Redneck Gaijin's Pitiful Little Life...

Stupor Bowl 2009: the Fourth Update

2009-11-08T02:26:15Z

1. RICE (Conference USA) (0-8): LOST, narrowly, to SMU (5-4), 31-28. Surprisingly close, considering how horrible Rice has been up to now.

2. EASTERN MICHIGAN (MAC - West) (0-9): LOST to Northern Illinois (6-3), 50-6. Gave up the opening kick for a touchdown; 'nuff said.

3. NEW MEXICO (Mountain West) (0-9): LOST to Utah (-), 45-14. Utah fumbled five times, but recovered all but one; that should have been a vulnerable team.

4. WESTERN KENTUCKY (Sun Belt) (0-9): LOST to Troy (6-2), 40-20. The first half was pretty even, but the second half was all against the Hilltoppers. Still, a respectable enough performance compared to Eastern Michigan and New Mexico to clearly show a difference- this week.

5. MIAMI (OHIO) (MAC - East) (1-9): LOST to Temple (7-2), 34-32. Thanks, guys, you've just given the Owls their first bowl-eligible year since I've been alive. That's an accomplishment, that is.

6. BALL STATE (MAC - West) (1-8): Idle.

7. WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 10) (1-8): LOST to Arizona (6-2), 48-7. Speaking of opening kickoffs turned into touchdowns for the opposing team...

8. SAN JOSE STATE (WAC) (1-6): Game scheduled, but an hour late in starting, so it can wait.

OUT- AKRON (MAC - East) (2-7): Defeated Kent State (5-5), 28-20.

Wow- this late in the season, still either seven or (more likely) eight contenders- with four unvictorious teams. This is a banner year for suck, isn't it?

The flu- a gift that keeps on giving...

2009-11-08T00:08:58Z

No more fever, thankfully. Joints stopped hurting. Feel a bit stronger and steadier, though I still have moments of dizziness.

Now, instead, lung and throat congestion that keeps me coughing, and coughing, and COUGHING. It's gone from being annoying to outright painful.

I can't write, can't work, can't do much of anything that badly needs doing at this point because I can't even take a deep breath without a coughing fit.

I could have gone to the Arcade Expo in Houston today, maybe run into doctorpinkerton, except for this damn flu.

Weather Channel, you are officially USELESS.

2009-11-07T03:10:00Z

You know what's on Weather Channel right now?

A weather report, you suggest? Noooo, of course not. That's what they used to do, back when they were doing that sort of thing.

It Could Happen Tomorrow? Storm Stories Although equal wastes of time when you want to know whether you need to cover the plants tonight, no.

The March of the Penguins.

That's right, I said The March of the Penguins.

THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, goddamn it.

What in the HELL do penguins have to do with forecasting the weather?

Fuck you VERY much NBC Networks, for making a once useful cable channel into another utter fucking waste of time.

Whoa, I Tweeted!

2009-11-06T09:04:34Z

15:02 11 dead + shooter, 31 wounded at Ft. Hood. Army shrink, major, dunnit. Cable news goes into third hour of wild-ass guessing. Assholes. #

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From Twitter 11-05-2009

2009-11-06T08:04:00Z

19:02:01: 11 dead + shooter, 31 wounded at Ft. Hood. Army shrink, major, dunnit. Cable news goes into third hour of wild-ass guessing. Assholes.

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The suits in Hollywood are up to their usual tricks...

2009-11-06T00:20:58Z

Apparently they're asking the FCC to put a back-door in all our TiVos allowing them to turn off output whenever they want.

Leaving aside the intrusiveness of the request, this just does not work.

(Thanks to Adam Savage, donttrythis on Twitter, both for making this public and distracting me from cable news blathering on the Ft. Hood shootings. People, why don't you find something ELSE to talk about until you get more actual FACTS?)

redneckgaijin @ 2009-11-05T17:31:00

2009-11-05T23:40:45Z

Yes, I've heard about the Fort Hood shooting.

