and so it ends for the cats...

and it comes down to the last play of the game, and it's a disputed interception for baz and that'll do it on a 6-6 season.

i drove home during much of the game, leaving glenview at 1015 (missing the game's first touchdown during goodbyes with the rud clan) and arriving in the 'port at 110. at that time, it was 49-33 hawaii, the cats were in a first-and-goal situation inside the five yard line, there was an injury on the field, and i had to pee pretty badly. so i headed upstairs, confident that i'd miss nothing or hear a touchdown, but instead i arrive to find out that the cats had failed to score. ugh.

thankfully, a blocked punt by tj jones and a conversion made it 49-41, and the game was on, inside of eight minutes.

and the warriors drove. and drove. and drove. three successful third-down conversions, and it looked like it was over. but, after a rare cats stop, hawaii's ultra-impressive kicker shanks a 33-yarder, and it's still a game.

the cats pose a valiant drive, with aikens catching a deep pass over the middle and a personal foul on a fumbled snap helping nu's cause, but a sliding, short-hopped interception ended nu's chances for another miracle, and ended the cats season disappointingly in november. not december, but november. sigh.

the game's keys:

- greg colby calling an all-out blitz on 3rd-and-15 from the nu 16. with chad owens (4 TDs) manned up on the gimpy jeff backes (sore ankle, for months), timmy chang hits him on a slant for a 49-33 hawaii edge. as tuesday morning quarterback would write, "stop me! before i blitz again!'

- down 21-20 and facing a 4th-and-11 at the hawaii 36 with about 90 seconds left in the first half, the cats have several options: a) kick a field goal (howells had been good from 43 and 46 already), b) fake a field goal, c) punt it, d) fake a punt, e) go for it. i was yelling at my radio that they had to go for it, because they hadn't stopped chang since the start of the quarter, and it was inevitable that this one was shaping up as a track meet. instead they punt, and owens returns to the 32 (net punt: 4 yards). a few plays later, the warriors score again, and head to the locker room up 28-20.

- the cats wasted an early interception (3-and-out) and a fortuitous hop on a pooch kick that turned into a successful onside kick (field goal).

- john pickens' late hit spurred the warriors in the second quarter.

but we'll get over it.

i'm disappointed now but, if you'd given me 6-6 as the final record to start the year, i'd've taken it. (i did pick 7-5, missing on arizona state, wisconsin, purdue, ohio state, and hawaii, i believe)northwestern should have beaten tcu (five missed figgies), and should have come out stronger against arizona state, a team i think that the cats would have beaten later in the year. i wish they had been sharper against wisconsin, but that was reasonably one that they couldn't have won. they were flat-out outclassed by red-hot minnesota in the early conference season, and michigan did the same in the late going.

why ever schedule hawaii? don't ask me, freakin' barnett did it. even six years later, this guy brings shame to the program. (yes, we appreciate 94 and 95, but he left the program in shambles.)

and because this season's been over for 25 minutes, it's time to analyze what's left for 2005:

quarterback: basanez returns, and he'll certainly be an all-conference candidate. after the disaster that was his 2003 season, this was definitely a surprise. no challenge expected from malleo, of course.

running back: herron could be considered the biggest loss on the club, because you can't just pluck a versatile 1,300-yard runner from anywhere. however, t-jordan came on late in the season, as northwestern began to employ the two-back set more, and he showed well for himself (not unlike what herron did spelling j-wright in 2003, although herron was more productive.) i wouldn't be surprised if northwestern becomes a bit more conventional with a bit more frequency in 2005, as erryn cobb seemed to be a solid lead man in running situations. could the jones and jenkins show return in 05? (probably not, but it's a thought.) brandon roberson returned kicks (a muff against wisconsin comes to mind) and saw sparing action against michigan this season...he apparently figures as the backup.

