Fighting (Mark) Manginos,

That, my friends, is why I use up multiple vacation days and travel 2000+ miles two watch college football games. Electric atmosphere at the 'Shoe on Saturday night. I cheered, jeered, sang "The Eyes of Texas" and "Carmen Ohio", flashed a few Hook 'em Horns signs, and did the OHIO version of YMCA with 105,500+ other rowdy drunkards. And I only got two "Illinois sucks!" comments the entire night. Seats were fantastic - 11 rows up about five yards deep in the south end zone. Had a great view for the first half scoring action, including Troy Smith's 36-yard toss to Santonio Holmes for a TD. Some random thoughts from the evening:

The Good
1. Tailgating
2. TBDBITL opening with Buckeye Battle Cry, a gratuitous version of the Texas fight song, Script Ohio (with the famous dotting of the "i"), and Carmen Ohio
3. tOSU linebacking crew of Hawk, Schlegel, and Carpenter. Hasn't been a bunch this good since Hardy, Rice, Holocek, and Howard at Illinois (don't laugh, that list includes 2 Butkus Award winners and a two-time All-American)
4. Anthony Schlegel's scoreboard video intro, which included a near perfect Karate Kid crane-style kick
5. Vince Young is Superman. Hand him the Heisman now. O.k., maybe we can wait until after the Oklahoma game. If he played in the Pac-10 we'd be seeing Mike Vick video game-style numbers every week

The Bad
1. TBDBITL playing the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance" during the 4th quarter
2. The two quarterback system that has yet to be successfully implemented at Ohio State (despite 10+ years of effort)
3. Mack Brown's play calling. He seemed to forget after the 1st quarter that Vince Young is the Longhorns' best running back
4. Not showing controversial replays on the scoreboard
5. No Bevo

The ugly
1. The geriatric behind our seating section who kept yelling "Down in front!" No way in hell, gramps. Prime time Top 5 matchups on national TV are a little different than your neighborhood bingo game. We actually were down in front, because the AA section sets a good 3-4 feet lower than the A section at Ohio Stadium
2. Opera singer at halftime. WTF!? If I want class I'll go the opera, certainly not an Ohio state football game
3. The unwritten law that requires any male over age 55 in the state of Ohio to dress like Woody Hayes
4. Jim Tressel's ensemble for the evening
5. Jimbo's play calling (here's a hint for Coach SweaterVest - Ted Ginn wears number 7; quit lining him up on the same side of the field as Santonio and get him the ball. Yes I know he's a flanker, but when was the last time he caught a pass over the middle in traffic; putting him on the same side of the field as Holmes makes it easier for the defense)

Alright, on to other notable news from around the college football world this weekend: Representatives for the Fiesta and Capitol One (Citrus) Bowls were on hand in Champaign for the San Jose State - Illinois game. Ha ha ha - it's hard to say that with a straight face. Still true, however. ... The Big 11 took it on the chin with their top 3 ranked teams all losing to non-conference opponents (the first time that has happened on the same Saturday since 1988). Illinois(!), Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern sit atop the standings. :) SEC has taken over top dog status with four schools in the Top 10.

Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter wins the Lloyd Carr coaching move of the week (LCCMOTW) for using that stupid ass punt formation (SAPF) in the 4th quarter against LSU. Of course the punt got blocked and returned for a touchdown. Was he not watching the Michigan-Oregon and Michigan-Iowa games from a few years ago? The next coach that uses that blocking scheme should be banished to the Sun Belt Conference or wherever Trev Alberts ends up spewing his college football babble. Kudos to LSU for an exciting comeback, though. The Tigers need to focus on defense if they want to compete for an SEC title.

Speaking of Trev, the Oklahoma fans are always good for some Photoshop fun.
http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47384&page=1&pp=20

Michigan needs to spend a little less time learning how to sing the school fight song and a little more time learning how to score in the red zone (that's only funny if you watched GameDay on Saturday). Chad Henne regressed and the offense was horrible against an average Notre Dame defense. The Irish faithful are ready to annoint Chuck Weis as the 2nd coming of Knute Rockne - that's worth a "Yo!" and a "Not so fast my friend" all rolled up into one.

Iowa took a beating in Ames at the hands of their intrastate rivals. Where are all the pundits calling Kirk Ferentz a genius now? Enjoy the ride, Squawkeyes, before Kirk bolts for the big time. ... Rhett Bomar celebrated his late game fumble that led to a TCU victory over Oklahoma by getting arrested for underage drinking on Thursday. Moron. The Sooners struggled again on Saturday, this time against mighty opponent Tulsa. And the beatdown they took last week looks even worse after TCU lost at home to SMU. SMU? Somebody get Craig James on the phone. ... Georgia got a scare between the hedges against the Head Ball Coach. Florida rolled against Louisiana Tech. Can't wait to see the Urbanator and Stevie Boy match wits in Columbia. ... Mixed week for directional Michigan. Central and Eastern scored victories while Western got clobbered by Toledo. Eastern takes the short bus ride (that's "short" bus ride or "short bus" ride, depending on your point of view) to the Big House this weekend for a game against the Wolverines. Uh oh.

The weekly pool has adopted Kentucky as its sentimental favorite for the 2005 season. Go Wildcats!
http://www.wkqq.com/pages/kittenbillboard.html?feed=110195&article=324532

In future years I envision a weekly competitive grilling pool. Bad Byron has the best trademarked phrase ever.

Buena suerte to all, and Go Illini!

Dr. T (sans, unfortunately, the women)