Tail wind

In a previous post, I wrote about the turn-around in Boeing's fortunes due to mis-steps at Airbus. This week's issue of Business Week has a good article about further improvements in Boeing's fortunes resulting from improvements in the sales of cargo planes due to delays in the A380 program and increased trade due to globalization.

// EOJ

I guess the author of www.fireglenmason.com can close the site down after today's news.

Nostradamus had a fish head

In a recent post, I poked fun at Glen Mason and his Minnesota Golden Gophers for their propensity to choke away big leads. Yea verily Glen came thru as he and the Gophers choked away a big one at the Insight Bowl, losing 44-41 to Texas Tech in OT. Sounds bad? Its worse than it sounds, as the Gophers led 38-7 in the third quarter. Sounds worse? Hold on. After leading 38-7, the Gophers collapsed in choke-tacular fashion, as the Red Raiders tied the game with a 52-yard FG as time expired. Sound even worse? Hold on. It turns out, the Red Raiders had just staged the largest comeback in Bowl history, at the expense of the Gophers.

If you have a fire extinguisher handy, feel free to visit www.fireglenmason.com but be prepared to douse your PC when the vitriol sets it afire...

Filet the Fish Head

In my last post I bagged on Florida State for their pathetic season and for accepting a bowl bid. Perhaps my commentary was premature as the Seminoles laid a smack down on the Bruins. That guy Mason had better not make me 0-2 on predictions...

Bowl boredom

So far Bowl season has been a groaning bore of epic proportions. Last nite the Central Michigan Chippewas beat the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in the Motor City Bowl. This game between two complete unknowns did draw over 54,000 fans, so I guess somebody was interested in it. I can say that Ford Field is a very nice venue, having myself attended a Bowl there a few years ago (eat at Jacoby's if you get a chance).

Tonite we will be treated to Florida State versus UCLA in the Emerald Bowl. Florida State will be playing not to lose (life is a bitch when your record is 6-7), and UCLA will be playing for...I dunno what the Bruins will be playing for. Respect? Actually now that I think about it, the Bruins will be playing not to lose too, since losing to the helpless, hapless, pathetic wretches at FSU would be very embarrassing. Bobby Bowden should do the right thing and admit that the Seminoles suck this year and he embarrassed the University by accepting a bowl bid. How bad is it when the sports pages refer to your team as "floundering"?

Later in the week we'll get a couple half-decent Big Ten games (what's more fun than watching Glen Mason choke away a big game? How many times can we enjoy watching the "Victory Right" Hail Mary throw by Zak Kustok? Can you say a zillion bajillion?). But to be honest the first good games are on New Year's Day; the Michigan and Boise State games should be awesome.

I'm not much of a basketball fan, but my brother lent me his season tickets for the DePaul game and my oldest daughter and I attended. We watched the Blue Demons rout the California Golden Bears 90-62 at the Allstate Arena. This game completed DePaul's West Coast swing, the Demons having previously beaten the UC-Irvine Anteaters (I am not making that up).

The Bears outplayed the Demons in the first half, but two spectacular alley oop slams by Wilson Chandler combined with tough defense allowed the Blue Demons to pull away after the half.

For those of the Fish Head's vast readership not familiar with the university, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the country and has a storied basketball history including many years with the legendary Ray Meyer as head coach. More importantly, the Fish Head, both the Fish Head's brothers, and the Fish Head's father, are all alumni of this esteemed Chicago institution.

Happy Bowl Season

Northern Illinois and TCU kicked off the Bowl Season last nite, as the Horned Frogs pummelled the Huskies 37-7 in the Poinsettia Bowl. The Frogs shut down the Huskies running game, limiting Garrett Wolfe to an anemic 28 yards. The Huskies lone score came off a blocked punt, which was one of three kicks blocked by NIU. Famous Frog grad Ladainian Tomlinson watched from the sidelines as his team embarrassed NIU by piling up yards and points. Better luck next year to the Huskies, and they'll need it, graduating both their star running back Wolfe and injured qb Horvath.

I hope you washed it first

Its been a tough few years for the US military in terms of proper supplies. Shortages of body armor, Humvee armor, etc. How can you win a war when you can't supply your troops with the stuffs they need to win? However, as tough as its been, the Scots have it far tougher. First you're forced to wear a dress, then you're forced to share it!

Crook County

The shenanigans continue in Cook County. Presumably everyone remembers the dirty dealing that resulted in former Cook Country Board President John Stroger's son, Todd, being selected to replace him - not by the voters, but by Dem machine politicos in a smoke-filled room. As if that was not bad enough, that dirty fiasco was quickly followed by interim board president Bobbi Steele deftly exploiting a legal loophole to double her pension to $136,000 per year. That's correct, $136,000 per year in pension benefits, as a result of 4 months of work as interim board president. A pretty good deal for her, especially given the current predicament local governments face on unfunded pension benefits! Not amazed yet by the chicanery? Let's keep going. Now Bobbi wants to be sure that as she departs, her son replaces her on the County Board. So let's see. John Stroger got his son Todd installed. Bobbi wants to get her son, Robert, installed. Still not gagging? Hey, I forgot that William Beavers wants to get his daugher Darcel his old city council seat as he takes over John Stroger's old commission seat. And what say in any of this do the voters have? Hey, there is nothing wrong with the word zero, is there?

Pay back is a bitch

God took the opportunity and smote the heathens a mighty blow.

Blue Screen Bowl

The Miami Hurricanes have accepted a bid to play in the MPC Computers Bowl on Dec 31. Miami posted a stellar 6-6 record this year, capped by a season-ending victory in which they snuck by the hapless Boston College Eagles 17-14. At least they didn't kick or stomp anyone in that game, however, after the game they did give their coach the axe.

The Canes will face the Nevada Wolfpack, one of my least favorite teams since they beat the Wildcats earlier this year. Nevada is on a roll, coming off a 38-7 drubbing by Boise State.

My recommendation to the readership is to skip this stinker of a bank-it-off-the-side-of-the-bowl game.

Send me a fifth

I bet my buddy Roberto a fifth of booze that the Wildcats could beat UNC in that other football, aka soccer. And the Cats came thru, beating the UNC-Greensboro Spartans (yea I never heard of these guys either) in a rout 2-1.

So Roberto can kiss his hopes for a Grey Goose goodbye, and I will be welcoming home a fifth of 18-year old Glenlivet!

Its still there

I had to check this morning to make sure it was still there after the disastrous outcome of last nite's mass.

Saturday Evening Mass

Today's action

Tune into WSCR at 10 AM to hear the NIU Huskies face the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Why do I care? Because in addition to being one of the fine local universities here in Illinois, NIU shares some key attributes with Northwestern (not academics of course):

• We both got thrashed by OSU.
• We both beat Miami of Ohio.
• We both played Iowa.

And today NIU faces the fearsome Eagles of Eastern Michigan, whom the Wildcats snuck by 14-6 on September 16. How have the Eagles fared since losing to the Wildcats? Pretty poorly, I'd say, having lost every game before and since except for a stunning win over the Toledo Rockets.

The Huskies will be playing for a possible bowl bid (the Poinsettia Bowl looms large) as well as pride.

Turkey Day

Click here for the silly T-day cartoon, and then here to start your Xmas shopping.

