Travellinbaen

Entries tagged as ‘football’

2010 Football in Julypalooza

July 28, 2010 · 1 Comment

Quote of the Day:

“And we’re ready for the kickoff……the ball sails high into the air and the Bulldogs let it bounce (silence for several seconds). I can’t see who’s got it…..there may have been a whistle on the play……a Bulldog is holding the ball aloft in the Auburn End Zone area……it appears to be a touchdown…….It IS a touchdown. Touchdown, Mississippi State.” Jack Cristil (this is actually a paraphrased memory of his call of the opening kickoff returned for a touchdown by State against Auburn in the mid-90′s. Jack had lost his cool complaining that State had been penalized fifteen yards before even taking the field and was completely lost. I think Sweet was with me that day, though I doubt he remembers it).

BR’s “Freestyle” post about probable new Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli reminded TB, and just in time, that I hadn’t posted my annual Football in Julypalooza. So here it is. This year, the Julypalooza looks at the approaching college football season through a deluxe crystal ball, one capable of seeing all, not merely the records of each team. But first things first–Mississippi State goes 7-5, Ole Miss 6-6, and USM 8-4. Alabama wins the SEC championship, but loses to Texas in the BCS Championship game.

More specifically, Mississippi State is a team on the rise. By Mississippi’s standards anyway. Here’s why–Dan Mullen is an impressive young coach. He is a future star in the SEC, ready to take over the leadership mantle from a peaking Nick Saban and the fading Urban Meyer (due to health), Les Miles (due to not having Saban’s players) and Steve Spurrier (because he’s old as hell). Don’t worry, I have only had a single cup of the Kool-Aid. He won’t do all that at MSU. But he will have two good seasons to prove to the big money folks at Florida that he’s ready to take over there. Then Meyer can retire and regain his health the way he wanted to last year. It’s in the league’s interest for the coaching transition to go down this way too. That’s why MSU will get just enough calls to go their way, and will stay off probation this year and next. I’ll even go so far as to say MSU will be relatively successful five years out since they will have the players Mullen brings in for awhile after he’s gone and because we won’t get nailed with probation until after Mullen’s golden-boy hands are completely washed of Starkville. Oh, and we’ll also have (relative) success because of improved quarterback play and a stout defense that Jackie Sherrill says will be as good as some of those he coached in the late 90′s.

Ole Miss is tougher to call. They have a strong defense and a weak schedule. They are coming off back-to-back Cotton Bowl winning seasons but they have no quarterback. The solution appears to have dropped into their soul-selling laps in the form of disgraced former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. But will the Masoli pickup backfire? I say it depends. If the team believes in Nathan Stanley, Masoli will be an instant wedge, cleaving a deep and bitter division between factions. If Stanley sucks half as bad as he appeared to last season however, the team will rally around any chance to save them from that suckitude. I lean toward the latter probability. The Rebs will follow him to another bowl appearance, but they are destined for a stadium built back in the mid-twentieth century rather than a brand spankin’ new beauty. And they will struggle for a couple of years after this one, partly due to the fact that the SEC needs Mullen to spruce up his resume, and the league doesn’t take kindly to the two Mississippi schools stealing enough wins to make everyone in the Magnolia state happy.

Southern? Hell, I don’t know. They always win between 6 and 8 don’t they? They will be back in a bowl and….wait a minute….the clouds in my crystal ball are beginning to part…..I can see clearly now…..oh, it can’t be…..no, I’ve not lived a pure enough life to have something like this happen….but, if the crystal ball says it, it must be true. Southern will play Ole Miss in the Liberty Bowl. That’s gonna be fun.

What else? Tulane will suck. SMU will suck. Bama will win a lot, but they still suck.

More specifically, MSU will beat Auburn. Book it. Ole Miss will lose to Vandy. They are due. LSU will fire Les Miles at the end of the season. Spurrier will retire this year. Sweet will get killed in Thursday Pickin III (The Return of Thursday Pickin’). Feidt’s Follies too. Quail and Zeek will return to the TBU. Cowbells will be outlawed for good after this season, because Ole Miss is a bunch of pansies and they cry about them like clockwork every time MSU goes on the rise.

