start with the corners, then fill out the border

Current Mood: waiting/anticipating

What a whirlwind week it has been. Well, weekend, really.

First off, the big news - after weeks and weeks of applications, applications, scanning and writing, more applications, and a few interviews, Jenny was offered a job on Friday. She will be teaching 2nd grade in her own classroom at a school here in town. That is pretty much the very best case scenario that either of us could have hoped for- no co-teaching, not on the other side of the state, not even moving grade levels. She likes the principal, they have a Science Club, and did I mention it is seriously close? Closer than her current school. I know she will kick ass there and I'm not an especially sunny optimistic guy but I have to believe that the two years she has spent at her old school has helped her prepare for her first year on her own. It'll probably be tough in the fall, with lots of extra time spent at the school, but we got through student teaching okay so I think we'll be okay. This school does not have the extra school hour her old one did, and it's in a different district - old school was high poverty, high mobility and lots of intervention... new school is likely to be overeager parents and professor's children, so I think things are about to be flipped upside down.

Many many thanks go to everybody who helped Jenny look for job openings everywhere, and I can't believe how awesome her old bio professor has been going to bat for her with the local administrators.

ANYWAY. Now that Jenny has a job and it's in town, we are green lights for finding a new place to live. We have to be out of current apartment in 25 days, so looking for a new place ASAP. So we're moving, losing a roommate, and moving some of Jenny's teaching things to her new room.

Wedding stuff is getting crazy. Yesterday was 4 weeks until wedding and we still have a checklist of just about 95 things to do. Take a day off work to go to the courthouse and apply for a license. Get rings, tuxes. Finalize rehearsal dinner plans. Pick songs to get to DJ. And so on. If you've been married recently, you probably know *exactly* what I'm talking about. I'm sure we'll get it all done, but geez. I'm not nervous to get married, but I'm hoping everything goes well the actual day of the wedding. WEDDING WEDDING WEDDING. Feels like that's all I talk about sometime.

We were so worried about job stuff that we'd put off really doing stuff like getting the a/c fixed in our shared car, or planning a honeymoon, so that stuff is back on now. Y'know, like we don't have enough going on...

This weekend Jenny's family threw us a cookout/bridal shower. I guess co-ed showers are becoming the norm these days but it was really great - she has a giant family and they all pitched in to get us some really nice things. My mom and grandma were the only ones who could make it, so I felt like my family was a little under-represented. But I guess in 4 weeks it will also be my family too, right?

Job stuff has settled down somewhat, which is good. I feel like I'm kinda getting into a groove, getting used to the hours and the tempo and stuff. I don't know that I've made any world-changing discoveries (yet) but I think I'm pretty consistently working through the assignments and projects my boss gives me. It's very different than working there in the summer - during the spring I was trying to grab a few hours here and there and it felt like it was hard to get anything done. Now, I have 8 hours in a row plus 4 other guys there so it's much more productive. We goof off a little bit and Fridays are mostly clean-up days, but I get along pretty okay with the other dudes. I'm pretty sure I will keep working there in the fall.

Super ready for football to start back up again. I hope the CBA talks continue in time for the offseason to get back on track.
Pretty ready for school to start in the fall, too. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 4 more semesters. 2 years. Gonna try to find an internship for next summer, too. Building my resume up so that hopefully when I'm all done here somebody will look at me and say "that's the guy I want to design/invent/maintain/repair my airplane/rocket/spaceship". Or something like that...

NFL Predictions, 2010-2011 Midseason

Current Mood: so much day...

Here's a midseason look at the state of the NFL...in my head.

Predictions:

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Best coaching job: Todd Haley (Chiefs)
Worst coaching job: Brad Childress (Vikings)
Rising star: Ndamukong Suh (Lions)
Falling star: Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks)
Best game left: Monday, Dec. 27 - Saints @ Falcons
Worst game left: Thursday, Dec. 23 - Panthers @ Steelers
Most improved: Osi Umenyiora (Giants)
Least improved: Jay Cutler (Bears)
Comeback player of the year: Darren McFadden (Raiders)

Biggest Fantasy Surprise: Arian Foster (Texans)
Biggest Fantasy Disappointment: DeAngelo Williams (Panthers)

Playoffs:

AFC

North: Steelers
South: Colts
East: Patriots
West: Chargers
Wildcards: Jets, Ravens

Champion: Steelers

NFC

North: Packers
South: Falcons
East: Giants
West: Seahawks
Wildcards: Saints, Eagles

Champion: Packers

8 BOLD Predictions for the 2010 NFL Season: Too Early Edition

Current Mood: antsy

Maybe you remember last year's post, 8 Bold Predictions for the 2009 NFL Season? Well, here's an update for this year! Mostly because of my job, which has moved from part time to full time this summer, I haven't been obsessively following every facet of the NFL offseason. Just...semi-obsessively. For your viewing pleasure, here's 8 bold predictions (one for each division) for the upcoming season:


Note: I'm going to try really hard shake things up and keep these predictions from looking too much like last year's. These are supposed to be Bold! Also, I am fully aware and acknowledging here that some of my predictions from last year turned out to be utterly moronic. Here we go.


AFC East (Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets): So many interesting things to think about here, with some key players being sent to/from these teams in the offseason. Honestly, I could probably make a case for every team except the Bills winning here. I think I'll go with predicting the finishing order - Dolphins first, behind a revamped WR corp and surprising QB play (with a few creative running plays). Then Patriots, with a shaky Wes Welker to start but playing better as the year goes on. Then everybody's favorite media darlings the Jets who will lose on Thanksgiving to the Bengals. Bills? Why would you draft a star RB when your offensive line and indeed your offense in general is in shambles?


AFC South (Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans): I already tried to say the Colts won't make the playoffs (last year) and I think I won't do that again until it actually happens. And *everybody* picks the Texans to be the surprise team to make the playoffs, so that's out (and besides, it's high time they either got over the hump and make the playoffs, or else something - probably head coach - needs to/will change). Instead I will go out on a limb and say that Chris Johnson will disappoint after an electrifying, record-breaking 2009 season, and instead finish the year with a solid, but unexciting 1400 yards. Regression toward the mean, people. Regression toward the mean.

AFC West (Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers): I'd be very surprised if the Chargers didn't take this division by week 14 or so, so my prediction will instead focus on the most improved team from last year to this year - the Oakland Raiders. It's hard to put into words just how bad JaMarcus Russel was, and now that he's been replaced by a competent quarterback (and a surprisingly adept backup), and the franchise managed to get through the draft without making any idiotic picks means that this team is on its way back to respectability. Bold prediction? Oakland picking outside the top 10 in next year's draft.

AFC North (Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Steelers): Call me a homer if you wish but I'm predicting Cincy makes the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time in 27 years and THIS is the year they finally win a playoff game, the first time since 1990 (the longest NFL playoff win drought, yes, even more than the Lions), when the Reds won the World Series against the Athletics. Watch out for the Bengals defense, by the way, and Carson Palmer will return to form now that he has an elite TE.

NFC East (Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins): This division is really all about sending Washington QB Jason Campbell to the Raiders and Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb to the Redskins. This completely changes the balance of power in the division, but maybe not in the way you'd think. McNabb will be playing on a vastly inferior team, while inexperienced Kevin Kolb fills in for the Eagles (yes, he did great in his 3 starts against pathetic teams). So really all this does is weaken the Eagles and bring the Redskins from "really bad" to just "bad". I'm predicting less than 8 wins for each team.

