iggymcfly

Breaking news on ESPN: The Eagles just suspended Terrell Owens indefinitely for the comments he made about McNabb. This throws quite a wrench into things as it actually magnifies the conflict, and it does so at a point in the season where they're pretty much stuck with him for better or worse. I think this might end up ruining the Eagles' whole season.

OK, I'm a failure that can't read. Please close this. Actually, to be fair, neither thread was on the front page. You really can't expect me to go spelunking through the archives when I'm drunk.

Really? Can I get a source on that? The USA Today injury report didn't mention anything, and I couldn't find anything when I Googled it. If that's true, it would make the line even better than it was already, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he's not going to play.

Nevada -5 vs. Hawaii is the absolute lock for Saturday. People always forget how much worse Hawaii is on the road. They'd be about 10 points worse than Nevada at a neutral site, and on the road, they should lose by at least 3 TDs. Louisiana Tech's the team right behind Nevada in the WAC, and Hawaii lost to them by a score of something like 45-17. After that, you want Iowa State -7.5 vs. Kansas State. They're 3-0 with Stevie Hicks with wins over Iowa and Texas A&M. When they're healthy like that, they're the best team in the Big 12 North. And where the hell did you get South Carolina +7? Last I saw they were only a 4 1/2 point underdog. Finally, I'm assuming that you're just betting the moneyline on Minnesota, because they should be an 11 point favorite against Indiana. If someone actually has those two as a pick 'em, tell me so I can move my whole bankroll by tomorrow morning.

Yeah, I'm not even remotely attracted to litte boys, and this story's still kinda hot. If it was a little girl that got stripped like that, I'd probably have to stop what I was doing, and start whacking off immediately. That's one ballsy teacher. I wish she was there to strip me when I was in kindergarten.

That really has nothing to do with anything. If Louisville gets into the BCS, it will be because they got the Big East's automatic bid, period. In fact, the only way they could actually get an at-large bid is if they did beat somebody like USC. Plus, that win might actually get them into the championship game if they did go undefeated, so as far as I see, it would be a win-win situation for Louisville.

John Cena's not worthy to lick Shawn Michaels' balls. If they hadn't neutered HBK after Summerslam, I would have watched every single Raw just hoping he'd get the title back. As it is, I couldn't give a fuck less about anything they've done. HBK was a badass heel. He was basically telling the 18+ male crowd to go fuck themselves, Cena's basically saying "no really, I'm cool, I promise. I'm like, a cool rapper and stuff. Please cheer for me. Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Basically, the reason I used the Diesel comparison it that they both have title reigns that never end even though neither one of them is/was very over. I know Batista's the more natural comparison for Diesel, but he's on the B-show on Friday nights and no one really cares what happens there. Smackdown's so corny that it almost seems beyond saving. Really what I was wondering here is why the hell they won't just end Cena's reign already. He's had the title for seven months now, which is longer than any reign in the last nine years except for HHH's very longest reign. Somebody actually said that they couldn't end his reign now because it would look like a failure. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. He has the second longest reign in the last nine years, he's not going to look like a failure because his reign was too short. If anything, he's going to look like a failure because the crowd's bored to death with him. I'm not saying he shouldn't have gotten the title or anything like that. I'm just saying that enough is enough. When a face that's getting consistently booed has a longer reign than any reign by Stone Cold, The Rock, or Brock Lesnar, you know something's wrong.

I'm not saying Louisville's better than USC or anything, but they're crazy good at home. That 22 point win over Pittsburgh was the closest home game they've played this season, and they beat Oregon State and UNC by a combined score of 132-37. With all the tough road games that have worn down the Trojans thus far, I could totally see them slipping after traveling all the way across the country to face Louisville. Also, the fact that Brian Brohm leads the nation in passing efficiency would make the UL offense match up extremely well against a USC defense that gives up lots of big plays, and counts on making a couple timely INTs per game to win.

Basically, it seems like in the first two seasons, they developed the characters to the point that they were ready to be through with high school and move on to the real world. Then when the new season came, they figured it would be easier to keep them in high school, so they basically started over with their characters, and erased all the growth from the last two seasons. I'm saying that they ruined the characters, and made the show a parody of itself. Simple enough? Sledgehammer hit it right on the head, where while the first season was tremendous, it pretty much is best as a stand-alone work, because after the initial story arc, the writers really had no idea where to go with it at all. They at least gave it a decent try in the second season, but this new stuff is just unwatchable.

TO's just being a dick and looking for attention. I doubt that he really wants to play with Brett Favre at all.

The fact that West Virginia's not going to lose a conference game might have something to do with that as well. I can certainly see why you're bitter though. The Cardinals are probably one of the ten most talented teams in the country with two players talented enough to win the Heisman in Brohm and Dumerville. The dual chokes against South Florida and West Virginia have to be excruciating. Honestly, if USC had to go to Louisville, and the Cardinals played to their potential, I'm pretty sure that 30 game winning streak would be a thing of the past.