Categories: Sports
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When TB LOST It

February 8, 2010 · 9 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding.” John Locke

Tracy Porter jumped the route and picked off Peyton Manning at approximately 8:45 p.m., c.s.t. on February 7, 2010. TB will never forget where I was when it happened–sitting in my chair with my feet propped up on the little Scamp’s chair. That’s the position from which the Saints seemed to be having the best luck so I was trying not to fidget. By the time he crossed midfield I had leaped the little chair, exhorting him to “go…Go…GO!” and when he crossed the goal I stood silently with my arms over my head in triumphant and grudging belief. It was as if an atomic bomb had gone off suddenly somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

All in an instant I flashed back and recalled the whole day, one I will never forget. I rose at 9:oo a.m., well rested in spite of an hour of insomnia around 2:30 when I woke up in a sweat about my taxes that are due in April. After an hour of a rousing game of beach ball catch with the LS, I went on a brisk walk with the family. By 1:30 we were loading up for the trip back home so I could watch the Black and Gold Who Dat Geaux Saints Super Bowl and a few minutes of the pregame. At 3:30 we pulled over for the LS to teetee in the potty. She got a prize consisting of four M&M’s but after consuming those decided she would like me to “hand (her) some ice cream.” At 4:00 we pulled over for another LS pitstop and I adjusted my eta to just before kickoff. While waiting on the scamp to take care of her business I was treated to a smilin’ jazzy harmonica solo that had to be completed before other matters were addressed. At 5:03 I learned the Kroger was out of Velveeta. And at 5:28 the car was unloaded, the LS was laid out for a winter’s nap and the Saints won the toss and elected to receive. In just over three hours….the explosion.

I should have known something was up because I totally (mentally) called the onsides kick at the beginning of the second half. Anyway, at the moment of the explosion, I entered a lost world of multiple consciousness. In a parallel universe I was single and in Miami. I was on a boat with Cal and Fido giving man-hugs and losing my voice. Just like in my home universe I recalled my whole day in an instant. At 9:00 a.m I rose and had a drink of water and some ibuprofen and then stumbled back to bed. The last time I remembered seeing a clock the night before was 2:30 and I was pretty sure I was still going strong at that point.  After a rousing game of “what happened last night” I went for a brisk walk down to the hotel buffet to replenish my strength for the day. By 1:30 I was four beers in and loading up for the drive over to the stadium. At 3:30 I was taking shots with Desmond Howard. He was telling me all about striking the pose and I was thinking how some ice cream would be nice, but then at 4:00 he introduced me to Elizabeth Hurley. I had fun telling her about how lucky I always was in the teams I root for so I was sure the Saints would prevail. At 5:03 Kate Beckinsale joined us. We hit it off immediately and while she was telling me she would be shooting “Tom Sawyer” in Mississippi this spring she also happened to mention she had an extra ticket. On the fifty halfway up. (Hey, it’s MY alternate universe.) In just over three hours….the explosion.

In another universe I was running around Del Norte Circle with eight other dudes in their underwear. In yet another I was kissing a girl in Big Daddy’s on Bourbon, gratis.  In another I was skiing effortlessly down the Olympic slalom run at Whistler, oblivious of the fact of Super Bowl Sunday. All my alternate universes kick ass. Then again, my home universe is pretty good too and I woke this morning back where I belong, with the little scamp’s feet planted firmly in my back, tax issues weighing on my mind, and a still incredulous grin forming at the corner of my mouth. The world as I knew it before is no more. Hell has frozen over. Pigs have flown. The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl Champions.

And p.s., no, I haven’t resolved just how I was able to experience consciousness on the boat and in the stadium at the same time but I wanted to pay homage to Cal and Fido and I figure JJ Abrams could make something like that happen so why not TB?

Categories: Entertainment · Sports
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Excuse Me, I Think There Is Something In My Eye

January 24, 2010 · 21 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“When you go to Heaven after you die, tell St. Peter you’re a Saints fan. He’ll say, ‘C’mon in, I don’t care what else you done, you suffered enough.’” –Buddy Diliberto

Over and over the Vikings put the ball on the ground and yet the Saints were unable to fall on it. It was reminiscent of the old football follies clips of the early 1970′s Saints where the fumble gets kicked fifty yards downfield while Saint upon Saint clumsily attempts to fall upon it. Late in the game Brett Favre seemingly had the Vikes in position to win. They didn’t and I thought of how same ol’ Saint-like the inexcusable error was that cost them five on a penalty. Then the ghost of the s.o.s. rose in ironic revenge as Brett, scramblin just like Archie used to threw one to the wrong team, just like Archie used to do. On top of all that a series of official replay reviews went the Saints’ way; and as anyone who roots for a perennial loser knows, the refs are always out to get them. But not tonight.

