iggymcfly

Question about Borat the movie. Is it really any funnier than the Ali G show? Because I never watched it before about a week ago, but I set the whole marathon to record when HBO showed it, and now I'm thinking I don't really need to see Borat, because I've got all these episodes lined up already.

So it does get harder in Chapter 4 then? That's good, because I'm almost done with Chapter 3 now, and I thought the Chapter 3 stuff was maybe even easier than Chapter 1. The fighting missions are especially tedious, as if you just hit X repeatedly it's almost impossible to lose. Still though, I don't want to get down in the game. I've put a ton of hours into it for how long I've had it, and overall, it does a pretty good job of keeping things fresh. I love the way the time changes with Halloween and Christmas kind of letting you know where you're at in the game, and then the snow actually affecting things by making it harder to bike, skateboard, etc. Having to go to bed at night is a neat touch too. Also, for all the things they lifted from GTA, they've done a really good job of giving it a different feel. Any game where you have a mission to go steal high school girls' panties, and they actually make it into something fun and challenging gameplay-wise gets a thumbs up from me.

I hope my matchup hinges on it because I'm super-duper confident that I know who's going to win.

Yeah, Texas is a little overrated too. I can't understand how anyone would put them ahead of Florida after honestly evaluating both of their schedules. I still don't think they're as overrated as USC though. They beat Arkansas when they were nowhere near as good as they are now, they lost to Oregon St., and they haven't played anyone else in the Top 25. In addition, they struggled against mediocre teams in Washington and Arizona State. Now sure, if they beat Cal, Oregon, and Notre Dame, it would be a different story, but that's like saying Rutgers is underrated because they'd belong in the championship if they beat West Virginia and Louisville. I think USC would be extremely lucky to get through that stretch 10-2 and could easily finish 9-3. Edit: Wrote this response an hour and a half ago and just now hit submit. Sorry if it sounds out of context/repeats what cabbageboy said.

LSU, Tennessee, Rutgers, and Boise State should all be ahead of USC. I'd probably say that USC's the most overrated team in the country, and the notion that they're underrated is laughable.

Wow, can't believe I'm up to #3! Thought for sure I'd move down after only winning 8-7. I'll just have to press on and tighten up my picks even more (nothing like that PSU/Wisc fiasco) to grab that elusive Bored Bowl berth. Only one more spot to gain now. Hey, I don't know if you feel like doing this Bored, but would you mind posting a breakdown of the BCS standings for the Top Ten or else PMing them to me. I'm kind of curious where I'm at in terms of total correct picks and SOS in comparison to the other contenders.

Got my rankings done. (Previous week's ranking in parenthesis) 1. Ohio State 10-0 (1) 2. Michigan 10-0 (2) 3. Florida 8-1 (3) 4. Louisville 8-0 (7) 5. Texas 9-1 (5) 6. Auburn 9-1 (8) 7. LSU 7-2 (11) 8. California 8-1 (9) 9. Notre Dame 8-1 (10) 10. West Virginia 7-1 (6) 11. Tennessee 7-2 (4) 12. Rutgers 8-0 (12) 13. Boise State 9-0 (13) 14. USC 7-1 (14) 15. Arkansas 8-1 (15) 16. Oklahoma 7-2 (17) 17. Wisconsin 9-1 (18) 18. Georgia Tech 7-2 (21) 19. Wake Forest 8-1 (23) 20. Maryland 7-2 (25) 21. Oregon State 6-3 (NR) 22. Boston College 7-2 (16) 23. Oregon 7-2 (NR) 24. Virginia Tech 7-2 (NR) 25. Clemson 7-3 (20) Close (in order): Hawaii, Texas A&M, Washington State, Penn State, BYU

The argument about a playoff diluting the field is only valid when the margin in the regular season is greater than the length of the playoffs. For instance, in baseball, the Cardinals finished 14 games behind the Mets, but still earned the World Series berth because they won one more game in the postseason. In this case, you can argue that the system is flawed and that the Mets were more deserving. College football however is completely different. The margin between the teams in the championship and the teams that miss is often 0 games. Thus, a playoff doesn't water down the regular season, it just clarifies the results by separating teams that were bunched close together. You can't say, "oh, it would only take one fluke game for Ohio State to lose to USC and USC would advance" because if Ohio State lost "one fluke game" to USC in the regular season, USC would get in over them anyway. Note that I'm advocating an 8-team playoff here and not a 16-team playoff, since that would dilute the meaning of the regular season somewhat. However, Ohio State is currently #1 in the BCS and USC is #8 so the scenario I mentioned there is completely plausible.

Funny since I mentioned the reverse thing earlier as the announcers in both the Wake/BC game and the Arkansas/South Carolina game both said "faked a double reverse" when the teams actually faked a reverse on an end around play. Also, I just realized I didn't really answer Leena's question earlier. Yes: QB to WR = End around QB to RB to WR = Reverse QB to WR to WR = Reverse QB to RB to WR to WR = Double reverse

Thought I'd won already before realizing that I somehow accidentally bolded Penn State instead of Wisconsin. I bet on the Badgers this week at -7, so it's not like I even had the game close. Just somehow wasn't paying attention when making my picks.

