RC Index Week 12

Another Saturday, another upset...or two. Unfortunately for Oregon & Oklahoma, they got bit by the injury bug at the worst possible position at the worst possible time. Here's hoping that Dennis Dixon and Sam Bradford get well soon.

Here are my Week 12 rankings.

	RC1						RC2						BCS
1	LSU	10	1	0.915		1	LSU	10	1	0.927		1	LSU	0.9904
2	Kansas	11	0	0.906		2	Kansas	11	0	0.901		2	Kansas	0.9488
3	Missouri	10	1	0.902		3	WVU	9	1	0.895		3	WVU	0.8878
4	Ohio State	11	1	0.892		3	Missouri	10	1	0.895		4	Missouri	0.8707
5	WVU	9	1	0.885		5	Ohio State	11	1	0.886		5	Ohio State	0.8602
6	Georgia	9	2	0.882		6	Arizona St.	9	1	0.876		6	Arizona St.	0.8019
7	Arizona St.	9	1	0.866		7	Georgia	9	2	0.874		7	Georgia	0.7438
8	Va Tech	9	2	0.859		8	Florida	8	3	0.864		8	Va Tech	0.6796
9	Connecticut	9	2	0.854		9	Oregon	8	2	0.853		9	Oregon	0.6267
10	Florida	8	3	0.852		10	Va Tech	9	2	0.851		10	Oklahoma	0.5816
11	BC	9	2	0.843		11	Texas	9	2	0.848		11	USC	0.5672
12	Oregon	8	2	0.842		12	Oklahoma	9	2	0.842		12	Florida	0.5432
13	Hawaii	10	0	0.839		13	Tennessee	8	3	0.839		13	Texas	0.5137
14	Texas	9	2	0.837		14	Virginia	9	2	0.837		14	BC	0.4848
15	Illinois	9	3	0.835		15	BC	9	2	0.835		15	Hawaii	0.4249
16	Oklahoma	9	2	0.832		16	Connecticut	9	2	0.830		16	Virginia	0.4246
17	Tennessee	8	3	0.827		16	Illinois	9	3	0.827		17	Illinois	0.3208
18	Virginia	9	2	0.826		18	Hawaii	10	0	0.821		18	Tennessee	0.3135
18	USF	8	3	0.824		19	USF	8	3	0.816		19	Boise	0.2818
20	Boise	10	1	0.812		20	USC	8	2	0.813		20	Connecticut	0.2520
21	Cincinnati	8	3	0.811		21	Boise	10	1	0.806		21	Wisconsin	0.1893
22	Wisconsin	9	3	0.805		22	Cincinnati	8	3	0.804		22	Clemson	0.1667
22	Clemson	8	3	0.804		23	Wisconsin	9	3	0.799		23	USF	0.1232
24	USC	8	2	0.803		24	Clemson	8	3	0.796		24	Cincinnati	0.0983
24	BYU	8	2	0.803		25	BYU	8	2	0.795		25	BYU	0.0856

RC Index 2 keeps looking better than RC1 when comparing to the BCS index. It's got the top 7 all the same. Both indeces have the exact same 25 as the BCS does, which is encouraging.

Sure, USC lags behind in my rankings, but if you look at the teams ahead of them in RC2, they wouldn't beat but maybe two teams. However, if you look at the BCS standings, they would probably lose to five squads behind them. So let's split the difference and call 'em 15.

This week's big showdown is for the Big XII North championship and the rite to play Texas or OU in the title game, with a chance to move on to the BCS Championship. I'll pick KU in shootout, 49-45.

Piling On

Everyone knows that Notre Dame is having a historically bad season, capped off by the triple-overtime loss to Navy, ending an NCAA-record 43-game winning streak.

Enjoy this clip. My favorite part is BC.

RC Index Week 11

Another one bites the dust. Ohio State either got caught looking ahead to Michigan or got exposed as a soft-schedule champ. Either way, that cleared the way for pandemonium. The BCS is going to hit TILT this year again, but it will at least give teams a chance to play each other for the championship. Traditional bowl alliances would have LSU playing Kansas and Ohio State playing Oregon. So maybe that's not so bad right now, but let's let the season play out.

