Opening Weekend Football Pick 'em

Lingerie Football...Just When You Thought You Couldn't Make the Sport Any Better...

So here is a lineup of the major CFB games this weekend. Who ya got?
UPDATE: I added the lines and UW VS BYU game to make it a little more interesting...now who ya got?
Thursday:
Southern Miss @ South Carolina   USC -14
Pittsburgh @ Utah   Utah -3
USC @ Hawaii   USC -22
Saturday:
Miami (OH) @ Florida   UF -35
Illinois VS Missouri   Mizzo -11.5
Colorado VS Colorado State   UC -12
Purdue @ Notre Dame   ND -11
Louisville @ Kentucky   UK-3
UConn @ Michigan   UM -3
UCLA @ Kansas State   UCLA -1.5
Washington State @ Oklahoma State   Okie State -15.5  
Wahington @ BYU   BYU -3
Oregon State @ TCU   TCU -13.5
LSU VS North Carolina   EVEN
Arkansas State @ Auburn  AU -30.5
Monday:
Boise State VS Va Tech   Boise -2

First Listen: Philip Selway - Familial

Philip Selway, drummer for the British rock quintet super gods known as Radiohead, released his first solo album today, called Familial. My first reaction to hearing the first single off the album, By Some Miracle, was (in the voice of Yoda) 'Hrmmmmm, unexpected this is.' The song, as does most of the album, consists mainly of Phil picking an acoustic guitar and softly cooing lyrics that makes one wonder if he could fill in for Thom Yorke, or in fact should be singing backup instead of Ed O'brien, who seems to insist on blaring out his name to fill the void on songs like Karma Police and Weird Fishes, but I digress.

Interestingly enough, when drums are finally featured on the third song of the album, they are provided by none other than Wilco drummer, Glenn Kotche. The song, 'A Simple Life', is unfortunately the only upbeat (and I use that word loosely) song on the album. After a while, the rest of the album seem to run together, and this is the albums downfall. Fortunately, Phil knows when enough is enough, as the album is barely over 30 minutes long.

Overall the album is well produced and the music beautiful, but when it's over, you probably won't want to listen to it again. Not that you would be opposed to it, because it's not bad, it just doesn't beg for multiple listens. I give it a 3/5.

To form your own opinion, go here for a listen, but hurry up, as this link expires sometime today.

Go USA Bid

Go here. I've done my part, now you do yours.

Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you're our only hope.

Best AU game you've been to?

As we get closer to opening weekend, I thought it would be fun to reminisce. For me, it was the UT game in '04. The game itself wasn't that exciting, but the weekend was awesome and watching that stadium clear out during half time was great. It was also cool, because I remember thinking, "Alright...Auburn is for real and the LSU game wasn't just a fluke." I also thought it was cool to see Barkley saying  "UT is on the tracks and a train is about to come through." on College Gameday. A close second would be the '04 LSU game or the '06? Florida game or the '02 Alabama game. They all sort of run together after the UT game.

Good Auburn Blog

A friend of mine and Roy's from the drum line days, Kurt Branch, runs a great Auburn blog called WarBlogle.com. He always has some pretty good commentary but for the last few weeks he's been counting down the top thirty games at Jordan Hare Stadium over the last thirty years. He lists some good games and gives great descriptions so check it out.

Klinsmann to the US?

ESPN is reporting that the US Soccer Fed is talking to Juergen Klinsmann about the US Soccer Team's HC position. This would be huge for US Soccer. It is my opinion that Germany is where it is in international soccer right now because of Klinsmann. I was def. not satisfied with Bob Bradley after watching the US give up so many early goals in the lead up to and during the World Cup. Klinsmann could raise US soccer to the next level which should include consistant trips to the quarter and semi finals. He also advocates an attacking style very similar to what the US already does so there should be few problems making the transition. Thoughts?

SEC's Most Obnoxious Fan Base?

Mark Bradley, of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution has offered up his list of the SEC's most obnoxious fans. And the winner is.........US!? Seriously, this guy lists Auburn as the SEC's most obnoxious fan base. Here is what he wrote:

1. Auburn (No. 2 in 2008, No. 6 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Because Tiger fans still worship at the tainted feet of Pat Dye. Because they run off coaches on a whim. Because they’ve grown as arrogant as Alabama backers without one-tenth the justification. Because they’re still whining over the national championship they didn’t win in 2004. Because the world’s worst fan — the Montgomery banker Bobby Lowder — is an Auburn man. And because I would pay money (though not a lot) to see Bobby Lowder in jean shorts.

Let's break this down.

1) Auburn fans still worship Pat Dye? Um, Pat Dye was one of our most successful coaches. I want this guy to name one program that doesn't revere their great coaches. But using the word "worship" is way off base. Besides, I've never seen an Auburn fan with a tattoo of Pat Dye on their back.

2) Fire coaches on a whim? How many coaches has Auburn had since the Pat Dye era? Four. An earth-shattering, mindblowing, U.S.-deficit-sized four. Two of those coaches had tenures of ten or more years and the fourth is still in place and shows no signs of giving up the reigns. In the comment section of his blog you will see that he was referring to "Jetgate." Well if he knew anything about jetgate he would know that as soon as Auburn fans found out what President Walker and AD Housel were doing they rallied around Tuberville and helped run Walker and Housel out of town. So, if anything, Jetgate showed the loyalty of the Auburn fan base, par exemplar.

3) As arrogant as Alabama? Only the most delusional Auburn fans were predicting an undefeated season last year. Hell, with the exception of 2003 I can't remember the last time most Auburn fans thought the team would go undefeated. Contrast this to fans who thought Alabama would go undefeated every year Mike Shula stepped on the field...

4) Still whining over 2004? Aside from the fact that is was a terrible injustice (in the football world anyway) it HAS been in the news for most of the summer. Perhaps he hasn't heard that USC had to vacate the title. But I guess we should ignore all that. After all, we don't want to be obnoxious.

5) Bobby Lowder!!?? I don't claim to know every Auburn fan and graduate who ever walked the earth, but those I do know hate Bobby Lowder. Despise him. Actually, I'll give good odds on the fact that Toomer's Corner will get rolled the day he dies. So, I guess it makes perfect sense to say he is the embodiment of every Auburn fan.

What else can you guys pick out? I'm thinking about emailing this to him but I'm guessing he has already received enough email to shut down his mail box.

Welcome

Alright so here it is. I will be playing with the format of the blog over the next couple days.