wide receiver: this'll be the most solid group on the club in 05, as they lose only aikens. philmore will be a preseason all big ten player, and i wouldn't be surprised if he's a biletnikoff watch list guy, perhaps even a semifinalist. i'd like to think that kim thompson can handle the other side, as i really enjoyed watching him progress this season. fields is a classic slot speed guy, and herbert also has legit and solid experience. fields filled the role that i expected for brandon horn, who disappointed me this season. still, five 15-catch (i'm not sure on thompson) guys back, along with the athletic tj jones, and i'm happy.

tight ends: i don't think it matters, but taylor jones and (former DT) ryan keenan return.

o-line: the biggest concern, as three three-year starters - ike, ulrich and essex - all depart. strief's the animal, and rees is steady. but the rest is question marks. could keenan bulk up and take a tackle spot? is dylan thiry (6-8, 295) ready to bookend the right side (he played some at the left when strief left today's game)? maybe a huge freshman that redshirted (jim lawler - 6-5, 300 or adam rucks - 6-4, 290) earns a job. joe tripodi spent the year on the two-deep.

d-line: for the first time since the 2000 season, the tackles become a question mark. the only certainty would be that trevor schulz competes for a job and, perhaps, keenan moves back. maybe one of the DEs could bulk up, because howard (if he stays, which i'd assume he will), cofield (stud!), thompson (i still like him) and ngene (showed flashes when healthy) are a solid quartet. size alone dictates that redshirted freshman matt clark (6-3, 290) of florida will compete for a tackle spot. luis castillo has gotten well-deserved hype, but i don't know if a player has had a more unheralded great career than colby clark (probably an overstatement). i'll never forget his dominance in the '01 msu game (he was seemingly everywhere, in one of his first starts...two sacks, one more TFL, and promises of potential dominance that were, i guess, never realized)

linebackers: they'll be fine. we'll miss pickens (although we'd've been better off without him today), but mcgarrigle is outstanding, roach was dominant at times, and eaton and kalita showed well for themselves when they got the chance.

defensive backs: we'll miss price big-time, and we'll hope that we never think of marvin ward again. henderson has been a career disappointment for me, but he'll be back to move into price's strong safety role, while heinz is back at free safety. scott brownley could also figure as a safety, and reggie mcpherson showed well when he got the chance (no word if he got the chance against hawaii.) i'm hopeful that backes can spend a season healthy, because i think he can be a real good one - a shutdown corner. i'm excited to see cory dious earn a starting role, because he's a fun-as-hell kamikaze on special teams (tonight's penalties non-withstanding). marquise cole also figures in the backfield, as could (perhaps) rico tarver. deante battle also saw some time.

special teams: i don't know who snapped (was it horton? yes), but i believe he's back. howells is fine, and i only wish we knew that in august (we'd be bowling had we known that.) pederson punted well after two shanks in his first start, against purdue (or was it penn state?).

anybody playing on sundays (or on nfl rosters? or drafted?): herron's a lock to make a roster. price'll be an admirable special teamer. ndukwe and essex are draft picks. i think castillo's heart alone makes him a draft candidate. i'm hoping that ward's not got a chance (although blackmon - ha! - was drafted...hmmm)

other things: i'm excited to have randy walker presumably back, and i'd think that his staff will see little turnover. i'd think that fitzgerald, clearly being groomed as r-dub's successor, will not get looks as any of the small d-1 schools (san jose state's open, as is nmsu, perhaps, and certainly several more small schools eventually). dunbar hasn't earned a look, nor has greg colby.

the schedule is not unlike many previous wildcats schedules: two mac opponents (a bad one, ohio u. at home, and a good one, niu, also at home), along with arizona state (sans andrew walter) on the road. this shapes up as the easiest non-conference slate in a few years, i'd think. the big ten lineup is tough, as northwestern misses minnesota and indiana (who both figure near the bottom).

the early prediction: 4-7 (2-1 in the nonconference, plus conference wins home against penn state and at illinois...losses home against wisconsin, michigan and iowa, and on the road at purdue, michigan state and ohio state)

sigh...it's sad to see a very fun 2004 season be gone.