	RC1						RC2						BCS
1	LSU	9	1	0.913		1	LSU	9	1	0.920		1	LSU	0.9802
2	Kansas	10	0	0.911		2	Kansas	10	0	0.903		2	Oregon	0.9383
3	Missouri	9	1	0.900		3	WVU	8	1	0.894		3	Kansas	0.9094
4	Ohio State	10	1	0.897		4	Oregon	8	1	0.892		4	Oklahoma	0.8540
5	WVU	8	1	0.886		5	Missouri	9	1	0.889		5	Missouri	0.8096
6	Oregon	8	1	0.884		6	Ohio State	10	1	0.887		6	WVU	0.7863
7	Georgia	8	2	0.877		7	Oklahoma	9	1	0.877		7	Ohio State	0.7744
8	Oklahoma	9	1	0.870		8	Arizona St.	9	1	0.876		8	Arizona St.	0.7500
9	Arizona St.	9	1	0.869		9	Georgia	8	2	0.865		9	Georgia	0.6724
10	Va. Tech	8	2	0.854		10	Florida	7	3	0.850		10	Va. Tech	0.6133
11	Connecticut	8	2	0.853		11	Texas	9	2	0.845		11	USC	0.5267
12	Cincinnati	8	2	0.849		12	Va. Tech	8	2	0.842		12	Florida	0.5047
13	Florida	7	3	0.842		13	Virginia	9	2	0.841		13	Texas	0.4660
14	Clemson	8	2	0.841		14	Cincinnati	8	2	0.839		14	Virginia	0.4074
15	Texas	9	2	0.838		15	Clemson	8	2	0.830		15	Clemson	0.3924
16	BC	8	2	0.836		16	BC	8	2	0.825		16	Hawaii	0.3858
17	Kentucky	7	3	0.835		16	Connecticut	8	2	0.825		17	BC	0.3627
18	Virginia	9	2	0.834		18	Tennessee	7	3	0.824		18	Boise State	0.2621
18	Hawaii	9	0	0.834		19	Kentucky	7	3	0.822		19	Illinois	0.2447
20	Illinois	8	3	0.830		20	Illinois	8	3	0.819		20	Tennessee	0.2393
21	Michigan	8	3	0.822		21	Hawaii	9	0	0.814		21	Michigan	0.4866
22	USF	7	3	0.819		22	Michigan	8	3	0.811		22	Cincinnati	0.1840
22	Tennessee	7	3	0.816		23	Penn State	8	3	0.810		23	Kentucky	0.1735
24	Penn State	8	3	0.803		24	USC	8	2	0.808		24	Connecticut	0.1480
25	Wisconsin	8	3	0.802		25	USF	7	3	0.807		25	Wisconsin	0.1203
25	Boise State	9	1	0.802

Some things to note. The Big XII ain't lookin' so bad these days with three of the Top 5 and Texas at #13. USC is vastly overrated according to both my indeces (#27 in RC1 at 0.801). I think Georgia would give LSU it's money's worth and more if they would meet in the SEC Championship Game. Unfortunately, their destiny isn't in their own hands. They need Tennessee to lose at home to Vandy or at Kentucky for that to happen, and that doesn't see likely.

Kansas isn't too far behind Oregon and should get an enormous boost of schedule strength and hopefully at least a few poll votes should they beat Missouri & Oklahoma to finish the season. Iowa State has come on the second half of the season, so they won't hurt as much. Oregon faces Arizona, UCLA and Oregon State to finish the season; not exactly a murderer's row. It will all come down to who has the more impressive victories. I think if Kansas gets by Oklahoma in the Big XII title game they should be in the BCS Championship Game no matter what. I don't think an undefeated team from a major conference would get left out. The voters would never allow . At least I hope not.

How 'bout UT possibly finishing 10-2 this year? Not bad for a rebuilding year. And quite a bit better than the rebuilding year the "Fighting" Irish are having. They are #111 out of 120 in both my ratings. Good thing they got rid of Tyrone Willingham!

This is DQ Country

Unfortunately, it's more Drama and less Dairy.

Last night M was unhappy that she wasn't able to watch the Veggie Tales video that they got from the library. When we got home, she was given the option of going across the street to say high to Mrs. Renee or to watch her video. She chose not to watch the video, so, when we got back inside and dinner was ready, she was rather upset that she couldn't watch it. Maybe "rather upset" is an understatement. She threw her first tantrum in I don't know how long. I mean full-on flailing and screaming. After a failed attempt at going to the bathroom she kept up with it and I put her in her room to just chill out. She kept wailing and said she needed to go. I hustled toward her room. I opened her door to see her peeing through her clothes. Fun times all around.

Also, S has been showing her true colors lately. She's our little diva when she's tired. If you take something away from her she arches her back throws herself toward the ground and it sounds as if someone is literally hurting her. It's that dramatic. It's hard not to laugh when it happens because it's so absurd.

There's so much drama in the C fam'ly...Drama was the case, and they blamed me.


P.S. Brent Musberger just gave us this gem: "It certainly probably means that..." Thanks for that bit of info Brent.

Positive Father Role Models

In most media, fathers aren't portrayed in a very positive light. The Cosby Show was one of the few that did. And it was even better that his skin color was not white; incidentally, it remains the same till this day.

