Down ticket problems

A few miles past I-39, just outside of Aurora, IL, our full bladders are greeted by a welcome sight: the Dekalb oasis. On our occasional weekend trips to Chicago, this tollway complex has everything a road traveler could need: clean bathrooms, convenient gas, a McDonalds, and the finest Land of Lincoln themed souvenirs this side of Peoria.

It also happens to be the most I've ever seen of Northern Illinois University.

NIU sits just north of the interstate near the Dekalb oasis and I hadn't thought much about the school. Until yesterday. Now I learn that this little west- Chicago commuter school will playing in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. (Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports came up with a great stat- NIU is obligated to buy 17,500 tickets for the Orange bowl. They average only 15,670 per home game!)

Naturally, NIU's crash of the BCS party is the big headline. But a quick look at the rest of the BCS matches tells us that the current system has outlived it's usefulness. The BCS is always quick to point out that their goal is to achieve a number 1 vs 2 final (and this year's game is looking epic, despite my misgivings about a certain despised team from South Bend) and it is not to ensure the 8 best teams in the country get to play in the premiere bowls. But maybe it should be.

NIU made the BCS because they are ranked in the top 16 and are ranked higher than a BCS qualifier. The current press continues to mention only Big East champ Louisville, yet in fact, they are ahead of two teams- Wisconsin, the Big 10 champ, is unranked.

Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas A and M are top quality teams that will not appearing in the BCS. Instead, we get to watch NIU- Florida St and Florida- Louisville. Ugh. (Ok, the Fiesta bowl is going to be pretty cool with up-tempo offenses Kansas State and Oregon). The Rose looks good on paper with Stanford - Wisconsin, but that 5 losses and unranked status takes some serious shine off of the Badgers.

Down the ticket from the BCS, things get worse. USC horrendous season comes to a merciful end in El Paso- where they meet 6-7 Georgia Tech! No less than 13 6-6 teams are going bowling. Unbelievable.

What happened? ESPN encouraged the proliferation of bowls by bankrolling the TV broadcast of a game, ensuring a bowl's profitability even if it can't sell enough seats to fill a section much less a stadium (I'm looking at you, Beef O Brady's bowl). And conference realignment shifted the best teams to couple a conferences, limiting BCS participation due to the 2 team limit rule.

The playoff can't come soon enough.

Fight on and Beat the Yellowjackets,

Hans

Open Letter to Steve Sarkisian

Reporting from Pasadena, CA

Dear Coach Sarkisian,

Greetings. I hope you are enjoying the dreary weather in rainy Seattle. We had a good dose of gentle Pacific showers all day today in Pasadena. I am sure your hard work and moderate success with rebuilding the Washington Huskies football program has distracted you from such petty nuisances as the local climate.

Allow me to get right to the point; we miss you in Los Angeles. We Trojans have many fond memories of your days as Pete Carroll's QB coach and Assistant Head Coach, when you drew up plays for Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez that lit up the scoreboard. Your departure in 2008 that saw you and Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt leave for the University of Washington marked the decline of the Pete Carroll era at USC. We wished you well and knew the Huskies were in good hands. Your enthusiasm and innovation has been rewarded in Seattle, where you took a 0-12 Huskies team and went 5 - 7 your first year. Now, you have them on pace for a nine-win season only 4 years later.

As you are well aware, your "partner in crime" on offense during the Carroll days, Lane Kiffen, has been USC's head coach for the last 3 years. Since you worked so closely with Lane, you understand what drives him. You will recall, in a heedless attempt to achieve his career goal of a head coaching job, he enthusiastically pursued every available opening. He even accepted the disastrous Oakland Raiders position that you wisely declined. It was clear to us that you were patiently waiting for the most ideal opportunity while Lane was ready for anything that moved him up the coaching ladder.

The next year, when you were hired at Washington, Lane was fired by the Raiders and landed in Tennessee. His ability to recruit both players and coaches (including the impressive addition of his father, Monte, the genius behind the Tampa 2 defense) was well on display. But his ethics, first publicly questioned by the late Al Davis in being labeled a "liar" on his way out the door in Oakland, became more problematic in his stint with the Volunteers. He antagonized other coaches and repeatedly made minor, yet technically illegal, recruiting violations.

Tempers that were flared by Lane's antics in Knoxville became enraged just a year later when he bolted for USC to replace Pete Carroll. You certainly must respect the level of cajones Lane showed by leaving Tennessee so soon and stepping into a program facing a then-unprecedented volume of NCAA sanctions. USC AD Pat Haden later described how Lane came to him with a entire notebook filled with his 5 year plan to weather the sanctions. And, remarkably, his plan seemed to be working as USC continued to recruit the best players and managed to separate the bowl ban from the scholarship reductions, effectively halving the impact of the sanctions on the long term success of the program. Alumni dollars followed and the seats the Coliseum remained (mostly) full.

Lane is a remarkable recruiter. And his long term plan for the Trojans is impressive in execution. But aside from his ethics, there is another aspect of his coaching that was never stellar: his sideline coaching. Obsessed with his charts and percentages, Lane spends every moment of the game buried in a giant laminated play card. He remains so disconnected from the game rhythms and his player's emotions. Furthermore, his play calling is questionable at best. When he left for the Raiders and you moved from Quarterbacks coach to Offensive Coordinator, we could see the Trojan offense act more dynamic and more innovative. Under Lane Kiffen, USC looks predictable, slow, and static.

