Scattershooting 12-15-13

by Bill Holmes

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great  

Skip Caray

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

"We didn't see hardly any sunshine today." That was a statement from one of our professional TV weathermen on the 5:00 PM newscast 12/9. Hope he learned more in meteorology classes than he did in English classes. He did have his jacket on so the weather must be improving.

I think I'm through. Been working off & on installing Linux Mint 16 (Petra) for the past two days. I'm now back to where I was with Mint 15 on Sunday. Also finally wiped out the last remnants of Windows. Totally Linux Mint now.

Just watched most of Kelly Clarkston's Christmas special. Good news, bad news. The girl can sing and so can guests Reba and Trish Yearwood. The music was great. Unfortunately the filler between songs was terrible. Why can't singers just give a concert for their specials instead of trying to be funny and cutesy?

For any of you who have listened to Rangers games on the radio, there is no doubt Eric Nadel deserves this Hall of Fame honor. Thanks for many enjoyable broadcasts Eric.

Today's top story - 

Oh damn, it appears that I missed the new improved Sound of Music last night (12/14). I caught the last couple of minutes when I changed the channel to watch the news. Unfortunately I didn't see any of Carrie Underwood's critically acclaimed acting.

I forgot to mention on Friday that my son Matt graduated from Golf Academy of America with an associates degree. He worked during the four semesters as well as finding time to keep up all his social activities. If you own or run a golf course or golf related business he's looking for a full time job. I didn't get any good pictures at the graduation but maybe his Mom did.

From your very proud dad, Congratulations Matt!

Interesting information. Your mileage may vary. -

Living Wage Calculator

I skipped last weeks recap due to installing new software on my PC. Here are a couple of items from what would have been the 12-8-13 recap.

And this isn't even the Texas branch of the family.

A new twist on Christmas lights?

This is either a bad choice of font or the most fun lights ever...

wjh

College Bowls 2013-14

by Bill Holmes 

The Ridiculous College Bowl Season

On Saturday, December 21, 2013 there will be the first four of 35 NCAA sanctioned division one a.k.a. Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college bowl games. The last game will be the BCS championship on January 6, 2014. To meet the strict participation requirements, a school must have six wins in their season. That is six wins in a 12 game schedule which I calculate to be approximately a .500 winning percentage. It is even possible for a team to play in a bowl with a 6-7 losing record. That is the high standard the colleges and the NCAA set to reward football programs. 

There was a time back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth that a bowl invitation was a big deal. It was a reward that consisted of a trip to a warm weather city with much wining and dining by the local bowl committees and chambers of commerce. There was probably a parade through downtown with a bowl queen and her court. Now you might get an invitation to beautiful Detroit for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Prior to 1970 there were about 10 bowls. The big four were the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls. The Sun, Gator, Tangerine and later the Liberty and Peach Bowls were the second tier games. With so few bowls around, they all got very good teams. A few other bowls popped up but didn't stick around long. There was even an off and on Bacardi Bowl that was held in Havana.

There was some bowl creep in the 1970's and 1980's but the real bowl bloat began in the 1990's. This coincides with the growth of ESPN and it's need for content. ESPN now televises almost all of the games and even started and now produces several of them. Here's a link to bowl history.

In 2013 there are 124 FBS teams and there are 35 bowl games. That means that 70 teams, 56%, go to bowls. Pretty elite company.  Most college bowls are no longer important or compelling but are merely made for TV events. Besides the preponderance of bowls the other change is that almost all now have a title sponsor. Some of the names are funny and/or embarrassing. I'm partial to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl which is played on a blue field.

 

I counted seven 6-6 teams and 14 teams with seven wins. I also counted only about ten games that I have any real interest in. Ten of the 14 SEC teams are in bowls so I'll probably watch most of them. I'm sure I'll watch more than ten or 12 games but it won't be must see TV. If I'm not busy and it's a choice between The Housewives of Beverly Hills or a bowl game, I'll watch football.

I am disappointed that the Florida Gators, South Florida Bulls and TCU Horned Frogs were so dismal this season that they couldn't even meet the low criteria for bowl play. 

Be sure to mark your calendar so you won't miss two unranked 7-5 teams square off in the AdvoCare V100 Bowl. 

