Bored

Almost time for 14 hours straight of FOOTBAW. I think I'll need an IV by hour 10.

Reports are that Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Ocho Cinco. Now they need to trade him to team where someone already wears #85. Edit: Better yet trade him to the Rams, #85 is retired (Jack Youngblood).

STANFORD~ is fucking the Beavers hard! Emerald Bowl or bust!

Something about Iowa State's new uniforms seem familiar...

Who You Should Root For #1 South Carolina* (Cuban Linx) vs. #2 N.C. State* PM (AboveAverage484) - GAME OF THE WEEK No Differing Picks Tiebreak: 45/60 #4 LSU* PM (teke184) vs. #6 Texas* PM (Broward83) LSU: Miami U., Northwestern, Ohio, Utah, NIU, Clemson, Michigan St. TX: Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, California #3 Nebraska* (Mecca) vs. Florida* PM (Urban Warfare) NE: Virginia Tech, Wyoming FL: East Carolina, Ohio Tiebreak: 62/57 #5 Virginia* (Edwin MacPhisto) vs. USC* PM (Cartman) VA: Mississippi USC: Memphis #7 Boise State* (Vitamin X) vs. Ball State* (Vampiro69) Boise: Wazzu, New Mexico, Illinois Ball: Oklahoma St., TCU, Missouri #8 Stanford* (Bored) vs. Tulsa* (Will Scarlet) Stan: Miami U, Utah, Oklahoma St., New Mexico, Minnesota Tulsa: Vanderbilt, Michigan, Wazzu, TCU, NIU #9 Kent State* (JHawk) vs. Boston College* (HarleyQuinn) KS: Syracuse, Wyoming, New Mexico, Memphis, Alabama BC: Northwestern, Ohio, TCU, Mississippi, Clemson #10 UCLA* (phoenixrising) vs. Tennessee* (Canadian Brandon) UCLA: Miami U, Wyoming, New Mexico, NIU, Clemson, Michigan St., Missouri TN: Vanderbilt, Ohio, TCU, Minnesota, Alabama, California, Illinois Syracuse* (CanadianChris) vs. Florida State* PM (909) Cuse: Miami U, Clemson FSU: Vanderbilt, Alabama Tiebreaks: 52/62, 128/70 Rutgers* (the pinjockey) vs. Fresno State* (Agent Bond34) RU: Miami U, Oklahoma St FS: Vanderbilt, Wazzu Tiebreak: 64/67 Miami of Ohio* PM (Hawk 34) vs. San Diego State* PM (Next USC #55) MOH: Miami U, Ohio, NIU, Michigan St SDS: Vanderbilt, Wyoming, Minnesota, California Tiebreak: 62/63 Georgia Tech* PM (iggymcfly) vs. Michigan* (MFerXtreme87) GT: Utah MI: Michigan Buffalo* (Carnival) vs. UTEP* (Angel Grace Blue) UB: TCU, NIU UTEP: New Mexico, Minnesota Tiebreak: 61/46 Arizona* (UZI Suicide) vs. Minnesota* PM (Vern Gagne) AZ: Miami U, Wyoming, Oklahoma St MN, Vanderbilt, Oho, Wazzu Miami* (Spaceman Spiff) vs. Arizona State* (still fly) UM: Wazzu ASU: Oklahoma St Alabama* PM (AlwaysPissedOff) vs. Ohio State* (Gert T) AL: Oregon State OSU: Stanford Washington* PM (Smues) vs. Indiana* PM (Tzar Lysergic) WA: Miami U,Memphis, Missouri IN: Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Illinois Notre Dame* PM (KingPK) vs. Washington State* (MrRant) ND: N.C. State, Stanford, Northwestern, TCU, Memphis, Michigan St, Illinois WS: South Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, New Mexico, Mississippi, California, Missouri Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling) vs. Illinois* (The Monkey Man) KY: South Carolina, Oregon State, Northwestern, TCU, Clemson, California, Missouri IL: N.C. State, Stanford, Syracuse, New Mexico, Alabama, Michigan St, Illinois Navy* PM (MarvinisaLunatic) vs. Georgia* (Obi Chris Kenboi) Navy: South Carolina, Northwestern, Wyoming, Utah, Wazzu, Mississippi, Clemson, California GA: N.C. State, Syracuse, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma St, Memphis, Alabama, Michigan St Tiebreak: 61/84

New rules are at least better than the 2006 ones, although I think two minutes in the half is way too late to stop running the clock on out of bounds plays. And yes not giving the full starting line ups is incredibly lame. I know Fox started doing it last year with their NFL coverage and I'm trying to figure out what is so bad about taking 20 seconds just to let us know who is starting the game? Are people changing the channel during this?

