Changes To Stadium Football Schedule

This homestand marks the first games at Yankee Stadium since the first non-baseball event at the park, the Miguel Cotto - Yuri Foreman fight on June 5th. While the boxing ring is long gone, the Stadium has a few souvenirs from the event, including noticeably worn patches of grass in center field, where the ring was located.

The Stadium will host another in-season, non-baseball event before 2010 is over, as Jay-Z and Eminem will perform the venue's first concert on September 13th. Following that, the next non-baseball event will occur on November 20th, when Army hosts Notre Dame in the first football game at the new Stadium.

Lost amongst all the potential conference realignment news that shook the foundation of college football last week were a couple notes relating to future football games at Yankee Stadium. First, last week Notre Dame quietly canceled their scheduled 2013 game against Army, which was penciled in as being a Yankee Stadium game. That cancellation may or may not be an indicator that the long-independent Fighting Irish were positioning themselves to finally join a conference in the event of a BCS superconference armageddon.

While one of the linked articles above speculates that Syracuse could replace Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium on Army's 2013 schedule, it's also possible that one of the principle movers and shakers in last week's conference realignments could be Army's opponent. Prior to leaving the Big XII to join the Pac-10 last week, Colorado made it clear that they wanted to play Army at Yankee Stadium. The Buffs' non-conference schedule had been booked through 2015, but with their move to the Pac-10 altering future schedules and with Army now having an open date in 2013, they may be able to get their wish sooner rather than later.

After hosting Notre Dame this fall, Army will host Rutgers at the Stadium in 2011, Air Force in 2012, and Boston College in 2014. In addition to the annual Army game, Yankee Stadium will also host the New Era Pinstripe Bowl for at least the next four years. The game will take place between Christmas and New Year's, and will match the third selection from the Big East against the sixth selection from the Big XII. No word yet as to how the Big XII's reduction to ten teams will impact the bowl's future. The inaugural game will take place on December 30th this year, with tickets already on sale.

BCS Championship Game

So this should be my final college football post until the fall; but no promises on that. The BCS Championship Game is tonight, with Alabama taking on Texas from the Rose Bowl.

So which running back son of a former Super Bowl winner / convict will hoist the crystal football tonight? Alabama's Heisman Trophy winning Mark Ingram, son of former Giant receiver and current money laundering guest of the state of New York Mark Ingram Sr? Or Texas' Tre Newton, son of the former Cowboy lineman Nate, who was arrested twice in a five week span in 2001 while transporting a grand total of 388 pounds - or 53 pounds more than his playing weight - of marijuana?

Tune into to ABC at 8 to find out. I think the Crimson Tide is going to take it, and I don't think it's going to be particularly close.

College Football Friday: Bowl Game Edition

After a week plus of relatively mediocre bowl games, we're entering the homestretch for college football season. By this time next week the mythical National Champion will be crowned. The big time bowl games start in earnest today, with a day long slate of worthwhile match-ups to help you while your hangover away.

Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Auburn, 11 AM ESPN - Northwestern had a nice season for themselves at 8-4, but the Big Ten hasn't fared too well against the SEC in recent years. Either way, both these teams are probably better than the Sunday tenant of Raymond James Stadium.

Capital One Bowl: #12 LSU vs. #13 Penn State, 1 PM ABC - Probably the best non-BCS game remaining on the bowl slate. Joe Paterno ushers in his 86th New Year's Day on the face of the planet by taking on a very tough LSU team. And, just in case you're interested, Erin Andrews will be covering this game.

Gator Bowl: Florida State vs. #16 West Virginia, 1 PM CBS - Speaking of ancient football coaches, this will be the final game for FSU head coach Bobby Bowden. It's a shame that the legendary coach is being forced out in this way, but his time has clearly passed him by. As a consolation prize, FSU vaulted over more deserving teams (Clemson, BC, Miami, UNC), and received the Gator Bowl nod. Hopefully it'll be a nice send off for Bowden, as he gets to coach his final game in Florida and against the school where he spent ten years prior to getting the FSU job.

Rose Bowl: #8 Ohio State vs. #7 Oregon, 4:30 PM ABC - The Granddaddy of Them All. This one just isn't the same without Keith Jackson calling it. The Buckeye seniors have not won a bowl game in their collegiate careers. This is their final chance, but they'll have to beat a very good Oregon team that managed to take the wild wacky PAC-10.

Sugar Bowl: #3 Cincinnati vs. #5 Florida, 8:30 PM FOX - Does anyone want to coach this game? Cincy head coach Brian Kelly left to take the Notre Dame job last month. The Bearcats will be led by offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn, but this will be his last game on the Cincy sideline as he will be Buffalo's head coach next year. On the other sideline Urban Meyer resigned last Saturday, then un-resigned Sunday saying he would take a leave of absence instead - except no one knows how long that will last. In the interim, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio will lead the program. Addazio's last head coaching experience came more than 15 years ago at the Connecticut high school that Brad Ausmus and Brian Leetch once attended. Addazio got the nod by default, as Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong will depart to take the head coaching job at Louisville following the Sugar Bowl.

That aside, we get the treat of listening to Thom Brennaman call this one. As you may recall, Brennaman paid an inordinate amount of lip service to Tim Tebow during last year's BCS Championship Game. I can only imagine what he has in store for Tebow's final collegiate game.

Enjoy the games Fackers.

Yankee Bowl To Freeze Winter Classic Out Of Stadium?

Good morning Fackers. We've been pretty critical here about the Yankees' desire to host football games, including a college bowl game for the next three years, at Yankee Stadium.

Last year, there was talk of the old Yankee Stadium hosting the NHL's Winter Classic as a sort of final sendoff. For a number of reasons it didn't pan out, but one would imagine Yankee Stadium is still in the running for the future. Except the Stadium's football commitments might make that a problem. Puck Daddy takes a look:

This is a problem if you're planning on the NHL hosting a hockey game on New Year's Day in the next few seasons. Even if the bowl game was played on Christmas Day, that would give the NHL six days to prepare not only the rink, but also the stadium to their standards and the Winter Classic isn't an event, especially in New York, that the League will look to rush in and out of quickly. As we're seeing in Boston, the NHL wants to use their portable rink in as many entertaining and profitable ways possible. Not to mention the bowl game organizers would have to breakdown the field in a given amount of time to allow Dan Craig and his crew to get to work. Two high-profile events being held on the same field in such a short period of time would also be a big concern for the Yankees, who do not want to have their maintenance people fixing divots in the field in the months before Opening Day.

The NHL told us that they have a seven-day build out plan for their Winter Classic venues, so Yankee Stadium on New Year's Day between 2011-2013 seems like a fantasy.

It goes on to speculate that Yankee Stadium could lose out to the new Giants Stadium or (gasp) Citi Field.

Despite being just a two year old tradition, the Winter Classic is one of the best sporting events each year. The NHL shows no indications of abandoning their new found New Year's tradition. In fact, yesterday there was talk of expanding the Winter Classic to include a Canadian game. Perhaps such an expansion might allow for a Canadian game on New Year's and a game at Yankee Stadium some days later.

This year's Classic is at Fenway Park, where the ice is already down. In typical Fenway fashion, the ownership group will try to maximize their bottom line on this one, adding open skates, prep school games, and a pair of college games to the schedule over the next several weeks. I'll be there to see Boston College face Boston University on January 8th. I hope that I have the opportunity to see an outdoor hockey game at Yankee Stadium one day too.

College Football Saturday: The Army-Navy Game

Good morning Fackers. Much to your chagrin, or more likely your delight, this will be our last College Football Saturday, as nearly everything wrapped up last weekend. So you'll be spared my attempt to come up with something insightful or witty for 15 or 20 games.

Instead, there's just one game on the docket this week, and it matters. Not just because it's the only game, but because it's one of the top annual sporting events, and for these two schools, it's the only game that matters: The Army-Navy Game.

The game doesn't have the same impact on the national college football picture that it did in generations past, but it still matters for historic value alone. Wisely, the game was pushed back a week this year, removing from the shadow cast by the BCS Conference Championship Games, and leaving it in the spotlight all on its own. It will be broadcast on CBS at 2:30.

