Stomach Punch

Well, the filthy, stinking Wolverines knocked the wind out of me this weekend, and it's a terrible time to have a bye week because this one's going to sting until the Hawks can get a big win and move on. If you didn't already know, Michigan came back in the second half on Saturday and finished the Hawks in overtime, effectively ending our hopes for a New Year's Day bowl and knocking us out of contention in the Big Ten. Right now, I think the best-case scenario is the Alamo Bowl, which is nowhere near New Year's Day and thus a difficult trip to make for those of us with jobs.

At times, I felt that the officiating was indeed terrible, but you can't say that's the reason we lost. Albert Young ran free the entire first half and then we couldn't sustain our run blocks in the second half. Clinton Solomon dropped three passes, including a crucial third down pass in OT that would have given us first and goal inside the 5-yard line instead of a field goal. We couldn't stop Steve Breaston from making a 52-yard run after a very ordinary screen pass in the second half. There were a lot of things that we didn't do well enough. It is notable that we were flagged 11 times Saturday after only having 17 penalties called on us the previous 7 games. We played sloppy, and now we're looking at three very tough games and a best-case scenario of 8-3 plus a bowl game. It's not a bad season, and a few years ago we would have been ecstatic about an 8-win year and a bowl berth, but they just haven't lived up to expectations this year. The entire team didn't play four quarters of football on least 4 occasions (Iowa State, UNI, Ohio State, Michigan) and the defense didn't play well on a fifth (Indiana). They played flat out terrible on at least three occasions (Iowa State, UNI, Ohio State). And the fact remains: we still haven't beat a good team yet. Our best win of the year was against a team who is still looking for a Big Ten win and whose season is absolutely over. What makes our resume even respectable? Beating Indiana at home? Illinois for homecoming? We've beaten a bunch of chumps and lost to everyone who challenged us. It's sad. I'm bummed out for the seniors who wanted to keep it going through their careers (Hinkel, Solomon, Greenway, Hodge, Jovon Johnson, etc...) and I hope that the younger guys learn that a lofty preseason ranking and a popular coaching staff doesn't get you anything in this league.

And if we think that Northwestern, Wisconsin, or Minnesota are going to lay down for us, we're sorely mistaken. Okay. Enough of the rant. I'm just very disappointed by what the Hawks have shown me this year, and I think we have a lot of good guys on this team who should be getting better results.

I got my tickets for Northwestern today, I'm excited for a road game in two weeks. GRide will be in the house and we're going to lay waste to scenic Evanston. Going to attend the Hawkeye Huddle? Holler at the Offering and I'll drink a beer with you.

Not to neglect the other big games of the weekend: The White Sox got more heroics from the usual suspects as well as some role players this weekend, and will take a 2-0 lead down to the Juice Box. With Rocket potentially out of the series, I think my original prediction of the Sox in 6 games is looking mighty fine right now. The Bears kept the division lead with a slugfest victory over Baltimore in the rain last night and set up a showdown with the Lions next week for control of the NFC North. It's amazing, but the Bears have a real shot at the playoffs this year. If they can keep the rest of these underachievers at bay, our easy schedule and the injuries to other key NFC North players may pave the way to a four touchdown blowout loss in the first round of the playoffs, on the road of course. I'm just kidding. Hope springs eternal here at the Offering, and you never know how far the Bears can go with that nasty defense.


Alright then. We've got ourselves a nominee for Alan Greenspan's job, whose term ends in January. Nobody is going to like the next fed chair as much as we liked Alan Greenspan, but there is nothing about Bernanke that makes me immediately think he is objectionable. He has a lot of experience, has already ran a regional fed, and seems to be well-liked by both sides of the aisle as well as in academia. Dolph knows him from his college days and gives him a full endorsement.

It's cold out there. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve are some of favorite holidays, but I can do without the freezing weather. I'm really looking forward to Saturday, when I'll be carving pumpkins and then hitting the town as part of a fearsome ninja clan. We won't be trick-or-treating, but we will be trick-or-boozing, which is much more fun. Thanks to Gate and the lovely Sarah for hosting us on Halloween Saturday for festive activities. It's fun to do the seasonal stuff. It makes the cold, windy autumn more bearable.

Wilma has started her rampage in Florida, and she has killed 3 and knocked out the power for over 3 million already. I hope this is the end of the season. I have heard that it will be. I think the people of the South have earned a respite from storms for a while.

That's all for now. I hope you have your costumes all ready to go for next weekend. I'll be dressing up Saturday and probably Monday as well. Holidays are often fun and memorable in proportion to the extent which you exert effort to make them that way. So get out your clown suit or angel wings or whatever and go all out. More tomorrow.

T