The continued ethical problems this year push us towards a change. Not letting our former hero and your Mentor Norm Chow walk the field before the Hawaii game? Disguising the kicker as another player against Colorado? He condones a culture of poor decisions; How else to explain how a graduate assistant believed it might be ok to let the air out of the footballs when they we played Oregon?

This year began with such promise. The degree of failure of this team is literally historic (only 4 teams in history started the season number 1 and lost 4 or more games). We are ready for a change.

Please come back to your hometown of Los Angeles. You are ready to take the next step in your career and show the world what your ingenuity, charisma, and dedication can do with the pool of talent in the coliseum. The Pete Carroll glory days would return.

Signed,

The Trojan Family.

Fight on,

Hans

Hawaii!

Quick thoughts from last weekend:


Nice upset, Aggies.  Welcome to the SEC!  Your arrival is working out better than Mizzou's . . .


Iowa's season is officially in the dumpster.  Time to rethink the coaching staff, at least the coordinators.


USC vs UCLA is for more than just bragging rights; its the Pac-12 South Division Championship.  I'll be there to see if USC can salvage any glory from its fallen "dream season" that held so much promise when Matt Barkley spoke of "unfinished business" at a press conference in December last year.


But first I have some "unfinished business" on a beach in the Pacific.

The flight departs in 2 hours and 22 minutes

See you in a week!

Fight On,

Hans

Luxury Travel on a Budget

Reporting from San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA

American Eagle 1A is heaven.

Sitting in seat 1A on an American Eagle flight is one of the most exquisite yet simple traveling pleasures I know. To sit in this magical place requires not the extravagant trappings of an burgeoning expense account or a massive pile of frequent flyer miles. This seat, situated forward of all other rows on the EMB 140, sits apart from the rest, adjacent to the crew galley. The bulkhead provides ample legroom and complete solace. From this seat, the plane is my own; private travel for no more than the cost of a coach ticket. I began this particular short weekend trip to California with a luxurious flight to Dallas, nestled into 1A with cured meats, brie, a passable Argentinian Sauvignon Blanc, and Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows.

Once in Dallas, I had just enough time to duck into the Admirals Club for a couple shots of complimentary whiskey before transferring to my flight to San Francisco. Unfortunately, there is no magical 1A on this large, roomy 757. With space enough for a separate first class that obliterates my equalitarian seat 1A, I am herded into the middle of the plane into a exit row seat. Somewhere back in Iowa City, a well-meaning travel agent had taken pity on my 6'2" frame and elected a seat with extra leg room. Unfortunately, that puts me squarely over the wing.

I hate that.

You see, when I travel, I really like looking out the window. I am that guy that sits up and pays attention when the pilot announces that we are flying over the Grand Canyon. Why go through the expense and hassle of air travel if you you are not going the enjoy the amazing sights of this vast country passing below you? Now it just so happens that the air routes taken into San Francisco pass over the Sierra Nevada. Often, the plane will fly right over the Long Valley caldera area of the Eastern Sierra and I get to ogle the places that have been so special for me since childhood: Mammoth Mountain, Mono Lake, and Yosemite national park. Although my back was thankful I could stretch out in this exit row, I could only glimpse Mammoth for a few seconds this time before it was obscured by the engine and wing occupying most of my view. I am happy to report, however, that the mountain is fully covered with snow and it looks like we will be able to enjoy a new ski season soon.

I came to San Francisco for the American Association of Medical Colleges meeting to network with other educators that specialize in teaching students their "clinical skills" of being a doctor: how to take a patient's history, conduct a physical examination, and gather the deductive clues to make an insightful diagnosis. Kinda like what Gregory House does on House MD but with a lot less acerbity and a few less drugs.

It was a beautiful weekend in the city, so I enjoyed a long walk to my favorite bar, Smuggler's Cove. Behind its unassuming facade (see below) lies over 350 types of rum. They are presented through a well-researched cocktail menu that follows the mixologist's history of rum from the English Navy's grog to the golden age of tiki bars following World War II. Fortified by a Parisian Blonde, I enjoyed a delicious Indian dinner at Amber, a hip, crowded restaurant near the museum complex around the Moscone Convention Center.

After my meeting ended the next day, I rushed back to SFO to catch a Southwest flight to LA, making sure to snag a window seat on the left side of the plane. The term "posh" originated as an acronym for "Port Out Starboard Home" and described the the most desirable cabin when sailing from London to South African or India during the days of the British empire. If you occupied a cabin on the port (left) side of the boat when sailing south along Africa, you viewed the coastline for the duration of the journey. By switching to a cabin on the starboard (right) side for the return trip home, you also enjoyed a view that was considerably less monotonous than the empty sea that the other less fortunate passengers endured.

The air routes between San Francisco and Los Angeles generally follow the coastline of California. To fully witness the majesty of the Golden State, it is best to sit on the port side of the plane flying south to LA and move to the starboard side for the return leg north. Again, port out, starboard home. The open seating offered by Southwest, frequently viewed as chaotic and unruly by more sophisticated travelers, allows anyone in the know to enjoy a posh seat at Southwest's famously bargain prices.