Bowl selections - Part 1

The Big Ten conference announced bowl selections for 5 of its teams yesterday:

• Wisconsin goes to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, to be played Jan 1 against an SEC opponent. Ranked #10, Wiscy's creampuff schedule will work against the Badgers in a tough game. Look for the Cheeseheads to take a beating.
• OSU will travel to beautiful Glendale Arizona for the Tostitos BCS title game against a team to be determined. The Fish Head knows where Glendale is, but does not know the opponent. But he's rooting for the Golden Domers to trash the Trojans and get the nod.
• Penn State and their gimpy Magoo will travel to the Outback Bowl in Tampa Florida on Jan 1, to play an SEC team to be determined.
• Purdue will play in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlanda on December 29, against an ACC foe to be named later. Hopefully the Boilermakers will not leave any poopy on the field to trip up Wiscy.
• Minnesota will travel to Tempe Arizona on December 29 to play in the Insight Bowl, against a Big 12 team. The Golden Gophers finished on a high note with three consecutive wins.
  
• Iowa will play December 30 in the Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 opponent. Iowa stumbled to the finish line, losing 4 of its last 5 games, the lone win being over MAC creampuff NIU. Since NU beat them, perhaps the Wildcats should get the Alamo nod and return to the scene of their pasting by Nebraska.
  

Key games leading to final bowl selections are the Big 12 championship , the SEC Championship , and the ACC championship , all on December 2.

Other football news

Once again, OSU fans went berserker after the Buckeyes snuck by Michigan 42-39 in the Big Game.

"Believe it or not, this was pretty mild so far, for as big as this game was," said Lt. Ranney of the Columbus fire department, referring to the 40 arrests for arson and other mayhem, as fans burned cars and furniture in the streets of the city.

Rutgers improbable national title chase came to an abrupt halt as they lost 30-11 to the Cincinnati Bearcats, a school better known for its basketball.

Florida State, perhaps the worst flop in major football programs this year, embarrassed itself by sneaking past Western Michigan 28-20 at home. Only a moron would have bothered to attend this game. If FSU had any class, it would elect to stay home during bowl season this year. The Fish Head can't wait to see them get routed by Florida.

Wildcats triumph in Basement Bowl

The Wildcats beat the spread and won the game, 27-16 over the Fighting Illini, thus consigning Illinois to last place in the Big Ten. Where they feel quite at home, given this is their fourth straight year finishing last. And, few things in college football could feel worse than being tied with MSU for last, as the inept Illini were unable to even secure sole possession of last place.

Not much to say about the game. Warren was reasonably accurate, as it was somewhat of a mistake-filled mess, but NU capitalized on the Illini gaffes (how often does one see the AP use the word "comical" in a sports story!). Bacher and Sutton powered the offense to almost 400 net yards, and the defense dominated the Illini other than on a few long gainers (including Rashard Mendenhall's near-record run). Most telling statistic? Time of possession was 39 minutes for the Cats, 20 minutes for the Illini.

The Cats finished 4-8 overall, 2-6 in the Big Ten. Hard to see the bright spots there, other than the big win over stumbling-to-the-finish-line Iowa. Both NU and the Illini need to claim this was a re-building year.

So as my friend logic101 pointed out, it was Senior Day, so-named not because the Fish Head is old, but because its the last home game for the seniors on the team. How does next season look for the Wildcats based on the graduating class?

Place kicker Joel Howells. While his kicking skills seemed poor, it was especially hard to like this poor guy after the Sun Bowl onside kicking fiasco on national TV. No clue who the replacement is (I think we saw him on one or two kicks early in the season), but this is no loss for the Cats.

Safety Marquice Cole. Marquice was a key hitter and special teams player. He will be sorely missed from a defensive backfield that has been porous for years. A smaller ditto for Bryan Heinz.

Wide receiver Shaun Herbert. Leading receiver and all-around important cog on offense. He will be sorely missed.

RB Terrell Jordan. This guy had a tough college career marred by bad injuries and difficult rehabs.

Punter Slade Larscheid. Affectionately nicknamed Shank, he will be missed only by the manufacturers of Tums, as we no longer need to chew them down to suppress the stomach acid generated by his spectacular, game-altering shanks.

LB Nick Roach. This is a tough one. Nick was the defensive leader and a great LB.

The Fish Head's interpretation? NU does not lose too much to graduation (17 of 22 starters return), and should be a much improved team next year. With a more-experienced offensive backfield, older and stronger lines on both sides of the ball, 2007 should be a good year.

Listen up!

Listen up!

Web rage

This article explains why super-popular bloggers like the Fish Head need to be very circumspect.

Tomahawk them!

Saturday's game will be the 100th meeting between the schools, and despite the current focus on political correctness and respect for Native American culture, the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy will be staying in Evanston for the fourth year in a row.

Early line....

For the Illini game is Wildcats getting 3 points. My face is turning red with shame...

What the other guys are saying

Here is what the other guys are saying about the Wildcats-Illini game.

Warren expects a mistake-filled mess.

Chuck Strawn gives us a one-liner, referring to the game as the "Irony Bowl", apparently referring to how pathetic we are. Or is that the name of the pathetic weezer of a trophy exchanged at this ancient rivalry? Iron Bowl? Oaken Bucket? Bag O' Crap? Its something like that.

Blueollie describes how Illinois self-destructed against Purdue. Or is he describing how Northwestern imploded against OSU? It sounds exactly alike except the Illini collapsed in the third quarter and NU collapsed in the first quarter. Does that make the Illini 3 times as good as the Wildcats?

Basement Bowl

Next up for the Wildcats is the Fighting Illini, whom they will battle for control of last place in the Big Ten. Well wait, they might be battling to see who ties for last place, as it appears likely that MSU will end up bottom-feeding as well.

While Illinois has had a very tough year, they've played several good games in recent weeks, including close losses to Ohio State and Purdue, while the Wildcats have been very uneven with an upset win over Iowa and a blow-out loss to OSU. The Cats have the home field advantage, and will need to pressure young Illini quarterback Juice Williams to keep the Illini offense off-balance and force the Illini to run the ball.

Help me with my bookie

The Fish Head paid attention to his own bloated self-importance and lame-o predictions, and is now far in debt to his bookie after taking the 23 points. It would be greatly appreciated if the readership each spends several hours today on this page, hitting refresh and generating some Adsense revenue for the Fish Head's bank account. Broken legs oops I mean fins may be in the Fish Head's future if you don't help.

The Wildcats self-destructed in the OSU game. Their first four drives ended as Fumble-Fumble-Punt-Interception. Which resulted in TD-TD-Punt-TD for the Buckeyes. 21-zip and the Cats were in a deep dark hole from which they never emerged. There's really not much point in writing more than that, since that was the story of the whole game. Plus there is someone pounding on the Fish Head's door and he needs to go hide.

The Apocalypse must be next

Hordes of locusts, plagues of frogs...and Rutgers in the national title hunt?

Early line....

For the OSU game is Wildcats + 23. The Cats have covered the last two outsized spreads with ease, and paint me insane (cover over the purple) but the Fish Head says they will cover this one too....and paint me double insane but I think the Cats have a reasonable chance to pull off a huge upset.

Getting on TV

At one of the home games this year, the people from Johnsonville were rushing around filming anyone who was cooking Johnsonville brats. And, if you watch a lot of TV, you can watch the Johnsonville commercials which show the tailgaters cooking their brats.

So we are gonna use this bad boy this weekend in the hopes of getting our 15 seconds of fame...

Does this sound familiar?

Read the news today about a major power grid failure in Europe. Its eerily reminiscent, on a smaller scale, to the major outage that occurred in the late summer of 2003 in the USA. Makes one wonder if any of the major improvements that were talked about 3 years ago have been started (much less completed).

I may blog reluctantly, but as long as I'm here...

