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shefanispeculator · 3 years

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Blake Shelton was worried about the headline.

Following the first 10 songs of his final "Friends & Heroes" tour stop at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Saturday, Shelton stepped offstage, and country music veteran John Anderson emerged from below it. There was an instant surge of energy from the near-capacity crowd, as Anderson, with Shelton's seven-piece backing band, crooned through a soft "Seminole Wind," followed by a boisterous "Money in the Bank" and the boot-scootin' "Swingin'," all huge country hits in the '80s and '90s.

And Shelton, half-jokingly, was just a touch jealous.

"Why do you all act so different for John Anderson?" Shelton asked. "I've been out here for 40 minutes, and all of a sudden John Anderson comes out here and the whole damn crowd … is line-dancing and (expletive). How do you line-dance in your seats?"

"The last thing I need is to wake up tomorrow morning and read the Wisconsin Post or whatever you have here, and the headline says something like 'John Anderson steals the show,'" Shelton continued.

Here at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we don't take headline suggestions from people we're writing about. But that wouldn't have been an appropriate headline anyway — because Anderson wasn't the only one to steal the spotlight from Shelton.

And that's the beauty of the concept of Shelton's "Friends & Heroes" tour, which has been around for a few years but stopped in Milwaukee for the first time Saturday.

It gives Shelton a chance to share his sharp band and packed houses with veteran country stars who prove they've still got the goods, and are still beloved.

On Saturday, that included Martina McBride, who with her sparkling voice, brightened the night with the self-assuring gems "My Baby Loves Me" and "This One's for the Girls," before closing out with the shattering, and soaring, "A Broken Wing."

And the show also included Tracy Byrd, who actually got the strongest reaction of the three "Friends & Heroes" Saturday. He took full advantage of the runway, tipping his black cowboy hat and high-fiving any fans he could reach, hyping up the crowd with his magnetic stage presence and '90s and early-aughts party-starters "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo," "I'm From the Country" and "Watermelon Crawl."

"Over and over again tonight, I have had my ass handed to me by these other singers coming," Shelton said near the show's end.

Shelton was, of course, selling himself short.

While the three guests were indisputable highlights Saturday, they performed for only 10 minutes each. Shelton, on the other hand, was on stage for the show's remaining two hours and 30 minutes, striving to fulfill an early evening promise to play "the longest country concert." (Eric Church routinely does three-hour sets, but this was an impressive marathon nonetheless.)

With the charm and charisma that's made him such a winning personality on NBC's "The Voice" for 21 seasons, Shelton handily slipped into various personas Saturday night, for the raucous "Boys 'Round Here," the moon-eyed duet "Nobody But You" (which he sang facing footage of his new wife Gwen Stefani singing back to him), or the outlaw-flavored "God's Country" and the George Jones classic "Ol' Red."

There were plenty of fun interactions with the crowd, too. Locking eyes with a guy in the front row for the love ballad "Sure Be Cool If You Did," Shelton chuckled mid-song, telling him, "Sing to her, not to me," gesturing to the man's date. And for "Hillbilly Bone," Shelton let himself get upstaged yet again, this time for a fiery duel between guitarist Beau Tackett and fiddle player Jenee Fleenor, the first woman to win the CMA Award for musician of the year.

Shelton was happy to share the spotlight, but after the performance, he feigned a bruised ego, and for the night's greatest moment, invited Anderson, Byrd and McBride to join him for a songwriter's circle session to see which of them had the greatest country song. (He also suggested George Strait, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan and Luke Combs were going to be the judges … although they were going to stay backstage.)

"How many of y'all think if this was the 'Who talks the most (expletive) of the Friends & Heroes' tour competition, we'd already have our winner?" Byrd said, gesturing to Shelton, another case of the headliner being upstaged Saturday, for funniest line of the night.

Shelton did his rendition of "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" solo on acoustic guitar, suggesting the lines "When you undress, do you leave a path/Then sink to your nose in a bubble bath" were about Anderson.

After the performance, Shelton did a little moonwalk victory dance, then playfully suggested they end the competition. But Byrd wouldn't have it, sparking a big singalong for a beaming "The Keeper of the Stars," followed by Anderson performing "Straight Tequila Night" (both with support from Shelton's band members). But it was clear, from fans and musicians alike, that McBride won this little competition with "Independence Day."

As they all left the stage, Shelton put an end to the jealousy act, saying some kind words about how much those three musicians inspired Shelton as he made his own ascent in the country music world.

"Those are Hall of Famers … you're never going to see something like that ever again," Shelton said. "My heroes, man, your heroes, man. Those are country music icons, all of them."

And Saturday's show suggested there was one headline Shelton will wake up to one day: "Blake Shelton inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

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theuniversitychallengereview · 4 years

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UC 49.36 - Imperial vs Trinity, Cam

University Challenge has become one of those markers in my year since I started doing this blog. I can remember the semis and the finals very clearly in the same way that people used to be about the FA Cup when it was the only big football match that was ever on the TV.

Last year I wrote the Freddy vs Jason semi-final review in a cafe down the road from my new flat in Manchester, between job applications, and won a bottle of wine at a pub quiz after the final because we’d named our team after Edinburgh’s title-winning Robbie Campbell Hewson, who had been to school with one of the bartenders.

For a number of reasons that feels like more than a year ago, not least because the idea of being in a cafe or pub is now a somewhat alien concept. I mean, not really, but you get the idea. Hopefully when I come to write about next years final rounds lockdown is a far more distant memory than pints are now.

I enjoy a Zoom quiz as much as the next guy, but I’m very much looking forward to hearing the racous laughter from a team, who have named themselves ‘Quiz On My Face’, and who must think they are the only people in the history of pub quizzes to have been so clever and witty.

But what better to do when you can’t quiz than write about other people quizzing (or read what someone has written about other people quizzing, as you are doing). Imperial came into their semi final match against Trinity as the favourites, having arrived their unbeaten, while Trinity suffered a damning loss against confirmed finalists Corpus Christi in the quarter finals. However, they also have a win against Durham under their belts, and by nearly the same margin that Imperial beat them in the quarters.

The start would be key, if Trinity could get in the points early on then I felt like they would stand a chance, but if Imperial raced off like Corpus had then they would struggle to get a foothold.

And a foothold was exactly what they struggled to get (I realise that sentence seems a bit contrived given that the previous paragraph was written in hindsight, and it probably is, but I do think that if Trinity had got a few starters off the bat then they’d have had a decent shot at keeping pace. The same thing happened against Corpus. They were blown away in the opening five minutes and never recovered). Brandon, sporting a badge that said ‘Not here to make friends’ kicked off proceedings with Aardvark, seeming a little surprised that he had been the first person to buzz.

He negs the next question though, a rare slip, guessing Up, which did relate to the clue about a 2009 Pixar film, but not the others, which were quarks. McMeel, his hand in front of his mouth, whispers the right answer across the desk and Brandon grimaces. Trinity make a smilar mistake, guessing Charm, and Brooks takes back control for Imperial.

Two starters are dropped, but Brandon then takes two in a row, including the picture round, and Imperial extend their lead to 70 points. It is only then that Webber manages to squeeze out some points for Trinity, coming in early with Cavendish, when he wasn’t completely sure, which was the right thing to do. They needed to get on the scoreboard. Another from Hughes briefly fluttered hopes of a comeback in front of their faces, but Brandon quickly stole back the iniative with another ten points and then encouraged Brooks to buzz on the Music starter, something I don’t think I’ve seen on the show before. It worked though, Brooks knew it was Strauss.

Yet another for Brandon on the next starter gave them even more breathing room, which Hughes tried to choke with his second of the night, before Brandon promptly whack-a-moled the comeback with his sixth. In Imperial’s last match, you got the sense that Brandon had eased off once the win was in the bag. There was no let-off here though, and he stormed off to double figures over the rest of the match.

This display of knowledge and quizzing skill was very irksome to many on Twitter, to whom his aptitude is a personal affront. And though he was undoubtedly the star of the show on the buzzer, he is keen to point out that his teammates are also vital to the overall performance (although in this case his team would have won had they got no bonuses and only his starters), and that is pretty clear on the bonuses, with Brandon deferring to them very obviously on their areas of expertise.

Trinity ended with a flourish as Hughes took the final two starters, bringing his total for the series to 34, which is two more than Brandon has managed so far in the same amount of matches (Trinity played one more quarter final), but the match had been over for some time before that.

Final Score: Imperial 235 - 80 Trinity, Cam

An incredible performance from Brandon on the buzzer blew Trinity away, but can Imperial rely on such dominance next week? Corpus are a very strong team, so if Brandon doesn’t have things all his own way then his team mates will need to step up - something that he knows they can do.

Either way, the final promises to be another great match, and I can’t wait.

#university challenge #bbc2 #imperial #trinity #cambridge #Jeremy Paxman

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nortromthesilencer · 6 years

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GET TO KNOW YOU QUESTIONS MEME

Doing this for my Nort boy

1. What is your favorite time of year? “Harvest, due to the over-abundance of baking available.”

2. Do you have a favorite season? “Spring.”

3. What is your favorite holiday? “I tend to ignore holidays.”

4. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? “I haven’t tried many, but will say vanilla.”

5. What is your favorite thing to eat? “Venison and pastries.”

6. Where were you born? “At the Aeol Drias compound.”

7. Do you have any siblings? What are they like? “Yes. We were more alike than I would care to admit.”

8. What is your middle name? “I have none.”

9. Where are you from? “I was raised in the Hazhadal Barrens.”

10. What were some of your favorite things to do growing up? “Not being yelled at or goaded..”

11. Where did you go to school? “A cantonment in the Barrens.”

12. What was your favorite subject? “Oddly enough, physical training.”

13. What was your least favorite subject? “Magic studies.”

14. Did you have any fashion faux pas in high school? “I wore a uniform. No.”

15. What did you like to wear when you were growing up? “I didn’t care so long as it fit.”

16. Were you more of a rebel, jock, or nerd in high school? “Er... An outcast? A nerd? I am unsure.”

17. Do you still keep in touch with anyone from school? “Unfortunately yes, due to necessity in duty.”

18. Were you ever a teacher’s pet? “Hardly.”

19. Have you ever accidentally seen someone naked? “Yes.”

20. Has anyone ever accidentally seen you naked? “Yes.”

21. What is the most trouble that you got into at school? “Can I skip this question? I would think it rather obvious...”

22. If you could do high school all over again, would you? “No.”

23. Do you play any musical instruments? “No.”

24. Do you know any other languages? “Yes.”

25. Do you have a famous role model? “No.”

26. Have you ever lived in another country before? “I have made temporary stays in many areas around the world.”

27. What is the longest amount of time that you spent in another country? “A few years.”

28. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? “Alone. Besides that, my requirements are rather lax.”

29. What is one thing on your bucket list? “The visit the Vale of Augury.”

30. Where would you like to retire? “I doubt that will ever happen.”

31. Do you have kids? “No.”

32. Do you want kids one day? How many? “No.”

33. Do you have any ideas for baby names? “No.”

34. What kind of parent do you think you’d be? “A bad one.”

35. Do you like to dance? “No, though I was required to learn formal dancing for etiquette reasons.”

36. Do you like to sing karaoke? “No.”

37. Do you like to cook? “No.”

38. Do you have a favorite author? “There are too many I enjoy to select just one.”

39. What kind of music do you like? “Most harp music.”

40. What do you like to do in your free time? “Read, carpentry and wood carving, going for walks, meditating.”

41. Where is the last place you traveled to? “The Ruelands.”

42. What was your last vacation like? “I don’t tend to take vacations.”

43. Do you have any pets? “Yes. A cat.”

44. Do you like cats or dogs? “Cats, though I have nothing against dogs.”

45. Are you afraid of mice? “No.”

46. Are you afraid of spiders? “As of recently, yes.”

47. Do you have a nickname? What is it? “... Ugh. Some fools have started to spread ‘Nortie’ around, and I despise it.”

48. What is your favorite color? “I don’t have one.”

49. What is a big pet peeve of yours? “Being called ‘Nortie’, loud chewing, people making noise for no reason, and many others. I’m an irritable person.“

50. Do you have any guilty pleasures? “I am unsure what would count here. I find guilt in many of my pleasures, as they distract from my duties.”

51. Do you have any favorite TV shows? “Favourite what now?”

52. What is your favorite movie? “You’ve lost me.”

53. Do you know how to swim? “Yes.”

54. Are you athletic? “Yes.”

55. What are your favorite stores to shop at? “I tend not to shop much for anything but the essentials.”

56. What is one of your most embarrassing moments? “I would think having the entire damned population told that they should ‘fuck me’ followed up by knocking myself unconscious in frustration would rank fairly high.”

57. What is your favorite food? “You’ve already asked this in a different manner of wording.”

58. Are you an adventurous eater? “Not really.”

59. Would you ever participate in an eating contest? “No.”

60. What is something that you eat on a regular basis? “Root vegetables, as they keep for long periods.”

61. What would you want your last meal to be? “A rare prime rib with-- oh, now what was that called? Hmm... I have no idea at all what the meal was, nor how to cook it, but during one of the more formal dinner gatherings hosted by one of our allies I accompanied the HeadMaster and whatever it was we ate it was simply divine.”

62. What is the most unusual thing that you have eaten? “A tree.”

63. If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you want? “Invisibility perhaps, so that none could see nor bother me.”

64. Would you rather be able to turn invisible or be able to fly? “See above.”

65. What is the longest that you have gone without sleep? “Nearly a week. It was not pleasant.”

66. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? “A few minutes? Putting on clothing and running a brush through my hair isn’t exactly time consuming.”

67. What is one of your recent accomplishments? “Er... Surviving another day?”

68. How old were you when you learned the truth about Santa Claus? “About who now?”

69. Did you have a favorite TV show when you were growing up? “There is that word again. I don’t know.”

70. Do you like to collect anything (i.e. coins, stamps, rare books, etc.) “No... Wait, no, that’s a lie. I collect gags of various types and colours.”

71. What are 3 things that you would take with you on a deserted island? “My glaive, A flint and steel fire starter, and a large bearskin blanket.”

72. Who was your first celebrity crush? “Does a princess count?”

73. Who is your current celebrity crush? “See above.”

74. Have you ever met a famous person? “Many.”

75. If you could see one band or musician in a concert, who would it be? “I don’t know.”

76. Have you ever had front-row seats to a show (play or concert)? “No.”

77. Have you ever failed to return a library book? “... ... ... ...yes.”

78. Have you ever had (orthodontic) braces? “No.”

79. Do you have any phone numbers memorized? “Any what?”

80. What is something you have done that you would never do again? “Get in to a relationship with a daemon.”

81. Do you have any irrational fears? “I would think them all rational, but failure is the closest I can think of.”

82. What kind of childhood did you have? “A strict and tumultuous one.”

83. What is one of your biggest accomplishments? “Graduation.”

84. What is the first website that you go on at the beginning of the day? “Website?”

85. Besides your e-mail, what are 3 websites that you always check every day? “E-mail? Website?”

86. Do you think that you spend more than 1 hour a day on the internet? “I’m starting to feel like you’re speaking another language at times.”

