What’s the point of having a radio signal-based atomic clock (and a watch) when it does not adjust the time automatically by the next morning after the change of time?
Unfortunately for me, my wall clock and my wrist watch both failed me over the past weekend. And funny enough, manually ‘syncing’ the wall clock was not even an option! I had to keep the clock by the window and in four to five DAYS (yes, DAYS!) it was expected to be updated.
Sucks. Makes me wonder what is the point of these things …
USC’s multiple streaks ended. And sadly, in a loss that I can only term as bullshit. There were so many chances that the Beavers gave the Trojans to stay in the game, and so many (plus more) chances that the Trojans gave up. Forget about blowing away opponents in the recent past after a bye week, forget about having a great October/November under Pete Carroll, this team plain sucked today.
I feel so bad that the loss did not come against a worthy opponent, no offense Beavers. Losing to Cal or to Oregon or even ND would have been sort of digestible. This loss against a “gimme” opponent is just pathetic.
How about those bloody turnovers! Chauncey was supposed to have a breakout game here but he was one of the culprits. And forget about the final stats for JDB, but his unfortunate INT at the top of the first quarter after a quick strike by the Beavers was probably a very costly turnover. If USC had made the scores even, it would have made OSU slight overwhelmed but instead the INT gave them more confidence and they just did not let up.
Anyway, I hope USC is not the answer to Stanford’s winless season so far, next week!
Yes, I saw the India-West Indies match. It was a lot easier for the West Indians than it seemed to be. Lara started a brief collapse which increased the interest in the game towards the end. If not for that last big shot by Samuels, it would actually have been interesting.
In any case, the bottomline is that India did not deserve to win. The batting is pathetic nowadays with some of the “stars” constantly failing. The bowling is inept both at the top and at the bottom so much so that one of the better bowlers was Sehwag!
India needs to drop Sehwag first, and get someone solid at the top so they don’t find themselves in a 21-1 or 34-2 situations too much. Then, Yuvraj needs to be replaced so that India can finish off the innings well.
I understand that Agarkar is not going to play the next match, and Patel is not 100% so the fast bowling department is absolutely useless based on current form. And that may be the biggest difference maker against Australia, with Gilchrist showing signs of coming back to some sort of form.
So it is going to be a virtual quarter final tomorrow with India and Australia fighting for the last spot in the semis. Let’s see how India responds. And let’s see what Australia brings to the table.
Ferrari F1 team lost Ross Brawn and Paolo Martinelli today. So they lost their multiple times world champion driver, the brains behind the wins and the engine guru behind the car that won so many races.
So besides the fact that Ferrari is going to be handicapped, one small note for Kimi - you seem to be quite unlucky. Guess what - I have a feeling that McLaren will suddenly improve their reliability many times over and start winning, while Ferrari will be handicapped and will “rebuild” this year.
I am finally, slowly catching up on my DVR-ed shows and I think I like Friday Night Lights a lot. It seems to be shot in an Office-style camera position which makes it seem like you are there in the scenes and at the same time, it concerns football and I love the behind-the-scenes sort of look at high school football.
I unfortunately had to stop a few shows from recording even though I felt that they would be good watches, and those include Heroes, 30 Rock (Studio 60 is WAY better) and Twenty Good Years. I have kept Studio 60, Friday Night Lights, ER, The Office and How I Met Your Mother for now. Let’s see if I can keep up - the wife has already given up on it.
Given the shows that I am watching and wanted to watch, it seems that NBC is back. Isn’t it?
Congratulations to Fernando Alonso on winning the drivers' championship this year. He started off so well that the bumps along the way and the resurgence of Michael Schumacher midway through the season almost made it seem like the beginning part of the season was useless for Alonso.
Anyway, the season is over and a brand new chapter starts next year. Michael Schumacher is gone and with it, he takes a lot of character out of the Formula 1 circuit. Alonso goes to McLaren and it will be interesting to see how that factory improves its cars from this year’s debacles.
And most importantly, Massa gets paired with Kimi at Ferrari. It will be an interesting team to watch, first of all the dynamics within the team and more importantly, the performance of the team itself.
Meanwhile, my last post on ‘bye bye Michael’ - ends with Bye Bye Michael Schumacher, you will be thoroughly missed!
In this week’s press luncheon, Pete Carroll said this about Matt Leinart and the unusual place he is in, with 3 losses!
On talking to Matt Leinart and losing more NFL games so far than at USC:
“He’s been hit more too. Steve Sarkisian talked to him last night. I talked to him after the Monday night game. He’s in a difficult situation for him. He’s unfamiliar with it. Even through his high school years, he won all those games too. He does know what it feels like when things are going good and you have the confidence to finish games and you take on your opponents with a real air, that you know you’re going to win. It’s hard for them right now, for the whole team and what more so for Matt. He does understand it and he’ll know when it starts to change and shift and I think he’ll be able to lead them very well if he continues to get his opportunities. The classic deal for them last game, coming off a huge Monday night event… come up short, all of that and then go against a team that hasn’t won a game. All of a sudden, they look like the world champs. That’s kind of classic and it’s unfortunate but it’s the ups and downs of how it goes. You have to struggle through it. He was very frustrated by it. That’s why they call it the “no fun league”. It humbles you."