Navy enters today with a decided advantage. Their record is two and a half games better than Army. They've won the last seven meetings, nine of the last ten, and ten of the last twelve. Still, anything can happen in these rivalry match ups. We know the players taking the field today represent the best and brightest of our nation, and the amount of pride on the line in this game nearly negates any talent advantage. Navy already has their bowl invite wrapped up; Army clinches a berth with a win today. Our friend Simon shows us how Army is better.

Today's game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Future sites are booked through 2017, but the possibility remains that it may come to Yankee Stadium after that - if the Yankees are still foolishly trying to hold football games there.

My uncle is an Annapolis grad, and both he and my aunt served in the Navy, so I'll be firmly in the corner of the Midshipmen today. Go Navy, Beat Army!

College Football Saturday: Week 14

Good morning Fackers. And a happy Saturday to you. Here we are, the final Saturday of the college football season, and what a day it looks to be. What this week lacks in terms of quantity it certainly makes up in quality. The 2009 season hasn't come close to matching the drama and utter insanity of the past two years - far fewer upsets, virtually no shuffling at the top of the rankings, etc. However, there is one aspect in which I think 2009 trumps the last two years.

Today is Championship Saturday. Three of the six BCS conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 12) will host their championship games today. The remaining three conferences do not have the requisite twelve teams to host an official conference championship game. However, the PAC-10 was decided in a winner take all match-up between Oregon and Oregon State Thursday night, the Big Ten was decided in a winner take all match-up between Ohio State and Iowa in the second-to-last week of Big Ten play (in OT no less), and the Big East will be decided in a winner take all match-up this afternoon. It's not perfect, but for those in favor of a playoff, 2009 has offered something close to it.

On to the games...

#5 Cincinnati at #15 Pittsburgh, 12:00 ABC: The aforementioned de-facto Big East Championship Game. Will the rumors about Cincy coach Brian Kelly being the top choice for the Notre Dame job be a distraction? Cincy needs a win to finish a perfect regular season and keep their slim BCS Championship hope alive. A win by Pitt muddies the picture for a number of teams.

#21 Houston at East Carolina, 12:00 ESPN2: The Conference USA Championship Game. Houston has put up 45+ points in four of their last five games, including an astounding 73 last week against Rice. They're averaging 44.9 points per game. But they have no defense, averaging 28 points against per game, with five games of 30+ points allowed. East Carolina features a more balanced attack and another coach - Skip Holtz - who is also rumored to be in play at other schools.

#23 West Virginia at Rutgers, 12:00 ESPN: Damn it Big East, don't you know such meaningless games aren't supposed to be played today.

New Mexico State at #6 Boise State, 3:00 ESPN360: Internet only, but a big game for the Broncos who look to wrap up a perfect regular season against an extremely weak opponent. Boise State is one of six teams with a chance to finish the season undefeated, and yet they're not a sure bet for BCS bowl game. A win by Pitt early in the afternoon could foul things up for the Broncos.

Arizona at #18 USC, 3:00 ABC: A few weeks ago this could have been a huge match up. Now? Not so much.

#1 Florida vs. #2 Alabama at the Georgia Dome, 4:00 CBS: SEC Championship Game and easily the highlight of the day right here. Dr. Saturday outlined why this game may not be as historic as some would lead you to believe, but still, this isn't even a once-a-year event. #1 vs. #2, both undefeated, with a trip to BCS Championship Game on the line. And yet, this might not be the last these two teams see of each other this season.

South Florida at Connecticut, 8:00 ESPN2: South Florida coach Jim Leavitt is unhappy that the less than popular ACC Championship Game has forced his team out of their home stadium for the regular season's final game. You know what else he won't like? 33 degree game time temperature with a -10 wind chill and a chance of snow. Meanwhile, due to the demise of both the Northeastern and Hofstra football programs both Connecticut and Boston College now have open dates next October 9th. Put your petty Big East / ACC defection lawsuit bull shit differences behind you and play the game. These are the only two D1 football programs in all of New England, both lacking a natural rival; it makes too much sense. Quit shooting yourselves in the foot and make this happen.

#10 Georgia Tech vs. Clemson at Raymond James Stadium, 8:00 ESPN: The aforementioned ACC Championship Game, moved to prime time this year. A lot of the luster got knocked off this one last week as both teams lost to middle of the pack rivals from the SEC. Still, these are two talented teams and an Orange Bowl berth is on the line. These two met in Death Valley on a Thursday night in Week 2 and GT came away with a three point victory. This is the first time since 2006 that the ACCCG hasn't featured BC vs. Virginia Tech.

#3 Texas vs. #22 Nebraska at Cowboys Stadium, 8:00 ABC: A supposedly neutral site game, I imagine the home state Longhorn fans will outnumber those of the 'Huskers about 3 to 1. It will probably feel that way on the field too, as Nebraska are 14.5 point underdogs and have been all but written off in this one. The only chance of there being any amount of intrigue as to who goes to the BCS Championship Game and who falls in behind those teams involves the 'Huskers pulling off the upset. I wouldn't count on it. But, if by some miracle they do, thanks to the BCS formula and the computer rankings, the most likely scenario for the BCS Championship Game would become a Florida-Alabama rematch.

Wisconsin at Hawaii, 11:30 ESPN2: Well this just seems a bit of an anticlimactic way to end the day after all the intrigue of the afternoon and prime time games. Fortunately for me, I'll likely be passed out in a pile of empty beer bottles and chili bowls by the time this one rolls around.

Enjoy the games.

College Football Saturday: Week 13

Good morning Fackers. For the second time in as many days we're leading off with a college football post, while we haven't hit on any real Yankee news in days. What the hell happened to this place? Well, things are slow on the Hot Stove right now, and rather than be the four hundredth person to comment on essentially meritless Roy Halladay "rumors", we're choosing to sit back and enjoy the holiday weekend. And it was pretty easy to cue up a couple college football posts authored early in the week and go on autopilot than to sit around and wait for Yankee news to come along in real time - or worse yet, take the Rosenthal route and just start making shit up.

So with that in mind, we're an hour away from Gameday, coming from Gainesville this week where Tim Tebow will play the final home game of his collegiate career and we will all pause again and marvel at his wondrous deeds one last time. Well one last time with the exception of the SEC Championship Game next week. And potentially the Heisman ceremony next month. And maybe the BCS Championship Game. And the inevitable months-long "can he or can't he?" debate leading up to the NFL Draft in April. Here's the rest of today's rilvary week slate:

#18 Clemson at South Carolina, 12:00 ESPN: The Tigers are headed to the ACC Championship Game against Georgia Tech next Saturday, but today they play a big rivalry against against South Carolina. Despite a dismal 3-5 record in SEC play, The Head Ball Coach has coaxed a pretty good season out of his squad, and at 6-5 they're bowl eligible regardless of what happens today.

#24 North Carolina at North Carolina State, 12:00 ESPN2: Another intra-state rivalry match-up. Best wishes to N.C. State offensive coordinator Dana Bible - who served in the same capacity at BC during my years there - who was diagnosed with leukemia last week.

#25 Mississippi at Mississippi State, 12:00 MSG2/ESPN360: The Egg Bowl relegated to internet only? For shame ESPN, for shame. Probably the biggest rivalry of the noon match-ups, this one has been a career ender in each of the last two years. In 2007, Ole Miss led 14-0 halfway through the fourth quarter before collapsing, finishing the SEC season winless and costing head coach Ed Ogeron his job. Last year a 45-0 whupping at the hands of the Rebels ended the tenure of Sylvester Croom - the first African-American head coach in SEC history - at Mississippi St. I think both Houston Nutt and Dan Mullen are safe regardless of this year's outcome.

Syracuse at Connecticut, 12:00 SNY: This would be a helluva basketball game.

#12 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, 12:00 MSG Plus2: One of the rare occassions in recent years where the Cowboys have entered with the upper hand.

Florida State at #1 Florida, 3:30 CBS: In addition to this being Tebow's last home game, this could be the end of the road for Bobby Bowden as well. I suppose there may also be some chatter about Urban Meyer and Notre Dame, but I think there's virtually no chance of that happening.

