Tag Archives: Pittsburgh

Purple Yeti Roar 83: Let This Season Begin!

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Yup, we are ready for a new season!  We’ll talk about that as well as Florida State, Pittsburgh, LSU, TCU, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, SEC, Big 12 Liberty Bowl, North Dakota State, Alabama, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, South Carolina, Trevor Knight, Belldozer, Oklahoma, Conference USA, Middle Tennessee, NCAA, Penn State, USC, Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel, Kansas State, Jake Waters, and Daniel Sams. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 83: Let This Season Begin!

Purple Yeti Roar 49: Bowl Mania

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It’s a new year and a slate of college football games kick it off.  I’m going to talk about the New Year’s Day bowls as well as review what has happened so far in Big 12 football.  So look for that as well as Baylor, UCLA, Holiday Bowl, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Michigan State, TCU, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Texas, Oregon State, Alamo Bowl, Georgia Tech, USC, Tulsa, Iowa State, Liberty Bowl, Clemson, LSU, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Purdue, Oklahoma State, Heart of Dallas Bowl, Georgia, Nebraska, Capital One Bowl, South Carolina, Michigan, Outback Bowl, Rose Bowl, Wisconsin, Stanford, Northern Illinois, Florida, Orange Bowl, Louisville, Florida State, Sugar Bowl, Oregon, Kansas State, Pac 12, Big 12, Fiesta Bowl, Wrestling,  Pittsburgh, Ole Miss, Compass Bowl, Kent State, Arkansas State, Godaddy.com Bowl, and New Year’s Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 49: Bowl Mania

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: 6 and 8 Split

Yes, it’s bowl season and I’ve got a hankering for one more Bowl Pick It and Stick It.  This time bowling is more exciting for me outside of the BCS Bowls.  Part of it is the fact that Kansas State got jipped out of an appearance at the Sugar Bowl, but the other part is that the line up BCS wise is just not interesting enough.  The Sugar and the Orange are lame.  The BCS National Championship Game is a rematch of boredom.  The Fiesta and Rose look good but the overall product leaves me underwhelmed.  That’s what I’m stoked for the Cotton Bowl.  It’s non BCS and has a top 10 BCS match up with Kansas State taking on Arkansas.  SEC vs Big 12.  Hell yeah.  Click on through for the Bowl Pick It and Stick It information.

 

Pick It and Stick It Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/group/2195/invitation?key=8648873bde407264
Group: 2195
Password: gobig12

So here’s the rest of the bowl line up:

Bowl Location Date/Time Network
Gildan New Mexico
Temple vs. Wyoming
Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium
Dec. 17
2 p.m.
ESPN
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State
Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium
Dec. 17
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
New Orleans
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Dec. 17
9 p.m.
ESPN
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg
Florida International vs. Marshall
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tropicana Field
Dec. 20
8 p.m.
ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 21
8 p.m.
ESPN
MAACO Las Vegas
Arizona State vs. Boise State
Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium
Dec. 22
8 p.m.
ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. Southern Miss
Honolulu
Aloha Stadium
Dec. 24
8 p.m.
ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Independence
Missouri vs. North Carolina
Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium
Dec. 26
5 p.m.
ESPN2
Little Caesars
Western Michigan vs. Purdue
Detroit
Ford Field
Dec. 27
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Belk
Louisville vs. NC State
Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium
Dec. 27
8 p.m.
ESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force
Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium
Dec. 28
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Bridgepoint Education Holiday
California vs. Texas
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 28
8 p.m.
ESPN
Champs Sports
Florida State vs. Notre Dame
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Dec. 29
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
Valero Alamo
Washington vs. Baylor
San Antonio
Alamodome
Dec. 29
9 p.m.
ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
BYU vs. Tulsa
Dallas
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dec. 30
Noon
ESPN
New Era Pinstripe
Rutgers vs. Iowa State
Bronx, N.Y.
Yankee Stadium
Dec. 30
3:20 p.m.
ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field
Dec. 30
6:40 p.m.
ESPN
Insight
Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium
Dec. 30
10 p.m.
ESPN
Meineke Car Care of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
Houston
Reliant Stadium
Dec. 31
Noon
ESPN
Hyundai Sun
Georgia Tech vs. Utah
El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31
2 p.m.
CBS
AutoZone Liberty
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt
Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Kraft Fight Hunger
Illinois vs. UCLA
San Francisco
AT&T Park
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Chick-fil-A
Virginia vs. Auburn
Atlanta
Georgia Dome
Dec. 31
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
TicketCity
Houston vs. Penn State
Dallas
Cotton Bowl
Jan. 2
Noon
ESPNU
Outback
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ABC
Capital One
Nebraska vs. South Carolina
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
Ohio State vs. Florida
Jacksonville, Fla.
EverBank Field
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN2
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl
Jan. 2
5 p.m.
ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta
Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium
Jan. 2
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate Sugar
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 3
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Discover Orange
West Virginia vs. Clemson
Miami
Sun Life Stadium
Jan. 4
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
AT&T Cotton
Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium
Jan. 6
8 p.m.
FOX
BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs. Pittsburgh
Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field
Jan. 7
1 p.m.
ESPN
GoDaddy.com
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Jan. 8
9 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 9
8:30 p.m.
ESPN

