Musings from 'A' Lot: Week 3: One Wink At A Time

And I could purge my soul perhaps

For the imminent collapse...

I'll tell you what we could do:

You be me for awhile - and I'll be you.

Truth be told, that switch probably wouldn't end terribly well for anyone.

So strike that thought and let's back up.

Are you not entertained?!

You've heard me say, on occasion, that I've had a readers tell me, "Love your blog! Really don't understand it. Fun pictures!"

The inference being that this column is a bit like something from the Hostess product line: easily consumable, doesn't stay in the system all that long and probably not something one freely admits to being a part of one's diet.

In other words, the intellectual equivalent of a Twinkie, a Ho-Ho, a Sno-Ball.

Crying on the inside...

Not that there's anything wrong with that - everyone needs a guilty pleasure. But honestly, it is a tad hurtful - I'm far more the sensitive artist than my affable, insouciant demeanor may otherwise suggest.

That is, until I re-read what I've posted and recall one of the things my older brothers used to tell my parents when I was a wee lad: ~~mom, he's not right in the head~~ "Mother, it's time you come to grips with Terry being in this world but not of it. You should be prepared that the other children are going to have trouble... connecting... with him."

So, you readers may have a point. Accordingly, this week's value-added involves an intellectual roadmap for you to follow along the blogger's thought process in a decision tree fashion. Don't say you weren't warned.

Ready. Set. Go! This week's connect-the-dots train of thought:

A couple things to further point out:

Please appreciate the different voices being captured above - that's not just an internal monologue or an internal dialogue you're witnessing. It's a freakin' town hall meeting of voices.
And much like REM sleep, it all occurs in nano-seconds.
This may not, in fact, be any more helpful in understanding the blog.

C'est la vie!

Game Day/Night Observations

Just around the corner, there they are again...

Legends in their minds of those around.
If they try to slap us with their ego size
Gather of the clowns to cut 'em down.

Yea verily, throughout much of the 1st three quarters, I did despair. And not the Romantic despair that one reads about with the saints when they had their moments of doubt. Where Faith is ultimately rewarded with, well, sainthood.

This was more of an imperious Vince Lombardi 'what the hell is going on here' incredulity. The kind of disbelief that might cause one to resign a membership in the Brian Kelly Fan Club. If one had one.

But all's well that ends well, right? Even if one remains a little baffled about what any of it yet means.

What I saw:

So in a somewhat stream-of-conscious fashion, the thoughts that flew through my mind:

Brandon Wimbush Practices His Fundamentals...

* Who, exactly, is calling the plays?
* Is there such a thing as a letdown after a tough loss?
* Run. The. Ball. Not that complicated.
* I really, really, REALLY dislike BC.
* As "pro-Irish white guy" as I am, in principle, getting beat by that genus of opponent WR is particularly torturous.

* This offense is painful to watch. If they don't gain meaningful yardage on 1st down, they have no chance.
* The worst tackling of the year so far. Still better than last year.
* The Houston Texans aren't off to a stellar start, Bill O'Brien might be available next year.
* Wimbush is shockingly bad as a passer. And for someone who doesn't know dookie, it's obvious his mechanics - footwork - is really poor. Kinda amazing.
* Pass rush is pretty much non-existent. And a team with a reasonable passer will give this D trouble
But ON THE POSITIVE...
* Half-time adjustments. What a concept.
* The team finished strong! How often did you see that last year? ("What is the empty set.")
* The D got off the field on 3rd down. Again. Opponents 3rd down conversion to-date:
* Temple 5-17
* UGA 4-17
* BC 4-17
* When the D needed a stop, they got it.
* And maybe they discovered a bit of an offensive identity.
* But they're going to need even a mediocre passing attack real soon. Like this week.

Quote of The Month

RIP (1926-2017)

"I only eat so I can smoke

and stay alive..."

Harry Dean Stanton

Given he that lived to 91, I'd say mission accomplished. A man who, for better or worse, had his priorities down.

Something I hope the ND offensive brain trust is quickly figuring out.

As an aside, if you haven't, watch Paris, Texas.

Cocktail of the Month

And so it would appear we are at something of a pivot point in the year - Summer turning to Autumn, ND football turning up? down? Who can tell.

This week requires a libation that has the flexibility to go both ways - summer sweetness, autumnal savory - and one that you can pound in celebratory bliss or the downward spiral of "I can't believe I'm re-living 2016's hellscape."

Enjoy.