I am glad to put a small personal detail on this blog. The wife and I are proud parents as of yesterday!
We had a baby girl who is absolutely the best thing that ever happened to us. I can’t get my eyes off her and could stare at her forever.
But on a side note, what a great daughter she is already. She chose the USC bye week to come to this world so papa can devote some time to her on college football saturday :-)
What a pity this Monday Night Football game was. Matt Leinart and the Arizona Cardinals were on fire and they made the Chicago Bears look like, well, the 49ers of last year :-)
After having a 20-point lead, to give up the game on Edge’s fumble and Neil Rackers' missed field goal is shameful.
I feel quite sorry for them. The good thing is that the next game for the Cardinals is at Oakland and given how bad Oakland has been, Matt Leinart may well get his first win in Oakland. If not for my ‘busy schedule’ in the upcoming week, I would have actually thought of going to Oakland to see the game!
3rd game in a row where USC won by touchdown or less. And this one did not look close at the beginning. The first quarter or so, USC seemed to be on track like the last season and much better overall compared to earlier games from this season.
Then what happened? I don’t know, because I stopped watching because we went to someone’s house after the end of the first half. All I saw was the bloody interception which was returned for a touchdown to even the score at 21.
After seeing 21 points in just over a quarter I thought it was going to be a nice win like one of the big ones last year. But looks like the offense just went to sleep and the defense also started slipping against the ASU offense. Rudy Carpenter stepped it up and some of the dropped catches and stuff from the first quarter disappeared.
Whatever the case, this USC team is not going to get any style points. Maybe there is a case to make for USC that they do end up on the winning side rather than on the losing side, but at the same time, the closeness of these last few games gives the opposition some confidence and makes them believe they have a chance. It was not the case last year and it made a few opponents wilt before they should have, and handed the victory to USC.
But for the wins, I would be tempted to say that USC is loving to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Thankfully, I don’t have to say that. Not yet, at least :-)
When someone tells you something will happen within a certain time frame and you want it to happen quickly, and it does not happen within that time frame, what do you do?
When will Reggie Bush reach the end zone? He did not score in the preseason and has not done so in 4 games so far. Is he going to do it today against a bad Tampa Bay team?
I sure hope so. Unfortunately they are not showing the game here so will have to read about it online later.
Another escape from the jaws of a loss this weekend. This time it was Washington. After today’s performance, and the upset loss at Auburn by Arkansas, the polls are going to undergo some shakeup. Unfortunately, with the missing style points (where are the 40+ points days??) and some SEC wins by Florida means that USC may still be #3. Who cares? As long as USC is on track to win the Pac-10, it is good.
Now that Oregon lost to Cal, and that too badly, it clearly shows that Cal and not USC is the team to beat in the Pac-10. It is better to reset expectations at this point in the season - USC is not only rebuilding from the loss of Leinart, Bush, White but also banged up at a lot of places. The fact that they are surviving some close games just goes to show that they are lucky as well as resilient (in that order, if you ask me).
As for the game itself, it was great offense in the first quarter and some. It seemed like USC was finally getting to where it was last year - throwing at will, running long plays at will, and generally dictating the pace. The defense was suspect because Washington was also able to march down the field quite easily.
Of course, the trickulation for the field goal attempt was good and welcome at the point.
The second half was quite the opposite. The offense started sputtering and the defense stepped up. The defense should have had at least 4 INT’s, which went abegging. As a result, USC has been dropping in the turnover margin numbers. JDB had an INT and there were no turnovers forced by USC.
More injury news from USC - Steve Smith the superstar from the Wazzu game hurt himself and did not play much of the second half (if at all). What’s the deal with the USC athletes??? Man, I really hope USC is at full strength soon because the bigger games are coming up soon!
I have been spoiled. I have not had a commute of more than 10 minutes for a very long time. Even when I was going to San Diego, truly my commute was 2 minutes since the hotel was real close to the office there.
And now, with this new project I have a commute of at least 30 minutes, and more if I leave earlier (peak time) or if the traffic gets crazy because of rains or whatever.
We are thinking about Caltrain as an option. Wonder when the onboard WiFi will be made available…
I have disconnected Speed channel from my cable lineup so I did not see the Chinese GP this weekend. But I just read about it and realized that Renault made two mistakes in the pit stops to give Schumacher the win and therefore the lead in the championship!
Two mistakes in one race? That’s unbelievable, coming from such a reliable shop.
In any case, it is getting more and more exciting now and I may be tempted to get Speed connected back for a few weeks :-)
USC survived another Saturday away from home. It was quite a night for Steve Smith, who seemed like finally the #1 receiver on the team! He is one of the most underrated receivers USC has had, if not the country, and it was the perfect time for him to prove that he is legit.
Forget the final stats, his catches up the middle knowing a crunching hit is coming up, some of them for 3rd downs and 4th downs to keep drives alive, were fantastic.