Remember it’s a straight up pick but you can rank your confidence from 1 to 35.  What other bowls are interesting you ask?  Well, let’s start with the Big 12.  Baylor and Washington look good for the Alamo Bowl, thanks to Robert Griffin III’s Hesiman win.  Oklahoma playing Iowa for the first time in forever in the Insight Bowl sees Sooner head coach Bob Stoops head to his alma mater.  What other games look good?  How about the Outback Bowl with Georgia taking on Michigan State, another version of the BCS snub bowl.  That’s about it for me.  The others are decent but they just don’t jump out to me.  Come back every Monday from here on out, though and we’ll go over the picks.

PIck It and Stick It 2011 Week 14: The Final Flingdown

Yessir, it’s the last regular season week of college football!  We have tons of conference championships, but we also have a fairly stacked Big 12 schedule.  I’m sure that won’t happen as soon as they conference actually goes back to 12, but it’s nice to enjoy Farmageddon and Bedlam while the title games are going on.  Bedlam is bigger, though, and I’m pulling for a major breakthrough for Oklahoma State so they can go the BCS National Championship Game.  Much like I’m pulling for a miracle in the picks this week.  I’m not asking for much, just for third place.  So let’s find out what the picks are:

Continue reading PIck It and Stick It 2011 Week 14: The Final Flingdown

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 13: Plucking One Out

Ho man, am I stuffed.  I never thought that I would be as stuffed as I was away from the family on the Thanksgiving as I am now.  I know for certain that Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays out there now.  Family is really getting together with friends and loved ones.  Thanksgiving is a reason to get together with family and totally gorge yourself.  I need to hit the gym pronto but first I will go over the Pick It and Stick It for this week.  It’s some doozies and I mostly excited that great games come one after the other.  It was like the second, third, and fourth helpings for me on Thanksgiving.  Here’s the pick set:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 13: Plucking One Out

Thankspotting: Home Away From Home For The Holidays

Last week was rough.  For lots of reasons.  Tailgating as hard as I did last weekend has left some lingering effects.  There’s also a sprinkle of great games from Thursday through Saturday.  So I decided that this week, it will be some major home spectating.  It’s a weird week for me anyway because this is the first Thanksgiving I’ve had away from home.  Hopefully I won’t miss Mom’s stuffing too much.  Let’s check out the games.

Continue reading Thankspotting: Home Away From Home For The Holidays

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Just Don’t Pick It There

Okay, it’s getting to be that time of year.  We had a quick preview of it last night.  Well the whole week, actually.  As the season goes on now, there will be some games on every day of the week.   We’ll definitely be knee deep into over Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks.  But already last night was an epic match up between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.  I just hope they don’t pile on big time games on Tuesdays.  Tuesdays are for me.   Please college football, don’t take my Tuesdays away.  It’s the only real day I can recharge and get juiced for another week fo college football.  I hope they don’t pick Tuesday but I do hope they Pick It and Stick It.  Here’s this week’s fodder:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Just Don’t Pick It There

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 10: Tasty Nuggets of Joy

I have to admit, I am getting excited about going to a BBQ this weekend.  It’s fun running around the city and checking out new places, but the home cooked food and good times with peeps you know is always a welcomed change of pace.  It will be a little awkward, however, as I’ll be sneaking my laptop on over to get ready for the big night games heading our way.  I more than likely will not be watching two games at once, but I will be prepared just in case.  For everyone else, prepare yourselves for the Pick It and Stick It.