NFC South (Falcons, Saints, Panthers, Buccaneers): Atlanta bounces back from an injury filled year and Matt Ryan is over his sophomore slump, which means the Falcons and the Saints will be neck and neck in this race, splitting the games between them and deciding only in the last week which will win the division (the Saints) and who advances as a Wild Card team (Falcons). That's right. Two teams from this division will be playing in the post season.

NFC West (Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks): This is a super weak division to begin with, but the Rams are essentially an afterthought and the Seahawks have way too many new pieces to be considered a contender. Which leaves, to me, a two team race to win the division between San Fransisco and Arizona. Despite the naysayers, I think Cardinals QB Matt Leinart has potential and hopefully spent his time studying while Kurt Warner was at the helm, much in the same way Aaron Rodgers learned from Brett Favre. I think he'll struggle, but eventually lead his team to win the division (barely).

NFC North (Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings): This also looks to be shaping up into a two-team race between the Packers and Vikings, largely dependent upon Minnesota's QB situation. That said, my prediction here is that the Lions will improve on last year's effort based on a solid draft and an overall upward trend. I think they will win 4 games this year, which leaves them far from the playoffs but counts as progress nonetheless. Poor Detroit.


Bonus Prediction: Brett Favre will start this year, but not finish.

Bonus content:

High profile transfer makes Purdue sort of relevant.

Do I feel bad for Cleveland? Of course not.

Edit - Mike Neal (2nd round draft pick of the Packers this past year) may be one of my newest football players, but watch out for Ryan Kerrigan.

WHO DEY!

Current Mood: excited



Now's a good time to be a Bengals fan. :)

8 BOLD predictions for the 2009 NFL season: Way Too Early Edition

Current Mood: antsy

I've spent the offseason digging deep into the dark recesses of the internet to find articles about the draft, the CBA expiration, free agency, and a slew of of other things I wouldn't care about if there was actual football to watch. With all that information floating about in my head, I thought I'd put down for your viewing pleasure 8 bold predictions (one for each division) for the upcoming season:

AFC East (Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets): Despite the acquisition of star receiver Terrell Owens, the Bills are going to finish last in this competitive group. Why? QB Trent Edwards doesn't have the physical skills to take advantage of such a weapon, nor does he have the charisma to control that kind of personality. T.O. has destroyed every club he's been with, and the financially struggling Bills made one last push for something to spark this franchise. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all they have, and it won't be enough.

AFC South (Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans): The Indianapolis Colts will miss the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade. The loss of head coach Tony Dungy will be mitigated by coach-in-waiting Jim Caldwell as part of a succession plan, but there have been two other key staff members lost in part because of retirement/money problems. WR Marvin Harrison is gone, and won't be back. Injury-riddled offseason. Joseph Addai is not producing like he used to, and the current stable of RBs in reserve will take time to find its stride. Peyton Manning ain't no spring chicken, either. Look for some other club to step up and take over the division crown (Texans, perhaps?).

AFC West (Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers): Kyle Orton will outplay Jay Cutler. Denver has a powerful group of battle tested RBs and deep ball WRs as targets. Their defense will have improved enough that not every game has to be won in a shootout, and Orton will play with a chip on his shoulder. Enough to raise them over San Diego, who will be let down by L.T. (just like thousands of fantasy football fans the world over).

AFC North (Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Steelers): There will be three top 10 defenses from this division next year, and the newest member of the club will be the Bengals. Building on last year with some help from the draft and returning injured players, Cincinnati's defense will be much improved. Similarly, the offense gets a giant upgrade with the return of the God of Golden Arms, Carson "Human Juggs Machine" Palmer. These guys are gonna shock the league by earning a wild card berth behind the Steelers.

NFC East (Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Redskins): At the start of the season, all four of these teams will look like Super Bowl bound teams. Gradually, three will be exposed as a fraud for different reasons. The Redskins, because shiny new toys like DT Albert Haynesworth can't save mediocre play from QB Jason Campbell for long. The Giants, because Eli Manning has already peaked and won't bounce back without dominant weapons like Plaxico Burress and "Earth, Wind, and Fire", his RB trio. The Eagles, because Donovan McNabb is wildly inconsistent, Brian Westbrook is too injury prone, and the defense has a lost a step with the loss of S Brian Dawkins. That leaves us with the Cowboys. My bold prediction is that after a very competitive regular season, Tony Romo will silence his critics by winning one playoff game.

NFC South (Falcons, Panthers, Saints, Buccaneers): Oh dear god, the Falcons are going to destroy every opponent they face this year. Last year rookie QB Matt Ryan took this club to the playoffs, and he's only going to be better this year (unlike Joe Flacco on the Ravens). Really, all you need to know about this group is that the Falcons have acquired 10x Pro Bowl TE Tony Gonzalez, meaning they have a trifecta of offense with WR Roddy White and RB Michael Turner. Look out.

NFC West (Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks): Last year's Cinderella story (Cardinals) will be [barely] outplayed by the resurgent Seahawks in a mediocre battle for the division title. Matt Hasselbeck doesn't have much time left in the league, so the time is now for Seattle to make a push for the postseason. They have a strong defense (especially at linebacker) and won't have to rely on seventh and eighth string receivers after an incredible slew of injuries at WR last year.

NFC North (Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings): Injury will knock Daunte Culpepper from the starting QB position early in the season, forcing rookie Matthew Stafford to step in. And the boy will produce, following in the footsteps of last year's breakout rookie quarterbacks. He will lead the hapless Lions to within one game of .500, a remarkable turnaround but ultimately falling short of making the playoffs. While I'm at it, I'll say they win on Thanksgiving, the first time since 2003.

BONUS PREDICTION: Brett Favre will stay retired.

Sports Junkie

Current Mood: sporty

I don't know what it is, but for some reason this spring I have become WAY more into sports that I have ever been. And I'm not just talking about my recent love of football, it has become an interest of sports across the board:

Hockey
*Miami University (OH) 's team, the Redhawks, made it to the Frozen Four. My sister and a few of my friends have gone/are going there, so I've made a point to pay a bit of attention to that.
*Sis seems to have rediscovered her love of hockey, so she and Bradley have been going to some Cincinnati Cyclones games, and they're in the playoffs. Get Cyc'd!
*My roommates are way into NHL level hockey, so I have been watching some with them and have adopted their team, the Detroit Red Wings - currently headed into the Western Conference Semifinals.

Baseball
*Opening Day came and went, and I watched the Reds play and it made me miss home a little, so I made Gold Star Chili for the apartment. It's way early in the season, but they're on a streak and in 2nd place in the NL Central.

Basketball
*I really don't care much for basketball, but I love brackets. I finished 3rd of 18 in my March Madness Pool.
*Purdue Boilermakers made it to the Sweet 16 with a young team, so maybe next year we'll improve and I might actually go to a game? Then I can genuinely root for Robbie Hummel.

Auto Racing
*Haven't watched any NASCAR, but from what I can tell it hasn't changed much since the Points Cup was implemented, rewarding consistency and boring racing. My driver Dale Jr. has bounced around to many different teams and hasn't made much of a name for himself, unfortunately.

Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MMA, other sports
*No thanks.