#14 Virginia Tech at Virginia, 3:30 ESPN: This should be the final game of Al Groh's tenure with the Cavs. I hope he can pull off an upset today.

#17 Miami at South Florida, 3:30 ABC: Maybe this would be a legitimate rivalry game had Miami stayed in the Big East. But, with Florida and Florida St. already tied up this weekend the Canes have to play someone, and South Florida is the next best program in the state. Also, maybe Miami, which is actually located in south Florida is pissed that South Florida, which is located in Tampa, has the nerve to call themselves South Florida. Regardless, this Thanksgiving weekend should turn out better for Miami than it did 25 years ago:


I never tire of that video.

Missouri vs. Kansas in Kansas City, 3:30 ESPN360: The Border War, except it's not PC to call it a "war" anymore. Since most of the country isn't even going to see this one anyway, they can call it whatever they want. That's what happens when the two schools momentary periods of not sucking comes to an end. Last game for Mark Mangino? Sure sounds like it.

Boston College at Maryland, 3:30 ESPNU: Another game, another coach facing the unemployment line. This time, it's Maryland's Ralph Friedgen. It was originally thought that his buyout figure would be prohibitive, but the latest rumors are that it is not. Coming off a brutally poor loss against UNC last week, BC hopes to rebound and earn just their second road victory of the year.

#21 Utah at #19 Brigham Young University, 5:00 MTN: Unfortunately no one gets MTN. But The Holy War is one of college football's oldest and most intese rivalries, dating back to argument between the public and Mormon institutions over which is the proper number of wives for a man to have. Correct answer? Zero.

Arkansas at #15 LSU, 7:00 ESPN: The Battle for the Golden Boot. Sort of an interesting name for a rilvary between two schools where most people don't even wear shoes. I kid, I kid. Your Erin Andrews game for tonight.

Tennessee at Kentucky, 7:00 ESPNU: Perhaps the least captivating of the rivalry match-ups. Most everyone in Lexington will probably be watching basketball practice anyway. The winner of this game does get the Beer Barrel, which is cool. But given the two states, shouldn't it be a whisky vs. bourbon battle?

Notre Dame at Stanford, 8:00 ABC: So this is how the Charlie Weis era will end. Stanford is having a good year for themselves, with big victories over Oregon and USC before falling to Cal last week. A win against ND, even in a down year for the Irish, would be another feather in their cap. Stanford coach John Harbaugh will likely be named as a candidate for the Notre Dame job, but I can't see the former Michigan man going to South Bend.

Georgia at #7 Georgia Tech, 8:00 ESPN2: Like their opponent in the ACC Championship Game, Clemson, the Rambling Wreck will be facing an in-state, SEC rival in a big game the week before the conference championship. Meanwhile, PETA wants Georgia to replace the recently deceased UGA VII with an animatronic robot dog. Fucking PETA...

Navy at Hawaii, 10:30 ESPN2: Well I suppose if any team is equipped to go the middle of the Pacific Ocean to play a game it would be Navy.

Enjoy the games.

College Football Friday: Week 13

Good morning Fackers. If you're like me, you're still shaking out the cobwebs from a gluttonous Turkey Day. If you're not, you've just returned from shopping at some ungodly hour just to save a few bucks. Either way, the good news is we have some college football to help while away the day. Without further ado, here's a special Friday edition of College Football Saturday, er, Friday:

Rutgers at Louisville, 11:00 ESPN2: Well, at least it beats what's usually on at 11:00 on a Friday. I'm in Jersey this morning, so I suppose I'm obligated to pull for the State University in this one.

Temple at Ohio, 11:00 ESPNU: Maybe you want to go back out and try to get some shopping done afterall

Illinois at #5 Cincinnati, 12:00 ABC: Sort of an odd match-up for a day like this. This is neither a conference game nor a rivalry game. But it's an important one. Cincy is still undefeated and needs to remain as such to keep alive whatever slim hope they have of reaching the BCS Championship Game. With a de facto Big East Championship game looming against Pitt next week, this one has the makings of a classic trap game.

#2 Alabama at Auburn, 3:00 CBS: The Iron Bowl. 'Bama has already clinched a berth in the SEC Title Game, but there's no way they're looking past this game. Rankings or no rankings, this is the only game of the year that matters in the state of Alabama. The rankings and Vegas both heavily favor the Crimson Tide. But rivalry games like this tend to be the ones to beat the odds. And recent history favors Auburn. Auburn has won seven of the last nine meetings, including six in a row from 2002 through 2007. Alabama holds the current bragging rights however, pitching a 36-0 shutout last year.

Nebraska at Colorado, 3:00 ABC: There was a time when this was a big game. This year is not one of those times. Both teams have been down from their previous lofty standards in recent years, but the Cornhuskers have rebounded this year. Nebraska already has an appointment to be annihilated by Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. Colorado is finishing off a miserable season. This will be the final game for head coach Dan Hawkins and his benched QB son Cody.

#9 Pittsburgh at West Virginia, 7:00 ESPN2: The Backyard Brawl. I'll give this one a slight edge over the Iron Bowl as the game of the day. Pitt has a huge showdown looming with Cincy next weekend, but there's no way they overlook the Mountaineers - not just because this is their rivalry game. Pitt knows firsthand how this game can derail a season, as two years ago a poor Pitt team pulled off a stunning upset of a West Virginia team that was a win away from playing in the BCS Championship Game. The roles are reversed this time, and there isn't quite as much at stake, but 2009 Pitt isn't quite as good at 2007 WVU, and 2009 WVU is far, far better than 2007 Pitt. A Pitt win tonight means next week's game against Cincy is for the Big East title.

Nevada at #6 Boise State, 10:00 ESPN2: Another contender for game of the day. Boise St is one of six undefeated FBS teams, but is the only one that isn't close to a sure bet for a BCS game. Both teams are undefeated in the WAC. A Nevada win gives them the conference and ends the Broncos' BCS hopes. If Boise State can conquer the Wolf Pack's historic rushing attack, they'll win the conference and need only a win against lowly New Mexico St next week to ensure a perfect season and will likely be deserving of a BCS at large bid.

That's it for today's abbreviated slate. Enjoy the games Fackers. We'll be back tomorrow with the Saturday games.

College Football Saturday: Week 12

A special Saturday good morning to you Fackers. College Gameday kicks off in 60 minutes from Tucson, where Arizona hosts Oregon in match up of two teams still alive in what's a relatively wide open Pac-10. The show is starting at 8 AM local time and the game starts at 6 PM local time. It's going to be a long day out there. Thankfully, there's a full slate of games to fill the void in between.

North Carolina at Boston College, 12:00 ESPN2: Finally I get to watch a BC game - not because this game is actually on TV but because I've made the trip up to Chestnut Hill for the weekend. Tailgating! Plus, I get the added benefit of not having to listen to Pam Ward call this one. BC still has a chance to win the ACC Atlantic and head to their third straight ACC Championship Game, but they need help. They need to win out against UNC and Maryland and have Clemson lose to against a poor Virginia team. I'm not holding my breath. Up until last week - when they beat Virginia - BC was winless on the road. Entering this game, they're undefeated at home. But UNC has won three in a row, including upsets of then #13 Virginia Tech and then #14 Miami. I have a bad feeling about this one.

#10 Ohio St. at Michigan, 12:00 ABC: Three years ago this game decided who would play in the BCS Championship Game. Now Michigan is a laughingstock. Can't say I'm too broken up about that, particularly with how Lloyd Carr was unceremoniously shown the door. But, this is one of the two times a year I pull for the Wolverines (the Notre Dame game being the other of course). Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher will find themselves on opposite ends of this one.

Minnesota at #13 Iowa, 12:00 ESPN: Poor Iowa. Not only did they lose a heartbreaker in OT against Ohio St last week, costing them a trip to the Rose Bowl, but the loss dropped them below Penn State in both the AP and USA Today polls. Lest you forget, the Hawkeyes beat the Nittany Lions handily, in Happy Valley, earlier this season. And you thought the BBWAA voters were bad.

