friday, october 31st, 2003. cougar stadium. boise state at byu.
this was a nationally televised thursday night game on espn. boise entered the game on the fringe of the top 25. byu entered the game firmly within the butt 25. however, it was halloween night, and anything could happen. we smelled an upset.
the three things i remember most about this game:
1) it was balls cold. this is sort of unusual for the provo area, where it typically doesn't get that cold until around thanksgiving. there was no real need for a thermometer; your balls told you everything you needed to know. A slushy snow fell throughout the game, accompanied by a moderate wind.
2) our first two scores were safeties. at one point, the score was 28-4. after a 3rd quarter touchdown by us (more on this in a moment), the score became 28-12, at which point one clever fan yelled out "only 8 more safeties!" i'd like to point out here that 10 safeties in one game is really only possible in tecmo bowl. also, i think it's probably safe to assume that this was the only time in NCAA D-1A history that a score has ever been 28-4.
3) during the aforementioned 3rd quarter touchdown drive, we used all three of our timeouts in one series inside the boise state 10-yard line. let me repeat that: ALL THREE SECOND HALF TIMEOUTS!!!!! IN *ONE* SET OF DOWNS!!!!! one was on 2nd and goal, the second was on fourth and goal, and the last one was on the 2-point conversion. gary crowton's amazing preparation for that series of plays really cannot be overstated. to be fair, i suppose, it was a critical part of the game, and cut the lead to 28-12. and more importantly, our offense actually scoring was really important.
of course, boise state got the ball back and scored in like 3 plays or something. then a lot of people started leaving, probably because it was cold and we sucked. i had the faith though, that we would come back, and thus i stuck around to the bitter end.
final score = boise state 50, byu 12
good times...good times...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Rogue League Presents: Sports Flashbacks
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Flawless...Victory...
in my opinion, and it's probably an opinion shared by many, the rockies just looked sluggish the whole series. the bats just never woke up. many will blame the huge 9-day layoff, and that probably was a major contributing factor. then again, their incredible run had to come to an end some time. it's just too difficult to keep playing at that high a level for so long.
congratulations to both teams for making it this far, and to the red sox for actually winning. good luck to the braves in 2008.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
i finally have internet again
new top 25 (through oct 21)
| record | prev | ||||
| | | ||||
| 1 | LSU | 7-1 | 2 | ||
| 2 | Ohio St | 8-0 | 3 | ||
| 3 | Oklahoma | 7-1 | 4 | ||
| 4 | Oregon | 6-1 | 5 | ||
| 5 | Arizona St | 7-0 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Boston Coll | 7-0 | 10 | ||
| 7 | S. Florida | 6-1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | W. Virginia | 6-1 | 9 | ||
| 9 | Missouri | 6-1 | 13 | ||
| 10 | Florida | 5-2 | 12 | ||
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 6-1 | 14 | ||
| 12 | Kentucky | 6-2 | 7 | ||
| 13 | USC | 6-1 | 15 | ||
| 14 | Kansas | 7-0 | 17 | ||
| 15 | Texas | 6-2 | 16 | ||
| 16 | S. Carolina | 6-2 | 6 | ||
| 17 | Auburn | 5-3 | 18 | ||
| 18 | Oklahoma St | 5-3 | 22 | ||
| 19 | Georgia | 6-2 | 24 | ||
| 20 | Virginia | 7-1 | -- | ||
| 21 | Rutgers | 5-2 | -- | ||
| 22 | California | 5-2 | 11 | ||
| 23 | Michigan | 6-2 | -- | ||
| 24 | Penn St | 6-2 | -- | ||
| 25 | Hawaii | 7-0 | 25 |
Friday, October 19, 2007
Self Respect > $5 Million
To add my two cents to this Joe Torre saga, I'm pretty sure this is all about him keeping some shred of dignity. Undoubtedly he had grown very weary of "The Boss" and his antics. I mean, who wouldn't after a dozen seasons? Ted Turner now probably looks like a Care Bear to him by comparison.