One game that does mean something is the BCS championship game between the #1 ranked 13-0 FSU Seminoles from the ACC and the #2 ranked 12-1 Auburn Tigers from the SEC. The SEC has won the last seven titles but FSU goes into this game as the favorite. I have mixed emotions about the game. I am an SEC fan but I also root for my home state of Florida teams. I also have a son who is an FSU graduate so that probably tips the scale toward the Seminoles for me. I'm mostly hoping for a good competitive game that goes down to the last few minutes. Unfortunately we have to plow through 34 other bowl games in order to get to the only one that really counts.

Happy bowling.

wjh

 

Football Week 15 & 16

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter

I skipped last week's football update because the BillyJim47 central data center was going through a software update. This blog is now produced on Linux Mint 16. You will not be able to notice the difference because the author remains the same and my mental software has not been updated in many years. So, after that sidetrack, are you ready for some football?

Week 15 Recap

The football week started on Thursday night when the 2-10 Houston Texans traveled to the 3-9 Jacksonville Jaguars. This game was for last place in the AFC South as well as better position in the draft race. The Jags have been playing decent football of late and were looking for their first home victory in over a year. They finally did it with the first win at EverBank Field since 11/25/2012 by a score of 27-20. As poorly as Houston played it should have been an easier win. The Texans had two turnovers and were penalized 177 yards. Despite that, Houston outgained Jax 406 to 281 and had the ball almost eleven minutes longer. Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 103 yards and receiver Ace Sanders threw a 21 yard TD pass. The Texans got within four points in the fourth quarter but a late interception by the Jaguars allowed them to ice the game with a field goal with 25 seconds remaining. This was the Jags third straight win and four out of the last five after eight straight loses to start the season. They improve to 4-9. Next game at home against the Buffalo Bills. The official attendance was 60K in the 67K stadium but it looked like way more than 7,000 empty seats to me.

   

Saturday was the day for conference championship games and a few games by conferences that don't have championship games. Conferences with 12 or more football members can have a playoff game for the league championship. Of the six BCS conferences, the AAC and Big 12 do not have a playoff game. Why you may ask doesn't the Big 12 have a championship game? Because there are only ten teams in the Big 12. Now the Big Ten does have a playoff because there are 12 schools in the Big Ten. Got it? Mathematics is apparently not a strong suit of collegiate athletic conferences. Don't even think about the geographical anomalies.  

South Florida played a meaningless game at Rutgers and of course lost 31-6. The win by the Scarlet Knights did make them bowl eligible (barely) with a 6-6 record. The Bulls scored two field goals in the 2nd quarter, that was it for scoring. USF was outgained by over 200 yards and committed two turnovers. They finish the season with a dismal 2-10 record. Let's hope this is rock bottom and the Bulls can show significant improvement next season. The American Athletic Conference (AAC) will have a different and weaker membership next year. They will also lose their automatic bid to the BCS bowl games. 

The big conference championship games were in the SEC and Big Ten. The ACC game was pretty much a given that #1 FSU would beat Duke.

The SEC game was played first with the #5 Missouri Tigers vs the #3 Auburn Tigers. All tigers all the time. Auburn needed a win and then hope that #2 Ohio State lost in the later Big Ten game. In an exciting game Auburn beat Missouri 59-42. Not much defense here as Auburn outgained Missouri 677 to 534 yards. 545 of the War Eagle yards were on the ground with an incredible 303 rushing yards by Tre Mason.

 

In the Big Ten game it was #2 Ohio State vs #10 Michigan State. If the Buckeyes win they go to the BCS championship game, lose and the SEC champ goes. Well, just as I had hoped, OSU and coach Urban Meyers lost 34-24 to the Spartans. OSU led 24-17 in the third quarter but then MSU scored 17 straight points. It was beautiful. I've never liked Ohio State and dislike them even more now that Meyers is their coach. He didn't leave Florida in very good shape or under ideal circumstances. 

As expected, #1 FSU rolled over the #20 Duke Blue Devils 45-7. A tight Noles team got off to a slow start and there was no score in the first quarter. Then FSU got warmed up and it was game over. They scored the next 45 straight points before Duke finally scored with a minute left in the game. The Seminoles Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Jameis Winston was 19/31 for 330 yards and three TDs. He also had 59 rushing yards and another TD.