Hey look everyone got their picks in on time! That won't last. I'm at work so the "WYSRF" won't be up till later but you can all pretty much figure out who you differ on. N.C. State - AboveAverage484 THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 60 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 89 USC - Cartman THURSDAY Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Northwestern Wyoming Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Minnesota Memphis Clemson California Missouri Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 45 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 120

Florida - Urban Warfare THURSDAY Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY East Carolina (at Charlotte) Northwestern Ohio Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Minnesota Mississippi Clemson California Missouri Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 58 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 87

If you had to guess the first baseman who had the best single season of the last 30 years you might guess Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell, Albert Pujols, Jason Giambi, or maybe even Don Mattingly in his prime. And you'd be wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...at least according to Win Shares. This player's numbers don't look huge at first glance but they came in a season when in the N.L. the average team only scored 3.94 runs a game, one of only four seasons since '79 that teams average under 4 runs a game in the N.L. Top 20 First Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares) 1. Will Clark, 1989 - San Francisco Giants 43.8 Win Shares Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP +--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 1989 25 SFG NL 159 588 104 196 38 9 23 111 8 3 74 103 .333 .407 .546 175 321 0 8 14 5 6 2. Mark McGwire, 1998 - St. Louis Cardinals 40.9 3. Jeff Bagwell, 1996 - Houston Astros 40.7 4. Albert Pujols, 2004 - St. Louis Cardinals 39.7 5. Frank Thomas, 1997 - Chicago White Sox 39.1 6. Albert Pujols, 2006 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.6 7. Albert Pujols, 2005 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.3 8. Jason Giambi, 2000 - Oakland A's 38.2 9. Jason Giambi, 2001 - Oakland A's 37.8 10. Derrek Lee, 2005 - Chicago Cubs 37.2 11. Jeff Bagwell, 1999 - Houston Astros 36.9 12. John Olerud, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.7 13. Will Clark, 1988 - San Francisco Giants 36.7 14. Carlos Delgado, 2000 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.4 15. Will Clark, 1991 - San Francisco Giants 34.3 16. Jason Giambi, 2002 - New York Yankees 34 17. Jim Thome, 2002 - Cleveland Indians 33.9 18. Lance Berkman, 2006 - Houston Astros 33.7 19. John Olerud, 1998 - New York Mets 33.5 20. Todd Helton, 2003 - Colorado Rockies 33.5

There is ESPN360 but I'm guessing it's not available in Canada. Here's ESABCPN coverage map for the 8:00/5:00 PM games. Not going to bother with the 3:30/12:30 games as whichever game that is on ABC for you, the other game will be on ESPN2.

Navy - MarvinisaLunatic THURSDAY Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Northwestern Wyoming Utah Washington State TCU Minnesota Mississippi Clemson California Missouri Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game?61 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama?88 Florida State - 909 THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 62 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 70 Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff Vanderbilt South Carolina Oregon State Virginia Tech Syracuse Wyoming Michigan Washington State TCU Minnesota Mississippi Alabama California Missouri TB #1: 52 TB #2: 71

I'm wondering if the "reverse mirror" thing that's supposed to get a bit more play this year will help out on that. Probably not, though. I bet it just means we east-coasters will sometimes get the ACC *and* Big Ten 3:30 games. It'll be the same set up this year as it is only Big Ten and ACC home games that have the reverse mirror deal as the Pac-10 and Big XII contracts with ESPN do not allow it. The whole reverse mirror thing was solely created as part of the ESPN/Big Ten deal as the Big Ten must have a nationally televised game in the 3:30/12:30 slot.

Georgia Tech - iggymcfly Week 1 Games to Make Picks For THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 39 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 89 Minnesota - Vern Gagne THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 60 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 117

I'm not even sure if it's worth it going to no games but I based my decision pretty much alone on that fact that I was going to stuck with a Cal game rather than Alabama/Clemson, and well that I must have eleven hundred games going on at once for me to channel flip through. Next year when Comcast adds ESPNU as part of the SEC deal I'll officially reach college football t.v. nirvana. So are you going to be live in person for the massacre on Saturday?

