Results from Week 10

Week 10 saw Iowa’s luck run out as they lost their first to drop out of the ranks of the FBS’ undefeated. (On the other end,: New Mexico (0-9), Rice (0-9), Eastern Michigan (0-9) and Western Kentucky (0-9) are four teams still looking for their first win.) Lots of other upsets in the top 25 as well. Expect lots of shakeup from #5 on down in this week’s new rankings. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 9)


1/1/1 (1/1/2) Florida (9-0) The Gators beat the Commodores of Vanderbilt (2-8) 27-3.

2/2/2 (3/3/3) Texas (9-0) The Longhorns beat the UCF Knights (4-4) 35-3.

3/3/3 (2/2/1) Alabama (9-0) The Tide triumphed over the #9 LSU Tigers (7-2) 24-15.

4/7/4 (5/7/5) Cincinnati (9-0) The Bearcats edged the Connecticut Huskies (4-5) 47-45 behind their backup QB, Sophomore Zach Collaros who threw for 480 yards and ran for another 75. It was enough—barely—to stave off the Huskies who scored 35 points in the second half.

5/5/6 (6/5/8) Boise State (9-0) The Broncos held off the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-6) on Friday night 45-35.

6/4/8 (8/6/6) TCU (9-0) The Horned Frogs romped over the San Diego State Aztecs (4-5) 55-12.

7/8/7 (10/12/11) Oregon (7-2) The Ducks floundered on the road against the Stanford Cardinal (6-3) 51-42. Cardinal Toby Gerhart ran for a school record 223 yards.

8/6/5 (7/8/4) Iowa (9-1) The Hawkeyes lost their starting QB to injury and then dropped their first to the Northwestern Wildcats (6-4) 17-10.

9/9/9 (9/9/9) LSU (7-2) The Tigers lead the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0) 7-3 at half time. Unfortunately they lost the second half 21-8—and the game24-15.

10/11/11 (11/11/13) Georgia Tech (9-1) The Yellow Jackets edged the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (4-6) in overtime 30-27 as they eschewed the FG to tie and went on fourth and goal to win.

11/10/10 (12/10/10) Penn State (8-2) The Nittany Lions were beat by the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-2) 24-7.

12/13/12 (4/4/7) Southern California (7-2) The Trojans edged the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-5) 14-9 on the strength of a 55-yard interception return for a TD by Will Harris.

13/15/16 (15/16/18) Houston (8-1) The Cougars survived against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-5) 46-45. But it took a Case Keenum TD pass with 21 seconds left (Keenum then got sacked on the 2-point conversion), a recovered onsides kick, and a 51-yard field goal as time ran out. Keenum threw for 520 (40 for 60 and 3 TDs) yards in the victory.

14/14/15 (16/17/17) Pittsburgh (8-1) The Panthers beat the Syracuse Orange (3-6) 37-10.

15/12/13 (17/15/15) Ohio State (8-2) The Buckeyes beat the #11 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-2) 24-7.

16/17/14 (18/18/16) Miami (Fla.) (7-2) The Hurricanes drubbed the Virginia Cavaliers (3-6) 55-17.

17/16/17 (19/19/19) Utah (8-1) The Utes romped over the New Mexico Lobos (0-9) 45-14.

18/18/21 (13/13/12) Oklahoma State (7-2) The Cowboys defeated the Iowa State Cyclones (5-5) 34-8.

19/21/20 (25/25/NA) Notre Dame (6-3) The Irish dropped a close one to the Midshipmen of Navy (7-3) 23-21.

20/20/19 (22/23/24) Oklahoma (5-4) The Sooners lost a defensive struggle to the Cornhuskers of Nebraska (6-3) 10-3.

21/19/18 (23/24/23) Arizona (6-2) The Wildcats routed the Washington State Cougars (1-8) 48-7.

22/24/24 (14/14/14) Virginia Tech (6-3) The Hokies beat the East Carolina Pirates (5-4) 16-3 Thursday night.

