Still Have Not Recovered

Last weekend, I attended my first-ever professional sporting event that was played in an OUTDOOR stadium. Hard to believe? Well, try living in Minnesota where the Metrodome hosts the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings and that's basically the only professional entertainment we get!

I was lucky enough to go on this trip to Kansas City, where the Vikings were heading down to play the Kansas City Chiefs in their backyard. I played softball with a few guys this summer in P-Town and they had extra tickets, so I basically said, "fuckin'-A".

We left pretty early on our trip on Saturday morning, leaving the friendly confines of P-Town at 8:00 in the morning. We took a mini-bus, enough to hold around 15 people comfortably and it even included a nice table that ran down the middle of the seating area. We had to make a few stops on our way, but other than that, it should have been smooth sailing on I-29 to Kansas City.

We immediately began drinking in the morning, and while the mini-bus itself did not have a bathroom, we had to make several stops on the interstate for "potty breaks." Unfortunately, things seemed to be against us as the trip progressed. First, one of the guys who I played ball with, his wife was falling ill due to the flu. I'm already thinking, "great ... we're all going to get sick" and that'll put a damper on the weekend.

While we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska to eat lunch, I received a phone call from our other 8th grade football coach saying that we had won our first game. I was pretty upset that I wasn't there to see that, but also, I was fired up thinking that we can take this motivation into our next game. After we ate lunch, the word was that the sick woman didn't want to go any further on the trip. We all sat and mulled around about what our possibilities were, but we convinced the woman that we could continue on for another hour and see how things were at that point.

We made it to a truck stop on I-29 that was located just east of Nebraska City, Nebraska for another piss break. Just then, a turn for the worse: while we fired up the bus, the alternator belt shredded due to a locked up AC. We were stuck with nobody to fix it on a Saturday afternoon. For the next 6 hours, we were on cell phones, calling all major outlets of rental vehicles all up and down the interstate to find some suitable transportation. Meanwhile, I busted out my lawn chair and tailgated in the truck stop parking lot.

At least I had enough time to watch Michigan take down Penn State!

We finally got suitable transportation from the Kansas City airport, when a van travelled all the way up and picked us up at around 8:30 that evening. We all piled into the van, literally crammed from all the luggage and so forth, and hauled off to Kansas City. From that point on, we probably had the best road trip of all time, riding along with our Indian (dots, not feathers) driver "Nick". We had such a blast: drunk off our minds and hauling ass down the interstate. We finally didn't pull into Kansas City until 10:30 that evening, dead-ass tired and ready for a long day of tailgating the next day.

Again, waking up early on Sunday morning, it was a perfect day for football. Despite it being the first day of autumn, weather forecasters were predicting a warm day. We took the same van and drove to the stadium, probably seeing one of the most incredible sights that I've ever seen: Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, both in one giant parking lot. It was literally tailgator's paradise, covered by a Sea of Red with small specks of Purple. It was truly surreal.

We drank all morning, eating brats off the grill and mixing it up with Chief and Viking fans alike. When gametime came around, there were about 78,000 people at Arrowhead to watch the Chiefs home-opener. Despite a lack-luster game between the two teams, it was extremely fun to watch. If you didn't know, the Vikings lost (or basically pissed it down their legs), 13-10.

But the tough part was walking out of the stadium. All the Chiefs' fans had to say was "that we kicked their asses!" was complete bullshit. Since I was dressed in Viking regalia, I was the main focus of a lot of hate, but I was tuned enough to throw it right back. It was an excellent time.

We returned to our hotel to pick our stuff up and got a new mini-bus to take us all back to Minnesota. We left K.C. at around 4:00 that afternoon and didn't get back home until 12:30 Monday morning, finally hitting the sack at 1:00 a.m. Still now, even though it's Thursday evening, I'm still feeling the effects of the lack of sleep and the general feeling of alcohol running its course through my body.

If you have the chance to attend a professional football game outdoors, I highly suggest it! Even though I'm a hurting unit, I would recommend doing what I just did!

