2008 LOL Awards

So I'm gonna give this a shot...my awards for funny things that happened (that's probably not the best description but oh well). Hopefully you'll get the point. Enjoy.

Football in the State of Michigan


Oh boy. This is a great one. I guess the biggest story is the first ever 0-16 season by the hapless Detroit Lions (sorry Calvin). But it gets better...three Michigan college teams make it to bowls - and none of them is Michigan (Michigan State, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan - all three lost btw)! Gotta love Rich Rod gettin the job done in his first year like CPJ...oh wait...

The American and Minnesotian(?) Voting Public


...for electing Barack Hussein Obama and Al "the clown" Franken(stein), respectively. I guess McCain's not a great choice either, but the way the media deceived the voting public was truly astounding. Then somehow, fellow super-liberal Al Franken (yes, the same Al Franken who has a show on liberal radio network Air America) gets elected to one of the US Senate seats from the state of Minnesota in an epic runoff in which votes magically appears in Franken's favor). Now we just gotta figure out who won the races in the other seven states...

OJ "I didn't do it...but this is how I woud've done it" Simpson


I bet USC fans aren't too happy about this one. Over a decade after the "trial of the century", Orange Juice was found guilty of armed robbery and kidnap after he robbed two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint at a Vegas hotel. Way to be a role model, OJ.

Honorable Mention: The FCC

Our favorite censorship panel pulled a move that most of us would be reprimanded for -- they cited Wikipedia (in a March 27th release regarding satellite providers' offering local channels...or something like that). Glad to see our government is taking steps to ensure accurate data collection methods. I certainly don't question the vast usefulness of Wikipedia, I have to say I'm bothered that a group affiliated with the US Government is attempting to legitimately use information from a website whose disclaimer reads: "WIKIPEDIA MAKES NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY". At least our tax dollars are doing something these days.

Improv Everywhere - Food Court Musical

If you've never heard of Improv Everywhere, I'd first off recommend checking them out.

Anyway, back in March, they conducted the musical below in a food court in a Los Angeles mall. Enjoy.

2008 College Football Predictions - A Look Back

Back in August, I took a shot at making some predictions about the 2008 season of college football. Below I examine how I did.

1. Appalachian State will NOT pull another Appalachian State. Turns out I was right...App State's first game was in Death Valley to take on the LSU Tigers...and they lost 41-13. Quite a different environment than the "Big House" of UMichigan. If anything, last year's upset by the Mountaineers over the Wolverines tipped off the LSU coaching staff that they were for real, and it showed in the final score.


2. The USC-West/Slowhio State will be radically overhyped, and a blowout. Right again...the media was all over this one, but I think everyone knew that USC was gonna win this one (and that they did...35-3). Slowhio State had only 35 second-half yards. Maybe Jim Tressel should've started Pryor...


3. It won't be pretty for the new SEC head coaches. Well, I was kinda right. Arkansas finished 5-7 under the leadership of Bobby Petrino, but Ole Miss did very well under headman Houston Nutt, who went 9-4 including an upset win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.


4. The SEC will not be represented in Miami on January 8th of [this] year. Strike one for Patrick. Florida locked up a spot in the BCSNC game by going 12-1 and beating #1 Bama in the Dome 31-20 to win the SEC. They deserve to be there, and most people probably have them beating the Sooners.


5. Instead, the NC game matchup will be Slow-hio State vs. Oklahoma. Again, half right. OSU was kinda close following a 10-2 campaign, but the Sooners earned locked up their spot after beating Mizzou to win the Big 12.


6. Tim Tebow will not repeat as Heisman winner. After the season Tebow had and they way they destroyed their opponents after the Ole Miss loss, I should've been wrong about this one. Instead, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford picked up the Heisman, which makes Thursday night's game the 4th (?) ever matchup of teams w/ Heisman winners on their rosters.

If you have any doubts about Tebow's abilities, just watch this video.

7.The mighty Red Raiders of Texas Tech will be amazing this year...or we'll all be disappointed. I'll count this one right, considering Texas Tech finished 11-2 (losses to OU and Ole Miss - no shame in that).

8. Kansas will neither return to a BCS bowl nor come close to an undefeated season. Another W - Kansas finished 8-5 with an Insight Bowl victory over Minnesota.


9. The under-center-based option offense will work in a major conference...if the Jackets can hold on to the ball. And thankfully, it did. I think I speak for most college football fans when I say that this season was a huge success for the Yellow Jackets, despite the blowout loss to LSU in the Peach Bowl. Tech finished 9-4, including wins over Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and Georgia...all this despite an ACC-leading 33 fumbles, of which Tech lost 18. (that's ~2.5 fumbles and ~1.4 lost fumbles per game). My magic number for the Jackets was 1.5, and it turned out I was right on.


Recap: Seven out of nine...not bad.

Later this week (if time affords it), I'll present my 2008 LOLAwards here. Until then, I wish everyone a great first day back to the grind.

One more go around the block...

Tomorrow marks my last first day of classes for any semester. This should be my toughest semester yet, and my final battle with the forces known as the Georgia Institute of Technology. It's gonna be a tough one, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

I have a few words for you, classes: bring it on.

Ouch.

Not much else to say. A 35-point loss to a mediocre 7-5 team is painful enough. You'll see no further postgame stuff here.

In other news, happy new year everyone.