Favorite
Versus
Underdog
Final Status (CDT)
(21)USC vs @Colorado 21.0 Fri 11/04 08:00pm
@(24)West Virginia vs Louisville 13.0 Sat 11/05 11:00am
(13)Michigan vs @Iowa 4.0 Sat 11/05 11:00am
@(15)Michigan St. vs Minnesota 28.0 Sat 11/05 11:00am
@Texas vs Texas Tech 14.0 Sat 11/05 11:00am
@Connecticut vs Syracuse 2.0 Sat 11/05 11:00am
@Florida vs Vanderbilt 13.5 Sat 11/05 11:20am
@N.C. State vs North Carolina Off (0) Sat 11/05 11:30am
@Iowa St. vs Kansas 14.0 Sat 11/05 11:30am
@(18)Georgia vs New Mexico St. 32.5 Sat 11/05 11:30am
@(9)Nebraska vs Northwestern 17.5 Sat 11/05 02:30pm
@(7)Oklahoma vs Texas A&M 13.5 Sat 11/05 02:30pm
@(19)Wisconsin vs Purdue 25.5 Sat 11/05 02:30pm
(4)Stanford vs @Oregon St. 21.0 Sat 11/05 02:30pm
Southern Miss vs @East Carolina 9.0 Sat 11/05 03:00pm
@California vs Washington St. 9.5 Sat 11/05 05:30pm
(23)Cincinnati vs @Pittsburgh 3.5 Sat 11/05 06:00pm
South Florida vs @Rutgers 2.5 Sat 11/05 06:00pm
@Arizona vs Utah 3.5 Sat 11/05 06:00pm
@Baylor vs Missouri 2.5 Sat 11/05 06:00pm
(14)Houston vs @UAB 27.5 Sat 11/05 06:00pm
@(8)Arkansas vs (10)South Carolina 5.0 Sat 11/05 06:15pm
(20)Arizona St. vs @UCLA 9.0 Sat 11/05 06:30pm
Notre Dame vs @Wake Forest 14.0 Sat 11/05 07:00pm
@(3)Oklahoma St. vs (17)Kansas St. 21.0 Sat 11/05 07:00pm
@(2)Alabama vs (1)LSU 4.5 Sat 11/05 07:00pm
(5)Boise St. vs @UNLV 42.0 Sat 11/05 09:30pm
(6)Oregon vs @Washington 16.5 Sat 11/05 09:30pm

Yeah the night games have high contrasts in terms of spreads.  Kansas State and Oklahoma State have a huge 21 point difference while Alabama and LSU have only 4.5.  Yeah I know Arkansas and South Carolina are close together too at 5.0.  Out of those, I think LSU will make it a toss up.  Sorry but Kansas State blew its wad already and it will be hard to watch via streaming laptop Saturday night.  Meanwhile, earlier in the day, there is nothing exciting.  Big 12 wise, Texas is up big on Texas Tech, but that will be closer.  Iowa State should hang one on the pathetic Kansas Jayhawks.  Oklahoma will run right over Texas A&M.  That Baylor against Missouri will be a shoot out.  Everything else is seriously blah.

Barspotting: Check That, BarBQSpotting!

It’s BBQ week for KC College GameDay!  There’s plenty of sports bars out there, but every once in awhile you gotta go out and get some home cooking that only BBQ’s can provide.  I think we are going to cook up the world famous BBQ cheesy corn not sure yet.  But we are also going to cook up some college football.  Now, we could run out to a bar earlier in the day, but games really suck.  It’s all for the night time for me.  So let us see what is so special about the night time as well as the other games for this weekend.

Continue reading Barspotting: Check That, BarBQSpotting!