I really only started blogging to dispel the constant Demofascist naggery from my friend logic101, who considers me something of a baby boom'd luddite, still clinging to my stone-age MSMish ways like reading the newspaper. But now that I am making thousands of dollars every day from Adsense, I am all for it and I have seen the light, and now spend nearly every waking hour traversing the blogosphere.

Today's adventure was searching my host, blogger.com, to see what Iowa Hawkeye fans had to say about their recent beating at the hands of my fav, the Northwestern Wildcats. What did I discover?

The Gazette Online, an Iowa media outlet, trashed their home team in spectacular fashion. Referring to the partisan crowd at Kinnick Stadium, the Gazette wrote, "The 70,585 gritted their teeth for four quarters and then squeezed out a few boos as the Hawkeyes shunned their traditional "swarm" exit for a sprint to the locker room for delousing and counseling.". Delousing? Apparently the media in Iowa takes no prisoners. But wait. The Iowa coaching staff was even more brutal. What did head coach Kirk Ferentz have to say? "We played like fat cats," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We looked like fat cats and they looked like a hungry team.". Now I am guessing that the average fat cat does not play good football. Didn't you coach these guys Kirk? Can you spell personal accountability? I won't pass on the cheap shots the Gazette took at the Cats, since they sound like sour grapes and I'm sure the editor just had a bad day.

TalkHawkeyes.com, a blog, whined and moaned about being crushed by the "team you should be able to beat". Hey buddy, maybe you forgot we beat you last year, too. So maybe....we think of the Hawkeyes as the "team you should be able to beat", and hey, guess what, we do! Every year! The author really cracks me up when he talks about the activities on the Iowa bench, when the long snapper tells some groupies to shut up, "We’re losing 14-0 to **** Northwestern"! Hey there's a way to win the game, wasting your time yelling at your corn-bloated sausage-eating groupies. Maybe next year your players can pay attention to the game - especially maybe you can tell your QB which color jerseys to throw the ball at.

Get him a Taser

I watched Meet The Press this morning. The only way Tim Russert was going to keep that crew under control was if he Taser'd Rahm Emanuel and Liddy Dole.

Next up...

For our Northwestern Wildcats is the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State University is located in Columbus Ohio, the easternmost cowtown city in the USA. The university is primarily known for the violent rampages which occur after home football games. Since this game will be at Dyche Stadium in Evanston, the Columbus police force can relax. The Fish Head will be at the game and will provide a calming influence to keep the OSU fans from destroying Evanston.

In case you are wondering what a Buckeye is exactly, be thankful you are here because the Fish Head knows this sort of useful information. Now one might ask why oh why anyone would name their football team after a tree...but there you are.

Cheap shots aside, OSU has a good team this year, 6-0 in the Big Ten and 10-0 overall. This includes wins over 3 ranked teams including Texas, and a few cream puffs like Cincinatti and Bowling Green. QB Troy Smith leads the Big Ten in passer rating, and the Buckeye offense is overall #1 in the Big Ten in scoring; and the defense is stifling, yielding an average of 7 points per game.

However, the Wildcats have a good oportunity despite OSU's excellence. As this weekend showed, OSU can be caught flat in the run-up to its big season-closing game against Michigan on 11/18. In sneaking by Illinois 17-10, OSU demonstrated its ability to play poorly on both sides of the ball. If OSU shows up flat again, the improving Cats offense and defense could spring a surprise on the Buckeyes. Let's hope for a breakout game especially from the improving passing game with Bacher and the receiving crew taking it to the Buckeyes.

Shakes in the blender

I watched my daughter make a protein shake from eggs, bananas, and milk today. Watch what this guy makes in his blender!

Trendsetter

I blogged quite some time ago about the Nabaztag, a wacky wifi bunny. Little did I know that I was several months ahead of the mainstream media. Click here to read PC Magazine's current review of this nifty product.

A stunner

The Wildcats stunned the Hawkeyes (or so says ESPN) 21-7 at Iowa. The Fish Head is pleased both by the win and the fact that the Cats fulfilled his prediction. Feel free to link over to hailtopurple.com and see if they apologize for their lame-o prediction.

The Cats looked great on offense, matching 225 rushing yards with 218 passing yards. CJ Bacher continued to look good, going 19 of 29 for 219 yards and a TD. His 2 picks were painful but not atrocious. Tyrell Sutton had 28 rushes for 168 yards and a TD, and Terrel Jordan added 57 yards and a TD. Fitz experimented with second-string QB Brewer as a "slash" option, but the results were mixed with one long completion and not much else. Lastly, the O line played impressively, giving Bacher great protection and opening holes for Sutton.

On defense, the Cats made the Hawkeyes look inept as QB Tate was 18 of 27 for 147 yards and 2 picks. Perhaps it was really the thumb on his throwing hand that was injured?

Kicking was the only glaring inadequacy for the Wildcats. Shank Larscheid busted one so bad that even Wayne Larrivee, the TV play-by-play guy, coughed up the word shank; and Joel Howells blew a chip shot in the first half that wasted a great scoring opportunity.

Bring on the Buckeyes - we'll roast their walnuts next week!

Firefox 2.0

Mozilla recently finished work on Firefox 2.0 and made it available for download. I love the tabbed browsing and the giant pile of clever add-ons.

Big Water

Some day I want to visit the Iguazu Falls, one of the most spectacular natural vistas in the Americas. Consisting of 270 falls spread over almost 2 miles of the Igauzu River, the falls were featured in the Bond movie Moonraker.

Battle of the....

Have you ever visited this site? For whatever crazy reason, I was thinking of the two most annoying cartoon creatures in the world, Babar and the Saggy Baggy Elephant. If you could pick one from the other - then there's something wrong with you.

Who's Nostradamus here

Scroll down and you see the Fish Head's pick - Take the Cats and the 20 points. Link over here to see the countervailing opinion. Then come back Sunday morning to see who owes who an apology.

What the other guys say

Normally I spend some time each week studying up on the game for the weekend, but I tend to do it from the Northwestern perspective - using the NU site, or the NU entries on the various sports sites. But this week I've been paying attention to the Iowa Hawkeyes sites to get a different view of the game. One thing I learned, is these weirdos in Iowa apparently like to drink coffee during the football game. All I can think is that being surrounded by corn has warped their brains, and it makes the +20 sound even better. Maybe its the ethanol fumes getting to them....

I never liked this guy anyway

I never liked this guy, but after the Spartans beat us this year, I liked him even less. Good bye and good riddance, John L Smith.

Kerry Joke

As my friend logic101 pointed out, John Kerry imploded in spectacular fashion by apparently garbling his lame attempt at a stupid political potshot. Personally, I lack interest in the political races that he hosed up, and I don't give a damn about the Democratic whining about the misguided Republican perspective. However, I did have a great time the next day, watching Aasif Mandvi satirize the situation on the Daily Show. He's the funniest guy I've seen on TV in a long time!

Hawkeye Line

The early line for the Northwestern-Iowa game is Wildcats get 20 points. The Fish Head says take the Cats and the points.

How can people be this dumb?

Corruption...deception...smoke-filled rooms....billions in wasted tax dollars. After all that, how can the voting public be this damn dumb?

Hawkeyes

Next up for the Cats is the Iowa Hawkeyes. Based in Iowa City, the University of Iowa is a fine educational institution of which I know nothing except one of my neighbor's kids goes there. And the little nebbish has never gotten me tickets to see a game at Kinnick Stadium, so to hell with her and the school too.