I recalled today the Falcons and how they made the term “Big Ben” famous by using it to beat the Saints. I thought about how Tampa Bay got its first victory against New Orleans, how the new Cleveland Browns got their first, on a Hail Mary no less. I thought of Nolan Cromwell of the Rams keeping Archie’s best team out of the playoffs in ’79 on a punt return. In just two years they were wearing bags over their heads in shame in the Dome. I remember the Saints drafting Russell Erxleben in the first round, trading away an entire draft for Ricky Williams another year. The Saints have been futility personified for my whole life. Until now, that is; even if they lose the big one, and I’m sure they will–not that I won’t be watching in case I’m wrong understand.

TB was near speechless after calling out to no one that “he made it!” I watched and listened. I wanted to be on the field, on Bourbon, at Sweet’s at least with all my asshole runnin buddies. Instead I just sat and thought about how the phrase “same ol’ Saints” must now be relegated to history. The Saints may never go to the Super Bowl again, but they are going this once. And so maybe we’ll complain that they are playing like the old time Saints, but this championship season forevermore will remain a bright dividing line between the same ol’ Saints and any future failures.

I imagine that somewhere Hap and Buddy D are hearing it from the squirrels. Lord how I wish they were here to put it all in perspective and to remind me of all the black and gold disasters that have merged and faded with the passing of years. Just thinking of the ones I recall off hand sort of overwhelms me. Um, excuse me, I think there’s something in my eye. I better stop now and go wash my face.

Bonus QOTD

“If the Saints ever go to the Super Bowl I’ll march down Bourbon Street in a dress.” Buddy D; as I understand it, Bobby Hebert will keep Buddy D’s promise, in memoriam

Categories: Sports
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Bowl Pickin Season II, The TBCS Featurin’ Sweet and RockStarRambler

December 27, 2009 · 12 Comments

Quote of the Day:

Cledus Snow: Hey Bandit. Me an’ Fred got a question.
Bandit: What you an’ Fred want?
Cledus Snow: How come we’s doin’ this?

By now you all know the Regular Season title in Thursday Pickin was won by Sweet, and by now you are undoubtedly weary of the unceasing hype in advance of the overall TBU Pickin Championship Series. But finally it is time for Sweet to try and take home the only crown that matters and TB has devised a formula specifically to make this task as difficult for him as possible. He must now defeat RockStar Rambler in a head to head battle in the First Annual TBCS. They head into this battle even–everything that has happened prior to now is not germane to the situation. “What do the GD Germans have to do with it?,” you are probably asking yourself. To that I say, “get yourself a diablo sandwich and a Dr. Pepper, and make it snappy,” and figure it out for yourself. No Smily, we ain’t got time for any hush puppies. But I digress.

Our competitors are faced with the following task–pick 10 games (five preliminaries, four majors and the national championship) and a playlist consisting of two tunes each inspired by the states of Alabama and Texas and one tune with which to ring in the New Year. Any connection will do. The prelim games are worth 6 points each for a win and 6 for a loss, the majors are 12 points and the BCS is for 24. Best overall tunes list, taking in to account any factors you want to consider, including (but not limited to) personal tastes, enlightenment or spite, are worth 12 points to the winner and subject to your votes through midnight December 31. Everybody else needs to submit their picks as always both. “Why?”, you may be asking yourself? To that I’d say, “For the money, for the glory, and for the fun…..mostly for the money.” The fact that there is no money involved here is not germane to the situation. You might be asking yourself now, “What do the GD–”….but I digress. Here’s the TBCS picks and my own along with a little more about the competitors:

