One last whine

Under the utterly unnoticed Your RHS playoff plan, this would have been the upcoming week in college football...

Troy (Sun Belt Champion, #16) at Texas (At large, #1)
Penn State (Big 10 Champion, #9) at USC (Pac 10 Champion, #8)
Virginia Tech (ACC Champion, #13) at Utah (Mountain West Champion, #4)
Ball State (At large, #12) at Boise State (WAC Champion, #5)
East Carolina (Conference USA Champion, #14) at Florida (SEC Champion, #3)
Cincinnati (Big East Champion, #11) at Alabama (At large, #6)
Buffalo (MAC Champion, #15) at Oklahoma (Big 12 Champion, #2)
Ohio State (At large, #10) at Texas Tech (At large, #7)

Could Iowa and South Carolina still play in the Outback Bowl under this system? Hell yes. It wouldn't be any less meaningful a game than it is right now.

Oh well. Someday it will happen. The laughable notion that there's no playoff because the schools are worried about the academic progress of their students will eventually go away when the money is right.

Of course, that won't be until 2015 at the earliest thanks to the sweet new BCS/ESPN deal.

The only end, my friend

Is the regular college football season actually over?

Judging from the tears on my cheeks and the empty feeling in my soul, it must be over.

Oh, sure, the bowls are coming, but... but...

WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!? Why must it go away every year?

Your final regular season Your RHS College Football Top 25 (formula tweaked slightly to emphasize strength of schedule) (VERY slightly, actually)

1. Texas (11-1, 3)
2. Oklahoma (12-1, 5)
3. Florida (12-1, 6)
4. Utah (12-0, 2)
5. Boise State (12-0, 4)
6. Alabama (12-1, 1)
7. Texas Tech (11-1, 8)
8. USC (11-1, 9)
9. Penn State (11-1, 10)
10. Ohio State (10-2, 11)
11. Cincinnati (11-2, 12)
12. Ball State (12-1, 7)
13. TCU (10-2, 13)
14. Pitt (9-3, 17)
15. Georgia (9-3, 14)
16. Michigan State (9-3, 16)
17. BYU (10-2, 15)
18. Oklahoma State (9-3, 19)
19. Georgia Tech (9-3, 21)
20. Oregon (9-3, 22)
21. Virginia Tech (9-4, NR)
22. Missouri (9-4, 20)
23. Boston College (9-4, 18)
24. Nebraska (8-4, NR)
25. Oregon State (8-4, NR)

Dropped out - Western Michigan (9-3, 24), Northwestern (9-3, 25), Tulsa (10-3, 23)

Other teams of note...
36. Iowa (8-4, 35)
81. UTEP (5-7, 82)
114. Iowa State (2-10, 114)
115. Idaho (2-10, 116)
120. North Texas (1-11, 119)

That's right. Washington's won in the end based entirely on the quality of teams they lost to, and the bumped up to #119 in the final poll. Drama!

Nebraska fans are bummed because they get Clemson in the Gator Bowl. They think Clemson is beneath them. I've had a good laugh at their expense listening to them cry on local sports radio.

"Yeah, it's a New Year's Day bowl, but Clemson?!? Come on! Why isn't it Florida State?!?"

Honest to God. It isn't 1995 anymore.

Sigh

Stevie Hicks died recently.

It's one thing when some local sports star I remember from my youth passes, but Stevie was a tad bit more recent than that.

Reports make it seem as if he either jumped from an overpass, fell off an overpass, or was thrown from an overpass. None of the three are particularly better than the others.

The poll this week is a little late as I've been "working" at my "job" to pay for my "living space". I'm looking forward to the week before Christmas when I make my latest triumphant return to the Hawkeye State. A wise man once told me that if he were given a form to fill out that asked for his ethnicity, he'd write "Iowan." Allow me to give a hearty, "Me too."

And so we come to yet another weekly RHS FBS College Football Top 25...