When I got to LA, I caught a ride directly to the coliseum, arriving in Exposition Park 25 minutes after stepping off the plane. A few minutes later I was in my 50 yard line seat for USC vs Oregon. On social medial outlets in the days leading up to the game, the usually arrogant and myopic Trojan fans were remarkably pessimistic about their team's chances against the Ducks. Armed with those low expectations, I was actually quite pleased that USC trailed by only 3 late in the 3rd quarter. But a couple of costly turnovers and a complete inability to stop the vaunted Quack attack offense turned the pessimism into reality. USC's offense played their best game of the year and put up one heck of a fight. But I openly concede that Oregon is a better team; a much better team that deserves a shot at the national championship.*

On Sunday, after a blessed extra hour of sleep thanks to daylight savings time, I retraced my long air travels back to San Francisco and Dallas and finally to home. One week of work, three hard shifts next weekend, and I'll be getting back on a plane again. This time headed to Hawaii

8 days, 1 hour, 30 minutes to go.

Fight On,
Hans

PS: the Ducks deserve to be in the BCS championship unlike Notre Dame who just keeps pulling wins out of their lucky little green butts. Manti Te'o has the Irish defense playing out of their minds, but the offense is not very consistent. Although T'eo on and his front four will be able to get good pressure on Barkley, I anticipate that the Notre Dame dream season will come to a screeching halt on November 24th with a blowout loss to USC in the Coliseum. (See above regarding arrogant and myopic Trojan fans)

First Cold Night

Reporting from Iowa City, IA

Peace.

A satisfying meal of zucchini soup, Brussel sprouts roasted with prosciutto, and truffle-salted grilled pork.

Wes Anderson's whimsical and romantic Moonrise Kingdom enjoyed from beneath a warm furry blanket entwined with my best friend.

A Westie wrapped around my feet, snoring gently

Two fingers of Balveine Peated-Cask single malt scotch, bitter and smooth like burned leather

The hunter's moon pouring its pale blue light through a newly bare forest and landing softy onto my face.

Warm glow of recessed lighting flowing over maple paneling and a pine floor

The soft crackle of cooling embers in the fireplace, just awoken from its long summer hibernation.

When the temperature drops in the Midwest, we don't complain or feel sorry for ourselves. We change out our wardrobes, dig in the back of the closet for our gloves, and bring out the extra blankets. The end of October brings with it the baring of trees and nighty freezes. What we consider a warm afternoon is classic "Midwestern brisk", and still requires a sweater and hat. It is the time to finish cleaning the yard, get the bulbs planted in the ground, and change the oil in the tractor. We will be withdrawing into our homes, firing up the slow cooker, and making a fire in the hearth.

We faced the first very cold night of the season tonight. But rather than complaining, we celebrated- with delicious seasonal food, s'mores over a blazing fire, and watching a romantic movie while huddling under blankets.

The next day was spent raking the yard while the crock pot churned out a batch of tomato-fennel soup. We also planted over 150 bulbs in anticipation of Spring, seemingly an eternity away. We worked hard to get the chores done- there's football on!* Fortunately the best games were shown at night, after a cold, hard day of work. The way we like it. And the soup had plenty of time to cook.

Winter is coming. Bring it on.

Hawaii is coming too, only 14 days, 22 hours, and 25 minutes.

Fight on,

Hans


*PS. I can't let this column go without mentioning the results of those games. The cozy impressionistic description above belies the insufferable pain I endured Saturday. Iowa has always had trouble with Northwestern, and yesterday was no exception. I was terrified of USC playing at Arizona a week before the biggest game of the year (home against Oregon next week). Sure enough, Kiffin's inability to adjust his offensive scheme and the Trojan's incomprehensible excess in penalties ruined Marquise Lee's record performance. We Trojan alums have an expression: A Perfect Trojan Day. It occurs when USC wins while UCLA and Notre Dame lose. Yesterday was a rare opposite: the Bruins and Irish both won! At least by picking the Irish and betting against the Trojans I got 17.5 points to show for it . . . .


PPS. What you doing on Jan 7th? I'll be free.

Great American Beer Festival

Reporting from Denver, CO
(above photo credit: Andy Bern)

Something happened to Denver in the last 10 years while no one was looking.  It got cool.

I was in Denver for the last week for a conference and was "stuck" downtown for the entire week.  I gazed longingly at the surrounding mountains and nearby Boulder, unable to get the time or transportation away to these places that I love.  But, oddly enough, once I gave downtown Denver a chance I discovered that it has matured nicely since I was there last and has developed into a haven of culture.  The opera house and symphony hall complex is a soaring tribute to the arts.  The Museum of Art earns all the talk about its controversial architecture.  And the neighborhood surrounding Coors Field is riddled with quaint restaurants and bars.  One of these bars is worth noting: "The 1 Up" features dozens of classic upright arcade games (Pac-Man, Galaga, and yes, even Defender!) as well as giant Jenga games.  Very cool.

Don't get me wrong, Boulder is still the best.  By far.  But Denver is not just a gateway to the Rockies anymore.  (I still hate that their airport is an hour outside of town . . . )

I was in town for a conference, but it ended conveniently on the same day as the start of the Great American Beer Festival.  580 breweries offering over 2500 beers.  Oh yeah- I had to stay for that.  I logged into the website the moment tickets went on sale in August, but they were all sold out- the event sold out BEFORE they went on sale.  But there were ample tickets immediately available on Stub Hub for twice face value.  Hmmm.   Shenanigans!

