College Football Exhaustion!

Just in case you missed one of my very first posts, please refresh your memory as to the TV setup in the apartment's living room (dubbed the "man cave" by my roommate).

http://flyingwinnebago.blogspot.com/2007/09/college-football-overstimulation.html

Yesterday, that system was working overtime! My day started off by waking up at 7:30am to get ready and make my way down to the Boulevard Bar and Grill on south Las Vegas Boulevard (http://www.boulevardbarandgrille.com/). This is one of two bars in town that I know of that cater to Ohio State/Cleveland sports fans. The other is a Kopper Keg way over on the NW part of town on Rainbow. Apparently, the Clark County chapter of the OSU alumni association watched the games there, but I just can't justify the extra 20 minute drive to get there.

As far as the Boulevard is concerned, it's a pretty nice place for OSU games. I counted approximately 45-55 other Buckeye fans there, bright and early, wearing the normal Troy Smith jerseys, rediculous looking plush Brutus hats and their buckeye beads! The service is very good! I would say the food is slightly overpriced and underwhelming. The beer, also a little overpriced. I ordered the chicken parm sandwich (which had way too much breading) and a total of 3 Bud Light drafts, and it set me back $20, including a 20% tip. So the place isn't bad, but I doubt if I'd be a regular there on non-football Saturdays.

Obviously, the game was excellent. Can't run. Can't pass. Kent State!! The only issue I took during the whole game was that blatant cheap shot taken by a Golden Flash that took out Anderson Russel, OSU's strarting free safety! It didn't draw a flag, but I honestly hope that jackass gets suspended or benched!

Once I witnessed the drubbing, it was back to the apartment, where I just settled into the loveseat to watch the college football carnage! The entire day is now a blur, but the obvious game of the day was watching the boys from Lexington knock off the LSU Tigers! Yep, yet another #1 bites the dust! At one point during the day, I was able to watch THREE undefeated teams (Cincy, Mizzou and Cal) on all three tv's, and ALL three went down! However, sometimes 3 tv's just aren't enough, as I had to do some pretty swift flipping back and forth to keep track of other games, such as Auburn vs Arkansas, AND the NASCAR race in Charlotte, AND the ALCS game that my Indians pulled out of the hat in the 11th inning!

The night ended with Arizona State drubbing Washington. Now, it's time for a full day of NFL coverage. However, with the Steelers on a bye and my fantasy team completely riddled with byes and injuries, I'm not feeling all that excited about the action today. Perhaps I'll actually be a little constructive and finish getting all of my cd's ripped into the computer or something.

One last thing. The initial BCS standings come out later today. By the end of the night last night, just about every commentator was projecting who "should" be #1, not who "will", but who "should". As absolutely chilling as this may be, the only guy that I agree with is Lou Holtz! Ugh, yes I said it. He's the only one who put Ohio State at #1. The main complaint of most is how the Big Ten is down this year and how Ohio State hasn't really beat anyone yet. My two main arguments for the Bucks are as follows:

1. It's not just the Big Ten, but EVERY other conference in the country kind of stinks, with the obvious exception of the SEC. The ACC? The class of the field over there is Boston College, who actually struggled against a pitiful Notre Dame team yesterday. Big 12? Who is the class over there? Kansas?? Oklahoma? OK, who lost to COLORADO!! The Big East? I guess South Florida is carrying your colors, a team that didn't even exist 12 years ago (but IS full of studs and who should probably be ranked #2). The Pac 10? Pleeeeeease! The Pac 10 consists of a team who actually found a way to LOSE against Notre Dame and USC, who is still ranked in the top ten despite LOSING to the Pac 10's equivalent to Duke or Northwestern!

2. The rankings (especially the AP and coaches polls) are NOT about what teams have been beaten by whom, but what teams are the BEST in the nation. Ask every coach in the nation right now which teams they would NOT want to face, and I bet you Ohio State would be right near the top of them all! Get over the fact that the Bucks were defeated soundly by Florida last year. Before that, what was the last "big game" that Tressel has lost? You'll have to go waaaay back to figure that one out. Check out the OSU defense, probably the best in the country! Put those two facts together, and the coach can employ his very annoying, mostly boring, yet truly effective "Tressel ball" on offense, a tactic which has been proven in the past.

Of course, with the season that college football is seeing this year, all of these ramblings could be absolutely ruined by a decent Michigan St. team, somewhat similar to 1998, who will invade the Shoe this weekend (I bet I just sent chills down the spines of more than a few Bucks fans reading this). Ohio State still needs to travel to Happy Valley AND the Big Outhouse, they play a much improved Illinois team at home, as well as Wisconsin, who ALWAYS seems to give the Bucks fits, even at home! So the next five weeks should be extremely interesting!

Let's Go Bucks!