KRAC Blog

The trophy awarded to the winner of the Indiana-Michigan State game is the Old Brass Spittoon. I never knew that before this weekend. The Trojans Spartans (thanks, X) took the Spittoon home this season, which is probably a relief to them. For the Hoosiers this game looked like the start of a real rough part of the schedule; for Michigan State the Hoosiers must have looked like a place where they could gain some ground. Michigan State faces all four of the top Big Ten programs -- Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State -- and also has a pair of tricky non-conference games at Notre Dame and against Pittsburgh. Enjoy the Spittoon, fellas.

Mets and Yankees finish with identical 80-73 records, but you could make a case either way as to which team had the more disappointing season. The Yankees were old and injured. The Mets were killed by their bullpen-- in theory, one of the easiest things to fix. In a way going down to the wire the way they did seems worse, but either way it is a melancholy thing to know that I'll never see a game at either of those ballparks again.

The Bills are 4-0. Last week I thought, well, it's not like they are 3-0 the way the Cowboys are 3-0. This week the Cowboys are 3-1. As of this morning there are now four undefeated teams in the league. The Giants had their bye, Baltimore had theirs last week and play tonight. Tennessee is the only other 4-0 team. It is early yet, but I'd like to be in a position to start taunting Mercury Morris. I am really starting to like this team. Trent Edwards has a rifle. Marshawn Lynch is running over defenders like they are Canadian pedestrians. One way to look at the fact that the Bills have had to come from behind is that they've had to come from behind playing the dregs of the league, but I'm a glass half-full guy. This team knlows it can come back from behind, and knowing that is going to come in handy later in the season.

Nils Lofgren, who you'd think would be an Oreoles fan, has written a farewell to Yankee Stadium. It seems peculiar to me that he says his wife saw Babe Ruth-- did Nils really marry someone that much older than he is?

GJA, showing the club colors (colours?) Down Under at the Sydney Marathon on his way to a family record 4:32.37. That's a 10:24 average mile pace-- he went out 2:05.06, and ran the second half at 2:27.41.

A game and a half back. These Mets are just toying with us. Like the "Can't anybody here play this game?" Mets of Casey Stengel this team seems bent on demonstrating that it knows all kinds of ways to lose. To be sure, their specialty is the blown save, but this is frustrating stuff to watch.

Meanwhile, the Bills played like they were surprised the Raiders bothered to show up. The game never really felt out of reach, but you got the sense that they could easily have run out of time. If Herm Edwards were coaching, that would be the analysis, and it seems fair to say it here, too. No way this one should have come down to a field goal with nothing left on the clock. 3-0 is 3-0, I suppose.

2-1 is what the Hoosiers are, and unlike the Bills, who have the Rams and the Cardinals next up Indiana has Michigan State followed by the Golden Gophers. Ball State came to play, and Indiana has a tough looking Big Ten schedule to get through. This has been another edition of the sports I follow because I don't have enough frustration in my life already.

Interesting list of the top 100 sports venues. I'm a little surprised that I haven't been to, or at least by, more of these, but I was happy to see PNC Park at #78: "Because a team that gets almost everything else wrong got everything right with this, the finest sports facility in the country. Because it is the perfect blend of architecture and environment. Because if the Pirates ever produce any historic moments here, this baby is going to wind up in the top 10."

10 Books Not To Read Before You Die.

"9: Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien
The best I can say about this book is that it was a very useful tool at school for helping to choose your friends. Carrying a copy of Tolkien’s monstrous tome was the equivalent of a leper’s bell: ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ I knew I would have nothing in common with anyone who had read it. Their taste in music, clothes, television, everything was predetermined by their devotion to Gandalf. Without a shadow of a doubt, in a few years, these people would be going to Peter Gabriel gigs and reading Dune."

Obama Names Musician Rick Astley as Running Mate. He had a big fat hit, it was ghastly.

Nice to see that the Jets are still the Jets. I like Cassel's quote: "He's a great quarterback, and it was fun to compete against him. I remember watching him growing up."

My hunch is that New England will improve. All the chatter about the AFC East being wide open following Brady's injury was probably premature, but I like Buffalo's schedule for the next three weeks. Over the same span the Pats get the 'Fins, Niners and Bolts, the last two on the road.

Best game of the weekend was UB/Temple, something I never thought I'd hear myself say. Indiana was idle Saturday, but is 2-0. The Hoosiers take on Ball State this Saturday, Michigan State the week after.