Duke at #20 Miami, 12:00 ESPNU: Miami has had a bit of an up and down season, and it was down last week as they were upset by UNC. Duke is having their best season in years. I still don't think there's another upset in the works in this one.

Louisville at South Florida, 12:00 SNY: As with last week's SNY game, I have nothing to say. Which is exactly why this game is on SNY.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech, 12:30 MSGPlus: Both head coaches will be mentioned in coaching searches this off-season; neither will be going anywhere.

Connecticut at Notre Dame, 2:30 NBC: So Charlie Weis thinks his future at ND is yet to be decided. Perhaps the fact that the university has disabled tracking of its private jet so as not to draw attention to their coaching search might be some indication that it has been decided. Despite living in Connecticut all my life I've never been a big UConn fan. In fact, I sort of dislike them because I have to hear about the men's - and even worse the women's - basketball team all damn year long. Needless to say though, I'll be a big Huskies fan this weekend. My cousin, who went to Notre Dame, and a good friend of mine, who went to UConn, are both heading out to this game. One of them is coming home unhappy; I think it'll be my cousin.

#8 LSU at Mississippi, 3:30 CBS: Rebels RB Dexter McCluster had an outstanding game against Tennessee last week, singlehandedly outgaining and outscoring the entirety of the Vols' offense. That must have made quite an impression on the boys in Vegas, because at this point unranked Ole Miss is favored by four and a half against the #8 team in the country. Also, in response the "From Dixie With Love" scandal I touched on last week, it's rumored that there may be a Klan rally on campus, both before and after the game. Only in the SEC.

#14 Penn State at Michigan State, 3:30 ABC: A couple years ago I spent a Saturday watching college football at Blondie's on the Upper West Side. I was there with a bunch of BC folk to watch the BC-Notre Dame game. The bar had booked a party of Michigan State people to take our place when our game was over. Our game ran a bit a late, and the later it got the bigger assholes the Spartans became. BC beat MSU in the Champs Sports Bowl at the end of that season. I was particularly happy about that.

Virginia at #23 Clemson, 3:30 ESPN: As above, Clemson needs to lose to keep BC's hopes alive in the ACC Atlantic. Let's go Cavs! At least give Groh one more high note on his way out the door. BC alum and sometime MSG guy Bob Wischusen is calling this one. Wonder who he's pulling for.

NC State at #15 Virginia Tech, 3:30 ESPNU: As best as I can tell, a Hokie is an oversized, maroon turkey. Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday.

Arizona State at UCLA, 4:00 MSGPlus: At this point in the season the Pac-10 is the most exciting conference in the country. This game features two teams who are entirely out of a wide open race. Thanks for nothing MSGPlus.

San Diego State at #21 Utah, 4:00 Versus: Utah got trounced by TCU last week, virtually ensuring the Utes will wind up in a second rate bowl game. So I'll go off on a bit of tangent instead. I was killing some time on You Tube this week, and decided to take a trip down memory lane by watching videos of old WWF wrestling matches. That led me to this video of former second rate wrestler "The Birman" Koko B. Ware getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year. If wrestling were like baseball, people would be going nuts about this. Koko B. Ware was never more than a midcard wrestler. But the reason I bring this up here is that if you mute the sound and just watch the video, I defy you to tell me that you don't think it's MLB Hall of Famer and former San Diego State Aztec Tony Gwynn.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 7:00 ESPNU: Hey, arrests of Tennessee players are down 67% this week. Great job Coach Kiffin. It's the Commodores against the Volunteers. Who you got?

#25 California at #17 Stanford, 7:30 Versus: So how good is Stanford? In consecutive weeks they've beaten then #8 Oregon and absolutely destroyed then #9 USC at the L.A. Coliseum. They have a shot at winning the Pac-10 now, and a win in this one would go a long way towards making that happen. Might coach Jim Harbaugh's alma mater come calling after that? Cal will be without Jahvid Best for the second consecutive week.

Kansas State at Nebraska, 7:45 ESPN: Somehow this is Kansas State's final regular season game. Nebraska has lowly Colorado next week and a half game lead on the Wildcats in the Big 12 North. So, essentially this breaks down to the Big 12 North Championship Game, for the right to get obliterated by Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. More importantly, this is your Erin Andrews game for the night.

Kentucky at Georgia, 7:45 ESPN2: Tragic news out of Athens Thursday, as mascot UGA VII went to the great beyond. Rest in peace UGA. That's about the most interesting angle on this one.

#11 Oregon at Arizona, 8:00 ABC: As mentioned above, this is a big one out in the wild wild west. This is one of the rare weeks where Kirk Herbstreit doesn't have to jet from the Gameday location to his Saturday night broadcast. Will he spend his day watching games or Arizona co-eds?

Kansas at #3 Texas, 8:00 ESPN360: It's a bad week to be a morbidly obese football coach. Charlie Weis, despite pleading ignorance, is all but done at Notre Dame and now Heavyweight Champion of the World Mark Mangino is the subject of an internal investigation at Kansas over allegations that he's something of an asshole. Oh, and that he's lost five straight. This will assuredly make six. He used to be so cute and happy. Andy Reid, Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan: consider yourselves warned.

Nevada at New Mexico State, 10:30 ESPNU: Sort of a weak way to wind out the night, particularly on a station that not everyone gets. Hey, New Mexico State is just like the pros. Head coach Mike Locksley beat the shit out of one of his assistants, just like Tom Cable Now, Locksley is being mentored by super-football-mentor-extraordinaire Tony Dungy, just like Michael Vick. Does that make former New Mexico assistant J.B. Gerald a pitbull?

Enjoy the games Fackers.

College Football Saturday: Week 11

A special Saturday good morning Fackers. Gameday kicks off in an hour, coming from Fort Worth this week where Utah takes on TCU later tonight. The winner of that game almost assuredly takes the Mountain West, and it's a game that pits the #16 team in the BCS against the currently undefeated #4 team. Yet no one will get to see it because it's on CBS College Sports, and no one gets that channel. Damn you non-BCS Conferences and your lack of a decent television contract!

Anyway, we're hitting the home stretch of the season here and there are a lot of big match ups this week. Here's a look at some of the games most of the civilized world will have the opportunity to watch:

Tennessee at Ole Miss, 12:00 CBS: Here's what you need to know about this game. Early Thursday morning, three Volunteer freshman were arrested for a failed armed robbery attempt, performed on campus, while wearing team issued attire. Meanwhile on Tuesday, administration at Mississippi announced that the band will no longer be playing long time anthem "To Dixie With Love" due to the students and fans continued insistence of yelling hot button phrase "The South will rise again" at the song's conclusion. Well then, so much for dispelling SEC stereotypes.

Michigan State at Purdue, 12:00 ESPN: Another week, another God-awful boring Big Ten game to kick off the day. With any luck Bob Griese will say something ethnically insensitive again and make this interesting. At the very least he'll be back at his alma mater this week; perhaps he'll find a more receptive audience.

#7 Georgia Tech at Duke, 12:00 ESPN2: So much for Duke wreaking havoc on the ACC standings last week. Still this is their best season in years, probably since future NY Giants QB washout Dave Brown was still there. Meanwhile, GT is looking completely legit right now, and coach Paul Johnson's decision to go for it on fourth and less than a yard while trailing by three in OT last week took some major cojones. Ugh and Pam fucking Ward is announcing this game. Why does she still have a job?

Florida State at Wake Forest, 12:00 ESPNU: Last week I made a crack about someone waking Bobby Bowden up so that FSU could pull off an upset and help BC in the process. Turns out there was more truth to that than I thought, as Bowden repeatedly asked reporters for clarification on details of the game during his post-game press conference. I'm all for respecting the legends and letting them go out on their own terms, but this is getting downright sad. Also, Christian Ponder is out for the season. The Seminoles are fucked.

Northwestern at Illinois, 12:00 ESPN Classic: I love it when the occasional game gets relegated to ESPN Classic and then for the duration of the game they have to plaster "LIVE" in the upper corner of the screen so people don't think it's a classic game. As if anyone could possibly confuse a match up between Northwestern and Illinois as a classic. I'd rather they just forgo this one and keep showing 20 year old AWA wrestling matches. Also, a big middle finger to Northwestern for upsetting Iowa last week and ruining my dreams of a season ending menage a trois atop the Big Ten standings.

