October 2009 Archives

A.  Herky
B.  4
C.  Awesome
D.  Pumpkin

• Of course the correct answer is [B] 4. 
  
• Florida is number one in the BCS standings and IOWA is 4.

Speaking of rankings ... Wisconsin "moved up" in the USA Today poll.  By NOT playing, they were able to garner an additional 23 votes ... not too shabby.  Unfortunately, the Badgers do not have the luxury of another bye week.  Instead, the Boilermakers are charging into Madison with the goal of extending their winning streak.  It hardly seems fair ... two weeks ago Purdue was beating Ohio State while Wisconsin was losing to IOWA.  Bragging rights are up for grabs here people.  This is what The Cup is all about! 

There is one more G-CC battle on tap for Saturday ... Indiana @ IOWA.  After suffering a one-point loss in Evanston, the Hoosiers' road trip seems bound for additional punishment as the team heads toward Iowa City.  The Hawkeyes will need some players to step up in the absence of their brothers who were bruised in the thrilling victory at Michigan State.  We've got cracked ribs, sprained ankles and worse.  On the plus side we have two home games before heading to Columbus ... not that I am looking past Indiana or Northwestern.  Perhaps I am kinda looking around them but can you blame me?  I mean ... did you see that amazing finish?  1:37 left, Ricki picks up the team and shoulders the load all the way to pay dirt!  Hold on ... I need to wipe these tears of joy and pride from my eyes. 

an interesting sociological note: College football fans are more likely to recognize the greatness of your team ... when it is not being demonstrated through a defeat of their team.  All of a sudden I have Penn Staters jumping on the IOWA bandwagon.

As four of the G-CC schools are battling each other, Penn State is shut out of the reindeer games [too soon?].  The Lions continue their tour of the upper-midwest with a stop on the banks of Lake Michigan for a game with Northwestern.  It is not likely that Paterno or Clark will be dazed by the bright lights of Ryan Field and PSU's biggest road adversary [the weather] should not be a factor.  All indications point to another victory for Penn State ... next week ... Ohio State.     

 

GREATEST ENDING EVER

I will keep it short and sweet this week folks. 

Please refer to the entry from last week for my excuses.  They are all still applicable ... except for the snow one.  Just mix up the order to keep it fresh.  Actually now that I think about it ... the frequency of web-cam portraits from our favorite travelling bier-o-phile have dropped off significantly.

IOWA @ Wisconsin   [Noon on ESPN]

This is a crucial game for IOWA.  If the Hawkeyes are to win the Big10 they need to get by the Badgers and the Buckeyes.  Tomorrow Kirk and the boys visit the former ... a week after they suffered a loss to the latter ... got it?  An ACL injury has ended the season of star-in-the-making Paul Chaney Jr.  The sure-handed receiver has proved especially valuable to the Hawkeyes on kick returns.  Betttendorf Bulldog Colin Sandeman has been tapped to fill Chaney's shoes.  Chaney also excels at catching short passes and running for extra yardage.  Thankfully the tight-end corp. is back at full strength ... Moeaki [not a typo ... there are that many vowels in his name] and Reisner make nice big targets for Stanzi.  Speaking of the highlight-making QB ... it is likely that he will make at least one "questionable" decision.  It is nice to know  that Sash, Clayborn and the rest of the defense can compensate for Ricky's ... shall we say ... mis-placed enthusiasm.  Love ya Jules but here's hoping for an unhappy homecoming at Camp Randall.  GO HAWKS! 

Minnesota @ Penn State  [3:30 on ABC/ESPN]

When the Golden Gopher sold his soul to TCF Bank for a shiny new stadium it was understood that Minnesota would be playing more games in the snow.  I don't think too many people outside of central command at AccuWeather thought those games would begin in October ... in Happy Valley.  Minnesota won their homecoming game last week, beating Purdue 35-20.  This week it is Penn State's turn to win.  Not that it really matters after that loss to IOWA.  Do you remember that?  What a game!

