Winter of our Discontents

After being blessed with a week and a half of the latest Indian Summer on record, low pressure and rain has moved into the great plains.  With it comes a cold, bitter wind that slaps your face and yanks at your ears, reminding you that winter is just around the corner.  Time to finish all the outside work, time to bring the corn in, and time to put away the mower.  By Thanksgiving next week, we will be snuggled warm and toasty within our prairie homes, a roaring fire in the hearth and a succulent turkey in the oven. The end has come to the season.

Winter has also descended on Pete Carrol's era of dominace in the Pac-10.  To a man, all ten head coaches agree in a conference call this week that the rest of the league has caught up to the talent of the Trojans.  Being eliminated from the BCS hurt.  Losing the third game of the season hurt.  Getting smacked by a whopping 55 points hurt a lot.  Losing at home to an in-state rival really hurt.  But the worse part of the loss to Stanford for me is that Pete's last remaining streak came to an end: the No- Loss November is finally no more. Why is this significant?  Because in past years, if USC had a shot at the league title but needed to "win out", we could count on a November run.  The ability to turn it up a notch in what USC fans call "the playoffs" of November was a defining characteristic of Pete Carrol's teams.  Finish the season, Pete.  Beat UCLA, be happy about the Sun Bowl, then purge the assistant coaches.  I wonder how much Norm Chow would need to bribed to move 7 miles east. . .

Hats off to Toby Vandenburg's son for his amazing performance against Ohio State that exceeded everyone's wildest expectations.  Toby is an ER doc in Keokuk, Iowa and sometimes teaches at our program.   Sure, Toby's son threw a couple of game-losing interceptions, but if he recievers hadn't dropped a couple of the bullets that almost ripped their hands off the Hawkeyes would be smelling roses about now.

Speaking of roses, I traditionally give my wife a dozen roses on the day (usually around now) that USC clinches the Rose Bowl.  Oh well.  So I was going to get them to celebrate Iowa beating Ohio State.  Oops.  Of course, if Stanford manages to climb out of the scrum in the wild west of the Pac - 10, she'll get her roses after all.  (Here's a surprising stat: Oregon State controls their own destiny for the Rose Bowl.)  There are so many possible scenarios remaining for the Pac - 10 title, I almost hope Oregon beats Arizona next week just to make it clear.  Maybe I should just get her roses anyway.

I really hope Texas gets upset (not likely) in one of their remaining games because I would love to see TCU play the SEC champ for the national championship.  The Frogs are playing amazing football right now.  If you watched College Game Day's Broadcast from Fort Worth this weekend, you saw the Horned Frog's hand sign: an index and middle finger bent like you're going to poke someone's eyes out.  This got me thinking about all the hand signs for Texas football teams.  It turns out that pretty much eveyone in the old South West Conference has a sign:  Hand Signs of the SWC.  When I saw TCU, now the media darling of the underdog world, flashing a sign I had never heard of, it made me think that they just came up with something recently because now they're hot and want to be in the same sentence with Texas (see the first sentence of this paragraph).  Well, I was partly right.  Burka's article linked above suggests that TCU was the last to adopt a sign.  Classic sign that everyone can do: Texas.  Coolest sign if don't live in an area plagued with handgun violence: Texas Tech.  Hardest sign to make: Houston (even Spock would have trouble with that one).

I was looking forward to writing an article on football hand signs.  I am also working on one about the schools with horses as mascots.  Too bad Traveler has to go away for the winter.

Fight On,

Hans

These Go to Eleven

I got to see Spinal Tap on the big screen the other night.  Our local art house plays cult films on Sunday evenings, and I finally made it to a showing.  I was very impressed that the movie still seems fresh, relevant, and bitingly satirical 25 years later.  Here's the best clip: These Go To Eleven.  Based on the string of upsets on Saturday, the volume on the underdog pool is definitely cranked up to eleven.

The weekend was full of great upsets, and I can't possibly mention them all.  The biggest one was Nothwestern over Iowa, but it seemed like everyone knew it was coming.  11 poolers picked it.  The lead story on college game day was the likelyhood of each undefeated team staying unbeaten- with Iowa picked dead last with only a 36% probability of surviving the season unscathed.  And, worst of all, Sports Illustrated had the gall to put the Hawkeyes on the cover.  ESPN's Pat Forde put it a little harsh, but I think he has is mostly right:

One year ago almost to the day, The Dash offered sincere thanks to Iowa for knocking 9-0 Penn State from the ranks of the unbeaten and saving America from another beatdown of an overmatched Big Ten team in the BCS National Championship Game.

This year, the thanks flow in a different direction from Iowa City. The Dash is sending balloons, kazoos and party streamers to Northwestern for exposing fraudulent Iowa. The Wildcats spared this great nation from having to listen to more earnestly deluded Hawkeyes fans explain why their team deserved a shot at the national title, despite a string of underwhelming victories against suspect competition.

Listening to Iowa's attempts to twist logic was like watching John Goodman try to fit into Prince's jeans. Not pretty.

Now everyone knows the truth. Even Iowans, who are free to return to reality

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Ironically, had Iowa quaterback Rick Stanzi had not been knocked out by an ankle injury in the second quarter, Iowa could have easily scored at least 8 more points and would have won the game.  Now Hawk fans have to face Ohio State in Columbus without Stanzi and may have to change their airline tickets from Pasadena to Orlando. 