Fantasy Football Update -- Week 2

Minnesota League: 0-2 ... just plain lousy. My "coaching ability" sucks and even the picks I make (who's going to win what) aren't that great either.

South Dakota League: 2-0 ... actually surprising, but it helps to have a stud in Tom Brady throwing the ball deep and connecting with Randy Moss!

I really haven't made a lot of roster moves on both of those teams. It's still early and I really cannot judge how players are going to play within the first couple of weeks of the season. It would just be my luck that I'll go out and pick up a dark horse, then a few weeks later he goes down with a knee injury.

In the past couple of years, I've been burned on injuries to key players, but somehow, I make it deep into the playoffs. Last year, it was Donovan McNabb, who was a complete stud until he blew his out ... now it seems like ol' Drew Brees isn't having one of those seasons we'd all hoped for, even though he isn't injured! Lucky for me, I've got back-ups who can fill those spots.

Just My Luck

And I thought my first couple of weeks back on the job was boring.

Yesterday, we took our annual jaunt back across state lines to participate in the 8th grade football jamboree in Mad-Town. Although our players assured me and the other coach that they were "damn ready" to play some ball, I think most of them were worried about how cold it was.

Sure, it was a bit nippy out that morning. They were more worried about keeping their hands covered by their sweatshirts than they were about playing football.

I could immediately see that they didn't want to play, quick to point out and comment on how big our opposition was. That fear carried over into the game in which we couldn't net ONE SINGLE YARD. Our 1st Team offensive line gave way like an dike during Hurricane Katrina and our quarterback was running for his life. On defense, we gave up a touchdown on the very first play and ever since then ... everybody hung their heads.

We played two teams and we simply got bent over. I'd never been so disgusted and/or embarrassed in my life. We gave them a pretty good ass chewing afterwards, giving them the business.

We've got 23 players now and I'll bet only 3 or 4 play with real "heart," meaning that they really want to rip someone's head off. The others just play because they think it's the acceptable thing to do.

We all knew that this class of boys aren't that athletic and don't know their left from their right, but it's downright ridiculous.

At least I'm getting paid ... and I hear that there were fights going down back at a softball tournament! Damn, just my luck ... wish I was there instead!

NCAA '07 Update

I've finally finished my NCAA '07 "Campus Legend" Mode after a long sabbatical from actually playing the game in months. I picked it up half-way through Year 3 (junior season) and went the distance with the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.

Note: the difficulty was set on "All-American," second-hardest difficulty behind "Heisman."

As a team, this is what I accomplished:

• Four straight 13-0 seasons -- 52 wins, no defeats.
• Four-time Big Ten Champions
• Four-time BCS National Champions

As a "created player," this is what I accomplished (wide receiver, #83)

• 2006: 97 receptions, 1830 yards, 18.9 average, 21 touchdowns
• 2007: 128 receptions, 2252 yards, 17.6 average, 30 touchdowns
• 2008: 134 receptions, 2515 yards, 18.8 average, 41 touchdowns
• 2009: 182 receptions, 2967 yards, 16.3 average, 38 touchdowns
• Total: 541 receptions, 9564 yards, 17.7 average, 130 touchdowns

Awards given in 2006:

• Freshman All-American
• 1st Team All-American
• 1st Team Big Ten
• Best WR (Biletnikoff Trophy)

Awards given in 2007:

• 1st Team All-American
• 1st Team Big Ten
• Heisman Trophy
• Maxwell Trophy
• Best WR

Awards given in 2008:

• 1st Team All-American
• 1st Team Big Ten
• Maxwell Trophy
• Best WR

Awards given in 2009:

• 1st Team All-American
• 1st Team Big Ten
• Heisman Trophy
• Maxwell Trophy
• Best WR

Team Records:

• Most Points: 119 vs. Montana State
• Sacks (game): 19 vs. Montana State

Individual Records Set by "Created Player," #83 (*= Dynasty Record):

