Week 4: Never In Doubt

I should not be given a week off from writing.  I need to remain in task and when I don't, my mind tends to drift into unchartered territories.  More airports, more unattractive people and, dare I say, stupid people.  A recap:
1 game:  That was pleasing.
2 games:  You've gotten my attention.
3 games:  Don't toy w my emotions.
4 games:  I'm buying in.                        <= YOU ARE HERE 
5 games:  Convert.
6+ games:  Zealot!

Not entirely chattel...

Which is to say, you expected maybe perfection?  Hold that thought.

We spent last weekend in Virginia, visiting daughter Ryan, where we visited Monticello.  And immersed ourselves in all things Jeffersonian, including The Paradox That Was The Man:  

• Mr. "All Men Are Created Equal" and Mr. Committed Slaveholder Who Only Freed 5 (Count 'em 5!) on his deathbed
• Mr. Big Brain, Architect / Lover of Isaac Newton & John Locke and Mr. I'm Not So Good With Money, Dieing ~$2.5MM (today's $) in Debt.
• And let's not forget, Father of the American Vineyard.

Truly a great man even if he wasn't entirely the Olympian Ideal. Still pretty damn impressive.  The point is that perfection is an elusive criteria to live up to.  And ND football is certainly not there yet.  But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy watching them play with an enthusiasm and athleticism we haven't seen for years.  

Song of the Week

Ever have anyone say, "so what's your point?" I have people say that to me a lot.  Like all the time. And that may be the case with this song choice. 

The song depicts my confused, contradictory inner dialogue while watching this particular game… optimistic rationalization challenged by loads of history-based self-doubt.  And who didn't feel pangs of "uh oh, here we go again" when the early turnovers started piling up.

"One of these days your eyes will close and pain will disappear

One of these days you will forget to hope and learn to fear.

But it's alright

Yeah it's alright

I said it's alright.

Easy for you to say

Your heart has never been broken

Your pride has never been stolen

Not yet not yet…"

I remain undaunted.

Word of the Month 

Flexiloquent (adj.)

• Pertaining to one who speaks in a highly ambiguous manner.

Used in a sentence:  With the Honor Code investigation dragging on to an interminable degree, Young Terry settled back awaiting to hear the school's flexiloquent explanation of their final, and presumably, punitive judgments. 

Quote of the Month 

"It is hard to believe a man is telling the truth when you know you would lie if you were in his place."

H.L. Mencken

Rightly or wrongly, one wonders if that insight doesn't come to bear with The Frozen Five's Fate.


Game Observations.

The Executive summary:  After a bye week, what to expect.  Not that. Crazy kids.  Live by Everett, die by Everett.  But did you really ever worry that we were gonna lose?  That this was gonna be another Meadowlands Navy game?  I didn't. 

Specifically re the game: 

• Dubious start.

• The Syracuse team, with their uniforms from K-Mart, were like the yappy little dog that would run up to Buddy with a ridiculous Joe Pesci 'you want a piece of me' attitude.  (And Buddy use to look at me with a perplexed "Really?  I poo bigger than these dogs…" look.)
• By the way, 'The Cuse' is just about the stupidest nickname going.  Almost as bad as a school taking their nickname after a tree.
• Defense looks great.  Fast. How can you not like the way they play?
• Trumbetti.  Play-ah. 

• O-line changes:  okay so Rome wasn't built in a day… 
• Kelly:  I'm gonna keep running the same play until you stop overloading the box.  Loved it. 
• Every pass to CJ Prosise is an adventure. 
• Corey Robinson:  I'm a big fan.
• Kinda agree w George Whitfield:  "glad Everett's had some adversity…"  But moderation in everything, George.
• Torii Hunter, your table is ready.
• Why I like Kirk H: he totally owned his original 7 win prediction for ND. (Anyone who thinks he is anti-ND has no credibility to me.)
• Desmond Howard on the other hand… not talking much about the Maize & Blue, are we Dez?

Not exactly how one wanted to head into Stanford - but perhaps good for getting the team's attention in a 'you're not as good as you think you are' way?

An English Major Walks Into A Bar...
Precious little Indian Summer time left in the Midwest - when else when I be able to have this beverage?

One Hundred Beers of Solitude (1967)

 by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The most celebrated work by Latin America's prince of prose, One Hundred Years of Solitude traces one family's multigenerational triumphs and devastations in establishing a South American settlement. 

Pressing hard on the symbolism pedal, Marquez uses the colors yellow and gold like a weaver, threading death and wealth throughout a story of inevitable decline*.  Borrowing his palette, pairing South America's most famous beer - Cusquena, the "gold of the Incas" - with a cheery, yellow lemonade.

In other words, a shandy! So lightweight, you can water your solitude down with a hundred of these bad boys, give or take your dignity. 