 

Illinois @ Indiana    [7pm on the Big10 Network]

Well look at that ... another Homecoming game.  After beginning the season with a startling set of three consecutive wins, Indiana succumbed to symmetry and lost the subsequent trio of games.  Tomorrow, in Bloomington, the Hoosiers hope to shift the balance toward the win column.  It is difficult to speculate the likelihood of such an occurrence.  My guess is that Illinois is better that their record [1-4] suggests.  The Fighting Illini have a strange schedule this year.  The fact that they have only played two non-conference games explains how they have managed to fit in a bye week [I did not know those still existed] and lose to three Big10 opponents [OSU, PSU & MSU].  Their season ends just as strangely, with the remaining two non-conference games, the second one being played in December ... at home!

Ohio State @ Purdue   [Noon on the Big10 Network]

The Boilermakers are looking for their first win since opening the season with a victory against Toledo.  Don't laugh ... that's rude.  I think we can all agree that it would be nice to see Brutus, Tressel and the rest of the Columbus faithful get a mouthful of Pete's hammer.  And if that does not happen ... Purdue can at least hold out hope for a book-end win against Indiana.  

My blog-master negligence knows no bounds.  The latest round of rationale for shirking my duties follows ...

so busy  ... We are getting into the peak of baby-fever season.  Childbirth classes have kicked off, last night was the hospital tour and next week we throw infant CPR and baby-care into the mix.  Pretty soon I will have to think about child-proofing our home ... no more loaded shotgun behind the front door.  Along these lines ...  you friends and family should be stepping up your game too.  The big day is nearly upon us.  You might want to practice vocalizing the following phrases in front of a mirror ...

• you lucky duck ... you got your mother's looks
• enjoy that hair while you have it kid
• sure .. I would love to change that diaper
• here you go ... that's ten grand for a college fund
  

the snow ... Yeah that's right.  October 15 ... several inches.  What makes it really fun is the fact that most of the leaves are still on the trees.  As such they are loading up with snow, pulling trees down and snapping them in half.  I am not just talking wispy pines and spindly elms ... we have severely bowed oaks here folks!  My drive to work looked like one of those Volvo commercials with obstacles all over the road.  But please ... do not worry for me in this time of tough weather.   Think of the chickens ... won't somebody please think of the chickens?!

e-noise ...  My globe-trotting scholar of a younger brother is currently in Germany.  Knowing him as I do I feel confident that he is giving the Spitzer folks their money's worth.  Though he still manages to make the time to bombard me with laptop-cam portraits of himself and his German bier-du-jour.  Don't even get me started on the great balloon caper that he attempted to suck me into.

Things started out pretty well in Iowa City last Saturday.  The Hawkeyes quickly established a 14 point lead and I got excited for what I expected to be a "statement win".  I was hoping for a shellacking along the lines of 56-6 ... something to keep the IOWA name on the tip of the pollsters' tongues.  It is what we should have done with Northern Iowa but I will cut the hawks some slack as it was the first game of the season and the Panthers are big fish in the little pond that is the Football Championship Subdivision.

Returning to the topic of the most recent slim-margin victory ... it appears that the Hawkeyes picked up some bad habits from the Nittany lions.  Like an impressionable youth that spends a week of summer vacation at grandma's farm where they spy their cool, older cousin smoking behind the shotgun shack ... the Hawkeyes appear to have gleaned the disgusting habit of coasting in the second half.  [NOTE: for the preceding allegory to hold true I must add the following ... each fall the younger cousin de-pants his relative, making the latter's shortcomings painfully obvious to a national television audience.]

Speaking of nationally televised games ... the Hawkeyes have a chance to right the above-noted wrong when they face-off against Michigan on Saturday.  I am having trouble getting a handle on the Wolverines this year.  At times I feel that they are on the upswing [the Appalachian State days well behind them] but then they barely squeak by the Hoosiers?  Perhaps Indiana is the real deal this year?  Too many variables to consider ... 8pm [EST] on ABC the equation will be solved.