The Hawkeyes are very dependent on star QB Drew Tate. Tate was out last week with a hand injury, but is probable for the NU game. But as we all know, thumb injuries are tricky and Tate could struggle against the Cats. Iowa's surprising loss to Indiana tells the Fish Head they're vulnerable, and a break out game by CJ Bacher should put the Cats in the W column.

Tea

A new-found friend in a South American country was kind enough to give me a gift of mate tea. Mate is a traditional drink in some countries, generally shared amongst a group. The tea is steeped directly in hot water (no tea bags) and is drank from a hollowed-out gourd using special straws called bombillas. Interestingly, the tea has several interesting properties which Americans should pay attention to. And, surprisingly it tastes pretty good with a little Knob Creek :-)

A moral victory

The Wildcats played tough, and made the Fish Head look smart by covering the line. But a loss is still a loss, and this was number 6 in a row. Time for everyone to make alternate plans for bowl season.

The windy, wet conditions suppressed both offenses. The NU defense played well, limiting Michigan to 17 points and keeping QB Henne and RB Hart generally in check. Unfortunately, the offense continued its mistake-prone ways with 2 fumbles and 3 INTs and a measly production of 3 points.

Next up for the Cats is the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa looks vulnerable with 3 conference losses including a cliffhanger at Indiana (yes Indiana still plays football). If starter Drew Tate is still out, the Cats have a good opportunity to break into the conference win column.

The Big House

The Wildcats travel to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines at the Big House. The #2 ranked and undefeated Wolverines have both potent offense and defense, and have defeated strong Notre Dame, Iowa, and Wisconsin teams.

Michigan will be missing star receiver Mario Manningham, while Northwestern is missing defensive leader Nick Roach. Northwestern's offense woke up last week against MSU, as CJ Bacher returned from injury and ignited the air attack.

The official betting line is NU gets +30. While Michigan is a strong team, the Fish Head says take NU and the 30 points. On the big assumption that Bacher can have another big game and avoid the Michigan rush, NU should be able to score sufficient points to cover the line (but not win the game).

La cabeza de los pescados ha aterrizado

Quote of the Day

"Don't panic we still have a 4 TD lead."

Setting a record

The Wildcats set the NCAA record for allowing the largest comeback in 1-A football in a dis-spiriting loss to the Michigan State Spartans. The offense, guided by returning pre-season starting QB CJ Bacher, caught fire and built leads of 24-3 (at the half) and 38-3 (third quarter). But it was all downhill from there as the Spartans scored 38 un-answered points including the game-winning FG with 13 seconds on the clock.

I was unable to attend the game but listened to the live telecast on WGN Radio over the globe-shrinking Internet. Imagine my horror as the Cats squandered their massive lead. Two key picks, a blocked punt, a failure on third and one. It was a veritable litany of small failures which added up to a complete meltdown. And to add injury to insult, key LB and defensive leader Nick Roach left the game with an unspecified leg injury which was subsequently documented as a season-ending broken leg.

The mission now is to build on the positives from this loss and get ready for the Wolverines. Bacher's first start was good but Michigan has a much stouter defense and he'll need to be ready. But the appearance of the both the passing and running game bodes well and perhaps one of the upcoming powerhouses is vulnerable. If not, see you at Dyche for the Illini game!

Calling in some new plays

Hey Pat, its Tom. Lemme give you some advice. Those QB draws? Not so much. 20 per game? Let's trim that back to two or three. And that thing QB's do where they throw the ball in the air? Let's try some of that. What's that you say? Gotta protect the ball? Yea no kidding man, but when you got freshmen QBs that's gonna happen so let's have them air it out some. Now how about that running game? Maybe you could have the O-Line try some blocking and stuff and let's get Tyrell some yards. Stacking the box? Of course they're stacking the box Pat, remember we just talked about throwing the ball? Try to keep up! So these Spartans are not so hot, Pat. A little airball, a little running game, give the defense a little rest on the sidelines, we can beat 'em Pat. What? My head looks like a giant mouse grew out the top? Dammit Pat, stay on message! Block. Run the RBs. Pass the ball. Win the game. And then come out here for a Heineken and a brat...

Have you seen this man?

<- Have you seen this man? More importantly have you seen his offensive coordinator (no pun intended)? Or have you seen his playbook? ->

Other football news

The Hurricanes acted like Hurricanes do - thuggish and criminal.
Urban Meyer lost his run as #2 after losing to Auburn.
USC looked very beatable.
Vandy and Indiana (what????) pulled off improbable upsets.

Offensive futility

Offensive futility could refer to the complete and total ineffectiveness of the offense, or, it could refer to the fact that the level of futility was so complete as to be offensive. You pick which sounds good to you. But either way, the Cats offense did...nothing. Facing the Boilermakers poorly ranked defense, the Wildcats managed ten points in a 31-10 defeat. And the 10 points is the high point.

Brewer was 7-11 for 58 yards, and added 20 rushes for 30 yards (not a typo). Thus giving Brewer twice as many rushing attempts as 2005 Offensive Freshman of the Year, Tyrell Sutton. There may be a logic there, but it escapes me (visit Hail To Purple for a funny cartoon). While Sutton had a respectable 82 yards total, 54 yards came on one spectacular run in the third quarter, meaning he averaged less than 3 yards per carry otherwise. The futil-light of the day was the botched field goal sequence which after two delay of game penalties was transformed from a scoring opportunity to a punt.

On the other side of the field, the Cats defense was effective against the run but was lit up by Purdue qb Curtis Painter who was 35 of 49 for 431 yards. Painter was blessed with excellent protection as the Cats managed only two sacks (one a spectacular safety blitz) and little pressure.

The big news from the game may be the news I didn't see, as I left the game early in disgust (plus I really really wanted some more tailgate beers). According to the box score, CJ Bacher got some reps and I assume that was during mop up duty. So perhaps the futile Brewer will be heading to a well-deserved rest time.

Final line

The final line for the Purdue game is Purdue giving 7 1/2. Considering how many points the Cats defense has been giving up, and Purdue's offensive stats....I'd take Purdue and give the points. This has been a very depressing season! Unless, of course, you are heavily medicated like these guys are.

Purdue Tailgate

If you see anything as wretched as this poor loser, I'd recommend you move your car to a different section of the lot.

A flying 180

The Chicago Tribune ran this article today about the general mess at Airbus. Delays in the A380 launch. $6B in lost profits. Questions about its ability to compete with Boeing's 787. Rumors about thousands of layoffs and plant closings. Turmoil in the executive suite. Boeing has booked triple the new orders that Airbus has.

A total 180? Yes indeedy. 5 years ago Boeing looked like roadkill after being run over by the Bus and suffering self-inflicted wounds. Cancellation of the Sonic Cruiser. Industrial espionage and $1B in lost government business. Outstripped at the orderpad by surging Airbus sales. Turmoil in the executive suite.

An amazing turn of fates for sure. And good news for the US, as Boeing is the largest exporter in the US. However, unlike much of its past fleet of planes, the critical 787 program is extensively sourced around the globe for key subassemblies, and, makes use of break through technology such as the carbon fiber composite fuselage which requires complex new manufacturing techniques. Click here for how the story could turn out.

Next up...

For the Cats is the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue University is based in West Lafeyette, Indiana, but has campuses throughout the state.

Purdue is coming off consecutive beatings by Notre Dame and Iowa, so they will be loaded for bear at Dyche Stadium. Conversely, the Wildcats have lost to Nevada, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Purdue has a reasonably good offense and a reasonably bad defense. Unfortunately, that plays to the Cats failings, as we have a poor offense and a reasonably poor defense. Look for Purdue to score a lot of points and the Cats to continue to score too few - early line is Boilermakers giving 11.