Football
*Purdue said goodbye to Coach Joe Tiller and replaced him with Danny Hope. Our main prospect for QB next year was suspended, so we'll probably have a rough year.
*I've spent the NFL offseason reading up on the draft, free agency, and the mechanics that make up the offseason. I feel like kind of a loser, but I've gotten pretty into football as a whole. I read mock-drafts, fan sites, histories and analysis of salaries, draft positions, and all sorts of projections. I'm ready for some real football, though.
*And fantasy football.
*The Bengals have made some not-horrible offseason decisions, so that makes me optimistic. Later I think I will do some predictions about the next NFL season.

There's been a few big changes happening in the NFL - Favre retired (but that could change), Madden retired (his replacement, Chris Collinsworth, is a Bengal but also looks like a bird man). Commisioner Goddell is looking to change 2 preseason games into real ones (and that would make a lot of old records disappear), and move games out of the US, and is currently negotiating a new CBA and possible rookie salary cap - all of these will change the shape of the league over the next few years.


Finally, some links:

Here's probably the best NFL draft article I've come across.

For a look at some misconceptions about the NFL busted by MATH, look here.

Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald bring the funk.

Because it makes me happy, some of the biggest sports upsets in history.

Lastly, how have I never heard of this dude?

NFL Predictions, 2008-2009 Midseason

Current Mood: Carnac

Here's a midseason look at the state of the NFL...in my head.

Predictions:

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Best coaching job: Bobby Petrino (Falcons)
Worst coaching job: *sigh* Marvin Lewis (Bengals)
Rising star: Kyle Orton (Bears)
Falling star: Donovan McNabb (Eagles)
Best game left: Panthers @ Packers (Sunday November 30th)
Worst game left: Lions @ Packers (Sunday December 28th)
Most improved: Jason Campbell (Redskins)
Least improved: JaMarcus Russell (Raiders)
Comeback player of the year: Ronnie Brown (Dolphins)

Biggest Fantasy Surprise: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
Biggest Fantasy Disappointment: Tom Brady (Patriots)

Playoffs:

AFC

North: Steelers
South: Titans
East: Bills
West: Chargers
Wildcards: Colts, Patriots

Champion: Steelers

NFC

North: Packers
South: Buccaneers
East: Giants
West: Cardinals
Wildcards: Bears, Panthers

Champion: Packers

Super Bowl Winner: Packers 28-17


Now, for comparison, here are my predictions from the start of the season. Most of them seem pretty laughable now. In my defense, however, the NFL HAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, more or less.

My previous worst coach prediction has moved up to best coach, because the Falcons (who I thought were done for before the season started) are on fire. Worst coach could go to any of the SIX coaches fired already, but I decided to look ahead. Da Bears have picked Purdue's finest to carry them ahead, and as much as I don't like Chicago's teams - it's nice to see my school doing well. I'm done with Donovan, and Vince Young is RIGHT behind him. I see the best game as important for both teams to try and close out playoff berths, whereas the worst game is going to be a meaningless thrashing of of the Lions by the Packers B-Squad. Redskins have been keeping it close in the NFC East on the arm of Campbell. Ronnie Brown gets the comeback nod for having a very tough surgery last year and bouncing back (remember his 5 TD game?). At least my Tom Brady disappointment prediction stays put.

I feel like all my playoff picks are trendy "pick-the-team-with-the-best-record-right-now" choices, but really, I feel like NOBODY is stepping up as a legitimate contender. The Pats lost Brady and Cassel is barely hanging on. Peyton Manning the Robot is having Vista problems. Favre is all over the place. Browns have gone from Cinderella to ...shit. Steelers are decimated with injuries. I'm not sold on the QB play of Tennessee or the Bills. LT and AP have yet to impress, and Cutler apparently needs more insulin. God knows what's going on in the NFC South...it's like a cartoon dust cloud. Eli showed he's more than capable of falling apart (on Monday Night, no less!). Hell, even the Seahawks, a virtual lock for the NFC West for the past half of a decade, have dropped the ball.

Some comments on my 3 favorite teams:

1. The Packers are one of my picks to go the distance. I'm really happy Aaron Rodgers has stepped up and shown that Green Bay didn't do wrong sticking with him. He's got a cannon arm, a slew of young agressive recievers, and they'd be crushing if it weren't for so many injuries (mostly on defense). Dear Ryan Grant: please stop fumbling the ball.

Go Pack Go.

2. Say what you want about the Cowboys, I still love them. Well, I mostly just love Tony Romo (get well soon, Tony!). That said, I'm amazed how they have self-destructed so fast and so spectactularly. They started so great, and now are dangerously close to slipping out of contention in a very competitive divison. They've also had some injuries, and I don't think Marion Barber will last more than a few seasons the way he plays.

3. Bengals.


Where to begin...



Let's try this?

With a 38-10 loss to Pittsburgh last week, Cincinnati (0-7) remained winless through seven games for the fifth time since 1991. No other team has experienced that kind of futility more than twice in that span. -NFL.com

Yeah. If we win the rest of the season, we'll move to .500. Woo! Early round draft pick, comin' up!

SPEAKING OF

I know Hines Ward (Steelers) is a dominating player. Still, there is no excuse for our 1st round draft pick this year (Keith Rivers) - a middle linebacker to get absolutely mauled by a wide reciever like that. Guy broke his jaw, and he's out for the season (happened a few years ago to the Bengals 1st pick, too). Marvin Lewis at this point should consider sacrificing his job - protect Carson Palmer and let him heal back to 100% by not playing him, lose the rest of the season to get a good draft position, and then get fired.

I'm just frustrated. You know it's bad when Ocho Cinco won't talk shit anymore.

Also, Dear Chris Perry: PLEASE stop fumbling the ball.


Sidenotes:

College Football

I think I have taken for granted that Purdue has reached *a* Bowl Game 10 of the past 11 years (even if we it was a terrible bowl and/or we lost). Purdue has played some crazy good opponents this year, and at times looked pretty good, but we are now 2-5 and things don't look good. So much for sending Coach Tiller out on a good note.

And my brilliant prediction that Tim Tebow would be the second 2-time Heisman Winner... yeah, maybe not :D

Fantasy Football

Last year I did okay, then grabbed Ryan Grant and rode that train to our Super Bowl. This year, I'm in the basement saddled with a slew of horrible injuries (welcome to football, Ryan!) and multiple single digit losses. *snarl* I'm gonna have to find some miracle kid if I want to turn this around and even make the playoffs.

accelerated

Current Mood: behind

MAN school caught up with me quick.

I'll spare you all the play-by-play of each day, but here's the summary:

MA 266 (differential equations) - again
AAE 301 (signals and systems analysis)
AAE 352 (structures II)
AAE 352 lab
CGT 226 (computer modeling - part modeling and advanced surface design)

13 credit hours.

Same old, same old, really. Difficult classes, I feel like I'm in over my head, the math involved blows my mind. I feel really...sluggish getting used to the routine, the workload, etc. Not crazy about trying to pass DE again, but what am I gonna do? Worried about student loans. Of course it wouldn't be a semester at Purdue for Ryan without problems with scheduling, registration, and student loan acceptance. a;sljdf;aljdf

On a scale of 1-1o, with 1 being Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 10 being Alexander's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, my schedule looks like:

Monday: 6
Tuesday: 4
Wednesday: 9 (5 classes spanning 7:30am to 5:30pm)
Thursday: 2
Friday: 7

A lot of my aero professors are downright crazy, but it's balanced by a generous amount of oh my god these guys are so smart. I also regret letting all my knowledge of CATIA atrophy over several years since CGT 163.