1. Alabama (12-0, 1)
2. Utah (12-0, 2)
3. Texas (11-1, 3)
4. Boise State (12-0, 4)
5. Oklahoma (11-1, 5)
6. Florida (11-1, 6)
7. Ball State (12-0, 7)
8. Texas Tech (11-1, 9)
9. USC (10-1, 10)
10. Penn State (11-1, 8)
11. Ohio State (10-2, 12)
12. Cincinnati (10-2, 16)
13. TCU (10-2, 14)
14. Georgia (9-3, 11)
15. BYU (10-2, 17)
16. Michigan State (9-3, 19)
17. Pitt (8-3, 22)
18. Boston College (9-3, 23)
19. Oklahoma State (9-3, 13)
20. Missouri (9-3, 15)
21. Georgia Tech (9-3, 24)
22. Oregon (9-3, NR)
23. Tulsa (10-2, NR)
24. Western Michigan (9-3, 18)
25. Northwestern (9-3, NR)

Dropped out - Oregon State (8-4, 20), Florida State (8-4, 21), Central Michigan (8-4, 25)

Other teams of note...
28. Nebraska (8-4, 31)
35. Iowa (8-4, 33)
82. UTEP (5-7, 72)
114. Iowa State (2-10, 114)
116. Idaho (2-10, 116)
120. Washington (0-11, 120)

Am I the only one who thinks this season was made for a playoff?

Kapow

What a week. Except for the flu/food poisoning my wife and I are suffering through...no, wait. That makes it all bad. I don't particularly care for calling in sick; however, in this case, it does give me time to post the latest RHS College Football Poll...

1. Alabama (11-0, 3)
2. Utah (12-0, 4)
3. Texas (10-1, 2)
4. Boise State (11-0, 5)
5. Oklahoma (10-1, 7)
6. Florida (10-1, 6)
7. Ball State (11-0, 8)
8. Penn State (11-1, 10)
9. Texas Tech (10-1, 1)
10. USC (9-1, 9)
11. Georgia (9-2, 11)
12. Ohio State (10-2, 13)
13. Oklahoma State (9-2, 17)
14. TCU (10-2, 19)
15. Missouri (9-2, 15)
16. Cincinnati (9-2, 18)
17. BYU (10-2, 12)
18. Western Michigan (9-2, 21)
19. Michigan State (9-3, 14)
20. Oregon State (8-3, 25)
21. Florida State (8-3, NR)
22. Pittsburgh (7-3, 20)
23. Boston College (8-3, NR)
24. Georgia Tech (8-3, NR)
25. Central Michigan (8-3, 16)

Dropped out - Air Force (8-4, 23), North Carolina (7-4, 22), Miami (FL) (7-4, 24)

Other teams of note...
31. Nebraska (7-4, 35)
33. Iowa (8-4, 39)
72. UTEP (5-6, 67)
114. Iowa State (2-10, 112)
116. Idaho (2-10, 114)
120. Washington (0-11, 120)

Perfection is in sight for the Huskies. Just one little game against Cal left to go.

Well then!

6 wins? Bowl eligible.
7 wins? Bowl security.
8 wins? Bowl warmth.

On to the poll.

1. Texas Tech (10-0, 1)
2. Texas (10-1, 3)
3. Alabama (11-0, 2)
4. Utah (11-0, 4)
5. Boise State (10-0, 5)
6. Florida (9-1, 6)
7. Oklahoma (9-1, 7)
8. Ball State (10-0, 8)
9. USC (9-1, 9)
10. Penn State (10-1, 10)
11. Georgia (9-2, 11)
12. BYU (10-1, 13)
13. Ohio State (9-2, 12)
14. Michigan State (9-2, 14)
15. Missouri (9-2, 16)
16. Central Michigan (8-2, 23)
17. Oklahoma State (9-2, 18)
18. Cincinnati (8-2, 21)
19. TCU (9-2, 17)
20. Pitt (7-2, 19)
21. Western Michigan (9-2, 25)
22. North Carolina (7-3, 15)
23. Air Force (8-3, 22)
24. Miami (FL) (7-3, NR)
25. Oregon State (7-3, NR)

Dropped out - Florida State (7-3, 24), Tulsa (8-2, 20)

