Cal, too

[lostinamerica]

NCAA YTD: 33-30 (+0.16*)


West Virginia(-11) over Pittsburgh (1*)

- - Previously high flying Pitt has yet to beat a team with a winning record this season. Rarely, if ever, has Wannstedt righted and rallied his charges in remotely similar circumstances during his career, as demonstrated (albeit on the road) two weeks ago, and played out again last week. Wearing probably the biggest bullseye on their chests since the opener against Notre Dame last year, his boys have nothing much to toot about going for them in this brawl . . . Nasty weather (now moving out of the forecast and leading to a faster track) some times narrows and other times cements the gap between teams, and tonight I expect I'll recognize the unhappy look on the home team's sideline.

- - LINK: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06316/737754-144.stm

- - West Virginia needed a pep talk before its last game, but coach Rich Rodriguez doesn't think he'll have to give one this time around . . . West Virginia (8-1, 3-1) was knocked out of the national title hunt with a 44-34 loss at then-No. 5 Louisville on Nov. 2. Rodriguez thought his team looked down during pregame warmups before its matchup against Cincinnati on Saturday and instructed his players to chest bump one another in the locker room before kickoff . . . Though the Mountaineers failed to score in the first quarter for the first time in 15 games, the strategy seemed to work as West Virginia walked away with a 42-24 win over the Bearcats . . . 'I told them to loosen up and put a smile on their faces ... and let them have some fun for crying out loud,' Rodriguez said . . . However, Rodriguez doesn't expect to have to pick his team up for Thursday's Backyard Brawl . . .'If you have to get guys' intensity level up for the Pitt game, they don't understand what Pitt and West Virginia football is about,' he said . . . 'Our goal after we lost to Louisville was to get back into the Big East race. That's our focus right now as we go forward,' Rodriguez told the team's official website.


GL

 

[lostinamerica]

Michigan(+7)(-115) over Ohio State (1*)

Michigan(-9') over Minnesota (1*)
. . . Always loaded but Schembechler-bound Michigan is the team that surprises me. The team started their campaign by doing things right but not doing too much while laying in ambush for Notre Dame, then an explosion of historic proportions, then not leaving any doubt against Wisconsin. I've seen more confidence, work-ethic and purpose in finishing plays and finishing games than I generally associate with Michigan, and plainly more than I expected to see coming into the season with Lloyd Carr in the crosshairs. Although there is always a good chance Carr will manage to bring matters to an abrupt halt, I can almost guarantee that getting the Jug back is one of the goals that structured a lengthy off season, and I don't think this is the week where Carr is seen holding the reigns too tight. Go Blue.
GL

- - Since then, Michigan has answered every test in the same vein. Last week, there was no question the Maize and Blue needed to turn it up a notch, and boom, on cue, it was there. This week, the agenda features a mobile quarterback and the sweater vest . . . A live dog is headed to Columbus.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/SPORTS06/611130431/1054/SPORTS
- - Reminds me a lot of Vince Young leading Texas through a long and grueling off season last year, when he kept reminding his mates, "What do you think they're doing in Columbus right now?"


GL

 

[lostinamerica]

Nov. 17, 2006

DETROIT -- Former Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler died Friday after collapsing at a taping of a television show, according to WXYZ-TV.
*************************

Bo's passing adds a sadness to what was meant to be a celebration of the greatest game in the sport's greatest rivalry . . . A troubling circumstance for capping as well, but FWIW, I think after the game plan has been polished is the time when an emotional lightning rod can be best absorbed as a team.




"When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing." ~ Bo Schembechler



"Momentum is the most important thing in football." ~ attributed to Bo Schembechler by Randy Walker (deceased Northwestern coach)



"A Michigan man is gonna' coach Michigan." ~ Bo Schembechler



As part of a "Michigan Hate Rally" in downtown Columbus on Friday night, a band named The Dead Schembechlers was scheduled to play. The punk band dresses up like Woody Hayes and sings song after song cursing Bo and the Wolverines.

Not on Friday. Calling Schembechler "OSU's most valiant foe," the band posted this tribute on its website:

"The band is crushed to learn of the death of Bo Schembechler. We named this band after Coach Schembechler to honor him as the face of Wolverine football. We have never wished ill will upon him in any way and have always wished him the best. When we learned that Bo had seen our web site and was amused by it we were delighted. We were simply delighted. He said to those with him as he read it, 'See, I still matter in Columbus!' That may have been the greatest understatement in football history. We believe that he took the band's name as the compliment that it was meant as and that he was flattered by it. We wish to extend our deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to his family. We are truly sorry for their loss."

Two days ago, Bo was asked about the band that bore his name.

"If they have that name 'Dead Schembechlers' and they're making money," he said, "God bless them."



Bo Schembechler on Woody Hayes:
"I played for Woody, I coached for him, I patterned my life after him, and I consider him a great friend of mine."