(here's the pathetic part: except for the OL and DL names and the schedule factor, this was all written from the top of my head...nerd!)

perhaps more on a wonderful thanksgiving weekend another time. pete carroll's an asswipe.

ten work-free days. pretty incredible. over, as of 10 hours from now. (although not completely back working, as these three days before thanksgiving are 'not much doing.')

day by day, starting with:

friday, 11/12
depart the 'port slightly hungover. drop a suitcase and laundry basket full of dirties at home. proceed to the gurs pad. find the key in the flower pot. arrive about 330. fall asleep. leave for ann arbor with gurs and co. at about 540. arrive at the nemo pad approximately midnight eastern. purchase some high life light, and share drinks with nemo and gurs until about 2.

saturday, 11/13
out the door by 9. after finding parking, have a beer at one house. move to another house, have another beer. have a wonderful dollar dog and a better two-dollar polish. head into the big house. enjoy the first half immensely, as the cats hangwiffem. even more immensely enjoy noah's 60-plus-yard rushing td. do not enjoy the rest of the game, in which the cats are put in their place. after the game, get a brief michigan law school tour (!), courtesy of a third-hand friend whose name i'm not sure i remember. eat pizza at the apartment of a new fourth-hand friend, with approximately 25 purple-clad folks (truly wonderful). enjoy an ann arbor bar for far too long. highlights include nemo and carrie's arrival, and an incredibly loud argument over the merits of randy walker as a head coach. final highlight is bell's pizza at the nemo pad.

it should be noted that, while it is maligned as 'cathedral-like' in terms of crowd noise, i found the big house pretty incredible. i think it's a pretty similar environment to notre dame stadium, and i don't remember the horseshoe as grounds for comparison. from what i've heard, camp randall is the place.

sunday, 11/14
early morning drive home. quick return to glenview after the drive to chicago. watch the bears upset tennessee. sleep. eat with the 'rents. watch arrested development with the papa. sleep more.

monday, 11/15
per mom's instructions, buy $130 in groceries. read the tribune. read us news and world report when the mail comes. (unsuccessfully) try to fix the dryer. (successfully, to an extent) clean out the dryer vent. have a beer or two with coach.

tuesday, 11/16
much of the same, as i recall. read to my mom's first graders (a much better story than my previous visit, two years ago). head into lake view with gurs when he gets off work (130 ish). wander the city, including a visit to virgin megastore. eat dinner with the wysock's. hang out at the gurs pad, with dave, neil, wilson and robby playing key supporting roles.

wednesday, 11/17
hitch a 6am ride from gurs back to glenview. do some sleeping. do some reading. eat a 415 dinner with mom. head back to the gurs pad. head to the aragon ballroom to see urge overkill and the pixies. enjoy both performances greatly. the pixies were loud. really loud. they played 'hey' and 'here comes your man' (the encore), although not 'i love you.' played a blitzing version of 'head on' by jesus & mary chain. the show was over at 10:08, and we were at the gurs pad by 1045. returned to glenview that night (a change of plans) to find the door locked. called and woke up my dad around 100.

thursday, 11/18
pack the car and get out the door by 1030. in the 'port, unpacked, by 330. watch tv and eat chinese food with eileen. sleep.

friday, 11/19
up early to take e to the airport. upon my return home, make a fairly successful old guy radio call. purchase a copy of usa today, which will go mostly unread. buy some groceries. watch some iowa state championship football. sleep.

saturday, 11/20
watch the cats. watch the buckeyes-michigan (happily). watch the hawkeyes-badgers (sadly). watch utah-byu. there was that odd 'root for the underdog' factor that had me wanting the cougars to win. but i'm incredibly happy with the result.

sunday, 11/21
watch the bears disappointing result. take a long walk (!). generally kill time. sweep, vacuum, scrub. do dishes. sleep.

other notes:
- i also played the computer simulator game baseball mogul, which is nerdy but fun.