87. Do you like to play video games? “... Still confused.”

88. How many people have you dated? “2.”

89. If you got engaged, how long would you want to wait before getting married? “As long as needed. I’m in no rush.”

90. What kind of wedding would you want? “A simple one.”

91. What is your idea of a good proposal? “I don’t know. Something overly sappy, and most likely would end up involving me tripping over my words in utter bashfulness. The usual.”

92. If you are a guy, would you ever want a girl to propose to you? “I would be fine with that.”

93. If you are a girl, would you ever propose to a guy? “...”

94. Have you ever been with the same gender? “Not by choice.” *shudder*

95. What is your favorite pair of shoes? “My combat boots.”

96. Have you ever won an award for anything? “No.”

97. Do you think you are like your parents? How so? “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met them.”

98. Have you had any big life changes recently? “How recent are we talking?”

99. What is something that you feel passionate about? “My Order and my duty to them.”

100. What kind of animal would you be? “Oddly enough this has come up before. I think a mountain lion was the ultimate decision.”

101. What is something that can make you really mad? “Arrogance.”

102. Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? “I see it as not mattering.”

103. If you had to give up one of your five senses for the rest of your life, which one would it be: sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell? “While many might think I would pick sound, it is useful in combat and many of my duties. I would have to go with taste, as it is the least useful of my senses for what I do.”

104. Would you rather be blind or deaf? “Deaf.”

105. If you could live in a book, what would it be? “Something peaceful. I am unsure.”

106. Which family member are you closest to? “This hurts me.”

107. What would you do if you had a million dollars? “Same thing I do now: Not spend it.”

108. What is something that holds you back in life? “Myself.”

109. What is a perfect day for you? “Brutalizing members of the Fold, eating a good meal, then relaxing in a hot-springs to wash away the blood.”

110. What is something that you would love to learn how to do? “I guess cooking would be useful, but also a waste of time? Perhaps something more suited to my duties, something combat related.”

111. Do you prefer the countryside or an urban setting? “The Countryside is much quieter.”

112. What is your favorite kind of candy? “I don’t have one.”

113. What do you like to eat for breakfast? “Eggs, bacon, and an apple.”

114. If you had one week left to live, what would you do? “Take as many Fold members down with me as I could.”

115. If you could get into a time machine, would you rather travel back in time to the 1900’s, 1920’s, or 1950’s? “This dating convention doesn’t match my world.”

116. Do you ever sing in the shower? “No.”

117. If you could choose how it would happen, how would you want to die? “From exhaustion after I have taken out Obelis himself.”

118. Would you ever want to be famous? What for? “No.”

119. What qualities do you look for in a friend? “Loyalty.”

120. What qualities do you look for in a boyfriend or girlfriend? “See above. I would like that we share a sentimental bond and attraction for one another as well, both emotionally and physically. I am more interested in women who have their own lives, their own interests, their own hobbies, than ones that merely live life day by day doing whatever those near them tend to do.”

121. How much do you care about looks when it comes to finding a boyfriend or girlfriend? “I will admit, I do care somewhat. In time, however, and knowing an individual, this may change. I wouldn’t know, as the situation has never come up.”

122. When dating someone, is weight a big deal to you? “I want a partner that is healthy.”

123. Do you like to go to the gym? “I tend to work out at home.”

124. Do you like to go to concerts? “No.”

125. Do you like to go see plays? “Rarely.”

126. Do you like to go to the movies? “...”

127. Are you close to your family? “No, by no choice of my own.”

128. When is the last time you cried? “Sooner than I would like to admit.”

129. If you died tonight, would you have any regrets? “Many.”

130. If your house was on fire, what is one possession (not a person or pet) that you would save? “The memorial to my brother.”

131. Do you prefer to dress up or dress down? “Dress down.”

132. If there was one event in history you could prevent, what would it be? “It’s hard to choose. Stop the Mad Moon from cracking? Stop the Fold from being created? Save my brother before he descended into madness? Hmm...”

133. Name a celebrity that you would want to be best friends with. “I ask again, does a Princess count?”

134. How do you think the world will be different in 50 years? “If we think the conflicts now are bad, just wait until technology and magic evolve.”

135. What is something that draws you to people? “Intelligence, and positivity.”

136. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? Do you think he or she knew? “No.”

137. Do you remember who your first crush was? “Yes. No other comment.”

138. What is one place that you have traveled to? “One? Er, Elze?”

139. Would you ever date someone who has been married before? “I suppose.”

140. Would you ever date someone who is still married? “No.”

141. Would you ever date someone who has kids? “Most likely not; Well, if the kids were still with them.”

142. How many kids would you want? “You asked this on 32.”

143. Do you like to sing karaoke? “Again, a repeat. See 36.”

144. Do you have any favorite karaoke songs? “I don’t have one.”

145. If you had your own holiday, what would be a required activity? “Being silent for the entire day.”

146. What would a holiday named after you be called? “I don’t know. The day of silence and listening?”

147. Were you brought up in a particular religion? “No, but I was raised in strong compliance to my Order.”

148. Are you religious? “No.”

149. Do you believe in an afterlife? “Given what I’ve seen, yes.”

150. Do you believe in God? “Which one?”

151. Do you like rainy days? “Yes.”

152. Do you like snow? “To a point.”

153. Tell me about your worst weather experience. “Traveling across the mountains and getting chased down by a mud slide due to heavy rains, that then made it too slick and sticky to even climb over the pass.”

154. Have you ever ridden a horse? “Yes.”

155. Do you like rollercoasters? “I am unsure what that is.”

156. Have you ever gone scuba diving? “No.”

157. Have you ever gone rock climbing? “I’ve climbed, but not for sport.”

158. Have you ever climbed a mountain? “Yes.”

159. Do you know how to bake? “No.”

160. Do you know how to cook? “No.”

161. What is your favorite dish to make? “Anything I can’t screw up easily.”

162. What do you usually do for the holidays? “Stay inside and relax.”

163. What are your parents like? “I feel like you asked this already... Or something similar.”

164. What are/were your grandparents like? “Again, never met them, wouldn’t know.”

165. What was your first job? “For pay? Soldiers work.”

166. What was your worst job? “Being liaison to another kingdom’s duchess... A very flirty, very prone to drinking, duchess.”

167. What was your first car? “I’ve never had one.”

168. How old were you when you got your driver’s license? “Er...”

169. How many times did you have to take your driving test? “Errr......”

170. Have you ever gotten a driving ticket? “Errrrrr.........”

171. What is your dream car? “I don’t have one.”

172. What is your dream home like? “Smaller, but with enough space for crafting, a small study and book nook, a large storage cellar, and away from most distractions. Preferably somewhere I can be self sustaining for the most part.”

173. Who is the last person you spoke on the phone with? “Phone?”

174. Where would you want to retire? “See number 30. You really should be more careful about repeating questions.”

175. How do you like to exercise? “Mostly using nature around me to act as weights and stands.”

176. Are you double jointed? “No.”

177. Are you a lefty, righty, or ambidextrous? “Left handed.”

178. If you could change your first or last name, what would you change it to? “I wouldn’t.”

179. If you could, would you want to be immortal? “Given that I--- No, nevermind. It’s not a pretty fate, to be sure, but a necessity.”

180. What would be the title of your autobiography? “Silent musings. The pages would be all blank.”

181. When did you have an experience that ultimately made you a stronger person? “I would say graduation cemented my will.”

182. What is one of the best meals that you have ever had? “See 61.”

183. What is something that you learned recently? “That Keen’s hate having their technology compared to magic.”

184. Do you have a favorite restaurant? “No.”

185. What is your least favorite food? “I dislike oranges.”

186. What is the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to you? “I-- I don’t know.”

187. What is the meanest thing that anyone has ever said to you? “Any comment about being useless tends to cut deep.”

188. How would you describe yourself in one word? “Sardonic.”

189. What instrument would you want to play? “I find the harp most agreeable, but doubt I could ever learn.”

190. What music did you like to listen to as a teenager? “None.”

191. What would you do if you were a millionaire for one day? “The same thing I do now.”

192. Do you like public displays of affection or do they bother you? “By others? I care not, so long as I’m not involved.”

193. How do you show someone that you care about them? “By attempting to be there for them, and protecting them.”

194. What is one fashion trend that you like? “I don’t care much about fashion.”

195. What is one fashion trend that you don’t like? “Likewise.”

196. Do you have any weird talents? “I can bend my feet over my head.”

197. What is your favorite dance move? “The one where I don’t have to dance.”

198. How do you know when you like someone? “I don’t always. It’s complicated.”

199. What is your favorite childhood movie? “?”

200. What is your favorite thing from your closet? “A simple pair of beige slacks.”

201. Do you have any phobias? “Due to recent traumas, Spiders. Besides that? Abandonment and betrayal.”

202. Would you ever want to live with your parents again? “I never did in the first place.”

203. What is your favorite way to eat an egg? “Would it be disgusting to say raw?”

204. What is your favorite way to eat a potato? “Baked?”

205. Do you have a favorite condiment? “No. Maybe mustard.”

206. Do you prefer hamburgers or hot dogs? “Hamburgers.”

207. Who is someone that you really miss? “... I think it would be obvious if you knew me.”

208. What is something that you wish you could change about yourself? “Less irritable.”

209. Who is the worst neighbor you ever had? “Some asshole who insisted on hosting drunken parties every week.”

210. Would you ever go bungee jumping? “Maybe.”

211. What is your favorite movie genre? “Again, Movie. I don’t know that word.”

212. Have you ever milked a cow? “Yes.”

213. Do you know how to sew? “Barely. Just enough to temporarily patch things, or fix buttons.”

214. Do you follow politics and current events? “Only as duty dictates.”

215. What are your favorite pajamas? “My underwear.”

216. What is the worst thing that you ever cooked? “Everything.”

217. Pick one thing that you would love to win a lifetime supply of. “Whetstones.”

218. Have any of your views changed over the years? “Changed, not so much. Softened? Yes.”

219. What was your hometown like? Is it any different there now? “Dusty. Warm during the day, cold a night. Quiet, but I liked that. It’s been some time since I’ve returned there.”

220. What is the funniest prank that you have ever done? “With Jin’jakk I dropped a wasp nest into Invoker’s home through his chimney... Well alright, it was funny until he destroyed my own house with fire in retaliation.”

221. Did you ever do anything to earn money when you were a kid? “No. I was provided for so long as I continued my studies.”

222. How do you spend your birthdays? “I only just recently learnt that those were things to be celebrated.”

223. Have you ever had a surprise party? “No.”

224. What did you do for your last birthday? “Rahovart brought me a small pie and we shared it.”

225. Do you remember the first time that you were away from home? “If I count the Cantonment as my home, then yes. We traveled in town for both lessons and trade.”

226. Do you have any funny stories about your family? “My brother once waxed all of my body hair against my will. He thought it was hilarious. I hated every second.”

227. Have you ever been to summer camp?” “No.”

228. Have you ever gone camping before? Would you do it again? “Most of my patrols and travels are spent camping.”

229. What was one of your best dates? “While a few come to mind, the aftermath of events leave such memories jaded. I am sorry, but I would rather skip this question.”

230. What was one of your worst dates? “Being abducted and forced to ‘enjoy myself’ despite being tied up and there against my will.”

231. What was your high school mascot? “My what?”

232. What was/is your dream university? “All of my schooling was done by my Order. There were no options.”

233. If you could participate on a game show, which show would it be? “I wouldn’t.”

234. If you could be in a T.V. show, which ones would it be? “T.V?”

235. Would you rather stand out in the freezing cold with just a bathing suit on or stand out in the hot sun with layers of clothing and a coat? “Hypothermia or hyperthermia. Heatstroke or frostbite. What wonderful choices. I guess the heat, as I could easily remove clothing, where as procuring clothing in the cold would be more difficult.”

236. What is your favorite animal? “Cats I guess.”

237. What is usually your first thought when you wake up in the morning? “Where my pants are.”

238. Do you believe in aliens? “I’ve seen creatures from other worlds and spaces. So, yes?”

239. Do you believe in magic? “This is a stupid question, of course given that it’s not a matter of belief: Magic just is.”

240. Have you ever had your fortune told? If not, would you do it? “Yes, by Nerif.”

241. Do you believe in psychics? “Given the array of powers that exist, yes, I could see it.”

242. Do you believe in paranormal creatures? “Again, I’ve met some, so yes.”

243. How do you like to spend the weekend? “Reading, working on side projects, in quiet.”

244. If you could get a completely new wardrobe, what would you buy for yourself? “Nothing beyond what I already have really.”

245. Do you have any exciting plans coming up? “That’s confidential.”

246. Would you ever get someone’s name tattooed on you? “No.”

247. Would you get a face tattoo that covers half of your face and never have it removed for $10,000,000? “No.”

248. Have you ever kissed someone at midnight on New Year’s? “Once.”

249. How do you like to spend Valentine’s Day? “As of right now? Alone. If I were in a stable relationship, I’m sure that would change.”

250. Do you like to dress up for Halloween? “No.”

251. Have you ever dressed up in a couples costume or a group costume? “No.”

252. If you lost your job today, what would you do? “In this case, my job is my duty and honour to my Order. If I lost that, I doubt I would find my life with much meaning or worth.”

253. Have you ever lived with a significant other? “No.”

254. Have you ever had to share a room with someone? “Yes.”

255. Have you ever had a roommate? “Yes.”

256. Have you ever kissed on the first date? “Yes.”

257. Have you ever done more than kiss on the first date? “No.”

258. What is the most casual date that you have been on? “Getting ice-cream and just sitting outside and enjoying eachother’s company.”

259. What is the fanciest date that you have been on? “Carriage and coach, fine dining, outdoor hotsprings, followed by a night in a private lodge overlooking the woods.”

260. How do you like to celebrate anniversaries (if you have had any)? “I don’t.”

261. How much does it matter to you that your family and friends like your significant other? “They would have to get along with my Order, or it wouldn’t work.”

#meme #headcanon #Nortrom answers #long

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junker-town · 3 years

Text

Western Illinois, Year 39, 2045-2046

Western Illinois goes for a three-peat with only two seasons left in our sim dynasty in College Hoops 2K8.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 39, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Western Illinois entered the season as defending national champions after capturing the ninth title in program history in Year 37. We lost four starters off that team, but returned enough talent to begin the year at No. 23 in the preseason polls. We tore through non-conference and Summit League play with only two total losses before punching our automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

We earned a No. 2 seed to the NCAA tournament and beat Weber State in the first round, Oklahoma State in the round of 32, Illinois in the Sweet 16, Louisville in the Elite Eight, Michigan State in the Final Four, and Boston College in the national championship game to win title No. 10 and tie John Wooden for the most championships in college basketball history.

