Chaos among the football gods

Warning: my love of football makes this post long and complicated!

It is exactly the middle of college football season and everything that was predicted at the beginning of the season has been contradicted. I know there aren't really "football gods" but if there were, there would be chaos among them right now. What has happened in college football in the last few weeks is not something even the football gods could predict!

Who would have predicted at the beginning of this season that South Florida would be number 2 in the nation? They only became a division 1 school 5 years ago! Are they really due a number 2 spot in the BCS, though? My opinion, maybe. They have beaten number 9 West Virgina and number 17 Auburn. What about the other teams they play? Those teams are teams like Elon, UNC, Florida Atlantic, UConn, and Syracuse. I have always learned that the caliber of the teams you beat determines your spot in the BCS. Well the only teams that they have beaten with real caliber are Auburn and West Virginia. Do those 2 teams carry enough clout to rule out all of the other teams? I just don't know. I am just not sure that South Florida deserves the number 2 spot, but maybe they do deserve to be in the top 5.

What about Ohio State? Again, they are number 1. By pure luck, sure, but nonetheless, they are number 1. The only nationally ranked team they have beaten is number 23 Purdue. Their schedule is just not hard, not even close to challenging, compared to LSU. They still might be undefeated, but if they played LSU, they would get POUNDED!

How did Kentucky go from number 17 to number 7? Yes, I know they beat number 1, LSU, but thats just CRAZY! From number 17 to number 7? Thats almost unheard of? If thats the case, then shouldn't LSU have dropped to number 10 or 11? You would think, but LSU is still ranked number 4 in the BCS standings. I just don't get it.

And of course, at the end of the year, number 1 and number 2 will play each other for the national championship. No playoffs, just purely based on the seasons BCS standings, which are decided by BCS board members and AP reporters. College football is the only sport in the NCAA that does not have a championship playoff. Nope, it really isn't fair. Teams like Ohio State who play high school teams all year can win the National Championship over a team like LSU who loses 1 game in tripple overtime. Yes, I am being cynnical and bias, but I can't help it. Its just the truth! Some things just aren't fair, though.

And while I am on the subject of football, I have one more issue to address. I am tired, long past tired, of hearing Clemson "fans" bash Tommy Bowden and demand his elimination. Since when is it bad to be 4-2 on the season? Right now there are 7 teams in the AP Top 25 poll who have lost 2 games. Clemson, though, can't be happy with that. They want to fire their coach. Florida has the exact same record as Clemson right now, losing their last 2 games to nationally ranked teams, and I haven't heard the first "rumor" of Urban Meyer's job being in jeopardy. Instead of bashing the coach and the team, why not stand behind the team and give them the support they deserve, whether they win or lose. We all know what Clemson is capable of, lets give them 6 more games to prove it, and if they don't, talk about the changes they can make at the end of the season. It is way too early in the season for them to be doomed. In football, motivation and toughness, comes from support. Thats exactly what the fans should be giving! If you say you are a true Clemson fan, then I challenge you to support your team, the WHOLE team including the coaching staff, for the rest of the season.

Chaos is a good word for the 2007 football season thus far. Lets all hope it gets better from here!

It was a GREAT weekend!

Hal and I had a fabulous weekend, just as I suspected!!

I got off at lunch time on Friday, so I went home and helped Hal with yardwork and other things that needed to be done around the house. Friday night I packed and got us ready to go to Charleston.

Saturday morning we woke up early and headed off to the greatest place in the world!! We did make a detour in Columbia to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Salty Nut, for lunch. It is a great little burger joint in 5 Points where we've spent MANY Thursday nights!

We made it to Charleston around 1:30 and stopped at the Citadel for a little visit. When we got there the Citadel-Furman football game had just started and the Gift Shop had just closed so we left, saying we would come back on Sunday.

We headed to check into our hotel, then to the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and I was so glad that we were able to make it down! We met up with our good friends Lauren and Richard and had dinner at Yamato, a GREAT Japanese restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. We hadn't seen them since April so we were glad to be able to spend time with them. After dinner, we were tired so we headed back to the hotel for bed!

Sunday morning we woke up with intentions of going to walk on the Cooper River Bridge. We were both more in the mood to be lazy, so we just laid around until lunch time. We finally checked out and went to eat lunch at our favorite, Kickin' Chicken. It was SO good. While we were eating, Hal had the great idea of going to Marble Slab after lunch. After we went to Marble Slab we went to the Citadel Gift Shop to get a few things. You can really only get most Citadel things from the gift shop at the Citadel so we took full advantage. Hal and I both got a tee shirt, an ornament for our Christmas tree, and two prints that I am going to have framed.

