Notes for a Short Week

With the preliminaries out of the way, the focus can now switch to the real rivalry. Tomorrow night, the Battle of I-75 takes place when the Bowling Green Falcons travel north to take on the Toledo Rockets for the Peace Pipe. I won't be making the trip to the Glass Bowl, but I will be watching on television (7pm, ESPN2). I'm planning to keep a running commentary going as I watch.

As for that other rivalry, count me among those who are not interested in seeing a rematch in the "national championship" game. While I agree that Ohio State and Michigan are probably the two best teams in the country this year, I don't think a rematch would prove anything. Personally, I'd like to see Florida play Ohio State for the championship, but their special teams may be too shaky to give them a real chance to win. USC is probably the most solid choice. Of course, the second slot in the championship should go to Boise State if they remain undefeated, but we all know that isn't going to happen. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the BCS system is bullshit.

I'm thinking the Chargers look like a Super Bowl team right now. I thought they were making a mistake when they let Drew Brees go, but Philip Rivers has taken over without missing a beat. Of course, LaDainian Tomlinson makes it easier for anyone to quarterback that team, and he, in turn, is assisted by a good offensive line, including left guard Kris Dielman, who is from my hometown. As the defense gets healthy, they're going to be tough to stop.

I want the NFL Network. Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable doesn't offer it, because it costs more for them to carry it than they want to pay. Funny; I was having similar thoughts about most of the channels they do offer. I'm definitely in favor of cable companies going to an a la carte system which allows subscribers to select and pay for only the channels they want. This is an idea whose time has more than come.

For what it's worth, I'm also in favor of Election Day being a national holiday.

Speaking of holidays, this is a good week for one. I'm very much looking forward to a short work week and a long weekend, and to getting home to spend some time with the family (and the dog). Brandi and I are heading down to Troy to spend Thanksgiving at my parents' house, and Brandi's mom is coming along. So that should be interesting.

Also, the short week is going to make for an interesting week at work. Our projects are moving full-steam ahead with no regard for the holiday, so I'll likely be staying late and/or coming in early each day this week. That'll help offset the loss of pay for Friday (we're off Thursday and Friday, but we're only paid for Thursday), but it'll make me even more ready for a long weekend.

There's never enough time for reading everything I want to read.