This particular rant has been brought about from reading the vast array of children's books that we have for the girls. M is very into the Berenstain Bears books right now. I loved those growing up. But as a dad, they leave something to be desired. In most, Papa Bear is a bumbling idiot at best and a very negative figure at worst. Papa's parenting style is "they're only kids once" and he basically leaves all discipline and parenting to Mama Bear, undermining her attempts often.

Do these books teach good lessons about manners, the gimmes, school, etc? That's a resounding Yes. However, they fail to present a cohesive parental unit that seek to guide their children to maturity. Sure, Mama gets the job done in the end, but it's often in spite of Papa and his meddling. I know it is hard to keep a united front for your children, especially when Dad gets home from work and doesn't know the circumstances or the new rules that got put in place that day. M has already started the thing where mommy said no, so let's go ask daddy, and vice-versa. Thankfully, we're both pretty good at steering her back to the answer from the original parent. We say that daddy's answer is the same as mommy's.

So fathers, let's show our ladies and our kids what a real dad and a real husband look like. If we are mature in Christ, then we can help combat the nonreality that the media present.

RC Index Week 10

I was puzzled this week when I did my rankings, wondering why so many SEC teams were at the top. I took a look at my formula and noticed I forgot to use the $ to lock the cells before I copied and pasted. Now, it makes much more sense to me. Also, I've stopped doing my human filter of all unbeatens are on top. You're welcome. Also of note is that the only factor used in my formulae are Wins and Losses.

All season long I have been doing two separate formulas, but only posting one. So, from here on out, I'll post both indeces alongside the BCS Index for comparison. For the complete BCS standings, go here.

	RC1						RC2						BCS
1	Ohio State	10	0	0.937		1	Ohio State	10	0	0.928		1	Ohio State
2	Kansas	9	0	0.911		2	LSU	8	1	0.915		2	LSU
3	LSU	8	1	0.908		3	Kansas	9	0	0.903		3	Oregon
4	Missouri	8	1	0.895		4	Oregon	8	1	0.896		4	Kansas
5	Connecticut	8	1	0.889		5	Missouri	8	1	0.884		5	Oklahoma
6	Oregon	8	1	0.888		6	WVU	7	1	0.881		6	Missouri
7	BC	8	1	0.876		7	Oklahoma	8	1	0.875		7	WVU
8	WVU	7	1	0.873		8	BC	8	1	0.866		8	BC
9	Oklahoma	8	1	0.868		9	Arizona St.	8	1	0.865		9	Arizona St.
10	Georgia	7	2	0.866		10	Connecticut	8	1	0.861		10	Georgia
11	Arizona St.	8	1	0.858		11	Georgia	7	2	0.854		11	Va. Tech
12	Michigan	8	2	0.855		12	Michigan	8	2	0.844		12	Michigan
13	Va. Tech	7	2	0.848		13	Texas	8	2	0.837		13	Connecticut
14	Hawaii	8	0	0.835		14	Va. Tech	7	2	0.836		14	Texas
15	Auburn	7	3	0.831		15	Virginia	8	2	0.835		15	Florida
16	Texas	8	2	0.830		16	Florida	6	3	0.833		16	Hawaii
17	Cincinnati	7	2	0.829		17	Cincinnati	7	2	0.819		17	USC
18	Virginia	8	2	0.827		17	Auburn	7	3	0.819		18	Auburn
19	Clemson	7	2	0.826		19	Clemson	7	2	0.816		19	Virginia
20	Florida	6	3	0.825		20	Hawaii	8	0	0.815		20	Boise State
21	Alabama	6	3	0.817		21	Tennessee	6	3	0.810		21	Clemson
22	Kentucky	6	3	0.816		22	Alabama	6	3	0.805		22	Alabama
22	Illinois	7	3	0.816		23	Kentucky	6	3	0.804		23	Penn State
24	Tennessee	6	3	0.802		23	Illinois	7	3	0.804		24	Tennessee
25	Boise State	8	1	0.800		25	Penn State	7	3	0.799		25	Kentucky

Not too bad as far as things go. I don't have Penn State, Boise State or USC in both rankings, but they aren't too far away: PSU & USC are 28 & 29 in RC1 and USC & Boise State are 26 & 27 in RC2. If you've seen USC play, I don't think you'd argue. In place of these teams are Cincinatti and Illinois, two pretty good football clubs.

So, for the remainder of the regular season I'll post in this format.

Have a great week.

R

Rumblin', Bumblin', Stumblin'

As a Texas alumnus, I follow the Detroit Lions a little bit closer since they have several former players on their roster (Roy Williams, Corey Redding, Shaun Rogers).

The ladies and I were visiting the Y family down in South Austin last night and during halftime of that game they were showing highlights of the early game action.

