Commence Post Christmas Bowling

Motor City Bowl
Central Michigan Chippewas (8-5) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (7-5)
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
December 26, 6:30 PM, ESPN

In the second biggest sporting event held at Ford Field during 2007 (Wrestlemania 23 was the biggest), the Chippewas of Central Michigan get their second chance against Purdue and Joe Tiller’s mustache. The Boilermakers took down the MAC Champs 45-22 in September.

Many questions will need to be answered:
Will the outcome change in the rematch?
Will the two teams once again combine for over 1,000 yards total offense?
Will Matt Millen draft one of the wide receivers from the game in the first round?
Will Lions’ assistant coach Joe Cullen drive his car to the game naked?

Biased Pick: Purdue 45, Central Michigan 22 (It’s déjà vu all over again)

Actual Pick: Purdue 45, Central Michigan 22 (I’m lazy)

The Weekend in Bowling - Sunday

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

East Carolina Pirates (7-5) vs. Boise State Broncos (10-2)

Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI

December 23, 7:00 PM, ESPN

Just a quick post today after getting back from St. Louis and then watching the Bears destroy the Packers. Nobody is reading this anyway, so it's not a big deal that you're getting a shortened preview.

If Boise State plays this bowl game anything like they did last year in the Fiesta Bowl, we're in for a good time. However, East Carolina isn't exactly Oklahoma. They're not exactly Oklahoma State, either. I just hope Boise breaks out the hook and ladder and the Statue of Liberty play.

Biased Pick - Boise State 100, East Carolina 99 (Let's have a high scoring shootout)

Actual Pick - Boise State 44, East Carolina 27

The Weekend in Bowling - Saturday

PapaJohns.com Bowl

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (7-5) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (9-3)

Legion Field, Birmingham, AL

December 22, 12:00 PM CT, ESPN 2

Why does Papa Johns sponsor a bowl in Birmingham? Is the state of Alabama known for their Italian cuisine? If a restaurant chain was going to sponsor a bowl in Birmingham, wouldn't you think it would be Cracker Barrel or Waffle House? Shouldn't this game be played in Louisville at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium? So many important questions, so few answers.

If you asked John Madden or Peter King, they'd tell you that Brett Favre could provide the answers. But Brett is a little ticked off at his alma mater after they pushed out long-time head coach Jeff Bower. Cincy probably wouldn't have had that hard of a time with Southern Miss even if the whole program was on the same page.

Biased Pick: Cincinnati 14, Southern Mississippi 4 (Pete Rose over Brett Favre, bet on it)

Actual Pick: Cincinnati 35, Southern Mississippi 21

New Mexico Bowl

Nevada Wolf Pack (6-6) vs. New Mexico Lobos (8-4)

University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM

December 22, 3:30 PM CT, ESPN

I can't tell if the State of New Mexico sponsors this bowl or if it doesn't haven't a sponsor and just decided to name the game after the state. If the game doesn't have a sponsor, I've got the perfect person in mind to help out: Mike Vick. What better way to rehabilitate your image than to sponsor a competition between student athletes? Plus, the Ron Mexico New Mexico Bowl has a nice ring to it.

I've got a rule of thumb that applies to this contest: always pick the team that is playing a bowl game in their home stadium. Is it really a bowl trip if you sleep in your own bed just a couple days before the game.

Biased Pick: New Mexico 54, Nevada 21 (Former Lobo Brian Urlacher beats Blackjack)

Actual Pick: New Mexico 24, Nevada 20

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

UCLA Bruins (6-6) vs. Brigham Young Cougars (10-2)

Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

December 22, 7:00 PM CT, ESPN

The only thing more fun than a Saturday night in Vegas with a bunch of Mormons is a regular season rematch in a bowl game. That's what is on tap in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. UCLA defeated BYU 27-17 in Week 2. But a lot has happened to the Bruins since then, including losing at home to Notre Dame and Coach Karl Dorrell being shown the door. The Cougars are on a mission. Their mission is to win 11 games this season....and convert you to their religion.