So the BCS championship matchup worked out perfectly. It will be between the #2 Auburn Tigers against the #1 FSU Seminoles. That puts the SEC in the big game for the seventh straight year. It also puts the home state Noles in the title game for the first time since 2001. They last won it all in 2000. The Tigers won it all in 2011. 

In Sunday's games we had a split. The ever declining Atlanta Falcons lost to the Green Bay Packers 22-21. The Falcons managed to do this despite leading 21-10 at the half and 21-16 after three quarters. That's right, they failed to score in the second half. It was a crappy game on a miserable Green Bay winter day. It was 9° with a -1° wind chill and light snow at game time. Atlanta falls to 3-10 and last place in the NFC South. The Falcons play the equally inept 3-10 Washington Redskins next in a home game. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers meanwhile beat the Buffalo Bills 27-6 in much warmer weather in Tampa. The Bucs have won four of their last five games and are now 4-9 for the season. The game was close statistically but the Bills had five turnovers. Tampa Bay next hosts the 9-4 San Francisco 49ers.

Week 16 Recap

The only college game on Saturday was the Army-Navy game. This hasn't been much of a contest lately but it is always exciting to watch the Corps of Cadets and the Brigade of Midshipmen. This years game was dominated by Navy 34-7. The Midshipmen gained 353 total yards with 343 on the ground and only 10 yards passing. It was Navy's 12th straight victory. They finished the year 8-4 while Army struggled to a 3-9 record. Being the father of a career Navy man and having grown up in a Navy town I have always rooted for the Midshipmen. I do wish the games were more competitive though. Thanks to all the members of the Corps and Brigade for their service.

The other major college news involved a little award known as the Heisman Trophy. In a rather lopsided finish, FSU quarterback Jameis Winston won with 2,204 votes. His margin of victory was 1,501 votes over the second place finisher. The voting results can be found here. It's interesting that Winston was completely left off 115 ballots, I suspect because of the alleged sexual assault charges that have now been dropped. Winston becomes the youngest trophy winner at age 19 and only the second freshman to win the award.

Jameis Winston

The only good news on Sunday was the inept Falcons win over the inept Redskins. Even this victory was a least partially a gift from soon to be Redskins ex-coach Mike Shanahan. With the score 27-20 in favor of the Falcons, Washington scored a TD with 18 seconds remaining in the game. A near automatic extra point kick and the score would be tied and probably OT. Nope, Mike apparently had another appointment so decided to go for two points and the win. The Redskins failed to convert and the mighty Falcons won 27-26. This was a game neither team deserved to win. Washington outgained Atlanta 476 to 243 yards but the 'Skins had seven turnovers. The Falcons are 4-10 for the season and now face the 10-4 San Francisco 49ers on the west coast.

 

Speaking of the 49ers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers found out SF is pretty good in a 33-14 home lose. The Bucs got to within six points at the beginning of the fourth quarter but then SF reeled off three straight scores, one on a TD fumble return. The 49ers dominated the statistics including an almost 10 minute advantage in time of possession. The Bucs fall to 4-10 and next travel to St. Louis to play the 6-8 Rams.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a real chance to extend their three game winning streak in a home battle of 4-9 teams. One of those teams is now 5-9 and it is not the Jags. They lose to the Buffalo Bills 27-20. Jax came back from a 20-10 halftime deficit to tie the score at 20 early in the fourth quarter. Buffalo scored again with 9:35 left in the game and then held on. The Jags had a chance to at least tie the game when they had a first and goal on the one with about 4:00 remaining. On third down they threw an interception in the end zone. Game over. Stats were close but the Jaguars had four turnovers. Jacksonville falls to 4-10 and next play their last home game of the season against the 5-9 Tennessee Titans.

 

As you may have noticed, all three of my teams have 4-10 records. Who will win the BillyJim47 futility trophy? They are all in a five way tie for third place in the draft. It appears that Houston has the inside track for the top pick followed by the Redskins. 

Only two more weeks of games since there won't be any playoffs for me. 

wjh

Scattershooting 12-01-13

by Bill Holmes

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great  

Red Barber

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

A little pirate humor -

11/25 - It appears the great D/FW bizzard of 2013 is pretty much a bust. The snow and sleet predicted looks a lot like rain. We had TV weather folks on duty all night and the morning news programs started early with extra reporters out searching frantically for sleet/snow/ice. So far they haven't found any. About 300 flights have been cancelled as a precaution. Methinks there is much ado about nothing.

