COVID EDITION
News flash: in case the headline didn’t give it away, I tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday afternoon. I’m feeling so sick that I was only able to watch parts of two games yesterday, and one of those was severely disappointing. So, we’re going to look at the most important scores (in my opinion), I’ll link you to a long read from NYT Magazine, and then I’m going back to bed.
There were still a number of routs in the top 25, but none upset me more than Notre Dame running all over Purdue, 66-7. After losing to Northern Illinois last week, I fully expected the game to at least be close. Nope, not at all. Notre Dame was on a mission to get their confidence back and that game should have done it very well. The question now is where Purdue goes from here. Normally, I might say that one loss on the season isn’t that bad, but holy hell, they didn’t even score a fucking field goal until the fourth quarter! Penalties and turnovers plagued the game as well. I went to bed at the half because I didn’t need the stress.
Does IU actually have a football team this year? It would certainly seem that way as they just stomped all over UCLA, 42-13. When the fuck was the last time IU football started the season 3-0? Is there even anyone alive who still remembers? The game wasn’t broadcast on anything that I could stream, but I may have to start looking around for sources if they’re going to make this season interesting.
Oklahoma teams continued to dominate. Oklahoma State stomped poor little Tulsa, 45-10. It’s almost unfair to put Tulsa up against a Division 1 school of any kind. I think I was in high school the last time they even came close to having a team that could keep up. OU gave Tulane a headache, 34-19. I doubt the win is going to give OU much of a boost in the polls, though. Tulane isn’t exactly a football powerhouse and with plenty of others in the top 25 racking up considerably higher scores, OU doesn’t come off looking like the strongest team in the conference.
The other game that surprised me was Georgia/Kentucky. Georgia won 13-12, but damn was that a nail-biter. The question being asked this morning is whether that was too lackluster of an effort on the Bulldogs’ part to keep them in the number 1 seat this week.
You know who’s going to expect to be number 1? Texas. It’s not so much that they stomped poor little UTSA 56-7, but the fact that they lost their starting quarterback and still won. How did that happen? It might be because coming off the bench was none other than Arch Manning. That’s right, there’s another Manning in the pipeline. Five of those touchdowns are his. Five. Coming in cold. We’ve seen this before as both of his uncles quickly ran through college and straight to the pros. Just go ahead and try to not confuse him with his grandfather.
Tennessee whomped Kent State, 71-0. This might be a good time to question why the Top 25 teams are still playing out-of-conference nobodies. First two weeks, I can understand. It can take a couple of weeks for a team to gel. Everyone should have their act together by now, though. I’m ready to see some real football with low scores and a lot of effort.
There should be a few good games next week. Tennessee gets OU and I’m not sure that the Sooners are ready to ride that train. Purdue is at Oregon State, so perhaps they can make a decent comeback. But Texas gets UL Monroe. WTF? They’ve proven they have the power, give them someone who can stand up to them! Utah comes to Stillwater to set up a 12vs13 matchup, but I’m not sure Utah has any clue what they’re getting themselves into. That Cowboy crowd can be rough. The Hoosiers get Charlotte in Bloomington and … am I wrong to be skeptical about IU going 4-0?
I’m seriously not sure if I’m going to be awake for any of the pro games this afternoon. There are some decent matchups, but I’m not feeling invested enough to sit here and cough up a lung for 2-3 hours.
If you’re looking for something to do until game time, though, consider this interview with Demi Moore. If you’re of an age where you remember her as a low-voiced sexy actress, this may make you uncomfortable. It’s a good read that’s well worth your time.
I’m done. That’s about all I can handle today. OJ is being delivered. I’m going back to bed or something.
Morning Update: 09/22/24
Saturdays should always be chill. I firmly believe this and do my best to put it into practice. After a long week of everyone being sick, I think we all just needed a chance to decompress from that stress. Tipper played online games with her friends. G hand-sewed a zippered pouch. That would have been stressful to me, but it was relaxing for him. I did a lot of sleeping, still. Sure, there was some football and I’ll get to that shortly, but my body just wouldn’t let me sit up too long at a time. I’m okay with that.