Biased Pick: BYU 9, UCLA 8 (Jim McMahon over Cade McNown)

Actual Pick: BYU 27, UCLA 17 (Turnaround is fair play)

Bowl Game Numero Dos

R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Florida Atlantic Owls (7-5) vs. Memphis Tigers (7-5)

Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA

December 21st, 7:00 PM CT, ESPN 2

The first of the three postseason games to be played in the Superdome is by far the most important. Forget Georgia and Hawaii. Step aside, Ohio State and LSU.

Seriously? I'm supposed to write about Memphis and Florida Atlantic? Really? Ok, here goes:

• Uh, Elvis Presley lived in Memphis.
• The old minor league baseball stadium there was named after Tim McCarver.
• If John Calipari paid the football players like he pays the school's basketball players, they could be in a bigger bowl than the New Orleans Bowl.

I better save some Memphis fun facts for the Liberty Bowl preview.

I know nothing about Florida Atlantic other than their head coach Howard Schnellenberger coached "Da U" to a national championship in the 80's. Plus, he kind of looks like Colonel Sanders. After seconds and seconds of internet research, I found out that this will be FAU's first bowl appearance. Welcome to the party, kids! Help yourself to punch and pie.

Biased Pick: I have no reason to be biased about either of these teams. I have a feeling nobody but their parents are biased for these teams.

Actual Pick: Florida Atlantic 33, Memphis 17

GUH!!!!

Three hours ago, I was all ready to put up an angry, expletive-filled post about the Illini loss to Miami of Ohio tonight. But really, what's the point? No matter what I say, they still won't be able to shoot free throws. I could rant and rave for ten paragraphs, but Chester Frazier still wouldn't be able to contribute anything on the offensive end. I just wish the players had some sort of leader on the sideline who could "coach" them and put them in position to win and would point out their mistakes to them and keep them from continuing to make those mistakes.

I'm suddenly not looking forward to a Saturday full of college hoops and drinking in St. Louis. Well, I'm still looking forward to the drinking.

Going Bowling, Day One

As part of what I hope to be a continuing series (we've all seen how much follow through I have when it comes to this blog), here is a preview of Thursday night's kickoff to the bowl season.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

Utah Utes (8-4) vs. Navy Midshipmen (8-4)

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA

December 20, 8 PM CT on ESPN

The people of San Diego loved the Holiday Bowl so much, they decided to give it a little brother. The long and storied history of this game dates all the way back to 2005 when Navy defeated Colorado State 51-30. After a couple more years, this game could replace the Rose Bowl as "The Grand Daddy of Them All."

Even though Navy has lost coach Paul Johnson (not the former Tuscola High School teacher) to Georgia Tech, the Middies will continue to use the triple-option under new head coach Ken Niumatalolo. If you thought Ken Niumatalolo was the best name involved in the game, then you aren't aware of Navy QB Kaipo-Noa-Kaheaku-Enhada. Wasn't that the name of the high school football star voiced by Brendan Fraser on "King of the Hill?"

Biased Pick: Navy 1776, Utah 45

Actual Pick: Navy 33, Utah 28 (Only a terrorist would pick against the Naval Academy)

Long Time, No Blog

After a small break of nearly 15 months, I figured I would try and get this thing up and running again. Let's quickly recap everything that has happened since September 2006 when I last posted on here:

• The St. Louis Cardinals shook off a terrible second half and had an amazing October run to the 2006 World Series title. In 2007, they stunk. Things don't look too much better for 2008.


• The Fighting Illini football team won 2 games in 2006. This season, they've gone 9-3 and are headed to Pasadena to take on USC in the Rose Bowl. I would've been happy with the Motor City Bowl, but I guess the Rose Bowl will suffice.


• The Tuscola Warriors won the 2006 Class 1A IHSA Football Championship. They lost in the title game during the 2007 season.


