there goes the Rose Bowl

Current Mood: sore

Jenny got me the newest Avenged Sevenfold album and Disney's RocketMan on dvd as anniversary presents (Amazon shipped a few days late). There are probably only a few people reading who understand the significance of the latter gift, but trust me when I say it has been on my wish list for some time.

Yesterday I signed the lease for next year's apartment on the landing with Future Roommates Greg and Chad. I have a feeling that'll be quite a fun living arrangement, considering the wide overlap of interests. While I'm on the subject of apartments, Current Roommate Alex has Gamefly and I've discovered the crazy hedonism that is Elebits. Other games I'm playing (at least casually) are Red Steel and a MegaMan collection, all for the Wii. They probably are at least in part to blame for my novel being behind schedule.

Onto sports!

I will freely admit that football has quickly risen to my top interest amongst sports, and probably is near the top of my interests in general. I also have a minor interest in other sports though, including NASCAR and MLB. The latter of which really isn't too strong - that's more of my dad's thing. Still, I like the Cincinnati Reds and the Florida Marlins, and have an incredible dislike for the New York Yankees, and to a lesser extent the Cleveland Indians. Here's a nice little summary of the Reds in the offseason. Apparently we're having salary problems? Baseball buffs might want to check out 1986: Take Two, a complete simulation of the year of my birth in terms of major league baseball, using statistics and data to build models.

I think that models like this are fascinating, especially when they are reasonably accurate! Madden users have been predicting the outcomes of football games for years, and apparently the high-end ones are good at at least predicting the winner of the game, if not the score.

Purdue lost to Michigan State 48-31. I make no attempt at hiding the fact that I think this is a crock of shit, since they had a crappy record and we should have beaten them soundly. However, I did get to attend the game because my friend Eric (Beard) gave me John (Cowboy)'s ticket since he was out of town. The loss was disappointing, but the company was anything but. We had amazing seats, just nine rows back, and nice fall weather. Beard was enthusiastic and funny, and let me tell you the man can yell like none other.

I'm not a superstitious sports fan by any means, but of Purdue's four losses this season, I've attended both home losses and none of the other games. *shrug* We are now ranked seventh in the Big Ten, with a record of 3-4 conference, 7-4 all. Our final game this Saturday is at Indiana, the annual Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game. They are 2-5/6-5, and actually have a shot at winning, unfortunately. This is at least on a par with the annual Ohio State vs Michigan game - both teams are 6-1 conference having both lost last weekend unexpectedly (Ohio State felled by unranked Illinois?!). Ohio State looks to be the stronger team with an overall record of 10-1 with the nation's #1 defense, vs. Michigan's 8-3 with losses to Appalachian St. and Oregon, plus injuries at QB and RB. Future Roommate Greg and I are divided in this manner and I think that next year the game will have to decide something big.

Continuing on through this recap of wacky football, the Dolphins nearly beat the Bills (13-10). As the Bengals were the most recent victim of the Bills' weak team, I nearly went ballistic until the winless Dolphins blew a 3rd quarter lead. Whew, that was close - our mediocre team almost looked even worse.

Speaking of blown leads, a Browns victory over the Steelers would've been good for my division, but the "big Doug Flutie" Ben Roethlisberger had a comeback drive to win 31-28. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm okay with rooting for the Browns as of late. I like QB Derek Anderson, and I also like WR Braylon Edwards (okay, some of that is his studly performance in fantasy football). I swear to god, though, the moment Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn gets in there, they're right back to my hated in-state division rivals.

Green Bay found a running game! They shut out the Vikings 34-0 and Adrian Peterson left early with a knee injury. They're now 8-1, tied for the best NFC record with the Cowboys, and face the 4-5 Panthers at Lambeau next. RB Ryan Grant had over 100 yards rushing, the first Vikings opponent to do so, and allowed some balance to Favre's gunslinging ways. This makes me really happy. Fox switching the game over to Eagles vs. Redskins once the game was one sided, however, did not make me really happy. It made me none happy. Negative, even.

I don't know what to make of the Saints anymore. Let's get some fuckin' consistency, good or bad, please. I mostly blame the quarterback in these situations, and Brees went back to his opening four game slump and contributed to the 37-29 loss to the Rams. THE RAMS. THE RAMS WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY WINLESS. *snarl* They fall to 4-5, the same record as the Texans they face this week. Fortunately, even after giving the Rams their first win (now only the Dolphins are winless), the Saints are in a shitty division and can come back - but they have to be good from now on. Seriously, Drew Brees, what the hell.

I don't know what's weirder, that the Cardinals scored 31 points to beat the Lions, or that the Lions only scored 21 to lose (considering last week), with negative yardage. And speaking of weird, the Colts lost to the Chargers, 23-21. Now, I never thought San Diego was that good anyway, having seen their [lack of] offensive production in the first ten weeks, and Indianapolis should've been hungry to win it after losing to the dirty cheaters [Patriots].

Maybe the Colts were hungry and they were decimated by injuries. Or Mr. Clutch Adam Vinatieri missed 2 field goals in a dome, the latter of which - a potential game winner - was 29 yards. Or Robot Manning threw six interceptions ("so why wouldn't you use it to throw into coverage?"). Whatever, pick your poison, the point is it shouldn't have happened. As Future Roommate Greg put it, the Chargers had a 16 point lead at the half, so the fact that there was a comeback at all was telling - Indy shouldn't have had that chance in the first place the way they played.

Cowboys beat the Giants, 31-20, in what some people figured was a battle of QBs. Fine with me, I never had any doubt in my boy Tony Romo. The undrafted rookie made a fool of Manning's brother - even though they were similar statistically, Romo is creative and scrappy and so much fun to watch! I heard he even plays Guitar Hero, so how can I not love him? They improve to 8-1, with a massive NFC east lead. Next up: 5-4 Redskins division game at Texas Stadium.

Finally, some good news. Bengals didn't score a touchdown and still beat the Ravens 21-7. At first I was upset that Carson Palmer wasn't finishing what he started [i.e. drives], and that Chad Johnson was hurt or Houshmandzadeh broke his TD streak. Turns out Ravens played a specific deep cover defense, so short passes by Palmer led to field position, and kicker Shayne Graham scored 21 points himself through field goals. That's seven FGs, one less than the record of eight set earlier this season by Titans' Rob Bironas. Wasn't pretty, but it was a division win bringing us one step closer to .500. That leaves us at 3-6, vs the 4-5 Cardinals at the Jungle in Cincy this week.

Lastly, fantasy football. I lost to Jenny 79-57, and while neither of us had a huge score or made the best choices of who to start, I really am frustrated with myself. I had two questionable players - New Orleans RB Reggie Bush and Indianapolis TE Dallas Clark. I decided to risk one, replace the other, and it bit me in the ass twice. Reggie Bush, who I did not play, had a great day. Much better than his replacement, Dallas RB Julius Jones. Dallas Clark, whom I figured was going to play, did not. ON TOP of all that, I figured the Colts' kicker would bail me out, but no. Optimal score was 90. This drops me back to .500, 4th place and 3 games behind. Three more weeks (including this one) until the playoffs...