Other teams of note...
35. Nebraska (7-4, 43)
39. Iowa (7-4, 50)
67. UTEP (5-5, 77)
112. Iowa State (2-9, 111)
114. Idaho (2-9, 113)
120. Washington (0-10, 120)

My dream scenario is that one day a 16 team playoff will settle things in college football. It could start two weeks after the regular season, freeing up teams as they lose playoff games to go to bowls (don't give me the bs about it rendering bowls meaningless - do you care who wins the EagleBank Bowl?) and allowing the two teams who play in the title game to be determined on the field. Every conference champion would get in as well as the five highest ranked remaining teams in the BCS standings. Play everything but the championship on the campus of the higher seed in the game.

A playoff will happen eventually. It'll start small - probably 4 teams. It'll grow over the years. The money is too big to ignore.

In the mean time, let's hope Iowa kicks holy hell out of Minneeeeeeesoda this weekend, keeps Floyd of Rosedale for another year, and then dashes off to Florida for New Year's Day. Not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to believe the Outback Bowl would be happy to bring Iowa back yet again.

So...

I'm pretty sure I overheard this conversation yesterday...

BCS: Thank you!
My Beloved Iowa Hawkeyes: You're welcome.

Thank God I no longer live in Iowa City, or I may have been there to see Iowa stick it to Penn State yet again.

Did you know President-elect Obama and I are both in favor of an NCAA playoff? We're peas in a pod, I tell you - until I hit that $250k and up tax bracket, at which point he can go straight to he...well, you know.

On to the latest poll!

1. Texas Tech (10-0, 2)
2. Alabama (10-0, 1)
3. Texas (9-1, 5)
4. Utah (10-0, 3)
5. Boise State (9-0, 6)
6. Florida (8-1, 7)
7. Oklahoma (9-1, 8)
8. Ball State (9-0, 9)
9. USC (8-1, 12)
10. Penn State (9-1, 4)
11. Georgia (8-2, 13)
12. Ohio State (8-2, 14)
13. BYU (9-1, 15)
14. Michigan State (9-2, 16)
15. North Carolina (7-2, 18)
16. Missouri (8-2, 17)
17. TCU (9-2, 11)
18. Oklahoma State (8-2, 10)
19. Pitt (7-2, 23)
20. Tulsa (8-1, 19)
21. Cincinnati (7-2, NR)
22. Air Force (8-2, NR)
23. Central Michigan (7-2, 20)
24. Florida State (7-2, NR)
25. Western Michigan (8-2, NR)

Dropped out - Cal (6-3, 21), Georgia Tech (7-3, 24), Minnesota (7-3, 25), Northwestern (7-3, 22)

Others of note...
43. Nebraska (6-4, 46)
50. Iowa (6-4, 56)
77. UTEP (4-5, 85)
111. Iowa State (2-8, 111)
113. Idaho (2-8, 115)
120. Washington (0-9, 120)

If the Huskies could just pull one win out of their ... well, you know ... it would be a real horse race for #120. North Texas, Washington State, SMU, San Diego State - all impressive. And all of them (save SMU, most likely) will probably have different people wearing the headset next season.

Lastly, to pick at myself a little - Iowa beats the #3 team in the country and they only jump 6 spots? I suck.

West Coast football contributor Salieri sends a long a couple of Pacific Northwest "football" nuggets...

- Washington State is offering tickets to the Apple Cup match up this year at a 50% discount


- Here's a picture of the pre-game crowd at the Washington/ASU game yesterday in Seattle. Note the scoreboard, which will tell you that this picture was taken 6 minutes and 54 seconds before kick off. I grew up with the notion that Washington was a powerhouse program. Rose Bowls every couple of years. Now they're awful. The Pac-10 desperately needs a counter balance to USC, and it won't happen until Washington is resurrected.

He also brings up the possibility of a Hawkeye/Husker bowl match up. Yes, I'm giddy at the prospect, although if Iowa plays to their ability they should end the season 8-4 and end up in Florida on New Year's Day. We'll see how it all pans out, I guess.

