Indiana - no problem, guarenteed win

MSU - MSU does have a history of upsetting the Lions and other ranked BigTen teams. They even pull it off on the road, however this Spartan team is different than in years past in that their strength comes from the run game rather than the pass. PSU has a great line, and even with injuries the LBs are certainly capable. We will be able to contain Ringer, and I don’t think MSU has a good chance for an upset. It would require a few turnovers for them to get it done.

BCS title game -
I am tired of hearing how bad the Big Ten is and that PSU is unworthy to play in the big game. People point to the last two years’ OSU teams. Well, how about OSU in 2002? Miami was supposed to blow them out. Penn State in ‘86 was going to get stomped by another Miami team. There are a lot of factors besides talent that will weigh on the outcome of a game. If PSU brings their best, I am confident they can compete with anyone.
FACT: The last 4 teams to win the BCS title all had top 10 defenses. PSU is 3rd right now. Where are the best Big12 teams? Texas is the best of the bunch and they are barely in the top 30. TT, OkSU, and Oklahoma are on back a bit further. Many of these teams played absolutely no one in their OOC schedule, so its hard to say how they would stack up out of conference. I am not saying the Big12 is weak or uncompetitive, I am just saying there are still question marks about how their conference champ would perform in the title game. Defenses win championships!
Alabama has a good defense, and if they win their conference, they certainly deserve their title shot. How would they do against PSU on a neutral field? I bet Vegas would have the line within 3 points. Alabama has certainly had a couple close games with weaker opponents and of the four BCS unbeatens, most would pick them to end the season with a loss.

Of the top 5 or 6 teams, USC has the most impressive out of conference win. They beat OhioSU, a team PSU also beat. Obviously, the TRojans were more impressive, but PSU won theirs on the road, and used the run to shorten the game.

I have listed the other signature OOC wins here…
1 - Texas - terrible Arkansas team
2 - Alabama - underachieving Clemson team
3 - PSU - Oregon St. a team which beat USC and is still in the hunt for a Pac-10 title
4 - Oklahoma - TCU is at least ranked
5 - USC - OSU a team PSU also beat
6 - GA - beat a terrible ASU team
7 - Texas Tech - didn’t even recognize the names of some of their OOC games

Part of PSU’s schedule problem is the fact that the two big10 teams they aren’t playing, NW and Minn, are having decent years. PSU has been taking care of business with they teams they do play though and are currently the only team ranked in the top 10 for offense and defense statistically.

Are they the best team in the country? Probably not, but they are pretty good. Are they deserving of a shot to play for the title if ranked in the top 2 BCS? If they take care of the next 3 games, I think so. You never know which team is going to get up for the big game and I think it is naive to just assume PSU will get blown out because of OSU’s troubles the past two years.

I have been thinking about this weekend’s game nonstop. It is the defacto Big10 championship game. Last week was the first time this season that Ohio St. actually looked like the team ranked in the top 10. Lets put this weekend’s matchup into perspective though.

The Ohio State University scored 6 touchdowns.
TD 1: MSU shanks the punt, OSU gets the ball with only 47 yds to go.
TD 2: After a fumble, OSU only has 17 yds to score.
TD 3: Another short field (57 yds) results in an OSU TD after a low percentage 56 yd. Pryor pass completion.
TD 4: Legit OSU TD where they have to drive 77 yds over 9 plays.
TD 5: Defense scores off fumble.
TD 6: Defense scores off fumble.

As you can see, everything that could go wrong for MSU did go wrong. Giving OSU turnovers and short fields is a quick way to land your team into a big point deficit. MSU has a strong running game this year, but once they found themselves down 4 TDs, the play calling would have to compensate by adding in some more passing plays.

The score last week doesn’t reflect the actual strength of the OSU offense. PSU only has to accomplish two things to win this game. First, they have to avoid mistakes early making OSU drive the length of the field. Then the PSU defense needs to show up strong against the OSU running game to force Pryor to beat them through the air. Thats the key to victory and the Big 10 championship.

The good news is that all four of the third party candidates are anti-war and anti-bailout. So if the Republicrats’ lack of choice in this election has frustrated you, perhaps you can find a better match for your ideology by watching these debates.

Step 1: Go to Europe. (this is the hard part)
Step 2: Spend most of your day walking around to all the sites. One good suggestion I have is to go to Prague walk up the massive hill to the castle, remember that you left your camera in your hotel, then walk back down to get it. Return to the castle with your camera. That right there will probably leave you quite hungry.
Step 3: Eat and drink whatever you want.
Step 4: If you find this plan helpful, please send me $10 on paypal to mxt196@yahoo.com

After the game, I went out with the Australians from the hostel again. We found out about another warehouse party. This place was the largest club I have ever been to. There must have been a thousand people crammed into a giant warehouse. We were told to arrive at midnight, and we partied until 5:30am. It was pretty fun. Berlin has definitely lived up to its party reputation. I don’t think these people sleep.

Today it rained, but I decided to check out Potsdam on a whim. I know everyone loves analogies, so Potsdam is to Berlin as Versailles is to Paris. There are several palaces in Potsdam as well as one of the largest gardens in Europe. Frederick the Great and the other Prussian Kaisers hung out there. I took a 2 hour bus tour, but to do it right, you need to really get there early and spend the whole day walking around to the different sites. Our bus just drove us around and we snapped a few quick photos, but didn’t have time to actually walk into any of the palaces. That was fine with me, because I was cold and wet most of the time, but if I ever go back, I’ll make sure to plan better.

This famous photo was taken at one of the Potsdam palaces:

And so was this less than famous photo:

After getting beat down by the sports bars of Berlin, I headed back to the hostel to relax a bit before figuring out my evening plans. I ended up meeting two Australians and one Dutch guy. We headed to the hostel bar where to my surprise it was karaoke night! I quickly put in a song and rocked the place even though I have a cold. Just in case you’re wondering karaoke in Berlin is about the same as America. Everyone sang English songs, and most people had really poor song selection. No one wants to hear your version of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” no matter how good you are. Way to bring down the evening Mr. Danish guy.

After we each sang a song we headed out to try to find a real bar. On the tram we met some younger folks who looked like they knew their way around and we ended up joining them. They took us to a real Berlin warehouse party. It was awesome even though it wasn’t really my scene. The place apparently only runs once a month or so. We were the only out-of-towners there. There were two floors both playing really obnoxious techno music with lights and smoke and everything. It was a blast. When I left at 5:00am there were still a lot of people dancing their asses off. I guess today is some kind of German national holiday, so no one has school or work. The rumors were true. Berliners like to party I guess.

Just in case you haven’t seen Sarah Palin’s pageant video…

Here’s a fun website:
http://interviewpalin.com

And here is an artist’s represenation of what she might look like naked…
No I am not the artist.

Now I know what you’re going to say, “Why go all the way to Europe to watch football?” I don’t think you understand. 90% of my mental well being depends upon PSU winning games during football season. It has been killing me not to see them play this season. I thought I could handler missing some cupcake games, but I can’t. Especially not when they are ranked 6th in the country and have a decent shot at the Big Ten championship this year.

For some reason I am reminded of another beauty contestant. Lets hear it for Miss Teen SC!!

So lets all cast a vote for McCain and let hilarity ensue! A vote for comedy is a vote for America.