We recruited for three scholarships and landed three recruits: five-star international shooting guard James Haranga out of Cameroon, three-star center Dean Warner, and three-star small forward Jaycee Queen.

Here’s a first look at the roster for Year 39:

Our run with the Leathernecks is coming to a close. Coach Ricky Charisma started at Western Illinois as a 25-year-old trying to accomplish the impossible and win a national championship at one of the smallest and least successful programs in the country. Almost four decades later, the Leathernecks have won 10 titles, which ties us with John Wooden for the most by any coach in the history of DI men’s college basketball.

We enter this season coming off back-to-back national titles. We’ve never pulled a three-peat before.

It won’t be easy. We lost star wing Ketshner Evertsen and starting point guard Cam Kately early to the NBA coming off last season’s title run. On the plus side, we still have a team that’s talented enough to be ranked No. 10 in the preseason polls.

Let’s meet the starting lineup:

PG Christano Ngounou, sophomore, 83 overall: Ngounou is getting forced into the starting lineup a year earlier than expected because Kately turned pro, but we’re optimistic he has what it takes to lead us on a deep tournament run. The 6’3 guard has improved to a 75-rated three-point shooter, and he’s a monster defender with A grades in on-ball defense and steals. We don’t need him to be a superstar in March, we just need a steady hand setting the table. Former five-star international recruit out of Cameroon with B potential.

SG Bernie Doyle, redshirt junior, 88 overall: Doyle was a key bench scorer during our tournament run last season, and now steps into the spotlight as someone who could end up as our primary scoring option this season. A lanky 6’9 shooting guard, Doyle has terrific three-point shooting ability (87 rating), tight ball handling, and an A grade in steals. I’m giving him the Paul George comp and I want to see him turn into our biggest star this year. Former No. 36 overall recruit from Detroit with C potential. Projected second round pick.

SF Floyd Keller, redshirt junior, 89 overall: Keller came off the bench last season to give us some good minutes, and now steps into the sizable shoes left by Shner. The 6’7 forward has a three-point rating in the mid-80s, and is an elite offensive rebounder for a wing with a rating in the low 90s. Keller is absolutely one of the most critical pieces on the team this year, and if he’s really good, our team should be really good, too. Former No. 101 overall recruit out of Dallas with C+ potential. Projected second round pick.

PF Oscar Fray, redshirt junior, 86 overall: Fray is one of two returning starters from our national championship team last season. The 7-foot power forward is a great three-point shooter for his position with a 75 rating, but we’ve noticed he likes to take pull-up triples rather than just space in the floor in tournament games. Defensively, he has an 82 rating in shot blocking, which is tops on the team, and also does a pretty good job on the glass. Former No. 118 overall recruit out of Lynn, MA with C potential. Projected second round pick.

C D.J. Foster, redshirt senior, 90 overall: Foster became a legend on our run to the national championship last season by being named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament. The 7’2 center is simply a massive force at both ends of the floor. He’s one of the great rebounders in program history, as well as being a dependable scorer offensively and a major deterrent at the rim on defense. He went off for 20 points, 18 rebounds, and seven assists in the title game win over BC last year. Former No. 173 overall recruit out of Chicago with C potential. Projected top pick.

Our bench has been a strength the last two years, but that will not be the case this year at all. We will have an elite sixth man in redshirt junior center Brody Munoz (89 overall), who was a force for us in the tournament last year and is already a projected lottery pick. We also have 7-foot center Logan Polk, who we’re moving to power forward, junior guard Archie Howel (77 overall), true freshman small forward Jaycee Queen (76 overall), center Dean Warner (74 overall), and five-star international freshman shooting guard James Haranga (67 overall, A- potential).

With Munoz, Keller, and Doyle all projected as possible NBA draft picks as juniors, it’s going to be fascinating to see how this season plays out and if any of them return for my final season next year in Year 40.

Recruiting

This is our last recruiting class ever! We have three scholarships to recruit for, and needless to say, each of these players will get only one year on campus. We might as well swing for the fences. The top priority right now? Getting better on the wing.

After scanning the available options, we decide to offer the following players:

6’6 SG Urule Millar out of Phoenix: No. 32 overall recruit, No. 10 at his position

6’7 PF Kenny Butler out of Los Angeles: No. 58 overall recruit, No. 10 at his position

6’6 SF Jerald Obasohan out of Inglewood, CA: 5-star JUCO recruit

Obasohan is rated as the third best JUCO recruit in the country. Millar seems like the ideal two guard prospect for us, and as the Mr. Basketball in Arizona, he’s likely good enough to step into minutes from day one next season. Butler is a bit shorter than the power forwards we typically recruit, but we like the idea of having a highly rated prospect with a diverse skill set at that position.

Year 39! No. 10 in the preseason polls! Three-peat??? National title No. 11 to pass John Wooden for the most all-time??? We have intrigue heading into this season. Let’s go!

How did the regular season go?

We start off the year 3-0 with wins over Houston, Illinois, and UW-Milwaukee. That moves us up to No. 5 in the polls and sets up a showdown with Kansas. Bill Self is long gone, but the Jayhawks are still a top program in addition to one of our biggest rivals. They give us our first loss, 91-67, which drops us all the way down to No. 20 in the polls. Damn.

We rebound with wins in our two early conference games, and then head out West for a matchup with UCLA. Big, big game. Do I sound excited?

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That moves us to 6-1 on the year. We play Syracuse next: it’s a win. Then we face Minnesota: win. Duke? Win. We close out the year with Grambling, which is another dub.

We’re 10-1 heading into the full conference slate.

Did we go undefeated in Summit League play?

Yes we did. We finished 18-0 against the Summit League slate during the regular season, and then won all three games in the conference tournament to punch our automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament.

After losing four conference games combined between Year 36 and Year 37, it feels great to see our team finish undefeated against the league slate two years in a row.

We will enter the NCAA tournament at 29-1 on the year. As Selection Sunday arrives, we’re up to No. 7 in the polls. I can’t wait to see what seed we get.

Before we find out, let’s take a look at the regular season stats:

Foster! Just an incredible year for the reigning MOP of the NCAA tournament. Our dude put up 24.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. I love that we also had three other players finish in double-figures in scoring. This team lacks the depth some of our best teams have had, but I’m feeling really good about the five starters.

How did recruiting go?

We didn’t land anyone at the early signing deadline, but we’re in good shape for the offseason. Kenny Butler, the top-60 power forward recruit, is at 100 percent interest, which means he will sign on the first day of the spring period. That’s going to be a nice addition to our front court.

We have the only offer out to Obasohan, but he suddenly has more interest in UCLA late in the process. The only guy we lost out on was Millar, but we’ve replaced him with Erwin Walls, a 6’4 shooting guard out of 6’4 shooting guard out of Houston who is ranked No. 47 overall. Walls is also considering LSU and Houston, but we have the only offer out to him so far.

2046 NCAA tournament

We earned a No. 4 seed to the NCAA tournament and a first round matchup with Ivy League champ No. 13 seed Brown. I’m a little offended, because I thought we should have earned a No. 2 seed given that we are No. 7 in the AP Poll entering the tournament. Even after 10 championships in 38 years, the Selection Committee is still disrespecting our ‘Necks.

We enter the game as a 98 overall, while Brown is rated as a 79 overall.

Before we get to the first round matchup, let’s check in our roster:

Our starters are looking great. Our bench is looking pretty weak. To win title No. 11, we’re going to need our top players to avoid having an off night so they can carry us to a three-peat.

I love that we have three elite bigs with Foster, Fray, and Munoz off the bench — who has to be the best sixth man in America. Our wing tandem of Bernie Doyle and Floyd Keller have the size, the speed, and the shooting necessary to be stars. The only thing we were missing when we recruited all these players was a point guard, and Ngounou are stepped up admirably to fill that role. It’s pretty incredible that he’s already rated as an 87 overall as a true sophomore.

Logan Polk, the sophomore 7-footer, is the guy I trust the most off the bench after Munoz. Howel will have to hit some shots off the bench, and I’m also interested to see what James Haranga can do. The true freshman shooting guard from Cameroon is up to a 71 overall and has a nice combination of size and shooting.

The journey to a three-peat starts against Brown. Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 93-67. We starting off our Year 39 title run with a blowout victory.

We ran Brown off the floor in the first half, and were able to ‘sim to end’ early in the second half. Our size inside was just way too much for them to handle.

D.J. Foster looks primed to make a run at his second straight MOP award. The 7’2 center finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-17 shooting from the field in the win. Oscar Fray also dominated to finish with 21 points and seven rebounds.

Our starting wings Keller and Doyle combined to go 5-for-7 from three-point range in the win. That will get the job done. I also love the defense from Ngounou at point guard to finish with four steals.

We improve to 30-1 on the season with the dub.

The win sets up a game against No. 5 seed Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets have been a consistent NCAA tournament team in this sim with several deep runs to the Final Four.

Georgia Tech enters rated as a 94 overall. We’re a 98 overall. Needless to say, this is going to be a much stiffer test than Brown.

Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 110-86. We’re onto the Sweet 16!

Our guys looked absolutely dialed in from the opening tip. In terms of ball movement, scoring efficiency, and generating turnovers, this was pretty much a perfect game from our ‘Necks. The first half was an absolute clinic: we shot 67 percent from the field, didn’t turn the ball over at all, and took a 27-point lead into the break. It was a wrap from there.

Oscar Fray played like a flat-out star. Fray was the most overlooked member of our final five-year recruiting class, but he has the size (7-foot) and the shooting that we look for in a power forward. He played perhaps the greatest game of his career, going off for 23 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting in the win. This move was too nasty.

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Every other starter also finished in double-figures in scoring. Foster (17 points, six rebounds) kept his potential repeat MOP bid alive, while Doyle and Keller stayed hot from three. How about four more steals from Christano? We love to see it.

The bench also looked dope in garbage time. My guy Haranga, up to a 71 overall, looked phenomenal, going 4-of-5 from the field to finish with 10 points. True freshman wing Jaycee Queen also added 13 points, six assists, and three steals. This crossover was filthy:

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Just a great team game all around. That’s the formula for how this squad can win the whole thing.

The win sets up a Sweet 16 game with No. 8 seed Indiana

The Hoosiers upset No. 1 seed Nevada to crash the Sweet 16. Indiana may only be an 8-seed, but they have tons of young talent up-and-down the roster. IU starts five-star recruits at point guard, shooting guard, and small forward.

Indiana enters rated as a 95 overall. We’re a 98 overall. An Elite Eight bid is on the line. Can our dream of a three-peat live to see another day?

Let’s go!

twitch

***

Win, 96-64. Another game, another beatdown. We’re rolling into the Elite Eight.

We opened up a 20-point lead midway through the first half, and the rout was on from there. Indiana closed the half strong to keep things competitive, but we cranked up the pressure again in the second half to lock in the blow out.

I thought Bernie Doyle was ridiculously good, scoring 19 of his 28 points in the second half to secure the win. Dude went 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from three in this game. Indiana had no answer for him. How are you supposed to stop a 6’9 shooting guard who can get buckets in any situation?

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The front court was also dominant again. Foster continues to be unreal, going off for 15 points, 16 rebounds, and five assists. He’s now grabbed more boards in the NCAA tournament than any Leathernecks player ever, per our comprehensive database. It is so huge to a massive 7’2 center holding things down in the middle. Fray had 15 points and three steals in the win, as well.

It was another solid performance from Christano Ngounou, too. He had 11-6-5-1 on 5-of-7 shooting, including this sweet crossover.

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We are playing fantastic team ball right now. Let’s keep it going.

The win sets up an Elite Eight game with No. 2 seed Florida

The Gators have a pretty odd mix of talent for a No. 2 seed. They are stacked in the front court with most of their best players as power forwards. They have a superstar 5’10 point guard, but don’t have many natural wings on the perimeter.

We enter at 32-1 rated as a 98 overall. Florida is 31-8 rated as a 95 overall.

One win away from the Final Four! Three-peat on the line! Let’s go!

twitch

***

Loss, 115-100. Oh my, we got shellacked. Our season is over just like that.

I honestly can’t believe it. We were playing such great ball all year, and especially in the tournament. After seeing our guys win the national title the last two years, I thought this was another team of destiny. Florida proved that idea wrong by running us off the floor.

Florida started to pull away at the end of the first half, but I thought our second half team would have enough juice to pull-off the comeback. It wasn’t meant to be. We simply could not get a stop or enough turnovers to slow down Florida’s high-powered attack. I can’t remember an opposing offense cutting us up like that too many times before.

It was a rough game for our starters, and we simply don’t have enough talent on the bench to find supplemental scoring when they went cold. Doyle finished with 20 points but went 2-for-12 from three-point range. Keller went 1-of-7 from three. Fray shot 1-of-6 from the field. At least Foster — 14 points, 12 rebounds — had another good game in his final appearance in a ‘Necks uniform.

There isn’t much else to say. This is an incredibly disappointing loss. I wanted to break Wooden’s record and I wanted to three-peat for the first time ever. It wasn’t meant to be.

We’re onto our last offseason ever, featuring our last recruiting class ever. I’m getting choked up just thinking about it. It will be fascinating to see who of Munoz, Keller, and Doyle return for Year 40.

Offseason

North Carolina wins the national championship.

D.J. Foster wins conference player of the year for the second straight season. We also take home four of the five spots on the All-Summit Team.

WOW, EVERYONE IS COMING BACK. Our lone senior, Foster, graduates as a lottery pick. I’m shocked that Munoz is returning as a potential first rounder, and it’s great to see Doyle and Keller back too. We are going to be loaded next year. Could we be preseason No. 1?

My record stands at 1,142-209 with 10 national titles at 64 years old.

Recruiting

We have three open scholarships as we enter the spring recruiting period for our final class ever. We know we have one player locked down, and he commits on the first day of the signing period:

Kenny Butler, a 6’7 power forward out of LA, rated as the No. 57 overall recruit and No. 10 power forward prospect. He’s a little shorter than we like, but his shooting projection looks great, and he’ll be the only natural four on our roster. We like him.

We have two other offers out to five-star JUCO wing Jerald Obasohan and four-star shooting guard Erwin Walls. They both commit soon after.

Obasohan is the No. 3 rated JUCO prospect. Walls seems like he’s going to be terrific — look at those AAU stats!

I’m excited these guys. Our recruiting class ranks No. 19 in the country.

Now let’s set the schedule for our final season.

Bradley, NIT Tip-off, Southern Illinois, @ Florida, Illinois, @ DePaul, Kansas, @ Duke, UIC, Golden Bear Classic.

