Let's just mention here that the Cats' win was wholly satisfying. I'm more excited today (after they've played) than I was Friday (before their season debut). This team should certainly play a game in December, which is probably the goal this year.

Also wholly satisfying was, of course, the Michigan Wolverines' loss. People who didn't enjoy the fact that Michigan lost to Appalachian State aren't my friends. The logic that says "This makes the Big Ten look bad" may be accurate, but is wholly unrelated. This was #5 people. This is awesome.

One team that probably won't be playing a game in December, or, for that matter, January, is Notre Dame. As a football fan, that was pretty awful to watch. Blowouts aren't fun. Lots of people seem to take joy in ND losses, for obvious reasons; I just wish that Demetrius Jones had had somebody blocking for him. He looked confused, though he never had a chance to look anything but that.

I think it's the time of year where I realize that college football is one of the three most consistently joyful things in my life. I did absolutely nothing all day Saturday, as I plan to many Saturdays, and I finished the day perfectly happy with the state of things. I also had a bellyful of Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, which is more satisfying than you know.

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I'll be watching my second career game in a sports bar in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday afternoon. In 2005, I got the chance to watch Tyrell Sutton's college football debut and, therefore, the debut of one of the most entertaining runners I've ever seen. (He's just so darn slippery.) Perhaps, watching this Saturday in Ann Arbor, I'll get to see Jordan Mabin make his collegiate debut, perhaps returning a kickoff for a touchdown. If he's healthy, I guess.

I hadn't heard of Tyrell Sutton entering that day. I'll bring a roster to the sports bar. I'm a far bigger nerd now than I was then, however, so I probably won't need the roster. I'll probably wear my Tyrell jersey, like a complete dweeb.

Though I didn't actually see it, I sense there was a lot to like about Saturday's Cats win. I'm particularly excited that Quentin Davie played and, apparently, played well in fairly extended action. He was highly-recruited, and looks like a speedy athlete. He's also a redshirt freshman, which means he's got a long time to be really good, if he's indeed really good. He also wears #41 which, while not Fitzgerald's #51, was McGarigle's number. That's a pretty good number to have.

It sounds like Sherrick McManis was all over the place, again. It sounds like John Gill was a beast up the middle.

And it sounds like the offensive line was substandard. I hope the offensive line is dominant against Nevada, and I hope that Tyrell rushes for 220 yards.

Gosh, Northwestern football is the greatest.

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I didn't get to watch the game Saturday, despite the fact that I went to the only bar in the entire Ring Fingernail region with DirecTV. (This is because Hooters - Hooters - didn't have the foresight to install the satellite system in the first six months they were open. They've decided to install sometime this week, in time for the NFL season. Dumbasses.)

You see, the only bar in town with DirecTV also has only three receivers. This means that, roughly, eight TVs in the place were tuned to Michigan, four were tuned to Michigan State, and one was tuned to Ohio State. (The one OSU fan in town is a bigger dork than me and was, consequently, at the bar by 30 minutes to kickoff. He had already had a Bloody Mary or three; I was planning to nurse three one-dollar beers, perhaps eventually purchasing lunch. More likely, I would have just eaten peanuts. So, by showing OSU instead of NU, the bar won, big-time.)

It is for this reason that The Big Ten Network sucks. I, for instance, can't get DirecTV. No southern exterior wall, no non-tree-obstructed view of the sky, no chance. I, however, would be perfectly willing to drop six or eight or ten bucks a month for the privilege to receive The Big Ten Network. The Big Ten Network, however, seems to insist that theirs is a general interest station. Sadly, it's not.

Upshot: Cable companies and the Big Ten Network butt heads, fans lose. That sucks.

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Let's write briefly about how summer is over. Summer's over, seriously. It's September, seriously.

I spent my last day of summer feeling oddly ill. I don't know why. Then I felt iller, but this is because I watched Carlos pitch against the Dodgers.

I did accomplish a few things on Monday, Labor Day. I bought groceries. I purchased a GMAT Prep Book. I also, on an impulse, purchase a IV, a collection of Chuck Klosterman writings with which I was previously unfamiliar.

Two days later, I'm probably 40 percent through the Klosterman collection. I've read about Steve Nash, Val Kilmer, Morgan Spurlock, and all those awesome Mexican teenaged Morrissey fans. I've not read about the GMAT, sadly.

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I'm pretty proud about how I've performed this summer. This weekend, for instance, saw me participate in four separate social situations. That's four social situations in about 54 hours which is, I think, notable. That's good use of time.

I made pretty good use of my three-day weekends, with visits by Gurs, The Boy, and my parents, and a visit back to the CHI to see my sister & others. My final two three-day weekends were, kind of, wastes, which is to say nothing notable really happened. But they were fun and I never felt like I was, you know, wasting them.

I didn't get to the beach enough - not at all in August, I don't think - but I did blow lots and lots of money golfing. My game is far better now than it was two months ago, and I get great, great satisfaction out of a well-placed chip or a well-played hole. It's about the most challenging thing in the world, and it's nice to be able to compete against the course while drinking beer (or Gatorate) with a friend. I even played from the blue tees on Sunday afternoon (then got back in time to see Derrek Lee's game-winning blast.)

Still, the fall is shaping up to be a very, very, very productive time as well. This weekend, as I wrote, I'll be headed to Ann Arbor. I believe the plan calls for, roughly, the Tigs/Tiges (vs. Ichiro) on Friday, some beer on Saturday, and some golf on Sunday.

Then, at the end of the month, Jenny has unofficially officially committed to a trip North. That could be incredible. Nemo was invited (though he doesn't know this), but finds Nashville more interesting.

Mid-October, there's the trip scheduled back to Evanston. I'll get to see the Cats and the Gophers and, presumably, lots of friends that I've forgotten. Or, at least, classmates whose names I don't remember, and great, great friends that I don't see enough.

Then, there's a better-than-slight chance - I'll place it at about 70-30 - that I'll be making a voyage to the Twin Cities the first weekend in November. You see, The Hold Steady is playing, and my ticket is paid for, and that's where my great pal Gurs lives.