Enjoy your week!

Another week, another (FILL IN YOUR CURRENCY HERE)

I voted.

I reveal nothing about how I voted save one thing - I am ALL about leaving the phrase "idiots and insane people" in the state constitution.

I'm guessing Obama wins about 350 EV. The Senate is going to end up 58 or 59 for the Dems (my wiggle room being whether or not Ol' Joementum ends up caucusing with the Democrats) and the House will be a pickup of 20-25 seats for the Democrats.

They'd better do something with it, or 2 years from now we'll be discussing record gains for the Republicans - assuming they aren't still at war with themselves come 2010. The struggle between the moderate and conservative wings could get real ugly depending on the breaks.

On to more pressing issues - this week's RHS FBS Poll...

1. Alabama (9-0, 2)
2. Texas Tech (9-0, 3)
3. Utah (9-0, 6)
4. Penn State (9-0, 4)
5. Texas (8-1, 1)
6. Boise State (8-0, 5)
7. Florida (7-1, 9)
8. Oklahoma (8-1, 8)
9. Ball State (8-0, 10)
10. Oklahoma State (8-1, 13)
11. TCU (9-1, 15)
12. USC (7-1, t13)
13. Georgia (7-2, 7)
14. Ohio State (7-2, 16)
15. BYU (8-1, 18)
16. Michigan State (8-2, 19)
17. Missouri (7-2, 21)
18. North Carolina (6-2, 20)
19. Tulsa (8-1, 11)
20. Central Michigan (7-2, 23)
21. Cal (6-2, NR)
22. Northwestern (7-2, 25)
23. Pitt (6-2, NR)
24. Georgia Tech (7-2, 24)
25. Minnesota (7-2, 12)

Dropped out - Florida State (6-2, 17), Connecticut (6-3, 22)

Other teams of note...
46. Nebraska (5-4, 34)
56. Iowa (5-4, 50)
85. UTEP (3-5, 74)
111. Iowa State (2-7, t106)
120. Washington (0-8, 119)

That's right. North Texas went R. Lee Ermey on Western Kentucky and miracled their ass to a win, leaving the poor Washington Huskies at #120. North Texas jumped all the way to #119 with their win.

The Apple Cup (#120 Washington vs #116 Washington State) is shaping up to be one of the great pillow fights of all time - what drama!

This and that

It would appear that if John McCain wins every state where he is leading big, narrowly leading, tied, or within 8 points of Obama, he will barely win the Presidency, whereas if Obama holds his big lead states and manages to win one of the close states, he'll win - and he's ahead in most of the battleground states.

I'm not ready to call the election yet - we haven't had a real October surprise, have we? - but it's looking less competitive than the last couple of go rounds.

On to the real polls...

1. Texas (8-0, 1)
2. Alabama (8-0, 2)
3. Texas Tech (8-0, 5)
4. Penn State (9-0, 4)
5. Boise State (7-0, 3)
6. Utah (8-0, 6)
7. Georgia (7-1, 8)
8. Oklahoma (7-1, 9)
9. Florida (6-1, 12)
10. Ball State (8-0, 10)
11. Tulsa (8-0, 11)
12. Minnesota (7-1, 17)
t13. Oklahoma State (7-1, 14)
t13. USC (6-1, 13)
15. TCU (8-1, 14)
16. Ohio State (7-2, 7)
17. Florida State (6-1, 21)
18. BYU (7-1, 25)
19. Michigan State (7-2, NR)
20. North Carolina (6-2, NR)
21. Missouri (6-2, NR)
22. UConn (6-2, NR)
23. Central Michigan (6-2, NR)
24. Georgia Tech (6-2, 15)
25. Northwestern (6-2, 23)

Dropped out - Pitt (5-2, 18), USF (6-2, 19), Cincinnati (6-2, 24), LSU (5-2, 20), BC (5-2, 22)

Other teams of note...
34. Nebraska (5-3, 47)
50. Iowa (5-3, 50)
74. UTEP (3-4, 80)
t106. Iowa State (2-6, 107)
113. Idaho (2-7, 119)
120. North Texas (0-8, 120)

You know where it sucks right now? The state of Washington. The boys from Pullman are hovering at #117, while the latte sippers from Seattle are at #119. Rotten apples indeed.

