Far afield: Your weekly football fix from Afghanistan
10/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 10, 2011
It's baseball postseason time for real now. With the ALCS and NLCS already kicked off, we're officially into October baseball. Or as I like to call it, "Baseball's Filler Until Football Playoffs." I'll tell you, I remember growing up as a kid being able to sit and watch an entire baseball game on TV. I can't even watch half of a game now. Neither on TV nor live. It may be that I have a bit of ADD, but I really think the pace of the game is just TOOOO SLOOOOOWWWWW. So this time of year I'll tune in to the latter part of the game, and if it's interesting, I'll watch. Or I'll catch it on SportsCenter.
I think a lot more people would watch if Bud Selig took George Carlin's advice and put random land mines throughout the infield and outfield. Talk about action! Okay, that might be a little drastic, but how about two pitchers and two batters at the same time. And if the ball stays in ANYONE'S hands for more than three seconds, the other team gets to start shooting that person with tiny paint pellets. Or maybe as soon as the batter hits the ball, his team gets to prevent the defense from getting him out. They get to go and tackle the other team or snag the ball on a throw to first and chuck it into the outfield. Now we're talkin'. So that's another proposal that Mr. Selig will be getting from me shortly.
Back to football mode! I'd like to take just a second to mention the passing of Raiders owner Al Davis. He did a lot of things as the owner, from revolutionary to just plain crazy. He was integral in the merger of the AFL and NFL. Throughout the 1970s and early 80s, the Raiders were a force to be reckoned with, and that was in large part to his presence. It was unfortunate to watch him and his team deteriorate throughout most of the last 10 years, starting with their loss in the Super Bowl to the Buccaneers in 2003.
I'll admit, I laughed each time he hired a new coach, thinking to myself, "Why on God's green earth would he hire that guy?!" only to see him fire the same guy, usually within a year. But deep down, I was pulling for him to get one right, because I knew his time was limited. I'm not a Raiders fan, but I can appreciate greatness when I see it. Here's hoping his early years and "Commitment to Excellence" are the basis for his legacy. "Just Win, Baby."
On more thing before we talk Big Sky football. Did anyone else get the impression Oklahoma was out to prove something in the Red River Shootout? They put the spurs to Texas, and even though the Longhorns are a young team, they have some talent (Jordan Shipley's younger brother and Colt McCoy's younger brother). I know I'd be ticked if I was No. 1 to start the season, kept winning games and was now No. 3 in the country. It very well could be that they aren't as good as LSU or Alabama, but I'd put them somewhere in between.
On to Big Sky football!
Another great showing for the Griz. The offense put up some more high numbers, which is fantastic. What I really like is the goose egg for the defensive side. I know Idaho State isn't a top caliber club, but a shutout is always impressive. We've got a couple tough losses under our belt, and I get the feeling that we've learned from our mistakes and are continuing to improve now with each game. Does anybody else feel the locomotive picking up steam? CHUGga chugga, CHUGga chugga, CHUGga chugga...WOOO WOOOOOOOOO!
That other team, on the other hand, on the other foot, on which the other shoe fits, squeaked out a victory over Portland State. They know they got away with one. If PSU had gotten that two-point conversion, they had all the momentum. A three and out could have left them time to score again, or at least they'd have had the momentum going into OT.
You dodged a bullet, you other team you. I don't think you were overlooking Portland in preparation for NAU. No, that's not it. You're just not improving. You've hit a plateau. You'll beat NAU this week, but it won't make you any better. You've got three easy games in row, as a matter of fact. Not good, not good at all.
Portland State, I'm sorry to say this, but you've got a two-game losing streak staring you in the face. You may still sneak into the playoffs with a strong finish, but you're going to have to pull yourselves up by the bootstraps after this weekend to do it.
Eastern Washington beat Northern Arizona. I'm still shaking my head at the slide EWU has accomplished this year. You know how the Arizona Diamondbacks went from last place in their division last year to first place this year? Yeah, it's the opposite of that. Pretty impressive, really. Two victories in a row, and a third coming your way, courtesy of Northern Colorado. But they'll still be lucky to get over .500 this season.
That's a nice way to come back from an idle week, NAU. Here's what I'm gonna need you to do: Shake the cobwebs off and put up a fight this weekend.
And the game of the weekend goes to ... Sac State and Northern Colorado. And by "game of the weekend," I mean "game of the weekend you probably could have gone without seeing."
On the one hand, Northern Colorado only gave up 14 points to a pretty solid Sac State team. On the other hand, I've got a sharp stick that I'm poking into my eye. Sacramento State didn't throw ONE SINGLE PASS the entire game. I'm not being sarcastic. They literally did not throw the ball one time.
What is this, the 1920s?? The center didn't even snap the ball in the shotgun formation. He just ran it back to the quarterback and handed it to him to start the play. The long snapper didn't even snap the ball for punts, the players all just formed a line and passed the ball back until it got to the punter. Okay, now I'm being sarcastic. I understand your top two receivers were injured in practice two days before the game, and that you were playing Northern Colorado. But you can't tell me you weren't sweating bullets when the score was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. In case you haven't figured it out, your idle weekend is THIS weekend, it wasn't LAST weekend.
UNC, I applaud you. I bet you fought your hearts out. I would love to see you beat EWU this weekend, but I just don't think it's going to happen. That crazy red carpet plays with your head.
I had a unique opportunity this past week to see some of the new whiz bang gadgets that the military has created to help our troops with anything from detecting IED's to monitoring enemy activity. I can't tell you much, but what I can tell you is that this stuff is COOOOOOOL!!! In addition to being cool, it really is aiding the troops in our fight against the bad guys. I don't agree with a lot of ways the government spends our tax dollars, but I believe that in this aspect, they are putting that money to good use in an effort to help our men and women do their jobs and come home safely.
Go Griz, God Bless, Keep Supporting Our Troops, Rangers Lead the Way!