- the cats hoopsters opened up this weekend in alaska, with a win over portland and losses to new mexico state and utah state (both aggies, right?). they finished fourth as the only major major conference team in the top of the world classic, which is certainly a disappointment. we know young will be missed, but it turns out he'll be really missed. still, i'm optimistic, even for the possibility of 'dancin'

- the fantasy team will drop another one this week, hurt by the lack of production by moulds and colbert, as well as the injury to ahman green. mharrison in the dispersal draft is surely looking like a possibility. of course, 4 TDs from trent green tomorrow still could give me a win.

- i didn't see the pacers-pistons thing live. i did see snl's tremendous 'american trainwreck awards' sketch, which ended with a toby keith-josh groban performance interrupted by the pistons and pacers. excellent response to the news of the day.

- i just hope that one of the guys artest smacked was the guy who threw the water at him. i don't think that the players deserved the stiff suspensions they received.

- the fawning over brett favre is absolutely ridiculous. with 3 minutes left and the packers and texans tied at 13, espn flashed it's 'sunday stud' vote, presumably a barometer of the top players of the day. joe theismann chimed in that 'i wish there was a rule where we could add favre to that list, even though he's playing right now.' bear in mind that his team had scored 13 points in 56 minutes. favre's great - in the top five, for sure - but i wish people would acknowledge that he does things wrong.

- the week ahead includes not much. thanksgiving at my aunt's house in the area, preceded by tree-cutting (really). glenview on friday night. it's looking like a probable return on saturday night, after the irish upset the trojans and during the cats bowl-berth victory over hawaii.

that's it.

bad news: the 2004 fantasy football edition of willie's destroyers is officially out of the playoff hunt. and that's with three games remaining and 8 of 16 making the playoffs. and that's tough to do. i truly laid an egg on sunday, putting up a lame 43 points and, i believe, only three touchdowns. ahman green put up 145 yards but didn't score, and now eric moulds, roy williams, ashley lelie, and trent green begin battling to join a.green and domanick davis on the 05 destroyers.

much of the year has been due to bad luck, but this week i was bad - and unlucky. one week after finally giving up on the 'skins chris cooley as my backup to (the overdrafted) freddie jones, cooley grabs his third td of the year. his replacement, chris baker, netted nothing notable. it finally looked like (the overdrafted) john kasay was in line for a huge game, with quick math indicating 37 carolina points would be good 13 kicker points but, alas, kasay got hurt. ugh.

there will be a brief expansion draft as two teams are getting eliminated, and i might be in line to grab another star-quality player, so that's nice.

good news: they're not good, but the freakin' bears are in the hunt. i'm thinking that they'll keep me interested over the next two weeks, at least, when they take on indy (stranger things have happened) and then the lions on thanksgiving.

i really really love the bears secondary more than any other part of the club. azumah's proven to an extent angelo's instinct as a talent evaluator, and mike green's an absolute terror. while r-dub's adequate and t.johnson's filling in well, this unit with peanut and m.brown would be absolutely remarkable.

meanwhile, there's nothing nicer than being really excited about a draft pick, and seeing that draft pick become immediate great. tommie harris is a pro bowler, and soon.

i'm coming off an outstanding ann arbor trip, in which the cats performance was mildly disappointing (although not altogether unsurprising) but the company certainly made up for the on-field loss. you'll never find a better host in the world than nemo, possibly because he's (mildly) unemployed and living in a wicked nice townhome rent free.

after an early morning gurs-driven jaunt from michigan to chicago, sunday found me watching the bears, arrested development, and my big fat obnoxious boss with my dad. that's it.

today i'm buying myself groceries, and tonight i'm with coach (for sure) and others (i would hope). the pixies come wednesday, and a return to the 'port is sometime thursday.

