The Buckerine Files: 9/10/2008

While I originally created this blog to fulfill a class requirement (begun, while I was still in 3rd grade the original title of this blog was My Blog- A Blog by Joel Thomas: It's a Blog!), I use it to vent out the various delusional cogitations that cloud my brain. As the often desultory and occasionally scatological contents of this blog attest, my mind is neither a simple nor pleasant place. As my own mother once observed "Sometimes Joel's mind can take us places we'd rather not go." During these past few months, my mind has principally entertained topics too dreary or bizarre to fit into the atmosphere of this blog. So save for the rare political essay/work of drama, I have been mute. No longer. In this post I will tap into one of my few longstanding passions, college football.

Though I have certainly blogged about college football before, I haven't posted any kind of ongoing coverage during the regular season. Then at some point during the last season it dawned on me that I would expend untold hours scribbling out e-mail to friends, family, and fellow fans about current gridiron events anyway, so I might as well compose that blather in blog format so I could share it (or perhaps force it upon) the greater Internet public. So with this I disinter The Buckerine Files. When they last appeared, The Buckerine Files provided me an excuse to muse to a wretchedly excessive degree about the greatest rivalry in all of sport: Ohio State v. Michigan (a rivalry I happen to personally embody as an alumnus of both universities, hence the moniker Buckerine, a half-clever portmanteau of the two schools' mascots). Now I shall revisit use the files to revisit the world of college football whenever I feel I have enough clever things to say about it.

I cannot make any promises for the regularity, frequency or quality of these postings, as I may not always watch enough games or feel properly inspired to create worthy blog content. For example I didn't write anything about college football's first weekend as I was attending a wedding and only caught glimpses of football that weekend. So for now I will only say that if you continue reading this blog throughout the college football season you I will treat (or, as some would have it, potentially corrupt) you with however many observations I can muster whenever the pigskin spirit moves me.

In no particular order, here are the notes I added to The Buckerine Files while resting my injured toe . . .

1. You can tell we live in strange times, because we can witness a college football team can defeat an opponent coached by someone who lead a storied program to the national championship game by 12 points, and then hear it labeled a disappointment. Not only that, but said team can more than double their adversary's offensive scoring output, outgain the other guys in rushing, passing, and total yards, while voluntarily rotating three different running backs and two quarterbacks, and do all that with their Heisman candidate on the sidelines the entire game, and be criticized for their anemic offensive effort. Not only that, but in the same game the defense of this scrutinized team could hold their opposition to their lowest accumulation of yards so far this season, allow only one scoring drive, win the turnover battle, with two key players suspended and be deemed underwhelming at the end of the day. Not only that but this disappointing, anemic, underwhelming team can then face a road game against the top ranked team in the country, still be uncertain about their offensive star's status, and be considered a heavy underdog, but also be told that playing a close competitive game would not be a good showing, it's win or be decried as a fraud. How is it one team can face so much criticism, have such a highly regarded opponent looming, and yet have to worry that people will be angry -not just disappointed, but actually enraged- at them if they don't pull a stunning upset victory? Because college football is strange world and these are strange times.

2. Everyone in the Big 12 should be a little worried right now, and the rest of the college football world should be on alert for the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. For the first time during the coaching tenure of the Dread Pirate Mike Leach, Texas Tech has been given some respect going in for the season. The Raiders have become famous for their high-speed high-scoring offense that has almost turned the forward pass into a fetish. This season the pundits thought Tech might finally compete for a conference title and a berth in a BCS bowl game, but it all hinged on whether their defense could finally play up to their offense's level. Well, you should start treating them seriously, because they just faced another potent offense in the Nevada Wolf Pack, and held them to a relatively low 19 points. If Nevada's offense was as good as advertised and Texas Tech did that well against them, then this could be the year Cap'n Leach and his pirate crew lay claim to championship booty.

3. Michael Lewis's book The Blind Side was a best seller and a highly touted book that explored the evolution of football through the life of a young mman and potential football star named Michael Oher. I'm sure plenty of college football fans have read the book and became invested in Oher's fate, as did I. These days Oher is in his senior season as the left tackle for the Ole Miss Rebels. I wonder if there are others who have read the book who watch the Ole Miss games they find on TV with the same sort of parental pride I do. I'm sure there are others. I wonder if anyone else screams at the screen when the Reb's fall behind that the coaches should just call gap. No. That's just me. Okay.

4. The Las Vegas point-spread on the Ohio State- USC game has swelled since the Buckeyes' lackluster performance. Currently it stands at over 10 points, and this is when USC is playing a fellow top five team. By comparison the betting public thinks unranked Purdue is a closer match for No. 16 Oregon, and winless San Diego State is closer to San Jose State, a team with a winning record. Like I said in the first note, these are strange times.

That'a the most creative thinking I can muster for this edition of The Buckerine Files. When I have more to say, you know you'll be able to find it. Until then The Buckerine Files are sealed.