Anyway, this was a unique right place- right time kind of moment, so I shelled out the extra bucks and got my pass for the first night.  I learned later that the first night is the most coveted; the breweries have just arrived and their product is at its most fresh.  The event started at 5:30 pm to run until 10:00 pm; I spent the day saving up my calories and doing some extra exercise.  This strategy later proved . . . unwise.

The best word to describe The Great American Beer Festival is overwhelming. There is just no possible way to sample everything.  They hand you a 1 oz tasting glass when you enter, then are turned loose on a massive convention floor space.  The entire convention hall is covered with booths, arranged regionally (Pacific, Mountain, Northwest, Midwest, etc).  Since each brewery has a booth and each booth offers samples of five or more beers, even if you kept to the tiniest region, New England, with 20 booths, you are looking at 100 oz in samples!

I sampled randomly as I walked, tasting many great beers (the best were usually IPA's) and quite a few mediocre ones.  The two most memorable beers were: a chili pepper beer from Mad River Brewery that was surprisingly complex and delicious (would have been outstanding with a burrito) and a coconut-chocolate stout from the Maui Brewing Company (almost like a liquid german chocolate cake).

Very briefly into my tastings, my lack of earlier eating became apparent.  I was absorbing the alcohol WAY too fast.  I tried to compensate with a quesadilla from the snack bar (where did that Mad River booth go?) but it was too little too late.  In the end, I only lasted two hours (embarrassing) but I did manage to sample 48 beers, a mere 2% of the available total.

The rest of the weekend was spent recovering.  And watching some great football.  Hats off to Notre Dame for their gritty, come from behind win over Stanford.  And no, Stanford did not get into in the end zone on the last play- the refs and the replay official made the right call.  Iowa's comeback over Michigan State was a surprise and knocked Sparty out of the Big 10 race.  And West Virginia discovered that not having a defense can be a painful thing when visiting Lubbock, Texas.

I would like to have more of that coconut chocolate beer.  I wonder if I can track some down when I am in Hawaii.

25 days, 21 hours, and 58 minutes!

Fight On,

Hans

PS:  The conference I attended had a silent auction that included this Jimmy Buffet signed guitar.  If only I hadnt spent so much on airfare and beer tickets . . .

Amid The Peaks And Beside A Salty Lake

Reporting from Salt Lake City, Utah

The Los Angeles Coliseum holds the honor of being the only edifice in the world that has hosted two Olympic opening ceremonies. But USC is not the only college football team to play in an Olympic stadium. They're not even the only team in their league to do so!

I am here today in Salt Lake City for the Trojan's first visit to Utah since the Utes* joined the conference last year (and first visit since 1915!) The game will be played in Rice-Eccles stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the Salt Lake City games of 2002. I arrived at the airport and took a short cab ride into downtown, starting my tour at Temple Square. Upon arriving in the Salt Lake valley in 1847, this plot of land was selected by Brigham Young to be the site for the Mormon temple and remains today as the world headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The gardens are beautiful and the central crystal-like temple soars into the air (at night it is brightly lit and is even more impressive). The square held a smattering of tourists, most wearing USC jerseys like myself. I toured one of the visitor centers, featuring interesting yet slightly creepy dioramas of bible stories and Church history. The most impressive piece was this statue of Christ (Christus by Bertel Thorvaldsen) surrounded by a celestial mural on the walls and ceiling, imparting a heavenly, extra-terrestrial ambiance.

From there, I walked the several miles from downtown to campus. If you visit here, I recommend using Trax, the local light rail system that runs from central downtown (where the Temple is located) right to the football stadium (I needed the exercise). The fun part of wandering through a new town is the unexpected discoveries. I passed this violin making school, full of students laboriously carving their virgin instruments from the native wood. Another surprise was the prevalence of Nepalese restaurants. A rare sight in even the largest cities, I passed no less than three in about a mile. I wonder if there is a connection between Nepalese food and the abundance of outdoor enthusiasts in this state. That, or the Mormon church has a significant presence in Nepal.

The Utah campus is beautiful; reminds me a bit like Arizona State: set nestled against a mountain and featuring modern design buildings set widely apart to make room for quads and parks between them. I passed a newspaper dispenser and did a double take on the name of the local paper- The Deseret. Some funny play on words for a paper for the desert? No, this refers to the original proposal for a new territory made by Brigham Young's government in 1849 at the conclusion of the Mexican- American war ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Deseret) They printed a plan for a state carved out of the newly enlarged United States that stretched from the Sierra Nevada in the west to the Rockies in the east and from the Sawtooth mountains in the north to the new border with Mexico (incidentally, the plan was printed in Iowa because no printing presses existed yet in the Salt Lake Valley!). The name for this huge land was Deseret. Although President Zachary Taylor supported the idea (to reduce the number of new free states and to avoid pissing off the South), such a large state was not acceptable to congress and the territory of Utah was established at about half the size.