23/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (6-3) The Golden Bears got rolled by the Oregon State Beavers (6-3) 31-14.

24/22/23 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (7-2) The Badgers held off the Indiana Hoosiers (4-6) 31-28.

25/25/22 (NA/NA/NA) Brigham Young (7-2) The Cougars shut out the Cowboys of Wyoming (4-5) 52-0.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) South Florida (6-2) The Bulls will be idle this week.

Forget RED October, This last one was sorta blue.

As in cold. I thought it was a bit chilly.

NCDC has compiled the October temperatures and it ended up the 3rd coldest in 115 years. As we have shown it was cold over almost all the lower 48. Indeed only Florida came in above normal.

Only 1925 and 1976 had colder Octobers. And it wasn't just the US.

Also the University of Alabama global temperature is out and it is down this month. Hadley came in late for September but it was down. The trends since 2002 continue down for both even as CO2 rise.

(More at October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years at What's Up With That.)

And, WUWT also points out that it's just not the Fall that's been chill, Spring in the Southern Hemisphere has also been cold: Chilled Kiwi’s: Coldest October since 1945

Aerie Report, November 6, 2009

Went through my PT this morning without a hitch and very, very little pain. Which is good, BTW. Everything seems to be getting back to normal--or at least what passes for normal--on my left knee. With two more sessions on the calender for next week, I might even surpass the range of motion I had before I slipped on that $(#*%^(*^ rock or root. I may have been compensating for a bum right ankle from years and years ago and tightening up my left ankle's tendons as well as those in the knee. Oh, I'm not ready to climb Mt. Washington--or even Katahdin, but things are definitely looking up.

******

With the bird feeding season underway, I got my digiscoping equipment out for the first time in months only to discover that the battery in the Nikon Coolpix P1 that I have mounted to the scope had died. No fear! I had a spare. I popped the spare in and the camera fired right up but needed to have all the settings for date, time, etc. redone. Bummer. Took me a bit to get that all done and remount the camera on the scorpe but it's ready to use now.

Except for one little problem.... The dead battery. I went looking for the recharger for that battery, a recharger that was put in a very safe place several months ago, but Can. Not. Find. IT! I spent several hours opening every single door and cabinet in the living area, looking in every basket and bag, searching the basement desk and boxes that have been moved from the living room to the basement. No luck. So I did it all again. Still no luck.

Finally, I went on line and found someone still selling that particular recharger at a reasonable price and who was willing to ship for free. It will take a week to 10 days to get here, but as soon as it does, I know for sure I will find the one that was put away oh so safely.

Happens all the freakin' time.

******

Speaking of rechargers.... Why is it that every single electrical device, be it mobile phone, camera (and each brand/model of camera at that), walkie talkie, flashlight, etc., that has a rechargeable battery either takes a different style of battery or has a different recharger it needs to be plugged into? Why can't there be some standardization in batteries and rechargers? In my search I must have come across five or six different rechargers that we need to use on devices we currently own PLUS two or three for devices we no longer possess. AND NONE OF THEM ARE INTERCHANGEABLE, every single one is unique to a particular device/battery. Madness!

******

We had a dusting of snow on the ground this morning with a temperature of just 28 degrees for the second straight day. It did warm to just over 45 degrees in the warm, beautiful sunshine of this afternoon but with the sky absolutely clear, the temp will drop like a stone tonight. They are promising a gorgeous weekend with the daytime highs reaching the 60s on Sunday and again on Monday before they fall back to the 40s for a spell. Only a tiny chance of precip in the forecast for Tuesday but the rest of the 10-day is sunny, sunny, sunny.

Jungle Trader Packs Up His Tent

Going through my Favorites links the last few days and I note that the Jungle Trader has pulled up stakes and moved on. Always a source of links to the weird and unusual, his reports on our wacky, wild world will be missed.

Where will I go now fro news on lions, tigers, bears, elephants, and pirates?

He's actually going to be starting up TWO new business ventures! Either he knows something or he's a brave, brave soul...and based upon his little sidebar statement of his past, it might seem the latter is more probable.

