Weekend Roundup OR What The Hell Happened?

Yes, I realize it's Tuesday I'm the last person on the planet to give you a weekend roundup, but screw it. You know you want the good stuff from papa Gage. Plus, I'm just finally sobered up from a weekend of old friends and open bar weddings. All of this meant very little time for watching sports, but I think I'm finally caught up. Hold onto your seats.

The Good
Purdue 31, Northwestern 10. Nobody expects this Purdue team to be world beaters, but they've got five wins now and they should be favored against Illinois and Indiana with a good shot to do to Hawaii and win. Win those games and you're 8-5, not too shabby. And who knows maybe they can squeak out a win over Wisconsin or Penn St. at home. 9-4 and I'd be dancing in the streets. Figuratively of course.

Indiana 31, Iowa 28. A concerned commenter called me this weekend to make sure I gave IU some love. While Purdue and Indiana are rivals I've never been able to muster up a true hatred so I think I can oblige. Indiana is 4-3, that has to make the Hoosier faithful proud. And you can't help but feel great for Terry Hoeppner after all the crap he's been through lately. Now of course they get to see it all wash away as they lose 4/5, finish 5-7 and miss a bowl game. But it was fun while it lasted, right?

Kentucky's Big Blue Madness. I don't think I've talked much about my affection for the Wildcats on this blog yet, but growing up in KY and living in Lexington, there is a certain special relationship between us. This weekend was huge for them in recruiting and they managed to land one top 100 recruit. You don't have to tell me that following recruiting is pointless and kind of stalker-ish, because I know this. At least I can say that I haven't looked up any of their MySpace accounts. Yet.

The Bad
Any of a number of drunk-dials that Trout and I might have made Saturday night. I was told one involved telling a certain friend repeatedly to "make me a frapucciono, bitch!" An egregious error to be sure.

2-3 on my NFL picks for a fourth losing week in a row. Wow I am really awful at this. However, I'm no quitter and I'm certainly a degnerate. We'll keep working on it until I have my foolproof system perfected.

"Pitching" in game four of the NLCS. What's that you say? There was no pitching in that game? Rewind the tape, both teams fielded hurlers for the entire game. This game is why I still think the Mets win the series. Glavine wins tonight, Carpenter wins game six and game seven is another slugfest. (I know I said it would be five games, but I'm a moron.)

The Ugly
Miami/Florida International. Holy crap. Holy crap. There's not much that can be said about this that hasn't already been said. And, in case you didn't know, my opinion doesn't matter. However, Coker should be fired. They have to wipe the slate clean and restore their university's image. Plus, the kid who took off his hemlet and used it as a weapon should be arrested, expelled and never allowed back on an NCAA field. (slowly for emphasis) You could KILL someone doing that. Hit a guy without a helmet on the top of the head like that and he might never wake up. This is the third most fucked up sports fight I've ever seen (next to the Palace brawl and the time those drunken rednecks came out of the stands at Comiskey to go after the KC first base coach).

My dancing at the aforementioned wedding. Just so very white.

And finally.... the Bengals. I said in my Friday post that I didn't want to be reactionary and get all upset over one bad loss. It's the NFL after all. But wow. You really just can't explain how quickly injuries/suspensions can hurt a team. Next week: Panthers at home. Ouch. My old man and I will be at that one, and it seems really important. I'll give you a full update, assuming they don't lose by three scores again.