New apartment is nice, even though I kinda hate trekking up Chauncey Hill. Especially 3x a week at 7 in the morning. I am not used to early classes like this!

Improv is good. I've already seen a lot of familiar old faces, and it looks like we've got a good recruiting class, which couldn't come at a better time for us.

Several job fairs are coming up next week and I suppose it's high time for me to buckle down and try to seriously get myself out there and find some sort of internship for next year. If nothing else I do not want to work for university residences again (not that it is a bad job, I just don't think I can do it again). Side thought...the longest I've had any job so far was about 3 years and each time I started to get pretty stir crazy. I hope that if/when I get into my preferred "field"I will be more content and won't feel the need to jump around so much.

Lastly, Andy Ober gave Jenny and I some last minute freebies to go see another preseason game - Bengals @ Colts a week ago. So we got to see Lucas Oil Stadium up close and personal, and the Bengals won (something I am worried about not celebrating a lot in the coming months). That said, my new favorite Bengal is Corey Lynch - not just because he makes a great impact on our D, but he's also a rookie from Appalachian State. Which means he was part of the David team that brought down Michigan last year at the Big House, apparently starting a tradition.

:D Football season!

false start

Current Mood: upset

Chad Johnson hurt his shoulder.

Bengals re-sign Chris Henry.


What's that sound? The AFC North playoff berth flying out of our hands? :(



Preseason is making me sad with all of the injuries flying around...

arguably the best summary ever

Current Mood: summer is slipping away...

I've been slackin' on my goal to post once a week here.

Part of that was the early part of the month - I helped Jenny move from Hillenbrand to her new place, and then I moved out of both my old apt. and Earhart into my new place. Many thanks to everybody that helped.

I'm glad that's over, because it felt like a solid week of moving, and the furniture especially sucked to move. I guess I'd underestimated how much stuff I really left back at the old place. That's even with a concerted effort not to keep a lot of things, and even still it was a lot!

I'm more or less all settled in my new place, and it's really nice - a lot of that is just more space, but also the pool, laundry room, more a/c. Greg and I are hangin' all the time (I even have gotten him hooked on RE4) and it looks like it will be a blast living together. I have a slight suspicion that there's a bug infestation in a nearby apartment, but hopefully that's just me being paranoid.


Still need to get my registration and loans goin'...


The other big part of August so far has been Jenny and I's trip to Green Bay. Jenny posted pictures and kinda chronicled everything here: 1 2 3


We left Sunday morning and forgot about the time change driving through Chicago. I'm technically from Cincy, but I really am not a downtown driver. So of course I was terrified to navigate my way to my friend [from improv long ago] Scott's house in the heart of the city. Still, it was a Sunday afternoon and despite a few slow moments and a few tolls, we made it okay. I'll go ahead and mention here the weather was gorgeous the entire time.

Side note: later I want to take a trip to Chicago and get a CityPass because pretty much all of the stuff I want to do and see there is a nerdy museum of some kind. Also, the pass is good for 9 days, so it'll be a big expensive trip.

Had a great time with Scott and his girlfriend Allison. We walked like, 2 miles, trying to find Giordano's Pizza - in part because it's Stu's favorite chain, in part because I'd never had authentic deep dish. This was also my first time to Chicago, despite living 2 hours away for 4 years. After stuffing myself, we rode the 'L' into downtown Chicago (the whole time I kept fantasizing about skipping a day of school to see the sights, making dozens of police cars chase me all over town, and then hunting down the one armed man - and if I was very lucky, seeing Janitor [bonus points to anybody who got that one]).

An eerily quiet Chicago downtown awaited us. We saw the Magnificent Mile (why is it magnificent? because of shopping, apparently, not because of grisly murders), Sears Tower (from the ground), and the street they filmed some of The Dark Knight on. Took pictures at the Bean (sigh). Later that night Scott made us pot roast and we watched a bit of vintage Ah-nold.

The next day we drove to Green Bay. The drive up was pretty uneventful, even if Milwaukee was 50x bigger than I thought it would be (I guess when the only idea of Wisconsin I have is from That 70's Show, I kinda imagined the whole state looked like Eric Forman's house).

Green Bay The City is awesome. The whole town is just like you think - everybody there has a cute almost Canadian accent (mostly it's the drawn out "o"s) and a Favre jersey, even with all the crazy shit that's been going on with him being traded to the Jets. I watched Jenny buy a ton of Packers stuff she's been wanting for a long time, 'cuz it's cheaper/only found there.

Every fan we met there was super nice. Granted, it's not like the Bengals and Packers are hard-core division rivals, but basically it was nothing but smiles and waves. I got to try more local food: butter burgers, cheese curds, and a real bratwurst. Fantastic. My first NFL game was at historic Lambeau, and it was really pretty amazing, like any old stadium should be.

Our sign ("We drove 8 hours to get here, and the loser pays gas!") made some people laugh, but it didn't get us on TV. Oh well. Turns out the family behind us drove 18 hours from Montana, anyway, so it didn't seem so impressive. Plus it was a lie...beforehand we decided that I'd buy tickets, Jenny would buy gas. Yes, that's right, I lied to try to get on the Jumbotron.

Speaking of tickets, our seats were on the 20 yard line-ish, and the view was about the same as Ross-Ade watching the Boilermakers, that is to say pretty decent. The preseason game doesn't count for anything, but it was awesome to see our teams actually playing, tackling, passing, and kicking against each other. Bengals won 20-17, and I was happy to see Aaron Rodgers take over the Packers offense without Favre and do a good job. The drunkest fans we saw were middle aged schoolteachers sitting in the row in front of us. Odd.

The next part of the trip started right after the game. We drove about an hour and a half West of GB to a little town called Waupaca to stay with Jenny's aunt and uncle. They were really nice and drove us around the area to show us some parks and lakes and take us out to eat. Uncle Dennis had an amazing vinyl collection that I went really crazy for. Like for all of Jenny's family, I turned up the charm hoping they would like me. Like all of Jenny's family, I think it worked :D

Unlike the 2-day trip up, we drove back all in one day on Wednesday. We covered close to 400 miles. The rest stop was in Pleasant Prairie (right near the southern WI border) to take a tour of the Jelly Belly factory. Seriously, we only stopped here to stretch our legs, but it was a fun stop. Bought some JB irregulars ("Belly Flops") and some caffeinated "sport beans". The next "stop" was rush-hour Chicago. Seriously...close to 3 hours to go like, 60 miles, and I think we spent 20 dollars in tolls. In retrospect, FUCK toll roads. We drove s'more and had a nice dinner with Benji and Corrie in Valpo (and found a sweet water park for next year).

Whew. Next up: Judas Priest concert on Tuesday.

NFL Predictions, 2008-2009 Season Start

Current Mood: catch up

Fantasy football drafts tomorrow- holy cow I'm so pumped. We have more than double the teams of last year, and most of the people signed up are way into the game. I've got my NFL draft magazine, cheat sheets, and bye week charts at the ready.

Bring it on.

This year, I want to learn more of the Bengals roster - learn the names of guys like Dexter Jackson. To start, I've decided to keep a printout of the depth chart in my room. Also, probably keep a list of all the coaches, starting QBs, and all 32 teams divided into their conferences and divisions, and try to learn all of those.