After seeing the stadium, my other goal for this trip was to visit the famous Pie Pizzeria, a Utah institution. The Pie is an underground pizza joint adjacent to campus and a pre-game ritual. The line was out the door and led directly to the ordering counter: no table service, no waiting room; the counter is a few steps inside the door. I placed my order for an artichoke/ spinach / chicken calzone (definitely NOT on my diet) and found a small table in the corner amid the sea of red. The coeds were wearing shirts proclaiming they were members of "The MUSS". What the heck is the MUSS? I later learned that it is the name for the Utah Alumni organization and comes from a line in their fight song, "... No other college men [sic] dare meet us in the muss." Ok- so it's an archaic name for a fight. But in the context of football, it has taken on another meeting: the student section at Rice-Eccles stadium. The feisty, boisterous nature of the section resembles a chaotic "muss", particularly their famous "3rd down jump" (God help the engineers who designed the grandstands). In this setting MUSS is described as an acronym for "Might Utah Student Section."

The MUSS was certainly rocking tonight, even more so after Utah recovered consecutive fumbles and scored 14 points in the first three minutes. But as the game wore on USC's physical defense and speed at the receivers was too much for the Utes. It was not a perfect game for the Trojans but any means but at least they responded to a really crappy start and were able to pull away.

The peaks that nestle Salt Lake City are painted with lovely fall color- broad streaks of bright yellow from the groves of aspen. But upon landing in Denver for the second leg of this week's trip I was assaulted by an icy wind blowing down from the Rockies complete with light snow. A stark reminder to enjoy Autumn while you have it- winter is coming.

38 days, 5 hours, and 43 minutes until Hawaii.

Fight on,

Hans

*PS: The NCAA has banned the use of tribes as sports nicknames. Utah is one of the few Division 1-A (FBS) schools to receive permission from the appropriate tribe to retain the use of the name. Others that I am aware of include the Central Michigan Chippewa's and the Florida St Seminoles. Of note, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux obtained permission from one Sioux nation but not from the other and their nickname remains under sanction from the NCAA. Also, the Illinois Illini were allowed to keep their name simply because there is no such thing as the Illini tribe- it just refers to any person from Illinois.

A Perfect Autumn Day and Night

Reporting from Iowa City, IA

First off, allow me to apologize for skipping last week’s blog; I was working night shifts that weekend and that tends to play Hell with one’s diurnal productivity.  Inspired by the start of my favorite season, I tried to get my Facebook friends to contribute some seasonal poetry but ran into an epic fail.  Here’s my summary from last weekend: fall is here, slow cooked brats are awesome, USC bounced back against Cal, I am embarrassed for the 17 points I got at the expense of the Hawkeyes, and I predict the hail mary fiasco on Monday Night Football will encourage a settlement between the league and the refs.  (Good call, that last one)

This weekend, I have a rare quiet couple days at home.  Good thing, too, because tonight is the Harvest Moon and the weather in Iowa is often beautiful this time of year.  Sure enough, we have robin’s egg blue skies, cool clear nights, warm sunny afternoons, and the leaves are just starting to change, filling our forest with blazes of fire and gold.  I headed out to work on Saturday morning into the crisp Midwestern air, riding my bike through the maze of tailgaters, soaking in the scent of grilling bacon, roasted burgers, and gallons of spilled beer.  I worked the first-aid station for the Iowa – Minnesota game, a rivalry match played each year for Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze pig.  Floyd has resided north of the border for two years and we were eager to get him back.  After their epic collapse last week, Iowa finally woke up and played great on both sides of the ball, winning convincingly 31 – 13.

The first-aid station was busier than usual, thanks to the warm sunny weather as the game started.  The heat in the stadium caught everyone by surprise; this morning it was a brisk 47, but quickly shot up to over 80 by the second half.  The patient census at the first aid station is directly correlated to the ambient temperature; the hotter it is, the more patients we see.  Another trend we see is that underage persons are the ones most likely to have trouble with alcohol.  As expected, the only intoxicated patients we had to deal with today were under 21.  After the game, I went for a long bike ride in the warm sun, basking in the perfect weather.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent enjoying football from around the nation.  There were some great games (‘cmon South Florida! Too bad- close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades), but the big story of the day has to be Geno Smith, the West Virginia QB who triumphed in a ridiculous 70-63 shootout over Baylor.  He went 45 for 51 (yes, a 88% completion percentage) with 8 TD’s, no INT’s, and 656 yards.  Had he been in my fantasy football league, he would have scored an unbelievable 62 points!  No one has previously won the Heisman in September, but Smith might have just pulled off the feat.  Apparently, Smith is also a rather gifted artist.  Here's a great biography from the New York Times: GenoSmithNewYorkTimes

After watching highlights of Geno Smith throwing for touchdown after touchdown, I soothed my sore throat with a delightful hot toddy* and fell asleep on my couch, bathed in the blue glow of the harvest moon and dreaming of lounging on a beach in Hawaii.

43 days, 4 hours, and 4 minutes . . .

Fight On,

Hans

*PS: my favorite recipe:  put 1 – 2 oz of good scotch into a mug.  Laphroaig works great due to its smoky aroma, but any decent scotch will do.  You could substitute rye whiskey instead, but Templeton Rye is just too rare to be mixed this way.  Add 1 – 2 teaspoons of sugar and mix.  Fill the mug with hot water and enjoy.  It is best paired with a cold weather, a soft blanket, a leather chair, and the company of a West Highland White Terrier.  

Cant Beat Them

Reporting from Palo Alto, CA

Many of our long term readers know that I love San Francisco and eagerly look forward to USC's annual road trip to the bay area. This year, we got to play Stanford and were humbled by losing to them for the 4th year in a row. More on that later. I'm here at the game with my dad (mouse), brother (khouse), and Kurt's father-in-law Jon Colton (jcman00). The game is unusually early in the season so the weather is absolutely perfect- sunny with an expected high of 80.