If Virginia Tech loses to Miami, they might finish third in the ACC. Alabama might lose to LSU and Auburn and finish third in the SEC West. Honestly, I don't get what that has to do with anything. And also, the idea that losing to a top ten team should automatically put you further down the pecking order than losing to a non-top ten team is just silly. Ohio State lost to Penn State because they're similar in talent and OSU had to go on the road, the same way Penn State lost to Michigan because they had to face a similarly talented team on the road. The head-to-head matchup doesn't show that Penn State's better than Ohio State, anymore than it shows that Michigan's better than Penn State. The only way to compare the teams is to look at the balance of their schedules. If you want to say that Penn State has a better overall resume, I can't argue with you, as the two teams are very close, but the head-to-head matchup is far from a magic bullet at this point of the season. Furthermore, the fact that Ohio State has two losses doesn't prove anything either, when you take into account the facts that one of those losses came against an elite Texas team, and that according to Sagarin, the Buckeyes have the absolute toughest schedule in the country. Oh, and also, "the Miami game was sloppy" doesn't really count as in-depth analysis of why Florida State doesn't belong in the Top Ten. They also beat Boston College and Maryland on the road, and they haven't looked anywhere near as vulnerable as LSU this season. The way Florida's been playing this season, I'd be very surprised if they beat FSU, Swamp or no.

I tried to go back to watching the OC tonight, but I just couldn't take it. The characters have regressed so much that I just can't care about them at all. Ryan and Marissa have turned into a couple of whiny brats, and Seth is just retarded now. Last season, they were kind of outgrowing the high school thing and getting ready to move on, and now (excepting Ryan), they're so into everything that it's like they're in middle school or something. Honestly, the second season may have gotten boring at times, and there may have been a couple story arcs that were out there a little bit, but at least it seemed like the same show. This crap they put on now makes me embarrassed for the actors that are putting it out.

At the very least, they need to move the division series up to seven games. A five game series is a ridiculous means to decide anything. Although beyond that, I don't really see what you could do. Realign into seven and eight (!) team divisions, and only let the winners advance? Have eleven game series in the ALCS and NLCS? I mean there's really no soulution. The playoffs are about the only time baseball becomes a topic of national interest, so cutting them down by a round or stretching the series out would be suicidal from a marketing standpoint. Also, I think you're missing something here, Al. The reason that the team with the best record doesn't win all that often isn't that the playoffs are a crapshoot. If it was, then we'd routinely see 7 and 8 seeds make it to the NBA finals. The reason for the discrepancy is that playoff baseball is fundamentally different that regular season baseball. During the regular season, you need a deep pitching staff to get you through the grind of 162 games. You need at least five good starters, with a reliable spot starter for injuries, plus a deep bullpen to keep your top relievers from wearing themselves out. In playoff baseball you need three (or at most four) lights-out starters, one or two reliable set-up men, and a closer. That's it. That's why teams with elite starters like Clemens, Oswalt, and Pettite can make it to the Series, while teams with a good system, but less elite talent like the Atlanta Braves can win their division 12 years in a row and only have one WS win to show for themselves. I haven't done any research here, but I bet if you checked those same playoff results for which teams' three top starters had the best record, you'd see something more along the lines of a 2 to 1 ratio of the better teams winning.

I do kinda feel like Penn State's too low. I'll probably move them ahead of Notre Dame and LSU for sure if they beat Wisconsin. The thing about Ohio State is that if I don't punish them for the loss to Texas, they're pretty much even with Penn State. Originally, Ohio State looked better because their win over Michigan State looked a lot better, and Penn State's win over Northwestern looked less impressive. Likewise, a couple weeks ago, I was more likely to punish Penn State for losing to Michigan, but as the Wolverines look better, Penn State looks better as well. Actually, pending further analysis, and how they actually look on Saturday, a win over Wisconsin might be enough to boost Penn State over Ohio State (and a 2-loss Miami team), all the way to the number 6 spot.

He's fighting Rahman on PPV in a few weeks. I saw a commercial for it on HBO the other day.

You know who should get a little recognition for the Heisman, but is getting absolutely none? Jerome Harrison. It's not his fault the Cougars suck. In fact, it's even harder to put up numbers when you're on a bad team playing in a good conference. He's the NCAA's leading rusher right now, and his average of 6.4 ypc is better than anyone in the top ten except for DeAngelo Williams. Furthermore, it's not even like he hasn't showed up in big games, as he ran for 260 yards against UCLA, 162 yards against Cal, and 147 yards against USC. I'm not saying he actually deserves the Heisman, but he'd be third on my ballot behind Young and Bush.