Predictions:

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Best coaching job: Tony Sparano (Dolphins)
Worst coaching job: Bobby Petrino (Falcons)
Rising star: Braylon Edwards (Browns)
Falling star: Reggie Bush (Saints)
Best game: New England @ NY Jets, Sunday September 14th
Worst game: Kansas City @ Falcons, Sunday September 21st
Most improved: David Garrard (Jaguars)
Least improved: JaMarcus Russell (Raiders)
Comeback player of the year: Chad Pennington (Dolphins)

Biggest Fantasy Surprise: Troy Smith (Ravens)
Biggest Fantasy Disappointment: Tom Brady (Patriots)

Playoffs:

AFC

North: Browns
South: Colts
East: Jets
West: Chargers
Wildcards: Patriots, Bengals

Champion: Colts

NFC

North: Packers
South: Buccaneers
East: Cowboys
West: Seahawks
Wildcards: Saints, Giants

Champion: Cowboys

Super Bowl Winner: Cowboys, 24-17

in moderation

Current Mood: anxious

I am going to try and stay away from repeating last year's football mania, where every week I wrote up a summary of the action in both NCAAF and NFL of all my favorite teams, their rivals, my hated teams, and division and conference foes, plus can't miss highlights. I say this for a number of reasons - most people bored of it quickly, it became something of an obsession, and it took a ton of time, and towards the end I felt compelled to do it for completeness, as part of the status quo, rather than for fun. It felt like a chore, and if it comes to that I should probably either put that writing on another site (a sports page) and/or try to get paid for it. There are plenty of people who get paid to do that sort of thing and I'm not going to try and compete.

That said...

I am way stoked for football to come back. Purdue's coach Joe Tiller is retiring this year, and our QB Curtis Painter has a ton of experience and should put up great numbers. Jenny and I are tripping to Green Bay for a preseason game (on ESPN for Monday Night Football - you all should watch), I have a new jersey to wear, and let's not forget fantasy football.

More people are gonna play FF this year, my roommates are way more into football than last year (which isn't saying much...I'm pretty sure John couldn't name more than 2 NFL players - and that's okay, I'm just trying to give some perspective). Roommates have cable TV with DVR and get ESPN plus I have a bunch of bar-age friends to go watch games with at fun sports bars.

My, how times have changed. I like to play Madden now, fer chrissake.

Some hopes:

*Purdue finishes with at least a winning season for Tiller, and Painter gets drafted by the NFL (joining Drew Brees and Kyle Orton) to a cool team. While I'm at it, let's pretend I get to go see Purdue beat OSU @ Columbus.

*This Favre/Rodgers deal gets situated soon, and Jenny is happy, and the Packers community escapes with dignity intact and the least amount of feelings hurt. Favre wins all of football and then retires for real, having had the best season in the history of ever with a super bowl win, then Aaron Rodgers steps up and does great things.

*Tony Romo doesn't fuck up in the playoffs...again.

*Carson Palmer finds targets downfield and the Cincinnati D becomes an unstoppable wall of menacing talent. Chad Johnson settles down and makes Randy Moss look like a CFL player. Nobody on the team stabs, robs, rapes, burgles, or frightens anybody else for one whole calendar year.

*The New Orleans Saints win their division, having been carried there by the stunningly brilliant Good Brees and Good Saints.

*The Patriots and Colts hate each other so much that neither of them bother playing anybody else, and the result is that some other teams get to play in December.


I'll leave the nasty stuff about the Bears, and the Steelers, and the Browns, and Tom Brady, and IU and Notre Dame and Michigan and the Yankees for some other time.

big payoff

Current Mood: productive

I thought the 4th of July was pretty much a holiday unto itself, but apparently it's actually more of a celebration + 3 day weekend, or something. Because of this, I have my favorite holiday (Friday) off, but am working close to 30 hours of the Saturday and Sunday afterward. I was assigned most of those hours on top of my normal ones because apparently nobody else around the hall wants to work.

This is doubly sucky because I have three separate friends coming in from out of town coming to see me (at least in part). I've also been warned three separate times not to attempt to get onto a roof of a Purdue building to watch the fireworks (the penalty is instant termination). I would feel somewhat insulted, but I've more or less made it my mission the past two summers to gain legitimate access to the roofs of University Residences as often as possible.

Attempts: many.
Successes: one.

That said, maybe I'm just paying my dues now. I say this because it looks like August is shaping up to be a pretty awesome month. I'm gonna have a new pool at my new apartment, so I'm looking forward to swimming.

I just ordered my *free* lawn ticket for the Metal Masters tour with Judas Priest. It came free with their newest 2 disc album, Nostradamus. I'll be going with Future Roommate Greg, and I'm really excited. I've only been to 2 concerts - Stxy/REO Speedwagon and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Also, it looks like my trip to Green Bay with Jenny for Bengals/Packers preseason is gonna happen, too. I'm probably more excited for that. I need to find some orange and black to wear, since it's going to be Monday Night Football and I sure would love to make it on the Jumbotron...

forecast

Current Mood: pensive

I'm not a fan of laundry list posts, but this is more for me than anybody. Plus I just rolled out a survey post, which is pretty lame too. Deal :D

So it's about halfway through June, which means summer is approximately half over for me.

Finals ended Saturday, May 3rd. As soon as I was done with all my finals and a paper, I left Purdue. Jenny and I went to Cincinnati for about a week, went to Union Terminal to see Bodies (the Exhibition) and went to a Red's game. Then I came back and moved into Earhart, and had a week of straight training before jumping right into work. Since then I've beaten Metroid Prime: Corruption and read some books I've wanted to for a while (mostly stuff I put off during the school year). I went to Joey Steenbergen's wedding, and Benji & Corrie's wedding reception. My 22nd birthday came and went. I performed a special summer improv show for Earhart Hall summer school residents with most of the SoF. I've gone to see Iron Man and Indy 4. I've posed as a model for a Purdue brochure. I stopped biting my fingernails! I've kept up on my goal of posting here and on my other story site at least once a week (but not much more). I have also picked up a few extra hours helping with Day on Campus Tours, but for the most part I've been relaxing and hanging out with my friends that have been here (including a game of the new D&D 4.0 rules).

Pretty busy, I think. I am trying not to waste away my summer, but really relax and not overstress. I need some time to recharge my batteries. Thinking back to last summer, I should've either gotten more rigid deadlines from Dr. D for our research, or seriously considered limiting myself to just either a job, or my fellowship.

So where does that leave me for the rest of the summer? I've got from now until summer "ends" with the start of class- Monday August 25th. As of now:

I have about 25 hours of work every week for most of the rest of that time. I don't know when my last day will be, but the last day I could possibly work is August 8th.

That's also the last day for my current apartment lease, so sometime around there I'll need to move. That means up until then I need to continue whittling down the things I have here at Earhart. Peace has to move out, and I'll have to sort out everything there between me n' Alex. Then between Jenny, probably Greg, and hopefully mom coming to help, I'll move everything out of Earhart and Harrison over to my new apartment on the landing.

Mom wants me to try and go to an airshow July 19 and 20th, but I don't know if I'll be able to get off of work then. Similarly, my favorite holiday (4th of July) is coming up, and I'd like to hang out with everybody near Purdue and watch the fireworks, but I may have to work.

I'd like to go to Ft. Wayne and visit Andy and Jacque, and possibly someplace in Chicago - maybe see Scott? On top of that, Monday August 11th, Jenny and I are thinking about going to Green Bay WI to see the Bengals play the Packers @ Lambeau for the preseason. This may or may not count as our anniversary celebration. :D All of that takes a ton of money and gas is a lot more expensive than past summers, so we'll see. I will probably go home after apartment moving and before classes.