It's Monday!

Ate at Gorat's this weekend - the Omaha steak house where the Oracle of Omaha himself sits down and tucks into a T-bone.

God Almighty I like meat. So does Warren Buffett, apparently. Good times.

Your football rankings (W-L and last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Texas (7-0, 1)
2. Alabama (7-0, 2)
3. Boise State (6-0, 3)
4. Penn State (8-0, 5)
5. Texas Tech (8-0, 6)
6. Utah (8-0, 4)
7. Ohio State (7-1, 10)
8. Georgia (6-1, 13)
9. Oklahoma (6-1, 8)
10. Ball State (7-0, 9)
11. Tulsa (7-0, 18)
12. Florida (5-1, 16)
13. USC (5-1, NR)
14. Oklahoma State (6-1, NR)
15. Georgia Tech (6-1, 25)
16. TCU (7-1, 21)
17. Minnesota (6-1, 22)
18. Pitt (5-1, 23)
19. USF (6-1, NR)
20. LSU (5-1, NR)
21. Florida State (5-1, NR)
22. BC (5-1, NR)
23. Northwestern (6-1, NR)
24. Cincinnati (5-1, NR)
25. BYU (6-1, 7)

Dropped out - Missouri (5-2, 12), Michigan State (6-2, 11), Kansas (5-2, 20), Virginia Tech (5-2, 15), North Carolina (5-2, 17), Vanderbilt (5-2, 19), Wake Forest (4-2, 14), Cal (4-2, 24)

Other teams of note...

47. Nebraska (4-3, 46)
50. Iowa (5-3, 50)
80. UTEP (3-4, 71)
107. Iowa State (2-5, 101)
119. Idaho (1-7, 118)
120. North Texas (0-7, 120)

Weekly rankings

Seriously - is there anything better than savoring an unexpected blowout road win by my beloved Hawkeyes while listening to the Husker nation cry about having their hearts RIPPED out by Texas Tech?

Probably, but let me have my moment.

This week's Top 25 (with record and last week's rank)

1. Texas (6-0, 3)
2. Alabama (6-0, 2)
3. Boise State (5-0, 7)
4. Utah (7-0, 9)
5. Penn State (7-0, 8)
6. Texas Tech (5-0, 10)
7. BYU (6-0, 13)
8. Oklahoma (5-1, 4)
9. Ball State (7-0, 12)
10. Ohio State (6-1, 19)
11. Michigan State (6-1, 15)
12. Missouri (5-1, 1)
13. Georgia (5-1, 20)
14. Wake Forest (4-1, NR)
15. Virginia Tech (5-1, 14)
16. Florida (5-1, 25)
17. North Carolina (5-1, 17)
18. Tulsa (6-0, 16)
19. Vanderbilt (5-1, 5)
20. Kansas (5-1, NR)
21. TCU (6-1, NR)
22. Minnesota (6-1, NR)
23. Pitt (4-1, 23)
24. Cal (4-1, 21)
25. Georgia Tech (5-1, 32)

Dropped out - Northwestern (5-1, 6), USF (5-1, 24), LSU (4-1, 11), Notre Dame (4-2, 18), Kentucky (4-2, 22)

Other teams of note...

46. Nebraska (3-3, 35)
50. Iowa (4-3, 57)
71. UTEP (3-3, 90)
101. Iowa State (2-4, 100)
118. Idaho (1-6, 115)

I'm interested to see how accurate this formula is over the long haul. I was a little surprised at how far a couple of schools dropped.

Interesting that the top 2 match the consensus top 2 in the polls. Interesting that North Texas ranks as the worst team in the country (#120). Good times.

A new blog institution

With time on my hands here in the wilds of Omaha, I've had time to put the finishing touches on my college football ranking system.

I'll post the rankings each week just to see how close my formula comes to matching whatever you want it to match.