• Receptions (game): 19
• Receptions (season): 182*
• Receptions (career): 541*
• Receiving Yards (game): 358 yards
• Receiving Yards (season): 2967 yards*
• Receiving Yards (career): 9564 yards*
• Receiving TD's (game): 6
• Receiving TD's (season): 41*
• Receiving TD's (career): 130*

I also set 5 other Dynasty records with other individual players:

• Sacks (season): 50*
• Sacks (career): 50*
• Rushing TD's (season): 38*
• Passing Yards (season): 5896 yards*
• Passing TD's (season): 83*

My "created player" graduated and was voted to the Golden Gopher Hall of Fame. The "player" graduated with a degree in "Division 1-AA Nicknames" (which helped the player with speed and catching abilities throughout the 4 years of college ball).

I passed up the Pro Draft and the option to import my player into Madden 07 (which I do not own), so I decided to take a coaching career. Southern Methodist University was my choice, located in Dallas, TX. So far, after the worst recruiting class, I'm 2-0 and going to face #17 Arkansas.

A Long Week

When it seems like I get back into the swing of things, it all seems to slow down. Although I'm not complaining too much since Friday is only a couple of hours away, this week just seemed to drag on.

I'm finally starting to figure out our new "gradebook" systems that our school district just recently purchased. Although I haven't graded anything yet (since I really didn't know what the world was going on at first), I've kept the assignments at a minimum, so when it comes time to finally get some grades put in, I won't have so much to do!

My main complaint about the first couple of weeks of school is our network. I cannot fully blame the school's network, because over half of the problem is the students. Either they lose or forget their passwords (then I have to run down to the Tech Office and get them reset) or they do not have the proper "write" privledges to save their work onto the network (long story -- the school board decides to give each student 50 pages of paper for printer use ... anything after that they charge a student $5 for an extra 50 pages ... so I decided instead of printing their work off, they submit it digitally). It's always quite the hassle, especially now that I'm teaching 5th graders and they ALWAYS seems to lose everything, including their minds.

Football practice has also been long and unrelenting -- coming up with my new strategy of running three different plays a day (also in different formations) really has taken a toll on my energy levels at the end of the day. We're currently gearing up for the annual South Dakota Football Jamboree against teams across the border, in which we'll probably get our butts kicked by some bigger schools. But through today, we've successfully learned (and retained) 5 different running plays (also with variations, such as motion and reverses) and added 3 new plays today that require pulling of the guards.

We also learned 5-6 passing plays, since our players seem not to know what routes they should run, but we've got them down COLD. But again, we're a run-first offense and that'll probably take up 80% of our plays down the stretch.

Overall, our team conditioning is getting better, but we're still a long ways from making to where the players can play through the 4th Quarter.

Tomorrow night is the big rivalry game for our varsity boys, playing a town 25 miles away and on top of that ... playing for a traveling trophy. There's always something about playing for a trophy that makes the game a little bit more special. Unfortunately, our boys have been without the trophy for the last 4 years and based on what I've been hearing, we won't be bringing it back to the friendly confines of our own school in the near future.

Then sometime Saturday, I'm going to have to write up a Week 2 Analysis for the MN Fantasy Football League. The all-new AKE Polls is a hit, along with Sean's new Coaches Poll, in which I was surprised how close they were in comparison after Week 1. We must be doing something right!

I'm actually using a mathematical equation for my polls, but I may have to do some more tweaking to it for a nice, easy transistion after the Week 2 games have been played out. But, I think I've got it narrowed down where it will work throughout the season, all the way up to the Championships.

Win Some, Lose Some

*sigh*

Michigan loses once again, to the Ducks of Oregon. Two straight losses at The Big House. Next Saturday, it's the equally-woeful Irish of Notre Dame. If the Wolverines decide not to play defense and lose three straight at Michigan Stadium, I'm thinking there's a coaching change in the near-future.