Woody Hayes on Bo Schembechler:
"I didn't like the son of a bitch when he played for me, I didn't like him when he worked for me, and I certainly don't like him now."



GL

 

[lostinamerica]

California(+6) over USC (1*)
- - Simply put, a moment that has been building for an entire season isn't an illusion because of two entirely foreseeable outcomes in the week preceding the only game that matters.

. . . California(-9) over Oregon State (1.5*)
- - After a humbling start, the pieces have plainly come together for Cal during the last three weeks. Venturing back on the road again, Tedford at this moment plainly has a thoroughbred under his saddle . . . Overmatched.

California(-5 & -5') over Oregon (1*)
- - Cal's swagger has always had some warts, mainly now with an underachieving but explosive defense. But I think tonight is their time.
GL

California(-8) over Washington State (1*)
- - After a humbling opener, Cal has been terrorizing opponents on both sides of the ball, including special teams, with weapons and matchup advantages to exploit in virtually every down and distance scenario during the course of the game . . . After 47 long years and one recent disappointment, I know for certain how badly the entire Cal program wants to punch their ticket for a trip to the Rose Bowl; a stumblebum effort here is not the right way of going about that mission, and Cal will carry my cash again this week.
GL

ODDS and ENDS:

- - It's not a coincidence or a surprise that Tedford's best teams have played their most complete games against USC, and in so doing have given great teams from Troy all they can handle. Cal's entire season has been tracking toward a medieval effort by a loaded team against a school, and media darling of a program, which they are very familiar with and practically despise.

- - It doesn't hurt Cal's chances if the f*ck you - f*ck you - f*ck you game (in which the USC November juggernaut was outgained and committed 3 turnovers) has the Booty squad coming in feeling like an experienced, resourceful and resilient squad in big game situations. http://www.covers.com/articles/articles.aspx?theArt=92350&tid=30

- - FWIW, I find it interesting that this week I've heard the phrase, "If Notre Dame beats USC," about 20-50 times more often than, "If Cal beats USC." While many of those references were made in the context of looking at scenarios of some particular team getting to the championship game in Glendale, still . . . A case can certainly be made that the Cal loss to Arizona lifted any National Championship pressure from their shoulders and put the focus right where it needs to be ("It's not over," Bears center Alex Mack said. "It just hurts."), while the game falls into part of a four game stretch in USC's more grandiose quest . . . One thing about the game that I wish I could change is the late start, as I think Cal is most dangerous after breakfast and in the brilliant sunshine, and I do worry some about them losing an edge while sitting around in their hotel rooms for a more or less a couple of days.

- - IMO, the proper context of the Arizona game is about as follows: The Green Bay Packers were defending Super Bowl champs in 1997 and had an 8-2 record the week before a l-o-n-g awaited visit to Lambeau Field by the Dallas Cowboys. It was hardly inexplicable when the Packers wasted an early 11 point lead and lost to the 0-10 Indianapolis Colts in that prelude before paying back the Cowboys to the tune of 45-17. Every regular on this board can offer similar antecdotal lessons from following any sport under the sun. Capping becomes involved when the damn thing looks like a duck and acts like a duck, but maybe it's not really a duck . . . This team was anxious to put the Tennessee debacle behind them, and it came as no surprise here that the "warts" of an always up and down team saw them level off at midseason after a brilliant run. The schedule was ideal for getting the juices flowing once again with a payback against rival UCLA in a sloppy game that was never in doubt, and a trip to Tuscon certainly reacquainted Cal with the daunting demands of a hostile environment and the empty feeling that can come from having to overcome too many mistakes.

. . . Cal's identity in this game will not be the careless breakdowns that too often plague their common efforts and can usually be overcome against lesser opponents. The visitor will test and probe swap-paint and strike against USC with a proper measure of poise and maturity, while most needing to avoid being overanxious on defense and thereby becoming undisciplined and sloppy in containing the big plays the USC offense has struggled to generate. The Bears will have a golden opportunity in the 4th quarter of this game to punch their ticket to the Rose Bowl, and all season the call here has been that they experience the exhilaration of finishing that job when no one expects it.


GL

 

[lostinamerica]

PARLAY Michigan(+220ML) w/ California(+200ML) for 0.50* @ 8.6/1

GL

 

[lostinamerica]

Kansas(-2') over Kansas State (1*)

Mississippi State(+14') over Arkansas (1*)

Iowa(+3) over Minnesota (1*)

GL

 

[ScreaminPain]

PARLAY Michigan(+220ML) w/ California(+200ML) for 0.50* @ 8.6/1

GL

ah, I see fantasies still live in the minds of those so ill informed......:mj07: 'Lost, you may have a winner with the 6, but as a ML bet... :nono: It should be a good game, with turnovers and field postion being the deciding factors. Best of Luck to you on your action.