Sweet harbors a secret. You might be asking yourself “what kind of secret?”, but you know what, you’d do better to ask Sweet. Or just tune in if he wins and find out. One thing we do know about Sweet is that he considers TB a demigod of the TBU. I kind of like that designation, however, Sweet is under the impression if he wins I will lose the title. Though he is a faithful citizen of the TBU and a devoted Pickin man, he’d rather be partying with President Obama in Hawaii or reliving the 1987 Motley Crue Girls Girls Girls Tour stop in Biloxi. Even more than war, more than sickness, more than losing in a coin toss to TB, he hates the Big Bama Spellout. Sweet’s Preliminary Round Picks are:

  • Texas A&M  +7′
  • Virginia Tech -4′
  • Ole Miss -3′
  • East Carolina +7′
  • Auburn  -7′

Major Bowls:

  • LSU  +2′
  • Florida  -10′
  • TCU  -7′
  • Ga Tech  -3′

BCS Pick

  • Alabama -6′  (31-20 final score)

RockStar’s Preliminary Picks

  • Arkansas  -7′
  • other 4 are same as Sweet’s–A&M, Va Tech, Ole Miss, Auburn

RockStar’s Major Bowls

  • Penn State  -2′
  • She’s with Sweet on Florida, Ga Tech and TCU

BCS Pick–Alabama -6′ (28-21)

Even more than world financial chaos, worse than global warming, more heinous than a crummy, cliche-filled playlist, RockStarRambler hates Bama fans, especially the kind that send you texts to “cheer you up” when you lose, as if they themselves had a role in the outcome of “their” team’s football contest. RockStar loves Thursday Pickin and can’t wait to see how the games come out on New Year’s, skiing would still take precedence. And re-living Austin City Limits Music Fest in 2004 would top even that (see “the concerts list”). Or staring blankly at drying paint would do in a pinch. But RSR keeps pluggin away at Pickin because of the certainty that overall victory “will make all my wildest dreams come true.”

Oh, and if either competitor picks the exact score of the BCS game they win the game irrespective of all the other games, tunes, votes, smokies, etc.

Dang, its late. I’ve still gotta post their tunes and a couple other items of import. It’ll have to wait a day or two.

My Picks, in case you have made it this far (sorry S&M) are:

  • Texas A&M  +7′
  • Tennessee  +4′
  • Oklahoma St  +3′
  • Arkansas  -7′
  • Northwestern  +7′
  • LSU  +2′
  • Florida  -10′
  • Boise State  +7′
  • Iowa  +3′
  • Texas  +6′  (Texas 31 Bama 27)

Hey, how’d y’all like the Christmas snow? Not counting Zeek of course. TB’s finished for tonight. Over and out.

Burt Reynolds Laugh sound bite

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin Season II, Regular Season Wrapup

December 11, 2009 · 10 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“First off, let me say it was an honor to have my quote on the quote of the day.” –BW Buzz

Another regular season of Thursday Pickin has come and gone. Sweet takes home the regular season title which puts him in company with the 1981 strike year Cincinnati Reds who had the best record in baseball, the 18-0 2007 Patriots and the 1985 Concrete Products who were victimized by Pascagoula’s split season format in Dixie Boys Baseball. Unlike these teams though, Sweet still has a chance to win a playoff and wear the overall season crown along with enjoying all the other benefits such a championship affords. Only Rock Star Rambler stands in his way. Bowl Season will determine who presides over the TBU Pickin realm for the next year. As departing champion, let me just say to whichever of you wins that the honor and responsibility of such a position will make all your wildest dreams come true.

Last week’s results were fittingly dominated by Sweet and RSR. They both won their all-in POTW and received the musical bonus points, Sweet for list and RSR for song. Overall the TBU went 9-8 on POTW’s. TB won my POTW but limped home with a 2-5 record on bonus selections to end the regular season at a respectable 8-5-1 on POTW’s and 39-32-1 on bonus picks. I’ll put my two year record up against any tout service’s in case anybody wants to pay for these picks next year by the way. You won’t see Wayne Root publish his predictions the way TB has that’s for damn sure.

