Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

This gun defends the University of Tampa
against the 1st Baptist Church across Kennedy Avenue.
Really, it's a monument left from when Teddy Roosevelt
and his boys stayed at the Tampa Hotel planning the
war against Spain. They installed a cannon just in case
the Spaniards came sailing up the gulf and managed
to get past Fort DeSoto at the mouth of Tampa Bay.
The Tampa Hotel is now Plant Hall at UT, and the
University has a peace treaty with 1st Baptist Church.
Fort DeSoto is a museum with one of America's
Top 10 Beaches, which would have stalled the
advance of the Spaniards for quite a while.

Big weekend of football, and the books have tightened it up on us a little more.  TwoGun's latest analysis of faves/dogs and overs/unders shows that LVSM guys are keeping their drives right in the middle of the fairway.  To quote one of TwoGun's favorite philosophers, it's time to "cinch 'em up and hunker down".

BTW: click on the photos and they go BIG and look much nicer.


**** NORTHERN ILLINOIS -14 @ BUFFALO
Saturday  11:00 a.m., ESPN-GP or ESPN3
I went back and forth on this one.  Northern Illinois had a great game last week, beating Western Michigan 51-22,  while the Bulls of Buffalo were shutout 34-0 by Temple.  I'm hoping that NIU QB Tyler Harnish puts up another big game.

The facets of the base of the gun bear related
inscriptions.  This message of brotherhood and
patriotism seems to be a backhanded slap at the
northern brethren...but if you look outside, you
have to admit they scored with the truth.  The
cold, bleak truth.  Meh. There is a brain cramp
element to this, as "bleak" is teamed with "blue"
while "gray" is with "sunny south".  Despite that,
it was still 30 degrees warmer there than here
this morning.  Double meh.

***  MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE -6 @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Saturday 7:00 p.m. ESPN-GP or ESPN3
MTS is 1-4.  FAU is 0-6.  Hard to get excited about this, but TwoGun says we have a diamond in the rough; just need to select the less inept of the two.  Sorry, Coach Schnellenberger...looks like #7 this week.

The photo of this side is especially for Two Gun Pete,
who just loves history, particularly the quotable parts.
The full quote is "Remember the Maine, to hell with
Spain".  The Maine was a U.S.Navy ship that sank in
Havana harbor.  It might have been (a) a fire in the
ship's coal bunker (b) a clandestine action to force
the hand of the U.S.A. into war, or (c) an act of
espionage by the Spanish.  It was 1898, and there
was no Wolf Blitzer to pose the question, so we'll
"Remember the Maine, etc...."

** ARMY @ VANDERBILT -11

Saturday  6:00 ESPNU
Army experienced the zenith of its 2011 season when it pulled down Northwestern's knickers in front of everyone on the playground in Week 3.  Before and since, the Black Knights haven't been too exciting.  Vandy comes in at an unispiring 3-3, but excepting a thrashing at the hands of Alabama (not a unique experience for 'Bama opponents, Roll Tide) the Commodores haven't looked bad.  Home field Vandy should be just fine this week.



*  SMU +3 @ SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
Saturday 7:00 CBSSN
5-1 and 5-1 in what looks like a great match up.  This will be some good old boys out raising hell on Saturday night, and I think the visitors are gonna bring it.  They've won five in a row.  It won't be easy; SoMiss ripped apart Navy last week 63-35.

Now, hit the play button for this bit of musical history.