GenCon in mid-August, maybe? Also if I can get the right ticket, maybe a Judas Priest concert with future roommate Greg (how much would that rule?)

I will try and make it through the rest of my pile of books, Beard's comics, and finish at the very least Pokemon Diamond and Super Mario Galaxy. I've also got some computer maintenance to do (clean out bookmarks, clean up music files, etc.) but that's not high priority.

I'm going to make a point to keep posting to my blogs. By my best estimate, I have 14 chapters of my story left until I hit my goal [(50k - current 31,819) / 1300 word/chapter average) = 13.9]. I won't stop until I hit 50k, but I also won't quit until I've told my story. At one chapter/week average, I'll be done in 14 weeks, which means I won't finish before the summer ends. Fine, except my posting rate plummets as school picks up.

I should go give blood again, soon.

The last thing I'm writing about as a goal for the summer directly parallels my feeling about it. Something I've been putting off since the end of school. I need to talk to my counselor and get registered for the fall, and possibly take a summer class for July. Ugh.
Do. Not. Want.

face the music

Current Mood: limbo

Soooo...life. Stuff. Things. As thrilled as I am to be back in school with a schedule and a purpose and such, I can't say it's gone too smoothly. Here are some thoughts.

I'm on track 2844 of 6599 of the Great Alpha Scrobble, in the middle of the "If" songs. That's about 43% complete. The halfway track is "L.A. Woman" by The Doors, one letter short of the middle of the alphabet. Technically it's between song 3299 and 3300, but oddly they're both the same song - one is a live version. It's been a test of willpower at times to resist switching tracks to listen to what I want at the time, and to get used to Led Zeppelin to Freezepop transitions. While this is a great look at some of my rarely-played tracks, I also am getting a better idea of what music of mine I can safely get rid of.

I've got a more healthy outlook recently. I've tried to get some better foods like yogurt and such in my life, for example. I'm brushing my teeth much more, but that may be because I think I need to have my wisdom teeth taken out soon. :(

Purdue won their bowl game - barely (against a team we steamrolled earlier in the season). The Bengals had a losing season (again) and I hope they get some sweet draft picks. I won my fantasy football championship...it was much less exciting than I imagined. I was pretty good at picking playoff teams. Cowboys lost to the Giants and are out of the playoffs, which was shocking and quite frankly, disappointing. Looks like the Patriots are gonna win everything, which is also disappointing. I am rooting for the Packers all the way.

I still need to register to vote and get my absentee ballot. More thoughts on politics forthcoming.

It was nice to get home for Christmas and spend time with my family. I wasn't really comfortable at all with the two Christmas setup, but we had a plan and stuck to it. I got a tonnnn of DVDs, yay (I have restored my list of DVDs and added it to my links list).

I'm trying to avoid TV (American Gladiators, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and video games (Smash Brothers, Metroid) in lieu of focusing on academics this semester. My schedule is okay but MWF are pretty long. It is super important I do well this semester. That said, my current financial aid situation is FUBAR and it's maddening to try and straighten it out.

Improv is back for this year and we've got our work cut out for us. We've got about half a month to prepare for our callout and a trip to Chicago, plus the return of the AOO and other shows booked for this spring.

inching closer

Current Mood: sheepish

Nothing new with college football. Still waitin' for bowls. This means NFL is up next:

Good Brees gave the Falcons the what-for, with a 34-14 thrashing on Monday Night Football. 3 TDs, 328 yards, and no picks - yay! The Falcons have slim playoff hopes as they are now 6-7, facing the 6-7 Cardinals this week.

Speaking of Purdue Quarterbacks, Kyle Orton will be starting for the Bears at Minnesota on MNF this week. *is anxious*

Speaking of the Falcons, Michael Vick got a 23 month sentence, and most commentators seem to feel he will return to the NFL at some point. I think that's a little light considering the offenses, including lying once caught about drug use. He got a worse sentence than his conspirators (who had criminal records). I think that prison and age are going to wear him out if/when he returns, and he'll be much less mobile (but not for lack of trying).

And speaking of the Cardinals, I'm really not sold on their QB Kurt Warner. The other week he threw some 480 yards and have kept his team alive in the rapidly-closing playoffs picture. Still, last week the Seahawks outscored them 2:1, with a final score of 42-21, with 5 sacks. I just don't but into the hype, I guess.

The Colts proved that only New England has to fear the Ravens, beating them 44-20. When did OSU Heisman winner Troy Smith make it to be the Ravens QB?!

While we're on the subject of the Patriots, I would normally be glad they beat the Steelers (Bengals rival), and put that smart-mouthed safety (Anthony Smith) in his place with a sound 34-13 win. Except now they're probably going to reach the playoffs undefeated. Boo.

Green Bay destroyed the Raiders, 38-7. Favre kept his streak alive, and Ryan Grant (RB) continues to dominate. I was especially pleased when I saw that Favre had over 6,000 passing yards in games below freezing, whereas the Raiders QB Walter (not their babied prize horse JaMarcus Russell) had never played in a game that cold. In fact, they didn't put Russell in because he was too cold, and they're waiting for a positive opportunity to put him in. Well, sorry folks, here in the NFL it's sink or swim, and if you wait to be on top to start a rookie QB, you might be waitin' a while. Packers move to 11-2 and play 3-10 Rams this week.

Cowboys nearly lost to the Lions! Only a last minute drive, featuring the Romo-Witten Express saved the day, barely winning 28-27. Now, granted, the Lions haven't been playing well lately, but have shown flashes of brilliance this season. Still, the way Dallas played, the Lions should've won. That said, it's really how you play the last few minutes that counts in the NFL - so the Cowboys improve to 21-1, and face division rivals the Eagles (5-8) this week.

Lastly, my fears that the Bengals would fall to the Rams were unfounded. Several field goals later, the Bengals won 19-10. It helped that we faced a rookie QB. Cincinnati is now 5-8, and face a similar opponent in last week's Rams, the 3-10 49ers. As John Madden might say, "they aren't happy with the way this season has gone, so they're playing for respect".


Week 2 of 3 - Semifinals.

Brad and Sis were eliminated, and now they play for 5th and 6th spot. I'm happy to say I won my first playoff game, posting the second highest score that's been in our league this season: 137.5 (the top score was something like 139). I played all my best players, and they all had outstanding days (biggest stud: Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck, who came out of nowhere with four passing TDs for 35.2 fantasy points.

Unfortunately, this week I have to play our #1 seed, Bill. I'm a 15 point underdog, and my star RB, Saints' Reggie Bush, is out for the season on a knee injury. I'm trying to pick up a new running back on waivers that'll push me to the win, but I don't see it happening.

On some level, I wish I could've "saved" that score for this upcoming week, because that's my only realistic shot at winning vs. Bill's Tom Brady led team. Still, I guess I'd rather put up what points I can and worry about not losing early.

Most likely Jenny and I will both lose to the top two teams (going to our "super bowl") and we'll play for third place.

football, what else?

Current Mood: indecisive

Purdue has accepted an invitation to the Motor City Bowl on Wednesday, December 26th at 7:30 pm at Ford Field in Detroit, MI. They will be facing the Central Michigan Chippewas, who finished 8-5 overall as champions of the Mid-American Conference over Miami (OH). This may sound familiar as Purdue beat Cent. Michigan earlier in the year, 45-22 on Sept. 13th at Ross-Ade Stadium. Not exactly my favorite option, especially since it's a repeat, but maybe we'll actually win our bowl this year. *rolls eyes*

Other NCAAF bowls I am interested in:

Sunday December 23, 2007

*Hawaii Bowl, 8:00 pm
(24) Boise St. vs East Carolina
Here we go, Boise St.! Let's see some trick plays!