Louisville at Syracuse, 12:00 SNY: I have absolutely nothing of substance or remotely funny to say about this game. But I don't want Big Willie Style to get mad at me for leaving it out. Is it poignant that Syracuse football and Mets baseball share a network for an afternoon? You decide.

Yale at Princeton, 1:oo YES: Hey Fans! Do you like 1-AA match ups between academic powerhouses that haven't been relevant in football for forty years, have no scholarship athletes, and whose own conference prevents them from taking part in post-season play? Well do we have a game for you! Coin Toss! Kickoff! Football! Next, only on YES!

#1 Florida at South Carolina, 3:30 CBS: Oooh, CBS gets a double header this week. Can Spencer Tillman's jheri curl handle the double shift? Word is Tim Brando is under orders to only allow him a single Soul Glo oil change over the course of the afternoon. Meanwhile, I'm surprised Verne Lundquist didn't angle for the noon game so he could catch an early bird special. Also, did you know that South Carolina Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy at Florida and later went on to coach there? I bet you won't hear a word about that during this game.

#10 Iowa at #11 Ohio State, 3:30 ABC: Barring any late season upsets, this is essentially the Big Ten Championship Game. If history repeats itself, the Buckeyes will take this one assuring another blood letting at the hands of whomever in a BCS game. At least it will most likely be the Rose Bowl this year rather than the BCS Championship Game. Also, I can't think of a broadcast crew I dislike more than Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, and Holly Rowe. That's three special kinds of annoying, incompetent, and ugly, respectively.

Delaware at Navy, 3:30 CBS College Sports: I know I said no one gets this channel; I just wanted to use this as an opportunity to point out that Navy defeated Notre Dame in South Bend last weekend for the second time in as many trips. What would it say about ND if Delaware could pull off the upset of Navy today? Of course, ND beat BC, so what would that say about BC? Nevermind; forget I even brought this up.

Boston College at Virginia, 3:30 ESPN360: Speaking of BC, I've had about enough of this. This is BC's tenth game this year and all but three of them haven't been on TV. I didn't mind so much when there was still baseball going on, but now this really sticks in my craw. To make matters worse, my ISP doesn't have an agreement with ESPN360 (F-U Cablevision!). In happier news, I had to work on a Saturday last month and there I found out that not only does my work ISP offer ESPN360, but I can now access it remotely from anywhere by using my ESPN.com account. Take that assholes; I just wish I had known earlier in the season. So once again, I'll be watching this one with a laptop frying my balls for three hours. This is likely the end of days for Al Groh in Charlottesville after the Cavs faithful have been clamoring for his ouster for years. Aren't you glad you only had him for a year Jets fans?

Idaho at #6 Boise State, 3:30 PM ESPNU: Did you know that Idaho didn't get the nickname "Vandals" until they pranked Boise St by breaking into their stadium and spray painted their astroturf blue? Before that they were the Potato Farmers. Or maybe I just made all of that up.

#2 Alabama at Mississippi St, 7:00 ESPN: No matter what happens from here on in, the SEC Championship Game is already set with Alabama and Florida. Chances are both teams enter undefeated, but even if it's a one loss team winning that game, they're a dead lock to head to the BCS Championship Game. What I'm wondering is given the strength of the SEC and how much love they get in the polls, just how many losses would one of those teams have to have to be excluded from the BCS Championship Game? Two? Three? I doubt we'll even find out. By the way, this is your Erin Andrews game for the night - just in case you were wondering.

#17 Arizona at California, 7:00 Versus: Compared to 2007 and 2008, this college football season is downright boring without the weekly upsets and constant shuffling atop the rankings. The Pac-10 is apparently the last bastion of the chaos of the last two years. With Oregon's loss last week, 'Zona is in the driver's seat out west heading into next week's match up with the Ducks. They have to get by a good Cal team first. With three losses the Golden Bears are pretty much out of the picture. They'll be without star running back Jahvid Best who last Saturday suffered his second concussion in as many weeks on quite possibly the scariest hit I've ever seen.

Louisiana Tech at #8 LSU, 7:00 EPSNU: LSU is one of five FBS teams that go by "Tigers", but to my knowledge, they're the only school that keeps a live bengal fucking tiger on their campus. Think about that for a second. A bunch of drunken cajun college students sharing a campus with a carnivorous beast. I have no clue how this has yet to result in Sigfried and Roy type catastrophe.

Auburn at Georgia, 7:30 ESPN2: Auburn also goes by the Tigers, but they do not keep a live oversized feline mascot. Georgia, on the other hand, does have a live bulldog mascot and he has a past history with Auburn. I can't imagine how that would play out if it were to happen in Baton Rouge, but it wouldn't be pretty. I like tuning into these night games on ESPN2 for the studio coverage. I'm always intrigued to see if Wendi Nix is wearing her "sexy librarian" get up that night and markedly less intrigued to find out if former Giant back-up QB / Bachelor Jesse Palmer has gotten any dumber since last week.

Notre Dame at #12 Pittsburgh, 8:00 ABC: I know how much people love to bag on Bill Belichik, particularly in metro-NYC, but I've always been a fan of the guy thanks to the dominant Giant defenses that he led in my childhood. Love him or hate him, you gotta admit the guy's good. Since leaving Belichick, Romeo Crennel has done his best work in Coors Light commericals, Eric Mangini is about to get fired for the second time in less than a year, Josh McDaniels was a P.R. disaster at the outset and is now crashing back to earth, and Charlie Weis has one fat foot in a double wide grave. I think the loss to Navy last week was the final straw for him. Hey, Ty Willingham's available; why doesn't ND rehire him and foist all the blame on him again? Meanwhile, could Pitt overlook the Irish? This is a non-conference game while a de facto Big East Championship Game against Cincinnati on December 5th looms.

Texas Tech at #19 Oklahoma St, 8:oo ESPN360: This one's relegated to internet only in most of the country, but features an interesting match up of two crazier-than-usual coaches. Mike Gundy is still a man; Mike Leach is still a pirate.

Arizona St at #13 Oregon, 10:20 ESPN: Like Arizona, Oregon needs to keep winning in order to win the Pac-10. They may be able to afford one more loss so long as they can beat the Wildcats next week, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker. Meanwhile, earlier this week Oregon prematurely rescinded their season long suspension of LeGarrette Blount, issued after he punched a helmetless Boise St. Bronco in the face following the season's opening game. I'm sure it's just coincidental that the decision was reversed after a critical loss.

Enjoy the games Fackers.

Ain't Superstitious

Well, these are slow times in the Hot Stove League, and even slower times on the Fack Youk factory floor. Unfortunately, things like "real work" sometimes get in the way of semi-coherent content. Or we just got an early start on the weekend....

A few things before we go:

• AL Silver Sluggers were announced yesterday and both Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter picked up some additional hardware to add to their Gold Gloves. Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, what's next for these two? Bronze Cleats?

• Earlier this week we touched on former Yankee closer John Wetteland. Emergency personnel were summoned to his Texas home yesterday. Depending upon which story you read it was for something as simple as an elevated heart rate, or something as serious as him being suicidal. The good news is he's home now and all appears to be well. We certainly wish him the best. Eerily, fellow 1996 World Series hero Jim Leyritz had a similar incident at his Florida home earlier this year.

• Check out Walkoff Walk's classic TV post from earlier today. Some cool stuff there with The Mick, Hank Bauer, Billy Martin, Joe D., Lefty Gomez, and Tommy Henrich.

• We're a little late on this as it's made the rounds throughout the blogosphere already, but check out No Mas' excellent video about the notorious Doc Ellis LSD no-hitter.

• Big college football game on ESPN2 at 8:00 tonight, as #25 West Virginia visits undefeted #5 Cincinnati. The Big East will likely come down to Cincy and Pitt, but the Mountaineers are hanging close with just one conference loss. They need to win tonight to have any realistic shot at the conference title, and if they do, maybe they can screw Pitt's season in two weeks in the Backyard Brawl, just as Pitt did to them two years ago.

