Four Bowl Tuesday: The Eve of Destruction!

When I was in college, instead of getting drunk, having sex, and doing drugs, my friends and I would go to bad movies on Friday nights at midnight. What LOSERS! One such movie was called Eve of Destruction. It was about an evil, female robot who was very sexy I think. Anyway, I am going to borrow that title to describe this delicious day of bowls. Here's your line up:

Don't be fooled by the corporate takeover of this bowl name. This is really the Independence Bowl. Pac-12 Arizona travels to face Boston College. I think BC has a good running back. You ACC folks in the pool would know better than me. Arizona is a touchdown favorite and they have cool uniforms.

SEC vs. Conference USA. Rice barely beat UTSA and Mississippi State plays in the best conference in the country. The Bulldogs are seven point favorites in Memphis. But, those Rice boys are smart!

My favorite stadium in the country hosts the Sun Bowl again today. Nestled in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains literally across the highway from the Rio Grande, the Sun Bowl stadium overlooks the colonias of the most dangerous city in the world: Juarez, Mexico. But it is beautiful. It is also a great place to watch a football game. Virginia Tech is not the powerhouse it once was. UCLA is on the rise, but there is talk that Coach Jim Mora Jr. may be on Texas' wish list. Should be a fun game. UCLA is a 7.5 point favorite on most lines. Strong year for the Pac-12.

Marquee game of the day. The stunningly good Blue Devils of Durham, NC, take on the Fightin' Texas Aggies of College Station, TX. Johnny football guides the Ags. He is fun to watch. Rumor is he is going to the NFL after the game but he should stay. Duke plays as a team and has a hot coach. A&M has a porous defense that even Johnny Football could not save a few times this year (see Alabama and Auburn). What's the deal with all these ACC teams today? Aggies are from the monster SEC and are 12 point favorites in the Georgia Dome. Who's got tickets? Why isn't the Dew clan in this picking contest? Where are the Walkers? What's the matter?

We Have a Problem...

I just received Margaret's form. She had contacted me through Chris while in Oregon visiting family. She told me her picks were back in California and she wouldn't be able to get them to me until she returned which was last night. The controversy here is that she rolled with victories while in Oregon. She is well ahead of all of us after last night with a sterling 6 and 2 record. I leave it to the pool though to determine whether her picks should count. Respectfully, the Commish.

Three Bowl Monday - Goodbye Mack Brown, Enjoy Your Million Dollar a Year Parachute

We have three bowls on Monday. (There is another one but it did not make the cut - but, Go Navy!)

I love Georgia Tech's offense but they don't play in the SEC and Ole Miss does. I saw personally Ole Miss stage a second half comeback against my Longhorns in Austin. After the game I was stuck in traffic just south of the stadium on MLK Street. A guy knocked on my car door. I rolled down the window. In a Mississippi drawl he asked if I could give a ride to his friend and their wives for forty bucks. It was my first experience as a taxi driver. I took them to a restaurant where they were meeting fellow Mississippi alums to get even more drunk than they already were. Good times. By the way, the guy tipped me an extra dollar because of the ineptitude of Mack Brown. Thanks Mack!

The Alamo Bowl features my Longhorns versus the Oregon Ducks. We lovingly (not really) refer to our soon to be departed coach as Clappin' Mack. It will be his last game guiding the burnt orange and white. He made the mistake three years ago of telling the big money longhorns that he would get back to a BCS bowl game this year. He did not. Now he has been forced into retirement. All sorts of crap going down at UT. Mainly, because we have a corrupt Republican governor trying to turn his alma mater Texas A&M and the flagship University of Texas into online diploma mills. The resulting political melee has claimed its first victim in Austin - our overpaid football coach. We have no chance in this game. The Ducks from Oregon are top ten caliber and should have played Bama in the Sugar Bowl instead of the Sooners of Oklahoma. Nike owns Oregon and they have developed an impressive program. Should be a massacre. ESPN predicts a 22 point blow out for Nike.