New Apple Products (?)

Got it via email:

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size.

This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Some Guys are Born Lucky

I got an email from my son, Rick, in Portland telling me of the hunting adventures of his co-worker...

So my Co-worker Tim (He's my mentor I spend a lot of time in the truck with him) is a bow hunter, and a smoker. A menthol light smoker. He's had a number of deer over the years but he's never shot an elk. The General Manager, Ray, would constantly make fun of Tim calling him a butt-hacker and telling Tim that he would never get an elk, they will be able to smell him from miles away.

During elk season Tim took a week off and went with his buddies into the cascades. They set up camp in the corner of a farm and planned on mountain biking down the closed logging roads to were they would hunt. When they set up camp the farmer pointed across the road to a little creak and said, "You should try over there. I see elk over there all the time."

Tim and his buddies proceed to spend the next few days biking miles out of camp into the mountains in their search for elk. Nothing. On the fourth or so day they were all exhausted of hunting (and biking) and decided to have a camp day.

So there they were playing cards and drinking beer. All. Day. Long. When they heard a noise from across the road.

"I'm gonna go check that out" says Tim, grabbed his bow and meandered nosily to the other side of the road.

And lo and behold he came back 15 minutes later and told his crew he was going to need help. Tim got his first cow elk. At camp. With a bow. While drunk. Right were the farmer said to look.

Rick

What can you say. Sometimes the critters around a farm are really, really stupid.

I'm Well Rested This Morn.

Got a lot of sleep last night. Started early to bed and stayed there well past 7 AM. Thanks, Matsui!

Yanks win 7-3 and Matsui has 6 RBI? And Matsui, with just 13 plate appearances, becomes the Series MVP? God, I hate the designated hitter!

Seriously though, congratulations to Hideki Matsui on being selected as the MVP. He's been one of the few in the last couple of years who has gone out and done his job on the field and been a real professional off the field as well. And he's done this since June 15, 2005 on a pair of bad knees that keep him from playing in the outfield. Without the DH, he would have been forced out of the game. I still don't like that particular rule (the DH), but it has certainly preserved the careers of many pure hitters.

Talkin' Baseball

Tonight I sit back and watch at least the first six orr seven innings of THE game. Although, if Pedro and the Phillies fall more than three runs behind early on, I'll probably chug my beer and head for bed with a book in hand.

It's not that I'm a Phillies Phan, anything but. No, I'm a die hard anti-Yankees Fan. I thought Damn Yankees was a documentary. I discovered baseball fandom in 1962 when the Mets were born. Prior to that date, I didn't have a baseball team. Born in 1949, I could have been a Dodgers or Giants fan, but those teams had left NYC in 1957, about the time would have been getting into baseball. Living in northern New Jersey, the only team on radio or TV and in the newspapers day in and day out from 1958 through 1961 were those damn, insufferable, Yankees.

Oh, individual Yankee players were fine. I liked Yogi (really, who didn't!) and enjoyed the M & M boys (Maris and Mantle for those who need to ask) and their great year of 1961. Elston Howard, Whitey Ford, Boyer...each was an excellent player and had tremendous skills that were, well, admirable. It was the Yankee TEAM that I couldn't stand. Never did like bullies and that's what they seemed to be to me. They beat everyone!

They still do. What is it up to now? Forty (40) American League titles, 26 World Series Championships? Something like that. Pretty obscene for a team that came to NYC in 1903 as the Highlanders. (The name was changed to Yankees in 1913.) One hundred six years and they've got nearly 40% of the American League titles. Between 1949 and 1964 the freakin' Yankees were in the World Series 14 times! That's 14 times in 16 years! AND they won five in a row between 1949 and 1954.

It still gets my goat that so much was made of the Yankees return to the World Series after an absence of nine years. Cry me a freakin' river!

I still hate the Phillies. But for tonight--and hopefully tomorrow night, I'll be rooting for them like crazy.