Go to this link and scroll to the 2:49 mark. Go here for the head-on view and the CBS commentary (it's a little grainy). Now, Shaun Rogers is listed at 340, but that was during his lean, mean days of training camp. He intercepts the pass, which is a feat in itself, and then lets his blockers clean up the would-be tacklers behind him. Well, Texas Ex Selvin Young eludes those gents and catches up to Rogers. Either he took a look at the Jumbotron or the fans were pointing behind him, but he turns and sees Selvin coming in for the tackle. In an awesome turn of events, Rogers puts a SICK stiff-arm on Young and throws him to the turf. He then goes for the Superman, but he realizes he hasn't planned that far in advance as to practice this move and sticks his leg out to prevent a belly-flop, nearly shattering his right leg in the process. You'll need to watch it a few times for the full effect. Just priceless.

Thanks for the memories Shaun. If I need a pick-me-up, I'll come runnin' to you.

Flattery Will Get You Nowhere With Me

Yesterday afternoon while the girls were sleeping, C and I were just chillin'. The doorbell rang. We weren't expecting anyone. I looked through the peephole and didn't recognize the man standing in our entry.

I opened the door and he told me that he was so-and-so who holds a current post in Williamson County and would like to get on the ballot for the next election.

He then proceeded to ask me if my parents were home. I informed him that I, in fact, am the homeowner. He apologized and said that I'll be thankful for my youthful look later in life.

I mean, I know I look several years younger than I am, especially freshly shaven, but that's ridiculous. C said next time I should say "I am the parent," but I wasn't that quick on my feet.

Needless to say we got a pretty good laugh out of that one.

Bible Quandary

I'm reading through the Reese Chronological Bible right now and I've moved into the New Testament. As I was reading in John 2, I noticed something that caught my eye.

It's the old water-into-wine miracle, but actually reading it brought something new to me. Let's pick it up in verse three.

3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4 "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"...8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

My question lies in between verses 4 and 7. Jesus told Mary that it wasn't his time in verse 4, but three verses later he was performing the miracle. You'll notice that Mary never gives Jesus a command to obey. She makes a statement about there being no more wine, obviously implying that He needs to do something. Then she instructs the servants to do what He tells them to do.

Since Jesus could not sin and go against His Father's will, I can only assume that the Father gave Him permission during this time. Jesus couldn't do this to placate His mother, because that would be a wrong motive; He obviously even then would have wanted His mother to be brought to full maturity, and giving her what she wanted wouldn't achieve that objective.

I guess a clue may lie in verse 11b: "He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." Maybe He knew what was coming afterward when He cleared the temple. Putting myself in their shoes, I wouldn't want the religious leaders ticked at me, which, by identifying themselves as His disciples, could only bring about the same ridicule that He endured. So possibly they needed this event to not only put their faith in Him, but to steel them for the persecution to follow.

Since He came to save that which was lost, the Father probably wanted the servants to see it, too. The servants should have been Gentiles, since it was not right for Jews to hold their brothers in slavery. Those servants most assuredly would've told their families about this miracle and his renown would've spread through their communities as well.

Also, since Jesus is the bridegroom, it would be appropriate for Him to show Himself at a wedding. The master noted that while most people serve the cheap wine after people are drunk, this wine tasted better. Is this a metaphor for the Messiah being better than the Law & Prophets? Because the Law was good since it pointed to the Christ, but He came to fulfill the Law.

This passage has been ruminating in my head the past four days. There are so many different things that could be going on in just these eleven verses. Am I over-thinking it? If you have thoughts, please feel free to leave me a comment and we can discuss.

Thanks,

R

RC Index Week 9

Sorry for missing Week 8. We went on a camping trip and I was waaaaaay too busy at work to bother with my rankings. Here's what I've got this week:

1	Ohio State	9	0	1.000	0.906
2	Boston College	8	0	1.000	0.896
3	Arizona State	8	0	1.000	0.889
4	Kansas	8	0	1.000	0.870
5	Hawaii	8	0	1.000	0.832
6	LSU	7	1	0.875	0.937
7	Oregon	7	1	0.875	0.904
8	West Virginia	7	1	0.875	0.898
9	Missouri	7	1	0.875	0.884
10	Oklahoma	7	1	0.875	0.876
11	Boise State	7	1	0.875	0.860
12	Connecticut	7	1	0.875	0.859
13	Georgia	6	2	0.750	0.918
14	Alabama	6	2	0.750	0.904
15	Michigan	7	2	0.778	0.880
16	South Florida	6	2	0.750	0.871
17	Virginia Tech	6	2	0.750	0.865
18	Virginia	7	2	0.778	0.856
19	Wake Forest	6	2	0.750	0.850
20	Clemson	6	2	0.750	0.850
21	Purdue	7	2	0.778	0.848
22	Texas	6	2	0.750	0.845
23	Cincinnati	6	2	0.750	0.844
24	Wisconsin	7	2	0.778	0.833
25	USC	6	2	0.750	0.813

Only five unbeatens remaining as we head into this week's action. Last week didn't see much movement in the AP Top 10 since each team except Va Tech either won or had a bye. Let's run down the Top 5.

