, SOME bowl was taking them as an at-large. It's Notre Dame. The way the contracts are set up, the only bowls that can take an "At Large" team instead of a contracted one are the Big East's bowls (Gator, Sun, Texas, PapaJohns.Com), the Poinsettia Bowl, and any bowl that can't fill its conference tie-ins (Motor City can't fill the Big Ten tie-ins, etc.). (The Big East's bowl contracts have typically had Notre Dame counted as a Big East team for the selection process, which is why they'll likely go to the Gator Bowl.) While it doesn't keep the Irish from bowling, it does put them in a decidely shittier bowl than if they were playing close with USC. I think he meant a BCS bowl was going to take them. They'll still get picked for one no matter what. Big money.

They'd win the Big East, probably be ranked somewhere around #12, and likely play in the Orange Bowl.

I hope Maryland loses, because the thought of the ACC being represented by Maryland makes me vomitous. Couch-burnin' ass punks. I think GT takes it over Wake or Maryland anyway. Maryland has Champs Sports written all over them, though I could see them getting bumped down to Music City depending on how things work out. Virginia/Virginia Tech tomorrow. Hokies'll probably win by 17 since it's a road game for UVA, thereby making Mrs. Slayer happy and Mr. Edwin sad. Still, if we manage to pull it out, it's the beautiful pastures of the Nut Bowl!

LSU's hot, but I still expect West Virginia to get the at-large call if they win out. As great as LSU's been playing, it'd still be weird having the third-place team in the SEC West in a BCS game. Someone keeps harping on that in this thread and while I think it's kind of exaggerated, it could still really look odd.

Bad, bad playcalling on that last gasp for Arkansas. I mean, with a running game that good, just go to McFadden and Jones. You get a first down with 10 yards, and McFadden could easily break a 70 yard run to win it. Much better than having Casey "sucks" Dick net his 12th-15th incompletions of the day.

You mean Javorski Lane? He's one big dude. And A&M's about to win, which means that Oklahoma is suddenly in great position for a BCS game if they win tomorrow.

I dunno, are you and Popick in the most popular TSM club ever? The Wait 5 Years Until I Bang My Lady club? I know Eric isn't. That's why he's the man. I just want to add that I think it's possible to be very open about sex and to be really into sex AND to abstain. A lot of times the anticipation, coupled with the building of intimacy, makes it that much better. Haha, just fucking with you.

I'm wondering if all of us in the Maryland/DC area should get together and start physically dragging Marvin along to situations a la The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Eric, Popick, and myself are just like Paul Rudd, Beard Guy, and Black Guy who played Hammer in the VH1 movie.

I saw that too. It was awesome. I loved bitch cheerleader getting her head fingered. Rare to see stuff that grisly and drawn out on network TV.

As I alluded to in the rent thread, I'm thinking about getting a bike to ride around on some of the trails in northern Virginia and DC. I'm getting too tired after work to just sit around doing nothing, and I dislike gyms. I know jack shit about bicycles, as the last time I had one was probably at age 14. What do I want to buy and how much am I going to spend? Eric, I'm mostly looking in your direction, but I'm figuring there are a few other gay biker types around here who can point me somewhere useful.

Listened to this year's Lovely Feathers album a few times. I think it's good, but I don't find it terribly memorable.

Lame. I liked Saturday's game a whole lot but it wasn't a 3-point win like Texas over USC was a 3-point win. Ohio State won and shouldn't have to win again. Plus, as someone with no rooting interest in either team, I really, really don't want to see a repeat.

Only before taxes. No, seriously, I don't make anything close to that. Some people at my company do, but they work 14-hour days. In Iraq. Reduce it down by a couple hundred thousand and you're more in my ballpark. And you cruise in style, I must say.

"Johnny Dingle with the stop, and also there is John Holmes." This game's bringing it in all facets. Ridiculous player names, and the savage-two-person-pancaking block on that punt return.

That's OK Go. I haven't heard any of Mik's band here.

Speaking of stolen bikes: I went to dinner with a few friends a couple weeks back at a restaurant in downtown DC. Right outside the restaurant, someone had chained his bike to a lamp post. All that was left was the parallelogram of the frame. Dudes took the pedals and everything. I was very impressed.