Players to watch for Purdue are qb Curtis Painter and rb Jaycen Taylor. For the Cats, we'll see if Brewer gets the start after his last miserable outing or if we see Kafka or even Bacher; and whether or not Tyrell Sutton is back to 100%.

I'll be partying in the West lot if anyone cares to join me, and Go Cats!

Badgers Crush the Cats

As predicted, the Badgers crushed the Cats in a brutal rout which could have been even worse. The Badgers rolled up 310 yards of total offense in the first half, but the Cats escaped to the locker room down only 17-9. Three Wiscy turnovers prevented a veritable avalanche of points.

Wiscy poured on the points in the second half, with the final score at 41-9. While Wiscy under-performed my predicted score, they did cover the spread by more than a few, and NU continued its new tradition of throwing touchdown passes to the opposing teams cornerbacks.

Wiscy game

My apologies to my many readers for the dearth of posts this week. I was traveling on business and guzzling expensive liquor on the company's dime took precedence over blogging.

The Wildcats face the Wiscy Badgers at Camp Randall on Saturday at 11 AM. Fish Head's prediction is Wiscy 55, NU 3. Take Wiscy and give the 21 points, its a sucker bet for sure. Its quite possible that Bucky the Badger will die from celebration exhaustion tomorrow.

The game will be carried on ESPN360 (available free if you can break into a dorm and get on the NU network) and on WGN Radio.

Those poor bastards in Ohio

I watched Meet the Press this morning. I know nothing about the two individuals running for the Senate in Ohio, but after watching them alternate between bickering with each other and mindlessly blustering at the moderator, I feel very sorry for the electorate of that fine state. My recommendation to the people of Ohio is to throw them both in the Cuyahoga River and watch them burn, baby, burn.

Shortages

Maybe we could loan them an iceberg from Alaska....or did they all melt from global warming?

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Earth stood still. Stopped spinning on its axis. And the Illini won a football game, beating the MSU Spartans 23-20 on a last second field goal. As if the Earth standing still and stopping its rotation was not enough, there was also the sight of the Illini planting their flag at midfield and causing a mini-riot. For sure, there is no bigger news than that except this.

What I watched yesterday

Northwestern at Penn State. This one was ugly, a 33-7 pasting in front of 108,000 fans at Happy Valley. The defense gave up too many long tosses to an inexperienced QB, and the offense was hapless. The tough goal line stand right before the half gave me heart, but the Lions poured it on in the third quarter.

The final score did not really reflect how bad the beating was, as Penn State beat us in every phase of the game:

• Net yards rushing, 233 to 81
• Net yards passing, 295 to 157
• Third down conversions, 9 of 17 to 1 of 13
• Sacks, 3 to 0

Like I said, it was ugly. Andrew Brewer got his first start, and he had 17 of the team's 28 rushes. Yes that's right, the team that has Tyrell Sutton and Terrell Jordan in the backfield, rushes the QB 17 times. Now in fairness, many of those were on pass plays due to pressure or Brewer's inability to throw the ball, but still. I am not sure what it takes for the coaches and O-line to begin smashing the ball up the middle like they should be.

My DVR begged me to erase this one. And my wallet was happy that I didn't take the points.

Purdue at Notre Dame. A satisfying win by the golden domers, 35-21. Brady Quinn had a superlative day, finishing 29 of 38 for 318 yards, and Darius Walker had his best game of the year. But most satisfying of all was the brilliantly executed fake field goal with Jeff Samardzija running to the left, untouched into the end zone. Take that, Joe Tiller! I'll have to check with my brother and see if he gave 13.5 or 14.5 on this one, since the line was 14...

More videos

First there was YouTube. Which is so stupid only a moron would buy it. Then there was me-too Google Video. And last but not least there is Stage6 by DixX. I visited Stage6 and I can't figure out why anyone will pay attention. The draws appear to be the higher quality supplied by the DivX encoder, a direct posting ability from the DivX player, and the ability to download videos. But the weird assortment of videos and the lack of a coherent classification scheme are big drawbacks.

I'd never heard of a mud volcano till I bumped across this item. Apparently due to their less generally destructive nature and underwater locations, the press is limited to scientific journals. But this recent not-totally-natural mud volcano is on land and hugely destructive.

Roughly half of the 700 known land-based mud volcanos are in Azerbaijan.

What I'll watch today - the games may suck, but the coaching....

Northwestern at Penn State. The line is Penn State by 19, and to be honest that seems stingy. The Wildcats have not scored more than 21 points in a game yet, and, they gave up 31 points to Nevada. So I'd expect Penn State to roll up a lot of points, and unless the NU offense can both throw the ball and protect it (5 turnovers against Nevada) the game will turn into a rout. Conversely, Penn State has looked very poor at times this year, so if Coach Pat has a good game plan, the team is fired up, and the hamstrung Kafka can get it going, an upset is an outside chance. On the sidelines, watch the nearly mummified Joe Pa versus just-out-of-diapers Pat Fitzgerald.

Purdue at Notre Dame. Excellent intra-state rivalry led by ND 50-25-2. The line is Irish by 14. ND started the season highly ranked, but has been inconsistent especially on offense. The fans in West Laff are making noise about greatness, but to be honest the Boilermakers have beaten three creampuffs and Minnesota. The best part of this game may turn out to be Tiller versus Weis.

I need one of these at the office

I'd like to give some of my co-workers a shot from this:

The Lowest

Ever know one of those sleazy, smarmy, scam artist types who are always looking to make or save a buck at some one else's expense? There are all types of them. Card cheats, bunko artists, till tappers, mortgage swindlers, shysters. But the lowest of the low is the type who tries to stiff the waitress at the bar. No wonder that waitresses get all nasty and bitchy....

Newly discovered cave

If I weren't both nyctophobic and claustrophobic, I'd love to explore this.

NCAA Football comments

Big Ten summary:

• Iowa snuck by Illinois. Let's be honest, if you can't beat Illinois by a zillion you must stink.
• Indiana gained zero rushing yards and lost to UConn. They play football at UConn?
• Michigan beat Wiscy. If you stop Wiscy's run game, its all over.
• Michigan State lost to the Irish in a heartbreaker. Can you say Choke?
• Purdue beat the Golden Gophers. They don't look too good but they keep winning and maybe they will put on a good show at South Bend next week.
• Northwestern is dead to me.
• Ohio State beat Penn State but not convincingly. I am suspicious of how good they aren't.

Other interesting action:

• Outlandish Surprise of the week: Rutgers is ranked!
• Flame-out of the week: BC loses in the closing seconds.
• Blow-out of the week: Nebraska over Troy 56 to zip. No word on whether Nebraska used any trick plays like the trojan horse.
• WTF??: Stabbed punter comes back from the dead.
• Something is not right here: There are four 1-AA schools in the Illinois public school system. All four won this week; Eastern, Western, Southern, and State. Maybe we should ditch the two 1-A schools.

Sunday paper

With the rise of the Internet, podcasting on Ipods, Mobitv, blogging, and other 21st century mediums, the common newspaper is being derided as old fashioned and doomed to extinction. Personally, I don't give a damn and I still love my morning Trib, especially on Sunday's. For me, the newspaper is like the egg - its the perfect vehicle for the delivery of the news.