1. Ohio State
This team gets the job done. It's not flashy, but you don't need that with a stout defense.
Possible losses are Michigan and BCS Bowl.

2. Boston College
Granted, that was an ugly game. But they were at Lane Stadium on a wet turf that gave the advantage to Va Tech for three quarters. But Heismans find a way to win, and that's just what Matt Ryan did with those two 2-minute drills in the last five minutes.
Possible losses are at Clemson, ACC Championship Game and BCS Bowl.

3. Arizona State
Every year you get one of those plucky teams that found a rhythm, strung together a few W's and all the sudden they think they can play with any team. ASU showed some grit in handing the Fighting Jeff Tedfords their third straight L. They obviously know how to come from behind. Let's see how well they do that this weekend against Oregon at Autzen Stadium. And you thought the Cal & USC games were loud.
Possible losses are Oregon, USC, BCS Bowl.

4. Kansas
The Manginos are doing it with D this year. Sure, the offense ain't too shabby, but it's that run D that's putting this team in position to win.
Possible losses are Mizzou, Big XII Title Game & BCS Bowl.

5. Hawaii
Colt Brennan can't stop throwing interceptions. That's gonna bite them sometime this year. They're on the verge of being in that sacred BCS Top 12, but they'll get easily leap-frogged by the teams behind them if they win an ugly game or two.
Possible losses are Fresno, Boise, Washington & Hawaii Bowl.

Jesse Jackson Hall of Fame

The Class of 2007 proudly presents our newest member, C. Vivian Stringer.
Giving her introduction is co-founder and curator Reverend Al Sharpton.

Sensing her 15 minutes was almost up, Ms. Stringer took it upon herself to chastise Isiah Thomas for his deposition in his nasty suit brought on by Ms. Anucha Browne Sanders in the media. Of course, Thomas flagged Ms. Stringer 15 yards for piling on by firing back at her. So she issued an apology.

Memo to Ms. Stringer: be quiet and focus on basketball. Your integrity was lost when you used Don Imus' racial epithet to put yourself in the national spotlight instead of letting your women's program do the talking. Even one of your players got lawsuit happy and finally, smartly, dropped her suit, which should not have been filed in the first place.

Life as we knew it...

...has ceased to exist.

S has learned to crawl in the last two weeks and, according to C, is getting quite fast. At first it was the cute giant motion of bring the hand up over her head and then slamming back down to the ground. She scooches pretty quick-like nowadays.

As you can imagine, M is rather non-plussed about this development. She still thinks that, even if she's not playing with something at that instant, it is still hers and it is in fact her turn. Since S can now crawl to the things she's used to leaving strewn about our floors, M has been very quick to say, or rather, shout, "No S! That's miiiiine," grabbing it out of S's little hands, which then leads to her crying and M getting a time-out. This happened quite a bit this past weekend as I was taking care of them while C was at a baby shower.

So that's what's going on around our house.

That and the gorgeous weather our Creator has blessed us with these past few weeks.

Sex in Middle School

We all know it happens. It's rather unfortunate that preteens are doing it and other things close to it.

Now comes this story about the Portland (Maine) ISD, which is offering the pill and the patch to their middle school students. The Portland School Committee voted 7-2 for the proposal. They've apparently been offering condoms since 2000. For both, of course, there is a parental consent form that needs to be signed. But let's be honest, if a kid wants something bad enough, they'll do whatever it takes to get it. Take me for instance. In middle school we had to keep a practice log in sixth grade to ensure that we practiced between 30-45 minutes each night. I hated practice then. I still hate it. So what did I do? I learned to forge my mom's signature on the practice log. Sorry mom. And you can guess how many times I got caught. Zero.

This continues a long trend of local, state and federal governments taking the decision away from the parents. Parents need to be able to teach their kids about the birds and the bees by themselves. Since the school board has taken these two steps to undermine parental authority. I doubt all parents want this option available to their preteens. "Chairman John Coyne voted against it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental responsibility."

"A supporter, Richard Verrier, said it’s not enough to depend on parents to protect their children because there may be students who can’t discuss things with their parents." Why can't they discuss things with their parents? I recognize that there are homes in America where this is a taboo subject at best, with physical, emotional or sexual abuse being the worst case. That's why churches exist. That's why there are next-door neighbors to talk to.