No, I don't have much to say about it yet- not until the current guesswork gets sifted out into something approaching fact. I refuse to add to the guesswork. "Why" will be sorted out in the next day or two, or else not at all.

Right now, though, my only thought is this: the policy of disarming soldiers on base seems to me, under the circumstances, to be at least pointless if not outright counterproductive. These are, after all, men supposedly trained in how to handle firearms safely, and in when to shoot and when not to shoot. If you accept the argument that "only qualified people should handle firearms," then any soldier outside of boot camp ought to qualify... and yet, apparently not.

One of the eleven deceased victims was a civilian cop responding to the gunfire. It's a rugged way to run a railroad, when soldiers have to be defended by civilian cops.

(Oh- and if you can't trust these soldiers to carry firearms responsibly on the home front, how in the hell can you trust them in the field- in the stress and confusion of battle?)

Granted, giving soldiers the option of being armed on base might not have saved a single person today... but dammit, I wish they'd at least been given the chance.

From Twitter 11-03-2009

2009-11-04T08:03:40Z

22:04:27: Swine flu- I gots it. Fever from 100.2 to 101.8 today- currently 100.8. Drinking lots of OJ, taking Contac, sleeping quite a lot.
22:35:31: Other symptoms: cough, running nose (was clear a couple hours ago), muscle cramps, occasional shivering fits, muddled thoughts.

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Flu update...

2009-11-03T17:50:39Z

Back from shopping. Current temperature 101.6. Sore throat, sinus drip dried up (I usually have permanent blockage), very dizzy and a bit sleepy... and I haven't taken any medicine yet.

I'm about to change that- got some Contac, a bunch of orange juice, and a bed sweetly calling my name.

"And now to the news, and I'm afraid it's bad: Jeremy Clarkson has caught cold."

"I've not caught cold... I've got the bird flu."

"Well, yes, and that certainly is more serious."

"Yes, because if Jeremy's caught bird flu, then it's only one species away from human, so we could all be in trouble."

- a Top Gear quote sequence that's been running through my head all day

Blurgh.

2009-11-03T14:04:49Z

Yep, I got the flu- not just the con crud, but a feverish, shaking-like-a-leaf flu.

Last night about 3:30 AM, woke up to full body shivering despite being wrapped up like a cigar in blankets on a heated waterbed. Thermometer showed a fever of 101.4. This morning the shakes are mostly gone (I'm still feeling weak, though), fever down to 100.2.

And today is shopping day. Whee.

redneckgaijin @ 2009-11-02T18:32:00

2009-11-03T00:34:44Z

Spent Halloween at a Houston-area anime convention, trying out my "redneck mad scientist" outfit. Doesn't work yet. I need to see if there's still a welding mask in the garage. And maybe I should get a beaker of the right size to fit into a Koozie.

And yes, that is a COG badge on the lab coat- the outfit was prompted by my fandom for doctorpinkerton and his colleagues.

Brings new terror to, "Hold my beer an' watch dis," doesn't it?

From Twitter 10-31-2009

2009-11-01T08:03:49Z

01:45:10: Bunnies and Burrows... overkilling a "chompacubrathingy" with gasoline fire, cop gunfire and a grenade is pretty awesome. Had much fun.

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Brief Stupor Bowl update

2009-11-01T06:42:45Z

1. RICE (Conference USA) (0-7): Idle, thank goodness.

2. WESTERN KENTUCKY (Sun Belt) (0-7): LOST to North Texas (2-5), 68-49. What's sad is that the Hilltoppers led this game for three quarters, and still blew it.

3. EASTERN MICHIGAN (MAC - West) (0-8): LOST against Arkansas, oh yes indeed, 63-27- and it was worse than the score states. It's really hard to pick between #2 and #3 on this list just now.

4. NEW MEXICO (Mountain West) (0-8): LOST 23-20 to San Diego State (4-4). A close loss with only one apparent turnover, quite competitive. Definitely better- this weekend- than #2 or #3.