Aerie Report, November 4, 2009

Twas a chilly, chilly morning here at the Aerie. Crisp white frost coated all surfaces as the temperature dipped to 28 degrees. But then the sun came out and things warmed nicely--all the way up to 45 degrees late his afternoon. (See, that's how things work. When the sun doesn't shine things get cool. When the sun pops out, they warm up. Works that way in the long term, too. So don't hand me any of this AGW stuff. 'Kay?)

They say we may get a few light snow showers late tonight, but they won't amount to anything. Then it will be fair in the morning but even more likely rain and snow showers will arrive late in the day into tomorrow night. We'll see.

******

Spent another morning at the therapist's giving my knee a thorough workout. It's feeling real, really good right now. I'm even able to go up and down the steps almost like a real person. None of this one-step-at-a-time stuff.

In fact, I felt so good after my session today, I went out after lunch and raked the leaves from the yard. As we get closer to the first snowfall that may actually stay around until April, it became a priority to get the leaves off the lawn. Except for the heavy frost this morning it's been relatively dry the last two days and this afternoon the wind was virtually calm. The lack of moisture and calm winds meant that conditions were excellent for raking and hauling leaves.

It's another one of those mindless tasks like pushing a lawn mower or a broom, that lends itself to contemplative pursuits. Today I merely thought of what i was doing and how to lessen the impact on my knee and lower back. Funny, the back has stated to hurt more than the knee the last few days. Probably due to the way I've been walking on eggshells as I favor the left leg. Or the seats I've been plopping myself into to work on the computer and watch sports on TV. (I confess! I slouch in my seat something fierce even though I know it's bad for my back.)

The task of moving leaves took me 2 1/2 hours today. Normally I would have been finished in one--maybe one and a half. But I was not going to rush anything. Besides, I had nothing else to do.

Watch Out for Entrepreneurial Dolphins

Smart critter!

At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, Kelly the dolphin has built up quite a reputation. All the dolphins at the institute are trained to hold onto any litter that falls into their pools until they see a trainer, when they can trade the litter for fish. In this way, the dolphins help to keep their pools clean.

Kelly has taken this task one step further. When people drop paper into the water she hides it under a rock at the bottom of the pool. The next time a trainer passes, she goes down to the rock and tears off a piece of paper to give to the trainer. After a fish reward, she goes back down, tears off another piece of paper, gets another fish, and so on. This behaviour is interesting because it shows that Kelly has a sense of the future and delays gratification. She has realised that a big piece of paper gets the same reward as a small piece and so delivers only small pieces to keep the extra food coming. She has, in effect, trained the humans.

Her cunning has not stopped there. One day, when a gull flew into her pool, she grabbed it, waited for the trainers and then gave it to them. It was a large bird and so the trainers gave her lots of fish. This seemed to give Kelly a new idea. The next time she was fed, instead of eating the last fish, she took it to the bottom of the pool and hid it under the rock where she had been hiding the paper. When no trainers were present, she brought the fish to the surface and used it to lure the gulls, which she would catch to get even more fish. After mastering this lucrative strategy, she taught her calf, who taught other calves, and so gull-baiting has become a hot game among the dolphins.

[Full story here.]

I've commented on the referring sites that this dolphin understands capitalism better than most, if not all, of our Democratic Congress Critters. She recognizes the value of paper money (her collected litter) and has perfected a method of investment in the future (tearing off just a small piece of paper at a time and saving a fish to use as bait for the next sea gull) that works for her.

(h/t to both Tyler Cowen @ Marginal Revolution, who posted it first, and Bitter @ Snowflakes In Hell who directed readers there.)

Got this via email...

They say riding a bike is a skill you never forget once you've learned how. THis guy takes bike riding to a whole new level(s).

As the email said: "I wonder what his Mother must be thinking when the says he is just going off to ride his bike!!!"