The weather guys have switched from predicting doom to explaining why they blew the forecast. We are getting charts and graphs showing the difference between sleet, freezing rain and liquid rain. Of course they don't actually admit they got the forecast wrong, just documenting what didn't happen. They have mentioned that icy tree in Frisco at every weather segment since it's discovery.

Today (11/25) would have been Nana's 101st birthday. Sure wish she was around to love her grandkids and great grandkids.

11/26 - It appears we are all clear on the storm front. The morning news is back to normal. Only one weather man, we had a two member tag team yesterday, and two field reporters, down from the four frantically looking for ice on Monday. Still cold and breezy though.

This is going to get interesting. There are no FDA regulations for DNA testing companies yet the FDA has told 23andMe to stop selling their test kits. Claim it's a medical device. If that's the case, if the police want to test your DNA, ask for their FDA certification. Lots of other issues involved too.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/25/fda-tells-23andme-to-halt-sales-of-genetic-test/3698431/  

• 11/27 - Just flipped through all the local newscasts. There is a car chase going on south of Dallas. Guess what is on every channel. Yup, helicopter coverage of the chase.

I like it.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be sure to eat responsibly, ha yeah right. Dress appropriately, aka loose. No shopping allowed unless it's a beer run to 7-Eleven.

Despite the name, turkey is not the specialty at Squat & Gobble.

as you can see - 

Snoopy will fly! Winds OK in NYC.

Not particularly enjoying the new Kit Kat mail app.

A new release of my operating system to play with. Linux Mint 16 is available. It's working fine during my testing. Try it, it's free.

My new identity for the holiday season. 

 I just went to my mailbox for the first time since Wednesday. It being holiday shopping season, I expected to find a ton of junk mail. Not so, there were four pieces of mail and three were junk. Now don't look in my email in-boxes and spam folders. Those are overflowing. Times change.

wjh

Football 2013 - Week 14

by Bill Holmes

My recap of the only football games that matter

This proved to be an exciting and surprising week in football. 

Despite being finished with high school football for this season, there were still some Friday night lights. In the battle of Interstate 4, the 2-8 USF Bulls traveled the less than 100 miles from Tampa to Orlando to play the 9-1 #19 UCF Knights. Besides being an instate rivalry, it was an AAC conference game. With a win, UCF could lock up the league title. Should be an easy game right? So of course it wasn't. The Bulls played their usual good defensive game and this time also scored a few point. Alas it was not to be as the Knights won 23-20. The Bulls fell behind 13-6 in the first half. That usually spells doom, but USF came back. They actually took the lead early in the fourth quarter but couldn't hold on. UCF scored the final touchdown with about 5:00 left in the game. Total yards were even and South Florida won the turnover battle 5-2. So why couldn't they win? Because they don't know how. They can't make the big play when needed and Central Florida can. The Bulls fall to 2-9, 2-5 and next go to New Jersey to play more knights, this time the 5-6, 2-5 Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

As we move to Saturday we have two more mismatches on paper. As is usually the case this year my teams were the underdogs. First up we have the 4-7 TCU Horned Frogs hosting the 9-1 #9 Baylor Bears. Another supposedly easy game for the favorite that turned into a battle. Baylor eventually prevailed 41-38. The Frogs fell behind early and trailed by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. They scored with about 30 seconds remaining in the game to pull within three points but ran out of time. The Frogs outgained the Bears but also had four turnovers. This concludes TCU's very disappointing season. They finish with a 4-8, 2-7 Big 12 record. There will be no bowl game this year.

The next game was absolutely no problem for the favored team. In another instate rivalry game the #2 ranked 11-0 FSU Seminoles traveled the 150 miles to Gainesville to play the hapless 4-7 Gators. Florida was a 28 point underdog and the Noles covered that spread with a 37-7 win. The game was close for about 25 minutes and then FSU scored two TDs in four minutes for a 17-0 halftime lead. The score got to 27-0 before the Gators somehow found the endzone in the fourth quarter. The Seminoles outgained the Gators 456 to 193 yards. Jameis Winston, the Noles Heisman Trophy candidate QB, threw for 327 yards to inflate his statistics. This ends the Gators miserable season. They finished with seven straight loses, including one to a Division II team, to go 4-8, 3-5 SEC. It is the worst Gator football season in 34 years. This team broke numerous all-time records, all negative. Two offensive coaches have already lost their jobs with more changes very probable. All Gator fans can now look forward to next year and move on to basketball season. 

