The Week That Were: 11.20.10

If you’re not already listening to the soundtrack for today’s TWTW, do so. Immediately.

Greetings from 30,000 feet… yup, this is being typed from somewheres over El Paso Texas. Thank God for tBBC’s generous expense account.  A couple folks have asked- I had to travel this week for business. No, not work related; the business of getting full body scans.  Sure beats Glamorshots.

As such, this will be a quick overview… the “flight attendants” keep hassling me- something about “emergency exit” and “burning fuselage”. Whatever.

Let me get this right out of the way, so our blue-blooded readers can move on to better things like curing world hunger and wrecking the mortgage industry. Yes, Harvard and Yale played yesterday. Yes, Harvard won and sent the senior class out with a sweep of their rival (sounds somewhat familiar). For me, though, the lasting image will be this:

As I mentioned last week, I was at the Baylor/OU “game” over the weekend, so I”ll have some photos from the road to share with you.

Let me enjoy my final months as a Nebraska apologist to point out the following: Yes, Texas A&M is home to the 12th man.  What wasn’t clear pregame is that the 12th man would be wearing were wearing black and white- the game ended with 16 penalties against the Huskers, to only two for the Aggies. See if you can guess who’s getting penalized here:

While it’s always the second guy, you’ve got to think that the Field Judge (Guy with the “F” on his shirt who comes in late) should have been in a position to see that. Pelini was understandably hot, although that might not fly with the good folks in Lincoln. I guess we can chalk the poor officiating up to a final “Goodbye” from the Big 12… Not that anyone’s bitter about that or anything. You would have thought that anyone playing the Aggies would have been on the look out for such shenanigans.

When Ricky Stanzi goes pro, I’m certain that I’ve found his first endorsement deal- the wonderful lady wearing these was adamant that she’d buy several more pairs if she could:

I’ve remarked in this space before that I don’t get the Oregon State love- I think that they tend to get a lot of “rep” due to several specific games, and that they’re solid but not a top tier team as of yet.  That being said, if they keep being the Northwestern to Southern Cal’s Iowa, then I’m perfectly fine with it.  With Barclay out, and with the University following the rules (asinine though they may be), it’s difficult for Kiffykins to be successful.

Notre Dame beat Army, because they hate America. They played in Yankee Stadium, because NBC also hates America.  Other than that, according to the University, there’s nothing really to talk about.

Speaking of hating America, Maryland also trotted out the “let’s further wound the warriors with hideous uniforms” look against Florida State. Didn’t help

And now, the closest Baylor came to winning the game:

Since we’re talking about the Big Twelve-2, Buckeye fans have got to be watching TBPU; the Cowboys winning against OU and then Nebraska will give them a boost over Ohio State in the BCS, in my opinion.

I was torn on the game in Ann Arbor- of course it would have been great to see the Badgers lose, especially since their coach is wont to such classiness as described below:

But get a load of this: After the game Saturday, Bielema said his offensive line — which grinds opposing defenses into dust by pulling its guards and ramming them into linebackers downfield — was prevented from pulling by Michigan. He used the word “tactics,” which is coaching code for “holding,” to describe what Michigan’s defensive line was doing.

“But we rectified the situation,” Bielema said.

When asked how, Bielema recalled a chop-block penalty that went against his team — and took a touchdown off the scoreboard — in the second quarter. Wisconsin lost seven points but delivered a message.

Congratulations, Mich1gAAn fans- this year’s version of your favorite squadron is now the most statistically inept scoring defense in the school’s history.  Proud. Makes conniptions perfectly understandable:

Meanwhile, the great game in Wrigley was greatly covered by the great Worldwide Leader in Sports, giving us great camera angles.  Just great all around.

I said I wouldn’t talk about the Big lEast champion until they were bowl eligible. Congrats, Pitt- 10 weeks into the season, you are now capable of going to the BCS game while a one loss team sits at home.

DelVal beat Salisbury, and moves on in the playoffs.

Wait- now the pilot’s talking about something… Gladiator movies? Huh? Let’s bring this in for a landing, shall we?

This week is my favorite week for college football, outside of the “bowl week” that starts mid-December and runs through early January. Sooo many great rivalries and solid games-

• Texas and aTm on Thursday- wonder who the officials will play for this week?
• Iron Bowl showcasing cheaters (known) and cheaters (yet to be known)
• Colorado on a 2 game upswing against a (hopefully) tranquilized Pelini Brothers
• Southern Idaho State and Nevada meet in the game where Nevada’s only ranked so the Broncos can have a “quality win” on their schedule
• The former “Commonwealth Challenge” between VaTech and the Cavaliers
• The “kissing cousins” game as Tennessee and Kentucky match up
• “Holy War”- BYU and Utah
• Kansas and Missouri’s “Border War”; like The Game, there’s actual bloodshed in the history.
• Swampers versus Seminoles
• “We wish it was basketball”- UNC at Duke
• Mississippi and MSU’s “Egg Bowl”
• toUSC and Clemson play for Hardee’s Trophy. And a milkshake.
• Bedlam between TBPU and iOU
• Georgia and Georgia Tech share “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate”
• The Jeweled Shillelagh will go to the winner of the Southern Cal/Notre Dame game

Oh, and in case you forgot, here’s our friend Bo:

See you on the ground