5. MIAMI (OHIO) (MAC - East) (1-8): WON over Toledo (4-5), 31-24. Technically they're still in the running, though.

6. BALL STATE (MAC - West) (1-8): LOST to Ohio (6-3), 20-17. A quality close loss.

7. AKRON (MAC - East) (1-7): LOST to Northern Illinois (5-3), 27-10. Game remarkably blunder-free.

8. SAN JOSE STATE (WAC) (1-6): Slaughtered by undefeated Boise State, 45-7.

9. WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 10) (1-7): LOST to Notre Dame (6-2), 40-14.

OUT - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS (Big 10) (2-6): WON against Michigan (5-4), 38-13. Remember when the Wolverines were dominant nationally? Been a while...

OUT- FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (Sun Belt) (2-6): WON against Louisiana-Lafayette, 20-17. Congratulations.

OUT- NORTH TEXAS (Sun Belt) (2-5): See above.

Oh, and congrats to Oregon, who beat USC and knocked them out of the title hunt... jumped into the title hunt themselves... and gave a boost to Boise State, who IIRC is the only team to beat Oregon this year...

From Twitter 10-29-2009

2009-10-30T08:03:53Z

09:34:14: Man, I hope there's enough of a break in the rain this afternoon for me to unload the truck at OniCon. Oh well- off I go to make money.

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Last two cons of the year...

2009-10-29T01:46:15Z

Tomorrow I go down to Houston to set up the WLP booth for OniCon, which will by my last full weekend con until February (most likely).

Two weeks later, I get up way too early Saturday, Nov. 14 to drive to Dallas for the one day event Dallas Webcomics Expo. I'll be on a panel there, on the economics of webcomics.

See y'all thereses!

Stupor Bowl Update: 2009, Part 2

2009-10-25T03:36:27Z

1. RICE (Conference USA) (0-7): LOST- or perhaps I should say WHIPPED LIKE A REDHEADED STEPCHILD (and I should know, I was one)- to Central Florida (4-3), 49-7. Three fumbles and one interception. Nine punts. Yielded up 87 yards on penalties. How does this team NOT remain the laughingstock of NCAA I-A football?

2. WESTERN KENTUCKY (Sun Belt) (0-6): LOST (oh boy did they) to Middle Tennessee (4-3), 62-24. 'Nuff said.

3. EASTERN MICHIGAN (MAC - West) (0-7): LOST against Ball State (see below), 29-27. Controlled the game early on, but gave up two touchdowns and a safety in the last seven minutes of play. Guys? You lost to BALL STATE, despite their clearly playing worse than you did. That moves you up, oh yes indeed.

4. NEW MEXICO (Mountain West) (0-7): LOST 34-17 to University of Nevada at Las Vegas (2-5). UNLV took an early lead, and the Lobos were never able to catch up.

5. MIAMI (OHIO) (MAC - East) (0-8): LOST to Northern Illinois (4-3), 27-22. The game was nothing like as close as the final score makes it out (for one thing, MO made a hail-Mary touchdown with time expired), but it'll still count as a "close loss" for the stats. No turnovers; however, an utter lack of run offense and run defense. Also, two missed field goals from avg. 40 yards out. Not good, but not terrible.

6. BALL STATE (MAC - West) (1-7): WON against Eastern Michigan, 29-27, despite having no passing game to speak of (two receptions for a total of one yard gained) and three turnovers to EMU's none. Despite this win, this team should remain well in the running- the worst of the remaining one-win teams.

7. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (Sun Belt) (1-6): LOST to Arkansas State (2-4), 27-10. Sadly, no detailed information to give- except that all ten of FIU's points came in the second half.

8. AKRON (MAC - East) (1-6): LOST to Syracuse (3-4), 28-14. The score looks better than it ought, since one of Akron's two touchdowns was a kickoff return. No running game. 1 of 11 on third-down conversions. Pathetic.

9. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS (Big 10) (1-6): LOST to Purdue (3-5), 24-14. Saw part of this game; Illinois desperate and hungry, but lacking the skills to follow through. Missed chip-shot field goal at the half.