• The Chicago Bears went to the Super Bowl with great defense, great special teams and an inconsistent offense. They lost to the Colts in the rain in Miami. The 2007 season hasn't been so great and they don't need to worry about the playoffs.


• I'm sensing a pattern here.


• The Fighting Illini basketball team is stuck in a rut where all games look the same: pretty good defense, get out to a lead, miss free throws, Brian Randle picks up early fouls, no clutch shooting and blowing a lead in the end. It's like "Groundhog Day" except Bill Murray stopped coming around after the Final Four season.


• I don't think much else went on in the last 15 months.

So, now we're all caught up. I swear that I am going to try and keep this thing updated regularly. If I don't, just wait until March 2009 and I'll put up five or six posts in a couple days.

Our Long National Nightmare is Over!!! (For Now)

Whew! Seriously, whew!

Just when it looked like the Cardinals were going to find yet another excruciating way to lose a game (go-ahead run scoring on a wild pitch), El Hombre decides to take matters into his own hands and blasts a 3-run homer to Big Mac Land. Then, Adam Wainwright gets the first two guys in the 9th, gives up a double, but settles down to shut the door and end the losing streak at 8.

I understand that if they make the playoffs, the Cardinals probably won't be around for long. With that said, I'd much rather get waxed in the playoffs than be witness to a historic September collapse. Let's leave that distinction with the 1964 Phillies.

As I write this, the Astros and Pirates are playing a marathon game in Pittsburgh. From the accounts I've read, the Bucs probably should've won this one without going extra innings. Those darned Astros just won't die. Go away and let us all enjoy an October without you!

As I finished typing this, I see that the Astros have gone ahead by a run. It never ends, does it?

Wake Me Up, When September Ends

The Chicago Bears, Illinois football and the St. Louis Cardinals: Three different teams, three varying levels of success this weekend.

Chicago Bears
Positives:

• They went into a hostile Metrodome and took all the Vikings could throw at them.
• It looked like they were going to get handed their first loss of the season, but the defense came up big when needed and Rex Grossman stayed calm down the stretch.
• Robbie Gould was perfect on field goal attempts.

Negatives:

• The whole first half, which included way too many penalties and the offensive line having trouble picking up the Minnesota blitz. The pressure gave Rex happy feet.
• Grossman also needs to know when to throw a ball away into the stands. He gave the Vikings their only touchdown of the day on a gift-wrapped interception return.

Looking Ahead: The Seahawks, John Madden and Al Michaels head to Soldier Field for a Sunday night showdown of NFC heavyweights. Seattle will be without Shaun Alexander, who is out due to the Madden curse.

The Fighting Illini

Positives:

• Well, if you throw out about a 6-minute span in the second quarter where Iowa scored 21 points, the Illini win the game 7-3.
• The penalties were down from 12 to 2.
• While Juice Williams' numbers weren't the best, he came on strong in the second half.

Negatives:

• The coaching staff is still making too many questionable decisions. They called on DaJuan Warren to do that stupid little rugby punt again, this time while fairly deep in their own territory. The punt went straight up and for a total of 12 yards. Another time, they were running out of the shotgun and snapping the ball into the end zone. That was a recipe for disaster.
• They also subbed Tim Brasic for Williams in the first half. Brasic ran for a first down on the first play, but then threw an interception on the next.
• Too many dropped passes and missed field goals.

Looking Ahead: The Illini travel to Michigan State on Saturday. Illinois hasn't beaten MSU since 1992. This should end well.

St. Louis Cardinals

Positives:

• The road trip is over.
• The regular season is almost over.

Negatives:

• A 7.5-game lead on Thursday was down to 3.5 games after Sunday's game (updated to 2.5 games after Monday's loss).
• While they were busy losing, San Diego, Los Angeles and Philadelphia were actually trying to win and improve their playoff position. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Cards would be opening at home in the playoffs. Now, they're facing a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Mets.
• As soon as the bullpen is handed a tie game or a lead, they feel the need to cough it back up.

Looking ahead: Who knows? If they don't win a few games this week, the players will be worrying about their tee times.