Mostly paved, I think. Agent, you rascal, you.

THURSDAY West Virginia SATURDAY Miami N.C. State Iowa Connecticut Boston College Northwestern Texas Tech Auburn Ohio State Kansas State Wake Forest Utah USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Michigan/Ohio State game? 37 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Michigan's Mike Hart have against Ohio State? 70 Edit: I just looked back at Chris' picks, and we appear to differ only on Minnesota/Iowa. How anticlimactic.

I'll answer. I guess I have the same solution. Forget all the shitty QBs. Deal Randy Moss or Jerry Porter to the Falcons for Matt Schaub. He was Philip Rivers' equal in college and has shown tremendous potential in his limited time as a backup in Atlanta. Atlanta, always in need of a decent receiver, would probably jump on one of those guys. Trade the other one for a few decent bodies on the o-line or draft picks. Blow money on the best left tackle you can find. Lamont Jordan is fine as a featured back. Not the best, but when he's not hurt and has a line, he'll handle the running game acceptably. I'd encourage them to get Calvin Johnson in the draft this year if possible, because he's going to be good enough to be a #1 or #2 receiver right out the gate. Get rid of Shell. He's terrible. Hire a fiery young coordinator from one of the league's better teams, or go after someone like Jeff Fisher. Somebody with a pulse. Murder everybody on Denver and San Diego's 2-deep.

I'm very impressed with Brees. I don't think he can be #1, but he is absolutely the difference in New Orleans (that, and getting the steal of the year in Marques Colston). Yardage-wise he's Manning's equal, and he's come up huge in big games with not a ton of resources. I think he would have led the comeback against Pitt had his receiver (Copper?) not fumbled away a great pass for a first down. I love the way Brees just does what has to be done, whether it's an ungainly scramble through a d-line minefield or holding tight till the last second while the pocket collapses around him. He was good in San Diego but he's really, really doing well in New Orleans. Can you imagine what it must be like to have endured so many years of Aaron Brooks and then get this guy dropped in your lap? Euphoria, I'm guessing. Manning obviously has to be in the discussion, but that said, I'll make an argument for Tomlinson. He has really put this team on his back and dragged them through a lot of tough spots, and I can think of no guy I'd rather have as an asset for a first-year QB. He's averaging 2 TDs a game, which is stellar, and he's leading the team in receptions, acting as a perfect safety valve whenever Rivers gets in trouble. One of very few non-QB guys who is actually a threat to win a game all on his own. His resurgence over the past five weeks in particular is the main reason I think the Chargers take the West and maybe even the AFC.

I've been thinking about getting a bike to ride around on back roads and through parks and shit because I like that sort of thing, but I've also been realizing that there really aren't a ton of opportunities for that around here without going through heavy traffic first. Maybe I do yearn for the wide open, low-cost frontier.

Eric just wants you to ride a bike.

I work for a government contractor. They're incompetent in the sense that they've won four big contracts in the past year or so (that's my job!) and failed to perform on most of them, for totally ridiculous reasons. Like, we won one, and then one of our executives threatened to kill a dude who was president of a teammate company. And he made it very specific that he was going to kill him with his bare hands. At least it's hilarious and I'll probably be able to write a great book or New Yorker/Atlantic Monthly/some high-falutin' magazine article on it all.

Four-day job search. Nice. Did you get the weekends off you were looking for? I'm guessing there's a good chance of it, since data entry is the kind of thing you can really do any time. I work the standard 9-5:30, but my company is run by incompetents. I'm going to try to stick around till they get me my security clearance, but if they're still going downhill in January, I might have to jump ship. Of course, as you can see, I'm afforded plenty of time to fuck around on the internet.

Obviously I pay one-third of that. My commute is 30 minutes on the subway door-to-door from home to the office, which my job pays for, so I have no commuting costs. I'd buy myself a place, but: -I just moved up here in June for a job on three weeks notice and certainly wasn't going to buy a place fresh out of college, and -I have no idea if I'm going to be in this area for any length of time. I make good dough and have full health insurance through work too, so while it'd be nice to bank some more, this is a fine situation despite the rent. I'll probably look into better deals further from the metro in the spring, though I doubt I'll find a place I'd actually want to live in around here (Arlington or Alexandria) for less than $800 before the utilities.