Last week (top 9 won POTW, bonus picks in parentheses)

  1. Sweet  (all in plus bonus plus make up points to beat Mac)  60
  2. RSR  (all in plus bonus)  60
  3. Mac  (3-2)  56
  4. Craig  50
  5. Face  50
  6. Irv 50
  7. Q  50
  8. TKH (0-2)  38
  9. TB  (2-5)  32
  10. Smily  (1-1)  20
  11. S&M  (0-1)  14
  12. Zeek  10
  13. MD  10
  14. CTJ  10
  15. JLM  10
  16. FF  10
  17. BWBuzz  (1-3)  8
  18. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  (doesn’t mess with Bama games–here’s hoping for a face plant to kick off the New Year

Regular Season Final Standings:

  1. Sweet 720
  2. RSR  673
  3. Mac  653
  4. Zeek  614
  5. SmilyJ  570
  6. CTJ  545
  7. Feidt’s Follies  528
  8. TB  536
  9. BW Buzz  504
  10. JLM  503
  11. Irv  500
  12. Fig E  496
  13. Larry Craig  493
  14. TKH  487
  15. S&M  434
  16. Face  399
  17. Q  375
  18. BR  366
  19. MD  353
  20. Fish  342
  21. Greeg  280
  22. TDW  224
  23. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  180

Stay tuned for Bowl Pickin and the TBCS. You will all be glad to know I’ve cooked up a special scoring system for the 2009 Season’s Grand Finale. (Insert diabolical laughter in the background of image of Mr. Burns rubbing his hands together and saying…..”exxxxcellent.”)

Categories: Sports
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Thursday Pickin Season II Week 14

December 3, 2009 · 40 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“Please excuse my first picks. I messed up.” –BW Buzz, in route to a winless week.

It’s grind it out time for Thursday Pickin. Most of you took a break between desserts last Thursday to make your picks, though it is clear that interest is waning as the season leaves many of our schools licking their wounds and many of our pickin egos bruised from being out of contention for the Season II championship. Of those who played, there were 7 POTW winners and 11 losers. The Daily Wit and Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop have retired from the race in a badly mauled condition. Irv, Greeg and Fig couldn’t pick last week due to unknown causes, probably associated with a full day at their in-laws for turkey and dressing, but not the way their Momas made it, holiday politics and the Lions game. Any of those could cause a stomach illness severe enough to stay on the sidelines for a week.

This week’s standings are brought to you by the 2009 Egg Bowl Champion Mississippi State Bulldogs, who remind you all that there is one website in this universe that is on the rise. (Sorry, Rebs, you knew I had to get in one more reference–I’m finished now. Good luck in the Cotton Bowl.) Top 7 won their POTW, bonus picks in parentheses. Face won SOTW and RSR won theme. TB won my POTW and went 2-3 in bonus picks to run my season record to 7-5-1 in POTW’s and 37-27-1 in bonus picks. Zeek has vaulted into third place, in prime position now to challenge for a birth opposite Sweet in the TBCS. Of course, RSR and Mac still have something to say about that.

Last Week’s Results

  1. SmilyJ (4-1)  68
  2. Zeek  68
  3. Sweet  68
  4. Mac  68
  5. JLM  68
  6. TB  (2-3)  44
  7. S&M  (0-1)  44
  8. CTJ  (3-2)  26
  9. Q  (1-0)  26
  10. TKH (1-1) 20
  11. RSR  15
  12. Face  15
  13. Fish  10
  14. MD  10
  15. BR  10
  16. Larry  10
  17. Feidt’s Follies (2-4)  8
  18. BW Buzz (0-4)  -4

Season Standings

  1. Sweet  660
  2. RSR  613
  3. Zeek  604
  4. Mac  597
  5. SmilyJ  550
  6. CTJ  535
  7. Feidt’s Follies  518
  8. TB  504
  9. BW Buzz  496
  10. Fig E  496
  11. JLM  493
  12. Irv  490
  13. TKH  449
  14. Larry  443
  15. S&M  420
  16. BR  366
  17. Face  349
  18. MD  343
  19. Fish  342
  20. Q  325
  21. Greeg  280
  22. TDW  224
  23. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  180 who I expect to make a pick on the SEC Championship Game this week

Here’s the Link to Sheridan’s Odds for this week

My Week 14 Picks

  • Oregon State  +9′
  • USC  -7
  • Cincinnati -2
  • Houston  -2′
  • Ga Tech  E
  • Texas  -14

POTW

  • Alabama  +5′  I like them to win outright

My “on the rise” Tunes (Ok, NOW I’m finished with the Egg Bowl)