Hal was delighted to be back at the Citadel. As much as he says he hated it and would never go back, he really does love to go back and remember all of the good times he had there. I love to see his eyes light up and his big smile as we drive around campus and see what's changed. Hopefully, we will be able to go back more often. The Citadel has a special place in Hal's heart, and now it does mine.

We got on the road and got home about 5:00. We ate with Hal's parents at Mellow Mushroom last night which was so YUMMY! We finally got home for the first time around 9:00. It was really a great weekend!

What makes life even better, I don't have class for 2 days!! I get to go straight home from work today! Of course I forgot my camera, so I will post the weekend pics tomorrow!

Why I love COLD weather!

I am so excited that it is finally cooling off. I have fashion fettishes for each season and I always look forward to them when the season starts changing.

My fashion fettish(es) for fall and winter are jackets and coats. I love them. I can never have enough. Well this year I got a new one and now that its down in the 40's at night, I can finally wear it!

This is my new Patagonia Retro X fleece that I got back at the beginning of summer. I have dying for it to turn cool so I can wear it, finally now I can!

I hope y'all have a fantastic fall weekend, I don't think the weather could be anymore perfect!

Thursday 13 #2

I just wanted to share a list of my 13 favorite restaurants:

1. Lieu's Chinese Bistro
2. Miyako's Sushi
3. Firehouse Subs
4. Gerard's - in Greer
5. Mellow Mushroom
6. Great Bay Oyster House
7. River City Cafe - Myrtle Beach
8. Guiseppe's - a great little Italian joint in West Palm Beach
9. Saskatoon
10. Stax Grill
11. Kickin' Chicken - Charleston
12. Arby's
13. Marble Slab Creamery - although its not technically a restaurant, I love this place so much it HAS to make the list!

I am definately a food lover, so this list could go on and on and on!

Thursday 13

As you all know, we are going to Charleston for the weekend and I am CRAZY excited. Here are 13 things I love about Charleston:

1. Kickin' Chicken restaurant
2. Windjammer
3. Oreilly's Irish Pub
4. Towne Centre - Mt. Pleasant
5. Walking the Cooper River Bridge
6. The Citadel
7. Sticky Fingers' Sunday Buffet
8. King Street
9. Shem Creek
10. the spring strawberry patch on Hwy. 17 in Mt. Pleasant
11. you can ALWAYS find live music downtown
12. you can eat out 3 meals a day and never have a bad meal!
13. the art galleries, epecially Lowcountry Artists on East Bay Street

Can you tell I'm ready to go?

Prayer Request

I just wanted to ask my readers to say a little prayer for a family that desperately needs your prayer today.

On Monday morning Wendy Golightly passed away. She died with a massive heart attack at only 35 years old. She left behind a husband and two young children.

Of course, this was very unexpected and very devastating to the family.

This family has been friends of my family for a very long time and our hearts go out to them during this time.

Thanks!

Charleston on my mind

This weekend Hal and I are off to Charleston for the wedding of one of my best friends. I am sitting here at work having a hard time working because I am daydreaming about our upcoming trip. Hal and I are both so excited!

You may think I am being a little overzealous about Charleston, but I must tell you that if this city meant as much to you as it does me, you would feel the same way. Until Hal, I had only been to Charleston once or twice on my own and although it was beautiful, it was nothing special to me.

Once I met Hal, that all changed. Because Hal was still at the Citadel the first year we dated, most of my weekends were spent in Charleston with him. I remember the very first weekend I went down to visit, my view of Charleston completely changed! I remember driving down Highway 17 with Hal singing Dashboard Confessional to the top of our lungs. We went to Windjammer to see Authur Brooks' band, went to Folly Beach to see the Morris Island Light, and ate at the Kickin' Chicken for the first time. This place became my home away from home. If Hal couldn't come home for the weekend you were sure to find me in Charleston! Now when I think of this beautiful city, I can't help but smile remembering those days.

I could sit here and write all day about the wonderful memories that Hal and I made in Charleston. After Hal graduated we couldn't go back as often. We felt like Charleston was so special to us, we decided to get married there. I couldn't think of a better place in the world.

In 4 days we will be back there for the first time since our wedding, and I am sure that it will be just like old times. I can't wait!