Some Days Chicken, Some Days Feathers

No chicken for us this past Saturday, just a mouthful of feathers, as we put up a losing weekend.  I hate to lose.  It just eats away at me, losing, especially when a couple or three games that I passed on turned out to be candy. 

The sweet spot for Saturday night came courtesy of PBS, which put up a John Fogerty Live Request show from 8 to 10.  While I watched USC put on a great display of "watch how we suck" on ESPN 360 (perhaps the greatest innovation of the 21st century), we all sat around and watched JF belt out song after song that had my 17 year old son wide eyed, repeatedly looking at me and saying "He did THAT one, too?"  John Fogerty is 64 years old, he's been recording since he was 14, and his list of hits is pretty astounding.  Here's one to soothe the pain that my lousy prognosticating has inflicted.

****USC -11 @ Arizona State LOSE
Final: USC 14, Arizona State 9
The analogy that I drew in handicapping this game was to liken USC to a junkyard dog with a bad attitude.  On Saturday night, the USC offense was more like a toothless lap dog.  They took only 3 offensive snaps in the AZ State side of the field all game.  Three plays on offense beyond the 50 yard line!  AZ State isn't a defensive juggernaut, USC is just a shitty offensive team all of a sudden.  USC held a 14-3 lead into the 4th quarter, gave up a TD pass and then blocked the PAT.  I'm sitting there thinking that USC scores and we're up by 12, get a nice little cover and take our money, but nooooooo, these guys looked like an old Mack Sennet comedy on offense, including an interception that had 4 or 5 different players put hands (and feet) on the ball before AZ State finally ended up with the ball at the USC 30.  So USC wins the game straight up, blows the cover, and we get stiffed on the 4 star bet.  Damn!  Double damn! AZ State had a shot to win at the end but they couldn't put anything together. 
***TCU -24 1/2 @ SanDiego State WINNER
Final: 55-12 for the Mean Looking Guys...and us!
Mean looking amphibian, the Horned Frog, and moving up in the BCS rankings.  We got on board at the right time with these guys as they pounded the home team.  Thank heaven we got one right.
**Oregon -5 1/2 @ Stanford  LOSE
Final: 51-42
"They make their living at Stanford by doing things people don't expect." The Cardinal did this in a most convincing fashion, kickin' Duck-butt at the line of scrimmage.  Stanford's O-line just pounded the snot out of Oregon all day long, doing it so well that Stanford's halfback, Toby Gerhart, passed the 200 yard rushing mark just after the start of the 4th quarter.  Oregon charged back hard in the 4th quarter, but they'd given up much too great a lead.  If I had guaranteed they'd score 93 points in this game, who'd have thought Stanford would put up 51 of 'em?  This will cost Oregon in the rankings, and it serves 'em right for costing us money.
*Wake Forest @ Georgia Tech -15 LOSE
Final: GT 30-27 in OT
La Cubanina sent us a caution about this one.  Alas, it was too late.  We stayed with GT too long, and the oddsmakers reeled us in.  15 was too much. This was another game where I wished that my pick would get beaten straight up when they blew the cover.  I am quite vindictive when wagering is concerned.

The football happiness of the day came when my Northwestern Wildcats knocked off Iowa, 17-10, in Iowa City.  The win made NU bowl eligible, and knocked  Iowa out of the ranks of the unbeaten.  Unfortunately, Iowa's QB sustained a severe ankle sprain that's apparently going to sideline him for the last two games of the season.  There was another smiler Saturday, as Navy made some really big plays and beat Notre Dame again, probably a KO for the Charlie Weis regime.  Anchors aweigh, Week 11 coming up on Thursday and we'll get back on track.