2006 Homecoming Edition - 11/12/06
Due to time constraints and nerves, I will keep this week's short ....
- A defensive player at Miami was tragically shot and killed this week, so I will not say anything today about Miami's loss. The Membership Director at my country club in the desert is a Seminole, so I will not say anything about the Florida State loss. Dear clients of mine back east are big South Carolina fans/alumni, so I will not say anything about the Florida "win". All in all, the state of Florida gets a pass from me this week ... =)
- I am clearly not as bright as I thought I was, as I have gone from thinking this was a VERY off year for the Pac-10 (early in the year), to a pretty good year for the Pac-10, to a full circle return in which I am rather sure it is a mixed bag ... The Stanford defeat of Washington, but even more so, the ASU whooping of Washington State and the Oregon State loss to UCLA (and certainly the Arizona win over Cal, though that is a separate issue altogether), all provide contrarian views of the Pac-10 to what I had previously in the year. In other words, I think four bad teams won, and four good teams lost (but what do I know).
- One area I am taking continued credit for: My call that the SEC is not very good this year. It CERTAINLY is not what the media and the SEC fans want you to believe - period. The Georgia win over Auburn is hysterical, the South Carolina game with Florida is (oops, I am not talking about that), and the Arkansas whooping of Tennessee is mystifying. Bottom line: this has NOTHING to do with "all the SEC teams beating each other up every week". Some of them just suck. =)
- USC lost to Oregon State, and UCLA beat Oregon State. See, that December 2 game IS a big deal ...
- Actually, the only big deal game for USC right now is Cal. Suffice it to say, the USC players were not walking around all day contemplating the BCS standings in lieu of losses to Texas, Auburn, Cal, Louisville, and (possibly, though it didn't happen), Florida. The entirety of the Trojan focus right now is winning games, and boy did they do it last night against Oregon! A win against Cal next week guarantees us the grand-daddy of them all -The Rose Bowl !!! The question is whether or not Cal's stunning loss the Arizona pisses them off, or if it shatters their confidence. My prayer is that the latter, my suspicion the former, and my prediction is we will get a good one. Trojans by 7.
- USC is a very, very good team, and has been all year. But, when they are running for over 125 yards, and forcing 2 or more turnovers, they are a very, very, very GREAT team. If we win the giveaway/takeaway ratio in the following four games, and rush Chauncey effectively, and keep our All-American WR's healthy, we will go 4-0 in our next four games (yes, I am aware there are only three regular season games remaining, and that I have no idea who we will be playing in a Bowl Game).
- Any chance the BCS could get so messed up, that they have to take a 2 loss team over Rutgers? I suppose not, but that would be funny ....
- I am trying to think of who I find to be a more bizarrely inept person - the individual who developed the present BCS system, or the person who came up the modern day tax code in our country? I know the answer, but I really dislike the both of them.
- No smart alecky comments about UCLA this week, but I am very surprised they won. Which Arizona State shows up to play them next week?
- At first, I was genuinely confused about all the Trojans walking around Homecoming yesterday with glee that Cal had lost. Other than a justifiable and perpetual desire to always see them lose (and a general love of this free country of ours), why would Cal losing be good for USC (or so I was thinking yesterday)? They would surely come in more pumped up to play us now, and I frankly couldn't (and can't) see Longshore throwing 3 picks two weeks in a row. And certainly their loss yesterday dampers the effect of our win over them next week for those BCS-crazed people??? BUT - someone did point out to me - if we beat Cal, presumably both teams end up with an 8-1 conference record. Yes, USC goes to the Rose Bowl as we beat them in the head-to-head. But, the Pac-10 STILL calls it "co-champions" (a ridiculous rule, by the way, even though it helped USC in 2002). So, this way, Cal now finishes 7-2 in conference play, and USC finishes 8-1, and God's purposes are fulfilled. Wishful thinking??? We shall see. Fight on Trojans, and thank you God, for the blessing of college football.