report have the cats, if they win two more, heading to the sun bowl. i don't much like watching college football on cbs, but it seems that that's what i'll be doing on new year's eve morning. the likely opponent appears to be oregon, although that's still weeks (and two cats wins) away.

as a chicago 'burbs ex-pat in iowa the past few years, i've been blessed with the opportunity to follow 'my' teams - the 'cats, the cubs, the bulls, and, to an extent, the white sox - through the magic of television. i'm in a pretty strong big ten area, which means that the full college football package is carried locally. the big ten hoops package picks up every iowa and illinois game, and sporadic 'other' games during the weekend. this coverage has forced me to sometimes resort to the radio (wgn gets here pretty darn strong) or to watching the big'uns at the only local bar with legit satellite television (i.e. they brought in fox sports west last year to pick up 'cats-arizona state...'the hand of otto graham!')

i was able to get about 140 cubs games (when i was around) a season, 130 white sox games, and about 70 bulls games, through the magic of both wgn superstation and fox sports chicago. of these, the most important are the bulls, who carry me through the long winter (at least during november and december, before i've given up). thanks to some corporate consolidation or whatever, the dream is over. the cubs, sox and bulls have been moved to something called comcast sports net, which isn't carried on my mediacom television package (duh). this means that the bulls are playing game three of the season right now, and i've not seen a single play yet. that hurts, in a way.

of course, that'll hurt even more come the spring, when even a satellite and mlb extra innings package won't do the trick. dig this: in the state of iowa, the cubs, white sox, cardinals, twins, brewers and royals are all completely blacked out. of those, only the first three (and the cardinals only on weekends) are ever on tv locally.

i also feel for the boy, who no doubt is going through withdrawal in south bend as well.

weekend plans: friday morning from the 'port to glenview. friday early afternoon from the 'port to the gurs pad. kill time. friday early-evening, through the traffic, to ann arbor. saturday at the nemo pad/the big house/sake bomb depot/the nemo pad. sunday back to chi-town area. i'm taking the entire week off of work, although there's nothing actually planned. i'll probably try to hook up with high school buds on monday or tuesday night. wednesday will involve the pixies (and urge overkill!). thursday could mark my return to the qca. i'm hoping that trips to mississippi or missouri or new york could spontaneously be planned, but i'll need to get my hair cut for those.

regarding hair, i don't think i've gotten it cut since mid-august. the back is long to the point of being trashy when i've got a hat on, but the top is hanging in there when i'm at work. most importantly, when wearing a hat, my sides are developing 'wings' unseen on this head in at least four years. we'll see if i can ride this out through christmas. it's holding pretty strong.

breaking news: the november 20th cats-illini game has been deemed more interesting that the indiana-purdue battle. the cats'll be on espn-plus. you'd've gotten pretty good odds betting on the cats at the start of the big ten season (when indiana had beaten oregon and orton was on the verge of the heisman, while the cats were 1-2 and the illini still hadn't beaten a i-a team in years), if somebody gave odds on such stupid things.

although they're about to lose, northern illinois just did something i wish more teams would do. rather than set up a punt rush, they rushed two, dropped eight, and tried to spring a return. it didn't lead to a touchdown, but i think it's a strong strategy.

why the nba sort of sucks: tonight featured a 64-60 final. last night featured a double-ot game in which neither team hit triple figures.

i really really think the nba should either a) institute a 20-on-opening-night age minimum to guarantee that players have had some college and have some semblance of fundamentals (i.e. shooting) or b) institute their own legit developmental system, based on major league baseball's, where each team has one minor league affiliate and where all high school seniors are draft-eligible.

don't nba execs see that the lack of skill is the reason people have stopped watching the league?

hey! new template!

nemo and i just had an extended, extended conversation. not that long, but probably 45 minutes, and 45 pithy minutes. probably more than our combined conversation over the previous three or four weeks. neat.