An opponent of this decision said that it was against religion, against God. There is some truth in that opinion, but the Name has been invoked too often to have that much sway on things these days. People claim to be Christians and don't live a life worthy of that label. I know I fail to do so at times. The fact is that this decision will allow the opportunity for young people to make mistakes they wouldn't be able to make if it weren't for this free birth control. The question, though, is where the funding is coming from. Is it coming from the parents who've signed a consent form? Or is it coming from the Maine taxpayers? I know I would be against having to pay for some kid to fornicate without consequences. That's what this is really about. No immediate consequences--pregnancy--for playing the harlot. That's just what these young kids need, isn't it? To be told that they don't have to take responsibility for their actions. I fear for this generation.

My Gals

Lately when I've been reading to M, she'll sit in my lap and hold my arms as I hold the book.

Me and S has some good snuggle time this morning. Near the tail end we just stared into each others' eyes.

S is starting to learn how to crawl. She isn't there yet, but she's making progress. She does a bridge and flops her knees forward, inching along.

S is also into biting my nose. I'll sit on the couch and she'll stand in my lap and try to gnaw my nose off. I can remember M doing that when she was little.

M likes to kick all of her shoes off lately. Tonight she accidentally kicked me and said "Sorry Daddy. I didn't mean to bump you."

M is the singin'est thing lately. It was my birthday last Wednesday, and the week before and all the rest of this week she's been singing Happy Birthday to me. C got it on the camera. She blew her party kazoo thing all by herself.



Thanks for the memories little ladies.

RC Index Week 7

Another crazy week in college football. No unbeaten is safe. We lost five from last week: LSU, Cal, Mizzou, Cincy & UConn. The last three weren't unexpected, but LSU faced a very talented Kentucky squad and Cal just had a HUGE letdown, maybe looking forward to ASU.

Illinois, Wisconsin & Florida State were the other Top 25 teams that lost this week, with USC barely escaping against a severely underachieving Arizona team.

Here's what my computer says after the carnage of Week 7.

1	Ohio State	7	0	0.921
2	South Florida	6	0	0.917
3	Arizona State	7	0	0.890
4	Kansas	6	0	0.879
5	Boston College	7	0	0.871
6	Hawaii	7	0	0.838
7	LSU	6	1	0.951
8	Kentucky	6	1	0.919
9	Missouri	5	1	0.907
10	South Carolina	6	1	0.899
11	West Virginia	5	1	0.895
12	Oklahoma	6	1	0.885
13	Oregon	5	1	0.883
14	Indiana	5	1	0.877
15	Virginia Tech	6	1	0.870
16	Cincinnati	6	1	0.863
17	Texas Tech	6	1	0.861
18	Connecticut	5	1	0.856
19	Boise State	4	1	0.852
20	Virginia	6	1	0.842
21	California	5	1	0.840
22	USC	5	1	0.834
23	Auburn	5	2	0.929
24	Florida	4	2	0.917
25	Georgia	5	2	0.914

Can you believe that Ohio State is back in the national title picture? Whither USF? The Bulls are making a strong case for the Big East. It's a good thing that BC won. The ACC hasn't finished very well in the BCS standings and could see it's auto bid taken away if the highest ranking member averages lower than 13th.

It'll be interesting to see what the polls and BCS rankings look like.

RC Index Week 6

Here is a quick hit of the rankings. I'll update the post later when I have time.

1	LSU	6	0	0.968
2	Missouri	5	0	0.954
3	South Florida	5	0	0.931
4	Ohio State	6	0	0.921
5	Arizona State	6	0	0.914
6	Connecticut	5	0	0.903
7	Cincinnati	6	0	0.898
8	Kansas	5	0	0.892
9	California	6	0	0.879
10	Boston College	6	0	0.866
11	Hawaii	6	0	0.841
12	Texas A&M	5	1	0.929
13	Kentucky	5	1	0.914
14	West Virginia	5	1	0.900
15	South Carolina	5	1	0.898
16	Oregon	5	1	0.885
17	Illinois	5	1	0.884
18	Oklahoma	5	1	0.881
19	Texas Tech	5	1	0.872
20	Indiana	5	1	0.861
21	Virginia Tech	5	1	0.853
21	Wisconsin	5	1	0.853
23	Purdue	5	1	0.846
24	Virginia	5	1	0.830
25	Boise State	4	1	0.853
25	Florida State	4	1	0.853

So we're down to only 11 unbeatens, and many teams still have 7 games to go. Four of the remaining unbeatens will not stay unbeaten with the Big East losing two and the Big XII and the Pac-10 losing one each. That leaves seven teams with seven games to prove their worth.