As we sim to Year 40, we are greeted by an unwelcome message:

Year 40

Here’s a first look at our roster in Year 40:

If the game is forcing me into mandatory retirement at age-65, at least we’re going out with a veteran team that’s talented enough to win the national championship. We only lost Foster from last year’s Elite Eight squad, and we should have some real depth this season.

Here’s a look at the freshmen:

SF Jerald Obasohan, 79 overall, C potential: Unfortunately only a 70 rating in three-point shooting, but this is a terrific starting rating. He should be playable for us this year.

SG Erwin Walls, 74 overall, B potential: Walls has an impressive 79 rating in three-point shooting. He’ll be a deep bench option for us.

PF Kenny Butler, 74 overall, C+ potential: He grew an inch to 6’8 and will be another deep bench option.

With one season to go, we are tied with John Wooden for the most national championships in history with 10 titles. Can we get No. 11 in our final year?

We’re going to be streaming Year 40 on Sunday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch channel. We’ll be watching a few regular season games, and then going into the tournament. If we have a long tournament run and can’t complete the season in one night, we’ll likely finish out the tournament run on Sunday, May 23 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch.

Subscribe to my Twitch channel for email notifications on if the date for the final NCAA tournament stream changes. You can also join our Discord channel for updates on when I’ll be streaming and continued discussion around the ‘Necks.

Watch The Last Dance with Western Illinois in Year 40

What: Western Illinois Year 40 season

When: Sunday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET. If necessary: continued on Wednesday, May 23 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: My Twitch stream

For email updates on this series, subscribe here.

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auburnfamilynews · 5 years

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John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn has a chance to make a ton of history today.

Date: Saturday February 29th

Opponent: #8 Kentucky Wildcats

Location: Rupp Arena - Lexington, Kentucky

Time: 2:45PM

Network: CBS, Auburn Radio Network

Over the last 3 seasons, Bruce Pearl has talked a lot about making history.

Two years ago:

Auburn won their first SEC Regular Season Championship since 1998-1999.

Won in Starkville for the first time since 2009

Ended a 10 game losing streak against Ole Miss

Entered the Top 25 for the first time since 2003

Made their 1st NCAA Tournament since 2003

Last year

Swept BOTH Georgia and Alabama for the first time since the 1966-1967 season

Auburn won their first SEC Tournament since 1985

Made the program’s 1st Final Four beating...… Kentucky

Which leads me to today: what is on the line today?

This year

For starters, Kentucky leads Auburn by 2 games and would clinch the SEC Regular Season Title with a win over Auburn today. But here’s some other things to take into consideration:

Today is Auburn’s 50th trip to Rupp Arena: they are 2-47 all-time.

The last time Auburn won at Rupp Arena? January 9th, 1988 when Auburn beat then #1 Kentucky 53-52 on a 3-pointer by John Caylor with 10 seconds left.

The only other win for Auburn at Rupp Arena was January 15, 1983 when the Tigers were led by a sophomore named Charles Barkley.

Auburn has never beaten Kentucky 3 times in a row. A win today would change that.

Auburn is 4-5 against Kentucky since Bruce Pearl took over at Auburn.

So you get it, Auburn has a lot of things going against them coming into today’s matchup but let’s take a look back at what happened in Auburn 4 weeks ago:

Recapping the First Matchup

Auburn defeated Kentucky 75-66 in front of College Gameday and a raucous Auburn Arena. The Tigers shot 44 free throws and Isaac Okoro made some big shots coming down the stretch. There is no way Auburn will shoot 44 free throws today, in fact, I’ll be shocked if they shoot half of that. Samir Doughty led the way with 23 points and was 14-15 from the free throw line. Isaac Okoro had 14 points, Austin Wiley had another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Danjel Purifoy had a trio of triples on his way to scoring 11 for Auburn that day. As a team, Auburn shot 6-23 from 3 and won despite going just 18-51 from the field.

For Kentucky, the Cats were led by Immanuel Quickley and Tyrese Maxey as the 2 combined for 45 of Kentucky’s 66 points. Quickley, who had 23 in Auburn, has been on a tear lately and has emerged as Kentucky’s leading scorer at 16.2 PPG. He is a 43% 3-point shooter and is coming off a career high 30 point night and 8 3-pointers at Texas A&M Tuesday night. He is also an excellent free throw shooter averaging 91.5% from the line on the year. In his last 8 games, beginning with the Auburn game February 1st, Immanuel is averaging 21.8 PPG and is 14-22 from 3 in his last 3 games. Auburn has had trouble at times defending the perimeter and that’s why Quickley is the Wildcat I fear the most today.

Maxey had 22 points in the first game and is averaging 13.9 PPG this year, as is Nick Richards who struggled in Auburn Arena scoring just 7 points. Richards has had a great junior season but his scoring is down the last 2 games, combining for just 10 points but after the first matchup, I expect Richards to have a much better game this time around. Ashton Hagans got into foul trouble and never got into a rhythm 4 weeks ago fouling out with just 5 points and committed 6 turnovers. Hagans is the one who said they didn’t Auburn seriously enough last March and after what happened in Kansas City and Auburn the last 12 months, he’ll certainly take them seriously today, right?

Keys for Auburn Today

As Auburn goes into today’s matchup, it was great to see Isaac Okoro back on the floor Tuesday night after missing 3 games with a hamstring injury. Okoro scored 10 minutes in 27 minutes of action and played significantly more than what was planned for him. Auburn clearly missed his presence on both sides of the floor and as a team, they held Ole Miss to 58 points Tuesday night. As Auburn heads into this game, it was huge to get him back on the court and work the rust off.

Austin Wiley and Anfernee McLemore did an outstanding job of shutting down Nick Richards in Game 1. They have to do that today to have a shot.

It will be interesting to see the role Jaylin Williams plays in this game as his playing time and contributions have increased dramatically in the last 3 games. How he fits into the rotation as the Tigers continue to get Okoro back into the lineup will be interesting to watch. Williams isn’t the only bench players whose role has increased lately as Devan Cambridge has played well lately as well, but most of that has been at home. Auburn needs contributions from everyone to give themselves a chance today.

Prediction

Kentucky needs no extra motivation for this game and last year, they embarrassed Auburn in Rupp 80-53. That would of course be Auburn’s last loss until getting to Minneapolis.

Auburn has struggled away from home and in order to win today, they (to quote Bruce Pearl) have to “play out of their minds.” I think last year many Auburn fans went into this game optimistic that the Tigers had a shot to win in Lexington and instead were extremely disappointed. I know I was.

Throughout the year, I have picked Auburn to win almost every game, if not every game this year which I have previewed. Today I just have a hard time seeing Auburn getting the job done. Anything’s possible and the recent success against Kentucky will give this group confidence but Auburn is going to need to make perimeter shots and convert their opportunities, when they get them, at the free throw line. Even then, I’m not sure it will be enough.

Kentucky 78 Auburn 69

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/2/29/21158622/15-auburn-at-8-kentucky-game-preview-and-open-thread

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

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viraljournalist · 5 years

Text

Power Rankings -- Who starred for each team in 2019

New Post has been published on https://viraljournalist.com/power-rankings-who-starred-for-each-team-in-2019/

Power Rankings -- Who starred for each team in 2019

Heading into the last week of the season, the division races are almost all won, leaving the wild-card races to provide a bit of drama. You’ll find some of that same balance between certainty and anticipation in this week’s rankings. The voters unanimously selected the newly crowned American League West champion Astros our unanimous No. 1 over the challenges from the Dodgers and Yankees. They also rewarded the teams doing the best job of securing their wild-card bids, with the A’s cracking the top five and the Brewers climbing up to No. 11.

For Week 25, our panel of voters was Bradford Doolittle, Christina Kahrl, Eric Karabell, Tim Kurkjian and David Schoenfield.

Houston Astros 2019 record: 102-54 Week 24 ranking: 1

While another World Series title would be nice, several awards should be coming Houston’s way this fall. Right-hander Justin Verlander figures to earn his second Cy Young Award (he won with Detroit in 2011), likely holding off teammate Gerrit Cole. Meanwhile, rookie outfielder Yordan Alvarez boasts an OPS better than 1.000 and could end up knocking in a run per game. Sure, Alvarez has played barely half a big league season, but the numbers are ridiculous. Carlos Correa won top AL rookie honors in 2015, but he did not have numbers like these. — Eric Karabell

ICYMI: A superteam showdown? A historic rematch? The World Series matchups we want to see

Los Angeles Dodgers 2019 record: 100-56 Week 24 ranking: 2

Cody Bellinger is not only the Dodgers’ MVP for 2019, but probably the favorite to win the National League MVP, as well. Clayton Kershaw won MVP honors in 2014, but the last Dodgers position player to win was Kirk Gibson in 1988. With 8.6 bWAR entering Sunday, Bellinger has recorded just the 11th 8-WAR season by a position player in Dodgers history and the highest since Adrian Beltre’s 9.6 in 2004. The others: Mike Piazza, Willie Davis, Duke Snider (three times), Jackie Robinson (three times) and Dan Brouthers. — David Schoenfield

ICYMI: How the Dodgers are better built for October than everyone else

New York Yankees 2019 record: 102-55 Week 24 ranking: 3

Yankees fans like to spin DJ LeMahieu as an overall AL MVP candidate. He has been an amazing story, but he isn’t on the level of Mike Trout or Alex Bregman. However, LeMahieu clearly is the team MVP with 6.0 WAR, plus some bonus points for his ability to play all over the field. LeMahieu leads the team in runs and RBIs and still has a shot at the AL batting crown. I guess he can hit outside of Coors Field.– Schoenfield

ICYMI: Severino’s sizzling return shakes up October picture

Atlanta Braves 2019 record: 96-61 Week 24 ranking: 4

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman are potential top-five finishers in the NL MVP vote — but they only rank third and fifth on the team in bWAR: Josh Donaldson 5.9, Mike Soroka 5.6, Acuna 5.5, Ozzie Albies 4.8, Freeman 4.6. Who do you have? I give the slightest of nods to Acuna. That power/speed combo at the top of the lineup sets the tone, plus he has started in center, left and right, with very good defensive metrics. — Schoenfield

ICYMI:

Who was Braves’ best addition to earn NL East repeat?

Oakland Athletics 2019 record: 94-62 Week 24 ranking: 6

With 32 home runs and 120 runs scored, shortstop Marcus Semien clearly is having a season for the ages from the leadoff slot for the A’s. But his 7.9 WAR also ranks 19th among MLB shortstops since 1947, and just three shortstops have delivered that kind of season in the past 20 years — Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, Hall-worthy Alex Rodriguez and peer Francisco Lindor just last season. — Christina Kahrl

ICYMI: How the A’s rebuilt a winner without tanking

Minnesota Twins 2019 record: 96-60 Week 24 ranking: 5

Shortstop Jorge Polanco will not lead the Twins in home runs or RBIs, but he is the clear club leader in wins above replacement and makes the strongest case for Twins MVP. Yes, five Twins have surpassed 30 home runs, but Polanco is by far the leader in hits and total bases. A year ago, Polanco served an 80-game PED suspension, and while he hit in the second half, few viewed him as a potential star. Prospect Nick Gordon figured to displace Polanco at some point. Few are talking about that now. Good for Polanco, a rock for the likely AL Central champs in the No. 2 lineup spot and at shortstop. — Karabell

Tampa Bay Rays 2019 record: 92-64 Week 24 ranking: 7

The Rays might or might not reach the playoffs, but they’ve already topped 90 wins. They have one position player (Willy Adames) with a chance to play in 150 games and just one pitcher anywhere close to qualifying for the ERA title. That pitcher, Charlie Morton, has been the one Rays starter who has simply been there for the team all season. He is going to end up with 33 starts and over 190 innings, with a 143 ERA+. The Rays might have been able to piece together his innings total had Morton thrown, say, 100 IP. But thanks to him, they didn’t have to, and his performance would have been tough to replicate even with Tampa Bay’s hive approach to roster building. — Bradford Doolittle

ICYMI: What do the Rays have to do to make the playoffs?

St. Louis Cardinals 2019 record: 89-67 Week 24 ranking: 8

Four critical victories in Chicago during the weekend have the Cardinals on the verge of clinching the NL Central title, having already earned at least a wild-card spot. It has been a total team effort of late, with numerous Cardinals players standing out. But one in particular has been veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright: He has won four consecutive starts to begin September, with an 0.33 ERA in those games. — Tristan H. Cockcroft

ICYMI:

Cards close in on postseason return at Cubs’ expense

Cleveland Indians 2019 record: 92-64 Week 24 ranking: 10

Projection systems such as ZiPS of FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski picked Shane Bieber as a big breakout player in 2019. But seeing that on the page is one thing; watching it unfold over six months of baseball is another. Bieber has posted a league-best walk rate, he leads the majors in complete games and shutouts, his 10.9 K/9 rates in MLB’s top 10 — and we would not be talking about the Indians’ shot at winning an AL wild card if not for his stepping up during the same season that saw Cleveland lose former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to injury. — Kahrl

ICYMI: Inside the Indians’ season-long domination of the Tigers

Washington Nationals 2019 record: 85-69 Week 24 ranking: 9

Anthony Rendon has earned himself a massive payout this winter as a free agent with a season that could win him NL MVP honors. He finished fifth in 2014 and sixth in 2017, but he will go higher this year. He is right up there with Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich as the top three favorites. And with Yelich missing the final two-plus weeks and Bellinger fading a bit down the stretch, Rendon could steals honors after hitting .351 in the second half with 58 RBIs in 65 games. — Schoenfield

ICYMI: Scherzer no lock to start wild-card game for Nats

Milwaukee Brewers 2019 record: 86-70 Week 24 ranking: 13

The question isn’t whether Christian Yelich is the most valuable player in Milwaukee, it’s whether he is once again the NL MVP — and that question remains open. However, that Yelich is head and shoulders above his teammates only underscores how special it is that the Brewers have rolled on even after his season was ended by a broken kneecap. Milwaukee had won 10 of 12 since Yelich last played on Sept. 10, and his replacement, rookie Trent Grisham, has filled in effectively. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Yelich talks about his injury

Chicago Cubs 2019 record: 82-74 Week 24 ranking: 11

The MVP of the Cubs’ season is a little difficult to suss out. Kris Bryant is probably the best player. Javier Baez remains the most dynamic and has a huge impact defensively. But I’ll go with Anthony Rizzo as the best combination of all the above. On a team that has been less than the sum of its parts for two seasons in a row, Rizzo has flourished situationally, with a big edge on Bryant and, especially, Baez in win probably added. On the intangible front, his early return from a badly sprained ankle for this weekend’s huge series against St. Louis was Willis Reed stuff. Rizzo is the heart and soul of the Cubs. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Even Rizzo’s magic can’t save these Cubs

