January 1st
Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs Georgia, Noon (ESPN2: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards) Color me shocked that Georgia has a worst defense than Nebraska. But of course Nebraska's problem has always been their QB situation. And thankfully for the souls of Nebraska fans Taylor Martinez is about to play his last game for the Cornhuskers. Also could this be the last game for Nebraska coach Bo Pelini? After the Iowa loss it sounded like Pelini was done at Nebraska. What happens if they get blown out in this game? For my entertainment value I hope Pelini stays at Nebraska forever.
Heart of Dallas Bowl: UNLV vs North Texas, Noon (ESPNU: Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb, Dawn Davenport) Why is this game played during New Year's Day? Who's going to watch it besides these team's fan bases? And you know what this game will be kind of exciting because neither team can play defense.
Outback Bowl: LSU vs Iowa, 1:00 (ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters) I watched last week's MNF game between the Falcon-Niners with my father. During the entire game he kept calling Gruden, "spanky". I couldn't figure out why my father kept calling Gruden that until I realized he meant "Chucky". How you get "spanky" instead of "Chucky" is beyond me but this is the same guy who at times rather see Colt McCoy play instead of Kaepernick.
Rose Bowl: Michigan State vs Stanford, 5:00 (ESPN: Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox) I'm unusually excited for this game and I know exactly how it will play out. It will be a defensive stand still and I'll be regretting my excitement by halftime. I'd be surprised if either of these teams score more than 21 points and don't punt at least 5 times each. It's going to be defensive with little offense and ground and pound. It'll be uglier than Anderson Silva's broken leg.
Fiesta Bowl: UCF vs Baylor, 8:30 (ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Shannon Spake) You can call this game the "empty seat game" because both UCF and Baylor have sent back a total of 15,000 tickets the Fiesta Bowl gave to them to sell. Now here's the kick, both of those schools still have to pay for those tickets! UCF is going to have to pay $2 million bucks to the Fiesta Bowl to cover for those unsold tickets. Could these bowl games be a bigger racket for the people who run them? How much money do you think the people running this bowl game makes? I bet they make as much money hosting this one game than George O'Leary gets from UCF in a year.
January 2nd
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs Oklahoma, 8:30 (ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe) How the hell did Oklahoma sneak into this game and how the hell was the BCS top 10 this bad? And how badly is Alabama going to beat Oklahoma? Remember this is the same Sooner team that was thrashed by a Texas team teetering on collapse after an embarrassing loss to BYU. This is the same Sooner team that was thrashed by Baylor. Alabama is going to skull fuck Oklahoma.
January 3rd
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State vs Missouri, 7:30 (FOX: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Kristina Pink) Second year in a row a Oklahoma team is facing off against a former Big 12 team in the Cotton Bowl. This year's game should be more exciting than A&M trouncing Oklahoma last year. You have two top flight offenses in a dome. You're going to see another SEC championship style game here.
Orange Bowl: Clemson vs Ohio State, 8:30 (ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen, Maria Taylor) What's Ohio State's mind set going into this game? They looked devastated after losing the B1G championship game, are they going to be mentally ready for this game? I would say Ohio State has no chance winning this game but they are playing against Clemson and Clemson gives every team a chance to win.
January 4th
BBVA Compass Bowl: Vanderbilt vs Houston, 1:00 (ESPN: Dave Neal, Andre Ward, Dawn Davenport) This game just isn't the same without Pittsburgh to kick around and make fun of.
January 5th
GoDaddy Bowl: Arkansas State vs Ball State, 9:00 (ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Danny Kanell, Allison Williams) The third year in a row Arkansas State is playing in this game and it's the third year in a row a interim coach will be leading them. Amazing that Arkansas State out of all places has become a hot bed for college coaches but it has. Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn, and Bryan Harsin all coached their one year and all have left for better jobs after that one year.
January 6th
BCS National Championship: Florida State vs Auburn, 8:30 (ESPN: Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox, Tom Rinaldi) I'm picking Florida State in this game for two reasons: 1) Auburn won their last two regular season games with a lot of luck (tipped pass and a Saban brainfart) 2) Auburn's defense is bad. The 2nd point is key. Auburn's defense gave up a lot of points this season. They gave up 23 points to Tennessee and Tennessee was bad offensively. How the hell are they going to stop Florida State's offense when they couldn't stop Missouri's offense or Georgia's? And Florida State actually has a defense so it won't be easy for Auburn to score in this game.
The other factor going against Auburn is luck. They're lucky to even be in this game. Two miracle finishes to finish the season. Luck runs out eventually and it usually runs out in championship games or series' (ask the St. Louis Cardinals and their ridiculous BABIP going into the World Series). And that's why I don't like Auburn in this game. They've had a nice season, a great season even. But it's been a lucky season and that luck is about to run out.
Recipe of the Week, Slow Cooked Pot Roast: There are certain things your parents cook during your childhood that you never forget. Pot Roast is one of those things my mother cooked that I never forgot. It's tender meat along with potatoes and carrots is still one of my favorites. The amazing thing is that you can never quite cook this favorite meal like your parents. There's something usually off with the meal. Doesn't taste quite right and that's because your parent uses some sort of ingredient that you don't even know about. I need to find the secret ingredient for my mom's pot roast.
Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, Duck Duck Goose: Interesting beer because of the tart taste it leaves as an aftertaste. It's almost like drinking a sour candy except better.
BABIP really should be used in all sports. It would explain a lot.
ReplyDeleteAdd Tom Rinaldi to the NCG announce team.
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteI like mixing in Lawry's Seasoned Salt whenever my wife and I make pot roast, though I'm such a devotee of that kind of seasoning I have been known to put it on my salads (don't knock it til you try it).
ReplyDeleteI'm not big on salt, even though I'm a fat guy. Even a little pinch of salt makes me drink water like a camel after a 40 day ride in the Sahara.
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