But how about those Vikings?! The defense is as stingy as I've ever seen it, probably since the glory days in the late-1980's when stars like Keith Millard, Scott Studwell, and Joey Browner reigned-supreme on defense. Obviously, the offense needs work with the inexperienced Tavaris Jackson at quarterback, but wow ... that catch and run from Adrian Peterson in the 4th Quarter ... that was the first time in years that I actually went nuts in front of a television.

In the World of Fantasy Football, hindsight is killing me in the MN Fantasy League ... it's all about the I should haves ... but that's what makes it so good. I fell in Week 1 to a divisional opponent and that hurts, but there's 14 more weeks to go until playoffs.

In the SD Fantasy League, I'm pulling away with a huge victory, thanks in part to guys like Tom Brady and Marvin Harrison. Overall, I'm going to have to make a few minor changes to my rosters in Week 2 in order for my teams to pull off some huge points.

But I have to give it up to Sean for finding such a great fantasy site at fleaflicker.com ... I love the coach's ratings (all depending on who you start and how many points they score) and who doesn't love the divisional set-up that we have. I introduced the all-new AKE Polls, putting a new college twist on the league and seeing who's ranked how and where, using a secret formula that I'm currently tweaking.

A Week of Torture

Ever since Michigan's loss to Appalachian State last Saturday, it's all about how it's the biggest upset in college football history.

1. Fine, it's an upset. Appalachian State is the current 2-time D-1AA (new FCS) Champions. Sure, they're good.
2. Fire Lloyd Carr? Are you nuts? Seriously, who in the world says that they should fire one of the most successful coaches in Michigan football history? On the other hand, I can see their point ... the last few bowl games have been disasterous and the Ohio State Buckeyes have their number. Keep Carr and it'll pay off.
3. Dropping from #5 in the nation to #26, the biggest drop in the AP standings in decades.
4. Sheets of paper taped to my classroom door and messages scrawled on my whiteboard in my classroom. Everybody knows of my un-dying loyalty to Michigan and I sure paid for it this week.
5. A Sports Illustrated cover. Hopefully the Curse will take effect and hit Appalachian State HARD.

It's just been a Week of Suck. My neighbor at school is a die-hard Iowa Hawkeye fan and I sure heard it from him. I'm also pretty sure that Wilbur and Alty are taking it pretty hard also.

Tomorrow afternoon, Oregon comes to the Big House to take on the Blue. I'm sure the Wolverines will come out firing, proving everybody that they are still a top-tier team. Let's hope so, I'm getting sick of it all already.

Bud Grant? Not Quite...

I'll admit, I was preparing for a piss-pounding on Thursday afternoon. After we, as players and coaches, stepped off the bus -- it started to drizzle and for some reason, I felt hope. I had always played my best games in the rain and maybe, JUST MAYBE, my feeling could hopefully rub off on my guys.

"Coach R" and myself got them all kinds of fired up, giving them the pre-game speech of pre-game speeches. Some excerpts:

• "If you see a pansie light blue jersey, you hit 'em!"
• "Knock the livin' piss out of them!"

I even called one of my player an "idiot!", because he spit on my playbook. By that time, I was pretty fired up and into the game itself. Our offense was solid right away as we pushed down the field and scored right away (we play a scrimmage format -- 10 plays total, 40 yards). Our running game was pretty good, but I have a dancer as a running back (he thinks he's Barry Sanders) and again, slower than slow receivers.

We played a total of 4 series, or a total of 40 offensive and 40 defensive plays. I was extremely pleased on how our defense played (I just wish we could stick with our 1st team defense, but we have to play everybody). The opponent's offense played out of the "Maryland I-Formation." As long as we stayed home, we made some big plays.

When the dust settled ... or when the lightning started to brighten the already-overcast sky, we left the scrimmage tied at 3 touchdowns scored each. Overall, I was pleased but we need to make major strides in terms of actually knowing the plays (the 3rd and 4th offensive series were disasterous), so starting next Tuesday, I'm re-scheduling our practice sessions and we're only going to run 3 plays in different formations -- run 'em to death until they're perfect.