FSU goes to the ACC championship game in Charlotte against the 10-2 #20 Duke Blue Devils. The undefeated Noles go into the game ranked number one in the BCS polls. A win guarantees a spot in the BCS championship game in January. 

The SEC teams finished their regular season  this week. They did well in non-conference games with going 3-1. The biggest win was #10 South Carolina's win over #6 Clemson. In the conference games, many of which were rivalry matchups, there were no surprises except the Auburn - Alabama game. Speaking of BCS rankings, the game of the week pittted #1 ranked Alabama at #4 Auburn. The winner would take the SEC West title and a spot in the SEC championship game. There was a lot at stake in a much hyped game. Unlike what usually happens in these games, this one not only lived up to the hype it actually exceeded it. It was one of the most exciting big stakes games ever and it ended in a most bizarre manner. The whole game was good but it got ridiculous in the final minute. Auburn scored on a 39 yard pass play with 38 seconds remaining to tie the game. After the ensuing kickoff, amazingly 'Bama got to within long field goal range with one second on the clock. The 56 yard FG attempt was a little short and Auburn deep man Chris Davis caught the ball in the end zone. He then ran 100+ yards for the winning TD with no time on the clock. Auburn wins 34-28. Ecstasy for the Tigers, total shock fot the Tide. The lose knocks the Crimson Tide out of the SEC championship game and a chance to win a third consecutive national title. The #5 Missouri Tigers will play the #3 Auburn Tigers in the SEC championship game. I predict the Tigers will win. 

In the latest BCS rankings FSU moves into the #1 slot. Auburn moves up to #3 and Alabama drops to #4. There are three SEC teams in the top five, four in the top eight and seven in the top 25. In spite of all that, there may not be an SEC team in the championship game this year. We'll know all the bowl matchups after next weeks games. 

It was an 0-3 week for my college teams but there were several very exciting games. One more game for USF and my teams will be done. No bowl games this year.

There was better news in the pro ranks although I'm not sure wins are beneficial at this stage for cellar dweller teams vying for draft position. First up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended their three game win streak with a 27-6 lose to the Carolina Panthers. The Bucs had two field goals in the first quarter and then the offense apparently left the stadium. Nothing exciting with this game, although Cam Newton, former Auburn and current Carolina QB, got to keep the War Eagle celebrations going. The Bucs fall to 3-9 and next host the 4-8 Buffalo Bills. That should be exciting.

Next up the Jacksonville Jaguars exploded for 32 points in a 32-28 win over at the Cleveland Browns. That is the most points the Jags have scored in a game this year. It took a 20 yard pass play TD with 40 seconds remaining in the game to pull out the win. The Jags as usual lost the offensive statistical race as the Browns outgained the Jags by over a 100 yards although there were some highlights. Maurice Jones-Drew, the all-pro running back, threw an eight yard touchdown pass. He also had 77 yards rushing. Jacksonville is now at 3-9. The next game is at home against the even worse 2-10 Houston Texans in a nationally televised NFL Network Thursday night game. There will probably be dozens of people watching. 

In the late game the Atlanta Falcons beat the Buffalo Bills 34-31 in overtime. The game was played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the home of the baseball Blue Jays. The Falcons tied the game with 1:28 left in regulation. The game was tied at the half and at the end of three quarters as well as the end of regulation. Not sure, but the Falcons may be undefeated all-time in Canada. This win brings Atlanta to a 3-9 record. Their next game is at the frozen tundra against the 5-6 Packers. 

All three of my NFL teams are 3-9, that's 9-27 overall, a .250 winning percentage. In the race for the #1 draft pick Houson leads at 2-10. There are now five teams with three wins, including my teams, although Minnesota also has a tie which is like a half win.

My great year continues. Next week are the final regular season games and conference championship games for the colleges. After those contests, we'll know the BCS matchups and the teams in the 762 other bowl games. 

wjh