The Holiday Bowl is usually awesome but

Arizona State should kill Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are overrated. They just lost a QB who played most of their games to a transfer (he was a walk-on from Austin and I don't think they offered him the full ride he was expecting). ASU has had a resurgence and should win. Analicia's second choice. If she had gone there, I might be in San Diego right now. ANA!!! What were you thinking? They don't play football at Wellesley! Vegas has the Sun Devils as a fourteen point favorite. Too bad Lubbock.

Our Current Leader

She swept the Day of Reckoning.
UNC Charlotte in the house!!!!!
Kirstie Bird!!!

Kirsten leads the pool.

Four Bowl Saturday: The Day of Reckoning

I like hyperbole. Today will be fun, but even if you lose all four, you'll still be alive in the hunt. But I thought I'd be like ESPN and make up a name for a day to get your attention. The Day of Reckoning sounded ominous and cool. Here are our (like that?) four games of the day:

Like yesterday, this is a football game played in a baseball stadium. It's a gimmick, but a good excuse for some college football. A wise man once told me never bet against Notre Dame in a bowl game. That was back though when they could recruit. Rutgers is the state university of New Jersey. How about that? A state so embarrassed of itself that it doesn't name its state university after itself. Notre Dame is favored by Vegas by a lot. Most of us picked Notre Dame.

The North Carolina contingent is hoping for a victory in Charlotte today at the Belk Bowl. Again, they did not invite me and set me up with luxury suite tickets. I say next year the runner up gets tickets to the Belk Bowl. I need a committee to set that up. Do you want to chair that committee? The boys from Chapel Hill are three point favorites in Vegas.

Another ACC team will be playing in its proverbial back yard in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Orlando, Florida is the site of Louisville versus Miami. Did you know Miami recruited Analicia hard to go to college there? Miami lost their stud running back I'm told. They are five point underdogs, but that did not stop a bunch of us from picking them because they are "The U".

I love Buffalo Wild Wings. In fact, I was there yesterday with the boys. We had Parmesan Garlic, Honey BBQ, and Hot BBQ. Delicious wings. MMMMMMMMM. Wings......Augggghhhh (Simpsons reference). Michigan is without their starting QB possibly and Kansas State has a coach who is 150 years old and still better than Mack Brown. Kansas State is your six point favorite according to Vegas.

Who's In?

Kathy Smith has asked: "Who's in?"

I liked this comment because it proves at least my mama reads this blog.

The answer is a little complicated because I have one entry in transit that I know of. But here's the list:

ME
RC (former commissioner)
Kathy
Patricia
Joe
Matthew
Analicia
Tim
Monique
Moriah
Alex (of Tim)
Kirstin
Chris (Ross)
Margaret (we think)

It Starts Tonight!!! The Fight Hunger Bowl!!!!

Washington and BYU will play tonight at ATT Park in beautiful San Francisco, California. Will Chris and Margaret be at the game?Well, they did not invite me. But that would be cool wouldn't it? The Family Bowl Pool champion celebrating last year's victory by going to the first bowl game of the following season. Let's form a committee. I move that next year whoever wins gets to fly to San Francisco and attend the Fight Hunger Bowl. Who wants to head up the committee?

Washington is a 3.5 favorite. Of the entries I have received only Tim Smith has picked the Huskies though. I do not have the San Francisco entries yet though. BYU is probably responsible for Mack Brown's retirement as they kicked the crap out of us by breaking the record for rushing yards against my beloved Longhorns. Washington just lost their head coach to Southern Cal. Their new coach is the famous Marques Tuiasasopo. He played in the NFL forever for various teams. If you can say his name three times fast without screwing it up you will receive bonus points. (Just kidding, but try it anyway.)

Good luck family!

Get Ready!

Hey Folks,
It's that time again. We will have 20 games to pick. Last year's winner - Chris Ross - will be defending his title. Let's have some fun. Check your email for the entry form and keep up with results on the web! Good luck.