Today's Trib had two excellent articles. One talked about whether or not Obama is ready, and the other was about a special mapping project which illuminates critical demographic facts using cartograms. This one illuminates a sad fact which rarely makes the press today, despite its vital importance to the world's future.

And I haven't even gotten to the sports section yet. Go Bears, a big win would help us forget that other Chicago team!

Next up ....

For the Cats is the Penn State Nittany Lions. In case you are wondering what a Nittany Lion is, and why its in Happy Valley, its a good thing you're here at Fish Head, cause no-one else knows these super-important things.

Founded in 1855 as an agricultural college, today its a fine university about which I can't think of anything to say. But you can peek for yourself by looking at the LionCam.

The Lions have sandwich breaded two W's over creampuffs Akron and Youngstown State with the spam of a crushing loss to the over-rated Fighting Irish in between. While it appears that Penn State is a bit of a weakling this year, the only hope for the Wild Cats is if the OSU Buckeyes literally stomp them to death in their game today. Alternatively, perhaps the Buckeye fans, who are known for their violent rampages, could take care of business for us.

It was a heinous barf fest, a comedy of errors, a mucking of the bottom of the swamp of bad college football. 3 INT's, 2 fumbles, and for Christ's sake NU even screwed up the Nevada turnovers. This was so horrifying I am donating my season tickets to Darfur. That might not be relief for the Sudanese, but it'll be a relief for me.

Said Coach Fitzgerald, "Obviously I'm very proud of my players, we came back, battled back in the second half to get the game right there in reach. Obviously the self-inflicted wounds that we had upon ourselves were very difficult to overcome today."

The self-inflicted wounds that we had upon ourselves? We're so dopey that the head coach can't even speak english!

After having my soul stained by this abomination, I plan to refrain from any further blogging on the Wildcats.

The Line

Nevada is favored to win tonite and is giving 6 1/2 points. Over-under is 47. Personally I'm taking those 6 1/2 points and you can Paypal me your bet...

Genocide

I've been reading "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright. Its an excellent book, and best read with a laptop handy to Google for details on the many historical events which are referenced in passing in the text. Today I read the brief paragraphs describing the massacre of ethnic Hazaras at Mazar-I-Sharif in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

According to Wright, the Saudis provided trucks, military equipment, and cash to the Taliban as a down payment on a deal for the Taliban to hand over Bin Laden, who was at the time in Afghanistan as a "guest" of the Taliban. The Taliban in turn used this booty to attack and over-run the city of Mazar, slaughtering thousands of Hazara civilians over a period of several days.

While Wright reports this matter of factly and in the context of the Bin Laden story, the horrific nature of the slaughter serves as a stark reminder of the importance of current events in Afghanistan.

I want to make more money

A friend sent me a post recently which really got me spinning. Titled "Alcohol use helps boost income", it was quite an eye opener. My first thought was, Holy Shit, I should be making way more money than I am. But then I had a second thought, that I'd be making even less than I am if not for my prodigious intake. I would've had a third thought, but that was one too many and I decided I needed another drink more than another thought.

Where did the NU offense go?

I think this giant snake ate it.

Next up....

for the Wildcats is the Nevada Wolf Pack, Friday,9/22, at 7 PM CST. The game will be played at Mackay Stadium in Reno, and televised nationally on ESPN2. Nevada improved to 1-2 last week after beating the Colorado State Rams 28-10. Picked to finish 7-5 this season, Nevada will be a tough test for the Cats. WAC teams typically have strong aerial attacks and are known for innovative coaching and unusual schemes.

The University of Nevada is located in Reno and no connection to the TV show, Reno 911. Founded in 1874, the University currently has an enrollment of over 16,000 students on two campuses.

Watch for senior quarterback Jeff Rowe. The Wildcat rush has not been impressive, and the secondary was riddled by Ricky Santos, the last strong QB they faced. A very strong defensive effort will be required to compensate for the weak offense.

Are they or Aren't they?

My friend logic101 posted with some opinions on the debate and concerns about the current quality of intelligence on Iran's nuclear capabilities and installations. Personally, I am somewhat alarmed by the general hawkishness of the Bush administration, and my perception that they are too quick to pull the trigger. The McClatchy link in logic101's article provided an eerie reminder of my concerns about the "ease" with which some administrations believe air power can work the military equivalent of diplomatic miracles. I would be concerned that "updating plans" is code-speak for "warm up the engines". An encouraging counter-opinion from UPI makes me want to know who the mysterious "sources" are; Charles Krauthammer must have different sources as he interprets Bush's words.

Quote of the Day

"The foot does not play any role in the game. Instead, each player attempts to take the ball in his hands, run with it or throw it to the goal, while the players on the other team hinder him by any means, including kicking in the stomach, or violently breaking his arms or legs...Meantime, the fans cry out, 'Break his neck! Crack his head!'" - Sayyid Qutb, 1949, describing American football

Mildcats

NU routed oops I mean snuck by a powerful oops I mean anemic EMU squad today, 14-6. The offense managed exactly two good drives, one the first drive of the game, the other the first drive of the second half. Each resulted in a TD; other than these two drives, the offense was AWOL.

Mike Kafka started but was replaced at the half by Andrew Brewer. Neither QB was effective, and we may have a QB controversy brewing. Similar to the UNH loss, the O line and running game did not seem up to pre-season expectations.

The most effective offensive play for EMU was the punt. The EMU punter averaged 42.7 yards on 10 punts, and routinely gained 10-20 yards of field position with each punt. He outplayed his NU counterpart, Slade Larscheid, who had a spectacular shank. The teams combined for 19 punts and 751 yards of...punting, if there is such a word and stat.

Now on to the positive news. The defense played well, albeit against a weak EMU offense. While the official Impact Play of the Game was Brewer's sneak for a TD, Deante Battle and Cory Wootton were the real impact players. Battle stopped an EMU drive with a crushing hit to break up a third-down pass, and later intercepted a pass to end EMU's last drive. Wootton had several tackles and a key interception.

The win leaves the Cats 2-1 and now they head on to the road for three weeks to play Nevada, Penn State, and Wisconsin. This latest win gives cause for concern, especially around the offense. EMU had given up over 1000 yards of total offense in its previous two losses...so things could get ugly on the road.

No wonder people like Chicago-style hotdogs better

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Bill Gates' head

If today is Tuesday, then its not Prince Spaghetti day, its Black Tuesday. At least on this one day a month, every IT manager wishes for desktop linux.

Next up....

..for the Wildcats is the Eastern Michigan University Eagles. Located in Ypsilanti, EMU is in the MAC West and was founded in 1849. Saturday's game will be the first ever between the teams, but will be EMU's second Big 10 game of the year, having been routed by MSU last week.

The Eagles will have plenty of time to prepare for the NU game, given that teaching staff at the school are on strike. The Eagles do not get much respect this year and are picked to finish dead last in the MAC West. Don't believe in pre-season predictions? The Eagles are on track so far, living up to the predicted thumpings by Ball State and MSU.

Need more? Well, there doesn't seem to be anymore. Nobody has ever heard of this university, and to be honest, I haven't any idea where Ypsilanti is, other than its somewhere near Ann Arbor. Big hook for the game? Apparently the head coach and 5 of his assistants are either NU grads or ex-NU coaches. Maybe they couldn't find jobs at a famous school. Will I regret dissing EMU? You'll need to find out Sunday in the papers because its not on TV.

Why I hate politics (and politicians)

I've always felt that politicians in Washington are greasy liars. At least here in Chicago, its very clear that all the politicians are crooks - they barely attempt to conceal it. But in Washington, the level of prevarication and mendacity generates a murky fog in which the politicians attempt to hide their true nature. But now two university reasearchers have at least partially swept aside the fog and outed the liars in Washington. We should pay these guys to do this full-time. Can you say report card?