Election Day, 2009

Go out and exercise your right to vote. But, please, listen to the voices in your head. They have to be better than the sign posted on this corner.


see more Epic Fails

There were few choices on the ballot here in north-central PA. Most of the candidates were running unopposed and there were no questions to be decided. Certainly nothing as dramatic as Virginia, New Jersey, or NY-23. Still, Terry and I made a morning of it by having breakfast out (Grandma's Kitchen in Mansfield) and picking up 10 50-pound bags of sunflower seeds and a dozen suet cakes for the birds before casting our ballot.

To Rehash MY Wounded Knee Saga...

To recap (that's a knee joke, son) the saga of my knee.

On the morning of Friday, October 23, I took my muzzle loader out for a short walk in the woods behind the Bolt Hole in the Adirondacks. It had rained pretty goo the night before and the wet leaves, rocks and mossy roots made the footing quiet but treacherous. About 300 yards into my walk, my left foot slipped on a moss covered root and I wrenched my left knee severely enough to fall. I didn't crack my knee on anything but fell on my right side. As I went down, however, I heard a nasty, nasty sound from my left knee. When I tried to get up, a shooting pain in the knee forced me back to the ground...twice. Realizing I had to get back to the cabin somehow, I resorted to using my rifle as a cane and hobbled back to the cabin.

Two hours later, after the ice pack I had placed on the knee had warmed to body temperature, the knee was not feeling any better so I grabbed a crutch from the store room and headed down to Utica and the Faxton-St. Luke's Medical facility where I spent the entire afternoon waiting, getting examined, X-rayed, diagnosed and prescribed medication. (But mostly waiting.)

While in the waiting room, I called Terry and told her to get up to the Bolt Hole post haste. I knew my hunting was over and that I would have to get back to the Aerie. I could drive, but loading the truck was going to be a b*tch by myself--especially since Saturday's weather was supposed to be a real gully washer. Terry got to the Bolt Hole around 7 PM and we discussed our options over dinner. Saturday morning we loaded both the Tundra and Terry's Jeep with all my gear and the food that couldn't stay and headed back to PA.

Monday I saw my local GP and got his opinion. He concurred with the ER doc at Faxton-St. Luke's that it was a severe strain/sprain and that I should start Physical Therapy ASAP. Which I did on Tuesday morning, October 27.

Now, four sessions of PT later, the knee is feeling much much better. They've got me doing all kinds of exercises to keep it limber and build up the muscles around the knee. I'm scheduled for two more PT sessions this week, the final one being on Friday. We'll see how much the knee progresses by then and determine how many--if any--more sessions I will need.

Thanks to those of you who have followed these words and who have wished me well.

Week 10: The Top 25 (more or less) and their Opponents

Week 10 has arrived and we still have seven undefeated teams in the FBS ranks. (On the other end, there are four teams still looking for their first win: New Mexico (0-8), Rice (0-8), Eastern Michigan (0-8) and Western Kentucky (0-8).) There are two marquee games this week with #3 Alabama hosting #9 LSU and #11 Penn State hosting #15 Ohio State. Only ‘Bama looks to be putting its unblemished record on the line. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 9)


1/1/1 (1/1/2) Florida (8-0) The Gators will host the Commodores of Vanderbilt (2-7).

2/2/2 (3/3/3) Texas (8-0) The Longhorns host the UCF Knights (4-3).

3/3/3 (2/2/1) Alabama (8-0) The Tide will host the #9 LSU Tigers (7-1).

4/7/4 (5/7/5) Cincinnati (8-0) The Bearcats will host Connecticut (4-4).

5/5/6 (6/5/8) Boise State (8-0) The Broncos will play at the home of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-5)on Friday night.

6/4/8 (8/6/6) TCU (8-0) The Horned Frogs will play on the coast against the San Diego State Aztecs (4-4).

7/8/7 (10/12/11) Oregon (7-1) The Ducks are on the road against the Stanford Cardinal (5-3).

8/6/5 (7/8/4) Iowa (9-0) The Hawkeyes will host the Northwestern Wildcats (5-4).

9/9/9 (9/9/9) LSU (7-1) The Tigers will be on the road against the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0).

10/11/11 (11/11/13) Georgia Tech (8-1) The Yellow Jackets will host the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest (4-5).

