Category Archives: Football

Crib Sheet: A Change Is Gonna Come, Oh Yes It Is

Ah yes, the college football season is officially over.  Time to rest up a bit, kick back, and reflect on what was great and what was terrible for the 2011-2012 college football season.  Go ahead, I’ll still be here. ….(time passes)…. OKAY.  So now that we’ve all mused about gridiron, let’s get down to brass tacks.  There’s winds of change a blowing and they will twirl the leaves around this here blog.  What’s going to happen?  Tune in next week.  We still have some Crib Sheet action to go over so let’s go right ahead and knock it out:

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Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: A Day Late But Not A Dollar Short

Yup, I waited another day because the BCS Championship game was the last one on the docket for the Stick It series and it didn’t make sense to hype it up any more than it has been.  Plus, I was recovering from drowning my sorrows brought upon me by Kansas State’s loss in the Cotton Bowl.  So let’s wrap up this year’s Bowl Pick It and Stick It in style:  by not talking about the title game.  More on that in a second but first let us go over the final standings:

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Crib Sheet: The End Is Nigh

Yup, we have a handful of games to go for this bowl season.  It’s been a pretty great run so far.  The weekend saw some great finishes and exciting shootouts.  I’m going to miss college football much like everyone else out there after the last whistle blows.  Until that whistle tweets its last tweet, we got a few more Crib Sheets to pass around as well.  The news wasn’t too quiet as we get to see more coaching changes and draft declarations now.  So let’s get right down to it:

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Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: A Happily Bloated New Year’s

It’s weird getting ready to sit down and watch college football on January 2nd versus watching it on New Year’s Day.  Usually, I would stumble over late to a friend’s house to kick off the new year by watching football, gloming myself with food, getting drunk, playing some board games, and being as lazy as humanly possible.  This year, it’s watching everything online, eating some food, and not making a singular play on a game of boards.  The good thing is that I can adjust.  Unfortunately, the adjustments don’t look so hot for my Bowl Pick It and Stick It Standings.  Let’s take a look:

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Crib Sheet: Emptied Out The Bowls

I think I’m eating way more than I did when I was on vacation.  The holidays were tasty but between running around to visit people and sipping a couple of barley pops left me with little time to eat well.  Now that I am back, I find my fingers in the candy bowl that filled up from the stockings left before the trip.  Oh well, I guess.  Tis the season.  I know one thing, after the new year and the end of bowl season, it’s mega workout time.   One item that will mostly be fat throughout the year is the Crib Sheet.  So let’s get munching: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Emptied Out The Bowls

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: Twas The Day After Christmas

And all through the house, we had present unwrapping hangovers with eggnog thirst doused.  Oh wait, it’s not a poem I’m writing here, it’s the Bowl Pick It and Stick standings update!  Christmas scored well with me and I hope the holiday was in your top 5.  There was just a sprinkle of games in the last week, with the brunt of the bowls starting this afternoon with Missouri and North Carolina in the Independence Bowl.  So, with confidence points teetering the scores wildly, how did everyone in the pick set do?  Let’s find out.

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Crib Sheet: Christmas Balls Will Be Ringing

Yes! Christmas vacation starts today for me!  I remember back in the day how Christmas vacation lasted way longer than just a week, but I’ll take what I can get.  Back in the day I used only a couple of crib sheets and you’ll be seeing one today.  The news is not as light as I would like but I’m forging on.  Bowl season and the holiday season is upon us so it’s time to celebrate!  On with the crib sheet!

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Bowl Pick It and Stick It: Puttering Off To A Tiny Start

Alrighty, we are back after a major kick off to the bowl season!  Um, okay it wasn’t that major.  We had three bowls Saturday and that was about it.  The weekend’s bouts featured on of the funniest sounding bowl names (Idaho Potato) as well as one of the funniest sounding matchups (San Diego State vs Louisiana Lafayette).  Only one game was a dud but the others provided some late game excitement.  I didn’t really watch them as much because of real day job work, but I caught enough of it to be happy bowl season started.  Let’s look at the standings:

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Crib Sheet: Prizes Inside!

It’s that time of year again.  The time to hand out awards for special play by special players.  The Big 12 awards popped out and there were a couple surprises.  The one that jumps out at me is the ‘All-purpose’ award for Kansas State’s Collin Klein.  Was that ever used before in the past?  It seems like they cooked it up just for Klein.  I mean, he’s no Heisman winner, but he was the most important person on the team for the Wildcats.  I guess as a Kansas State fan, I’ll take what I can get.  You have to take what you can get with this week’s Crib Sheet as well, so lets’ get doling:

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.

Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

The teams have been announced that cards played out on the table.  The big hand is lame this year but the side bets are sexier.  That’s right the regular season is over and now we are flipping over to bowl season.  There were some snubs as usual, but the Big 12 lineup of bowls still looks pretty strong.  The Cotton Bowl is right up there with the BCS bowls in terms of interesting match ups.  Kansas State vs Arkansas, or Big 12 vs SEC, like it should be.  Call your bets and flop on over to this week’s Crib Sheet.

Continue reading Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

Pick It Standings 2011 Week 14: The Final Placement

It’s the final, final week of Pick It and Stick It (more on that in a couple of weeks).  Did I produce a herculean effort much like Oklahoma State over the weekend to jump into the third place?  Or did I hang off the edge and shed a bucket full of crocodile tears?  We’ll find out soon enough.  We also found out how the BCS system works in fine detail, speaking of Oklahoma State.  Now that the regular season Pick It and Stick It is over, we are kicking up the Bowl Pick It and Stick It, with a twist you may be familiar with.  All that and more inside.