Boston Red Sox 2019 record: 81-74 Week 24 ranking: 12

For any grief outgoing Red Sox baseball ops honcho Dave Dombrowski has and will receive, he figures to be able to point to the six-year, $120 million extension he gave to Xander Bogaerts as a big positive. Boston’s World Series defense was a dud, but don’t blame Bogaerts. He delivered the goods after signing his big deal this past offseason, establishing career highs in virtually every offensive category, playing improved defense and looking like a foundation piece for a Red Sox team that potentially faces significant change in the near future. — Steve Richards

ICYMI:

Why nobody might want to be Boston’s GM

New York Mets 2019 record: 81-74 Week 24 ranking: 14

Rookie Pete Alonso and versatile stalwart Jeff McNeil have definitely been the most valuable Mets hitters this season, but give credit to outfielder Michael Conforto for reaching 30 home runs for the first time. Conforto might never graduate to top-10 status among major league outfielders, but there is a statistical baseline for reliable power, a strong walk rate and competent defense. And at 26 years old, he can still improve. Better results versus left-handed pitching would be nice, and he is not really a center fielder, but Conforto has become a reliable, if occasionally overlooked, performer. — Karabell

ICYMI:

Law on how McNeil surpassed preseason expectations

Arizona Diamondbacks 2019 record: 80-76 Week 24 ranking: 15

Ketel Marte won’t win the NL MVP, but he is just outside the inner circle of contenders in one of the most surprising breakout seasons of 2019. Heck, he even had an All-Star team named after him. Placing sixth in baseball in WAR among position players, as well as seventh in slugging and OPS, plus having the versatility to play center field, second base and even a little shortstop, will do that for you. — Richards

ICYMI: Back injury ends Marte’s season

Philadelphia Phillies 2019 record: 79-75 Week 24 ranking: 16

The Phillies will look to lock up catcher J.T. Realmuto to a long-term contract this offseason. Realmuto sailed past career bests in home runs and runs batted in, and his excellent work throwing out potential base stealers should result in his first Gold Glove recognition. Myriad Phillies are to blame for the disappointing season — from the rotation to the injured bullpen to the inconsistent offense — and, clearly, management gets no pass. But Realmuto, acquired from the Marlins in February, has been awesome. — Karabell

ICYMI: Are Phillies MLB’s biggest disappointment of 2019?

Cincinnati Reds 2019 record: 72-83 Week 24 ranking: 18

Eugenio Suarez continued to build on his historic season despite the Reds’ elimination last week. Suarez hit home run No. 48 on Wednesday, moving him within four of George Foster’s 42-year-old franchise record, and he now has batted .358/.442/.806 with nine homers in 19 games in September. He has been one of the team’s better stories in an otherwise forgettable year. — Cockcroft

ICYMI:

Castillo, Suarez rank among Law’s biggest surprises of 2019

Texas Rangers 2019 record: 75-81 Week 24 ranking: 17

As flawed as WAR might be in judging pitchers, if one of your guys leads baseball in that category for virtually the whole season, it’s hard to argue he isn’t your MVP. That applies to the Rangers’ Mike Minor, who just in the past week or so was passed by Justin Verlander but still ranks second among MLB pitchers with a 7.5 WAR. Of course, Minor’s teammate Lance Lynn is just behind Minor with 6.7 WAR, fourth in baseball, and also is fourth in FanGraphs WAR at 6.0, while Minor is 19th in fWAR (4.0). So take your pick. — Richards

San Francisco Giants 2019 record: 75-81 Week 24 ranking: 19

Let’s accentuate the positive here and celebrate Madison Bumgarner getting back over 30 starts and 200 innings pitched for the first time since 2016, following two fluke injury-shortened seasons. With MadBum heading toward free agency, it was a great bounce-back campaign from one of the defining stars of the decade. Of course, it also inspired the Giants to keep him at the trade deadline as they briefly flirted with contention, which didn’t turn out quite as well. — Kahrl

ICYMI: Mike Yaz — HR in Fenway ‘super special’

Los Angeles Angels 2019 record: 70-86 Week 24 ranking: 21

Infielder David Fletcher is likely to end up the second-most valuable Angels player by WAR, which is something few expected back in March. Fletcher, in his second big league season, has played more than 35 games at three different infield positions — and also has aided in the outfield — and he easily will lead the club in hits. No, Fletcher is not much of a power hitter, but contact options remain important to a lineup, especially when they can handle most every position. Who knows what happens in 2020 or whether Fletcher secures a starting role, but for 2019 give the 25-year-old much credit. — Karabell

San Diego Padres 2019 record: 70-86 Week 24 ranking: 20

The firing of manager Andy Green on Saturday creates an attractive opening for the team’s next prospective skipper, coming off a season in which rookies Chris Paddack and Fernando Tatis Jr. should pick up votes in the Rookie of the Year race and the team has had a strong core consisting of Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and Kirby Yates. But the beneath-the-radar story of the Padres’ second half has been Dinelson Lamet, who has a 3.20 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 45 innings in eight starts since Aug. 1. — Cockcroft

ICYMI:

Why was Pads manager Andy Green fired?

Chicago White Sox 2019 record: 68-87 Week 24 ranking: 24

The ChiSox’s 2019 MVP, Lucas Giolito, may not have more to contribute this season now that he’s shelved for the remainder of the season, but his emergence as a top-tier starter is a cornerstone development for a team emerging from a rebuild. Giolito has improved in every facet. His strikeouts are up by more than five per nine innings. His walks per nine have dropped from 4.7 to 2.9. And when everyone is hitting home runs, Giolito has given up fewer long balls than a season ago. He has been consistent and durable, traits increasingly rare among starting pitchers. The White Sox hope that a year or two from now we’ll see Giolito as just one of their aces, but for the time being at least they have one. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Sox shut Giolito down with lat strain

Toronto Blue Jays 2019 record: 63-93 Week 24 ranking: 26

Yes, he leads the Blue Jays in batting average (.276) and OPS (.789), but he is just seventh on the team with 15 home runs and his WAR logs in at 0.0. Still, the numbers matter not — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the slam dunk MVP of the Jays for invigorating baseball in Toronto (and beyond) and providing great hope for years of excitement and electricity to come. — Richards

ICYMI: Biggios now second father-son duo to hit for cycles

Seattle Mariners 2019 record: 66-90 Week 24 ranking: 25

No team has ever employed more players in one season than the 67 that have shuffled through Seattle in 2019. What, you don’t remember Zac Rosscup, Parker Markel, David Freitas or Nick Rumbelow? Backup catcher Tom Murphy leads position players in WAR, which says everything you want to know about this team. But I’ll give team MVP honors to Marco Gonzales, who has won 16 games with a 4.09 ERA, even more impressive considering Seattle’s defense has been among the worst in the majors. — Schoenfield

Colorado Rockies 2019 record: 67-89 Week 24 ranking: 23

The Rockies continue to audition youngsters for potential 2020 roles this September, and one of their bright spots this month has been utility man Garrett Hampson. The 24-year-old rookie has made starts at second base, shortstop and center field; and he has batted .357/.410/.589 with three home runs and has seven stolen bases this month. — Cockcroft

Pittsburgh Pirates 2019 record: 65-91 Week 24 ranking: 22

With all due respect to Josh Bell, Adam Frazier and Bryan Reynolds, Starling Marte’s performance seems to drive the Pirates’ performance unlike any other player. He has been sidelined for the past 13 days with a wrist issue, during which time the Pirates are 2-9. In fact, accounting for any of Marte’s absences this season, the Pirates are just 4-20 when he has been unavailable to play. — Cockcroft

Kansas City Royals 2019 record: 57-100 Week 24 ranking: 27

You’d like to see a team MVP be a little more well-rounded than Jorge Soler, but in absence of an obvious pick, his record-setting home run spree is enough to get the nod. Soler already has obliterated Mike Moustakas’ single-season franchise mark for homers, and with Mike Trout out for the remainder of the season, Soler’s next dinger will make him the Royals’ first home run champion. He still defends like the designated hitter he ought to be, but Soler’s power display has given Royals fans something to follow during a rebuilding season. — Doolittle

Miami Marlins 2019 record: 54-101 Week 24 ranking: 28

A fractured finger ended his season a month ago, but it reflects just how shallow a talent pool the Fish swim in that Brian Anderson still is the easy choice for most valuable Marlin. A defensive asset at third base and out in right field, like most non-Marlins he also had a breakout season at the plate, setting career highs in extra-base hits despite playing in 30 fewer games than in 2018. — Kahrl

Baltimore Orioles 2019 record: 51-105 Week 24 ranking: 29

For a team on pace for just 53 wins, the Orioles have a few reasonable choices for an MVP. Trey Mancini has an .889 OPS, 36 doubles, 34 home runs, 101 runs and 93 RBIs. Jonathan Villar has 3.9 WAR and 38 stolen bases. And Hanser Alberto has 3.1 WAR and a .310 batting average. But our co-MVPs are Chris Davis and Henry Frasca. Huh? Davis, with a .176/.268/.315 slash line and just 11 home runs to offset 134 whiffs? And who is Henry Frasca? He is a 9-year-old fan from Massachusetts who wrote a letter of encouragement to Davis during his record 0-for-54 stretch in April. Davis was so moved, he kept the letter with him throughout the season and spent the afternoon with Henry on a return trip to Fenway Park in August. After watching this video, we suspect you’ll endorse our pick. — Richards

Detroit Tigers 2019 record: 46-109 Week 24 ranking: 30

A rough second half took a lot of the shine off Matthew Boyd’s big campaign, but his first-half 3.87 ERA turned heads and his full-season 11.6 K/9, good for sixth in the majors, should keep them turned. And sure, while pitcher wins don’t mean much, you try flirting with a .500 season (he is 9-11) while pitching for a team due to lose more than 110 games and featuring MLB’s worst offense. — Kahrl

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michellelewis7162 · 4 years

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Why You Must Play Online Pokies Rather Than Bar Or Club Poker Machines

Like lots of people who stay in Aristocrat Pokies, you have actually perhaps participated in the pokies at one time or an additional.

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Aristocrat Pokies Slot Machines Or Pokies.

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party-hard-or-die · 6 years

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Major League Baseball roundup: Kemp

Matt Kemp’s pinch-hit grand slam blew the game open and capped a five-run eighth inning Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who routed the New York Mets 8-3 at Citi Field.

Jun 23, 2018; New York City, NY, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pinch hitter Matt Kemp (27) hits a grand slam home run against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who was on the disabled list all month with a back injury, started for Los Angeles and allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four over three innings. It was just his second start since May 1. He missed most of May with a biceps injury.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom (5-3) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out six over six innings. It was the worst start in more than two months for deGrom, who had a 0.90 ERA in his previous 11 outings. His National League-leading ERA rose from 1.51 to 1.69.

The Dodgers have won the first two games of the three-game series and eight of their last 11. The Mets have lost five straight, 17 of 21 and 42 of 62 since an 11-1 start.

Astros 4, Royals 3 (12 innings)

Carlos Correa delivered a walk-off single with the bases loaded and no outs in the 12th inning, and Houston rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat visiting Kansas City.

Correa lined a 1-1 fastball from Royals right-hander Justin Grimm (1-3) into right-center field, scoring George Springer from third base. Springer was 0-for-5 before working a leadoff walk and reaching third on a popup single by Alex Bregman that dropped in shallow right.

Right-hander Collin McHugh (3-0) struck out the side in the 12th. Five Houston relievers combined to allow one hit over six scoreless innings while producing seven strikeouts.

Reds 11, Cubs 2

Anthony DeSclafani pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and hit a grand slam to lead Cincinnati past visiting Chicago.

DeSclafani (3-1) allowed two runs on three hits, with four walks and three strikeouts, as the Reds won their sixth straight game, matching their season high. Cincinnati will try to complete a sweep of the four-game series with the Cubs on Sunday.

DeSclafani’s home run, the first of his career, with two outs in the bottom of the third inning off Cubs reliever Brian Duensing gave the Reds an 8-1 lead. Tucker Barnhart and Joey Votto also homered for Cincinnati.

Rays 4, Yankees 0

Wilmer Font pitched a career-high 5 2/3 innings, recorded his first career win and combined with four other pitchers on a four-hitter as Tampa Bay blanked visiting New York.

Font (1-3) allowed three hits while throwing a career-high 80 pitches. He struck out four, issued one walk and held the Yankees hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position before turning things over to the bullpen.

Rookie Willy Adames homered and hit an RBI single for the Rays, who beat the Yankees for the third straight time after dropping the first five meetings. The Yankees lost consecutive games for the first time since May 22-23

Mariners 7, Red Sox 2

Mike Leake pitched eight scoreless innings as Seattle snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak in defeating host Boston.

Leake (8-4) allowed three hits, walked two and struck out five. Although the right-hander threw just 98 pitches and it wasn’t a save situation, the Mariners used closer Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning because he hadn’t pitched in a week.

Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (9-2) had his six-game winning streak snapped. Rodriguez lasted just four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two.

Jun 23, 2018; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1) drives in a run with a sacrifice fly during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals 3, Brewers 2

Yadier Molina’s second homer of the game wiped out a Milwaukee lead and led visiting St. Louis to victory.

With the Brewers leading 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning, Marcell Ozuna greeted reliever Jeremy Jeffress (5-1) with a single. Molina then clouted a 383-foot shot over the wall in right-center for his second two-homer game of a seven-game road trip.

Molina led off the second with his first homer, a 398-foot wallop to right-center. It was the only run St. Louis mustered off starter Chase Anderson in his five innings.

Athletics 7, White Sox 6

Stephen Piscotty and Matt Olson homered, and Nick Martini drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as visiting Oakland came back from five runs down to knock off Chicago.

Piscotty hit a two-out double in the eighth inning, and Martini singled him home to put the A’s in front. It was Martini’s first career hit in the big leagues, a clutch single up the middle.

Piscotty hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning. Oakland has hit a home run in 24 consecutive road games, tying the major league record set by the 1996 Baltimore Orioles.

Rangers 9, Twins 6

Adrian Beltre had three hits, including his 466th career home run, and Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs to lead Texas over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Beltre’s towering fourth-inning homer into the bullpen in left-center was his fourth of the season and broke a tie with Dave Winfield and Miguel Cabrera for 34th on the all-time list. Beltre needs two more home runs to catch Chipper Jones (468) for 33rd place.

Shin-Soo Choo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 36 games with an RBI ground-rule double and a walk as the Rangers upped their winning streak to seven games.

Phillies 5, Nationals 3

Jesmuel Valentin delivered the tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Carlos Santana homered an inning later as visiting Philadelphia defeated Washington.

Valentin’s sacrifice fly to center scored Maikel Franco, who went 4-for-4, and snapped a 2-2 tie. The play stood up under a long review after the Nationals challenged it.

Odubel Herrera of Philadelphia saw his home run streak of five games come to an end. The center fielder went 0-for-4.

Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 2

Zack Greinke pitched six two-hit, scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and David Peralta doubled and tripled as Arizona rolled at Pittsburgh.

Slideshow (13 Images)

Greinke (7-5) struck out seven and walked none. It was his first scoreless outing this season. The veteran right-hander returned after two rain delays, 25 minutes in the bottom of the first and 56 minutes in the middle of the fourth.

The Diamondbacks have won three straight games and go for a four-game series sweep Sunday. The Pirates have dropped four in a row and five of six.

Orioles 7, Braves 5

Mark Trumbo hit a first-inning grand slam and Dylan Bundy struck out eight batters over 6 1/3 innings as Baltimore held on for a win at Atlanta.

Chris Davis added a three-run double in the fifth inning as the Orioles picked up their seventh consecutive victory over the Braves going back to 2012. Zach Britton pitched the ninth inning for his first save.

The Braves’ Nick Markakis drove in three runs against his former team. He had an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run double in the seventh but struck out looking with the tying run on base in the eighth.

Marlins 6, Rockies 2

J.T. Realmuto slugged an opposite-field grand slam in the seventh inning as Miami beat Colorado in Denver.

Colorado had its four-game win streak snapped, falling back under .500 at 38-39. Gerardo Parra led the Rockies with two RBIs, including his fourth homer of the season.

Miami broke its three-game losing streak. Derek Dietrich had a solo home run for the Marlins after being added to the lineup when shortstop Miguel Rojas was scratched due to a left hand contusion.

Giants 5, Padres 3

Brandon Crawford drove in three runs with three hits and had a hand in three of four double plays turned by San Francisco in a win over visiting San Diego.

Left-hander Andrew Suarez and three relievers scattered 11 hits, pitching the Giants to the fourth victory in their last five games overall and second in three days in the four-game series.

The Padres not only lost the game, but also lost their starting pitcher, right-hander Jordan Lyles, even before he’d taken the mound. Lyles reported tightness in his right forearm after pregame warmups, prompting Padres manager Andy Green to send out Matt Strahm to pitch the bottom of the first inning.

Indians 4, Tigers 1

Trevor Bauer continued his mastery against Detroit, and Francisco Lindor homered for the second straight game as host Cleveland cruised to victory.

Bauer (7-5) has won all four of his starts against Detroit this season in dominating fashion. In his latest gem, he held the Tigers to one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out 11. He has given up just four runs over 29 1/3 innings while racking up 40 strikeouts in those four outings.

Cleveland has defeated Detroit nine consecutive times on its home field. The Tigers are 3-9 against the Indians this season.

Blue Jays 4, Angels 1

Steve Pearce’s two-out, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Toronto to victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.

Pearce hit the blast off Angels reliever Justin Anderson (1-2), hooking an 86 mph slider just inside the left field foul pole and helping the Blue Jays get a win after losing the first two games of the series. It was Pearce’s first home run since April 9 after he missed 43 games with a strained oblique muscle before returning to the lineup Friday.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Angels had two outs and nobody on when Luis Valbuena tied the game with a towering home run off Toronto reliever Seunghwan Oh. Despite giving up the homer, Oh (3-2) got the win and struck out the side in the inning.

—Field Level Media

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theuniversitychallengereview · 6 years

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UC 48.17-20, 2R Matches 1-4

Given that this would be my largest online portfolio of writing samples, if I ever wanted to point to here as an example of my prowess for a potential employer, the past year and a bit wouldn’t exactly be a shining display of my ability to work to deadlines. However, given that there aren’t any real deadlines since I make them up myself, perhaps batching together episodes, as I am doing today, would showcase a flair for efficiency and time-saving in the long run.

Either way, a lot has happened in the time since the current period of slacking off started. Jacob-Rees Mogg and his gang of Victorian rabble-rousers attempted, and failed, to oust Theresa May, in a move that achieved nothing except to stall already stalling Brexit negotiations for a few hours. So I guess not a lot has changed there, actually.

But in more pertinent news, Tumblr has announced a crackdown on pornographic content, meaning that I will have to tone down my descriptions of any lightning-quick buzzes or preposterous recollections of scientific minutiae. I may also have to rethink a meme idea I had that was going to be a picture of a stern Paxman with the caption ‘Question me, Daddy’, because I don’t know where the line will be drawn.

Anyway, the first in this gargantuan compilation review was an Oxbridge Derby, featuring the 2010 winners.

St Peter’s Oxford vs Emmanuel, Cambridge

St Pete’s had already trounced another Cambridge College by a 175 point margin in the first round, so will have been looking forward to their second El Quizico match. Emmanuel, meanwhile, would just have been delighted to be there, having coming through the play-off round after a tight defeat in a high-quality game against Glasgow.

I described upon their first appearance how the Oxford side had the look of an archetypal Uni Challenge quartet, and they remain largely the same for this episode, right down to Cooper’s beret, although Braddock has taken off his scarf. Perhaps he realised (as I suggested in my review) that such a garment may lead to overheating beneath the heat of the studio lights. Still, if you told a sketch artist to draw a UC team (with no other information), the result would probably be quite close to these four.

Emmanuel look pretty quizzy too, but they have a female captain, which unfortunately is still unusual enough that it might cause our artist, painting blind, to slip up.

It is they who take the initial lead, MacDonald coming in fairly late for an opening starter with The Giant’s Causeway to claim the first ten points. Captain Cugini gives a whispered ‘Yes!’ when her team’s guess of Watteau is correct on a bonus. You can see how much this means to her, even at such an early stage.

St Peter’s then negged a few starters, but Emma couldn’t capitalise, and the Oxonians won the picture round to bring them up to half points. Not that it was really a proper picture round though, it was one of those ones where they have pictures of words, which sort of defeats the pictorial element. Of course, sometimes it works, like if the words are in foreign languages, but it just seems lazy when its simply another question about bloody Sonnets.

This would be the closest St Peter’s came to challenging. Emmanuel increased their lead to beyond three full question sets (at which point a comeback becomes a truly tall order) and kept slapping away any hands that were threatening to come too close.

Final Score: St Peter’s, Ox 120 - 195 Emmanuel, Cam

Hertford, Oxford vs Manchester

In days of yore (circa 2014) Manchester were a Uni Challenge monolith, seemingly the only team capable of smashing the Oxbridge duopoly. But they’ve failed to make it beyond the second round since then, and didn’t even make it onto the live shows last year. Their opportunity to break that duck would come against Hertford, Ox, who had made it through the second of the repechage rounds a few weeks earlier.

Tudor buzzed in with Bureau to give Oxford the lead, and Paxman bizarrely chose to chastise him for ‘being so dismissive’ when he hadn’t been in the slightest, even exhaling with relief when his answer was confirmed as correct. Starters were traded politely for a while, until Page gave Ford instead of Harrison (and then mumbled Harrison after realising his mistake) for the name that linked a number of people with the actor who played Deckard Shaw. At this point it seems kind of unfair to let Manchester steal the points, but they show no mercy and nudge in front for the first time.

With the scores tied at 80-80, the teams conspired to ramp up the tension, missing three starters in a row until Antao finally decided to buzz in. Ross took the next one, and Manchester now had the bit between their teeth, storming out into the distance with such ferocity as to end the match as a contest.

This week the picture rounds actually included pictures, with an excellent round on maps modified by the usage of various energy sources. By the time the second one, on self-portraits, came around, Manchester had a fifty-five point lead. Hertford would have had to take almost all of the remaining points to claim victory, but they couldn’t manage this. The Mancunians had returned to their rightful place in the quarter-finals.

Final Score: Hertford, Ox 115 - 185 Manchester

Edinburgh vs UCL

This was a rematch of a second round contest from last year, which Edinburgh won by the slimmest of margins, five points. According to my post from the time, there were eleven seconds on the clock when the Edinburgh player had switched the deficit with her starter, making it one of the slimmest ways in which you could win by the slimmest of margins. A slim-slim situation for the Scottish side, who would be hoping they wouldn’t have to cut it so close this time around.

But its the London quartet who set off the quickest as they set out to claim their revenge. They raced ahead with the first three starters, after which Fitz-James decided to blaze in early, but he could only neg, and UCL stretched away even further. Edinburgh could only get in the game when the first picture round came along, but after that normal service resumed and Johnstone eased UCL out to a ninety point cushion. This was far from a slim margin.

I said only paragraphs ago that a lead equivalent to three full question sets tends to be enough to get you over the line. This was nearly four full sets, but Edinburgh weren’t going to give up quite yet, and Malusa reduced the arrears with his first starter of the night. Fitz-James then buzzed for the music starter dangerously early, but got it right, and they stormed through the hat-trick to offer UCL some food for thought.

Perhaps they were too busy thinking about that food, because they negged the next starter, and Auld Reekie took a third in a row to come within a single set. But UCL realise that we haven’t even reached the second picture round yet so they can’t rely on the gong to save them, and Fang wakes his teammates up with the sound his buzzer. However, when it did come around it went to Edinburgh, who slam-dunked another treble on the bonuses to bring the scores within 5 points.

Walker and Malusa swapped starters, but Edinburgh continued their ridiculous streak on the bonuses (they took 19 out of 24, including an incredible 6 hat-tricks) to level the game. Fitz-James’ fifth starter of the night gave Edinburgh the lead for the first time of the evening, but this was where the streak ended, and they could only take a solitary five pointer.

UCL returned fire, but they did continue their streak of poor bonusing, and missed the opportunity to take the lead. Five points in it. One starter to go. The exact situation as almost exactly one year earlier, but in reverse. And 6 seconds into this starter came the buzz from UCL’s Walker, to mirror the result. In the upper half of the screen you can see Fitz-James hurriedly trying to sound his buzzer, as if if he presses it hard enough it will overrule hers. But it doesn’t.

It doesn’t need to.

Walker’s answer is wrong, and FJ picks it up without even waiting for the rest of the question. Before a bonus question can be read the gong sounds. In the end there are twenty points in it, but that doesn’t tell you the whole story. It may not have been the slimmest of margins, but it was the slimmest possible twenty point margin.

Edinburgh 180 - 160 UCL

Clare, Cambridge vs St Edmund’s, Oxford

We started off this bumper-review with an Oxbridge match, and we’re going to finish it with another edition of El Quizico (in case you didn’t get it when I said it earlier I’m trying out a riff on El Clasico, the name for matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid) (and if you found the explanation patronising, I’m sorry, I don’t know how big a crossover fandom I’m dealing with here).

Clare’s Elijah Granet clearly fancies himself a bit of a comedian, turning his head to the left after introducing himself (as being from sunny San Diego) despite having no one sitting there. What an absolute joker. His teammate Nixon opened up proceedings with one of UC’s classic ‘meanings of what word include...’ questions. Gurr tried to get the double on the second starter, but his buzz was wrong, and Teddy Hall captain looked to be considering having a guess before his neighbour Bresson beat him to it with the correct answer.

Granet, who had won Clare’s opening match with a gong-beating buzz on the last question, got himself off the mark on the third starter, but that would be the Cambridge side’s last involvement for some time.

Captain Leo, the standout Teddybear from their first round win, took eight (8) of the next nine starters (with the other going to endsman Pisharody) to go 155 points clear. Now I know Edinburgh did manage to come back from 90 points, which was more than my arbitrarily defined comeback-limit, but even though they managed to get back in with the second picture round, there truly was no hope for Clare.

Captain Gurr is just happy to be back in play though, and does that thing where you rise a little bit in your seat and then sit back down emphatically to display his delight. But avoiding humiliation is the best they can hope for now, and to be fair to them they do manage this, striding over a hundred points despite Gurr giving Deborah Meaden when asked for a famous caricaturist from the early 1800s.

He then says goodbye with an amorphous groaning noise, so perhaps the humiliation wasn’t totally avoided after all.

Final Score: Clare, Cam 105 - 240 St Edmund’s Hall

So we now have four quarter-finalists confirmed, two Oxbridge, and two non-Oxbridge:

Emmanuel, Cambridge

Manchester

Edinburgh

St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford

Glasgow take on Goldsmith’s tonight looking to make it two Scottish sides in the Quarter Finals for the first time since 2010.

If this wasn’t too much University Challenge Reviewing for you to stomach, then it would be remiss of me to not mention an amazing Christmas present I can offer you. If you’re bored and sitting around with family member to whom you have nothing much to say, and you can’t decide on which Netflix Original you want to watch, why not binge past seasons of UC instead, along with handy reading guides prepared by yours truly. I have compiled the past two years-worth of reviews into lovely little eBooks which can be found on Amazon at the Links below. So if you enjoy the blog, or want to get your nerdy cousin a gift for less than £3 then why not add it to your Kindle basket. And if you don’t want to get it yourself, then I’d be v grateful for a wee review, which is something proper authors say to boost it up the rankings or something like that...

The 2016-17 (Monkman and Seagull) series:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/University-Challenge-Review-2016-Monkman-ebook/dp/B077W9RRWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545075467&sr=8-1&keywords=university+challenge+review

The 2017-18 series:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/University-Challenge-Review-2017-18-Questions-ebook/dp/B07DYZRBPP/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1545075584&sr=1-2

Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

#university challenge #bbc2 #emmanuel #cambridge #st peters #oxford #manchester #university of #hertford #college #edinburgh #uc #st edmunds hall #clare #jeremy paxman

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dragnews · 6 years

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Major League Baseball roundup: Kemp

Matt Kemp’s pinch-hit grand slam blew the game open and capped a five-run eighth inning Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who routed the New York Mets 8-3 at Citi Field.

The Dodgers have won the first two games of the three-game series and eight of their last 11. The Mets have lost five straight, 17 of 21 and 42 of 62 since an 11-1 start.

Astros 4, Royals 3 (12 innings)

Carlos Correa delivered a walk-off single with the bases loaded and no outs in the 12th inning, and Houston rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat visiting Kansas City.

Right-hander Collin McHugh (3-0) struck out the side in the 12th. Five Houston relievers combined to allow one hit over six scoreless innings while producing seven strikeouts.

Reds 11, Cubs 2

Anthony DeSclafani pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and hit a grand slam to lead Cincinnati past visiting Chicago.

Rays 4, Yankees 0

Wilmer Font pitched a career-high 5 2/3 innings, recorded his first career win and combined with four other pitchers on a four-hitter as Tampa Bay blanked visiting New York.

Mariners 7, Red Sox 2

Mike Leake pitched eight scoreless innings as Seattle snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak in defeating host Boston.

Cardinals 3, Brewers 2

Yadier Molina’s second homer of the game wiped out a Milwaukee lead and led visiting St. Louis to victory.

Molina led off the second with his first homer, a 398-foot wallop to right-center. It was the only run St. Louis mustered off starter Chase Anderson in his five innings.

