So, I’ve been absent recently. I’d like to apologize for that. Evidently, being a student in law school doesn’t give me quite as much free time as being a student in undergrad. Who would have thought… Anyway, here are my ten thoughts for the past several weeks:
1. I’ll start with my ND thoughts. I am still very mich buying this team. As I said a few weeks ago, I still see this ND team as being very similar to the Illini team of 2006. As discussed after the UNC loss, but ND just needs to learn how to win on the road. You can call this “improving”, which is what it really is, but the team needs to get better on the road. Against Stanford and Purdue, ND didn’t have one turnover. Against MSU and UNC, the two teams to have beaten the Irish this season, ND had 3 and 5 turnovers respectively. Those games could be different games if the Irish protect the ball. I guess I believe that when the team has had the home crowd, they have felt comfortable and stay within themselves to win games. When they have gone on the road, they have attempted to do too much and that has created miscues that have led to turnovers and losses. These guys are young, and they will learn that they can win on both the road and at home. UW on Saturday is the next road test, so I guess we will get an idea in 5 days…
Will Ty motivate UW to victory over the Irish?
2. As for that upcoming game against UW, I’m worried. I don’t think they are as good as ND, especially without Locker. However, I have seen Ty coach. I watched it multiple times in person when he was at ND. I watched on TV as he lost to BYU to open my senior year at ND, and I was in the stands the next week when he beat a UM team that went 9-2 before losing a heartbreaker to Texas and Vince Young in a very exciting Rose Bowl. That season only got worse, as ND beat Tennessee on the road, while in between losses to BC and Pitt at home. By the way, that Tennessee team 10-3 with a win in the Cotton Bowl. BC and Pitt were both decent to good teams, but ND showed with the win over Tennessee that they should have been able to beat both teams at home. I guess what I am trying to say is that Ty can get his teams up for 2-3 games each year, and somehow he leads his team to victories that don’t fit into the rest of the season. I can circle three games this year that fit the mold: BYU (lost 28-27, but very similar to the UW win over Boise St. last year); ND (they fired Ty, I don’t think I really have to explain this); and USC (best team on the schedule). While I think ND could win big this coming Saturday, I refuse to count UW out until ND gets a few TDs in between them and UW on Saturday.
3. Leaving Irish football, I wanted to discuss that the Fighting Illini game I attended this past weekend. It was a great time, and that may partly have been because the Illini scored 55 points and only gave up 13 to the visiting Hoosiers. It’s always fun to watch a game with big plays and whatnot. What really excited me was the fact that the game was at 7 p.m. I have been going to Illini games since I was 5 or so. When I was a kid, the Illini were a pretty successful program and the fan base came out in force for all games. I remember being a kid and seeing multiple Fighting Illini themed vans, RVs, and other vehicles and the lots being filled with the smell of charcoal fires and cooking meats. I loved that feeling when I was a kid. Then the Illini fell apart. They went entire seasons without winning games or at least beating a D-1A team. The fan base started to disappear. Many of these vans, etc. started to disappear. Even last season, I saw only two Illini themed vans on a regular basis. The team went to the Rose Bowl. I think that while the fans didn’t come back in full force last year, the stadium was regularly full and the games were at 11 a.m. I think the time change and the excitement around the program and Juice Williams has really brought the fans back. It was exciting and I felt like that little kid again; most tailgates had bought their own porta-potties, several tailgates had huge rotisserie grills, and there were even several live music acts playing at different tailgates. Let’s just say that the atmosphere was right for a really wild tailgate… except for the whole family being present. So, basically, I only need to be paid back about $20 from the TGIAB.com petty cash reserves.
By the way, the Illini now stands for the people from Illinois and not Native Americans... I swear...
4. The World Series… I am rooting for the Rays. I like the fact that they have a small payroll and are a young, mostly home grown team. I really respect that. My two biggest problems with the team: 1. They have no real fans. If the team ends up having a big attendance year next year, I will feel better about the team, but I can’t stop feeling like they are like the Florida Marlins and don’t really have a fan base unless they make it into the playoffs; 2. I hate teams that play in domes. I’m ok with the retractable roof teams, but Baseball is an outside team sport that should be played on real grass, and I get tired about hearing that teams need to be good at seeing pop flies against the backdrop of white roofs and how some players are really good and bouncing throws from third to first off of the turf. Maybe this is why the team has no fans? By the way, the Twins get some credit for the fact that they are moving outside in 2010. I guess about then I will start liking the team a little bit more.
This stadium is gross.
5. Still on the World Series, I wouldn’t be sad to see the Phillies win. The team has won 1 World Series championship. They have been around since 1883, which is remarkable. They are kind of like the East Coast version of the Chicago Cubs, but no one outside of Philadelphia seems to care about them. How does it happen??? I don’t know. They have an avid fan base and spend money to try to win. I guess that is why I do not have a problem if they win. However, I’m rooting for the Rays (go AL teams) because I really hate fans of the Phillies. The only ones more annoying are the ones from the New York and Boston. Plus, I am watching Philadelphia right now and I am feeling real bad that Tom Hanks is going to die of AIDS and that his employer fired him for having AIDS and being gay. If they had set the moving in Tampa, maybe I’d be rooting a different way???
6. The Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings played a great game yesterday. Granted, the final score looked like a Big 12 game, but these two teams play in the Black-and-Blue division (the NFC North). It’s telling that they two teams haven’t combined for that many points since 1961 (in their second ever meeting, during the Vikings inagaural season). What is amazing is that the Vikings’ offense scored all 41 of their teams points, while still throwing four interceptions. The Bears, meanwhile, scored a bunch of points on special teams, and therefore were able to get over the fact that they have an offense without one player who would be considered upper echelon at any of the skill positions.
7. Back to college football: I think that Alabama is overrated. They have built their ranking on wins over Clemson (who actually is really bad, as they have proven) and over Georgia. Georgia still hasn’t beaten anybody of note and I refuse to think they are a good team until they do. Therefore, I think Alabama needs to win over a bigger name before I really believe they are good. The reason for this is that they have struggled in their outings the last two weeks over Kentucky and Ole Miss, and I would like to see them dominate some lower level teams. I realize Ole Miss beat Florida, but the team is still only 3-4. I won’t buy that Alabama is truly a legimitimate team until they go on the road and win at LSU on November 8. Even then, I will have questions if the game is really close, especially since the Tigers lost so badly in their game at Florida a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Penn St. has utterly dominated their competition. No team has come closer than 14 points of the Nittany Lions. If they win at Ohio St. (with Pryor at QB and a healthy Beanie Wells in the backfield), I have to believe that PSU is the ream #2 team in the country. By the way, I really do think that Texas should be #1 until they lose (if they ever do).
8. Trying not to get too political, but I thought this was great:
9. I really want to go to Vegas. Maybe this January? Time to start working on the wife.
I've been there once and I want to go again. Someone needs to get engaged.
10. Law School takes a lot of time. I guess that is why I am loving my Fall Break so much.
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