Trav's Thoughts

I don't know how you argue against an Iowa Hawkeye team that pulls out last minute wins on the road and overcomes a dreadful 5 interception performance by its QB to blow out Indiana in the 4th quarter today. Iowa is undefeated with a win over then #5 Penn State on the road.

Ricky Stanzi threw 4 interceptions in the 3rd quarter today, but Indiana couldn't get points off of them. Then Stanzi came back and threw for two big TDs in the 4th quarter, one for 92 yards and the other for 66 yards. Iowa picked off Indiana 3 times in that 4th quarter, and scored 4 unanswered touchdowns to get the win.

There's still a lot of football to play, but if Iowa finishes unbeaten, shouldn't they be considered for the BCS championship game over any one-loss team? And here's another question. If Iowa and Boise State both finish undefeated, and no other team does, should we have a BCS championship game between the Hawkeyes and Broncos? And what about Cincinnati from the Big East? Or TCU from the MWC?

It's unlikely that Florida, Alabama, and Texas will all finish with a loss. But it could happen. Of course, if these three teams all finish undefeated, then we've got another problem because someone will get shut out of an opportunity to play in the BCS championship game simply because the NCAA says it gets to select the two teams to play.

Yes fellow sports fans, we actually live in a world where an undefeated college football season can be considered something of a failure because that team doesn't get a chance to play for a real national championship.

I don't actually understand boneless wings. I like them, because I think you end up getting a lot more meat than traditional bone-in wings. But really, think about it. Boneless wings are actually chicken nuggets, right?

And while we're discussing it, are wings really wings? Sometimes I look at the dish I'm being served and see mini chicken legs. And sometimes I see bits of chicken meat coated in sauce...nuggets again. Rarely do I see an actual chicken wing on a plate of wings.

So let's make a pact. If you serve actual chicken wings, you get to call the product by that name. If you're serving little bits of chickent meat, cut up and soaked in a sauce, you have to call them nuggets.

It annoys me a little to listen to pronouncers who can't make a succinct point. You know the ones I mean? They dither and stumble over word selection. By the time they get the comment out, we're two plays beyond what he wanted to point out.

Congratulations Canada! The Olympic Torch has landed and will make its way across the Great White North until the opening ceremonies in Vancouver where the Flame will burn over 16 days from 12 Feb 2010 to 28 Feb 2010. There's a really nifty little site where you can follow the progress of the Torch. You can find it here.

Notre Dame has decided to boost its recruiting efforts around the country and played a home game in San Antonio against Washington State. That makes sense, since Texas is a state that grows a lot of top football players, along with Florida and California.

The Cougars weren't much of a challenge for the Irish though as ND got the win by a score of 40-14. Jimmy Clausen threw for 268 yards and 2 TDs on 22 of 27. Robert Hughes rushed for 131 yards a a TD on 24 carries. The Irish became bowl eligible at 6-2.

Notre Dame hosts Navy next week.



Here are the results for the BCS Top 12:

1 Florida (8-0,6-0) beat Georgia 41-17. Tim Tebow threw for 164 yards and 2 TDs on 15 of 21, and rushed for 85 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries. He also broke the SEC record for rushing TDs in a career previously held by former Georgia RB Herschel Walker.
2 Alabama was idle
3 Texas (8-0,5-0) beat #14 Oklahoma State 41-14. The Texas defense forced 5 turnovers including 2 interceptions returned for TDs.
4 Iowa (9-0,5-0) beat Indiana 42-24.
5 USC (6-2,3-2) lost 47-20 to #10 Oregon.
6 TCU (8-0,4-0) beat UNLV 41-0. Andy Dalton threw for 178 yards and 3 TDs on 12 of 21.
7 Boise State (8-0,3-0) beat San Jose State 45-7. Kellen Moore threw for 278 yards and 3 TDs on 21 of 33.
8 Cincinnati (8-0,4-0) beat Syracuse 28-7. Zach Collaros threw for 295 yards and 4 TDs on 22 of 28.
9 LSU (7-1,4-1) beat Tulane 42-0. Charles Scott rushed for 112 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries.
10 Oregon (7-1,5-0) beat #5 USC 47-20. LaMichael James rushed for 184 yards and a TD on 24 carries. Jeremiah Masoli threw for 221 yards and a TD on 19 of 31, and rushed for 164 yards and a TD on 13 carries.
11 Georgia Tech (8-1,5-1) beat Vanderbilt 56-31. Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 185 yards and 3 TDs on 22 carries.
12 Penn State (8-1,4-1) beat Northwestern 34-13. Evan Royster rushed for 118 yards and a TD on 15 carries.

Game 3 between the Yankees and Phillies was delayed nearly 90 minutes by rain in Philadelphia.

The Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But then I saw my very first replay reversal in baseball. Alex Rodriguez hit a ball off a camera along the right field line. The ball bounced back into the field and the initial call was a fair ball and a double. The umpires took a second look, and replay clearly showed that if the ball hadn't hit the camera then it would have cleared the fence for a home run. The call was adjusted and the home run made the score 3-2.

Well, I would expect Cole Hamels to be able to handle a bat for Philly...and he did with a perfectly executed bunt for a base hit that helped the Phillies to their 3 runs. Andy Pettitte can also hold his own at the plate...he got an RBI base hit for the Yankees in the top of the 5th to tie the game at 3-3. Then Pettitte scored the go ahead run on a double as the Yankee hitters finally started to get to Hamels.

NY didn't look back at that point on the way to an 8-5 win and a 2 games to 1 lead in the best of 7 World Series. Game 4 is this evening at 5pm. CC Sabathia will pitch for the Yankees, while it looks like Joe Blanton will go for the Phillies.

And finally we get to set our clocks back an hour. I haven't felt like it's the right time since 8 March when daylight savings time took effect. It used to just be through the summer, but now we spend more than half the year in DST. I don't like it. I have enough trouble with insomnia that I don't need a time change to make it worse.

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