You have been given a free car with two spitulations. First, it must be American made. Second, it must be a sedan.

What do you choose?

For me two cars immediately stand out: The Cadillac CTS-V and the Chrysler 300C SRT-8. I've sat in the back of a CTS-V and my knees were in my chest and my head was tilted 45 degrees to the side because of the low roofline in the back. I never sat in the front, but I imagine it's quite manageable. Since I would never be in the back only my guests would complain, which is why the CTS is in the group. I like the baby Bentley styling of the 300C but it's all over the road, and I like to be different. I guess if I had any car for free then I'd go with the CTS-V.

What else is there? Buick? Please. Chevy? The best they've got is the Impala SS and that's pretty bland. I could get a Neon SRT-4 and blow a lot of wannabe's away, but then I'd go deaf in the process, and who in their right mind would take a Neon over a CTS? The Lincoln LS V-8 is nice but they take the fun away by only offering an automatic and the power is nowhere near the top 2 anyway. Why does the Grand PRix GXP have 33 more horsepower than the Bonneville GXP? That's just plain stupid.

I think for some reason that todays game will be close. I still predict that Penn State will win, but I believe it will be low scoring when compared to other games Purdue has played in. I think the total points scored will be around 45.

Official prediction:

Penn State - 24
Purdue - 21

Notre Dame Football Announces Improvements To Its Past

SOUTH BEND, IN — With their football renaissance derailed, at least for the moment, by a current 5-2 record that includes losses to rivals USC and unranked Michigan State, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have elected to improve in the one area where they still outclass all other college football teams: their legendary history.

"I fully intend to be the primary architect of Notre Dame history's return to prominence and relevance," head coach Charlie Weis said. "I inherited a program that had only won 11 national championships between 1924 and 2005. I promise you that, by this time next year, the Fighting Irish will have won at least 10 more in that same time period."

Some of the highlights of Notre Dame's new history:

1869: The first college football game is played this year, on Nov. 6, between Princeton and Rutgers, with the understanding that the winner will go on to play Notre Dame later in the afternoon for the national championship

1887: University board approves the Athletic Department's request for a new sports team, and Notre Dame football is officially born on the playing fields of South Bend, IN, the same year as future Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is born in West Virginia

1936: The Fighting Irish football squad travels to Nazi Germany to represent America at the Berlin Olympics; ND split end Jesse Owens gains 187 yards and scores three touchdowns in a 42-17 gold-medal-winning rout of the heavily favored Rommel-coached SS squad

1943: With the boys fighting World War II overseas, the women of Notre Dame take the reins of the football team and pummel the notorious draft-dodging Michigan Wolverines to bring home another national title to South Bend

1944: In December, the Notre Dame defense successfully holds off a German advance to win the Battle of the Bulge; meanwhile, in the Pacific theater, the Irish offense invades and retakes the Philippines; the team finishes the season ranked #2 in all polls

1956: Future Notre Dame quarterback and six-time Heisman Trophy winner Joe Montana is born of a vestal virgin on June 11 in New Eagle, PA

1957: Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung, in a vote that remains controversial to this very day, splits the Heisman Trophy with the man who is now widely regarded as the best football player of all time, halfback Jim Brown of Notre Dame

1961: 31 points down in the fourth quarter of an away game against highly ranked Ohio State, Notre Dame, led by 12-year-old freshman phenom Joe Theismann, scores 42 points to win in overtime

1970: Notre Dame turns down offers from the ACC, the Big Ten, and the National Football League, electing to remain a Division I independent

1975: Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, an undersized fourth-string transfer student, is allowed to dress for and play in the last and only game of his college career; in the final moments of the game, "Rudy" tackles the Georgia Tech quarterback, forcing a fumble which rolls into the end zone and is recovered for an Irish victory; Notre Dame jumps up 23 spots in the polls for a share of the national championship; Ruettiger is awarded the Butkus and Nagurski trophies

1984: In the last seconds of the national championship at the Orange Bowl, Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie's last-second Hail Mary pass is intercepted in the end zone by Notre Dame cornerback Deion Sanders and returned 106 yards for the winning touchdown

