Every Dog's Day

"Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day."

-Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1



Saturday, September 29, 2007 will live on in Underdog Pool lore as the Day of the Dogs. The "mainstream media" such as ESPN may dub it "Insanity Saturday", but we poolers know that there is nothing insane about the underdogs of the world rising up and having the day the bard prophesied so long ago. Congratulations to everyone who drank from the bountiful harvest of underdog points this weekend, but no one benefited more than GoBuffs, who racked up an underdog pool all-time record of 44 points on one game. Yes, he actually had the audacity to double on Colorado over Oklahoma!

The weekend began innocently enough, with the widely-expected upset of West Virginia at the hands of South Florida. The Bulls had little time, however, to bask in the national spotlight, as their win became old news by early Saturday afternoon. Illinois demonstrated that their 4-1 record is not a fluke by beating Penn State. But the collective jaws of the college football world fell to the ground when Colorado came all the way back from being down 24-7 to punch through a game winning field goal as time expired. It was the kind of shocker that drives announcers to the heights of irrational hyperbole: the FSN play-by-play broadcaster called it "the biggest upset this year". Actually, it was the third biggest. Syracuse set the bar high beating Louisville as 37 point underdogs (which may be the biggest upset in history). Although no line was officially posted for the Michigan-Appalachian State debacle, most blogs report it to have been at 23 - 27 points. The Colorado Buffaloes were "only" 22 point dogs!

It turned out that Oklahoma's collapse was merely the tipping point, triggering an avalanche of losses by top 13 teams: 7 in all (counting Oregon's loss to the higher ranked Cal). It was the most top 10 losses since 2005 and possibly the most top 13 losses ever. After this wild day, two things are for certain: the rankings on Monday will look very different and the national title race got a lot less muddy. LSU will be playing the Pac-10 champion in New Orleans (or an undefeated Big-10 team if Cal, USC, and ASU lose one game each). At this point, with USC struggling not to beat themselves in Seattle, running the table in the Pac-10 looks like an impossible task. It's a long season-there are many days left for the dogs to have!

Fight On,
Hans

Stoking the Fires of an Uncivil War

Did you happen to see the cover of Sports Illustrated this week? It’s just another chapter in the ongoing media war between the SEC and the Pac-10. More significantly, it perpetuates a festering wound that LSU fans have carried and nurtured since 2003. For a comprehensive review of the rivalry between LSU and USC, teams that have not played in recent memory, check out this outstanding article from Stewart Mandel:

https://mail.healthcare.uiowa.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/stewart_mandel/07/06/miles.usc/index.html

The basic plot of this story is simple: LSU fans celebrated their winning of the crystal football in 2003 when they beat up on an Oklahoma team that should not have been in the BCS finals, and then fumed with indignation when the national media focused attention on USC for winning the AP National Championship in the Rose Bowl. Sharing their hard-won championship with anyone was simply unthinkable. When Sports Illustrated issued dual covers, declaring Matt Leinart and the Trojans to be the champs to half of the magazine’s circulation, the Bayou Bengals went ballistic. The letters to the editor flooded in. USC fans, who had gotten over their stunning exclusion from the BCS championship despite being number 1 in both polls, were very happy about being able to win their first title in 25 years in the same stadium and against the same opponent as their last time in 1978.

But the Tiger fans never got over it. I read SI consistently for the next three years. Every week that story appeared about Pete Carroll or Matt Leinart or Reggie Bush, LSU fan was right there, with a snippy, bitter letter to the editor. SI, tickled pink about the attention, happily printed the reactionary delusions, actively maintaining the fires in the petulant bellies of the LSU crybabies.

What really pisses off the Tigers most of all is that Trojan fans just don’t care. We split the 2003 title and won the 2004 title. Vince Young single-handedly kept us from the 2005 championship. LSU? Oh, yeah- they’re pretty good and they deserved the trophy they won in 2003. We won our title in Pasadena- our second home- couldn’t ask for much more.

The latest chapter in this rather one-sided hatred erupted this last summer. As the pre-season polls were consistently placing USC number 1 and LSU number 2, Les Miles made his now famous sarcastic comments about the quality of the Pac-10. Oregon, ASU, and Cal have thanked Miles for the motivational speech, much to Tennessee’s chagrin.

LSU looked excellent tonight against a very good South Carolina team. USC rolled again over Washington State at home. There is only one solution to this incredibly annoying unrequited bitterness. Keep winning, Tigers. Keep winning, Trojans. We have an appointment to get together January 7th in New Orleans.

I can’t wait.

Fight On,

Hans

PS: Big congrats to Syracuse for pulling off the second-largest upset of the year in their win over Louisville. And if anyone out there even considered picking this game, you are totally insane and know absolutely nothing about college football, I guess that’s why we play the game!