Candace/Margaret v. Chris

Winner take all Monday night. Ole Miss win means Candace/Margaret and Chris Ross are tied. Chris has Alabama and Margaret/Candace has Notre Dame. May the best Northern Californian win. I've alerted the San Rafael Police Department about the situation and they will be providing security on Monday night.

San Rafael, CA

Scene of the 2013 FBA Championship

Compass Bowl!!

This is a huge game this afternoon. Don't watch the NFL playoffs, watch the BBVA Compass Bowl. Three people left in contention for the most part.

Margaret/Candace in the lead has Pitt
Kathy Smith one game behind has Pitt
Chris Ross one game behind has Ole Miss

Ross needs this game to stay in it. He has the favorites from the SEC.

The Bowl from Hell

I've been dreading this bowl. Back when college football had ties I could have rooted for one in this case, but the powers that be started overtime a few years back and that means there will be a winner tonight in the Cotton Bowl. Like the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl (see the Heart of Dallas Bowl post) is not played in the Cotton Bowl. It's played at what we in Texas call JerryWorld, the stadium built by Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones (who played football at Arkansas) worth over a billion dollars. JerryWorld is famous for its extras: obnoxious bars, luxury boxes on the ground, pole dancing cheerleaders in the sky, huge video screens, retractable roof, and a Victoria Secret shop. Everything but actual football.

A&M found themselves a coach finally if Kevin Sumlin, a young, exciting coach with guts. He has a stud quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, Johnny "Football" Manziel. The kid wanted to come to Texas, Mack Brown. I could bore you with paragraphs about how Mack Brown has screwed up quarterbacks and quarterback recruiting at Texas. Let me just put it this way. My high school (a Texas high school in of all places Austin - where Mack Brown works) had more alumni (two - Drew Brees and Nick Foles) start at quarterback in the NFL this year than the freaking University of Texas. There are an incredible number of current starting quarterbacks in the NFL from Texas (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin - another Heisman Trophy winner Mack turned down, Drew Brees, Nick Foles, the kid at Detroit, etc.) and NONE of them played at Texas. You see why I hate this bowl game? How does Mack Brown have the highest paid head coaching job, much less a job, in Texas.

OU has Mack Brown's arch nemesis in Bob Stoops. Bob owns Mack Brown. Bob beats Texas every year in October. He has inflicted the four worst defeats in Texas' history on Mack Brown led teams. I think Mack Brown must have pictures of our athletic director and board of regents committing crimes. No wait, every UT regent has been appointed by our governor Rick Perry - an Aggie. It all makes sense now. Keep Texas with an overrated, over the hill coach so your alma mater can rise from the ashes with a kick butt coach and quarterback - oh, now I'm getting carried away and this paragraph was supposed to be about Oklahoma.

Oklahoma had an up and down year. Landry Jones from Artesia, New Mexico, is their senior quarterback. He will lead OU against A&M. He runs a neat little Bob Stoops offense that will give the Aggies some problems if they are on. If they are not, A&M should blow OU out. I think A&M might have ended the year as the best [cough, choke, cough] team in the country (see what they did to Alabama in Tuscaloosa as proof).

I don't think I'll watch tonight. I'm going to eat steak with Patricia instead. I hope bad weather forces a blackout and the whole thing is cancelled. Bleah...

Fiesta!

So this is an interesting match-up. The Oregon Ducks are basically Nike U. Rumor has it that they are about to get slammed by the NCAA for several recruiting violations because Phil Knight of Nike has basically bankrolled a bunch of illegal practices (shock!). Chip Kelly is the coach of Oregon and all the pundits drool over his souped up offense that runs plays as fast as any offense ever before. This approach has put Oregon in the limelight over the past few years and got them to the title game two years ago where an athletic defense at Auburn destroyed them.

This year Stanford went into Eugene and knocked the Ducks for a loop. Therefore they did not win their conference and did not make it to the BCS Championship Game. Instead the Ducks are heading to the Fiesta Bowl where they will bring their garish uniforms and high octane offense to face the Kansas State Wildcats.

