The Dawgs Ramblings

9-25 Thoughts

Remember that scene in Rainman where Tom Cruise has to pull up to a farmhouse so that Dustin Hoffman’s Rainman character can watch ‘The People’s Court?” At first the housewife does not allow it but when Rainman starts to shake back and forth and mumble loudly on her porch she realizes she has to relent or see a full-fledged meltdown when a grown man does not get his way. I felt the same way when my cable went out on Saturday afternoon. Completely helpless, at the whim of an electronic box, and just praying that it would come back on before I flipped out. As I knelt in front of the LED screen, I raced through all my options for the rest of the day.

Read – Out
Go for a bike ride and enjoy the beautiful day – Out
Go to the gym – Out
Anything that did not involve football – Completely Out

And then I realized just how poor my day would be if that cable box did not flip back on. I only have the one TV; I have no college football friends whose house to rush to for the next ten hours and there is no way that Comcast would be here before Thursday. The only option would be to run out to the sports bar and its four dollar beers which would get pretty expensive right quickly in addition to leaving that valuable piece of real estate called my couch. It probably would have entailed changing out of my sweatpants and ripped t-shirt too but thankfully that big decision did not have to be made as the HALT button went away and the time reappeared on the console. It was back to being as happy as a clam at high tide with football back on and wings on the way.

Being in a technical position however got me thinking. My job, if done properly, ensures 99.99% uptime meaning that redundancy and availability is built into the solution for my customer, the business. I would think that the customer has a right to be mad if they were unable to do their work because of a system failure. Their inability to work causes deadlines to be missed, the boss to be on your case and a complete change to your schedule as it now infringes on your free time. Well, what is our recourse as Comcast (cable) customers? With internet and cable 100 or 150 dollars shouldn’t there be an attempt at instant restoration of service? Or, at the very least be able to purchase a cable package that allows for rush delivery of a cable box. That would be a good service to offer. I did not have to call the cable company but I bet there was no same day turnaround and I am sure there is no high availability package but I bet for anyone that plans their day around a single TV and sporting events, there is a market for quick restoration of service.

Anyways, on to more thoughts as I read the BCS user manual for how Notre Dame can still get a BCS slot …

Words I never thought I would utter, “I am more afraid of playing UMass then Notre Dame. Umass is a Top 10 team in the NCAA subdivision and we have seen what those teams are capable of doing. This team faced off against Appalachian in the title game last year so there is no way they should be overlooked. That does not even mention that a lot of the kids on the team would have been passed over by BC for a scholarship so they will be coming in with something to prove. These are the games that just aren’t fun from my perspective.

While watching the BC game Ferris texted me saying how he missed having the first down line. I thought it was weird that I was watching the game and had not even noticed.

Last week I wondered if Nebraska would ever be back. I did not mean will they field a team that can win the MAC.

Miami put on quite a performance against Texas A&M last week. The receivers looked the best they had in years and Kyle Wright played a great game. He must have been so bad in practice to have initially lost his job to Freeman. What really surprised me about Miami is how physical the receivers were over the middle. If they develop toughness along with their athleticism then Randy Shannon has the program on the right track.

Congratulations to Syracuse! I called my uncle, an SU supporter, after the game but he was out golfing. Him and the rest of Syracuse didn’t think they were going to win a game this year. Hopefully the Orange will build on this and get back to respectability.

I think the party is over in Louisville. They were never good pre-Petrino so why would they be good after his departure? I don’t want to pass judgment on Steve Kragthorpe yet but this is not Tulsa.

Speaking of Tulsa they were just 23 point dogs last week to Oklahoma. I thought that was a misprint and Vegas knew something I didn’t. Glad I outthought myself.

Announcers love to say that when facing fast opposing linebackers you should run a lot of misdirection. The thinking being that these guys are so fast they will run themselves out of the play. So, are we saying these guys are idiots and can’t read plays or that its good to have slow linebackers cause their lack of speed limits the offensive playbook?

Missouri is way off the national radar.

Bonnie Bernstein still does not have a ring on.

Chad Henne may have improved as little as any quarterback in four years. Do you want him or Mallett at the helm going forward.

I’ll say it. I can’t wait for Big East football this Friday. Or Saturday when Rutgers lines up against Maryland.

Hawaii really played Charleston Southern?

Matt Ryan REALLY needs to read the linebacker/safety on his slot patterns. The interceptions he has thrown for TD’s were about the exact same throw.

Is Bob Costas aging that well or are miracles being worked behind the scenes?

ESPN has to redefine their game-changing plays. By definition changing means to alter the way a game was being played. Game ending plays are fantastic finishes but did not alter the course of the game. Wake Forest’s nominee for a game changing play encapsulates what the award winner should be.

I was beyond shocked to see Kentucky come back to win at Arkansas especially after Felix Jones took back a kick in the 4th quarter. But Andre Woodson showed a lot of poise coming back and his receivers made plays. He’s my leader in the clubhouse for the Heisman.

And buried down this post is my version of the 2007 Yankees, off to a terrible start but you just know I will turn it around. …….

Standings:

Moore 6-4
Ferris 5-5
Dawg 3-7

posted by oceanjay @ 4:35 PM