The Red State

Imagine a city of almost one million people. Then, imagine that this town has no NFL, no NBA, no NHL, and no MLB team (sorry, soccer fans, MLS doesn't count). Furthermore, the entire state has but one Division 1-A school. When you are the only game in town, it's not surprising that your fan base is passionate and dedicated. But when you are talking about the University of Nebraska, the fans of "Big Red" take it to a whole new level.

Omaha and its environs account for almost one million residents. This represents the bulk of Nebraska's population. Nearby Lincoln, the state capitol and state's second largest city, is home to the University. On game days, Memorial Stadium itself becomes Nebraska's third largest city. By the way, I could only think of one other state with no major league pro teams and only one division 1-A (aka "Bowl Divison") team: Hawaii. Let me know if think of any more (Arkansas? Iffy- Arkansas State is technically bowl division).

USC's visit to Lincoln marked the first time a number 1 ranked team visited Nebraska since 1978 (the last number 1 team to play in Lincoln was Nebraska itself in 2000). This, combined with Nebraska's recent return to footbal competitiveness, made this game one of the most anticipated in almost 30 years. No pressure, Trojans.

I was not about to miss this "opportunity of a lifetime", so I packed the car full of diet Dr Pepper's and my laptop and headed out to Omaha, about 4 hours from home in Iowa City. I met up with step-brother Steve (GoBlue) there, and we traveled the last 40 miles to Lincoln. Founded in 1854 as Lancaster, the town was re-named in honor of the Civil War president when the state entered the union in 1867. At first glance, it looks like any typical prairie-state railroad hub: trainyards, broad streets in a simple grid, and 1920's era brick architecture lining the heart of downtown. Growing like a modernist tumor out the tradititional downtown, the campus of UN-L (University of Nebraska at Lincoln) sprawls northward and is dotted with both modern concrete and the expected neo-classical edifices.

One of the 57 rules of college football is to take at least one road trip without hotel reservations. In this case, that rule actually helped us. Downtown has been sold out for at least 6 months, but we thought we would try a last-minute glance at Priceline.com. Sure enough, a late cancelation or sudden release of blocked rooms allowed us in at the Holiday Inn, only 3 blocks from the stadium. Following a recommendation from Kellen Huston (University of Iowa College of Medicine class of 2009 and former Nebraska Blackshirt), we stumbled over to Lazlo's Brewery, located in the heart of the Haymarket district.

I am not sure why, but it seems like every town has its former seedy wharehouse district that has been transformed into trendy shops and coffee houses. Lincoln is no exception. Better yet, our hotel rested on edge of the Haymarket district, within easy crawling distance of the many bars. Priceline, I love you. Lazlo's food was tasty but not quite delicious. Since we were in the land of the great cattle ranches, we felt compelled to order steaks. In Pulp Fiction (My and Steve's favorite movie), the Jack Rabbit Slim's waiter asks Vincent Vega, "How do you like your steak: bloody as hell or burnt to a crisp?" The friendly servers at Lazlo's allowed us to choose from a slightly wider range of meat temperatures, but I was left out of one little local habit: Lincoln locals prefer their cow still bleeding. If you want your steak medium, you'd better tell them to burn it. If you prefer it a little pink, don't ask for the convential "medium rare". Linolnites only hear the second word in that phrase. Seriously, this is not just an error on the part of Lazlo's kitchen: the trend was confirmed after a converstaion with the waiting staff at another brewery the next day!

We awoke Saturday morning to an impressive sight: a sea of red draped behind ESPN Game Day crew. Other locales call for Game Day to broadcast from the Quad or a park or main street. Only Nebraska requires the capacity of Memorial Stadium for a 9:00 am preview show! They set up their stage on the field and filled the west grandstands with tens of thousands of red-clad Husker crazies. Lee Corso rightly called them the "Greatest Fans in All of College Football", right before he stabbed them in the back and picked USC over Nebraska!

Walking through the campus on Saturday afternoon, we were amazed by the Husker's sense of hospitality. Everywhere we went, we were greeted by "thanks for coming" and "good luck tonight" and "welcome to Nebraska" and "please have another beer." People were so nice it was actually creepy!

Fans of the Big Red do tailgating right. Starting early in day, the surface lots fill with Big Red cars and trucks, many with flat screen TV's set up on the tailgate. Some fans set up buffet tables and others fired up amplifers for some live music. Whereas many stadiums boast prolific tailgaiting traditions, I was particularly impressed by the high quality of each tailgate party I attended. Other schools have greater numbers (Penn State), greater debauchery (Iowa and Michigan), or greater sophistcation (USC and Washington), but the detail and quality on a tailgate by tailgate basis in Lincoln is unparalelled.