That's it for today. We'll be back in the AM with far, far more college football, though perhaps some would prefer that we do nothing again rather than do that. Anyway, sorry about the lack of content today. It certainly had nothing to do with it being Friday the Thirteenth.

College Football Saturday

Hey Fackers. So we're still trying to figure out how to work this whole off-season thing. We'll be getting into some of the hot stove league stuff soon, but I think it's appropriate that we at least wait until the lockers are cleaned out before we start speculating as to who stays and who goes.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to spend this weekend enjoying a bit of pigskin. I haven't watched too much football this year since the Yankees have been dominating my sports attention - but that's a trade I'll make every fall if I can. Of course, BC has a bye week the first Saturday I can dedicate solely to college football.

Anyway, in an effort to have some weekend content going, here's a look at today's games (and yes, I realize the early games are underway - sue me for sleeping in today):

Northwestern at #4 Iowa, 12:00 ESPN: I really don't like Big Ten football. The Hawkeyes are still undefeated and could cause some problems for the BCS Championship Game if they remain that way. I wouldn't expect the Wildcats to be the team to knock them off.

Syracuse at #13 Pittsburgh, 12:00 ESPNU: Top receiver Mike Williams quit the team earlier this week and three others have been suspended following a rules violation. That's not a recipe for success. But if DII LeMoyne could upset the Orange hoops team earlier this week, maybe Greg Paulus and company can pull off an upset of their own against team Wannstache.

South Carolina at Arkanasas, 12:30 MSG: The Head Ball Coach brings his Cocks to Fayetteville for an SEC match up. Neither team is ranked, but both offenses like to air it out, so this could be exciting. On top of that, you have two of the most reviled head coaches in football; that is unless Bobby Petrino decides to quit mid game.

Kansas at Kansas State, 12:30 Versus: Does anyone get Versus? If they do, do they want to watch this game? Probably not, because whoever comes out of the Big 12 North is just going to be a sacrificial lamb for Texas on their way to the BCS Championship Game. But Mark Mangino thinks lamb is delicious, so maybe you'll want tune in for the wonder that is Mangino.

Navy at #22 Notre Dame, 2:30 NBC: How I hate Notre Dame. And they get top receiver Michael Floyd back from a broken collarbone today. He and Golden Tate make for a pretty formidable duo for that little punk Jimmy Claussen to throw to. Hopefully Navy and their triple option can pull off an upset like 2007's. You could wait until Monday to watch this in non-hi def on YES, but why would you want to do that? In fact, why would YES sign a distribution agreement and not get access to the HD footage?

#9 LSU at #3 Alabama, 3:30 CBS: Game of the day. Nick Saban's old team comes to town to face his new team. If LSU can pull off the upset today the whole SEC West picture, and by extension the BCS Championship Game picture, gets turned on its ear.

#16 Ohio State at #11 Penn State, 3:30 ABC/ESPN2: This too is a big game. If the aforementioned Iowa stumbles at any point, like most people think they will, the winner of this game is the most likely candidate to benefit. Unless Penn State wins and Ohio State beats Iowa next week, in which case there's a three way clusterfuck atop the Big Ten standings. When in doubt, root for chaos. Also, Matt Millen is calling this game, so you stand to get 15% dumber by listening.

Wake Forest at #10 Georgia Tech, 3:30 ABC/ESPN2: The ACC is an absolute mess. If Wake can somehow pull off the upset today, Duke will have the inside track to win the ACC Coastal. Duke! If that happens, and BC gets a bit of help of help in the Atlantic, we could be looking at a BC-Duke ACC Championship Game. If that's not enough to blow up the BCS, nothing is.

Duke at North Carolina, 3:30 ESPNU: Of course, in order for that to happen Duke has to beat the Tar Heels today. If this were a basketball game I might be interested in it - and it might not be relegated to ESPNU, which I do not get.

Memphis at Tennessee, 7:00 ESPNU: Another one ESPNU must be wishing was a basketball game instead. Still, there's a good chance Lane Kiffin does and/or says something stupid. Also, his wife is hot.

Vanderbilt at #1 Florida, 7:30 ESPNU: The Commodores are gonna be working the Nightshift down in Gainesville. I don't think there will be any sweet sounds coming down this time. Tebow & Co should dominate this one; I just hope they don't go poking anyone in the eyes this week. Speaking of which, for all the people congratulating Brandon Spikes for having the maturity to extend his own suspension to a full game so as not to be a distraction to the team, let's not forget that the only reason this is a story is because he tried to gouge someone's eye out! How mature.

Florida State at Clemson, 7:45 ESPN: Please, someone wake Bobby Bowden up and tell him it's 1993. Maybe he'll reach into his bag of tricks and pull off an upset. BC needs Clemson to lose another conference game. Also, I think Erin Andrews is covering this game, just in case you were interested.

Connecticut at #5 Cincinnati, 8:00 ABC: UConn football in primetime, with Musberger and Herbstreit calling the game. I've seen it all now. Why is it that when referring to the football team it's generally "Connecticut", but the basketball team is usually "UConn"? This one's probably better suited to ESPNU anyway.

Enjoy the games Fackers.

Off Night Viewing

Hey there Fackers. Once again, sorry for the slow drip of content here today. We're now approaching night three of four Yankee baseball-less nights, so at least we'll have something to talk about again soon. As for me, I've been fairly well tied up at the office today.

The company that employs me was purchased by a British corporation fifteen months ago, just like on Mad Men. The Board of Directors is coming across the pond to meet at our office for the next two days (though I'm not sure how they're traveling, we've worked out a one if by land, two if by sea signaling system). Everyone here has been a bit on edge getting things prepared for the meetings. I'm just hopeful that ours here go better than when the Brits came to visit on Mad Men (jump to the 1:40 mark).

Speaking of television, here are a few options to get you through another night without baseball:

• College Football: #5 Boise State at Tulsa, ESPN 8 PM. The other undefeated Broncos will likely have to stay that way if they expect a trip to a BCS game. This is the first of back-to-back games away from the blue field. Tulsa is 4-1, with their only loss being a 45-0 drubbing against then #2 Oklahoma. This is the first of back-to-back Wendesday night ESPN games for the Golden Hurricanes. Boise State opened the season with a weeknight game on ESPN and someone got punched in the face, so this could be fun.
  
  I spent most of last Saturday at the office getting ready for this week, so I didn't catch much college football. Being at the office did give me access to ESPN360 though, so I was able watch BC get completely destroyed by Virginia Tech while I worked - talk about adding insult to injury. I'm looking forward to watching tonight on an actual television, from the comfort of my own couch, with a few frosty cold ones.



• World Cup Qualifying: USA vs. Costa Rica, ESPN2 7:30 PM. The U.S. has already punched their ticket South Africa for next year's World Cup, so this one isn't of much consequence to them. Costa Rica on the other hand is still trying to hold off Honduras for the third and final guaranteed CONCACAF berth, so they have something to play for. A win clinches that berth for them, a tie and a Honduras win against El Savador tonight forces a tie for the spot.
  
  The U.S. will be without striker (and former BC Eagle) Charlie Davies, who was involved in a horrific one car accident early yesterday morning. Davis required five hours of emergency surgery and will likely miss the World Cup as a result. He was one of the lucky ones; one of the car's passengers did not survive the crash.



• NHL: Kings at Rangers, MSG 7 PM. I haven't yet watched too much hockey this year, but I'll try to catch a bit of this one. New Ranger (and former BC Eagle) Brian Boyle will face his former team in this one. The guy is 6'7" without skates on. The Kings feature Rob Scuderi who played for the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins last year, and the National Champion BC Eagles in 2001. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick is a local guy and attended the same prep school as former Ranger (and former BC Eagle) Brian Leetch. The Rangers have a defenseman named Dan Girardi, but I've yet to hear anyone in the NYC media make some sort of poorly conceived connection to the Yankee skipper.



• Yankees Classics: 1976 ALCS Game 5, YES 7 PM. The Chris Chambliss game.



• Lastly, the second episode of the new season of South Park airs on Comedy Central at 10 PM. This one's apparently about Butters, who happens to be my favorite character.

That's it for us tonight. See you in the A.M. In honor of the British coming, here's a little Paul Revere.