Close Encounters of The Slurred Kind

Close Encounters of The Third Kind (1977)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Released in the wake of Spielberg's massive hit Jaws and catching the sci-fi tailwinds of a little thing called Star Wars, Close Encounters found success of the mountainous kind - despite blowing its budget and landing as quite a gamble. (The concept of friendly space creatures was revolutionary at the time.)

The film stars Richard Dreyfuss in an obsessive performance for which he famously (read: shamelessly) campaigned to get cast, with Melinda Dillon in an Oscar-nominated turn as the mother of a kidnapped-to-the-cosmos kid.

Jealous? Get out of town with this other-worldly beer cocktail that'll have you feeling abducted - by awesomeness.

2 oz. tequila
1 oz. grapefruit juice
4 oz. UFO Hefeweizen beer
club soda, to fill

Combine the tequila and grapefruit juice in a shaker and dry shake for a few seconds or until you hit a strange spot in the sky - whichever comes first.

Pour into a pint glass, add the beer, and fill to the top with club soda.

Schedule

September

2 Temple W

9 Georgia L - inipalooza VII
16 @Boston College W
23 @Michigan State
30 Miami (OH)

October
7 @UNC
14
21 USC

28 NC State

November
4 Wake Forest
11   @Miami
18 Navy
25 @Stanford

The Wager

And Order In The Universe has been restored. For one more week.

But I wouldn't be running to Vegas and betting the farm...

Wins	Trumpian Rating	Contestant
12	Yuge. Greatest Achievement, In The History of The World.	~~Bryan G, Brian M, Joe S~~
11		Dave M, Raz The Elder,
10	Failure. Losers and Nut Jobs, All Of ‘Em.	Terry, Jay, Lini, JP, John P, Phillip, Ted, Peter B, Daryl
9		Matt L, Graham C, Mark U, Shea C, Dennis R, Bob J
8		Dave G, Kevin C, Jim S, Jerry P, Tim S, Alex S, Jim B, Brian W, Spittler the Elder, Blair
7		Bill B, Jim T, Tim C, Mike C, Mike G, Jerry W, Kevin M, Tom F, Ryan C, Garrett R
6		Ray V, Alvin B, John L, Randy Ri, Ward H
5		Jim R, Randy Ra,
4
3 or less

Buddy's Buddy

Like for much of the game, there was a 1st half 'candidate' and 2nd half winner:

Jason Day, candidate. Not for his Friday ace at 17th hole of the BMW. Not directly, at least.

Jason wins a $130k car with the shot - and immediately donates the prize to the Evans Scholar Foundation. The ace already triggered an $100k donation to the fund, which provides scholarships to kids going to college. The car donation just extends the number of beneficiaries that much more. Pretty cool.

Run, Forrest, Run!

Josh Adams, winner. For this week, Buddy's best bud. Pure and simple, an ND win over BC is in considerably greater doubt if Adams doesn't basically carry that offense for three quarters. He may not be the shiftiest of RB's and if he had even 1/2 of an additional gear, he'd have 2 more TD's and about 50 more running yds.

But the guy is a stud.

Schadenfreude of the Montb

"Celebrating The Misfortune of Other Teams Since 1956"

What the Lord hath taken away in terms of tools - I mean, where's all the bad behavior, people? - He's giveth back, for at least one week, in teams to celebrate their demise.

Some more surprising than others.

1. LSU. Coach O, We Hardly Knew Ye... maybe Mississippi State is really good. Probably not.

2. Stanford. Wow, losing to USC is one thing. San Diego State is an entirely different kettle of fish. A wonderful bouillabaisse of karmic payback. Would you like seconds, coach Shaw?

Rut roh...

3. Tennessee. Never been a big Butch Jones fan. Always struck me like a guy a little too arrogant for his resume. Come to think of it, kinda like our guy! And don't ya just love to watch the SEC eat their own?

4. UCLA. Jim Mora, Jr. - the west coach Butch Jones. With a QB perhaps similarly over-rated. Of course the 3 time zone travel to Memphis didn't help much. It seemed like a good idea at the time we scheduled the game...

Terry's Trolls

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain..."

Friedrich Schiller

Poet, Philosopher & Playwright

Turns out natural disasters do tend to bring the good out in people so with hurricanes a-ragin' all over down south, there's been precious few notable bad boys (or girls). I guess that's a good thing. That said:

1. BYU Parachuter. You had ONE job.

2. Iowa game refs. Hawkeye scores 74 yd. TD, high stepping the final yards, as one does. And gets flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for doing so. TD negated. I weep for the state of rules and refereeing these days.