Quote of the Day

"This happens on big games, so we were prepared for it,'' Howson said.

Who is Howson and what is he talking about? Howson is a sargeant in the Columbus, Ohio police department, and he was discussing the violence that erupted after OSU's big win over Texas this past Saturday. Very depressing that a Big Ten school is so regularly plagued by rampages after games that the police consider it routine.

Perhaps the OSU administration should re-convene the task force on celebratory riots since it was apparently so successful. Look at the table starting on page 21 of the task force report and check for your favorite school's involvement in Columbus madness!

Ouchie Poo

NU got steam rollered by I-AA UNH 34-17. I can't decide exactly why. UNH is ranked #2 in 1-AA - are they really better than NU or was NU flat and un-prepared to play?

In the actual game, NU lost because they played poor defense (no rush, and the secondary was riddled by the UNH QB, Ricky Santos) and made key mistakes (especially fumbles). Also give credit to UNH whose defense played well, and I suspect to the UNH coaching staff who appeared to have out-coached rookie Pat Fitzgerald.

Comparing some other facts, I think NU was flat, but may be even weaker than the pre-season predictions thought. We had previously beaten Miami (Ohio) 21-3. This week, Miami took Purdue (a well-known 1-A power school) into OT before losing. How could NU beat Miami but lose to UNH? Flat, maybe so. However, Mike Kokal the Miami QB, played poorly against NU, but scorched Purdue for 4 TDs and a crapload of yards. So NU might have caught Miami on a flat week. On the other hand, UNH might be stronger than I thought before the game. In addition to their #2 1-AA ranking, this UNH squad beat Rutgers last year. And what did Rutgers do this weekend? They smoked the Illini 33-0. Lastly...read the box score and notice NU had no penalties. That tells me the team was not playing aggressively.

Conclusion? Beats me, but I think it could be a long year.

Despite the thrashing, there were some positive signs. True freshman QB Mike Kafka showed some signs of excellence, especially when the coaching staff opened it up a little and let him throw downfield. Remember the success the team had with Sean Herbert last year....if Kafka gets that going, NU can generate some offense. Ginormous defensive end Corey Wootton had several tackles and could grow (no pun intended) into a force on the line. Lastly, the weather was decent and we had a great tailgate in the West lot!

Tomahawk'd

A big kudo to the Florida State Seminoles. There are few feelings in life better than watching the Hurricanes wander off the field after a huge loss. Even though the game was a total bore, I went to sleep a happy man!

Beta Central

I'm currently beta testing new releases of three programs. Many people avoid beta programs due to the inherent instability that is experienced, but I enjoy them for the sneak preview and early access to new features. My current tests:

• PC-Cillin 2007 by Trend Micro. I have been using the 2006 version, and it is an effective security program. The beta version has a slicker GUI, improved firewall, and anti-phishing protection.
• Firefox version 2. This beta offers an enhanced search box, better tabbed browsing, and a refreshed visual appearance.
• Windows Media Player 11. This beta contains a new media sharing feature, an improved GUI, and improved support for ripping and burning CDs.

Try them....you'll like them unless the beta code blows up your PC!

Meet the new continent

I read an interesting but brief article today in Discover magazine, titled "Meet the New Continent". The article discusses (and illustrates with excellent photographs) a 25 foot wide, 1/3 mile long crack in the earth which suddenly appeared in northern Ethiopia last September. Tim Wright, a geophysicist, explains that the rift is caused by the Arabian and African tectonic plates drifting apart. Dr. Wright calculates that in about one million years, the rift will expand sufficiently for the Red Sea to rush in, isolating the Horn from the rest of the African continent, thus forming a new continent. Click here and here for information.

I need one of these...

Well, actually I don't and I'm pretty baffled by the whole thing. But my kids really want one and its a good thing I have self-actualized the ability to say No and feel good about it. One can only imagine some 1984-ish nightmare scenario where network connected rabbits remind us all to take our soma. There is a whole infrastructure growing up around the Nabaztag, click here for a Yahoo! widget, for example. Google for yourself, the Nabaztag are coming and you better be ready, or be consigned to the fuddy-duddy dustbin like me :-)

Quote of the day

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed." - H.L. Mencken

Scouting Report

Click here for information on the team that will help NU go 2-0. UNH is currently picked as the #1 I-AA team in the country, beating out the perennial powerhouse Appalachian State. After running the table (11-0) in 2005, I can say only two things for sure : the Wildcats will win this game...I'm just not sure which University they will be from; and, the UNH cheerleaders have cute uniforms. Click here for background on this school, from which the most famous graduate appears to be Jerry Azumah, ex-Bear.

BCS here we come....

Big and emotional win for the Wildcats last nite, 21-3 over Miami of Ohio. I was busy doing something more fun and important than college football (hard to believe!) so I didn't listen to the game. Yes, I said didn't listen, because, my cable provider does not carry ESPNU which televised the game. I sent a message to whitehouse.gov giving them the tasking coordinates for Comcast headquarters and asked them to pretty please free up one GBU-28.

My take on the game:

Miami was predicted to finish 6-6 this year. The team is not up to its usual quality.
NU defense played well, with a big help from the Miami QB.
NU offense did not play well in the first half.
NU offense, especially the true freshman QB, improved in the second half.
Where oh where was the vaunted running game which is operating behind an experienced O line?

Overall a good win, and next up is the New Hampshire Wildcats. I have no familiarity with this team which plays in the Atlantic 10, not a traditional football power conference. They did apparently win the conference title last year, so we'll make a point of getting especially pasted during the tailgate in case the game heads south.

Interesting game footnotes:

John Pont was in attendance.
Jared Parseghian, great-grandnephew of Ara Parseghian, is the Miami place kicker.
NU's total offense of 299 yards did not compare well to last year's per game average of 504.

Squeaky chair

My office chair has become noticeably squeakier recently. Today its so loud it sounds like creepy sound effects from a bad B movie. So I wandered into the garage to get the WD-40. Imagine my surprise to find....no WD-40. However, I did find it on Wikipedia, and if you like useless information, the product has an interesting history.

Ottomans

I saw a good show on the History Channel yesterday, "Ottoman Empire: The War Machine". It traced the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire, and focused specifically on the many military conquests of the Empire. Of greatest interest to me were the Empire's effect on Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire; Topkapi Palace; and the Islamization of the Balkans.

The Rapture....

is in 4 days and 4 hours. I'd suggest packing carefully, especially no liquids or gels :-)

Hello, Mr. Ahmadinejad

A joke for you:

Q: What is the most common Google search term used this week in Arak?

A: Whiteman Missouri

It is approximately 6881 miles from Whiteman to Arak. Anyone who thinks that flight path has not been examined a zillion times in recent weeks, should stand up and leave the room now. Its 3221 miles from Diego Garcia to Arak. Anyone who thinks that flight path has not been examined a zillion and one times in recent weeks, should also leave the room.

If you're not getting the connection, click here and then here and then finally here.

Link here if you want to do your own pre-war flight planning.

Fuel cells

After surfing the Internet to educate myself on ethanol, I recalled a previous hype-cycle about fuel cells, which occurred during the early 2000's. After excessive blathering on the topic, the press and the public lost interest, but various commercial and governmental endeavors have continued, and the technology has advanced considerably over the last 5 years. Google for yourself and you will find commercial power plants, experimental laptop batteries, military marine uses, backup power generators, residential power sources, automotive systems, and public transportation.