Tuesday January 1, 2008

*Capital One Bowl, 11:00 am
Michigan vs. (9) Florida
I hope Michigan loses!

*Rose Bowl, 4:30 pm
(13) Illinois vs. (6) USC
The Rose Bowl is classic, and I usually root for the Big Ten. This one is for Mrs. Kuzma.

*Sugar Bowl, 8:30 pm
(10) Hawaii vs. (4) Georgia
I, for one, recognize that Hawaii was the only unbeaten team in the BCS. Show 'em how it's done, guys.

Monday January 7, 2008

*BCS Championship, 8:00 pm
(2) LSU vs. (1) OSU
I was pretty shocked OSU rose to first place after all the other losses, but go Bucks!



And now, NFL...

The giant matchup of the NFC ended with Dallas over Green Bay, 37-27. It was a great game, but I was a little worried that Favre left with an injury. Still, Aaron Rodgers played well as a backup, and Brett should be okay to start this weekend. I honestly feel the Packers lost because of injuries at defense, but they should still cruise into the playoffs! I was also really happy to see Tony Romo handle the spotlight well. Jenny and I showed up to BW3's about 40 minutes early and it was SRO, so we went next door to the River Rock Grille. The wait staff ignored us until minutes before kickoff, and the food was not very good...but the fans were great! Pretty much everybody was really into it there, and acted classy on top of it. My only real beef with the evening was stupid NFL network and its hoarding of key games. Not that I have tv to watch anyway, and it was nice to get out and watch the game like some people, but still. Green Bay is 10-2, facing the 4-8 Raiders this week.

Seahawks beat the Eagles, 28-24. This one made me a little sad, because I thought Eagles backup QB A.J. Feeley had some magic. Looks like he needs some more practice, and that's cool.

Jags fall to the Colts, 28-25. That's two games behind to their division leader, so that pretty much locks up that. I think I read that Indy has won that division every year since it was formed except for the first. Crazy! Tony Dungy has my respect for consistency, if nothing else.

The Detroit Lions (I almost typed "Detroit Loins", which made me giggle) promised at least 10 wins this season. They fell to 6-6 with a lopsided 42-10 loss to the Vikings. Sorry guys, the Pack owns the NFC North, and now you've got to try and keep the 11-1 Cowboys down this week.

Poor Dolphins. Their "best shot at winning" this year, and avoiding 0-16, was supposed to be this past week vs. the 2-9 Jets. They lost 40-13, and still have to face the Bills, Ravens, Bengals, and the Patriots. There's a good chance they won't win any of those, either.

Cardinals "won" over the Browns, 27-21. I use quotes because if you watch the replays, I'm pretty sure the Cardinals' final TD FTW came from a bad call. Still, apparently Kurt Warner (Cards QB) is a beast? Eh, whatever keeps the Browns down...

Bad Saints lost to the Bucs, 27-23. I'm gonna go ahead and blame Reggie Bush and coach Sean Payton for a botched trick play. I love trick plays, but when you're up late in the 4th, you gotta hold onto the ball first and foremost. They are now 5-7 (after going to the playoffs last year) and face the 3-9 Falcons on Monday Night this week. Even the Bad Saints should be able to put this one away.

Eli Manning is anything but 'unstoppable'.

WHAT THE FUCK, RAVENS? Patriots squeak out a win over Baltimore, 27-24 on Monday Night. You've got a weak AFC North team on center stage, and they were leading most of the game vs. "the perfect team". Suddenly the imploded in the fourth quarter, with bad calls, penalties, a painful time out that blew a key stop, and finally a beautiful hail-mary heave that stopped on the two yard line. *sigh* If a crappy team like the (3-8) Ravens can almost beat the (12-0) Patriots, the Steelers (9-3) should really have a chance at keeping them from going 16-0 this weekend.

And, heading for some sweet draft picks are my Cincinnati Bengals. Unless they win their remaining four games (unlikely), the Bengals will finish their 16th losing season of the past 17. That's after a 24-10 loss to the Steelers, snapping a weird AFC North road-team winning streak at the Steelers' home field. Judging from their opening drive, I thought the Bengals would at least keep this one close, but instead Palmer had a palsy and the Steelers woke up. They are now 4-8, facing the suddenly scary 3-9 Rams this week. I will be so pissed if they lose to the Dolphins.


And lastly, fantasy football...

All six teams are in our playoffs. Week 1 of 3 - Quarterfinals.

Bill and Cooper have first round byes. Jenny faces Bradley, and I am projected to win over Sis.

Technically I earned a wild card spot with a 5-8 record in the regular season, good for 4th place. I lost my final game, and I was NOT happy. I had unproductive days from a few of my stars, but I think I did pretty well overall. Cooper, my competition, had three 0 point players and STILL beat me. Lookin' forward to next year...

RomoCop

Current Mood: hesitant

This is pretty much all football.

Some of this is a bit late because of the holidays, but hopefully that will mean I'm extra concise. Let's go!

Purdue lost to rival Indiana University 27-24. Don't let the score fool you, we got our asses kicked. It was embarrassing, and they took home the Old Oaken Bucket. Not only are they eligible for the first time in 14 years, it also really hurt our chances of getting into a decent bowl ourselves by losing. Purdue really has developed a reputation for not beating quality teams, and I can only hope that this upcoming year - QB Painter's senior year - will be his best by far, since we lost a good number of talented seniors (like Dorien Bryant). Speculation has already started on what bowl (if any) Purdue will play in, and we will know soon after the final games have finished. And finally, in a move that felt like my Bengals, Purdue's fourth best WR Selwyn Lymon was kicked off the team because of arrests and DUIs.

Can't really believe OSU lost to Illinois, but I'm glad they beat Michigan 14-3. If the right teams win and lose this weekend, OSU could still play in the championship game, but I doubt that will happen. In other news, Boise State lost only its second game to Hawaii, 39-27 for the WAC championship.

And finally, for those of you who don't understand the BCS formula, here's some help. And for those who hate it, here's a playoff picture you might get behind.

The NFL continues to chug along, and this weekend will be the 13th week of 17 (it seems like they have just flown by!). I am super excited, but let's take it one team at a time.

The Patriots beat the Bills 56-10, no surprise there. They almost lost to the Eagles this week, however. Tom Brady drove them to a comeback 31-28 win from behind in the closing minutes to put them at 11-0. I don't know what's most surprising- that the Eagles had their backup QB in (since Donovan McNabb is not healthy consistently), or that Tom Brady had a very normal average game. I almost made a bet with mom that they will go 16-0, but I didn't have the guts to commit. I guess that means I think they'll still lose, though probably not this Monday vs. the Ravens (4-7) or later in a big match up vs. the Steelers the next week (see: loss to the horrible Jets and an almost loss to the still-winless Dolphins).

Speaking of the Dolphins, I'm kinda curious to see if they can go 0-16. I kinda want that to happen just for the record, since I'm not really big on that team. Which do you think will happen first - Dolphins win or Patriots lose?