Now, us Texas fans just cannot stand Kansas State. Why, you ask? Because they own us. We cannot beat that team from Manhattan, Kansas, in just about any sport, especially football. They have a coach named Bill Snyder who is such an icon that the football stadium is already named for him (sound familiar UNC fans?). Snyder has a great quarterback in Collin Klein who almost won the Heisman Trophy except for a horrid performance against Baylor. The kid is tough and runs and passes well. Kansas State can defend, too. They beat OU in Norman and then went on to win the Big XII Conference title.

With all that said, the Ducks should be favorites. Of course our west coast leaders have picked the Ducks, but don't look now, Matthew Baker is one of the few who have picked Kansas State. Uh-oh, Californians, the kid who wants eventually to go to Stanford for college and may spend a few nights on your couch in pursuit of that dream, may be sneaking up on you. But the real threat comes from California. That feline sitting on your favorite chair and licking its paws right now named Olive: she picked Louisville and Kansas State. If Kansas State wins tonight, we may have a cat tied for the lead in our pool. I know the former commissioner is now about to form a committee of inquiry and may seek to get his job back given this turn of events. What can I say? Again, I put it in writing, and the Californians took their opportunity to move on it. Sheesh, I wish I had entered the Chooch (our pug).

The Cat's Meow

Olive and Alex were right on on this upset, as were Tim and Kirsten who were in last place in the FBP.  Unfortunately, too little too late for those two. But we finally had a really big upset as Florida looked like an undisciplined, overconfident team, and Louisville jumped on them early and never let up.  Gator nation is shocked and angry, and Longhorn nation, of which you know I am a part, is saying "Hmmm, maybe losing Coach Muschamp wasn't so bad after all."

The Battle of San Rafael

Guess who leads the FBP? That would be the California contingent of the family: Candace/Margaret Key and Chris Ross. These cat loving, bonsai tree care-taking, home made ice cream making freaks are both tied at 11-5. Kathy Smith and Analicia Baker trail by one game, and the rest of us degenerates are back in the pack. We have five bowls left and the all important tie-breaker. Anything can happen of course so let's settle back and watch some more football. MORE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!

We Have Five More Left

In the era of the BCS, football bowl season lasts through the beginning of January. Louisville and Florida face off in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The last time I was in New Orleans my friend Leigh had invited me down for the Final Four last year. He said we had a great hotel close to the French Quarter. It was close to the French Quarter. I walked down to the Quarter for the Final Four festivities. The hotel itself was the former orphanage for infants in the Orleans Parish. It was said to be haunted. There was a shooting just prior to my arrival and the police were only called once while I was there to settle an argument between the hotel staff and some potential customers. I won't bore you with a detailed description of the physical condition of the room, but you can imagine it. On the bright side, I did shake hands with Kenny Smith in the Harrah's Casino. (The Jet - awesome!)

Louisville is a two loss team that won the Big East by coming back against Rutgers, thus earning their way to the BCS.  Florida is a one lost team that features one Will Muschamp as their head coach. Muschamp was the former Texas defensive coordinator and was the supposed "Head Coach in Waiting." We still have Mack Brown. (We played in the Alamo Bowl and have lost to our rival in blow outs... never mind.) Muschamp is a defensive coach and the Gators play defense. They have a strong running game, too.  Louisville passes. They have a stud QB who played hurt against the Scarlet Knights off the bench and passed the Cardinals to the Sugar Bowl. Florida is a 14 point favorite. Florida is SEC. The Gators should win.

Candace/Margaret's Hot!!!!

Candace/Margaret is in the lead.  Look out!  Northwestern wins for the first time since 1949 and Margaret/Candace takes her first lead in the FBP! Meow!

New Year's Day Bowls

I love New Year's Day football.  My memories of spending days watching football on New Year's Day are nice, especially in years when I won the FBP. So have a cup of coffee, a cinnamon roll, and later a nice snack and a beer, and enjoy the show.  We got bowls people. And with the looming play-off, this may be the last year we get to enjoy such a Smorgasbord of fun.

