Well, Michigan State just beat Northwestern, 41-38, as Northwestern blew a 38-3 lead in the game's final 25 minutes. 35 points is the biggest blown lead for a loss in NCAA history. If you're going to lose, lose in record-breaking fashion, I've always said.

On the bright side, Eastern Michigan won "The Thrilla in Ypsilla(-nti)," as it's already been dubbed, by defeating the Toledo Rockets 17-13. The game's key play was a two-point conversion attempt returned for a safety. It was awesome, though I wasn't watching.

Awesomer, Notre Dame snuck past UCLA. I think Jeff Samardzija is the best receiver in the nation. With a nose job, he'd also be a pretty attractive woman, I think. (During an ESPN halftime show, Linda Cohn just said, "Notre Dame's like Steven Taylor [sic] of Aerosmith: They like 'Living. On. The. Edge.'" That's the uncoolest thing ever said by Linda Cohn, I think.)

But back to the Cats: If anyone can have a good time watching his favorite program set an NCAA record for awfulness, I had that.

Because my roommate is a Badgers fan and is comfortable flipping channels when his favorite team is on (I'm not), I headed to a local bar to watch every play. (I did miss the first drive, a MSU field goal.)

Anyway, after watching NU's first drive at the nearly-empty bar, I headed over to a table near some older women who were watching MSU and the Cats. Three older women in a sports bar is not a frequently-occuring thing, and this trio was fantastic. Completely decked out in Spartan gear. But friendly, too. And ultra-knowledgable. Turns out, one of them was a family friend of Drew Stanton's, to the point where she makes him brownies on a weekly basis and sent him a congratulatory text message after the game. She was also wearing MSU Converse All Star-high heels. They were MSU alums from, say, 1968, and they were together for their annual "Sisters Weekend." They were fun to watch with.

"Another goddamn dropped ball."
"Bullshit!"
"How many penalties do we have? Look at that - seven damn penalties."

Some of their quotes.

Plus, they did a "touchdown dance" after every State score. It was pretty funny.

The loss was excruciating, obviously, but not that extruciating.

Why:
1) My rivals were pleasant.
2) John L. Smith jokes flowed regularly.
3) Fitzgerald looked confused every time he wass shown on camera.
4) After the first three conference games, there was no legitimate hope for a bowl game.
5) Once the blocked punt happened, you could feel it coming. Maybe sooner, in fact.
6) NU actually played the quarterback that knows how to throw.
7) He threw well.
8) After it, I'm 90 percent sure I won't waste my time or money on a trip to Ann Arbor to watch the loss to Michigan next week. The only thing that could change this is the decision to see The Hold Steady on Friday in Detroit. But I don't think that the two potentialities are worth the trip. (A third potentiality - the Tigers clinching the World Seris that night - might.)

Unfortunately, four wins is probably not possible this year. That's disappointing. Also, we'll finish no better than tied for last in the conference. That's even more disappointing.

I guess I've got no further comment on that one. Wow.

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Awful news on Tuesday night, when I learned that my phone number was not indeed portable, as I had been told. I planned to be into the Alltel dealership and out within an hour but, instead, I was directed to Sam's Club, where they had a Motorola Razr rebate promotion going. Once there, the only kiosk attendant was occupied for a half-hour. Then, she couldn't read my address, delaying the process. By a lot. Then, she couldn't get the number switched to the new phone. Then, she spent a half-hour on the phone with her supervisor, finding out why not. Then, I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the Verizon guy, with him explaining why I couldn't switch it in. Then I chose from a list of crappy prefixes - I couldn't choose from full phone numbers, just prefixes.

And I was left with: BE 1 - LEG - 0 EH 0. Not much you can do with two zeros and a one. Considering the situation, I guess it's somewhat memorable, but will never be used to draw laughs.

Joe Did Gary, you served nobly. I, and several others, will miss you. Crap.

Also, I left the house at 6:05 on Tuesday night, and returned at 8:40. It sucked. The best part of the night was that I got a huge tuna sandwich from Subway.