There are now 33 teams in the NFL. Gone are the New Orleans Saints, in their place are what I have dubbed "Good Saints" and "Bad Saints". Bad Saints lost 23-10 to the Texans. Good Saints crushed division rival Panthers 31-6. Both Saints teams are 5-6, 2 games behind 7-4 division rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom they play this weekend. Which team will show up? I think GS will win and bring them to a within realistic shot of the playoffs, and BS will start a slide away from which they cannot recover. The time for action is now, Good Brees! Show us the Good Saints.

The Browns have won 4 of their last 5 for 2nd in the AFC North (I'm just as shocked as you), and the Ravens have lost 5 in a row, a franchise record. Browns may lose QB Derek Anderson at the end of the season, which may put them back to losers with Brady Quinn...and I would be happy with that.

After a near loss (13-10) to the Chiefs and a solid 31-13 Thanksgiving win over the Falcons, the banged-up 9-2 Colts now have to hold off their only serious division contender, the Jaguars this weekend. I am rooting for the 8-3 Jags. I also hope that the Patriots suffer a series of injuries like the Colts and let another team take the top spot for a bit.

The so-so Seahawks beat the Bears 30-23 and then barely scraped out a 24-19 win vs. the suddenly healthy and tenacious Rams. They are now 7-4 facing the 5-6 Eagles next.

Random thoughts. Um...I still really think Devin Hester is amazing. Kurt Warner (Arizona QB) threw for 484 yards last week, whaaat? I like Eli Manning even less than Peyton. I like watching football on Thanksgiving now, which is an odd change. Kevin Everett is doing much better (great), but Redskins safety Sean Taylor died from a gunshot wound unrelated to football (one of several negatives in the NFL this year).

After hurting Adrian Peterson, the Green Bay Packers tore up WR Steve Smith of the Panthers and won 31-17 two weeks ago. Then, on a classic Thanksgiving day game, they whomped division rival the Lions 37-26. The Lions are on the ropes anyway (3L streak), but the Packers suffered several injuries that may hurt them in the short term.

This is SUPER IMPORTANT, because this Thursday they will play the Dallas Cowboys. Jenny and I are going to watch the game at Buffalo Wild Wings because it's only broadcast on the NFL network. The Cowboys won against division Redskins 28-23, then on Thanksgiving beat the Jets on the road 34-3. Now both teams are 10-1 and this game represents the best of the NFC (sort of like the Colts/Patriots game earlier). I think it will be a fantastic game, and I really won't be upset no matter who wins. It should determine playoff home-field advantage, and I love both QBs (similar gunslinger styles). Both teams are about to wrap up their respective divisions for playoffs. I'm excited to go watch at a sports bar, I'm excited to watch with my girlfriend who is probably a bigger football fan than I am, and I'm excited that both teams are doing really well. Woo! I hope Favre doesn't retire for several more years, and when he does, he becomes Tony Romo's mentor.

Lastly, my Bengals. After a disappointing 35-27 loss to the Cardinals, the Bengals turned things around against Vince Young (why is everybody so gay for this dude?) and the Titans the next week. They won solidly 35-6 and Chad Johnson returned to old form - 12 catches with 3 TDs and a camera commandeering celebration. They crawl to 4-7, tied for last in the AFC North with the Ravens. Still, they are playing this Sunday night against the 8-3 Steelers, which means I actually get to watch them. With the Packers/Cowboys game on this week and then Bengals/Steelers, I win twice.

Finally (concise entry my ass), fantasy football. Further proof that this is D&D for jocks. Our league has six teams, so everybody gets to the playoffs. The records as they are, however, means that the seeding is pretty much set, and I'll probably win the first round and lose the next. Bill and Cooper will play for the title. *sigh* I've dropped McNabb because of all his injuries, relying solely on Matt Hasselbeck (not my ideal situation). I've lost two in a row, and when my best players have outstanding days, the other team's best players have incredible days. It's really frustrating, but I already want to draft a new team for next year and do better. I also hope to play in a league that's more enthusiastic, and more equal, as it were. I'm now 5-7 in fourth place, projected to lose this final week (before playoffs) against Cooper no matter who I start.

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...

celebrity shirt

Current Mood: authory

Quickly! Write about football before the weekend gets here!

Surprise, surprise. Purdue lost to Penn St., 26-19. Not much to say here...Purdue fails against tough teams, we're already bowl eligible. Curtis Painter had his first game this season without a TD, which dropped him a few places - he's now barely in the top 30 in NCAAF QBs. Purdue is 3-3 Big Ten, 7-3 all facing Michigan St. Spartans (1-5, 5-5) next in our last home game.

Won again in Fantasy Football, moving to 5-4 and a three way tie for second. I face Jenny this week, and the projections put us with 10 points of each other. Just three more weeks until our playoffs.

Donovan McNabb (Eagles QB) said the road to the NFC East championship still runs through Philadelphia. Well, tell that to Tony Romo and co. who rolled their way over the Eagles 38-17 on Sunday night. Eagles coach Andy Reid has come under fire for having a drug magnate son, more controversy coming from the disparity between his [lack of] punishment and Michael Vick. I say that's because kids don't idolize a fat walrus looking man who who screams from the sidelines. Coming up for the Cowboys: a tough division road game against the 6-2 Giants

Colts blew a 10 point lead at home in the 4th quarter, losing 24-20 to the Patriots. Come on! Maybe if the Colts could draw double and triple coverage with [absent] Marvin Harrison, like the Patriots did with Randy Moss, we'd see a different outcome. As it is, I'm thinking New England might go 16-0.

Browns beat the Seahawks 33-30 in overtime, whaaat? Whatever, just don't make me watch the Bengals lose to Brady Quinn at the helm of Cleveland. Fun fact: the Seahawks, now 4-4 having dropped 3 of the last 5, still lead the NFC West by a game. What a pushover division.

Not a big fan of LaDanian Tomlinson, so I'm glad Adrian Peterson beat the Chargers 35-17. Oh, I guess there were some other Vikings there, too.

Lions over Broncos, 44-7? WHAT?

The Saints breezed past the Jags, 41-24. Let me tell you, I am really really amazed at Drew Brees turning things around. New Orleans is now at .500, winning 4 straight after going 0-4. Here are the numbers, folks: "Since starting 0-4, Drew Brees' numbers are through the roof. Over the last four games, he's got a 115.1 quarterback rating, completing over 71 percent of his passes for 1,246 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception." - Yahoo Sports. They play the winless Rams (0-8) next.

Brett Favre is keeping up with Romo, and the Packers cruise to 7-1 over the Chiefs in a 33-22 win. Number 4 joins Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the only QBs to have beaten 31 teams. I hope they keep things up against the 3-5 Vikings this week. It looks like the rest of November is where the NFC plays out.

Lastly, the heartbreakers, my Cincinnati Bengals. Lost 33-21 to the Bills (I can't even name a single the Bills player - can you?). Bengals move to 2-6, with one of the worst three defenses in the league. Our star receiver Chad Johnson hurt his neck and is questionable going into this week's game. Given Chad's numbers (2nd best receiver in the NFL behind Patriot's Randy Moss) and TJ's consistency (8 straight games with a TD), and the awesomeness that is Carson Palmer (some think he's the 3rd best NFL QB right now) - WHY are things so terrible? Yes, our defense is falling apart. Yes, over a dozen Bengals players have had legal problems in the past year. It just feels like the AFC North is fucked to hell right now, with the Steelers and the Browns of all teams, dominating. Even the Ravens (4-4) make us look bad, and we play them this week. It's on the road...a place we haven't won at yet this year.