Let's take a look at each team and where their losses might come from, with the opponent's rankings courtesy of the AP poll.

1. LSU
Sked: @ #17 Kentucky, #22 Auburn, @ 'Bama, La Tech, @ Ole Miss, Arkansas
Potential loss(es): Rematch w/ Florida in SEC title game

2. Missouri
Sked: @ #6 Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Iowa St, @ Colorado, A&M, K-State, @ #20 Kansas
Potential loss(es): Oklahoma, Kansas, Big XII title game

3. USF
Sked: Central Florida, @ Rutgers, @ UConn, #15 Cincy, @ Syracuse, Louisville, Pitt
Potential loss(es): Rutgers, UConn, Cincy

4. Ohio State
Sked: Kent St, Michigan St, @ Penn St, #19 Wisconsin, #18 Illinois, @ Michigan
Potential loss(es): Illinois (they actually have an offense), Michigan

5. Arizona State
Sked: Washington, #2 Cal, @#9 Oregon, @ UCLA, USC, Arizona
Potential loss(es): Cal, Oregon, USC

6. Connecticut
Sked: @ Virginia, Louisville, #5 South Florida, Rutgers, @ #15 Cincy, Syracuse, @ #8 WVU
Potential loss(es): Virginia, USF, Rutgers, Cincy, WVU

7. Cincinnati
Sked: Louisville, @ Pitt, @ #5 South Florida, UConn, #8 West Virginia, @ Syracuse
Potential loss(es): USF, WVU

8. Kansas
Sked: Baylor, @ Colorado, @ A&M, Nebraska, @ Oklahoma St, Iowa St, #11 Missouri
Potential loss(es): A&M, Mizzou, Big XII Title game

9. California
Sked: Oregon St, @ UCLA, @ #14 Arizona St, Wash St, #10 USC, @Washington, @ Stanford
Potential loss(es): ASU, USC

10. Boston College
Sked: @ Notre Dame, @ #12 Va Tech, #21 Florida St, @ Maryland, @ Clemson, Miami
Potential loss(es): Va Tech, Clemson (the annual Save-Tommy-Bowden game)

11. Hawaii
Sked: @ SJSU, NMSU, Fresno St, @ Nevada, Boise St, Washington
Potential loss(es): Fresno St, Boise St, Washington

So, upon further review, it looks like it's a three-team race between LSU, OSU & Cal.

An Artist's Challenge

A while back I was flipping through the channels and wodered what was on PBS. It actually happened to be a biography on Ansel Adams. One of the things that struck me was how he talked about his father. He apparently was a very spirited child and was in and out of regular school. Here is an excerpt from his autobiography, the paragraph that ends the chapter on his childhood.

"I often wonder at the strength and courage my father had in taking me out of the traditional school situation and providing me with these extraordinary learning experiences. I am certain he established the positive direction of my life that otherwise, given my native hyperactivity, could have been confused and catastrophic. I trace who I am and the direction of my development to those years of growing up in our house on the dunes, propelled especially by an internal spark tenderly kept alive and glowing by my father."

The book is a great read and his sense of humor mirrors mine quite well. But this is the thing that hit me the hardest, both listening to it on TV and reading it from his book. If you know our family, you know that, like Ansel, M is a very active child. We understand that a lot of her behavior is due to the fact that she's 2-and-a-half years old, but she has been an extremely energetic, physical girl from the outset.

To me, the challenge is to find what purpose God made her for and how He has gifted her and to nurture whatever that may be and give her the outlets for her seemingly boundless energy. I need to be open to answers that God lays before me and not quash her spirit just because it's something that I simply don't like. If that's the case, I pray that I would come to like and enjoy those things. And if I'm reluctant because the price is "too much", then I need to trust that God will provide the means for those things, because it is in His will for her to do it.

Texas - OU

We're having a shindig at our place tomorrow with most of my Bible study guys from college.

Our fearless leader Tap sent an email today asking for our predictions, so I figured I need to weigh in on what I think will happen in the game.

Texas
1. Turnovers by game: 2 INT, 2 INT (1 Ret TD), 1 INT & 2 FUM, 1 FUM, 4 INT (1 Ret TD)
2. Special Teams: PK is good. Punter avg 38.1. Return teams burnt twice by K-State.
3. Defense: Not too shabby. Only gave up 20 points to K-State, which would've won us the game. Shown susceptibility to run.
4. Offense: Still in a funk. Average per carry is only 4.6. Yard per pass attempt a paltry 6.74. 44.2% on third down ain't bad. McCoy 8 TDs, 9INTs.
5. Coaching: Still Mack & Greg.