  • Elevation–U2
  • Bad Moon Rising–CCR
  • Back in the High Life–Steve Winwood
  • Sittin on Top of the World–Howlin Wolf
  • Ring Them Bells–Bob Dylan

Categories: Music · Sports
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Loose Ends

November 30, 2009 · 7 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“It is the loose ends with which men hang themselves.” –Zelda Fitzgerald

End Zones

Five times Saturday the Mississippi State Bulldogs scored touchdowns against Ole Miss (along with a couple of field goals) in route to their Egg Bowl victory. It was the most points scored by the Bullies against Ole Miss since the invention of the forward pass. TB listened to the game in mute satisfaction so as not to antagonize my dear olemisguided family members whose football loyalties are opposite mine. As I silently celebrated I contemplated the schizophrenia that is the college football fan, particularly those of us from the Magnolia State where everybody knows everybody. On the one hand I hate Ole Miss and everything the school stands for–what they stand for as I understand it is all things that keep my school from having success on the football field. On the other hand I really like most of the people I know that went there, hell I even married one. And yes, I even spent three years there, sort of. So I guess I don’t really hate them. I just hate their football and basketball teams. And baseball and women’s hoops and track and Miss America contestants and….you get the picture. Except I pretty much like everyone I know that has ever played for any of those teams. I even like Oxford and if I had the chance I’d gladly live there. So anyway, I hate them sometimes, like when they are beating State at something. But I don’t really hate ‘em. I guess it depends on when you catch me and who’s around. It’s complicated I guess, but hate’em or not, I dang sure want that Egg at my school every year. Bigger than the Super Bowl? Yep, for me it is.

End of the Road

Two thousand five hundred seventy-four point five miles–it seems longer when you use the words. I started with my crew last Friday night. We drove to my old home place in Pascagoula. Saturday to Tallahassee, Florida, with a stopover in Mobile. Sunday we went to Tampa for that Spanish meal in Ybor City then Monday we crossed the Everglades and rested a bit in Fort Lauderdale before joining up with the extended gang for the cruise down A1A to Key West and Mile Marker 0, the End of the Road. Then back again, which is a lot less fun. After I catch my breath and catch up the stats on the Pickin game I’ve got a post coming comparing the trips of 1999 and 2009 to that den of sin and debauchery which should be amusing.

Thursday Pickin Season II, the beginning of the End

While one is flying down I-10 in bumper to bumper “get me the hell away from Disney” 85 mph traffic, I find it is a good time to contemplate one’s blog. In addition to figuring out just exactly how it is I will make this gig generate cash, something I forgot by the time I got home, I decided that what the TBU needs to end the football season with a bang instead of a whimper is a big finish. To that End, there will be a TBCS. The top two finishers after next week’s regular season finale will go head to head on the New Year’s Day bowls to determine the champion. And yes, musical taste and entertainment will play a role in that last game, so if you think you might be in the finale, start thinkin about how to get those possibly vital bonus points. (heh heh, Sweet will never win now…heh heh).

Categories: Sports · Uncategorized
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Thursday Pickin Season II Week 13

November 26, 2009 · 24 Comments

Quote of the Day:

(to be determined)

Happy actual Thanksgiving Day everyone. TB’s livin it up in Key West, family style. We’re getting ready to take a “Power Adventure Cruise”–full details later this weekend or when I get back home. Unfortunately, that’s also when the results from last week will get posted. Suffice it to say, all the lead dogs bit the dust last week so it’s goin down to the wire. Here are my picks for this week:

Link to Sheridan’s Odds

  • Pitt    Even
  • Temple  -3
  • Tennessee  -3
  • Georgia  +7′
  • BC  -6′

POTW–THE Mississippi STATE University Bulldogs +8

Go To Hell Ole Miss Song List

  • Jealous Again–Black Crowes
  • Redemption Song–Bob Marley
  • Pump it Up–Elvis Costello
  • Shake Em On Down–North Mississippi All-Stars
  • We’re Going to Be Friends–White Stripes

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin Season II, Week 12

November 19, 2009 · 39 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“I got two cases and a 30 pack plus a gallon of vodka and a bottle of Jagar. Probably pick up another case on the way just in case.” –Feidt’s Follies, official Gentleman of Leisure of the TBU, always on Third Week holiday, dubiously substituting vodka for bourbon

