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Showing posts from September, 2011

Hobbitcore's College Football Corner -- Week 3 & 4

OK well I procrastinated and missed my deadline on last week's picks so here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna go through and, as honestly as possible, I'm going to talk about what teams I would have picked last week (believe me, I can already see quite a few I'd have picked wrong and I'm gonna own up to that).  Then I'll do the rest of the column like I normally would. Two Weeks Ago Highlights: Absolutely NAILED wins by FIU, Texas, Arizona State, and Michigan.  Also 2-0-1 on the spreads (USC/Utah was a push) Lowlights: Pretty much the only lowlight was the upset pick.  Guess I overestimated Jordan Wynn and the Utah offense. The Rest: Thought Alabama and South Carolina would win more comfortably than they did. No. 3 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State -- ESPN -- Thursday, September 15th, 8:00pm Definitely would have picked LSU in this one (as evidenced by the fact that I have them #1 in my Top 25) No. 21 Auburn at Clemson   -- ABC -- 12:00pm I really thought Au

The YA-YAs Go GA-GA (text of my "sermon" from the July 24th Young Adult Service/GA Wrap-Up at the UU Congregation of Miami)

“When we move, it’s a movement.”  Those are the words of a guy named Will Killingsworth from a band called Orchid and of no group are these words truer than of young adults.  Whether the young adults of this congregation, of this faith, of this country, and of this planet--whether they like it or not, every move we make is a movement because we are the ones who are next in line to lead.  I really wish so badly that you all could have been with me in Charlotte to see the irrepressible energy, the innovative ideas, and the incredible sense of focus, purpose, and overwhelming forward momentum oozing out of the UU Young Adults.  You guys would have seriously fallen out of your chairs.  I was overcome by a tsunami of optimism and hope for the future of not just that faith but of our country and our world.  These kids are already leaders, now, today, and they’re going to take us places, ladies and gentlemen.  You can either be along for the ride or get left behind.   Right now, we’re getting

Top Twenty FiveS (plural)

MY TOP 25 1. LSU This is the only team that's proven anything as far as I'm concerned.  They utterly flushed a top 5 team in Week 1 and that's good enough for me at this stage of the season. 2. Alabama Another impressive win over Penn State puts them on top of Oklahoma for at least this week (Oklahoma faces FSU next). 3. Oklahoma Possibly the most talented team in the country but so far untested. 4. Boise State In spite of the fact that Georgia lost, Boise's dismantling of them in Week 1 looks mighty impressive right now. 5. Wisconsin Russell Wilson has been looking great for the Badgers.  It's pretty obvious this is the best team in the Big Ten right now. 6. Texas A&M This is going to be a really tough team to get by in the Big 12 this year with a senior at QB and a monster defense. 7. Oklahoma State With Brandon Weedon and Justin Blackmon back, this is going to be one of the most potent offenses in the nation. 8. Stanford With Andrew Luck, anything is possible

Hobbitcore's College Football Corner -- Week 2

Last Week Highlights: Great start to the year on the Upset of the Week pick. Also I totally called Auburn and USC struggling mightily against seemingly inferior opponents as well as BYU winning a defensive battle with Ole Miss. Lowlights: Massively overestimated Georgia and underestimated LSU as well as the impact of Miami's suspensions (more on that in just a bit). I also don't know why I thought I should take a crack at picking Colorado/Hawaii. Maybe I should exercise some veto power over my plan to pick every game that's on basic cable. The Rest: Picked Michigan and Ohio State to obliterate Western Michigan and Akron. Big whoop. Overestimated Tulsa's competitiveness against Oklahoma (Sooners even covered the spread, totally screwing over anyone who made a parlay with my "Out-of-Whack Spreads"). West Virginia beat Marshall a bit more comfortably than I expected as well. Current Record Overall: 8-4 Upsets: 1-0 Spreads: 2-1 HEADLINES -First of all, if

Triumphant Return of Hobbitcore's College Football Corner #67

HEADLINES Usually I'd talk about the headlines from the past week in this section but this is Week One and I got a lot of that venting out in my piece about the Nevin Shapiro debacle. Also, I'm gonna try to start getting these done on Thursday afternoons before the Thursday game is played. The latest format I'm going with is just picking all the games that are on basic cable. Seems like a sound strategy. I'll also be bringing back old weekly favorites like "Out-of-Whack Spreads", "My Heisman Ballot (If the Voting Ended Today)" (as I was typing this, Robert Griffin was kicking off his campaign for Heisman), and my BCS predictions (predicting the winner of each conference, their BCS bowl matchup, and the result). Without further ado... Akron at No. 18 Ohio State -- ESPN -- 12:00pm OSU has five players suspended. Fortunately they're hosting Akron. Everyone will be drunk in the parking lot by halftime playing beer pong and sack toss. Hobbitco