Oklahoma
1. Turnovers by game: 2 FUM, 2 FUM, 1 FUM & 1 INT, 1 INT, 1 FUM & 2 INT
2. Special Teams: Garrett Hartley is still in college? He's good. Punter avg 41.6. No return TDs.
3. Defense: Gives up 8 fewer ppg. 9 INTs in 5 games. Gives us 1.9 ypc.
4. Offense: Avg per carry is 5.6. Yard per attempt is 10.25. 45.6% on third. Bradford 15 TDs, 4 INTs.
5. Coaching: Bob Stoops

What to Expect:
1. Texas throws 2 INTs, OU gives up a FUM and an INT.
2. Texas loses 5-10 yards per posession exchange and will give up at least one return to midfield. Both PK miss a figgie, and perhaps Hartley shanks a PAT.
3. Texas gets burned by a reverse pass by Manuel Johnson. OU holds Jammal Charles in check.
4. OU pounds the rock to set up play-action game, with the 1-2 punch of Patrick & Murray combines for 175 yards rushing. Texas marches down the field on its first possession, then hits the skids after.
5. One or more Texas players arrested/disciplined for puffing the magic dragon tonight.

I think the game ends up with OU winning 31-21. I hope that doesn't happen, but anything can happen on "Gut Check Saturday" (thanks ESPN).

Dude...Sweet!

And on the Eighth Day, God created ESPN360.

C was out shopping tonight, and, after taking care of some chores, I was ready to check out the MLB playoff scores as well as seeing how Kentucky was doing against South Carolina.

Flashback to last Saturday when I was keeping updated on the scores during the day. I saw on some of the games that there was this ESPN360 icon on many of the games. I clicked on it and it said that AT&T is a carrier. All I had to do was download some plug-in and I'd be on my way to watching any of a dozen or more games. I didn't really feel like messing with it since there was more football to be watched on TV.

Fast forward to tonight and I'm kinda crushed when I don't see it on the UK-USC game. But upon further inspection, there was a link that told me that I could watch it live on 360. A click here, a restart there and boom, I'm watching ESPN Thursday night football on my computer.

C has a gals night next Thursday. You can guess what I'll be doing.

Mwah ha haaaaa

Adventures in Blood-Letting

During my last physical, the bloodwork came back with a high hematocrit, which was a repeat of the previous levels. My doc was only slightly concerned, but he wanted to make sure that there wasn't an underlying cause. He sent me to a blood specialist who wanted me to get a plasma volume/RBC mass screen.

Now, I've given blood many times before. In fact, in the last four months I've donated blood once and had blood drawn at least four other times, so it's no big deal.

Except today it was.

Luis had told me what the procedure was like and so he started taking 20cc of blood from my right arm. He did it from a different vein than normal, but I wasn't worried. And even when my lips got a little tingly, I still wasn't that worried. Just my spidey senses. But I started to feel light-headed and told him "I think I'm going to pass out." He called somebody in from the hallway and the next thing I know there's a nurse asking me how I feel and I'm looking up into a bright ceiling light.

She said I was out for two minutes. I mean OUT out. Gone. She said I wasn't even talking. I woke up in a sweat on a stretcher. Over the course of a minute I could feel my color returning and getting back to normal. Luis said this is fairly normal for guys. I got some yummy apple juice to spruce me back up.

They kept me on the stretcher until the procedure was finished. All the while I kept watching the clock.

10:45
11:00
11:20
Twenty-ish minutes to go.
11:35

Luis does the last thing he needs to do and asks me if I want some more juice. I say yes initially, but since it's 11:40, I tell him no on second thought.

He tells me he'll get a wheel-chair. I ask him if I can try to walk. With the okay, I swing my legs off the stretcher and onto the floor. Not too wobbly. I tell him I think I can walk and so we take off slowly around the corner and a few paces when he reaches for a chair. I tell him I'm fine. All I can think about is that I have a spades game at noon and I'm probably going to be late as it is. I don't need one of the volunteers (all those under 65 need not apply) to wheel me out to the car. He asks me where my car is parked. Near the South Entrance. He tells me that's a long way away. I know, but I'm fine. I'm screaming inside my head "I'VE GOT A SPADES GAME TO GET TO!!!"

I make it out fine and get to work at five after. D$ still hasn't made it yet.

So thankfully I was able to cram 8 hours of work into 5.5 hours.

I told my boss and mentioned that it was a little scary and that I need to get my will taken care of. He groused that he hadn't gotten his will taken care of either. He retold a story of his boss that dropped dead at 44 of a heart attack. He was on his way out to the car to meet his family that was already at their vacation destination. I made a pact with him that we'll get those things taken care of by the end of October.

If you haven't gotten your death stuff taken care of, there's no time like the present.

I'm just glad I didn't have to go the barbershop and let them use leeches. Can you believe they used to do that?