10. SAN JOSE STATE (WAC) (1-5): Idle.

11. NORTH TEXAS (Sun Belt) (1-5): LOST to Troy (5-2), 50-26. Considering that Troy leads the Sun Belt Conference, the Mean Green didn't do all that badly.

12. WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 10) (1-6): LOST to California (5-2), 49-17. Not surprising, since Cal began the season as a Top 10 team before running into Oregon and USC. For what it's worth, Washington State put up a fight... they were just completely outmatched.

OUT- ARKANSAS STATE (Sun Belt) (2-4): As predicted, A-State got off the list quick- indeed, the only reason they weren't first off is that they had a late game this weekend. They beat Florida International (see above).

OUT- UTAH STATE (WAC) (2-5): Upset 3-4 Louisiana Tech, 23-21- and 14 of LA Tech's 21 points came in the fourth quarter. Good show, Aggies- you're not totally useless.

OUT- FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Sun Belt) (2-4): Upset U. Louisiana at Lafayette (4-3), 51-29. Ouch. Yet more proof, were any required, that the Sun Belt at the least needs to be broken up and redistributed, just to get rid of a horrible athletic conference.

So... from fifteen teams to twelve. Only two will be dishonored with the invitation to the Stupor Bowl. We're pretty sure one's going to be Rice... but who will be the other, the penultimate loser?

Does it suck... or not?

2009-10-24T16:14:15Z

I've caught the back end of The Super Hero Squad Show, or as I'd rather think of it, Marvel Babies. Basically cutesy-fied (but not chibi) superheroes with stories dumbed down to the lowest possible denominator- and half the voices done by Charlie Adler. It's hard to take a supervillain seriously when he speaks with Buster Bunny's voice.

Initial reaction: My eyes! The bleeding!

Second reaction: You know, this show really does show off just how unutterably STUPID 9/10ths of Marvel Comics properties are.

Reaction whenever the Hulk appears on screen: COMEDY. GOLD.

So, still color me undecided on that show... but willing to give it a shot.

From Twitter 10-23-2009

2009-10-24T08:04:08Z

09:51:04: It's a splendid, cool day; I'd go golfing, if I wasn't pretty much broke after the PitW books. No golf until after OniCon.

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Whoa, I Tweeted!

2009-10-24T08:00:33Z

06:51 It's a splendid, cool day; I'd go golfing, if I wasn't pretty much broke after the PitW books. No golf until after OniCon. #

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Excuse me, but did we elect a Republican president?

2009-10-24T01:01:53Z

President Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel have apparently torpedoed a deal in the Senate that would have got all 60 Democrats on board for a public option.

(Note: I'm not so sure: Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is opposed to any and all forms of healthcare reform, period, and I don't think her vote is gettable. Joe Liebermann, almost as bad.)

Apparently Obama believes it is more important to get one Republican vote than to get 60 Democratic votes- or, indeed, ANY Democratic votes.

So, let's see. Starts out opposing ALL equal rights for homosexuals, then commits to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage Act... someday.

Opposes any and all accountability for torture and other war crimes, to the point of strong-arming the courts of OTHER COUNTRIES into backing off.

Upholds the right claimed by George W. Bush to imprison anyone indefinitely, without due process of law, solely on his say-so.

Refuses to do anything about torture other than to ban its use while he's in office- no new law, no prosecutions, barely enough investigation to provide a bucket of whitewash.

Not a single soldier out of Iraq until at least next year, with a back-door option to revoke the current agreement promising to withdraw them- while preparing to double-down, AGAIN, in Afghanistan, despite a hopelessly corrupt government that makes any counterinsurgency program impossible.

Oh- and no reform of the financial markets, and indeed waited until just this week to force megacorps that took government bailout money to stop paying executives obscene salaries.

Well, at least he appointed a liberal justice... who believes in unlimited executive power and who believes the government can take your property and hand it over to someone else just because.

I know I retracted my call for impeachment, but DAMN...

TV problems.

