I'm A Man

I'm ... you know.

It's Coming

The coaches poll was released on Thursday. Which is meaningless, except for serving as a milestone that we are that much closer to the Associated Press poll. Which means:

August 17, people. Mark your calendars. Get out your Post-It notes and dog food bowls. We'll be back with more details then.

Today's Gamewatch Advice: Go Outside?

A couple weeks ago, I looked at the slate of games, deemed it uninteresting, and then watched as four Top 25'ers took nosedives against lesser competition. Not saying that can't happen again,  but I look at today's slate and can't recommend you scheduling your day around the football action.

First off, seven of the Top 25 teams have a bye: No 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 21 and 23. In addition, No. 8 played Thursday night (and lost, sorry to the 19 of you with Stanford). Of the 17 remaining, LSU plays a I-AA school, and most of the rest play basketball schools like Kentucky, Connecticut and Kansas or sorry competition like Colorado, Washington State and New Mexico.

The only games of note are Michigan State hosting Ohio State (affects 25 Pick Six teams) and Georgia vs. Tennessee, which isn't ranked, but Georgia represents a good measuring stick for the Vols.

So make sure you're home by 2:30 (and have two TVs) to watch the Big Ten and SEC matchups. Other than that ... it's supposed to be 75 degrees here today. We're going to an apple festival. What are you doing on this lovely fall day besides watching football?

My Football Saturday

Having a routine is important. It prevents you from getting all confused, with questions like: "What day is it?" and "What am I supposed to be doing today?"

That's why you can follow along with this handy flowchart, illustrating a typical football Saturday for MPF. (click to make big)

Enjoy!

Back in Business

This morning I was thumbing through the alumni notes section of the latest Notre Dame Magazine. An alum remembered back to those first days on campus in August and hearing the marching band practicing off in the distance. It is a moment Father Ted has described as knowing "we're back in business."

With the cool weather lately--chill and clouds that have you reaching into the bottom drawer for a sweatshirt or hoodie before you realize the calendar still says summer--it's easy to not notice the season approaching. But it's getting closer. First we had reports of freshmen reporting to campus. Then the coaches poll, which everyone knows is a joke but was our first taste of actual information.

Now we have the real poll (AP poll) to chew over. We have point spread lines from Vegas we can actually believe. The managers of pick 'em games are sending emails that instead of saying "I can't wait for the season" say "this week's picks are out." On Monday or Tuesday we'll have depth charts that aren't for spring football, or camp, or fan-generated, but for actual Week 1 competition.

Ohhhhhhh I'm ready.

It technically starts Thursday night, with an ESPN game actually worth watching (Oregon at Boise State ... seems like in years past it's Mississippi State vs. Directional Louisana type games). It really starts a week from tomorrow morning, at 11am, when Iowa kicks off against Nothern Iowa. In between there will a drive to Ohio, a new College GameDay song, and hopefully, we're told, the return of football's Dickie V.


It's a long week, from now til Saturday. But it's only one week, and the light at the end of our weeklong tunnel ... is a glowing TV set, beaming college football into your eyeballs.

West Coast Bloggin'

Hey everyone, greetings from California. I'm in Los Angeles for work, and I realized a couple nights ago that it's the first time I've been in LA since 1984.

I planned on writing a little more about the life and culture, but wouldn't ya know it, they've actually kept me pretty busy out here with work. So I'll have my thoughts on LA (hint: the stereotypes are true) and some pictures up soon, maybe the weekend.

Since this is my first business trip in a long time, there were certain individuals at home that protested my leaving:


I think I would have been OK kicking him out of the suitcase, but then:


This one really got me.

I also hope to have the football review/preview up soon, but it might not be til Thursday or Friday. I will say that when I went to a pub for dinner last night, I asked the hostess to seat me in the bar area, near a TV "where I can watch the football game." She looked stunned and confused. Football on a Tuesday? I guess she hadn't heard of Interactive Tuesday!!

March Madness

Hey people, the best Thursday-Friday combo of the year is here.

No pictures of the cat, no witty captions, no 1,000 word essays about The Hold Steady, just wanted to give everyone a look at the answer key.