1991: All-time Notre Dame scoring leader Jerome Bettis is given the nickname "The Bus" not only for his great size and reliability, but also for his ability to put the entire Fighting Irish team on his back and carry them to away games as far away as Florida and California

2005: The Oct. 15 victory of the Fighting Irish over #1 ranked USC, 27-31, is marred somewhat when Trojan Matt Leinart, who attempts to run the ball into the end zone in a last-second quarterback sneak, gets hit by the entire Notre Dame defense and is killed instantly as time runs out

Just a FYI for the sake of posterity: Googles stock was at $342 when I made my buy call 2 days ago with $70 - $100 per share expected increases within 6 months to a year. Now it is already at $354.

Here's the dream scenario for destroying the BCS once and for all.

USC wins out and is #1 in the AP and Coaches Polls.
Texas wins out and is #2 in the AP and Coaches Polls.
Virginia Tech wins out and is #3 in the AP and Coaches Polls.

In the BCS it would be quite different however.

Texas would be #1 in the BCS, Va Tech would be #2, and the undefeated two time defending national champs, winners of 35 games in a row, would be on the outside looking in.

If that doesn't finally kill the BCS then there's nothing that ever will.

If you have money laying around that you don't know what to do with I would suggest that you buy Google stock ASAP. I believe it's going to go up another $70 to $100 per share in the next 6 months. Granted, the stock is currently at $348, but it's close to a sure thing.

I wish I had followed my own advice because the stock has gone up $55 in the past two days.

I have changed my Heisman vote. After watching Brady "The greatest quarterback since Jesus" Quinn, he is now getting my vote. Did you see the way he beat up on BYU? I mean come on. BY freaking U! Weren't they ranked in the top 117? I'm pretty sure they were. If he can do that to that team then just imagine what he could do against the 1985 Chicago Bears!

I love you Brady Quinn!

In the spirit of the pagan festival of All Hallows Eve, here's a quote that I thought was funny.

What do we want? BRAINS!
When do we want it? BRAINS!

- Zombie

I'm heading to Kings Island tomorrow. I'll be staying the night in Columbus tonight. Why, you ask, would I be going to Kings Island when there's a 50% chance of rain and when the high is supposed to be 52 degrees? Well, I bought the tickets in September with the intent of going in September. Kings Island however feels that there is no need to be open when it is still warm outside. They instead like to close for September and then re-open in October. That is one freaking brilliant idea. Now I'm stuck with 3 tickets and basically have to go this weekend because I can't go next weekend.

The Astros and White Sox in the World Series. Good for both of them. I can tell you already that it isn't good for baseball in at least one aspect though. This will probably be the least watched World Series in the past 20 years. No one cares about it. The media most of all. They'd rather talk about the NBA dress code and game 6 of the NFL than talk about baseball. They'd rather drool all over Notre Dame losing a game and then proclaiming how they deserve a rematch. That should tell you where MLB stands in America right now.

Who gives a crap about game 6 in the NFL? Not me. How does the NBA dress code change the standings? Last I checked it didn't. This is PLAYOFF baseball. That's more important in the sports world than anything else at the moment. PLAYOFFS > middle of NFL. PLAYOFFS > middle of college football. PLAYOFFS certainly > pre-season NBA.

I drove a rocket ship today. I had my car at the dealer, so they gave me a loaner loaded G35X. You can tell it's heavier because of the pseudo all-wheel drive (the steering is heavier and there's a tad more body roll), but it sure feels faster than mine.

Back by popular demand, more uplifting stories...


There once was a man from Nantucket. He punched Tim McCarver in the face.


How about a poem for a change of pace?

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Tim McCarver is an idiot,
And so is Joe Morgan

Unbelievable! Notre Dame lost and they didn't drop a single spot in the polls.

I don't care if they lost by a tenth of a point, they still lost.

They lost! Get over it media. Notre Dame lost. They can't be rated #1 anymore. They've got two freaking losses. Two! I can't wait for them to lose some more games and climb the rankings.