And of course, our major problem: nobody shows up to practice, again! Yesterday at the scrimmage, everybody was there, all 22 players. Today for our conditioning day, only 15 showed up. Heads are going to roll on Monday afternoon and some guys may sit during our next scrimmage on Monday. Extremely dissapointed.

But everything's building up to the last game of the season, when we take on those pricks from South Dakota. Man, I hope by that time we can bring the chains of Hell upon them, especially the crap they put us through the last couple of years. I'm already fired up.

Preparing for a Pounding

I just don't know what to think of our 8th grade football team this year.

For the first time in 3 years of coaching 8th graders, I've finally got an offensive line -- in terms of size. As for speed, well -- that's one attribute that we're LACKING.

Our conditioning is bad, our footwork is worse. We've got players who think that they can miss practices and figure they'll start during games. On our roster, we've got 22 players. The prior three weeks of practice we've averaged 14 players. Sure, there's guys gone during the summer, involved with the State Fair or family vacations. Today, we had 21 players show up -- the other person is out with a foot injury, which is excusable.

I've got receivers who don't know passing routes ... and I'm not kidding -- I got a question the other day: "what's an 'out' pattern?" That's what we're doing right now, buddy. You've already done it twice, I would say.

Yes, we are mentally weak. They don't have the football expertise that my previous teams have had in the past. They have no idea what an option is, no idea what a counter or a trap is, no idea what a bootleg is.

With all this, I'm learning also, forcing myself to take a different approach to coach. Our new varsity head coach makes it quite difficult this year as he's incorporating the middle school into his offensive and defensive scheme of things, something that I don't agree with. I see the genious in his playbook, but expecting 7th and 8th graders to run the play to full potential? Hardly. I can see why we should prepare the 8th graders as they become freshmen next season, but I wish I could have had it my way this year. I had a pretty solid playbook last year, running I-Form and Wing formations and I wanted to go deeper into the Wing-T offense this year.

But all I want is for all these guys to play to their full potential and they're simply not giving it. Ask them to give 100% every play ... and I get about 60% in return. There's no enthusiasm, no willingness to hit, nothing.

It's tough as a coach to keep a positive attitude in situations like this and I'm constantly searching to find the right buttons on these players that will make them play to their full potential. Tomorrow's our first game and in the morning, we're going to have a "chalk talk" for my specialty players. Hopefully we can get something out of this, but based on today's practice, our guys have a 5-second memory.

Yeesh...!

The Start to the Third Year

Tuesday was the start of my Third Year in the district and it seemed like I never left, as in there was simply no summer vacation.

Same people stopped in to say hello, same people stopped in to check their e-mail or whatever prior to the start of the school day. It was almost eerie, thinking that the months of June, July, and August never occurred!

But as the day wore on, I was actually more mentally prepared than I thought. I was confident in my tasks, confident as I presented my new classroom management plan to the students, and overall I just had a better understanding of the goings-on inside the school itself. It's just a shame that this will probably be my last year here.

Tuesday and today were kind of rough because I'm simply not used to the fact that I have to put in 11-12 hour days now, something that my body and my mind have to get used to again. Although I was focused throughout the day, my body was wearing down slightly, but now, it seems like I'm getting used to my workload and my recovery times are a little bit quicker than normal. I can probably get credit to all that softball I played this summer!

But this year, I'm one year wiser, mentally I'm more mature in my profession, and already I've got students questioning my new-found seriousness this year. My second year I came down exceptionally hard on everybody due to my past situation, but this year, I'm more laid back, but again -- serious.

Nothing huge has happened yet in the first couple of days of school, except that I've been getting mobbed by seniors who want to be my student assistant. I've never had an assistant before because my thinking is: "what's the point?!", but I got somebody to help me out during the 6th hour of the day (when I have 5th graders) and he's been a pretty decent help so far. It's kind of amazing how much stuff that I have to do in a day (and I want it all done before I leave for home) and this guy really picks up the slack in my day.