2009-10-23T20:45:51Z

I've got an old Toshiba Theaterview rear-projection TV in the living room- about 50" screen, give or take. It's used when we have company, when I want to watch something while in the living room, or when I'm playing Nintendo (I still play my GameCube- no Wii yet).

Today it was off and on a few times. About half an hour ago I turned it on again, put in a game, and noticed that the color was very, very wrong... but only in the bottom half of the screen.

The colors in the top half of the screen are perfectly aligned- I checked and fiddled to be sure. The blue, however, is pushed upward along the bottom half of the screen- it's worse on the left side, with it making a high arc before coming back down towards the lower left corner.

I've tried checking online for hints, but the general trend is, "Put that dog to sleep and buy a new TV." We need a large TV for the living room for when family comes up, but the money is not present for a brand-new replacement. I'll look at the two pawn shops in Livingston to get prices, but I severely doubt that either will have what's wanted or needed. (Also, we'd have to get some furniture to put the TV on; the Toshiba is a free-standing cabinet almost five feet tall.)

So: any tech-savvy readers have suggestions? Indeed, is it fixable by a layman at all?

(And BTW, there's no TV repairman within house-call range of the house, so that's not an option. Either I fix it or it doesn't get fixed.)

From Twitter 10-22-2009

2009-10-23T08:05:01Z

10:10:41: So... anyone here order PitW books from Amazon? Whaddya think? Rate & review on Amazon.com would be nice, whatever you think.

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Whoa, I Tweeted!

2009-10-23T08:00:33Z

07:10 So... anyone here order PitW books from Amazon? Whaddya think? Rate & review on Amazon.com would be nice, whatever you think. #

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2009 Stupor Bowl- First Look

2009-10-18T21:57:32Z

First: the Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals today. I REALLY wasn't expecting that- in fact, had I bet on the game, I would have picked Cincy by 17.

Anyway, forget pro football... the college football season is half over, and that means it's time to look at the contenders for my proposed end-of-the-year showdown of slop, challenge of chumps, clash of klutzes- the Stupor Bowl.

To clarify, let me explain: current NCAA rules require that Division I-A (Bowl Championship Series) schools only qualify to go to post-season bowl games if they win at least six games against other I-A schools. I believe the rules should be changed to make an exception for the two worst teams- ideally, teams which go perfectly unvictorious throughout the year, to give them one last shot at salvaging something from a miserable year.

This would be the Stupor Bowl, and here's the rules for selection.

(1) The two worst teams are named to play, beginning with any teams that go entirely without wins in a season. If one or both spots remain available, then teams with one win are eligible.

(2) Teams with one win are ineligible if that one win was in the final game of the season ("end on a high note" rule- such teams don't need a Stupor Bowl).

(3) The two teams in the Stupor Bowl must be from different athletic conferences.

(4) In case of ties, the tiebreakers shall be, in order: (a) number of losses; or, failing that, (b) a judgement call in which strength of schedule, past performance of the school's teams, quality of their win (if any), and proportion of near-losses v. blowout losses are taken into consideration.

So, now that almost everyone's had at least six games, who's left in contention for this dubious honor?

RICE (Conference USA) (0-7): It might be that I'm from Houston, but I have to put Rice at the top of the contender list. No wins, some enormous blowouts, a very weak schedule- let's face it, the only thing that keeps Rice games on the radio in Houston is a cadre of very wealthy alumni. And its last game of the year- the battle for the Bayou Bucket- doesn't bode well for a last-game victory salvage, not with the University of Houston in the AP Top 25.

Stats: winless, no close losses, weak schedule, Point Margin -29, Yardage Margin -168.7.

MIAMI (OHIO) (MAC - East) (0-7): Almost as miserable as Rice is Miami of Ohio, and with equally bad, possibly worse, chances of winning a game down the road. The main difference? Deceptively strong defensive stats. I wish my stat source counted turnovers as a stat...

Stats: winless, no close losses, weak schedule, Point Margin -25.3, Yardage Margin -72.7.