For the second year in a row, we are in Apple's backyard the same weekend they unveil the newest model of iPhone. My wife, sick and tired of AT&T's awful service and spotty (at best) coverage, was very happy to pre-order it in the early hours of yesterday morning. When the site opened, the ship date was one week later. After just one hour, the ship date was pushed back to 2 weeks. After 18 hours, it will take 3 weeks to get your phone. Although the critique that Apple has yet to introduce something totally new is valid, their continued refinement of this revolutionary device is clearly wildly successful when it comes to sales.

I thank Steve Jobs just about everyday for bringing us the future. When I travel I just bring my iPhone and iPad and I have all I need for entertainment, productivity and logistics. For example, in the first 24 hours of this trip, I utilized this technology by:

• Using the American Airlines app and checking into my flight
• Sending the boarding passes that I downloaded to my iPad to my air printer
• Checking the status of my flight and the weather at the destination airport to project for possible delays including watching live Doppler radar from Texas as thunderstorms rolled across the state.
• Using the AA app for my connecting gate information as I arrived at the AA hub in Dallas
• Using Airport Maps app to locate food and the Admirals Club in the Dallas terminal
• Connected to the Internet while on board my flight from Dallas to San Francisco and followed the progress of the plane across a map of the United States.
• Send a text to my dad from the plane to let him know we were to be late
• Watched movie on my iPad, rented and downloaded the night before
• Kept track of my caloric intake with the My Fitness Pal app
• Used Google maps to locate Smuggler's Cove, my favorite bar in San Francisco
• "Checked in" on Facebook and posted a picture of the world's greatest cocktail, the Parisian Blonde
• Ordered a limousine from the Über app to take us to dinner (this is a GREAT service. Check it out if you don't know about it.  https://www.uber.com/)
• As we walked through the Fairmont Hotel, I pulled up a copy of one of my old blogs so my dad Could read about the history of the place and it's famous Tonga room. (http://underdogcontest.blogspot.com/2008/07/coldest-winter.html)
• Determined the calories burned from a walk around Union Square with Workout app
• Located sushi restaurants that may are open late for a post-game meal and read their reviews with Yelp
• Reserved a table with Open Table
• And, of course, kept track of the scores and upsets that make this contest great!

As you all know, there was one upset that was not so great. Stanford beat USC. . . again. For suffering Trojan fans this is becoming an increasingly annoying occurrence. Stanford is successful because they focus on winning the trenches; their teams over the last 6 years have been characterized by dominant O and D line play. Before they had Luck airing it out, the Cardinal ground out gritty wins with ball-control offense and relentless rushing attack. They lack the speed and flash of Oregon but as far as USC concerned, it's worse. USC's offensive line looked non-existent and Matt Barkley will be nursing his bruises for a long time to come, right up until the Heisman ceremony when he isn't invited to New York.

As you may know, my wife Kristi is a very proud alum of the Leland Stanford Jr University. She has been enjoying their run of 5 wins in the last 6 years. The proverb "If you can't beat them, join them" is traced to an American Senator in 1932. Sounds like good advice. Maybe Barkley should find a nice young lady from Stanford and settle down. It worked for me.

This was a rough weekend. I'm ready for Hawaii in 57 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes.

Fight on,
Hans

PS: here's a great slideshow of the best college football bars in the country, including the Dixie Chicken I mentioned 2 weeks ago.
http://www.thedailymeal.com/best-college-football-bars-0?utm_source=yahoo%2Bpostgame&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=college%2Bfootball%2Bbars&RM_Exclude=Welcome

State College

This is not about Jerry Sandusky or about a torrid sex scandal. This is about a community coming together to heal and reestablishing it's priorities over scholarship, loyalty, and football.

I have come to State College for a family reunion; to enjoy barbecued meats and fine scotch with my brothers, aunts and uncles, and mother. While here, I wanted to get a true sense of the Penn State community; how they are coping with the changes in leadership at the beginning of a protracted period of football futility.

The Nittany Lions began play last week with the first new head coach since 1966. Is there a cult of personality at Penn State? Apparently not; I'm told it was not about Joe Paterno the person. It was about a football coach was loyal to the school. Win or lose, he kept showing up to work for a school he loved. Russ Rose, their venerable volleyball coach, has paced the hardwood since 1979. Mike the Mailman has operated the campus post office since 1978 and writes a regular column on state college.com. The students love him so much they made him grand marshall last year.

Penn State is about loyalty. Loyalty and longevity at the institution. They prefer persistence to turnover. Can these principles lead to unfortunate tolerance of inappropriate behavior? Sure; witness the tale of Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland. She was the coach since 1980, published documented homophobic views since 1986, and was finally forced to resign in 2007. (no, that's not a typo)

The current narrative in the press is that the football program was all powerful at Penn State and dictated the decisions of the administration. Whereas no one is debating the football traditions and football income was important to the school, the NCAA perception that institutional priorities have become dominated by the athletic department may be a tad exaggerated (and rather hypocritical).