How awesome would it be if magic pixie dust was sprinkled on the earth, and all of a sudden, everyone had their own pony? The answer? It's irrelevant because it's never going to happen.

Well, of course it's hard if you count the USC game, but up to this point, they've only played two teams that had pulses, along with a I-AA team, and the four very worst teams in the WAC. I'm just saying that up to this point, they've done nothing that they deserve to rank in the Top 25 for. Looking at the Sagarin rankings, Fresno State's schedule currently ranks 110th in Division I.

Sorry Bored, you were slacking on this one. Anyway, I couldn't find as nicely separated of a schedule as you post, but here are the TV games for the week: Oct. 27 Thu. Boston College @ VA Tech 7:30 p.m. ESPN Oct. 28 Fri. Colorado State @ New Mexico 8:00 p.m. ESPN2 Oct. 29 Sat. Ohio State @ Minnesota Noon ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Oklahoma @ Nebraska Noon ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Wisconsin @ Illinois Noon ESPN Oct. 29 Sat. Clemson @ GA Tech Noon ESPN2 Oct. 29 Sat. Wake Forest @ Duke Noon JP/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Indiana @ Michigan State Noon GP Oct. 29 Sat. Cincinnati @ Syracuse Noon GP Oct. 29 Sat. Ole Miss @ Auburn 12:30 p.m. JP/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Air Force @ BYU 3:00 p.m. GP Oct. 29 Sat. TCU @ San Diego State 3:00 p.m. GP Oct. 29 Sat. Purdue @ Penn State 3:30 p.m. ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Wash St @ Southern California 3:30 p.m. ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. MD @ FSU or UNC @ Miami, Fla 3:30 p.m. ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. MD @ FSU or UNC @ Miami, Fla 3:30 p.m. ESPN Oct. 29 Sat. Georgia vs. Florida (Jax, Fla) 3:30 p.m. CBS Oct. 29 Sat. Utah State @ Alabama 4:00 p.m. GP Oct. 29 Sat. UTEP @ Rice 6:00 p.m. i (PAX) Oct. 29 Sat. UCLA @ Stanford 6:30 p.m. FSN Oct. 29 Sat. Fresno State @ Hawaii 7:00 p.m. ABC/GP Oct. 29 Sat. Marshall @ Tulane 7:00 p.m. CSTV Oct. 29 Sat. Michigan @ Northwestern 7:00/7:45 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2 Oct. 29 Sat. South Carolina @ Tennessee 7:00/7:45 p.m. ESPN/ESPN2 Oct. 29 Sat. North Texas @ LSU 8:00 p.m. GP

Just one last thing. With the VT win over BC last week, and Texas's sloppy performance against OSU, the Hokies gained .0063 in their BCS ranking just due to the jump in the polls. You have to assume that they'd get at least twice that for winning out against Miami and FSU, and possibly even more if one of the games is a blowout. Thus, if the Hokies did somehow ascend to a unanimous #1 in the computer rankings, it would be almost automatic that they'd reach the Rose Bowl.

Perhaps more significantly, Virginia Tech narrowed the gap between second and third from .0594 to .0435, as they are now tied with USC for second in the computer rankings. When you figure that their big showcase game is still to come this weekend, I'd say that they're not as far behind USC and Texas as people act like they are. As it stands right now, if you flip VT's computer ranking with Texas's, they'd only trail by .0035, which could easily be made up in the polls by coaches who move VT up after the big wins late on their schedule. Honestly, whether the Hokies win by more or less than a possession next week might decide who plays in the Rose Bowl.

You're really reaching there. I'll grant you that Death Valley might be a tough place to kick, but there's no excuse for missing five field goals in one game. The fact is that LSU gave Auburn the chance to win the game, and one of their players didn't execute. You could take the kickers from about 110 I-A teams, put them on Auburn for that one game, and voila, LSU's got two losses. I'm not treating it like a loss or anything, but the fact is that there's been a lot of sloppy football in the SEC this year, and when you're trying to compare teams that don't play each other a lot, you have to weigh that in. LSU's got quite a few wins that look good on paper, but came from sloppy error-filled games where they would have lost against a better team. Honestly, watching SEC games this year kind of reminds me of watching Pac-Ten games two years ago when USC got "screwed" out of the national title despite having the weakest schedule of the three unbeatens.

THURSDAY Pittsburgh at Louisville FRIDAY Toledo at Ohio SATURDAY Iowa at Northwestern Boston College at North Carolina Nebraska at Kansas Northern Illinois at Central Michigan Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan Kansas State at Iowa State Wake Forest at Georgia Tech Wyoming at Utah Wisconsin at Penn State California at Oregon Arizona State at Washington State (fuck loyalty, the Cougs suck) Houston at Central Florida Miami at Virginia Tech Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Pittsburgh/Louisville game? 65 Tiebreak #2: How many total yards will Penn State's Michael Robinson have against Wisconsin? 338