Football

First off, congratulations to the UCLA Bruins for winning their game against their rival USC. I know several people who were rooting for them and they're estactic right. What do you think this does to the BSC standings? This is the first year I've actually paid attention to college football and how does the BCS system work. People keep referring to a computer and do they mean that literally?

As for the NFL, the Bears can clinch their division if they beat the Vikings today. I think this should be an interesting game because it's being played at Soldier Field, the temperature is like 0 degrees with the wind chill, and it's windy. I think we're going to see the football do some wacky things.

And I hope the Giants pull themselves together and kill the Cowboys. What's the weather like up at the Meadowlands today?

Watch it, now.

Dammit, the Giants were so close to getting the game to overtime.

I was sort of defending Grossman earlier but I think I'm moving towards the put him on a short leash camp. I think it was the third interception that did it. The announcers made a point of saying it was more a good defensive play by the Vikings, and it was, than a bad decision by Grossman but it was the third interception and I'm not feeling too charitable. I really wanted to kick Grossman at that point. I don't think he's going to be benched though unless he starts losing his teammates support.

The referees need to figure out what roughing the passer actually means and stick to it. Urlacher getting penalized for "flexing his arms" and pushing Johnson to the ground was bull. I understand not wanting quarterbacks to be targeted after the ball has been thrown, but when you're in a situation where the quarterback is in motion and things are just moving very quickly, a hit on the quarterback that doesn't involve leading with the helmet or targeting below the knees should not count as roughing the passer.

The BCS can fuck off.

I wish they'd just go back to the good old days. Pac 10/Big 10 in Rose Bowl; SEC in Sugar Bowl; Big 12/ACC in Orange Bowl. At large in Fiesta Bowl. Then let the polls sort it all out. Worked fine as far as I was concerned.

The coaches need to sit Grossman down and tell him that only go for the long ball if a)he can outthrow the coverage and only his receive can get it and b)only throw it if it was a sure thing.

I think it was the second interception, on the replay you can see Grossman has two receivers 15 yards downfield that are fairly wide open, yet Grossman went for the entire enchilada.

Oh well, Bears still won. But their luck ain't gonna hold out if Grossman keeps playing the way he is.

I think Grossman needs to realize that not every play needs to be big. Move the chain, get the first down, and don't think about the big play. That should be Grossman's mantra--get the first down, not the touchdown.

It's great special teams and defense are so adept at scoring but the offense shouldn't be outscored by them.

This whole college bowl system is confusing. Rankings are partially determined by a computer and polling? Who gets polled?

I think the polling is of the other football coaches, and that was the component of the BCS that screwed Michigan over. As a Bruin, I feel terrible, and partially responsible for it. But we beat SC. WE BEAT SC. And it was beautiful to screw up their whole "Team of Destiny/Leave No Doubt" crap.

I'm a Cal fan, so I feel for Michigan. (We got screwed over by the BCS last year.)

And I have to say that I was so happy that UCLA beat USC. I was probably more excited about that game than about our own Big Game victory this weekend over Stanford.

I was rooting for SC all the way because if they'd have won out then their only loss would've been to my alma mater. I'm just stunned OSU managed to beat Hawaii in the islands this past weekend. Damn, 9-4 after a 2-3 start. Unbelievable.

Seriously.

I'm totally eating crow over my little Orton dig after a 35 yard, three interception, 1.-whatever rating performance from Grossman. I mean, honestly. I still wouldn't bench him at this point, but somebody's got to get that mantra into his head, soon.

Hmm....perhaps they could borrow a certain quill from Umbridge. [hum]

1.3 Grossman had a 1.3 passer rating. I didn't even know it could go that low. I could throw a 1.3 and I'm 5 feet tall and 105 lbs.

No offense to any Michigan fans, but UCLA doesn't owe Michigan anything. There is no greater joy in football than defeating your most hated rival. It's even better if your victory spoils their post-regular season prospects.

Michigan fans wanted UCLA to beat USC it was the only way they had even a shot to get screwed over

What really pisses me off is that Notre Dame is in there at all. That team suuuuucks it hard and I *hate* Brady Anime Eyes Quinn.

The Irish are a fucking gold mine financially, so you can bank it that if they get the requisite number of wins to qualify (nine? I think) they will ALWAYS be in the BCS.

So here's what I'm trying to figure out, in terms of my state's teams. Oregon St. (9-4) finishes 3rd in the Pac-10 and plays in the Sun Bowl against unranked Missouri, losers of 4 of their last 6 games.

Oregon finishes, what, 6th or something in the Pac-10 (7-5) and they play in the Las Vegas Bowl against #19 BYU (10-3). How does that compute?

I love my Seahawks, but that so-called "turnover" in the first quarter was embarrassing. I cannot believe the Cardinals' challenge got rejected. I even found myself rooting for Arizona when they got the ball back on another turnover, and was glad when they got a touchdown. Football karma restored. Now I can get behind my 'hawks again, who did some amazing work in the last 2 minutes.

Fuckin' Broncos.

Yay, the Bengals still have a chance in the wild card!

The problem with being a Bears fan is you expect the team to be perfect. Good Rex showed up today (0 interceptions, decent passer rating), the team put up 42 points, and I'm thinking the only thing that would have made the night even better would be a defensive touchdown.

To be fair, two of your team's touchdowns were the Rams special teams fucking up beyond all belief on their kickoff coverage. Take that away and you've got a pretty close game, closer than it should've been.

Holy crap. The offense gets moving and the Bears' defense goes into the shitter.

Its the Bucs fer chrissakes. 31 points against!?

The defense got complacent in the second half. Plus, they're down a few key guys. Not that missing key players is really an excuse for the game going into overtime, since the defense had no problem shutting down TB in overtime.

The Saints rock, y'all. After so many years of them being so bad, I just can't believe how good they are this season. I really think we've got a shot at the Superbowl. Which is not really something I thought would ever happen while Tom Benson was still the owner.

You have got a DAMN good coach. Plus you have an all-pro QB for the first time in maybe ever.

Bumping a week later, so I figure I'm safe.

The Pac-10 falls to 0-3 in the bowl season, with the Bruins losing to the Seminoles. USC, Cal, and OSU still remain to try to salvage this mess.

Observation: Watching part of tonight's game, I wondered what went through the minds of the folks way back when UCLA athletics first started, and someone said "I know! We'll strike fear into the hearts of the opposition by putting our team in gold lame' and powder blue!"

Of course, my alma mater's team name is the "Beavers," so I don't have much room to talk, sadly.

ETA: WOOT! OSU scores 15 points late in the fourth including a 2-point conversion and won the Sun Bowl 39-38 over Missouri. Second best record in school history, 10-4. Not too shabby.

Horrible news about Darrent Williams.