Athletics 7, White Sox 6

Stephen Piscotty and Matt Olson homered, and Nick Martini drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as visiting Oakland came back from five runs down to knock off Chicago.

Piscotty hit a two-out double in the eighth inning, and Martini singled him home to put the A’s in front. It was Martini’s first career hit in the big leagues, a clutch single up the middle.

Rangers 9, Twins 6

Adrian Beltre had three hits, including his 466th career home run, and Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs to lead Texas over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Shin-Soo Choo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 36 games with an RBI ground-rule double and a walk as the Rangers upped their winning streak to seven games.

Phillies 5, Nationals 3

Jesmuel Valentin delivered the tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Carlos Santana homered an inning later as visiting Philadelphia defeated Washington.

Valentin’s sacrifice fly to center scored Maikel Franco, who went 4-for-4, and snapped a 2-2 tie. The play stood up under a long review after the Nationals challenged it.

Odubel Herrera of Philadelphia saw his home run streak of five games come to an end. The center fielder went 0-for-4.

Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 2

Zack Greinke pitched six two-hit, scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and David Peralta doubled and tripled as Arizona rolled at Pittsburgh.

Slideshow (13 Images)

The Diamondbacks have won three straight games and go for a four-game series sweep Sunday. The Pirates have dropped four in a row and five of six.

Orioles 7, Braves 5

Mark Trumbo hit a first-inning grand slam and Dylan Bundy struck out eight batters over 6 1/3 innings as Baltimore held on for a win at Atlanta.

Marlins 6, Rockies 2

J.T. Realmuto slugged an opposite-field grand slam in the seventh inning as Miami beat Colorado in Denver.

Colorado had its four-game win streak snapped, falling back under .500 at 38-39. Gerardo Parra led the Rockies with two RBIs, including his fourth homer of the season.

Miami broke its three-game losing streak. Derek Dietrich had a solo home run for the Marlins after being added to the lineup when shortstop Miguel Rojas was scratched due to a left hand contusion.

Giants 5, Padres 3

Brandon Crawford drove in three runs with three hits and had a hand in three of four double plays turned by San Francisco in a win over visiting San Diego.

Left-hander Andrew Suarez and three relievers scattered 11 hits, pitching the Giants to the fourth victory in their last five games overall and second in three days in the four-game series.

Indians 4, Tigers 1

Trevor Bauer continued his mastery against Detroit, and Francisco Lindor homered for the second straight game as host Cleveland cruised to victory.

Cleveland has defeated Detroit nine consecutive times on its home field. The Tigers are 3-9 against the Indians this season.

Blue Jays 4, Angels 1

Steve Pearce’s two-out, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Toronto to victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.

—Field Level Media

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dani-qrt · 6 years

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Major League Baseball roundup: Kemp

Matt Kemp’s pinch-hit grand slam blew the game open and capped a five-run eighth inning Saturday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who routed the New York Mets 8-3 at Citi Field.

The Dodgers have won the first two games of the three-game series and eight of their last 11. The Mets have lost five straight, 17 of 21 and 42 of 62 since an 11-1 start.

Astros 4, Royals 3 (12 innings)

Carlos Correa delivered a walk-off single with the bases loaded and no outs in the 12th inning, and Houston rallied from a three-run deficit to defeat visiting Kansas City.

Right-hander Collin McHugh (3-0) struck out the side in the 12th. Five Houston relievers combined to allow one hit over six scoreless innings while producing seven strikeouts.

Reds 11, Cubs 2

Anthony DeSclafani pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and hit a grand slam to lead Cincinnati past visiting Chicago.

Rays 4, Yankees 0

Wilmer Font pitched a career-high 5 2/3 innings, recorded his first career win and combined with four other pitchers on a four-hitter as Tampa Bay blanked visiting New York.

Mariners 7, Red Sox 2

Mike Leake pitched eight scoreless innings as Seattle snapped a season-worst five-game losing streak in defeating host Boston.

Cardinals 3, Brewers 2

Yadier Molina’s second homer of the game wiped out a Milwaukee lead and led visiting St. Louis to victory.

Molina led off the second with his first homer, a 398-foot wallop to right-center. It was the only run St. Louis mustered off starter Chase Anderson in his five innings.

Athletics 7, White Sox 6

Stephen Piscotty and Matt Olson homered, and Nick Martini drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as visiting Oakland came back from five runs down to knock off Chicago.

Piscotty hit a two-out double in the eighth inning, and Martini singled him home to put the A’s in front. It was Martini’s first career hit in the big leagues, a clutch single up the middle.

Rangers 9, Twins 6

Adrian Beltre had three hits, including his 466th career home run, and Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs to lead Texas over Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Shin-Soo Choo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 36 games with an RBI ground-rule double and a walk as the Rangers upped their winning streak to seven games.

Phillies 5, Nationals 3

Jesmuel Valentin delivered the tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Carlos Santana homered an inning later as visiting Philadelphia defeated Washington.

Valentin’s sacrifice fly to center scored Maikel Franco, who went 4-for-4, and snapped a 2-2 tie. The play stood up under a long review after the Nationals challenged it.

Odubel Herrera of Philadelphia saw his home run streak of five games come to an end. The center fielder went 0-for-4.

Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 2

Zack Greinke pitched six two-hit, scoreless innings, Paul Goldschmidt homered and David Peralta doubled and tripled as Arizona rolled at Pittsburgh.

Slideshow (13 Images)

The Diamondbacks have won three straight games and go for a four-game series sweep Sunday. The Pirates have dropped four in a row and five of six.

Orioles 7, Braves 5

Mark Trumbo hit a first-inning grand slam and Dylan Bundy struck out eight batters over 6 1/3 innings as Baltimore held on for a win at Atlanta.

Marlins 6, Rockies 2

J.T. Realmuto slugged an opposite-field grand slam in the seventh inning as Miami beat Colorado in Denver.

Colorado had its four-game win streak snapped, falling back under .500 at 38-39. Gerardo Parra led the Rockies with two RBIs, including his fourth homer of the season.

Miami broke its three-game losing streak. Derek Dietrich had a solo home run for the Marlins after being added to the lineup when shortstop Miguel Rojas was scratched due to a left hand contusion.

Giants 5, Padres 3

Brandon Crawford drove in three runs with three hits and had a hand in three of four double plays turned by San Francisco in a win over visiting San Diego.

Left-hander Andrew Suarez and three relievers scattered 11 hits, pitching the Giants to the fourth victory in their last five games overall and second in three days in the four-game series.

Indians 4, Tigers 1

Trevor Bauer continued his mastery against Detroit, and Francisco Lindor homered for the second straight game as host Cleveland cruised to victory.

Cleveland has defeated Detroit nine consecutive times on its home field. The Tigers are 3-9 against the Indians this season.

Blue Jays 4, Angels 1

Steve Pearce’s two-out, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Toronto to victory over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.

—Field Level Media

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newestbalance · 6 years

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Weekend preview: Harvick, Busch duel again at Kansas Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kevin Harvick essentially told his fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season dominator Kyle Busch: I’ll take your three race victories and raise you one. And after taking his fourth win last week at Dover, Harvick can expect that Busch will be ready to try and match the effort this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Feb 16, 2018; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (4) during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Harvick and Busch have won seven of the season’s first 11 races and the two former Cup champions have another four runner-up finishes between them too, dominating the 2018 season start in a way like no other in recent memory.

This week’s KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway (Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) presents an exceptionally good challenge for both Harvick and Busch, however, judging by their historical work on the 1.5-miler.

Harvick has a pair of wins (2013 and 2016) and has won three pole positions (2013-14) and is ranked second-best in terms of overall driver rating (106.4). Busch won at Kansas in 2016 — his 17th try. And while his average finish at the track is uncharacteristic 17.1 — he has vastly improved that number with five top-fives in the last six races.

Last year Martin Truex Jr. swept both Kansas race victories en route to the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“Before three years ago, I’ve not had many opportunities to win at Kansas and hopefully we can get into Victory Lane there again this weekend with our M&Ms Carmel Toyota,” Busch said. “As you’ve seen so far this year, there are certain circumstances that can go against you and you just have to persevere and keep fighting until the checkered flag falls. We’ve won some races even though we hadn’t had the dominant car in a few of those.”

“I think we’re pretty equal, honestly,” Busch said. “I think I’ve got to give them the notch a little bit. I think they’re a little bit better than we are.

“… A lot of it all comes down to execution when things are this tight with the 4 (Harvick) and us. They were able to execute better at the start of the year on their streak and also last week. And we’ve been able to execute in order to get our wins.

“We haven’t been dominant each week, but we’ve been able to execute as a team — myself as a driver — to be able to get those wins.”

Up for grabs

The 37 Kind Days 250 (May 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) has historically been one of the most unpredictable events on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule.

With 15 different winners in 17 races and only three former winners — Kyle Busch, Matt Crafton and championship leader Johnny Sauter — in the field this weekend, it may again prove too tough to call. And that’s always a good thing.

Toyota-powered trucks have won the last five races with Busch and Crafton responsible for two trophies each during that span at Kansas.

Now steering a Ford, Crafton may well be in line to break that Toyota streak. He’s won twice and finished runner-up twice in the last five Kansas races.

A victory would certainly be a big boost to the two-time former series champion who is ranked sixth in the points standings. The championship chase is tight entering Friday night’s race — only 35 points separate Sauter from fifth-place Noah Gragson, a 19-year old who won the pole position last week at Dover, Del. and was runner-up at Atlanta earlier in the season.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: KC Masterpiece 400

The Place: Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, Kan.)

Feb 16, 2018; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Date: Saturday, May 12

The Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)

What to Watch For: Jimmie Johnson boasts the best driver rating (107.7) at Kansas and is tied with Jeff Gordon for most wins (three). … Four of the sport’s biggest stars made their first Cup start at his 1.5-miler — Erik Jones (2015), Ryan Blaney (2014), Austin Dillon (2011) and Denny Hamlin (2005). … No driver has ever earned his first Cup victory at Kansas. … Ryan Blaney won his first career pole position here last May becoming the youngest driver (23) to start on pole. … The top-five starting positions have produced the most wins (46 percent). Five times in 24 races, the polesitter has won — the last being Martin Truex in Fall, 2017. … Brad Keselowski holds the record for victory from the farthest spot on the starting grid (25th in 2011). … Five drivers have two runner-up finishes at Kansas: Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards. … Four drivers have started all 24 Kansas races — Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. … Truex swept the 2017 races at Kansas. He, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon are the only drivers to win consecutive races.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Next Race: 37 Kind Days 250

The Place: Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, Kan.)

The Date: Friday, May 11

The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 250 miles (167 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 40),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on lap 167)

What to Watch For: Kansas Speedway has proven to be a hard venue to predict victory. There have been 15 different race winners in 17 races and 13 different pole winners. … Matt Crafton and Kyle Busch have each won twice and both are entered in Friday night’s race. … Crafton has a series best eight top-10 finishes. … The top-five drivers in the championships standings are separated by only 35 points. Johnny Sauter holds a 29-point lead over second place Grant Enfinger. Fifth place Noah Gragson is 35 behind Sauter. … Six drivers among the top-10 are 25 years old or younger — ranging from 25-year old Brett Moffitt who is third in the points to 19-year old Gragson who is fifth in the standings. … The race has been won from the pole position only twice. Busch won from pole in 2014 and Ron Hornaday did in 2008. … Front row starters, however, have won eight of the 17 races. … There are three former winners entered this weekend — Busch, Crafton and series points leader Johnny Sauter, who won at Kansas in 2010. … Brandon Jones will be making his first truck series start of 2018. … The late Ricky Hendrick won the inaugural truck race here in 2001.

—By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

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itsworn · 7 years

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Is This the Nicest Unrestored 1967 Pontiac GTO on the Planet?

When Gary Arvanigian opened the side door of the car carrier, he thought he had made a mistake. The 1967 GTO, black with black interior, looked restored, “like a porcelain Easter egg, it glowed.” This Pontiac had to have been repainted. Likewise, the black bucket seats glistened like they were brand new. Where was the patina?

Gary, from Worcester, Massachusetts, thought about the statement that seller Jack Townsend, more than a thousand miles away in Georgia, had made to him: “If you don’t like this car when you get it, call me. I’ll pay for the return shipping and give your money back.”

Gary checks eBay “religiously early in the morning” and “at night,” for muscle cars, which he has loved since the 1960s. “I’m a historian,” says Gary. “I was enamored by Detroit’s marketing campaign of these cars when I was a kid. I look at muscle cars as a work of art and a piece of history.”

When an original-paint 1967 GTO popped up for sale one day at 6 a.m., Gary remembers getting so excited his mouth “dried up” and his vision “got blurry.” The price was right, the photos corroborated the car’s originality, and he hit the “Buy It Now” button before talking to the seller. Gary is a seasoned muscle car buyer and owner. He wasn’t about to snooze and lose, and was willing “to take a chance.”

His interest did not lie in the GTO’s two-door hardtop body style, and certainly not in the base, 335hp 400. The manual transmission was a pleasant surprise. Gary has owned dozens of muscle cars and believes “most of the four-speed muscle cars have been thrashed.” His primary interest was in the car’s superb originality combined with a black-on-black color combination that he said “in its full glory takes your breath away.”

After the purchase, Gary got the chance to talk on the phone to the seller, Jack Townsend, a man he found to be “a real Southern gentleman.” Townsend, in his early 80s today, had purchased the car from the original owner, another man in his 80s named Jack Slocum. Slocum had purchased the GTO brand new from Boomershine Motors, a Pontiac dealer in Atlanta.

Townsend, also a car collector of many years, explained to MCR that “about 35 to 40 years ago a neighbor told him he ‘ought to go see this hardtop GTO that this fellow had’ that lived about two blocks from me.”

Townsend thought it strange he had never noticed the car in his neighborhood. He drove over in his 1964 GTO as a “conversation starter.” The owner was a single man, very reserved, in his late 40s, about the same age, then, as Townsend.

Townsend said at that time Slocum “hardly drove the GTO.” He lived on a dead-end street. He would “drive to the dead end, drive back, and put the GTO back in his garage.”

Townsend asked about buying the car, but it wasn’t for sale. Over the next 15 years he kept in touch with Slocum, but the answer was always the same: The car was not for sale.

Townsend kept tabs on the GTO because he could see potential in the car. Yes, it was dusty and dirty and “not kept real nice, and not polished and so forth,” but the car was original, had low miles, had been garaged since new, and was in the hands of its first buyer.

Townsend also got a kick out of the story of how Slocum went down to the dealership and bought this coupe, which was a “stripper” GTO without any options, just a set of hub caps and a four-speed, not even a radio.

“His mother bought him the radio, and they took a radio out of another new Pontiac and put it into this car. So that’s how he purchased his GTO.”

Townsend recalled, “Two or three other guys that talked about buying the GTO” were turned off by the car’s appearance. In contrast, he said, “when I look at a car, what I see is what the car can be.”