A double reverse almost never happens. It's when a receiver comes across the field and hands the ball to another receiver. However, because the action of a reverse goes in two directions, it often confuses the announcers who think that an end around is a reverse and a reverse is a double reverse. As for the game, it was excellent. Tennessee was without Ainge, but LSU got some really bad breaks on the turnovers, and you really felt like neither team deserved to lose. To put it another way, it was higher quality football than we saw Thursday. Anyway, good to see LSU get at least one big win this year, as talent-wise, they're still one of the top three teams in the country.

It just amazes me how many announcers don't know the difference between a reverse and a double reverse. You'd think that with all the people in the booth, someone would keep them from making asses of themselves all the time.

Awesome game going on between Tennessee and LSU. I think the safety slowed down just a little bit when he was looking back for the ball, but it was still an amazing play by Meacham to get the touchdown.

Fun game to have $1800 to win $15 on Michigan today. The Wolverines have been playing really underwhelming football and it all just came to a head today. I'm starting to think they won't be able to turn it around by the Ohio State game and may just get hammered by the Buckeyes. I mean if Ball State can exploit the Wolverine secondary like that, think what Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez will do.

Well, Rutgers isn't really the same team that played UNC. They've probably improved more over the course of the year than anyone in the country. I agree with the overall sentiment of your post though. The talent isn't that different this year, that it can make up for 51 points. The only way Rutgers could win is if they caught Louisville napping, and that doesn't look like it's going to happen now. If they actually had lost to USF, I think they'd have a lot better shot. Rutgers will keep it closer this time around, but something like 31-17 Louisville's probably a pretty accurate final.

One thing that really impressed me was when Erin Andrews was down on the field trying to suck off Brian Brohm for the win and he kept saying "next week against Rutgers is the biggest game in Louisville history". "We haven't done anything to get into the BCS title game until we beat Rutgers". Just the way Louisville's been the last couple years, a road letdown loss against RU would be completely typical, but it sounds like they've got their heads on straight, and might not let it happen this year. I'd been planning a big moneyline bet on Rutgers for next week every since the RU/Navy game, but now I'm starting to cool on the idea a little. Right now, I'd say it looks like the Cardinals will face Ohio State in the BCS championship game. Also, if that game does come to pass, don't sell Louisville too short. As good as the Buckeyes have looked this year, they haven't really faced even an above average passing game. Their run defense is as good as it gets, but I'm not sure they could handle the Louisville passing attack if it's firing on all cylinders.

Just got this game last night. It's pretty fun so far. I like all the little dick around stuff you can do like the video games and stuff. It seems like it's just a huge collection of mini-games with a little bit of background plot, and I like that.

Arkansas's low in the polls because they got handled by USC and because they barely beat Vandy and Alabama. Florida's high in the computers because they've played the toughest schedule in the country (at Tennessee, LSU, at Auburn). They didn't really get "handled" by Auburn either. They led late in the fourth quarter and still had a chance to win on the last play. If they get a rematch at a neutral field, they'll probably be favored.

Actually, to be honest, I'll probably keep the Cards at #4 behind Florida this week. I just have to see them perform up to capacity once on the road before I'm truly sold on them. Beat Rutgers though, (even by 1), and they'll be ahead of those one-loss teams for the rest of the season.

Fun game to watch. I've always kind of liked Louisville since back when they were in C-USA, and I'm glad to see them in the heart of the national title picture now.

When Louisville gets a lead and gets confidence like this, that passing game's absolutely unstoppable. That confidence thing's also part of the reason they're so much better at home than on the road. Anyway, based on this performance, I think the Cardinals will definitely go to #3 in the BCS next week.

I think you could make a pretty legitimate argument for a one-loss Florida team over a one-loss Big Ten team, since by the end of the year, they'd have beaten Tennessee on the road, beaten LSU, and avenged their road loss to Auburn at a neutral site. Michigan meanwhile would have the road win over Notre Dame and the home win over Wisconsin would have a less demanding schedule and would have "proven" they weren't as good as Ohio State whereas Florida would have "proven" that they were better than everyone on their schedule. If Ohio State loses, I think they're done since they'd have a home loss. You can't have a rematch where the team that just lost at home tries to get it done at a neutral site. Florida didn't lose at home this season and again, it would be really easy to discount that road loss to Auburn if they beat them at a neutral site. If Florida, WVU, Louisville, and Rutgers all lose though, I think I'd have to rank the Michigan/Ohio State loser #2 at the end of the season. I don't see how you can have a Tennessee team that lost at home or a Cal team that got pounded by Tennessee or a Texas team that lost to OSU at home ahead of a one-loss Ohio State or Michigan.

FWIW, Maryland's pretty decent this year. Outside of the WVU game, their only loss was a 4-point loss at Georgia Tech where they had the ball inside the GT 10 with under 1:00 to go. They've got wins over Virginia, NC State, and Florida State, and they're currently tied for first in the ACC Atlantic division. West Virginia was up 28-0 on Maryland after the first quarter and 38-10 at the half en route to a 45-24 victory.

They have artificially low SOS rankings in relation to their overall ranking because they haven't played their toughest games yet. If Florida hadn't played Auburn, LSU, or Tennessee yet, they'd have a low SOS rating too. Beating two undefeated teams ranked in the Top 20 of most computer ranking systems has to be worth something.

This is a pretty weak argument. That's three tough conference games, and a lot of teams don't play anyone too tough OOC. Florida's toughest non-conference game was against Southern Miss. LSU's was against Arizona. No one's complaining about their schedules after playing their conference games. If at the end of the season, an undefeated team out of the Big East still isn't ranked in the Top 40 in strength of schedule, then you might have an argument.