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 07: Dripping Down the Middle

It’s the middle of the season and we are looking completely different from where we thought we were at.  That’s okay.  That’s how college football works.  The way things changed week to week is what makes it the best sport in my mind and hopefully yours.  So will the rest of the season prove even more unpredictable?  We’ve yet to see any real upsets yet and we’re knee-deep into conference play.  So chances are the 13 or so undefeated teams will start to dwindle down.  I know this will happen because sports writers are talking about the possibility of 4 undefeated teams at the end of the season.  Here’s this week’s pick set:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 07: Dripping Down the Middle

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

I have to say I’m a little giddy at the news that TCU will be accepting the offer to join the Big 12.  Yeah, I know that they turned the gravy train around from the Big East but they are a better fit and I’m sure they were a little shakey about that conference after Pitt and Syracuse decided to leave.  Yes, the Big East is in HUGE trouble, and now it’s the Big 12’s turn to take a deep breath and grab a couple of more teams.  In fact, I’d say it’s high time for the Big 12 to Pick It and Stick It!  Speaking of which, we have another exciting weekend of action on the field and on your pick sets.  Let’s go over the list:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

Pick It Standings 2011 Week 04: Safe Pickings

Usually you can get away with picking a safe bet for the college football Pick It and Stick It.  But sometimes, you need to go out on a limb and pick an upset.  More often than not, you will be wrong but taking chances is what it’s all about for picks and college football.  Look at Texas A&M.  They made it official over the weekend and will take a chance in the SEC.  Whether or not it will pay off will be another story, but the Aggies are taking the chance of not winning in the SEC for the stability and money the conference provides.  So for them, it will pay off either in money or football field greatness. Let’s look at the Picks:

Rank Pick Set Name Total Dropped W-L
1 KSUUUUU 25 49 25-10
2 Bryce Brown for Heisman! 23 58 23-12
3 TCU Travel Agent 23 55 23-12
4 Wildcat In Austin 22 56 22-8
5 Pay for Play 22 55 22-13
6 Keltron3000 22 59 22-13

So there isn’t much change yet.  Again we have the 3 dropped point weeks in play here.  I guess I didn’t think of it before, but usually the beginning of the football season sees more teams playing and more top 25 teams playing scrubs.  Now that it’s getting into conference play, there will be more top 25 teams playing each other.  So while there will be dropped points in the coming weeks, the first three weeks seem to be more important than not now.  We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out later in the year.

Shame on Pay for Play for picking Miami against Kansas State.  Shame on everyone else except Bryce Brown for Heisman for picking Notre Dame to beat the spread against Pittsburgh.  What was that about safe bets?  Bryce Brown for Heisman won out the week for his mix of safe and unsafe bets, like the UTEP pick.  I came in second along with TCU Travel for the same type of pick mixes.  For me it was that Kansas State pick as well as going with Missouri for that ridiculous 21.5 spread against Oklahoma.  TCU Travel Agent made his bones by going with Marshall and Western Michigan.  It will be interesting toward the end with the true winners mixing it up like we did for this week.

It’s a 1st Round Draft Pick

It’s another week of college football and I’m starting to get comfortable down here.  I had a quick detour to the Pecan Street Festival down on 6th street but after that it was all football nearby at the Draft Pick off Riverside Drive.  The week of football was a welcomed one after all of the drama that was going on for the Big 12.  There were tons of surprises but also tons of blowouts.  Let’s sit right back and take a look.

Walking into the Draft Pick, I kinda felt like I was in an office building and not a sports bar.  The architecture leading into the joint was somewhat modern and unassuming.  The inside look totally made up for the outside look. Granted, there were no patios but the inside was all football watching business.  Flat screens were all over the place, with one ginormous projection screen framing the square blocked bar.  This is a place I can hunker down and watch some games.

Speaking of games, I couldn’t find any.  Usually, a sports bar of ultimate greatness needs to have at least some Golden Tee or something, but the Draft Pick had nothing.  This may be a philosophical decision.  Their website proclaims that this bar was a project for serious football watchers only.  That means there is not time for games.  I can understand that, but please give me something to pass the time either at half or after the game.