Townsend finally got his opportunity to buy the GTO after 15 years of hanging in there. He says, “[Slocum] had a brother with a restaurant in Smyrna, Georgia. I went in there one day, and he and his brother were sitting there eating. Whenever he introduced me to his brother, his brother said, ‘You ought to buy his car.’ I told him I had been trying to buy it for 15 years.” A couple weeks later Townsend was surprised when Slocum said he would take $15,000. Finally, Townsend bought the GTO, which he added to his collection of “eight or nine” cars.

Townsend purchased the car for its extreme originality, but he still made a few blunders here and there that were very common back in the 1990s. For one, he painted over the weathered exhaust manifolds and used his spray can on some other components under the hood.

He replaced the steel rims (which at the time wore Oldsmobile “flipper” hubcaps) with Pontiac Rally wheels that were optional on the 1967 model. He mounted a set of redline tires, and hired a pinstriper to “freehand” the factory white upper body stripe to red. He freshened up the trunk with a reproduction floor mat and spare tire cover.

Otherwise, Townsend was the force behind this car’s preservation. Another buyer might have thrashed the GTO, which at the time (early to mid-1990s) was not a really valuable piece. Instead, Townsend parked the car in the back of his collector car facility. He did not want to run up the mileage, and for the next “20 to 25 years” he mainly drove the GTO to shows in the area. He says, “It always won. It was that nice.”

He had moved the odometer from about 32,000 to 35,000 when he sold the GTO to Gary several years ago. Rather than get into a professional concours tour de force, Gary decided to detail a few things in his spare time, such as add new heater hoses and date-coded tower-style clamps.

Overall, his inclination has been to simply enjoy the GTO. He wasn’t going on the national show circuit anyway. Yes, the exhaust manifolds need some TLC, but overall this GTO fit the car of his dreams.

A couple minutes after the GTO rolled off its trailer, Gary realized this car did have original paint and was without a doubt “the best unrestored muscle car” he had ever run across.

His friend, Steve O’Neill, who restores his own cars part time, did a walk-around and was amazed that he could find no sun damage in the original paint, which “glowed like brand new.”

Not a restorer, but a car collector his whole life, Gary compared his new unrestored muscle car find to a 1967 GTO that a person might see in the front row of a Pontiac dealer’s used car lot in the spring of 1968.

Cars like this—complete, with original paint, and in such excellent condition overall—are not candidates for restoration but are fit for preservation, a term that is gaining acceptance in the hobby today.

At a Glance 1967 Pontiac GTO Owned by: Gary Arvanigian, Worcester, MA Restored by: Unrestored original Engine: 400ci/335hp V-8 Transmission: Muncie M21 4-speed close-ratio manual Rearend: 10-bolt with 3.36 gears Interior: Standard black vinyl bucket seat Wheels: 14×6 Rally Tires: F70-14 redline Special parts: “GR-RRR!” license plate; original paperwork, including 1967 Georgia title; original leather key fob; plastic Pontiac floor mats; N.O.S. hubcaps wrapped in 1967 issue of High Performance Cars magazine; Protect-O-Plate; owner’s manual; metal Boomershine dealer badge

Gary Arvanigian’s 1967 GTO is quite a discovery: It popped up out of the blue original, unrestored, and gorgeous. Complete muscle cars like this—especially cars with four-speeds—are extremely hard to find.

The engine is the base 335-horse 400. The previous owner, Jack Townsend, says the 400 has never been out of the car.

Gary replaced heater hoses and clamps, but did not load for bear on the national show circuit. This car does not need a restoration, but instead needs preservation.

The exhaust manifolds should be unpainted. The second owner spray-painted them engine color to look good for local shows, but decades later the paint has chipped.

The instrument panel in this GTO, featuring circular gauges on simulated wood, appears like new. Bucket seats and console were a big deal in 1967. Most passenger cars had bench seats.

The seats glisten like new and are original. Door panels are also in excellent condition.

Rally wheels measure 14×6 and were an option in 1967 for this car. Redline tires are reproduction.

One earmark of a well-kept car is paperwork, which this Pontiac has in abundance, including the Protect-O-Plate on the right.

The post Is This the Nicest Unrestored 1967 Pontiac GTO on the Planet? appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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party-hard-or-die · 6 years

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Weekend preview: Harvick, Busch duel again at Kansas Speedway

Last year Martin Truex Jr. swept both Kansas race victories en route to the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“I think we’re pretty equal, honestly,” Busch said. “I think I’ve got to give them the notch a little bit. I think they’re a little bit better than we are.

“We haven’t been dominant each week, but we’ve been able to execute as a team — myself as a driver — to be able to get those wins.”

Up for grabs

The 37 Kind Days 250 (May 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) has historically been one of the most unpredictable events on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule.

Toyota-powered trucks have won the last five races with Busch and Crafton responsible for two trophies each during that span at Kansas.

Now steering a Ford, Crafton may well be in line to break that Toyota streak. He’s won twice and finished runner-up twice in the last five Kansas races.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: KC Masterpiece 400

The Place: Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, Kan.)

Feb 16, 2018; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Date: Saturday, May 12

The Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400 miles (400 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Next Race: 37 Kind Days 250

The Place: Kansas Speedway (Kansas City, Kan.)

The Date: Friday, May 11

The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 250 miles (167 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 40),

Stage 2 (Ends on lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on lap 167)

—By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.

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auburnfamilynews · 7 years

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Fans outside the stadium, the official Jordan-Hare time is...

With things really shaping up practice-wise, we’re nearing the two week mark of the Countdown to Kickoff. Fifteen days away. Odd number, and there are only a couple games in history in which Auburn has won while scoring that many points.

1988 - Auburn 15, Alabama 10

Auburn finished up a frustrating 1988 regular season with a win over the hated rivals in the final game in the continuous streak of Iron Bowls held at Legion Field.

From 1948-1988 the game would be held in Birmingham, but this was the last time in that string, since the game would move to Auburn the next season.

The Tigers came in ranked 7th, and ended up grabbing one big play thanks to Lawyer Tillman when they really needed it.

Tillman’s big catch set up Auburn’s only touchdown of the day, a Vincent Harris burst into the end zone that gave the Tigers a 15-3 late in the third quarter. Bama scored a touchdown of their own with just a few minutes left, but Auburn recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock. Ron Stallworth recorded four sacks in the win, as well as thirteen total tackles as the Tigers won their third straight Iron Bowl.

1957 - Auburn 15, Mississippi State 7

Auburn’s defense wilted as much as they had all season as the Tigers beat the Bulldogs, who were one of the better squads Auburn would face in their championship season of 1957.

The defense allowed a touchdown for just the third time that year, as they’d given up scores UT-Chattanooga and Houston in blowout wins earlier in the season. This was the first time the defense allowed any points in what would turn out to be a close game. Other than this win, the Tigers had shut out Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and Florida to reach a 6-0 record by the time Mississippi State came in.

Auburn would of course finish the year 10-0, allowing just one more touchdown on the year (against Florida State in a 29-7 win), and thrashing Alabama 40-0 to win the national championship.

15 Years Ago - 2002

After falling apart down the stretch of the 2001 season, losing three straight to end the year, Auburn began 2002 with new blood on the coaching staff. They’d grabbed an offensive coordinator from the pro ranks (Jacksonville’s Bobby Petrino), and a defensive coordinator from the college levels (UCF’s Gene Chizik).

They’d also begin the year unranked but with an opportunity to test themselves with a young, but talented offense out in Los Angeles. Auburn opened the year at USC in the first part of a home and home agreement, wherein the Trojans would visit the Plains in 2003.

Starting Daniel Cobb once again, the Tigers also rolled out an improved Cadillac at the Coliseum. Carnell Williams rushed through the USC defense with ease... for a half. Then he cramped up and Auburn’s offense went in the dumps. In the end, Carson Palmer led a game-winning drive to take a 24-17 lead in the final two minutes, and Auburn wouldn’t be able to respond. The Tigers dropped the opener to fall to 0-1.

Things got easier in the next few weeks, though, as Auburn romped past Western Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State for easy wins before the Syracuse Orange came to town.

For one, this was a fantastic game. It spawned the name of SB Nation’s Syracuse site when they quarterback Troy Nunes scrambled around and the ESPN announcer exclaimed “Troy Nunes is an absolute magician!” And it impressed the hell out of one Syracuse writer in particular.

Believe me on this. Please. I have descended into college football’s Grand Canyon. I have stood in its Alps. I have gazed at its ocean sunset. I have attended a game at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. And I’ve been changed forever.

That’s an excerpt from Bud Poliquin, in his piece written after attending the game. Certainly, that sentiment was helped out by the fact that it was a double-overtime thriller win for the Tigers, where Cadillac rushed for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including the overtime winner. Still, it’s a feeling we can all agree on.

Sitting at 4-1, Auburn felt pretty good. Then came the DREADED 11 AM home game against Arkansas. I have no idea how these seemed to happen year after year, but the Tigers had trouble all the time with the Pigs, and in 2002 it birthed the legend of some little scatback named Fred Talley. He just ran by my window, by the way.

Auburn hit the skids hard, allowing 241 yards to Talley, 426 total to the Hogs, and fell 38-17. The Tigers actually led 17-14 with two minutes to play in the first half, but Fred Talley went 80 yards just before the horn and that was all she wrote. 4-2.

The next week, Auburn had to regroup and go down to Gainesville to meet Florida. Steve Spurrier was gone, headed to the NFL to try his hand with the Washington Redskins, and in his place was longtime Gator assistant Ron Zook. Rex Grossman was back for his junior season, and the Gators were alright, although not nearly as powerful as they had been a year earlier when Auburn tripped them up on the Plains.

Trailing 14-0, Auburn ran Cadillac up the middle, and the Tigers’ star tailback would not get up. Broken leg. Broken DREAMS. Things seemed dire for Auburn, but in stepped a guy who’d become an even more highly-regarded draft pick than Cadillac. Let’s head to fourth and one with a big deficit.

Side note: Ron Zook made the best facial expressions — check him out right after Ronnie Brown scores.

If you watch that video, you can see the moment where the Riverboat Gambler moniker probably took a fatal blow for Tuberville. He was this edgy guy, calling weird things on fourth downs, and it typically worked out for him. Until Damon Duval entered the picture.

Conspiracy theorists will point to this game and tell you that Duval and Tuberville hated each other and this was Duval’s way of getting back at the coach. It’s hard to disagree after watching him run right into a tackler, instead of cutting outside to grab a few yards and a key fourth down conversion.

It’s also hard to disagree when later he kicks the game-winning field goal into the rear end of the offensive lineman in front of him.

Auburn lost in overtime 30-23, and sat at 4-3. Cool. Still, we did have the emergence of Ronnie Brown, and that was nice. He ran for 163 yards in relief of Cadillac that night and cemented himself as the starter heading into the next game.

Another thing to note from the loss in Gainesville is that is was a complete reversal of the season before. Jason Campbell came in to spell Daniel Cobb, nearly completed the comeback, and made himself the starter. The much-maligned sophomore would get his next starting chance against LSU at home.

On a rainy day on the Plains, Nick Saban brought in his second Bayou Bengal squad for what turned out to be a double-revenge game. After the Cigars in 1999, LSU beat Auburn in Death Valley in 2001, but now Tubs needed revenge on Saban.

It happened.

Auburn picked off four Marcus Randall passes and found another tailback named Tre Smith (more on him later), as they routed LSU 31-7. Things were suddenly right back on track.

At 5-3, the next stop for Auburn came in Oxford against a potent Ole Miss team led by Eli Manning. Auburn had beaten the Rebels twice in a row, and gave them a heavy dose of Ronnie Brown at Vaught-Hemingway. Brown rumbled for 224 yards and three touchdowns as Auburn intercepted three Manning passes in winning 31-24.

With an easy win over Louisiana-Monroe the next week, Auburn sat pretty at 7-3 with a huge game against the all-of-a-suddenly good Georgia Bulldogs coming to town for the start of Amen Corner.

Georgia had started 8-0 in Mark Richt’s second season, but lost to Florida because that’s what Georgia did back in the day. Still, sitting at 9-1, they were in line for a trip to the BCS Championship Game if certain things fell their way. But on this day, Auburn would open up hot and play with one of the best teams in the country.

Ronnie Brown got the scoring started with a 53-yard scamper in the first quarter, then Jason Campbell hit Brandon Johnson on a short touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 14-3 lead at halftime. In the second half, however, Georgia started to come back. David Greene’s quarterback sneak got the Bulldogs their first touchdown, then they cut the Auburn led to 21-17 late in the third quarter.

The fourth was mostly scoreless until the final two minutes, when Georgia began to drive. Auburn looked as if it had a desirable situation, pitting Georgia into a 4th-and-15 at the Tiger 19-yard line. David Greene dropped back, lofted the ball right into the corner of the end zone in front of the students, and Michael Johnson pulled it down for the go-ahead score. 24-21, Georgia won.

To make matters worse, Ronnie Brown had sprained an ankle during the second half, and Brandon Johnson suffered an injury as well. As high as Auburn had been at the break, it was now all gone. A big comeback win for Georgia had broken our hearts and now we’d get to go watch our boys get beaten by Alabama without our workhorse in the backfield.

About that...

Nobody gave the Tigers a chance heading into Tuscaloosa. Everyone thought Bama would get its first win at its actual home stadium against Auburn. The Tide, although on probation for excessive and rampant cheating, were a top ten team and boasted one of the best rushing attacks in the country. Auburn was doomed.

Until they showed that they weren’t afraid from the very first drive.

Auburn wouldn’t score there, but it set the tone. With Ronnie Brown out of the game, Auburn turned to Tre Smith at the tailback spot. He performed alright.

Smith ran for 126 yards on the day, and Jason Campbell threw two touchdowns to Robert Johnson. Auburn opened up a 17-0 lead and only allowed a touchdown when the game seemed to be well in hand. 17-7 final, Auburn had won in Tuscaloosa again.

Things got worse for the Tide after this, as Dennis Franchione left to take the Texas A&M job (what a time to be alive), and Alabama ran through embarrassment after embarrassment in trying to find a suitable head coach after that. It took them a few years.

Auburn earned a bid to the Capital One Bowl (the old Citrus Bowl), and went to play Penn State. Now, I had watched the Nittany Lions beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl back on New Year’s Day 1996, and I cried in my little Auburn uniform I’d received for Christmas. There would be no crying on this day. Ronnie Brown outdueled Heisman finalist Larry Johnson 184 yards to 72 yards, and Auburn won the game 13-9 to finsih 9-4 on the year.

With the way the Tigers had finished -- winning five of six, beating three top ten teams, and nearly knocking off Georgia -- everyone was sure we were in for something special in 2003. Oh. We were.

Coming Up: Great Expectations

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