After all the sound and the fury, the whining and the crying, Sweet stepped up this week and voted for his only rival to winning the coveted Travellinbaen Universe Pickin Championship for musical bonus points. This set ol’ TB to ponderin the concept of sportsmanship. Was Sweet acting in a sportsmanlike fashion by helping RockStar gain a point? Was he being patronizing? Was it simply gentlemanly behavior? To be true sportsmanship, as TB sees it, the vote would’ve had to be because RSR’s theme was truly the best in his view, irrespective of how it affected the points. The theme was indeed good, but then RockStar is a rock star and always comes with some stout musical selections for those of us less clued in to the hipster world. TB believes in giving people the benefit of the doubt, even Sweet, so I’m calling out his courageous vote as one worthy of respect. My ruminations on the subject were merely academic.

Coach TJ wears the wreath of victory this festive Third Week. He won his POTW of course, then went a smooth 5-0 on bonus picks. Well done Coach. TB lost my POTW, but went 4-1 on bonus selections to bring my season tally to 6-4-1 (bowl eligible) on POTW’s and 30-24-01 on bonus picks. RSR and Sweet stayed at the top of the heap with all-in POTW victories and they each garnered bonus points in the lightly voted upon musical category. By the way, a shout out goes to Mac, Irv, and TKH for their videos and a special award to Fig E for making me blow soda out my nose with his SOTW. There were an impressive 14 POTW winners last week against only 7 losers. Of note, the losers went 14-5 on bonus plays collectively while the winners went 16-10. The top 14 below, as always won their POTW, the rest lost or overslept, and bonus play records are in parentheses.

Week 11 Standings

  1. Coach Tea Jay  (5-0)  80
  2. RSR (all in plus Theme bonus)  73
  3. Sweet (all in plus Song bonus)  73
  4. Larry  (4-1)  68
  5. Zeek  68
  6. BR  68
  7. Mac  68
  8. JLM  68
  9. Fig  68
  10. Feidt’s Follies (4-2)  62
  11. Irv  (2-2)  50
  12. SmilyJ  (1-1)  50
  13. S&M  (0-1)  44
  14. BW Buzz  (0-4, plus makeup to stay ahead of biggest loser) 39
  15. TB  (4-1)  38
  16. TKH  (3-1)  32
  17. Fish  (3-2)  26
  18. Greeg  (2-1)  26
  19. MD  (1-0)  26
  20. Q  (1-0)  26
  21. Face  10
  22. TDW  (hibernating near the North Pole)
  23. Harmony–Official DJ of Thursday Pickin
  24. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop–conducting a prostate screening

Season Standings

  1. RSR  588
  2. Sweet  582
  3. Mac  519
  4. Feidt’s Follies  508
  5. Zeek  485
  6. CTJ  476
  7. SmilyJ  472
  8. BW Buzz  449
  9. TB  446
  10. Fig E  445
  11. Irv  439
  12. Larry  423
  13. TKH  378
  14. JLM  374
  15. S&M  344
  16. Face  324
  17. BR  305
  18. Fish  300
  19. MD  282
  20. Greeg  254
  21. Q  248
  22. TDW  224
  23. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  180

Link to Sheridan’s Odds

My Third Week Picks

  • Purdue  -3
  • Texas  -27′
  • Cal  +7
  • Kentucky  +8
  • Vandy  +17

POTW  Ohio State  -12

Third Week Caroling

  • Never Been to Spain–Three Dog Night (didn’t think I was gonna go with Joy to the World, did you?)
  • One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer–George Thorgood and the Delaware Destroyers’ version
  • Three Little Birds–Bob Marley
  • I Saw Three Ships–Sting

SOTW–3 Strange Days–School of Fish

Bonus 3rd Week Video Caroling

Three Blind Mice

Buckwheat sings Fee Times a Mady

Categories: Music · Sports
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Thursday Pickin Season II Week 11

November 12, 2009 · 45 Comments

Quote of the Day:

“The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.” –Sir Francis Bacon

Here’s a little Friday the 13th trivia:

  • The word for fear of Friday the 13th is paraskevidekatriaphobia. I challenge you all to use this word in conversation tomorrow and report back here on the reaction.
  • The theory for the origin of Friday the 13th as unlucky which is the officially endorsed one by TB is that the Knights Templars were ordered to be destroyed by the Pope for becoming too powerful and wealthy and probably also because they held secrets the church did not want disseminated to the masses. On Friday, October 13, 1307, the Pope’s secret order to King Phillip of France was carried out and mass arrests of the order’s members took place. The church conveniently took possession of the Templars’ vast treasure and executed the membership as heretics. TB believes the University of Alabama has become too powerful and wealthy over the years and has brought this to the Vatican’s attention through numerous, as yet unacknowledged emails.
  • The TBU is willing to entertain the notion that Friday the 13th is in fact lucky because this was the pagan belief prior to the Norman Conquest of England. Since the pagans also brought us Christmas, Stonehenge and the point spread, I believe it is important to give full consideration to their lost culture and beliefs.
  • Superstitions are a very important aspect of the gambling/entertainment-only-consideration-of-the-point-spread world. A few examples–I mentioned last week in response to Feidt’s Follies’ braggadocio l’amore that one should never screw with a winning streak, a truism made famous by the great Crash Davis. Other knowledge that may assist you in overcoming your paraskevidekatriaphobia (there, that was easy) as it applies to sports entertainment is to never assume a PAT will be good if you need it, always lie on your belly before the television in crucial situations and never mark up a “W” on your sheet or even in your innermost private thoughts until the last second has ticked off the clock. Please add to this list in your comments.

On to the game. Q was the weekly winner as best I can tell. He picked opposite of SM who picked opposite of Sweet, but added one pick of her own, who picked opposite of Feidt who choked under the pressure of perfection without even giving the C boys a chance to doom him. Check that, Fig was the weekly winner thanks to his LOTW victory, but I’m not retyping the previous sentence because it took me ten minutes to figure all that out. A lot of you tried your hand at the all-in strategy and took your lumps. The song of the week went to Mac with 2 votes and list went to Fig with 1.5. On the year, TB is now 6-3-1 on POTW’s and 26-23-1 on bonus plays. The top ten below won their POTW, everyone else lost, and as always bonus pick results are in parentheses.

  1. Fig  (all in, plus bonus points for LOTW, plus makeup points to equal top picker with bonus selections)  67
  2. Q  (4-2)  62
  3. RSR  (all in plus make up points to tie Q)  62
  4. Sweet (3-2)  56
  5. Irv (2-2)  50
  6. BW  Buzz/aka Even Steven (2-2)  50
  7. JLM  (2-2)  50
  8. CTJ  (2-3)  44
  9. TB  (2-3)  44
  10. Lucky Larry  (1-4 plus bonus points to stay ahead of the biggest loser)  39
  11. TKH  (3-0) should’ve gone with Navy  38
  12. Mac  (all in plus SOTW)  15
  13. Feidt’s Follies  (2-3)  14
  14. Greeg/TBU’s official point man on beer legalization  (1-2)  14
  15. Fish  (1-2)  14
  16. MD  10
  17. SmilyJ  10
  18. Zeek  10
  19. BR  10
  20. Face  10
  21. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  10
  22. S&M  (2-4)  8
  23. TDW  (Fishing in Alaska)

Season Standings

  1. RSR  515
  2. Sweet  509
  3. Mac  451
  4. Feidt’s Follies  446
  5. SmilyJ  422
  6. Zeek  417
  7. BW Buzz  410
  8. TB  408
  9. CTJ  396
  10. Irv  389
  11. Fig E  377
  12. LLLarry  355
  13. TKH  346
  14. Face  314
  15. JLM  306
  16. S&M  300
  17. Fish  274
  18. MD  256
  19. BR  237
  20. Greeg  228
  21. TDW  224
  22. Q  222
  23. Special Guest Picker Doc Scoop  180

Link to Sheridan’s Odds

My Picks:

  • Iowa  +17
  • Cal  -2′
  • Houston  -4′
  • Kentucky  -3
  • Texas  -23′

POTW

  • Florida  -15′

My Tunes

  • Elvis is Everywhere–Mojo Nixon
  • Drinkin Song–Jason Boland and the Stragglers
  • Ain’t Superstitious–The Yardbirds
  • Black Cat Moan–Beck, Bogert and Appice

SOTW–Mr. Lucky–John Lee Hooker

Categories: Music · Sports
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