The most impressive tailgate set-up by far belonged to our friend and Nebraska football alumnus Kellen. He and his friends "circled the wagons" and drew 5 RV's into a square, filling the center with tables, chairs, and four big-screen TV's. One of the RV's was the single most outrageous piece of college football paraphenalia I have ever seen. It was a Big-Rig 18 wheeler cab welded onto a luxury RV base. Decked out with 7 TV's, custom hardwood floors, signed Nebraska memorbilia, and a margarita machine working overtime, the owner had no shortage of admirers. The neon "Nebraska Football" sign in the window is the icing on the cake.

Finally, it came time to stop talking about it and get to playing the game. We filed into the 84,000 seat stadium in time to enjoy the Star Spangled banner, a jet flyover, and a video tribute to the vaunted Blackshirt defense. By this time, the Red Sea was had been whipped into such a frenzy that I couldn't hear the person sitting next to me. I had heard that Nebraska can be a touch place to play. They are not kidding. Any rumors you heard about this being the loudest stadium in the country are probably true (with all due respect to Oregon and LSU). Fortunately, USC managed to keep the game plan simple and the offensive line made short work of the Blackshirts, literally running away with a 49 - 31 win (49 - 17 before the starters were pulled).

We excused ourselves from the packed stands, politely declined the many offers of a post-game party (how nice are these people? After we stomped them 49 - 31 they are inviting the Trojan fans out for a few drinks downtown!), and thanked the locals for their over-the-top hospitality.

It was my first visit to Lincoln and I will make sure it is not my last.

Fight On,

Hans

Dining with the Governor in Jeans

First and foremost, check out this fantastic list of 57 rules of college football from ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=rules/070905
What a great list! They pretty much capture the spirit of being a college football fan but, as the article says, they are looking for 43 more to round out the list. Please post your suggestions on our “Bark Like a Dog” bulletin board: http://artemis.ess.ucla.edu/~bmoore/cgi-bin/dogs/bb.pl

Second, what a great weekend of college football! As I looked over the picks this week, I saw a handful of potential upsets jump out at me. Some weeks are like that: a dog lover’s paradise. The challenge, of course, is finding the rose among the thorns and getting the picks right. Most of us (and many radio talk show hosts) were proved wrong by Texas when they overcame a 10 – 0 halftime deficit and stomped the TCU Horned Frogs 34 -10. But other gems came to fruition: Oregon driving the nails into Lloyd Carr’s coffin, Washington ending the longest winning streak in the nation and proving what I’ve been saying all summer (they’re the dark horse in the Pac-10), Spurrier sticking to UGA between the hedges (if you know what I mean), and South Florida shocking Auburn (only the genius of Tom Barbour managed to see that last one coming). Also, I think we should give credit to Wake Forest almost catching Nebraska looking ahead to USC and Miami (OH) almost proving that Minnesota can’t play the MAC.

The games yesterday helped answer some questions about the course of the year. Should LSU really be number 1 over USC? Is Oklahoma as good as everyone thinks? Is the ACC as bad as everyone thinks? Did Michigan and Notre Dame suffer fluke losses in the first week? Who besides Cal and UCLA will challenge USC this year in the Pac-10? (The answers, in case you’re keeping track at home, are yes, yes, yes, no and Washington). I’ll save you a trip to the schedule page: “U-dub” plays host to USC on September 29th and Cal will visit the stadium on the shores of Lake Washington on November 17th.

Finally, I feel compelled to let you all in on an amusing anecdote that occurred Friday evening even though it is only peripherally related to football. I was attending the Iowa Medical Society board meeting in Des Moines and was unsure of the proper attire. Hedging my bets, I showed up in nice jeans, a dress shirt with French cuffs (and my lucky Frank Lloyd Wright cufflinks), and a sport coat. Seeing that the other attendees were dressed rather casual, I removed the sport coat and fit right in. The meeting agenda listed dinner off site, at a place in Des Moines called “Terrace Hill”. Sounds like a decent restaurant, I thought, and maintained my outfit of jeans and a dress shirt. After all, that was better than what most people were wearing.

When I arrived at Terrace Hill, I immediately sensed something was not right. It was an old mansion, one of those house museums that Babs likes so much. As I walked up to the house, not sure how to get in and being unable to locate the tent with the catered dinner I was expecting, I noticed some children’s toys in the backyard. It’s odd for a house museum to have small kids. At that moment, a state trooper appeared out of nowhere and asked me, “May I help you, sir?” He said it in that tone of voice that was both helpful and friendly as well as full of authority that clearly said, “I’ll kick your ass from here to the state capitol if you don’t answer immediately.” It’s that tone of voice that only highway patrolmen and bouncers can really achieve correctly. I responded that I was lost and looking for a dinner party, so he quickly and pleasantly showed me to the side door of the mansion.