I really should have known this, but ESPN revealed that teams that beat USC under Pete Carrol rarely win the following week.  I am happy to learn that defeating the Trojans uses up every ounce of karma the universe has bestowed upon a dog.  Oregon was the latest to fall victim to this let-down, but give due credit to Stanford.  Jim Harbargh has his offense burning Texas Tech style high-octane fuel and could finish 3rd or 4th in the conference.  USC better be prepared when the Cardinal come to visit this Saturday, or I will never hear the end of it from my wife (Stanford, '91).  And no, I will not be placing a bet with her.  I lose those bets more often than I care to remember. 

Brian Shedek (BShedek) had a very good weekend.  Although he is a die-hard Hawkeye fan and should have been heartbroken by the Northwestern loss, he knew it was coming and capitalized on in by pulling down 35 points and doubling his season total.  His day got even better when his cousin, a defensive back for Navy, led the Midshipmen to a stunning upset at Notre Dame  . . . again.  The Navy win has caused the national media to start calling for Charlie Weis' head, but I am not sure I want him to be fired (what do you think?  Vote on the poll to the right).  He's a great villian for Trojan and Wolverine fans (right, GoBlue! and Khouse?).  Also, the Domers have been in every game this year and have to be one of the most entertaining teams to watch.  They really are three plays away from being undefeated.  If Clausen stays for next year, they should have a great ride.  Maybe.  Then again, they will probably lose to Pittsbugh and Stanford this year and finish 7-5

Although Ohio State's upset was only worth 4 points, the degree in which they mauled Penn State was impressive.  It seems that Terrell Pryor has finaly figured out how to throw the ball to the Scarlet and Grey and not the other colors.  The Buckeyes are peaking at just the right time and the Hawkeyes are in big trouble come Saturday.

I have to give a honorable mention to Wake Forest, who took Georgia Tech to overtime and almost sent the ACC's "Wheel of Destiny" spinning like a top.  An old adage of the underdog pool remains in effect: pick the Demon Deacons at home in conference games, but never take them on the road. 

In honor of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, ESPN Gameday visited the Air Force academy and their game with Army.  The opening was impressive: the cadets stood at attention in quiet remberance as Chris Fowler described the mourning of the murdered soldiers at Ft Hood.  But as soon as the F-16's finished their fly-over, the cadets broke out their previously hidden signs and banners and starting cheering like crazy.  Here's President Obama's opening address for the show:  Obama

Although there was great football on all day, I didn't watch very much.  We were blessed with 70 degrees and full sunshine, which is unheard of for Iowa in Novemeber.  As one local DJ described it, on a scale of 1 to 10, the weather rated an 11.  We happily spent the whole weekend outside, cleaning up the garden, planting bulbs for spring, and playing wth Sophie and the doggies. 

Have a great Veteran's Day.
Fight On,

Hans

PS:  Here's a very nice article about Iowa Football that appeared in the Wall Street Journal of all places:
Iowa Football

The End of an Era

We all knew this streak would end eventually, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. The lead picture above, taken from the LA Times, says it all; the dejected Joe McKnight walks off the field with specter of the Grim Reaper looming over his shoulder. On a frightening, wet, and loud Halloween night in Autzen Stadium the Oregon Ducks handed Pete Carroll his worst USC loss . . . ever. It was the worst loss by the Trojans in over a decade (since 1997). A defense that was in the top 10 in the nation against run found itself run over. Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli looked better than Vince Young ever was as he threw and sliced the Trojan D on the way to 44 points. In the third quarter, I found myself looking up the date for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.



The big winner last night was Boise State. Now their opening night victory over Oregon looks even better. The human pollsters recognize this and put Boise just behind Cincinnati, and ahead of Oregon by a couple spots. But the computers were apparently switched on after September 5th and never saw the Broncos dominate the Ducks. 5 of the 6 BCS computers rank the Ducks ahead of Boise State! As a result, Boise State has virtually no chance at the BCS title game. But an at-large bid is looking increasingly likely (the automatic bid for a non-BCS league team will get taken by TCU if they win out).



Texas and Florida silenced their critics with big wins on national TV, rolling on toward the BCS championship. Iowa, however, insists on thrilling their fans by spotting a lead to each of their opponents then scrambling back in the second half with deep passes and a blistering defense. It kinda makes you wonder how well they would do if they ever managed to play a complete game. They are firmly in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl and will likely face Oregon on New Year’s Day. Considering how well the Ducks played last night, I seriously doubt that Iowa would survive the bowl game if they surrendered a lead of any kind,



Despite the devastating loss for the Trojans (talk about elevated expectations- 2 losses and the season is considered a disaster), I had a great weekend. Sophie, Kristi and I went to Pennsylvania to spend Halloween weekend with Sophie’s aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sophie got to go on her first trick or treating experience, which she thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever. For more on that, check out her blog at http://www.sophiehouse.blogspot.com/. We stayed at the Spring Creek Inn, a lovely Victorian mansion on the shores of a serene fly fishing creek. The lodge is run by underdog pooler Mike Gruendler (MG@PA). Also in attendance was your commissioner khouse, plus Geodog, GopherGirl, MiniMike, and, of course, Gran. The Spring Creek Inn was originally built in 1860 as a brewery, and, nestled into the nearby hillside, has a deep beer-aging cave not unlike a wine cave you might find in Bordeaux or Provence. We gathered up our champagne and candles, and journeyed into the cave to toast the season and toast the family.

The next night is when Sophie discovered the joy of trick or treating, especially the candy that comes with it. But all the sweets in her bag couldn’t erase the bitter taste in my mouth after that Oregon game.



Fight On,

Hans