If it is raining in your neighborhood, you can kill the hours before the IOWA game by watching Wisconsin [3:30 EST / ABC].  Yeah that's right ... America's dairyland has another football team.  For those of you who were looking forward to the MNF showdown between Favre and the Pack it is time to pull your heads out of the pro football clouds.  Bielema, Bucky and the rest of the Badgers are putting together quite a season.  The undefeated nature of their current tear will be at risk this weekend when Wisconsin travels to Columbus for a battle with Brutus.  We are getting into the meat of the Big10 season here people.  Things are bound to get interesting.

 

Indiana has been on the accelerated track and is already two games [versus the Wolverines and Buckeyes ... both losses] into conference play.  This week offers a break from Big10 opponents.  The boys in crimson and cream are road tripping to Charlottesville with the hope of stealing a win from the 1-3 Cavaliers.  Not to look too far ahead but ... on the last day of October the Hoosiers begin the G-CC tour, with consecutive games against IOWA, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue [in that order].  Good stuff!

 

Poor coach Hope ... it appears that Tiller did not lower the bar enough for you.  The victory-challenged Boilermakers [1-4] are coming off a loss to Northwestern and preparing to face Minnesota in the new Gopher-Palace.  On the plus side ... neither IOWA nor Penn State are on the schedule.

Your comments please ... Any thoughts on the corporate sponsorship/naming of the stadium?  Is this a crime or a rather a positive opportunity considering the financial hardships currently facing academic institutions?

After winning at Illinois last weekend, Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium for its last non-conference game of the regular season.  The fact that the Lions are playing Eastern Illinois [coupled with the defeat by IOWA] yields a broadcast bumped all the way to ESPN Classic.  Both teams enter the contest with 4-1 records but I am going out on a limb and will suggest that Penn State wins this one ... based solely on a comparison of team logos.

It is interesting to note that the starting QB for the away team will be none other than former Hawkeye Jake Christensen.  For additional details ... check out the Collegian story.

... placed a LARGE bet on IOWA.  Darn hindsight.  As it stands now, I have yet to collect my single dollar from the "gentleman's bet" that I won.  It is also unfortunate that I did not press the other wager that was kicked around the office.  A PSU win would have seen me parading around the office in a wig.  The IOWA victory would mean that a female co-worker had to adopt my hairstyle.

... put more effort into my Monday morning work entrance.  Last year I threw on a tie to mark the special occasion.  This year I contemplated a total "suit up" but refrained.  After all, it is not like I hadn't expected this result.  I knew that it was possible [nay probable] that the Hawkeyes would pull off the "upset".  As such, this year I dressed as if it were any normal Monday though I did pull on a yellow striped sweater and I strolled through the front door with my boldest IOWA ball cap on, belting out some greetings that were WAY too upbeat for 8am.  My boss gave me the go ahead on the obnoxious gloating front yet I stuck to the high road.  I focused on the positive ... pointing out how the game's result could be a boon for the World Campus.  I offered my perception that JoePa's boys could benefit from some of our math classes ... specifically the unit on fractions.  As in there are four[4] quarters in a football game.  Next year I will likely prepare some submission boxes for my desk.  One will read "apologies" and the other "excuses".  I better make them out of something durable as I anticipate they will get much use in the coming years.

... recorded the game.  Sure, I have yet to re-watch last year's IOWA win over Penn State but it is nice to know it is there.  As this year's win was broadcast on ABC it will not be available for recording until it reappears as one of the Big Ten Network's "Greatest Games".

... gone with the AP poll.  The Associated Press placed IOWA at lucky number 13, two steps ahead of Penn State.  USA Today gave the 13^th slot to Penn State and only granted the Hawkeyes a national ranking of 17.  We may never know what prompted me to align our grand contest with the USA Today poll ... though it could be my affinity for style over substance in journalism.

... posted earlier.  I know.  I am coming close to neglecting the duties that come with my self-appointed title of President of The Cup.  The only excuse I have is that I have been enjoying some quality family time as Dr. Cooper has been in town.  We hiked Mt. Nittany yesterday ... good times.