Ushered inside, I found a delectable spread of appetizers and alcoholic beverages waiting for me. Also present was my fellow physicians from the meeting, except they had all changed into suits! Oops. Sorry- I didn’t get the memo. When I go out in Vegas with Geodg, khouse, and GoBlue!, I always get the memo about khaki slacks and a blue collared shirt. But this time I wasn’t clued into the dress code. No problem. I just attached myself to an appropriate accessory- Jack Daniels on the rocks- and my outfit suddenly all made sense and flowed together. It said, “cool, outdoorsy ER doc that doesn’t care what other people think”. Which is mostly true.

Fascinated by the spectacular décor of the house, I struck up a conversation with the curator. He explained some of the brief history of this “most famous residence in Iowa” (DING! uh-oh, there is something here that all the Hawkeyes understand but the clueless outsider from Southern Cal hasn’t figured out yet). “Built in 1869, this 18,000 square foot. . . BLAH . . . BLAH . . . BLAH . . .and since 1971 has served as the Governor’s residence.” DING! Uh-oh, that’s why everyone got dressed up. Oh well, no problem, I’ll just keep playing the “cool, outdoorsy ER doc” card and roll with it. It’s not like governor is going to show up just because we’re having a party at his house.

At that moment, one of the conference organizers said, “Hey, everyone, here’s the guy whose place we’re crashing!” DING! Uh-oh. Governor Culver walked his 6’4” frame into the room. His impressive size reminded us that he played football for Virginia Tech in the 1990’s (see, I said this story was peripherally related to football). It turns out he’s a very nice and hospitable person- definitely the kind of guy you would want to go out for a beer with. Just the perfect personality to the lead the Hawkeye state. We talked about access to health care, about the Hawkeye game with Syracuse (35 – 0, Iowa played awesome!), but mostly about his 5 year old son’s birthday planned for Sunday. The family, along with several “Uncle State Troopers”, is headed for “Jumping Jack’s”, a sort of Chuck E. Cheese’s for fans of inflatable bouncy houses. We posed for photos to document our meeting and my flagrant fashion faux pas.

Ok, so I’m a cool outdoorsy ER doc. Sue me. I don’t care what other people think. . . mostly.

Fight On,

Hans

http://www.terracehill.org/

12 hours, 8 courses, 10 games, and One Appalachian State

A Tasting Menu for the First Day of College Football

0800 Food: Start with a classic: The Original Game Day Pancakes with butter, maple syrup, and orange juice
0900 Games: College Game Day live from Blacksburg, VA. Emotional and passionate: the right way to start the year.

1100 Food: Leftover pizza with beer. The true undergrad-dorm room- hangover helper is cold pizza and cheap beer, but I haven’t be able to handle it that way since freshman year. (OK, so I warmed the pizza in the microwave and the beer was Goose Island Belgian-style Ale. Sue me.)
1100 Games: East Carolina at Virginia Tech, Colorado State at Colorado, but not Appalachian State at Michigan! Despite getting the game plan and expanded football cable package, no one in their right mind put Appalachian State at Michigan on the menu. What an amazing upset! Too big even for the underdog pool (no spread was posted). Sorry Steve!

1400 Food: Bucky Badger’s Orange Dip with Pretzel Sticks. This is basically cream cheese with ketchup and French dressing. This sounds weird, but it actually tastes good, just like mama Stanberg’s Cranberry Relish (if you understand that joke, you listen to too much NPR).
1430 Games: Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, Washington State at Wisconsin, UCLA at Stanford, and Iowa “at” Nothern Illinois. This was hardly a road game for the Hawkeyes. Fully 28% of the undergrads at Iowa are from Chicago. Everyone- and I mean everyone- went home for this game. ESPN called Soldier Field “Kinnick Stadium East.”

1500 Food: Bratwurst boiled for 2 hours in beer and then grilled to perfection, with mustard and sauerkraut, washed down with Sierra Nevada pale ale.
1600 Games: Arizona at BYU, Toledo at Purdue
1700 Food: Homemade guacamole and salsa with blue corn chips.

1930 Food: Chili con Carne made from scratch, dressed with sharp cheddar cheese and baguette chips.
1930 Game: Tennessee at California. WOW! What a great game! Maybe Les Miles of LSU will show a little more respect for the Pac-10. Then again, maybe not.
2000 Food: Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies

2100 Food: Turtle ice cream cake from Whitey’s, Iowa’s favorite local ice cream purveyor
2130 Game: Idaho at USC. Hardly a spectacular performance, but it was nice to the see the Coliseum packed full even for such a cupcake opponent

2300: Falling asleep and dreaming of New Orleans on January 7th

Fight On,
Hans