What I’m not okay with is 4 Killed in a Shooting Near the University of Alabama’s Birmingham Campus. Multiple shooters fired into a crowd. None of the shooters have been caught. This is just stupid. I’m not okay with the seeming fact that The presidential race has exposed a fault line over the deeply personal decision to become a mother. Candace Bergen, speaking at the Emmy Awards last week, reminded us of when former VP (and Indiana loser) Dan Quayle criticized her Murphy Brown character for choosing to raise a child as a single mother. We laughed at the ridiculousness of attacking a fictional character then. Republicans still think they have some right over women’s bodies, though, and we’re not laughing now. This needs to stop.
And how did this whole Diddy mess go unreported for so long? I do not support kink-shaming and I’m concerned that is what this trial is going to dissolve into. If it was coercive and nonconsensual, though, he deserves to have the book thrown at him. We need to stop giving celebrities a pass.
I don’t understand this stupid endurance race taking place at IMS today. Whyyyyyyyy? When I took the dogs out earlier, there was the smallest trickle of cars coming into the North 40. I’m fairly sure the East gate will not be open. And what happens if it’s still raining at the 11:30 start time? The way I’m looking at radar, rainfall could be a bit heavy at times. Are they actually going to run in that mess? For six hours?
Now, about those football games …
Even in week four of this NCAA season, there were still a number of blowouts. Texas crushed UL Monroe, 51-3, despite Arch Manning tossing a whale of an interception. Ohio State trounced Marshal 49-14. Penn State beat up Kent State, 56-0. And even Notre Dame crushed Miami (OH), 28-3. Conferences are too large now for any of the schools to still be playing meaningless non-conference games in week four. The NCAA needs to do a better job with the scheduling.
Speaking of non-conference games, who would have imagined that we’d be this far into the season and IU is still undefeated? The unranked Hoosiers downed Charlotte, 52-14. Either they’re playing some really bad teams and will get crushed in conference play, or they’re better than anyone realizes and need to be ranked. There are definitely some places open in the top 25 after this week’s games.
Some of this week’s losses hurt. Utah topped Oklahoma State in a tough one, 22-19. I didn’t get to watch that one because it wasn’t made available in our area, damnit. And I was asleep. The highlights are gut-wrenching, though. I did manage to watch the first half of Tennessee dominating OU, 25-15. There was a lot being made of this being Tennessee head coach Josh Hoeple’s return to his alma mater. He said it didn’t matter. His team said otherwise. OU never mounted a threatening offense and this may be the end of their top 25 run.
Purdue didn’t fare any better, losing to Oregon State, 21-38. Again, I could only watch the highlight reel, but Purdue seems to have lost its soul after that Notre Dame loss. I think the Boilermakers could be better than this, but they need to convince themselves that they can win.
The embarrassment of the week has to go to the student body at North Carolina. Little James Madison came in and just had their way with UNC in the first half. They scored 25 points in the first quarter and 28 in the second. What did the UNC student body do? They left the fucking game like the bunch of losers they are. When the second half started, the stadium was less than 30% full. The Tarheels came back and made a reasonable showing in the second half, though still losing, 50-70, but no one was there to see it. The UNC study body needs to be ashamed of itself. Talk about unsportsmanlike conduct! No one should accept any excuses for that type of behavior.
Today, we’ll attempt to watch as much of the Bears/Colts game as we can. Personally, as much as I’d like to see the Colts make a decent showing, I think this one goes to the Bears. Indy just doesn’t have their act together this year. Sure, they’re close, but they’re not going over .500 this season. Again. KC takes on Atlanta in a night game and so help me if KC doesn’t dominate this one from beginning to end, they need to be taken to the woodshed. We don’t need another last-minute win on a questionable call by the refs. There won’t be any three-peat if the Chiefs can’t beat the hapless Falcons.
The pets are telling me it’s time to go back to bed and they’re probably not wrong, especially if I’m going to be awake for the Colts game. The sun is shining for now, but the clouds to the West and North look pretty dark. I think I may go ahead and take a couple of Ibuprofen now, and try to get ahead of the arthritis pain.
Sigh. Why is Solaris on top of the fridge? Everyone else is asleep, but not this kitty. Is it going to be a zoomies day? We’ll find out.
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