WESTERN KENTUCKY (Sun Belt) (0-6): Fourteen straight losses. OUCH-amundo. One of the weakest schedules in college ball. Double ouch. One of the two weakest CONFERENCES in I-A ball. Three strikes, you're in the hunt, Hilltoppers. (Might want to change the mascot name to something that doesn't remind people of the most ecologically destructive mining method since Californians turned fire hoses on whole mountainsides.) The good news: two other Stupor Bowl contenders remain in their future schedule.

Stats: winless, no close losses, VERY weak schedule, Point Margin -23.3, Yardage Margin -190.1.

NEW MEXICO (Mountain West) (0-6): You've got to give bonus suck points to any team that has the head coach get into a fist-fight with his own assistants. Said head coach won't even be on the field against UNLV on Saturday, and that's his team's best remaining chance for a win with THREE ranked teams facing them. Only one near-loss- against past Stupor Bowl contender New Mexico State- separates them from the misery of Miami and Rice. On the other hand, a stronger-than-expected schedule has to be taken into consideration...

Stats: winless, one close losses (I-A New Mexico State), strong schedule, Point Margin -23.3, Yardage Margin -134.

EASTERN MICHIGAN (MAC - West) (0-6): Dreadful, but with a serious hope of a last-game victory against Akron (see below), and possibly a chance just as good against Ball State, who they play next Saturday. One close defeat (27-24) against Northwestern, potentially a bowl-eligible school this year.

Stats: winless, one close loss (I-A Northwestern), weak schedule, Point Margin -21, Yardage Margin -118.5.

BALL STATE (MAC - West) (0-7): Also in the Mid-American Conference- which is competing with the Sun Belt this year for sheer misery- we have perennial Stupor Bowl contender Ball State. Unlike Eastern Michigan, though, they've kept three games close, with one game coming down to the very last minute of play. If Ball State loses next week, though, they don't have much hope in the rest of their schedule.

Stats: winless, three close losses (all I-A weak), VERY weak schedule, Point Margin -10.5, Yardage Margin -115.7.

AKRON (MAC - East) (1-5): I like Akron. They have one of the most clever mascot names in sports- the Zips. But they have a long history of being pathetic in I-A college ball. That said, there is hope- their one win was a shutout against one of the better I-AA schools, and they fought a close battle with U. Buffalo. I look for Akron to get a second win in this weak division possibly before the otherwise Stupor Bowl eliminator against Eastern Michigan.

Stats: 1 win (I-AA, 41-0), one close loss, weak schedule, Point Margin -7.2, Yardage Margin -59.2.

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (Sun Belt) (1-5): Only win against hapless Western Kentucky. No close wins- sorry, Rutgers doesn't count. All that said, their offense does seem to score a lot, so something might go right somewhere... and two Stupor Bowl contenders lie down the road, including a final game against Florida Atlantic. However, their stats will take a hit when they visit undefeated Florida...

Stats: 1 win (I-A winless), no close losses, middling schedule, Point Margin -8.2, Yardage Margin -162.1.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS (Big 10) (1-5): Switching starting quarterbacks in mid-stream is never a good thing. With one win against a Division I-AA school, its record isn't impressive, but then again Illinois has been a consistent also-ran or weak-sister in the Big Ten, with three or four ranked teams on its schedule. Past Stupor Bowl contender Minnesota provides Illinois with its best chance for a second win on November 7.

Stats: 1 win (I-AA), no close losses, strong schedule, Point Margin -11.8, Yardage Margin -62.3.

WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 10) (1-5): The Pac 10 is behind only the SEC and the Big 12 for big schools beating each other up. It's a cutthroat conference with a lot of power players, and this year it's Washington State's turn in the barrel. Their one win is against perpetually pathetic (and multiple Stupor Bowl honoree) SMU (who avoided the list this year thanks to a truly creampuff schedule- they're 3-3). Past Stupor Bowl honoree Washington provides the best chance for a second win at the end of the season, but at least WSU's biggest beatings are likely behind them.