the perils of having rookie phenom roy williams on your fantasy team, courtesy of the fine fantasy football news collaborators at yahoo sports:

item 1) "...According to the team's official website, the rookie did not practice on Wednesday" (taken from fanball.com)

item 2) "Williams (ankle) was in full pads Wednesday and took part in the first phase of practice, the Detroit News reports." (taken from Rotowire)

item 3) "Reportedly the rookie wide receiver practiced in full pads on Wednesday, but was forced to leave before the end of the workout to receive treatment." (courtesy of Stats, Inc)

Those are three completely conflicting reports, it would seem.

I've got no promises, but I'd like to do some site maintenence here. Create a few links, perhaps. Add a comments section. (Forward any information along if you've got one. The Klink Family shoutous are officially down, it would seem. (They've been that way for about a year, of course.))

memorandum
to: ohio board of tourism
from: redhothalos
re: new tourism slogan
date: november 3, 2004

ohio: the new florida

sure, you've got more cheese than key lime, and more corn than beach, and more beef than mahi mahi, but it works!

sincerely,
redhothalos

silver lining...

why john kerry doesn't appeal to people:

daughter vanessa, on nbc: "...it's really a 'bummer,' to use a colloquialism." i mean, really, colloquialism.

of course, this is coming from a person who sent out demo cd's featuring the word 'pavlovian.' sent 'em to mississippi, no less. (thankfully, the word comes in about minute 14 of 17, so i'm winning if they get that far.)

nice, shocking win from the cats on saturday. this could set up, if all goes fairly well, a gbv to music city bowl to gbv december 30th-31st marathon. that would safely be called the greatest two-day period ever, except for the retirement of gbv as an actual touring unit (until bob pollard and doug gillard go on tour in june 05.)

today, a reporter on a teleconference asked joe paterno: "do you think you deserve to be back next year?" it was on a teleconference. you can bet that that reporter spent about three days (from saturday afternoon until today) getting up the courage to ask the question. he finally took about nine shots of jack this morning and then asked it. it's a legitimate question, just brash, i guess. (you can also bet he wouldn't have had the stones to ask the question in person.) i just hope paterno continues doing an absolutely awful job well into this weekend.

feelers out for tickets to the cats and michigan...nothing yet. stubhub.com has 75/ticket as its lowest price. michigan and northwestern ticket departments are sold out. ebay or the hub or generous friends are the only way in.

took the day off, mostly because i had to. (or because i need to take lots of days off, and today seemed like a good day to take one.) turns out, election day coverage sucks until about 6 pm, although i did see a lot of the same sound bites from kerry and bush this afternoon on cnn. i also watched pti (where i saw the paterno tape) and did a pile of dishes. i create lots of piles of dishes.

i don't know what will be my primary news source tonight...probably cnn augmented by abc. i sort of like peter jennings' gayness.

i have spent some early time watching dan rather and cbs, because i appreciate the fact that both he and bob sheffer (sp?) are near death, and that ed bradley is a 65 year old bald man with an earring. i also find it hilarious that, when dan is going through the map and their projected winners, there's a disembodied hand with a pencil pointing to the state he's mentioning (note: his disembodied hand)...it's like using a chalkboard weather map in the era of computer models.

scary voting moment for yours truly this morning. i went to my designated precinct (where i registered in january...i believe this is my first election since moving 'downtown), and was not on their roll. thankfully, i was at the scott county administrative center, so all i had to do was 'go upstairs' to the auditor. handed the auditor my registration, and she told me that i had been listed as 'inactive,' which makes no sense because a) this is my first election in the new precinct and b) i haven't missed an election in the 2 1/2 years i've been in the qca. i had to re-register, then went back downstairs, gave my election judge an 'error code,' and was granted a ballot.

the davenport democratic election party is at some trashy west dav bar. i bet the republicans are at a country club.