I hate you Beano Cook!

Look on the bright side of things... if Purdue finishes last in the Big Ten, at least they'll get the number 1 pick next year.

Oh. Wait...

Also, Notre Dame lost. Hooray. Suck it Beano! Suck it right down to China town!

Prediction time:

Northwestern - 40
Purdue - 30


Purdue's defense will make Brett Basanez look like Dan Marino.

Since they're going to get burned anyway, why not blitz on every play? Try some wierd stuff out there. Go to a 2-2-7 zone. Try a 6 man front with no linebackers. Do something. The current defense is obviously not working and it can't get any worse. Sticking with the same gameplan is just admitting defeat.

Funny story: Tim McCarver and Beano Cook were on a boat. Then it sank. The end.

Even though the Angels just got a game stolen from them, Mike Scioscia was a very stand-up guy at the post game interview. The call was bad. I don't think anyone will argue that, but protesting with the league wouldn't do jack to change it. He made the best of a bad situation I think by just trying to move on and not dwelling on the call.

Ding dong, the witch is dead. Now while I officially have no horse in the MLB race, I also am not rooting against anyone in particular.

It's early still, but I'm going to try to go to sleep and not worry about what happens to the hated Yankees.

After falling to 2-3, here are my predictions for the rest of the season. In my opinion, it will be almost impossible for the to make a bowl game. I never thought that they'd struggle terribly to hit 6 wins, but I just don't see it happening. That cannot stop ANYONE right now.

09/10 Akron W 49-24
09/17 at Arizona W 31-24
09/24 at Minnesota L 42-35
10/01 Notre Dame L 49-28
10/08 Iowa L 34-17
10/15 Northwestern L 40-30
10/22 at Wisconsin L 35-20
10/29 at Penn State L 24-21
11/05 Michigan St L 49-28
11/12 Illinois W 42-24
11/19 at Indiana W 34-28

Prediction for todays game:

Iowa - 33
Purdue - 24

As I write this Northwestern is laying the wood on Wisconsin, so if Purdue can find a way to not only win this game, but also stop sucking, then they've still got a shot at a Big Ten title. A lot will be determined in the Ohio State - Penn State game today. After that game there will only be 1 team that's undefeated in conference.

Boston just got swept. Apparently the White Sox are good. Who knew?

That doesn't mean that Ozzie Guillen isn't a jerk though.

My stupid cable modem is sucking. I just got off the phone with service... they're sending someone out on Saturday. It just chooses to drop connections for no reason whatsoever. The connections don't come back quickly either... usually about 8-10 hours pass before it comes back. It's really a pain in the butt. It's been doing this for about a month off and on, but this week it's been almost completely on the fritz. I was able to get 3 minutes in yesterday before it crapped out.

Comcast said it is a poor cable line (i.e. static), so maybe they'll run a new one. That would actually be great, since I only have one line upstairs and one downstairs.

So I guess you're right on both counts Paul. I am having technical difficulties and I am sulking. The Indians didn't get it done when it counted most. Their failure to make the playoffs actually got me thinking though.

If I could have any of my favorite teams win a championship, who would it be? Here's the list...

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Purdue Boilermakers Football
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Cleveland Browns
5. Purdue Boilermakers Basketball


The list isn't really that close though, as the Indians are far and away #1. They've got a good team coming back next year, but this team reminds me a lot of the 1999 or 2000 team. They charged hard down the stretch but came up just short. That's what makes it so freaking frustrating. I feel like if they would've made the playoffs they had a chance to win it all. They just couldn't score any runs the last week. They needed to adapt their hitting and never did. If they didn't hit homeruns they didn't score. Well guess what team... you weren't hitting home runs! That means bunt! Bunt like your lives depended on it. But they didn't. They sucked at bunting.

If I were in charge next year I'd make them spend all of March bunting runners over, stealing bases, hitting sacrafice flies, and hitting and running.

Fundamentals. Maybe it's because they're a young team. Maybe it's not. They need a better graps on the fundamentals.