Five million dollars is a lot to give up. You have to figure it was actually probably at least $6M since that's what he would've gotten for just making the playoffs. Here are the next 3 closest managers in terms of salary (HT: mlbcontracts.blogspot.com):
Lou Piniella (CHC) - $3.5M
Bobby Cox (ATL) - $3.0M
Tony LaRussa (STL) - $2.8M
After the next few, the dropoff gets fairly considerable, with Manny Acta of the Nationals actually being paid in Spaghettios. So clearly, Torre was earning well above his peers, pay cut or not. Some argue, of course, that working under the pressure of the New York Yankees spotlight makes one more than earn their pay.
(Note: I do think it's kind of lame that, after winning the 4 World Series, he renegotiated a super-great deal, and that now that after he's gone a long time (relatively speaking, Cubs fans) without winning one, he won't allow the pendulum to swing the other way. I suppose this is, to some extent, human nature.)
Anyway, I feel that's where we can really see his true reasoning. He cannot reasonably expect that he'll get $5-6 million out on the open market, despite some teams' desire to spend money on unnecessary things. Even if a bidding war emerges, I think the most he can get is around 4, maybe 4.5 million per year. He's giving up around $1 million just to not have to work for this man anymore. Quite frankly, that says a lot.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
boston college, thou convincest me not
| record | prev | ||||
| 1 | S. Florida | 6-0 | 4 | ||
| 2 | LSU | 6-1 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Ohio St | 7-0 | 2 | ||
| 4 | Oklahoma | 6-1 | 5 | ||
| 5 | Oregon | 5-1 | 6 | ||
| 6 | S. Carolina | 6-1 | 7 | ||
| 7 | Kentucky | 6-1 | 10 | ||
| 8 | Arizona St | 7-0 | 14 | ||
| 9 | W. Virginia | 5-1 | 8 | ||
| 10 | Boston Coll | 7-0 | 12 | ||
| 11 | California | 5-1 | 3 | ||
| 12 | Florida | 4-2 | 13 | ||
| 13 | Missouri | 5-1 | 9 | ||
| 14 | Virginia Tech | 6-1 | 16 | ||
| 15 | USC | 5-1 | 15 | ||
| 16 | Texas | 5-2 | 18 | ||
| 17 | Kansas | 6-0 | 19 | ||
| 18 | Auburn | 5-2 | 21 | ||
| 19 | Cincinnati | 6-1 | 11 | ||
| 20 | Tennessee | 4-2 | 22 | ||
| 21 | Kansas St | 4-2 | -- | ||
| 22 | Oklahoma St | 4-3 | -- | ||
| 23 | Texas Tech | 6-1 | -- | ||
| 24 | Georgia | 5-2 | -- | ||
| 25 | Hawaii | 7-0 | 25 |
that herschel walker/tennessee clip will never get old. NEVER!
i am lazy so no more words. stay tuned for another "separated at birth" soon.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
top 25 -- the return of captain comeback
i have still not fully comprehended this one. how do you lose a game when you're favored by 41 points? i'm not really sure. i don't even know if pete carroll himself knows the answer. (that is, by the way, the biggest upset ever in the history of sports, in terms of point spread. incredibly, the second-biggest happened just a month ago when syracuse beat louisville. and if you're wondering, the appalachian state vs. michigan game officially had no point spread.) i'm a little disappointed that USC fell only to 10th in the AP poll. yes, i get the whole "they would beat Team X in a head-to-head matchup, so let's rank them ahead of them" argument. but when you get beaten by a conference bottom-feeder, on your home turf no less, you deserve punishment. and quite honestly, if you lose to Stanford, i don't know that you can at all say with any certainty who you could and couldn't beat. in terms of talent, they could probably beat anyone. but the poll is not just about talent, it's about execution as well. and frankly, the trojans have just seemed unmotivated and flat out-coached at times. my own personal theory, not that i have any insider knowledge of any kind, is that pete carroll has already half-way mentally checked out on this season, and it's showing on the field. i think he's become bored at the lack of challenge he faces now in the college ranks, and he longs to once again scratch the NFL itch. it also helps that there's more money in the pro game. if he returns to USC in 2008 i'll be really surprised.