Stats: 1 win (I-A, SMU, barely), no close loss, strong schedule, Point Margin -20.2, Yardage Margin -220.4.

SAN JOSE STATE (WAC) (1-5): Only victory against a pathetic I-AA school. For more comments, see next entry.

Stats: one win (I-AA), one close loss (I-A Idaho (6-1, and isn't THAT a story)), strong schedule, Point Margin -17, Yardage Margin -170.5.

UTAH STATE (WAC) (1-5): On November 14, SJSU and Utah State face off. Two teams enter, one team leaves... the Stupor Bowl list. Each team is the other's best hope for a second win. Utah State both has the stronger schedule and is, on paper, the better team... but we'll see, won't we?

Stats: one win (I-AA), two close losses (I-A weak), strong schedule, Point Margin -5.1, Yardage Margin +3.8.

NORTH TEXAS (Sun Belt) (1-5): Look who's back. Indeed, look who never left the Stupor Bowl contender list. Six wins in the past three years. Only victory against Ball State (see above). Two close games, against teams who are past and current Stupor Bowl contenders. Only the presence of Alabama on their past schedule saves said schedule from being classified as "creampuff". Two other Stupor Bowl contenders in the future, though, so there's hope.

Stats: one win (I-A winless team), two close losses (all I-A weak), weak schedule, Point Margin -10, Yardage Margin +14.5.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Sun Belt) (1-4): Oh, how miserable thou art- that you shall celebrate a 44-40 win against equally pathetic UNT. That said, a multitude of opportunities for wins appear in an excruciatingly weak schedule- including two Stupor Bowl contenders in the last two games.

Stats: one win (I-A WEAK UNT, 44-40), two close losses (I-A weak), WEAK schedule, Point Margin -13.6, Yardage Margin -48.2.

ARKANSAS STATE (Sun Belt) (1-4): And we round out the absolutely pathetic Sun Belt- who have a majority of their conference on this list- with the Red Wolves. Slightly stronger schedule- including a close loss to ranked Iowa- and not less than FOUR Stupor Bowl contenders remaining on their schedule. I don't expect this team to remain on this list all that long.

Stats: one win (I-AA massive blowout), two close losses (I-A strong, 1 ranked), middling schedule, Point Margin +4, Yardage Margin -26.

So, there's your contenders: Rice, Miami of Ohio, Ball State, Western Kentucky, New Mexico, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Akron, Florida Int'l, Illinois, Washington State, San Jose State, Utah State, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, and Arkansas State. No real surprises this year, to tell the truth- with the Mid American and Sun Belt Conferences' massive FAIL shrieking the case for realignment of conferences on strictly geographic terms. The SEC, Big 12, ACC, and Big East don't have a single team on the list- ditto re: the need to realign.

Stupor Bowl eliminator games to watch (for laughs, of course):

October 24 - Ball State at Eastern Michigan, Florida International at Arkansas State
October 31 - Western Kentucky at North Texas
November 14 - Arkansas State at Florida Atlantic, North Texas at Florida International, San Jose State at Utah State
November 27 - Akron at Eastern Michigan
November 28 - North Texas* at Arkansas State, Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic
December 3 - Arkansas State* at Western Kentucky*
December 5 - Florida Atlantic* at Florida International*

* - last game of season for team

And one final note: if you're playing on one of those teams, you'd better brush up on your books, because you are NOT going pro- unless you play professional Putt-Putt mini-golf on the side.

From Twitter 10-16-2009

2009-10-17T08:03:47Z

22:32:34: PitW books in stock. They look... like they want to go to someone else's home, preferably for about twenty bucks each.
22:34:05: PitW TPB project: announced May 2008, initial expected release date September 2008, actual release date Oct. '09. 17 mths. to do, dammit.
22:36:50: Want to buy one? http://www.peteristhewolf.com/tpb.html still works- I'll update the text maybe Sunday or so.
22:39:30: Normally if I have more than 140 chars to say, I use LiveJournal, but after moving half a ton of books- TWICE- then I REALLY wanna sell 'em.

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