Enjoy!

1. Missouri
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Vanderbilt
6. Northwestern
7. Boise State
8. Penn State
9. Utah
10. Texas Tech
11. LSU
12. Ball State
13. BYU
14. Virginia Tech
15. Michigan State
16. Tulsa
17. North Carolina
18. Notre Dame
19. Ohio State
20. Georgia
21. Cal
22. Kentucky
23. Pitt
24. USF
25. Florida

For the locally curious...

57. Iowa
100. Iowa State

Inspiration

Inspired by a comment on my latest post, I have decided to officially retire from the NFL. Unfortunately for the league, teams did not want to give me a chance to compete for a starting job at (FILL IN POSITION HERE).

I was not satisfied to be a backup, and so I'm putting my NFL career aside to chase new and exciting projects.

Yes, this week is Iowa/Iowa State. I've chosen to forgo cheap shots and humor this year. All business.

(Do they even have a business school at Clown U? Agri business does not count...)

(Yes, I know they have a business school. Law... (human) medicine... those things are right out, but they do have a business school. Go Moo U!)

Uhh...

I have just now read a news article informing me that Daunte Culpepper has retired from the NFL.

To, umm, retire from the NFL, don't you need to be in the NFL?

At this point isn't he acknowledging that his employment opportunities in his chosen field are nil and he's moving to a different ... oh, nevermind.

Maybe, Daunte, if you had rehabbed your knee injury under the supervision of, oh, I don't know, team doctors and not at a strip mall (That's mall, you dunder heads), you might still be an NFL QB?

Hmm?

Maybe?

Yeah, I'm probably right, aren't I?

Land of Confusion

The Hon. John McCain:

Sarah Palin?!?

Really, Sen. McCain? I was underwhelmed with Sen. Obama's choice for a running mate, but you sir have finally lowered the bar to the floor.

Nothing I read about your running mate impresses me, sir.

I will now require a MUCH larger check - or perhaps a condo - before I even consider filling in the broken arrow next to your name on the ballot.

Good day sir!

Respectfully,

Your RHS

She got the gold mine

Your Redheadedstranger was in the shower today, a-latherin' and a-scrubbin' and listening to the radio news when the final throwaway item in the top-of-the-hour news update upset the delicate balance of his shower ritual...

Jerry Reed was dead.

Emphysema, they said. 71, they said.



Here's Jerry on the Porter Wagoner show (note the Nudie suits in play here!) picking one of my favorite old timey country tunes and putting his own spin on it.

Jerry Reed was by no means a terribly influential country artist - most people under 40 know him better for his turns in Smokey and the Bandit and The Waterboy than his recordings - but there was something about a Jerry Reed tune that set it apart.

Maybe it was the guitar style. Maybe it was the blues influence. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the way every song he did seemed to say, "Listen, pal - I don't give a flying f*&$ if you want to hear Adios, Amigo. That dude in the back wants to hear When You're Hot You're Hot again and he's the one buying the beer."

Dropped out of high school to tour with Ernest Tubb and Faron Young. Lordy.

Yes!

Gem plucked off of the discussion board at the end of an online Press-Citizen article...

"I don't know if [Pat] Harty claims to be an Iowa fan or a fan of some other school. I do know, however, that Harty is a douche.

Go Hawks!"

God bless you, DaHawk56. God bless you.

Mulder? Scully?

David Duchovny is in rehab to kick his sex habit.

Remember when he was relevant? Oh, those were the days. I still look at my flannel shirts and my Nirvana CDs with tearful sentimentality.

I'd like to congratulate a couple of entities for some bold moves today.

BOLD MOVE #A - Georgia may just cut off relations with the country that invaded them. It may be time to consider that move.

BOLD MOVE #2 - John McCain picked the governor of Alaska as his running mate. Isn't she being investigated for ... wait, I already said she was an Alaska Republican. It's like the Reps own little Chicago up there, eh?

BOLD MOVE #4 - Me, for picking Iowa to beat Maine on Saturday. However, if Iowa doesn't run for a ridiculous number of yards and completely control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, it's going to be a loooooooong year.