here be this week's rankings:
| record | prev | ||||
| | | ||||
| 1 | LSU | 6-0 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Ohio St | 6-0 | 5 | ||
| 3 | California | 5-0 | 3 | ||
| 4 | S. Florida | 5-0 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 9 | ||
| 6 | Oregon | 4-1 | 6 | ||
| 7 | S. Carolina | 5-1 | 10 | ||
| 8 | W. Virginia | 5-1 | 11 | ||
| 9 | Missouri | 5-0 | 17 | ||
| 10 | Kentucky | 5-1 | 8 | ||
| 11 | Cincinnati | 6-0 | 12 | ||
| 12 | Boston Coll | 6-0 | 15 | ||
| 13 | Florida | 4-2 | 7 | ||
| 14 | Arizona St | 6-0 | 20 | ||
| 15 | USC | 4-1 | 2 | ||
| 16 | Virginia Tech | 5-1 | 22 | ||
| 17 | Illinois | 5-1 | -- | ||
| 18 | Texas | 4-2 | 14 | ||
| 19 | Kansas | 5-0 | -- | ||
| 20 | Wisconsin | 5-1 | 13 | ||
| 21 | Auburn | 4-2 | -- | ||
| 22 | Tennessee | 3-2 | -- | ||
| 23 | Florida St | 4-1 | -- | ||
| 24 | Colorado | 4-2 | 25 | ||
| 25 | Hawaii | 6-0 | 21 |
they gone: clemson, georgia, kansas state, rutgers, nebrask
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
mlb postseason predictions, one day late
nlds - rockies over phillies in 3
nlds - cubs over diamondbacks in 5
alds - red sox over angels in 4
alds - indians over yankees in 4
nlcs - cubs over rockies in 5
alcs - indians over red sox in 5
w.s. - cubs over indians in 7
new top 25 -- week 5
here are my latest rankings. even before i knew the AP voters would move LSU to #1, i had already decided to do that myself. but as it's been all year long, the gap between those 2 teams is very small.
| record | prev | ||||
| | | ||||
| 1 | LSU | 5-0 | 2 | ||
| 2 | USC | 4-0 | 1 | ||
| 3 | California | 5-0 | 9 | ||
| 4 | S. Florida | 4-0 | 17 | ||
| 5 | Ohio St | 5-0 | 7 | ||
| 6 | Oregon | 4-1 | 10 | ||
| 7 | Florida | 4-1 | 3 | ||
| 8 | Kentucky | 5-0 | 11 | ||
| 9 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 4 | ||
| 10 | S. Carolina | 4-1 | 14 | ||
| 11 | W. Virginia | 4-1 | 5 | ||
| 12 | Cincinnati | 5-0 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Wisconsin | 5-0 | 15 | ||
| 14 | Texas | 4-1 | 6 | ||
| 15 | Boston Coll. | 5-0 | 12 | ||
| 16 | Nebrask | 4-1 | 18 | ||
| 17 | Missouri | 4-0 | 19 | ||
| 18 | Georgia | 4-1 | 20 | ||
| 19 | Clemson | 4-1 | 13 | ||
| 20 | Arizona St | 5-0 | 24 | ||
| 21 | Hawaii | 5-0 | 22 | ||
| 22 | Virginia Tech | 4-1 | 21 | ||
| 23 | Rutgers | 3-1 | 8 | ||
| 24 | Kansas St | 3-1 | -- | ||
| 25 | Colorado | 3-2 | -- |
dropped out: penn state (23), alabama (25)
-- wisconsin's porous defense versus the likes of The Citadel and other less-than-average opponents leaves me doubting. they're going to have to beat an actually good team before i move them much higher than 10.
-- ranking south florida at #4 is sort of like eating a burrito at 2 a.m. will i regret this decision?
-- i predict lsu will beat florida this weekend, and perhaps by as much as 20, this would not surprise me. when brandon cox of all people is marching down the field at will against you, that's not a good sign for your pass defense.