Continue reading Pick It Standings 2011 Week 14: The Final Placement

Wet and Wild at Little Woodrow’s

It was a dreary last week of Barspotting but we forged ahead.   It was also a wet day for Kansas State, so it was quite alright that we were late to Little Woodrow’s in Southpark Meadows.  It was Championship Weekend and the cards played out, with the bowl season right at our front door now.  Every game had a championship feel except for Farmageddon because when Kansas State and Iowa State get together, it means so much more.  So how did we survive the first real wet weekend here in Austin, Texas?

As I mentioned we got in a little late but that was also because we thought Little Woodrow’s opened up at 11:30 AM.  We lapped the place to finish our coffee and headed in, with the place being open shortly after 11.  The 6th Street version of Little Woodrow’s was a little short ceiling wise and felt somewhat cramped.  The Southpark Meadows variety was tall and open.  That helped facilitate a giant projection screen in the middle of the bar.   But there was so much more there.

Walking up to the joint, I could tell right away that there was a huge open patio area.  I think South Austin reigns supreme in bringing not only a sports bar feel but a backyard feel to spectating.  Although it was raining, I could tell that they had plenty of bags, horseshoe, and washer courts built in, not unlike Doc’s Backyard. Inside, there of course was the big projection screen television, but also large flat screen hd televisions.  The bar section was wid open and had plenty of seats, the table area looked comfortable.  I’m a little worried that the screens were too high.  That’s fine, they had a bunch of other things to keep my attention at bay.

Wireless internet reigned supreme for me while I checked up on scores as well as email.  The games inside were decent.  Little Woodrow’s has Golden Tee, Silverstrike Bowling, and some Buck Hunter.  I missed out on the shuffleboard table at first sight but caught it on the way out.  I also caught their themed Christmas, which saw beer bottle trees, wrapping paper decor, peppermints, and hanging clothes.  Apparently, it was part of their redneck Christmas celebration.  Oh, also at the bar, there was Mega Touch.   I haven’t seen that around these parts.

So speaking of the bar, the service was decent.  The lady that tended to our needs most of the day was mildly attractive and kept calling us sweetheart.  I dug her sense of humor so it wasn’t too much of an issue.  What I did have an issue was that she messed up our order.  The bar was fairly empty because Texas hadn’t started so it should’ve been easy to take down the correct order.  I also had some issues getting the Kansas State game on television because she was convinced it wasn’t on there.  Even after inspecting the line up sheet, she reluctantly changed the channel to the game.  I didn’t make her eat crow on that, but it was disappointing nonetheless.

It turns out screwing up the food order helped me out.  I opted for the their chicken sandwich with swiss cheese and bacon.  Now I ordered the Little Woodrow’s homemade potato chips but they brought out fries instead.  The bartender fixed the order and I got both.  Both the fries and home-made potato chips were very delicious.  I think it was the oil they cooked it with.  The sandwich itself was okay, but nothing worth the price they were charging.  I washed the thing down with a fairly tasty Fullers ESP.  It tastes like a heifeweisen but was just a little more fruity.  That light blend worked well with the chicken and juicy bacon.

Now on to the games.  It was championship weekend and it should’ve been renamed blowout weekend.  Most of the conference championship games were blowout snooze fests (sorry Big 10, I just don’t care about you).  Southern Miss pulled the upset over Houston in the Conference USA game.  LSU took care of business against Georgia in the SEC game.  Clemson got revenge on Virginia Tech in the ACC game.  The games themselves were not that exciting, but it did have some hefty effect in terms of BCS allotment.  Especially that Houston and Virginia Tech loss.  It helped  make a case for Oklahoma State.

Yes, Oklahoma State beat Oklahoma for the first time in forever for Bedlam.  Now, it wasn’t a conference championship game but it ended up being that way for the Big 12.  Whoever won that game would have the title or at least the greatest share of it.  The ghost of Sooner past didn’t scare the Cowboys away this time.  They came out the gates firing and didn’t let up one bit.  Oklahoma looked sloppy, especially on offense.  I swear the defense might have scored more points than the offense in that game.  Congratulations on the Big 12 Conference Championship Oklahoma State.

Kansas State was the team I came to Little Woodrow’s to see and they finished out the regular season like they do with every game this year: by nearly giving me a god damned heart attack.  It was close, thanks to Paul Rhoads and his rag tag bunch of Iowa State Cyclones.  Farmageddon always had a history of close and exciting games and this one came through.  Now Collin Klein will get the rub for the victory, but John Hubert’s stiff arm from hell toward the end of the game made him the top performer for me.  That last touchdown run sealed it after Iowa State had multiple winning gambles on the drive to tie the game.

So that was the last barspot.  To tell the truth, I am still disappointed that I couldn’t get a game of washers in.  I drowned my sorrows quickly with some homemade potato chips and malt vinegar, however.  Little Woodrow’s was a decent time, but not the best.  It could’ve been the rain or the  sub par service, I’m not sure.  What I am sure of is that if the sun is out and your favorite team is on, head out there to relax and enjoy the outdoor patio.  It will most certainly be more relaxing than watching a Kansas State game or dealing with BCS math.

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:

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Barspotting: Little Woodrow’s

It’s the final week of Barspotting for the 2011 year!  Yeah, I could go to some bowl games, but the way the BCS National Championship Game is turning out, I may just skip the whole shebang.  But who knows, I may be doing a little Bowlspotting with the Kansas State Wildcats if they find their way down here in Texas again.  In the meantime, Little Woodrow’s is on the list.  I’m not doing the 6th Street variety, but the one out in south Austin.  I’m ending the year the way I started it:  Doing a family friendly sports bar and playing some backyard games.  It should be fantastic.

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