They say...

They say that these things come in threes.

RIP Gene Upshaw.
RIP Kevin Duckworth.
RIP (middling MLB star of the 80s to be named later)

Yeah. That's right, world. You waited 6+ months for THAT nugget from me. Be grateful you got that. I recently received both a pooping pig and a crapping cow key chain, and let's be honest: blog or make small animals crap?

You know which one you'd pick.

As an aside - I'm old enough to remember a time when the Russians were the bad guys, their nukes were pointed straight at central Iowa (EVERY ONE OF THEM, DAMN IT!) and there was no way I was going to live to see 40 thanks to the certainty of Reagan and Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko going to war.

Russia has been a "democracy" now for more than a decade.

Funny how a few weeks of bullying their neighbors puts me right back in the Cold War frame of mind.

Silver lining concerning the last 10 years of the Cold War? Iowa played in 3 Rose Bowls.

Super Bowl Thoughts

- Every year the NFL hands out their awards during Super Bowl week. The Fed Ex Ground player of the year? Not Adrian Peterson. Not even Ladainian Tomlinson. Fred Taylor. Goodness. Too bad Fred won't be around anymore when the Jaguars are playing in L.A. ...

- Careful readers of my blog over the years know that I get EXTREMELY tired of the emphasis put on Boston and New York sports teams by the national sports media. Careful readers will have already surmised that there is little chance of me enjoying the Super Bowl, since it features two of my least favorite franchises in football. I resent the Patriots recent success. I've never liked the Giants much either, I guess. Maybe their thrilling last-second 41-0 win over the Vikings in the NFC Championship game several years back still sticks in my craw. It was only a 6 score game when the Vikes got the ball back ... oh, nevermind. Suffice it to say, unless the league rules that the game was so awful they're awarding the Lombardi trophy to Grand Valley State, I'm going to dislike the outcome.

- Prediction? Yeah, the game these two played in Week 17 was close. This one won't be. The Patriots have had two weeks to prepare and two weeks to heal. 38-17 New England.

- Most ridiculous quote I've heard during Super Bowl week - some random writer for some Boston fishwrap announcing that the Patriots really turned it up a notch after losing Adam Vinatieri. They "decided" to stop playing close games to let him win it at the end and started scoring in bunches so the outcome was not in doubt by the fourth quarter. The notion that their game plan went something like, "G** d*** it, Tom! Stop throwing touchdowns! No more points! You'll hurt A.V.'s feelings!" or "Yo! D! Another 3 and out and I swear to God I let A.V. pick who gets cut this week!" made me giggle. Unfortunately, it did NOT make the sportswriter giggle, as he was delivering this theory in earnest. Sportswriters are some of the worst people you'll ever meet, I think. Perspective has no place in their universe.

- Bring on the draft!

Snap Oscar Judgements, Vol. I

Atonement - good but not great. People in it, good but not great. It had the feel of a movie where at every step of the production people were asking themselves, "Is this going to help us win Oscars?" That always annoys me a bit.

Juno - good but not great. Ellen Page good but not great. I enjoyed Jennifer Garner's performance, but the Academy thought differently. Juno is the next Little Miss Sunshine or Napoleon Dynamite - a lot of hype around an enjoyable film (although I did enjoy this one more than I enjoyed those movies). If you buy into the hype, there is a strong chance you will be vaguely disappointed. If you go in thinking, "I hope it's watchable," you'll emerge a happy (wo)man.

Dewey Cox - ROBBED. Once that movie comes out on DVD, repeated viewings will ensure it is quoted FREQUENTLY at 2008 tailgates.

I haven't seen many other films this season, sadly. My goal for the next 10 days is to see the other 3 Best Picture winners, since they'll all be within a 15 second walk from my office.

Apparently, the movie critic in the local college paper wrote an article proclaiming There Will Be Blood the best movie of 2007 just so he could end it by saying, "Of course, living in Iowa City I haven't been able to see the movie yet," and then trashed the local theatres. Cute, I know, but man - does anyone actually understand the movie release system this time of year? People were yelling at me about Atonement not playing in town when it was playing on 100 screens nationwide. People screamed about Juno before it hit 250 screens.