Tomorrow and Friday should breeze by as I am looking forward to this weekend for a little rest.

Insomnia

I just love these nights in which I dream of something completely weird, wake up, think about it for a the next few minutes, then forget entirely what was the weird thing to begin with. Now, I'm wide awake at a quarter to five in the morning, head buzzin' and my gut achin'.

It's probably a nice combination of sun and bad food from yesterday, as I drove back out to the lonely reaches of South Dakota to visit old college friends and participate in once again the South Dakota Fantasy Football League, using Yahoo! Fantasy Sports for the second straight year.

This is probably my fifth or sixth year in playing with the same group of guys that I've known from college. During draft days, it is usually the only time I get to see them all, catch up a little bit, and find out who's got the most kids (or who is pregnant again). It's crazy!

I spent the afternoon yesterday golfing 18 holes with Rick, a die-hard Chicago Bears fan who's had himself some setbacks in terms of cheering for the wrong team. He's already brain-washed his oldest son (who's probably 4 years old) in thinking that the Bears are the best team EVER. Ashton would parade around the house, wearing his #8 Rex Grossman jersey, constantly demeaning the Vikings whenever he could. It was downright funny as hell when he would point and say, "The Vikings stink!"

Sitting here, I'm probably just a little nervous about school starting tomorrow. It'll be my Third and Final Year in teaching in this school district and who knows where the path will lead me next. Luckily for me, I've already been networking a little bit, getting my feelers out there and finding what the job market is in store for me, but overall, I'm not too worried.

I've got some short-term goals laid out for the rest of 2007 and hopefully I can achieve most or all of them before the year is out:

• Loans: This fall, I should have a couple of loans paid off once my football coaching check cashes in, bringing relief to my already-strained-budget. I will also have taken care of my Sony Handycam (the digital camera I used for my CPI project).
• Football: Hopefully, I can win at least one scrimmage against an opposing team this year in 8th grade football. Again, not too optimistic (we'll be running through our offensive playbook vigorously on Tuesday and Wednesday), hoping that our kids can find some motivation to actually play the game of football (and show up for practice).
• CPI: I really want to start a new, original project -- complete with screenplay and actors who are willing to donate the time. This'll be tough and difficult to accomplish, but I though the same thing with "The Owl Garden" documentary. With school starting tomorrow, my time to sit and get things done are greatly diminished.
• Keep on Rockin': Last fall, I was miserable due to the personal crap I went through, but this year, I had one of the best summers that I could remember. It's all just going to carry on over through the school year (although I'm sure I'll be bitching about my job quite a bit) and hopefully I can finish my school year with a positive outlook when I look for another job.

Today is going to be rough ... the clock's just past five in the morning and I already see a nap in my foreseeable future. I might just head back to bed for a little bit, take my Labor Day nice and easy, and get ready for the Third Year.

Football, Part II -- The Highs and The Lows

Being involved in coaching the past couple of weeks and watching our high school varsity team practice, I can fully say that I'm 100% involved in the sport. Earlier this summer, it was about softball, but as the weather becomes a bit cooler and everybody starts talking Super Bowl and fantasy football drafts, you cannot avoid it. The rip of the cadence, the popping of the pads ... ooh, yeah ... football is back!

Last night, our varsity played their first game, a non-conference game. The weather was damn-near perfect for a football game and the result was even better -- a 19-6 win on our part. Our offense looked solid in which we scored on our first two possessions, but it quickly became a defensive battle after that.

A big question mark for our boys was our offensive line, but they prevailed in such a way that it opened up big holes for our running backs to pick up yardage in chunks. Other than that, I was disappointed in our pass defense, in which it seemed like our defensive backs were slower than slow. In the second half, the opponent really exploited that weakness, but our rush defense really kept them in check.

