2008 Hooters Edition - 10/19/08
Those who know me personally can probably imagine that I would rather be got dead than be present in a Hooters. I know it may sound snobby, but just take my word for it - they don't want me there any more than I want to be there. I agreed to speak at an event in San Jose this weekend once I knew that my talk would be done by noon, and that the USC game began at 12:30. So here goes the next half-hour of my life.
12:00 - sit down with a client of mine to briefly talk business at Rock Bottom Brewery (nice place, tons of TV's and games)
12:20 - ask the waiter which TV will have the USC/Washington State game
12:22 - hear the waiter say "Oh we can't get that game here. The only place in town that will have it is Hooters a mile down the road"
12:23 - Full sprint in Canali suit down the road to Hooters
12:32 - Belly up to bar declining chance to buy the Hooters calendar, and ordering their world famous wings as I wait for kickoff
Yes, Hooters was my island. And not only did I get to watch my Trojans decimate the worst college football team I have ever seen, I also got to watch Stanford lay down and hand the game to UCLA, Ole Miss lay down and hand the game to Bama, Michigan tease their fans before Penn State put the pound on, and several others. You learn to tune out the 44-year old fleabags in awkward clothes when college football is on. So Hooters, I never knew you. But college football - let's get it on!!!!
- It is totally unfair to blame Carroll for the barrage of second half touchdowns. Carroll had a touchdown or field goal right in front of him before the half and walked away from it. He played four different quarterbacks in the second half, and everyone of the touchdowns came with a non-starter quarterback in the game, and all four were on running plays. Those second, third, and fourth string players deserve to run plays and see if they can make things happen. Enough said.
- Geez, did Stanford lay an egg or what? I think that after USC the next tier of Pac-10 teams is Oregon, Arizona, and Cal. The mid tier is Arizona State and Oregon State. But the Washingtons, UCLA, and Stanford are just really, really bad. This, of course, means that we need to keep our guard up against them. =)
- I watched the entire Bama' game while I watched USC. They are not the second best team in the country, at least not in the second half. The LSU game will be interesting, because on one hand I don't think LSU is that good, but on the other hand, many players on LSU (seniors) have ample motivation to beat the man who recruited them, lied to them, and abandoned them. Should be interesting. Bama' has a favorable schedule remaining, but you can't run the table and beat LSU and Auburn if you can't finish a game. Their first half play is stellar. Second half - not so much. It is the opposite of what I am used to - where championship teams get better throughout the game (USC, LSU, Texas, etc.).
- Texas is really good, and Mack Brown is a good coach. God, what I wouldn't give for a rematch against them. My only rule - I want to sit next to big dope, Matthew McConnaughey, and I want a free shot at him.
- I plan to ask Carroll tomorrow what WSU ought to do now. I mean, Carroll inherited a team that was plagued by poor discipline - they were last in the Pac-10 in penalties, and the worst in 3rd down conversions (both giving them up, and getting them on offense). But, at least they had physical talent and athletic ability. USC was always just a good coach and a good recruiting effort away from coming back. WSU was the top dog in the Pac-10 for a while, and as recently as four years ago was a top contender. Did Mike Price's leaving cause all this? What do they do now? They are certainly the worst team in the history of the Pac-10. Which of course means they have a shot when they play the Huskies at the end of the year.
- BYU's undefeated run is over. Bama' will likely lose one or two (LSU, Auburn, SEC championship all still pending). Texas still has Texas Tech and the Big 12 title game. Penn State has best chance of going undefeated. Can Ohio State beat them?
- Don't look now, but Maryland's win over Wake Forest and Virginia's win over North Carolina is starting to make those Cal and USC games look more interesting. Likewise, Clemson continues to make Bama's win over them look completely irrelevant, and Tennessee, well, nuff' said. Poor Bruins.
- USC has its toughest Pac-10 game so far (this side of Corvalis) in Tucson. Arizona is tough, feisty, talented, well-coached, and the game is on the road. 7:15 pm at night (ummm - the last night game was Oregon State??). We need to be careful. And we will be.
- Lou Holtz has grown from "not very interesting" to "unbearable." Surely ESPN can come up with a better talent than this old bag. Mark May is fantastic, and the guy who has the same first name as that hot blond actress (Reese) is pretty good too. But, seriously, Grand-ma-ma has got to go.
- Half way through the season. USC does not have a ranked team left on the schedule (Cal will surely fall out of the rankings, and I don't see Notre Dame entering them). Arizona actually might end the year ranked, but the truth is we have Cal and Notre Dame at home, and Washington and Stanford are pretty bad. That stinkin' UCLA game bugs me. One week at a time. One week at a time.
- USC scored 69 points without Joe McKnight - our most explosive player. I think if he had played it would have been 113-0. =)
- The keys to our season are continuing to execute week by week (we are better than everyone else we play), and to stay healthy. We are extremely well-coached, and the offensive firepower is almost at the level of 2005 with Leinart/Bush/White. The defense is NFL-like, and we are up 135-0 in our last 11 quarters of football (seriously). We need to stay focused, and stay healthy. Because if there is one thing I know (and that Auburn, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, Illinois, and Notre Dame know), is that when USC is playing a highly ranked team, they do not lose. But Texas. Oh, geez. Texas.
Short week. I am still trying to brush my teeth to deal with those wings. You can rest assured that next week's press pass will not be at the city of Campbell's Hooters. But in the meantime, fight on, and beat the Wildcats!