Someone asked "Why the hell don't you have There Will Be Blood?!?" during the last week of Decemeber - when it was playing on TWO screens in these United States. TWO. Both in Los Angeles.

A word of advice, friends - if you don't live in a very large metropolitan area, and you enjoy seeing Oscar-contending films this time of year, take a pill. Settle down. Relax. Your local movie house wants to play them as badly as you want to see them, and if wanting to play them was the only requirement, you'd be able to see them the first day they played anywhere. Otherwise, drive to the nearest large metropolitan area and leave the employees at your local multiplex alone.

Humorously, the movie critic from the local college paper who enjoys trashing us (while showing a glaring lack of understanding of the business he is supposed to be covering) also enjoys coming to see his movies for free at our theatre so he is able to write his reviews. He'd better bring his eight bucks from now on, because it'll make me all warm and fuzzy inside to tell him we've discontinued our policy of letting him in sans ducket. What's he gonna do? Write another article?

Take that, widely unread local college paper.

I'm alive!

I was driving home tonight when a random song popped into my head. I was listening to some SIZZLING public radio, so I'm not sure where it came from, but as I turned onto First Avenue suddenly "Walking in Memphis" was rattling around in my noggin.

Normally, when a song enters my brain of its own accord, I get angry and do everything at my disposal to drive the tune away.

This time...I settled back and enjoyed the ride. I always liked the line "Tell me are you a Christian, child / I said, 'Ma'am I am tonight'"

This made my ride home enjoyable, until "Walking in Memphis" turned into "These Boots (Are Made For Walking)", at which point I yanked the wheel into the nearest g** d***ed tree in order to end it all.

Not really, but man, it was tempting.

How the heck are all of you? I saw someone pointing out that they were not yet invited to my wedding. Fear not, friends - NO ONE has been invited to my wedding as of yet. The Bibguy will be lucky to get an invitation at all, as I received no invitation to his day of wedded bliss.

My fiance tells me that at some point, I should be assembling a crack team of groomsman to stand at the front of the church and do nothing during the ceremony. I will be assembling this team in the coming weeks. Don't worry, friends who get suckered into this duty - I've done it many times myself, and I've got LOTS of pointers to hand out.

Mmm. Now I'm actually listening to "Walking in Memphis." My day is complete.

Two Things

- I believe the little lady and I have a date - June 21. Having an actual date makes it seem...real.

- I have made a conscious choice not to caucus tonight. I am completely and totally burned out in regards to the 2008 election. I get 20+ pieces of campaign mail a week. I see 3 political ads during every break in local programming. I think Mike Gravel even stumped in my living room last week. I'm not sure.

Maybe other people are fired up this year, but count me out. None of the candidates truly excite me, and having Clinthompsobamabee shoved down my throat on a constant basis has killed my desire to care.

NEVERTHELESS...your RHS endorses Chris Dodd and John McCain this year. I had been leaning towards Bill Richardson before the focus of his campaign became "get the troops out in a year". Iowans have finely tuned B.S. detectors, Bill, and most of us recognize your promise for what it is. Likewise with John Edwards (for whom I caucused in 2004) and his "we'll get those companies to stop sending jobs overseas!" pledge.

Chris Dodd is not only level-headed and occasionally bi-partisan, he has done nothing to offend me during the run up to the caucus. John McCain had the good taste to not bother with Iowa at all. He even still says he's AGAINST farm subsidies - what other candidate on either side would have the guts to say that this time of year? - and more importantly to me, he isn't dragging his religious beliefs around on a chain. (No, I do not care for Mike Huckabee. Thank you for your concern.)

For this, Chris Dodd and John McCain earn Your RHS's Seal of Approval. However, if you're caucusing and you really want my opinion on the matter? No Preference is the way to go. You won't be a viable group and you'll have to pick a candidate anyway, but it might make you feel better about things.