Off Night News, Notes, And Links

Another Yankee-less Thursday night is upon us. Here's stuff to ponder, read, and watch in the meantime:

Lost in the hoopla of the Jorge Posada-Jesse Carlson suspensions was that Shelley Duncan also received three games for his role in the melee. Shelley was certainly right in the thick of things, but I don't understand how he winds up with a sentence as lengthy as the chief participants. And what separates him from the other 60+ players who were involved in some way or another? Duncan is appealing.

The Save Gate 2 movement is losing traction. Craig from Circling the Bases has a good idea as to how it could be helped.

A.J. Burnett apparently has completed a class at the Joba Chamberlain School of Public Relations.

I wish Ken Rosenthal would go away. Joe Posnanski finds a dimpomatic way to dismiss him. Rob Neyer weighs in as well.

If Ken Davidoff thinks coke is a performance enhancer, he clearly wasn't watching the Yankee bullpen last month. (h/t IIATMS)

The Yanks and Cowboys may have collaborated to create Legends Hospitality Management, but the Yankees failed to impart to the Cowboys that you shouldn't sell the standing room only tickets until all the seats are sold out.

Former Yankee Nick Green is having quite a time for himself up in Boston. Not only did he get the benefit of the call on not one, but two bordeline strike threes last night before driving in the tying run, he's also banging Heidi Watney. Even Erin Andrews thinks Watney is hot. Green should go buy himself a lottery ticket before this lucky streak runs out.

I've spent my fair share of time here bitching about Michael Kay, John Sterling, and Suzyn Waldman. On the opposite end of the announcing spectrum is the Detroit Tigers' longtime voice Ernie Harwell. Harwell is 91 and announced last week that he has inoperable cancer. He was given a night of honor at Comerica Park last night. Jason at IIATMS has a look at it.

These pictures have nothing to do with the Yankees or sports at all, but I find them awesome. I'd post some of the pictures here, but our whole black and white thing wouldn't do it justice. Give them a look, and tell me the inroductory one doesn't remind you of the Wizard of Oz.

YES will be airing this Yankees Classic tonight, back from when A.J. Burnett was untouchable.

No NFL games this Thursday, but ESPN has college football. It'll be #20 Miami hosting #14 Georgia Tech in a big early season ACC match-up. Mark Teixiera will be pulling for the Yellow Jackets, A-Rod for The U. Who you got?

This will be the Hurricanes' second game of the year, both big prime time contests on ESPN. It's also the second consecutive ESPN Thursday night game for the Ramblin' Wreck. Meanwhile, my alma-mater will be on ESPN360 for each of the season's first four weeks. And I don't have access to ESPN360, so screw you ESPN and screw you Cablevision.

If you don't tune in for the game, do yourself a favor and tune it at halftime for the sublime "Ask Dr. Lou" segment with Lou Holtz. It's crazy old man comedy at its finest.

NHL pre-season contests have started. Both the Rangers and Devils are off tonight after facing each other last night. The Islanders play in Calgary tonight in an untelevised game. Meanwhile, my local team hasn't played in twelve years.

If you need an off night from sports, the incredible It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns to FX at 10 PM. Watch out for Green Man.

See you in the morning.

Yanks Go Bowling

Slow day around here. How about some news, notes, and a few links?

• The Yankees are going bowling. No, this isn't another team building exercise like the day of shooting pool in spring training. Continuing with the football obsession at the new Yankee Stadium, the New York Times is reporting that the "Yankee Bowl" is close to becoming a reality for the 2010 college football season. The game would be a lower tier bowl to take place between Christmas and New Year's and would pit the third or fourth Big East team against the seventh team from the Big 12. While this could offer area universities like Syracuse, Rutgers, or UConn a local bowl game, there isn't much else positive about this. Yankee Stadium is poorly designed for football. Bowl games are designed to be travel getaways. Cold weather bowl games suck. New York is not very pleasant weather wise in late December. Travel and lodging accomodations in the city are hard enough to come by during the holidays as it is. Bad idea.

• The Yankees' starter for tomorrow night's game is currently listed as "TBA". This a bit curious, as it would be Andy Pettitte's normal turn. The Yanks could go with Chad Gaudin, whose "normal" turn would be tonight. If Pettitte doesn't go tomorrow, Thursday's off day will push him back to Friday, a full week since his last start. Not a huge deal, as extra rest for a pitcher his age could be quite helpful this time of year and getting the pitchers on target for the right post-season slots should be something to be mindful of right now.

• In case you missed it in yesterday's preview, Ian Kennedy will start Game 2 of the International League Championship Series for Scranton tomorrow. He's likely to go three or four innings.

• High A Tampa and short-season A Staten Island both won last night, leaving both teams a single victory away from their respective league championships.

• Last night's fifth inning collision between Melky Cabrera and Chone Figgins marks the second time this season that Figgins has become physically entangled with a Yankee. Unfortunately for Melky, it also marked the second time this year he took a shot to the grapes. At the risk of dedicating too much thought to it, Melky seemed to be in a bit too much pain for someone wearing the proper equipment. On the heels of Adrian Beltre nearly becoming half the man he used to be last month, I would hope that Melky would be a little smarter than that.

• A couple of our friends also weighed in on the Freddy Guzman debate. Jason at IIATMS has an outlook far more optimistic than mine, while Joe Pawlikowski at RAB has a piece that falls somewhere in between.

Back with the preview in a bit.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Good morning Fackers. I've got a little extra hop in my step this morning, and it's not just because the Yankees continue to roll along about as well as we could imagine.

Tonight marks the return of college football. No sport will ever replace baseball when it comes to capturing my attention, but with the autumn-like weather that's settled in over the past few days, I've been anxiously awaiting the return of pigskin. It's been 238 days since God's own quarterback dispensed with Oklahoma and gave Florida their second National Championship in three years. The Gators were a record-setting, overwhelming, pre-season number one in the AP poll, and are the favorites to capture a third National Championship in four seasons.

ESPN has a doubleheader tonight. In the opener, The Old Ballcoach and his Cocks travel to Raleigh to face the Wolfpack, led by former BC coach Tom O'Brien. These same two teams kicked off last season. While the match-up itself isn't all that compelling, the game will be interesting in that it will mark Erin Andrews' return to work. Perhaps you've heard that America's Sideline Princess was the victim of a serious violation of privacy over the summer. Understandably, she's kept a low profile since then, and this will be her first public appearance outside of her tell-all at an Oprah taping last week.

The night cap features a much better match-up as the #16 Oregon Ducks visit the #14 Boise St. Broncos. It'll be the ugly uniforms against the ugly field. I'll likely have the CFB games on the tube with the Yanks game streaming on the laptop. Cut me some slack; it's opening night.

In an effort to somehow tie this back to the Yankees, I'll mention that much to my surprise and even more to my chagrin, I caught a commerical on YES earlier this week indicating that all Notre Dame home games will be replayed on YES Mondays this fall. I researched this a bit. Turns out it's a multiyear deal and includes the showing of other ND content on YES.

/vomits

As you may recall, I'm not particularly fond of Notre Dame, nor is Big Willie Style. The best thing that come of this deal as far as I'm concerned is that it allow me a second chance to watch BC's seventh consecutive victory against The Irish.

Certain teams, usually the ones that have been highly successful, are generally despised outside of their own bases. The Yankees. The Cowboys. The Lakers. Duke basketball. Notre Dame football. The Yankees have now had content sharing agreements with Manchester United and Notre Dame. They established Legends Hospitality Management in conjunction with the Cowboys in order to service their two new stadiums. They're certainly making it easier for the average fan to consolidate his vitriol to a few choice locations.

Okay, I promise: that's my only football post today. If you need a little help getting excited for the season, check out this post from a couple weeks back. Now back to baseball.

These Days Is Almost Gone

Good morning Fackers. It's another off day. While these are never enjoyable, the off day today and next Monday, bookending the Boston series, are functional in that they've allowed the Yankees to align their rotation just as they want it: lining up their three best starters for this series, skipping Joba to limit his innings, skipping Mitre because he's not a good pitcher, and getting Chad Gaudin some much needed work.