Penn State got hammered by the trustees of the school, firing the head coach, AD, and president. Then they got hammered by the NCAA with unprecedented sanctions. Now they face the real possibility of federal government action due to violation of the Clery Act. The school's published policy on this was only developed in 2011 and the Clery Act has been law since 1990 (http://www.police.psu.edu/cleryact/). As a result, there is a sense of increased scrutiny and a renewed emphasis on compliance on campus. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but we have seen a significant drop in underdog players from Penn State this year.

But overriding this reaction to punishment and scandal is a dominating unity within the community. Many homes in the area boast signs such as this one, proudly proclaiming their support of the players. Not the coach, not the program, but the young men who have chosen to stay at the school and earn their degrees. After all, regardless of happens on the field, Penn State remains a world class institution of higher learning. Penn State, along with Notre Dame, lead the NCAA in graduation rate. Ironically, by allowing current players to transfer without penalty, the NCAA sent a message that football players are here for NFL preparation and are not student-athletes. Pre- professional Silas Redd was happy to leave for Tailback U, eyeing a boost in draft position. Most other players remained so they can continue to proclaim "We are Penn State". Loyalty to the school above all.


It has been a wonderful weekend and I hope the best for my friends and family in Happy Valley. The Nitany Lion animal may be extinct, but its independent spirit of survival in the face of adversity will live on throughout the campus.

My Trojans start in 4 hours- that's just enough time to drive to Meadowlands to catch kickoff.

And 65 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes to Hawaii.

Fight on,
Hans

PS- as I watched ESPN game day from College Station, I am reminded of the tremendous traditions at Texas A&M, including the 12th man, the midnight yell, and kissing after scores. My favorite is their mascot Reveille. Here's a great article about her:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reveille_(dog)

Opening Weekend!

Reporting this week from Dallas, TX

I would like to say that I have traveled here to celebrate the opening of college football and attend the epic blockbuster of #2 Alabama vs #8 Michigan at Jerry Jones’ palace of football.  But sadly, I am stuck in a board review course while the game is about to start just beyond view of my hotel room.  But I have a suite, and two TV’s, so I got to watch Alabama/Michigan on one screen while my Trojans beat up Hawaii on the other.  And, thanks to the miracle of text messaging and FaceTime, I got to enjoy the company of my brothers live from Ann Arbor!  Aren’t they so cute in their matching Maize and Blue?

I am impressed with the quality slate of games on this opening weekend.  Usually, the first weekend is just for warm up games against Sun Belt or Division I-AA schools (or Hawaii).  But we got to see Notre Dame- Navy, Michigan State – Boise State, Clemson – Auburn,  South Carolina – Vanderbilt, and, of course, Alabama- Michigan.  And we got some special locations- Cowboy Stadium, Dublin Ireland, Kinnick East (AKA Soldier Field).  And a whole series of games held in Atlanta during the same weekend as DragonCon!  (if you understood that last reference, you are a nerd like me). Naturally, not all of these games were nailbiters.  But just having football back is enough for me.

I must admit; I do feel bad for Penn State.  Unlike 14 others in the contest, I didn’t have the heart to pick against Penn State in their very emotional opener at home against Ohio.  It was time for the State College community to come together and start putting this terrible off season behind them.  Instead, it ended with students dancing in the streets of Athens, Ohio, calling the Bobcats victory the “biggest win in school history”.  Somehow, it just didn’t seem like a classy reaction.  But much more on that next week when I will report from State College.

I enjoyed tonight’s games with a plate of yucca chips with tomatillo salsa and traditional buffalo wings, all washed down with a bottle of Texas’ own Shiner Bock beer.  I first tasted Shiner Bock the summer after I graduated college, when I drove a friend from her home in Phoenix to her new job in Key West, Florida.  That was an amazing road trip.  We hooked up with some fellow Trojans in El Paso and watched Wayne Gretzky lead the Kings into their first Stanley Cup finals (ok, sports fans, now you know what year I graduated college).  We explored Carlsbad Caverns and discovered the most amazing tamale stand in Pecos, Texas.  And we stopped in College Station where we played dominoes at the Dixie Chicken bar and drank Shiner Bock beer.  Back then, it was only available within 100 miles of Shiner, Texas.  Now, you can get it on draught all over the country.  But out of respect for its history I only drink it here in Texas.  There are lots more crazy stories from that road trip, including a wonderful night in New Orleans, but I leave those for another time.

You may notice that I have made it this far into my blog this year without mentioning game day pancakes.  And what the Hell are yucca chips, anyway?  Well, they’re quite good.  But the point is that I am on a diet.  So my Trojans will have to make their march toward Miami without my lucky breakfast.  Judging by tonight’s result, they will be fine (and the scary thing is that they could have played even better!).  I am going to keep this diet up until Kristi and I go to Hawaii in November.  Its working so far.  Its best not to think about how long that will be.

71 Days, 21 Hours, 48 Minutes to Hawaii.

Fight On,

Hans

Old Tradition and New Technology

As I write these words, I am sitting in rocking chair on the famous and expansive porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  I am sipping a glass of Cruzan reserve rum gazing out at the spectacular view of a full moon rising over Lake Huron, draping the waters with blue silver. 

The Grand Hotel was built in 1887 as a destination resort for the railroad. Tradition is key here; not much has changed in design or style for a long time.  Motor vehicles are not permitted on the island; travel is by foot, bike, or horse-drawn carriage.  Coat and tie are required for gentlemen in the evening and it is requested that ladies not wear slacks.  The movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here because the director wanted a place that looked like “it hasn’t changed in 100 years”. 