Now that doesn’t mean the service was shabby.  In fact, it’s been about the best I’ve ever had.  The first question asked when I walked in was “What game are you watching today?”  I have never heard that anywhere else in my 4 years of KCCGD.  Color me impressed.  Now, the ladies themselves were pretty svelte, even though there were some questionable candidates.  Overall, however, it was pleasing to watch with the games.

I had the fortune of pounding a couple of drinks before the ole barspotting event so my taste buds were fully opened. The Draft Pick’s selection paired their famous All Star pizza with a little local fare from Independence Brewery called Austin Amber Ale.  First off, the pizza tasted almost exactly like the kind I’ve had back in KC from Godfather’s Pizza, except the toppings were way thicker.  That much food tossed down my gullet was massaged by the Amber Ale’s smooth flavor.  If you ever want a great beer with some great pizza, pick an Amber up and wash it all down for some creamy goodness.

Now on to the games. I got to watch just wee little bit of Georgia Tech vs North Carolina and Notre Dame vs Pittsburgh from the gym in the morning.  There’s nothing special going on there.  Notre Dame barely eked by Pittsburgh and the Fighting Irish continue to cough up the ball more than any other team in the FBS division.  Georgia Tech beat North Carolina, but they did not have a record setting performance like they did against Kansas.  I guess it’s not so much a referendum on the Jayhawks.

The bigger games of the day saw LSU heading to West Virginia, Alabama taking on Arkansas, and Clemson battling with Florida State.  I watched the LSU game at home and in between my naps, I realized that LSU may just be the real deal.  It was a close 1st half but they pulled away easily in the 2nd.   Nice night cap there.  Alabama continued to take care of business against Arkansas.  When LSU and Alabama fight, it will have national repercussions.  Finally, Clemson continues to wear the up and comer jacket by knocking off reeling Florida State.  Their head coach’s name is Dabo Sweeny.  That’s a cool name.

Big 12 wise I only really got to watch the exciting Texas A&M vs Oklahoma State game and my Kansas State Wildcats heading to Miami.  Both were on at the same time so I got to watch just a bit of the A&M and Okie State game.  From what I saw, Texas A&M had a major meltdown in the 2nd half and Oklahoma State pulled it out at College Station.  I guess their exit from the Big 12 may be a bumpy one.   Kansas State, on the other hand, surprised everyone including myself by showing up against Miami.  Not only did they show, but beat them!  Collin Klein and company pulled ahead big in the first half and then held off Miami, culminating in a 4 down goal line stand late.  Good job Wildcats!

And good job Draft Pick.  The square box design of the place didn’t leave much to be impressed architecturally, but because they slapped televisions all over, it can be forgiven.  The lack of any kind of games is worrisome but again, they went all out on the watching experience.  The food was tasty and they have a decent knowledge of craft beers.  I had issues logging on wirelessly but service staff gave me all the information I needed.  If you need to hunker down and just watch football, chose the Draft Pick.

Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

Whew!  Another close one for the Big 12.  I swear, the Big 12 is the greatest thing since MTV’s The Real World.  If you want to talk about the best conferences, then the one with the best drama factor definitely is the Big 12.  Yeah, they are staying together but we really don’t know for how long.  So while they hold hands again and tell everybody that things are cool, let’s focus on some actual football.  This week’s Pick It an Stick It kind of reflects the noise off the field.  Like the Big 12, most of the great games are stuck together around 2:30 Saturday.  That’s fine for me and my barspotting trip, but how will it fare for the picks? Continue reading Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

Pick It and Stick It: Sticking With The Crowd

It’s the hustle and bustle of college football.  At the beginning of the year, everyone is tied 0-0.  Slowly and weekly, the winners bubble up and the losers peter out.  We’re getting into week 3 and it’s still crowded.  We haven’t yet hit the real bubbling point.  Apparently it’s Road Test Weekend so we’ll more than likely get the cauldron cooking real quick.  Speaking of being crowded, I’m planning and surfing the flesh at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Granted I have Sunday tickets so it won’t be too bad, but Saturday’s at Third Base Sports Bar.  Let’s hope people don’t bubble up vomit and I don’t peter out.

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It: Sticking With The Crowd