Yet these off days are also a harbinger of things to come. Last night was Game 121, meaning the season is now 75% over (74.7% for you math majors). We're less than two weeks away from rosters expanding, minor league seasons ending, and the pennant races hitting the home stretch. Summer's on its way out the door and it won't be very long before baseball isn't a daily luxury any longer (though of course, I hope that it is for the Yankees longer than it is for anyone else).

Already, as I drive home from work at night, I notice the baseball fields are empty. But yet when I get home, Pop Warner practices are in full swing in the fields across the stream behind my house. They seem to be ending a bit earlier with each passing night, as the daylight is fleeting. The Yankees just completed a series in which coaches and bench players were routinely seen in jackets and sweatshirts, on a field that has hash marks and yard markers painted on it. NFL camps are in full swing. I don't know if I'm football starved, or if it was just because the Yanks didn't start until 10, but I was bordering on excited to watch a meaningless Giants pre-season game Monday night.

College football, which I enjoy far more than the NFL, has its camps going as well, with most teams having one or two intrasquad scrimmages already complete. USA Hockey just concluded its orientation camp in preparation for February's Winter Olympics and NHL camps are only about three weeks away from kicking off.

In the meantime, it's still an off day, and we've got space to fill. As crazy as we are about baseball here in the northeast, they're likely crazier about college football in the south. Two years ago, as part of ESPN.com's E-Ticket (now Outside the Lines) series, Wright Thompson authored a feature about the south's love of college football. It's a great piece of writing, and one that I read again before last season and just recently in anticipation of the upcoming season. But it also reminds me of my own feelings about baseball, and the build up to spring training and Opening Day each year. So if you get bored with no Yankee baseball today, give it a read.

Soon, for the first time since the NBA finals wrapped in June, MLB won't be the only major sport that's in season. So enjoy these last few weeks where baseball has the national landscape to itself. These days is almost gone.

“This is not just a stadium for baseball”

That's what Lonn Trost thinks of the New Yankee Stadium:

"This is not just a stadium for baseball," Yankees COO Lonn Trost said. "It's a stadium for college and university football."

To refresh, this is Lonn Trost, the man whose fingerprints are all over the New Stadium and who was more responsible than anyone else for designing it. Got it? Now take a look at this:

See how well the football field fits into the dimensions of the baseball configurat... wait, I'm sorry, what's that? It doesn't fit at all and the dugouts might have to be filled-in during these games just to accomodate the corners of the endzones? Just look at how the stands unnecessarily jut away from from the 50 yard lines! I like what you did there, Lonn. There's hardly a good seat in the house!

You'd think that if someone with Mr. Trost's "appreciation of the history" of the Old Yankee Stadium might have thought of this beforehand, if they truly had wanted to play college football games there. Perhaps the need popped up after the Yankees' revenue projections fell short for this year and they are taking steps to cover their behinds just in case the economic conditions don't improve.

But the fact remains that it IS a Stadium just for baseball, which explains what it was explicity fucking designed for it without taking any other events into consideration. You can try to shoehorn a football grid into it or put a stage for a concert in centerfield, but it's going to be completely awkward because baseball parks aren't meant for anything else. Just like football stadiums weren't meant to house baseball games. Again, historically, this was done out of necessity. Now it's being done out of nostalgia and greed and I'm not sure which of those is worse.

November 2010... FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!!!1!

If you watched last night's game from the beginning on YES, then you probably experienced the excruciating half inning sit-ins by Rich Ellerson and Charlie Weis. The head coaches of the Army and Notre Dame football teams were there to promote the meeting between the two powerhouses of modern college football in November 2010, verbally excrete as many cliches as possible and slowly lull anyone watching the broadcast to sleep before three outs were recorded.

I have mixed feelings about having football games played in the New Yankee Stadium to begin with. The reason that they played football there in the past was out of necessity, since there wasn't a football stadium in the area. However, now there most certainly is, and by the 2010 season, there's going to be a brand new one in the Meadowlands (where Notre Dame already has plans to play Navy that year). It's yet another example of Lon Trost & Co. making misguided, nostalgic attempts to celebrate the history of the Old Stadium. You can acknowledge the past with out reliving it, Lon. This is a brand new billion dollar baseball stadium, they can play football in the brand new billion dollar football stadium across the river.

These guest visits were another issue all together. It was little more than self-congratulatory back slapping for the Yankees and the YES Network and served no purpose to the fans who tuned in to, you know, watch a baseball game. Why distract from a sporting event that's actually unfolding right in front of our eyes? They did nothing but promote an event that isn't going to happen for 16 months and figures to be totally lopsided, unwatchably boring or both when it's finally played. Save the date, folks!

There was already a press conference about the football game. Isn't that enough? Let's be realistic, no one is making plans for the game yet. Yes, it raised the awareness. But we are going to be battered over the head with promotions for the next year and third and most people aren't going to decide until that day or possibly during that game if they are going to watch it.

Especially after the amount of innings spent ignoring the action on the field with visitors in the booth yesterday, you'd think that YES would have refrained from doing two more today. Instead we got to hear Ellerson talk about his team's practice schedule and Weis go on about how he always wanted to be a Yankee announcer in the most lifeless drone ever heard in a broadcast booth. I can't imagine why that didn't work out for you Charlie.

Enough with the guests. We just want to watch the game.

Three Two To Ones

For the third day in a row the Yankees won a game by the score of 2-1. They are the first games of the year the Yanks have won while scoring two or fewer runs and they'd only notched two victories while scoring 3 runs or fewer before the All-Star Break. The odds of matching up a great pitching performance like the one put together by Andy Pettitte and the bullpen tonight to cover a weak offensive output are slim, and during the first few innings, it looked like the match-up was headed in an entirely different direction.

The first batter of the game, Brian Roberts, lofted a deep fly ball into the left field corner which barely stayed in the park. Up next, Nick Markakis blasted one into the home bullpen to make the score 1-0. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first, but David Hernandez won a 9 pitch battle with Robinson Cano to end the inning. They got on the board soon thereafter, though, with a solo shot by Eric Hinkse in the bottom of the second.

Despite the exciting start, the offenses stalled out.

Both Pettitte and Hernandez found their stride and cruised through the middle innings. Allowing three hits and three walks, Herdandez went six frames but threw 103 pitches, due in part to the 35 it took him to get out of the first. Pettitte gave up 6 hits, but compensated with two double plays and a season-high 8 strikeouts. He left mess in the 8th inning for Phil Coke to clean up, though.

With one out and men on second and third, Nick Markakis lined Coke's first pitch to Mark Teixeira, who fired an off balance throw to Jose Molina with Caesar Izturus heading towards the plate. Molina grabbed the throw across this body, and swept a tag towards the plate, just barely in front of the runner. The ball was nearly falling out of his glove, but he trapped it against the ground as Izturus' foot nearly knocked it out. Brain Roberts advanced to third on the play.

Facing Adam Jones, Coke uncorked a wild pitch past Molina, but the veteran catcher quickly tracked and down and fired to Coke covering the plate, who tagged Roberts on an extra wide slide towards home. Two pitches, two fantastic defensive plays, and the lead was preserved.

With it apparent that both Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes were likely unavailable, it wasn't clear who Girardi would call on to get big outs in the game. After Coke may or may not have hit Adam Jones with a pitch and got Aubrey Huff to fly out to center, our boy Alf was summoned from the 'pen to keep the game tied. Aceves got Melvin Mora to fly out to center and intentionally walked Luke Scott, before rookie Nolan Riemold flied to left for the third out.

A-Rod had the first chance to end the game in the bottom of the 9th, but he hit a flare right at Brain Roberts who had him played nearly straight away, behind second base. Hideki Matsui was next up. He took the first two pitches for balls, fouled the next three off and took the sixth one to the right field bleachers for a walk off HR.

It was the Yankees' 9th such victory this year (and 8th subsequent pie in the face - see comments) and it moved them to 15-11 in one run games. It's thanks to games like this that the Yanks continue to outperform their run differential and are now tied for first place in the AL East for the fifth separate time this season despite having gone just 16-17 within the division.

[Photos via ESPN/AP]