I think the reason it was so close was because of the lack of penetration on 1st down runs. Last year, the first down runs (either by Reggie or by Lendale) gave USC 5 yards or so, if not more. That made 2nd downs short and 3rd downs rare. Last night, and pretty much all season so far, the breaks on 1st downs have been missing. The running backs have been rotated quite frequently, and they have not yet gotten the rhythm.
Chauncey Washington seems to have enough to replace the power running of Lendale White. He does have the capability to muscle through the middle. But unlike Lendale, Chauncey has fumbled the ball a few times, and that could get costly.
Even if there is no Reggie-like breakthroughs, USC does need a running game which can consistently break runs of 4-6 yards on 1st or 2nd downs. What that does, is open up the passing game and the play action game. Then, the long passes can burn the opposition. Once the long passes make up significant ground, and points are put on the board fast, the opposition is forced to be one dimensional. Then, they start making mistakes and then USC’s defense contributes some points.
The way they are playing today, with the run game essentially useless (except the one or two long runs, which tend to skew post-game stats), USC is in fact becoming one dimensional as opposed to forcing the opposition to be that way.
With Oregon and Cal destroying their Pac-10 opposition in the last couple of weeks, USC has its work cut out for going to the Rose Bowl. I don’t think USC the way it is playing today, has a chance of competing in the National Championship, even if the make it there. But Pete Carroll’s goal has always been winning the Pac-10 and that is not going to be possible if Oregon and Cal play like they are today, and USC does not improve.
I loved the premiere episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. NBC finally has realized, it seems, that ridiculing itself (through shows like this and 30 Rock, and Conan O’Brian’s Emmy performance) may get the general public to sympathize with them and start liking them again.
Well, with NBC Sunday Night Football and the preceding Football Night in America with Bob Costas and the gang, they have a great vehicle to market their new shows. And it does seem like they may have a good show or two (Friday Night Lights is the other one I am looking forward to seeing) to bounce back in the ratings.
I wish them luck, because I always liked NBC but hated it when they decided to cancel American Dreams and to a certain extent, Heist.
Once again, I think the USC offense sputtered through a grinding win. Thanks to the defense, the win overshadowed some critical mistakes and lack of rhythm on the offensive side of the ball.
Dwayne Jarrett dropped at least 3 balls which he would routinely have caught and run for at least 5 yards after the catch. One was a sure TD, and the other two were first down gains. I hope it was because of his shoulder or something, because it was just not his typical day. I don’t know the latest on his injury but we sure need him to be healthy quickly.
The running backs rotation EVERY PLAY is probably causing more loss of rhythm than anything else. Yes, they are getting good, fresh legs every play, and yes, the coaches are able to evaluate the guys more and more, but in that effort there ends up being one or two simple but costly mistakes which against a better team could be game-ending mistakes.
Hopefully the freshmen running backs are enthusiastic enough to learn from all the small (and big) mistakes made and rectify them and become stronger for the next game.
And what’s up with the full back position this year? Seems like it is jinxed … Brandon Hancock and Ryan Powdrell are both out for the season. Last night, Stanley Havili walked off - and I don’t have the latest update on his situation, but I sure hope he is healthy enough to come back next week.
I forgot to write about my reaction to the new Munnabhai movie. Man, it was hilarious! I think I liked this more than the original.
And Arshad Warsi’s Circuit made me laugh the most in the movie. His nicknames for people were just too funny. Leakage, Notebook, etc. And his impromptu name Sarkeshwar … hahaha! Fabulous.
Of course, the side benefit of this movie is that some newer generation folks will get a quick idea of what Gandhiji’s principles were. And the cool thing is, it won’t seem like some oldie is shoving those principles down their throats.
This Saturday, there are two games slated for 5pm Pacific on abc - Notre Dame at Michigan State and USC at Arizona. On my comcast cable program guide, it shows they are going to be showing the Notre Dame game.
But what if I want to see the USC game? Which channel, if at all, will it come on?
After a batting collapse (except for Sachin Tendulkar and surprisingly Harbajan), India was able to bowl well and win a low-scoring match against the West Indies.
I almost bought the online broadcast, but by the time I realized the match is going on, India was already 38 for 4! I thankfully did not buy it because I would have been furious! It was quite frustrating to see the famed Indian batting fail once again.
Sachin Tendulkar of course seems to be quite comfortable after coming back from a surgery. I did not see much of his play, but in general, if he could carry his bat in the first match and score 65 out of 162 in this one, it does look like he is ready for prime time.
Bowling-wise, I did not track the match much, but from the analysis it looks like it was simply a disciplined bowling attack. But I also read that a lot of the wickets that West Indies lost, were unnecessary and more of batting mistakes than great bowling or bad pitch.
In any case, beating West Indies gives India a chance to make it to the finals, and the only thing that they need to do now is beat Australia. Of course, it is much much easier said than done. Let’s see what happens.
No matter what, I am not going to watch the game tonight. No. No. No. :-)