• 3 oz. carbonated lemonade (ginger ale works too)
• 8 oz. light beer
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Pour the lemonade into a chilled pint glass.  Fill to the top with a beer and add a dash or two of bitters.  Now, sit back and prepare for the ups and downs of your favorite football team.  Always with another drink standing by.

*any metaphorical resemblance to ND football is purely coincidental. 

Buddy's Buddies

No (real) worries anymore about Everett dominating this award after all.  But who then for this week? Certainly Will Fuller made a big impact.  And the defense was stout.

I say Corey Robinson.   Right about now, he's the only guy I trust to consistently catch the ball, made several catches that kept drives alive.  Plus I love the neon mohawk 'do.



2014 Schedule

August
28      Rice - W

September
6       Michigan  -   W
13     Purdue (Indianapolis)   W
27     @Syracuse (MetLife)   W

October 
4      Stanford
11    North Carolina
18    @FSU

November
  1   @Navy
  8   @Arizona State 
15    Northwestern
22    Louisville
29   @USC

The Wager: 
Status quo -  huzzah!  Let me know if I've missed anyone who's sent me money...

Wins	Song	Representative Lyric	ND Application	Contestant  prediction
12	Burning Down The House	“Here's your ticket, Pack your bag. Time for jumpin' overboard...”	Man Oh Man Oh Man... if we win this much, something's getting lit up! Starting with me.	Bryan
11				Daryl, Dave M
10	Heaven	“Heaven...   is a place...  where nothing... nothing ever happens...”	Boy, attaining this level of consistent, calm excellence...  I could get used to.	Kevin C, Terry, Lini, Jerry W, Peter, Rob W
9				JP,, Ted, Mike C, Jerry C, Tim C, Bob R, Tim S, Jim S, Jay, Jim B
8	Once In A Lifetime	"And you may ask yourself, how did I get here? Same as it ever was..."	8-5... again?!  How did we get to this point of near constant mediocrity?	Brian W, Jim T, Jerry P, Tom, Kevin M, Garrett, Mark, Mike G
7				John, Ray, Blair, Alvin, Dave, Ryan, Randy, Dennis
6	The Big Country	“I wouldn't live there if you paid me.  I couldn't live that, no siree..."	Both 'A' Lot and ND football - gone the way of the dinosaur. I need to make some profound changes in my life.	Matt
5
4	No Compassion	“They say compassion is a virtue...  But I don't have the time.”	Empathy for our pathetic football program is over-rated.   I am so done.   Hello, lacrosse.
3
2	Psycho Killer	“Run run run run  run run run away… Oh oh ohhhhhh...  ay yai yai  yai yai...”	Dad is just staring at the TV. He's not even paying attention to the game. And he's drooling.
1

Schadenfreude Time

Michigan.  Do I feel bad for my beloved daughter's alma mater, who seems to just incur one self-inflicted wound after another?  Absolutely not. 

Oregon.   Really surprised they're eligible this week but I'll take it even if just increases the SEC's "we're the only conference that matters" rhetoric. (They might be right.) Oh and I hate your uniforms.

Penn State.  Perhaps you celebrated your bowl eligibility a tad early?

Terry's Trolls

Is Idiocy a God-given right?

1.  Jameis.   Honestly, do I even need a reason anymore?  But dressing for a game you know you're suspended is a start.  

2.  CJ Spiller.   Two words that no NFL'er wants to hear these days, worse than 'drug test', is 'domestic assault'.  Or 'sexual assault'.  

 3. Anthony Wunder.  Who?  He's the knucklehead who ran onto the Ohio State field last weekend, got body slammed by an Assistant Coach (and former OSU LB) and now might lose his Evans Scholarship.  Dumb.  Ass.  

This Day In 1995

OJ Simpson is acquitted in the dearth of his wife and her friend, Ronald Gildman, despite the fact that, I mean, come on… 

And weirdly, also today in 2008:  OJ is convicted on several felony counts, including kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon -- all in connection with a Las Vegas hotel room robbery.

Karma.  Better late than never. 

Final Thought
Truth be told, this is about the only time of year that I pay close attention to professional baseball.  But it gets really great really fast.  So with that in mind…

50 years ago tonight, Bob Gibson took the mound for the Cardinals to start the final weekend of the regular season in a tight pennant race, and lost 1-0 to the Mets.

Two days later, he won the pennant clinching game with four innings of scoreless relief.  He then earned two World Series wins, including Game 7, throwing 27 innings against the Yankees.

All told, from 10/2 to 10/15, GIBSON PITCHED 39 INNINGS OVER 14 DAYS.  

Only one pitcher in major league history pitched at least that many innings over a 14 day span, topped off by winning the clinching game of the WS:  Dizzie Dean, also for the Cardinals, in 1934.

Today's pitchers are such total wussies.