Bowl One - TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

 After spending my morning reading about how the Tea Party is going to destroy any type of state government spending in my state, I've decided to rename the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to the TaxSlayerTeaParty bowl. Northwestern (sorry CandaceMargaret) has an all time bowl record of 1-9.  Their only win came in the 1948 Rose Bowl against California 20 to 14. I guess Northwestern fans made a pact with the Devil that day, because they haven't won since. I personally witnessed their loss to Missouri in the Alamo Bowl in 2008. Admirably they keep going to bowls though. This year they face Mississippi State, an SEC team. The SEC did lose last night when LSU choked it away to Clemson (couldn't convert a 3rd and 2 at midfield to seal the victory). The Bulldogs and Wildcats open our New Year's day.

Bowl Two - Heart of Dallas Bowl

What do you do when Jerry Jones swoops in and builds a billion dollar stadium and steals the bowl game named after your historic stadium (the Cotton Bowl) located in the heart of your metropolis? You organize another bowl game and call it the Heart of [insert your city name here] Bowl, that's what you do.  You play the game on an obscure network and get two teams that had fair seasons in their major conferences to wake up early on New Year's Day to battle it out. To the gambler there are several questions that go through your mind as you pick. Which team really wants to play this game? (In other words, do the Oklahoma State kids really want to play in Dallas at a minor bowl game?) Which team got to bed at a decent hour the night before the game? (In other words, did the Purdue kids slip past the idiot assistant coach and break curfew to party in the West End district of Dallas?) Which team is sick and tired of their coach and just wants to go home and get some home cooking? (In other words, do the OSU kids hate the "I'm a man; I'm forty" shtick of Coach Gundy?) You just don't know. And that's what makes this so hard.

Bowl Three - Outback Bowl

 It's the Ol' Ball Coach (Steve Spurrier) versus the Wolverines of Michigan. This is usually a good game every year between the SEC and Big Ten. South Carolina was doing well this season until they lost their stud running back to a horrific knee injury. Michigan has had a fair season; they are 8 and 4. This is the hurt QB bowl. Michigan's Denard Robinson has nerve damage in his arm and probably will play running back instead of QB. Spurrier will probably play two QBs. The Gamecocks are favored by 4.5.

Bowl Four - Capital One Bowl

I hate Bo Pellini. He coaches Nebraska. He continuously gets caught on the sidelines cussing out refs and his own players for crying out loud. They choked in the Big 10 title game and lost to unranked Wisconsin. Now, they have to play the Bulldogs of Georgia, who won the SEC East this year. They barely lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. I think they should wipe the field with Nebraska. So, obviously, Nebraska will win.

Bowl Five - Rose Bowl (presented by Vizio)

The granddaddy of them all is the Rose Bowl. (It's really the Vince Young Bowl. I'll let you look up the history.) Stanford plays Wisconsin. This will be a running slug fest and should be fun to watch if you like smash mouth running. I do. Wisconsin upset Nebraska and really was the fourth best team in the Big 10. (Ohio State was best but couldn't play in a bowl, then Penn State - I won't comment further, and then Nebraska - see above paragraph.) Stanford is just a solid team, beating higher regarded Oregon to win the Pac 12 North and then slaughtering UCLA in the Pac 12 Championship. Wisconsin lost their head coach to Arkansas and their athletic director and former head coach Barry Alvarez takes over the reigns. Stanford should win - key word being "should."

Bowl Six - Discover Orange Bowl

Well this is the Cinderella Bowl. Northern Illinois from a mid major conference plays Florida State from the ACC (for now). The Seminoles should win this, but will NIU come in with all the motivation and hang in there and scare FSU.  We will see. I just like NIU because they knocked OU out of consideration for a BCS bowl game, but I picked FSU.  FSU blogs are actually pessimistic about their team complaining about losses to NCSU and Florida. They also don't like the close game against Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship.  They think that despite the huge talent differential FSU is an underachieving bunch that could be upset by a motivated team from Northern Illinois that feature a stud quarterback named Jordan Lynch. Should be fun.

Hey, enjoy the games and Happy New Year.  I hope 2013 treats us all well.