Much to my surprise as of today I now have the Big Ten Network. Didn't even think for a second we'd get it in the Bay Area since hardly anyone cares about college sports out here. Sure getting to see the 4th or 5th choice Big Ten game isn't that exciting but more college football is always a good thing. On top of that I decided to get GamePlan this year for the first time so by my count I'll have 22 games to watch on Saturday. I may be bleeding from both eyeballs by the end of the day.

What bunch a bullshit! I had Mr. October and Mr. November! Your computer simulation can't measure heart and desire! Why don't you move out your parent's basement already you saberdork!

My Picks Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State Virginia Tech Northwestern Wyoming Utah Oklahoma State New Mexico Minnesota Mississippi Clemson California Missouri 56/91

After CBS locked up first choice rights for SEC games for the next 15 years, ESPN signed a deal today that will give them every other SEC home game for the next 15 years (also includes additional basketball games on the ESPN networks, including ABC). This will end the Raycom/LincolnFinancial/JeffersonPilot hilariously bad coverage of those lower tier SEC games after this season.

LSU - teke184 THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 73 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 85 Texas - Broward83 THURSDAY Vanderbilt South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Syracuse Wyoming Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Minnesota Mississippi Alabama California Missouri Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 48 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 132

Kudos to Czech for turning the thread into a poll.

ESPN/FOX/TBS Games to Poison Our Youth MONDAY Dodgers (Chad Billingsley) at Phillies (Brett Myers), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Red Sox (Paul Byrd) at Yankees (Sidney Ponson), 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN SATURDAY Orioles at Rays, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX Phillies at Cubs, 3:55/12:55 PM, FOX SUNDAY White Sox at Red Sox, 1:30 PM/10:30 AM, TBS Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

Considering how many bowl games there are now eventually they'll have to start dipping into I-AA at this rate. With 34 bowl games there's an outside chance this year that there won't be enough bowl eligible teams so we could end up seeing a 5-7 bowl team. So no, teams shouldn't automatically be disqualified from bowl consideration if they lose to a I-AA/FCS/Whatever the fuck you want to call it school especially one the caliber of Appalachian State. It's actually pretty amazing how Michigan bounced back as the following week they were obliterated by Oregon and looked like a team that might struggle win three games, let alone win nine games including beating a very good Florida team in a bowl game.

In the past I've always waited until the first deadline to post the PM'd picks but there's no real point in waiting when both players in a match-up have submitted picks so here are those PM'd picks. Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 THURSDAY Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Syracuse Ohio Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Northern Illinois Mississippi Alabama Michigan State Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 62 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 62 San Diego State - Next USC #55 THURSDAY Vanderbilt at Miami of Ohio N.C. State at South Carolina Oregon State at Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (at Charlotte) Syracuse at Northwestern Ohio at Wyoming Utah at Michigan Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (at Seattle) TCU at New Mexico Northern Illinois at Minnesota Memphis at Mississippi Alabama vs. Clemson (at Atlanta) Michigan State at California Illinois vs. Missouri (at St. Louis) Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 63 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 117 Washington - Smues THURSDAY Miami of Ohio South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Syracuse Wyoming Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Minnesota Memphis Clemson California Missouri Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 57 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 174 Indiana - Tzar Lysergic THURSDAY Vanderbilt at South Carolina Oregon State SATURDAY Virginia Tech Syracuse at Wyoming at Michigan Oklahoma State TCU at Minnesota at Mississippi Clemson (at Atlanta) at California Illinois Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 51 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 98 Notre Dame - KingPK THURSDAY Miami of Ohio N.C. State Stanford SATURDAY Virginia Tech Northwestern Ohio Michigan Oklahoma State TCU Minnesota Memphis Alabama Michigan State Illinois Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Illinois/Missouri game? 50 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Clemson's James Davis have against Alabama? 110

I decided to be brave and watch Baseball Tonight to see the replay. Jackass hit the grass while trying to run back to second and not because he was trying to avoid Aybar, and his elbow to initiate contact was as bitch a move as you'll ever see.

Could have left the player's name out of the description of the play and everyone would have guessed it was Pierzynski. Where's Michael Barrett to punch him the face when you need him?