Honda's technology in particular looks very interesting. In addition to a very advanced fuel cell car, they have produced technology for installation in the home to solve the considerable re-fueling issues that surround the use of fuel cells for autos. Perhaps another 10 years of expensive R&D, and one or two more hype cycles in between, will result in some significant uses.

Look here for an interesting and somewhat related article on the hydrogen economy.

He's mastered all the English he needs

You gotta love this guy. Yusaku Miyazato, who speaks no english, aced two par 3's in the Reno-Tahoe Open. While his caddie served as interpreter for him, Yusaku was able to describe for himself his celebration plans for his incredible, record-breaking feat:

"Drink much beer. Big party," he said with a wide smile.

Click here for the full story.

Thank god the Republican Party had the foresight to invent the TSA

Thank god that President Bush had the foresight to recognize and react to the security threat to our air transportation system, and form the TSA in 2001. And double thank god that he and his party are such effective administrators that they have honed the TSA into a finely tuned, gel-confiscating machine. Nothing gets by these guys! Click here and here for examples of how the TSA has turned the skies into the starry blue equivalent of Fort Knox.

Ubuntu - Part 5 and final

I signed into the Ubuntu support forums, and searched on the word "resolution". A couple of minutes of scanning the search results lead me to an entry about using some obscure command to start the X configuration program to modify the video resolution. I followed the directions and was able to change the desktop to 1024x768. Success! I then downloaded a copy of BOINC to help the world fight AIDS etc., and it works great. The Ubuntu developers did a beautiful job with the graphics and widgets, albeit I am unhappy with the sort of rusty reddish-brown default color theme. But I won't bore my vast blogging audience with my future attempts to download some new themes :-)

Ubuntu - Part 4

Wifi setup was a breeze. Ubuntu recognized my SSID and let me select it from a drop down in the networking tools. After entering the encryption key, it connected immediately and worked perfectly. I used the update manager to install the available patches, and moved on to the desktop resolution, which the installer had set to 640x480. Unfortunately, Ubuntu does not seem to recognize that my laptop has several other video modes, and for the life of me I have no idea where this is set - it must be in some obscure X configuration file, and in fact, I haven't any idea which flavor of X is in this distro. Time to start googling for help!

Ubuntu - Part 3

Its not unusual for Linux installs to turn into a bit of an adventure, and this one has been no different.

• The first installation failed due to a "coaster". If you're familiar with using .iso's, you know a coaster is what you get when your CD burning software tells you it created the CD correctly, but really didn't, which you discover when it won't boot correctly. Place that useless CD under your coffee mug and voila its useful.
• The second installation (after another burn) failed due to a DUE (Dumb User Error). Don't you hate it when you're required to actually look at the screen and think? In this case, the Ubuntu boot CD gives you an option to "Start or Install". I assumed selecting this would later allow me to choose between starting and installing. But what it really does is boot a full Linux desktop off the CD, and there is an icon on the desktop to run the install to your hard disk. I didn't see the icon, and assumed I had somehow hosed the install.
• The third installation failed with some obscure error message about a filesystem missing. I suspect this was related to the previous Fedora Core 5 partitions that were on the hard disk. Since this install got thru reformatting the disk...
• The fourth installation...worked!

I've had worse adventures than that, and overall I would rate Ubuntu's install as above average. Needing only a single CD (not counting the coaster!) is a major advantage. Next I need to finish some basic setup tasks, like configuring my wifi, fixing the screen resolution, and obtaining any outstanding patches.

Ubuntu - Part 2

It took about 2 hours to download the .iso via the torrent, and about 20 minutes to burn it to a CD using Sonic Recordnow (apparently my optical drive is none too speedy). In part 3, I'll try the install on my aging but still mostly-functional spare Thinkpad R30. Its got 256 meg of RAM, a 20 gig drive, and a broken LCD. After kid #3 dropped it and broke the LCD, I never was able to get Windows working again, despite hooking up an external LCD. But Linux has worked just fine on the external monitor.

Ubuntu - Part 1

I like messing with the Linux operating system. For me, its a geeky hobby that reminds me of the good old days when I did real computer work, as opposed to my current daily email blizzard. Lately I have mostly used the Fedora distro, with an occassional crack at the Suse Lizard.

But recently I've heard a lot of good press about Ubuntu. I had tried this distro once before, but the weird rootless result totally confused me and I erased it faster than you can say grep.

Fedora, like many distros, comes in a set of five CDs that are downloaded for free from the Internet; usually there is an option for a single DVD download for those technologically advanced enough to own a DVD burner (I do not). Ubuntu varies from this as it comes in a single installable CD. The current version of Ubuntu is 6.06.1, "Dapper Drake". Linux distros normally have a cutesy name, like Breezy Badger, Humpy Hamster, and the like.

So earlier this afternoon, I googled on "Ubuntu torrent" to find the bittorrent file, and saved it to my Windows desktop. I loaded it into uTorrent, which should take a couple hours to download the .iso file, so I'll burn the CD later and process the install.

Got backup?

Most people have no backup of their PC hard drive. I do - about once a month I blast a copy onto my Buffalo NAS. But I still worry about a disk crash wiping out my data and causing me days of reconstruction. I recently installed this app for early warning, and maybe you should too...

Ethanol

I had the opportunity recently to travel to Brazil on business. One topic of conversation with my Brazilian hosts was the use of ethanol in their country. Roughly 40% of their gasoline usage has been replaced by ethanol, and the country is energy-independent, at least in the specific category of gasoline usage. This discussion encouraged me to do research on ethanol production in the US after I returned.

What I found was that ethanol production is booming in the US. Production increased 135% from 2000 to 2005, with roughly 90 plants operating during 2005. A typical plant might produce 40 to 50 million gallons per year, and cost $50 to $100 million to build. In 2006, there are 33 plants under construction, 8 undergoing significant expansion, and many more being considered. Click here for a sample news story.

Will this enable the US to drive (pun intended) towards energy independence from the turbulent Middle East? Opinions are somewhat divided, but the answer appears to be: not likely.

Why? Some of the reasons are clear, others less so.

1. Whereas Brazil produces its ethanol from sugar cane, in the US the primary source is corn. Corn is substantially more difficult to distill than sugar cane, increasing the required investment in plants, and increasing both transportation and raw material (corn) costs.
2. Due to both the size of the US market, and the effective conversion rate of the corn, a very large percentage (exact number under debate) of the total arable land would be required to displace even a small percentage of gasoline consumption.
3. Infrastructure. Ethanol plants generally need to be located near the crop source, and the finished product is difficult to transport.

The economics of ethanol are also murky. Considerable government subsidies (along with the elimination of MTBE) have helped fuel the current boom. But some scientists (in the minority) claim that the energy required to produce ethanol is greater than the energy produced by the ethanol. This contrarian opinion is also balanced by the fact that the efficiency of ethanol production has been increasing rapidly, and that this trend may continue or even accelerate.

For the next few years, the likely scenario is that ethanol production will continue to soar, lifted by high oil prices and government intervention. US automakers (especially GM) have a marketing advantage, in that they have invested heavily in both production and marketing of ethanol-enabled cars ("E85"). As ethanol production continues to grow, and as retail locations selling ethanol proliferate (especially in the Midwest), the true economics may begin to become clearer. If a few more charismatic leaders jump on the bandwagon, the current boom could become an investment frenzy that reminds of the 90's dot.com boom.

Click here for a list of retail locations in Illinois.