That opening win for our own gridiron gang may be our lone bright spot in our season, and on a personal note, at all levels of competitive football. We will soon be facing conference opponents (like next Friday night) and combine that with my under-achieving 8th grade team, it'll be a tough season to bear. Hopefully, they will prove me wrong.

At the other levels of football ... well ... who can say anything more about my beloved University of Michigan Wolverines losing their home opener to Appalachian State, 34-32. I guess it was fortunate for me that I DON'T get the Big Ten Network (the only channel that was carrying the game) because I probably would've pulled out all of my hair (of what's left of it) in a fit of rage. I spent most of my afternoon watching the Virginia Tech-East Carolina game, eagerly awaiting updates from Rece Davis from ESPN on what was going on.

With the 4th quarter looming and the Wolverines down by only five points, I began to receive phone calls from students asking me "what the world was going on?" I told them all not to panic ... and sure enough, Michigan running back Mike Hart pulls off one of the most impressive runs I've seen in a long time to give the Wolverines the 32-31 lead with just a few minutes remaining in the game.

Later on, as I nervously watched the ESPN ticker at the bottom of the screen, it soon popped up that Appalachian State was up 34-32 on the result of a field goal. Time was dwindling with less than a minute remaining, when Michigan quarterback Chad Henne hooked up with a receiver on a long bomb, inside the opponent's 20-yard line. In comes the Michigan kicker to save the day ... but lo' and behold ... all hopes are dashed for a come-from-behind win when Appalachian State blocks the field goal (and from what I heard later, that was the SECOND blocked kick of the day).

Ever since then, on every channel that I've been flipping through, they all have to just keep twisting the knife. Even when I'm watching the NASCAR Busch Series race at California ... let's bring it up. Okay, fine ... the #5 team in the nation lost.

I got to give it up to Appalachian State. Analysts are griping about how Michigan should have rolled over the obvious weaker opponent, but App. State has won the past two Div. 1-AA (I don't care what they call it now ... it's still going to be 1-AA to me) and their offense was simply potent. Michigan lost a lot on defense from the year before due to graduation and the pro draft and nobody can expect the Michigan offense to pick up the slack.

The National Championship is out of reach ... but I can always hope for the Big Ten. Please, please, don't make me cheer for the Gophers!

At the professional level -- nobody's giving the Vikings much of a chance. Sports Illustrated is projecting a 6-10 record for the boys in Purple, but I'm more optimsitic than that ... I'm predicting 8-8. On a personal note, I will be seeing the Vikings live for the first time in a couple of years as I'm heading down to Kansas City to watch my first ever professional sporting event that is played outdoors, having being accostumed to the Metrodome my entire life. Hopefully later on I can expand my horizons a little further with a trip out to Denver at the end of the year.

At the fictional level -- I've finally dusted off my old copy of NCAA Football '07, taking the Gophers (I had the pick them, I "created player" wasn't good enough for the top 30 teams) from where I left off to their 3rd straight National Championship. It was a banner year in terms of winning massive amounts of accolades and hardware. I think a Gopher took up all of the spots for 1st Team All-America except for 3, including bringing home the Maxwell, Walker, Bednarik, Rimington, Groza, Best QB, Best Wide Receiver, Best Tight End, Best Offensive Line, and Best Linebacker awards. It was nuts.

I thought it was all going to come to an end when I faced off against Texas in the National Championship, when I left for halftime in a deficit, 28-7. But through a miracle, I held them scoreless in the second half and came back to win my 3rd in a row, 38-28. My created player is now considered a legend, breaking almost every receiving record imaginable. Also, I decided to pass up the pro draft and come back for the senior season. At the end (with a 4th championship, no less), since I don't own Madden 07, I will probably continue the Dynasty in a coaching capacity, taking a lowly team and bring them back to prominence (I'm thinking SMU -- a program which raised stars like Eric Dickerson -- which basically died during the "Death Penalty" in the late '80's due to mulitple NCAA infractions).

Football. The Highs and the Lows. This season will probably kill me before it's over.