Yet I am recording these thoughts by dictating into my iPhone that is using remotely-accessed speech recognition software to interpret my words into dots on a screen aligned into a specified font.  The document created in Pages is then automatically uploaded to the cloud where it is beamed wirelessly back down to me and into my iPad that sits adjacent to me.  When I finish dictating, I can pick up my iPad to finish editing the story. 

I am using technology that Steve Jobs gave us and brought us into the future.  In a place that remains stubbornly rooted to the past.  Irony can be so  . . .  ironic. 

The awkward balance between latest technology and old tradition is played out throughout the college football world.  Big bands full of brass instruments play fight songs written in the 1920’s then give way to “I Gotta Feeling” piped in through the PA system. Tailgaters gather in the Grove in Mississippi or the golf course in Pasadena, laying out traditional white table tablecloths and lighting candles.  Then they hook up their satellite dish and fire up the 55 inch plasma strapped to the side of their RV.

This last off-season was a very eventful one for college football.  Old tradition at Penn State was shattered by the conviction of Jerry Sandusky, the damning of Joe Paterno’s reputation with the Freer report, and the leveling of unprecedented sanctions.  Yet among this gloom and horror their emerging a shining beacon of hope.  College presidents and Athletic Directors, finally waking up and doing the math of how much it would bring in profits, worked out a deal for a college football playoff.  As I have repeated so often in this blog, I hate the BCS but I appreciate it because it is the next step in evolution towards a playoff.  And I was right.  It finally happened.  Even better, the format is a college football fan’s dream:

1) Semi-finals played at a rotation among the current major bowls

2) Finals played on a neutral site awarded to the highest bidder (with the money going to the schools, not a 3^rd party promoter)

3) The four teams selected by a committee, not a bizarre computer algorithm. 

2014 cant come soon enough. 

But until then, we will enjoy USC’s run at a National Title this year.  And the evolution of the Big 12 and SEC.  And the final death throes of the Big East (please just let it go).  And another year of game day pancakes, ESPN College Game Day, grilled bratwurst, and packed stadiums under robin’s egg blue Midwestern skies.

The underdog contest starts in four weeks.  Be ready, dogs!

Fight On,

Hans

PS.  The couple (well, ok, more like several) glasses of rum are starting to get to me.  This rocking chair is reasonably comfortable but hardly suitable for sleeping. In the Somewhere in Time Christopher Reeve arrives at the grand Hotel without a reservation and proceeds to fall asleep on the porch in an Adirondack chair.   I envy that man right now.

The Game Table

On Friday, May 4th at 1800 hours, a remarkable journey ended with the delivery of a custom-made maple game table.  The spark that kindled my desire for such a extravagant geek-luxury ignited years ago in Indianapolis, IN.  I was attending the 2008 Gen Con just months after buying our current home.  We had planned an extensive one-year remodel and I knew that I one of the new rooms would be dedicated to gaming.   In a stroke of karma, that convention happened to be the premier for a new furniture company based near Seattle, Washington: Geek Chic.  They unveiled the "Sultan", an outrageously enormous game table that looked like a converted  pool table.

Interesting: a custom designed game table for a custom game room.  Too cool . . .

Years passed as I saved my money and watched as Geek Chic grew in popularity, adding table designs to their line that are considerably more reasonable than the "Sultan".  In August 2011, I finally found enough nerve to sit down with the their designer at that year's game show and we worked out a plan for my "Emissary" table.  It would replace my trusty, yet small wooden table that had been gracing the game room (aka dungeon):

In October, Geek Chic called and confirmed my order.  We tweaked the design slightly to allow for plenty of room on the sides.  This called for a somewhat narrow table, but it was very long.  I paid my balance and the craftsmen in Washington got to work.  The cut the shapes and pieces they would need from the maple:

Joined the pieces together to make the game top with game well:

Then the assembled pieces and accessories (drawers and cup holders) got several coats of clear finish to preserve the inherent beauty of the maple.

Finally, the pieces were assembled together for one final check before they were packaged up for the journey to Iowa.  This whole construction process took 6 months.  That is a long time, but the care and detail that goes into each piece is remarkable.  One little example: there are pins with springs inset into the hardwood leaves that cover the game vault (the center depression where the game board goes).  The slats, when pressed against each other, with bounce slightly to minimize any force onto the cover- like shock absorbers.

Then the table was loaded on the truck (along with a few other Midwestern deliveries, including two of the aforementioned Sultan tables!) and driven out to Iowa.  The good people of Geek Chic came themselves to hand deliver the table.  Here they are backing the truck into our yard and rolling the table into our basement:

 The table was brought into the dungeon and unpacked.  They explained the use of game vault with clear acrylic, drawers, clip on side desks, cupholders, and covering leaves.

Sophie and I couldn't wait to try it out!  The first game to set up was Fortune and Glory (a pulp adventure race across the globe hunting down treasure and fighting Nazi's, a la Indiana Jones).  Next, we set up the House family favorite game, Eurorails.  The first big test comes in a couple days for our first Dungeons and Dragons game.  It should be sweet!

 The table, complete and ready for action (compare to the "old" table, above)

 The first set up: Fortune and Glory

 "There's Nazi's in Central America, Dad!"

Eurorails, a game Sophie enjoyed frequently while she was still in "development"