In fact, I am so confident, I've titled it The Answer Key. View "The Answer Key" here.

The alma maters are five seeds. Notre Dame plays tonight vs. the George Mason Patriots, and Drake plays tomorrow noonish vs. the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. You already knew that W. Ky. has a weird, scary looking mascot. But G. Mason is right there with 'em.

Good luck with your brackets, and enjoy the Madness!

Alma Mater Saturday

Although college basketball games can be played any day of the week, they tend to fall on Wednesdays and Saturdays. (Unless your conference is subjected to television-related contrivances such as Big Monday Sponsored By Major Beer Manufacturer.)

A couple Saturdays ago, TM and I noticed that all three alma maters and my one true "home" team were all playing on the same day, and all with television and/or Internet coverage. We dubbed this "Alma Mater Saturday."

And now, a brief review of our recent Alma Mater Saturdays:

• IOWA:
  
  • Jan. 12 vs. Michigan St. This game was on TV, and amazingly, the Hawks won, 43-36.
  • Jan. 19 @Michigan. A bad Iowa team beat a bad Michigan team, 68-60, and prompted this post.
  • Jan. 26 vs. Penn State. On Big Ten Network, and another Iowa win, 64-49.
  • Feb. 2 vs. Ohio St. On Big Ten Network. Iowa gets revenge for a tremendous ass-whupping received earlier in the season, and beats the Bucks 53-48.
  • Feb. 9 @Minnesota. Lost, 63-50. Oh well. Every game this team wins is a blessing from above, like little kisses from angels. (Yes, they are pretty bad, but I will give them credit: they have shown improvement over the course of the year, something that NEVER happened under Steve-O.)
    
• ND:
  
  • Jan. 12 @Marquette. A total beatdown; I could barely watch. After the 92-66 loss, Mike Brey asked, essentially, are you sure this only counts as one in the loss column? 'Cause it felt like two.
  • Jan. 19 @Georgetown. The tour of pain continues with an 84-65 loss.
  • Jan. 26 @Villanova. This was an early, 11am TV game. Luckily, the Irish decide to win one on the road, 90-80.
  • Feb. 2 vs. DePaul. A noonish start, televised in the Chicago area of course, and another home win. The score is awfully similar to last week: 89-80.
  • Feb. 9 vs. Marquette. ND eked out an exciting win, 86-83, despite refusing to play defense in the final minute or so. ("Hey, let's allow them to make an uncontested layup. That'll take time off the clock!")
    
• DRAKE: (we listen to as many of these games as we can on the radio. The announcers are decidely minor league, but Dolph Pulliam is at least entertaining. I've called him the Ron Santo of Drake: "1960s legend who has stuck around the program, fan favorite, but has no business in a radio booth." Feinstein called that analogy "perfect." I'm impressed he knew it was an analogy, not a simile or metaphor or allegory or whatnot.)
  
  • Jan. 12 vs. Missouri State. Winner, 65-54
  • Jan. 19 vs. Illinois State. Winner, 79-73
  • Jan. 26 vs. Northern Iowa. Winner, 58-54
  • Feb. 2 @Indiana State. Winner, 83-77
  • Feb. 9 vs. Evansville. Winner, 73-65
    
• OHIO:
  
  • Jan. 12 vs. Miami Ohio. Winner, 72-63
  • Jan. 19 vs. Kent State. Winner, 71-59
  • Jan. 26 vs. Ball State. Winner, 61-59
  • Feb. 2 @Northern Illinois. Winner, 73-55
  • Feb. 9 vs. Western Michigan. Winner, 57-54

Alas, all good things come to an end. Wednesday night ("Alma Mater Wednesday" doesn't sound as good, and neither were the results) the three degree-granting institutions laid an egg. Ohio lost to Toledo, No. 20 ranked Notre Dame lost at No. 17 ranked Connecticut, and the Drake Bulldogs lost their 21-game winning streak when they fell at Southern Illinois. Drake will now slink back to the far corners of the sports consciousness, left only with the warm memories of once being the 15th-best team in the whole United States. Iowa happened to play last night instead of Wednesday, and true to form, lost as well. Bah. When does baseball start?