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The cell phone thing was a total, and unnecessary, source of stress for me on Tuesday night. Gurs was nice enough to talk me down after work on Wednesday.

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I'll state it before first pitch: Jim Leyland ("The Wizard of Woodward," as my MSU-loving friends called him) made the absolute right choice by starting Justin Verlander in game one. He's their best guy.

Rogers in Detroit is the right decision. The only one I'd hesitate about is Bonderman behind Robertson.

Prediction: Tigers in ... 6, though I think that a Tigers sweep is a possibility, and I think a Cards win is a possibility.

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So, I think work is taking a lot out of me. This is the first time I've had a commute of more than ten minutes, and then had to do things like cook for myself. This is also the first time my workday has started at eight. In the 'Port, it was a four-minute commute and a nine (ten during the season) start. This winter, in the exciting world of non-profit HR, it was a 35-minute, a 9 a.m. start, and my mom cooked. That was sweet.

So, my day now starts at about 6:30 or so, when I wake up, and I get home in the vicinity of 5:45. Then I run, because I'm an idiot. I'm doing about an hour a day now, whether outdoors or on the apartment complex treadmill.

Anyway, I'm finding myself not eating dinner until 8:30 or 9, and not getting to bed until after midnight. Phone calls, or reading, or baseball, or whatever. I fell asleep in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the NLCS, missing both Molina's home run and the Mets bottom-of-the-ninth threat. That kind of sucks. (It also sucks that games start at 8:20 here. Sucks royally, dude.)

One small solution I came up with on Wednesday night: Counting my post-run shower as my morning shower. Is this unsanitary? Not completely. I only sit around at night, after all. And now I'm waking up at 6:40 and, rather than hurrying through a shower and breakfast, I'm watching Today, doing some reading, and eating a leisurely breakfast. It's making things a bit less stressful in the morning.

I've also adjusted my breakfast a bit. Sometimes, shredded wheat and Splenda and a sliced banana. But, sometimes, oatmeal and cinammon and applesauce and raisins, all in the same bowl. I really, really like raisins.

Anyway, after work on Friday, I had a pretty severe headache, and I was extremely tired on the way home. I called my roommate to cancel our plans to watch The Ring Fingernail's annual high school football hate match (he and another former coworker went, and said that it was a pretty awesome atmosphere - the place was filling up as I drove by 90 minutes before kickoff), returned home, ate some raisins, and settled down for a nap. My nap started at 5:55. I turned off the alarm at 7:36. I ignored a phone call from Dirtbag at 9:12. I woke up at 11:23. That's 5:28 in naptime, and it was awesome.

After six more hours of sleep (about 4:30 until about 10:30), I was totally refreshed for my run this morning. The autumn colors were out in force, and the weather was sufficiently crisp. A great refresher. (I did not see any fans at the houses that, bafflingly, continue to fly Michigan State flags, so I did not get the chance to gesture to my NU shirt and yell "Go Cats!," as I had planned. Note: A few weeks ago, after Michigan beat Sparty, several of those MSU-flag-flying houses were flying their flags upside-down, presumably the result of another lost bet. It was awesome.)

(Slighly related to the above: I hadn't seen ESPN.com since at least Monday night. I tried to catch up on the columnists I like - David Fleming, Tuesday Morning Quarterback, The Sports Guy - plus the NU message boards and a bit of Deadspin - after waking up after my nap. When The Sports Guy writes three columns in a week, and you read all three in one night, the night becomes a long one. But it's worth it, generally.)

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When I returned home from the bar after the Cats game, my roommate was on a total cleaning kick. So I helped out. Some vacuuming, some floor scrubbing, a pretty good go-over, really. He was blasting music.

Learned: Jack Johnson really, really sucks. Blink 182's Enema of the State: Pretty catchy, really.

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I've gotten dial-up at home. Don't look now, though, but a neighbor has just installed unencrypted wireless. This could be a huge victory.