11/10/10 (12/10/10) Penn State (8-1) The Nittany Lions will host the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-2).

12/13/12 (4/4/7) Southern California (6-2) The Trojans will play at the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-4).

13/15/16 (15/16/18) Houston (7-1) The Cougars will be playing at the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-4).

14/14/15 (16/17/17) Pittsburgh (7-1) The Panthers Will host the Syracuse Orange (3-5).

15/12/13 (17/15/15) Ohio State (7-2) The Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley to play the #11 Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1).

16/17/14 (18/18/16) Miami (Fla.) (6-2) The Hurricanes will host the Virginia Cavaliers (3-5).

17/16/17 (19/19/19) Utah (7-1) The Utes will host the New Mexico Lobos (0-8).

18/18/21 (13/13/12) Oklahoma State (6-2) The Cowboys will be at Iowa State Cyclones (5-4).

19/21/20 (25/25/NA) Notre Dame (6-2) The Irish will host Navy (6-3).

20/20/19 (22/23/24) Oklahoma (5-3) The Sooners will play at the home of the Cornhuskers of Nebraska (5-3).

21/19/18 (23/24/23) Arizona (5-2) The Wildcats will host the Washington State Cougars (1-7).

22/24/24 (14/14/14) Virginia Tech (5-3) The Hokies go on the road Thursday night to play the East Carolina Pirates (5-3).

23/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (6-2) The Golden Bears host the Oregon State Beavers (5-3).

24/22/23 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (6-2) The Badgers will play in Indiana against the Hoosiers (4-5).

25/25/22 (NA/NA/NA) Brigham Young (6-2) The Cougars play at the Cowboys of Wyoming (4-4).

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) South Florida (6-2) The Bulls will be idle this week.

World's Largest Model Railway

This is an amazing video tour of the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany.



The idea of a model railroad under the Christmas tree is as old a Lionel. It's an idea that has been displaced by computers and video games for the most part.

Dad and I had a small set up in our basement once upon a time. Ours was a Lionel set with one of those engines that would puff smoke from its stack when you put a special little pill in there. The entire set up was just large enough to fit on a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood. When I entered my teens and started to show a lack of interest, Dad decided to sell the whole set to a co-worker without asking me. (He would do the same to the TR-3 we rebuilt, but for a different reason. I'm guessing the insurance cost. Man, I wish I still had that car!)

There are still many active model railroading clubs including one in this area (well, actually, Elmira) that occasionally puts up a sizable display in one of the vacant mall shops. (And if you get the chance, Roadside America off Route 22 in Shartlesville, PA is still a cool place to go.) Most of those clubs have switched over to HO-Scale for both the economy of space and dollars. I started purchasing HO-Scale trains when Chef Boyardee started putting out sets that could be bought at discount with label redemption. I've still got more than half a dozen engines, over 50 cars (also known as "rolling stock"), a few buildings, and enough track to really, really interest the cats should I decide to set them up.

Aerie Report, November 2, 2009

A cold, crisp morning here at the Aerie. The temperature fell to a mere 31 degrees over night as the clouds finally disappeared and the full moon shown brightly. The ground--and anything else that stood still long enough--was coated with a layer of frost when I looked out the windows. With the cloudless sky, that won't last long. The soft touch of the sun's rays will send easily melt the frost and then, should the air remain as calm as it is currently, we'll see the moisture curl up from the roof, car, and other dark surfaces as ghostly wisps.

******

What the heck happened to my Giants and Jets? After great starts, they have both fallen apart. The Giants got trounced by the Eagles yesterday in a game in which it looked like the Eagles actually tried to hold the score down. As for the Jets...Come on guys!! TWO kick offs returned for TDs? Give me a break! Still, aside from those two plays, the Jets only gave up only about 160 yards of total offense. 160 yards! A team should lose easily if it only gains 160 yards, right? Damn! I hate Ted Ginn!

******

I've been hobbling around pretty well on this bum knee over the weekend. I even felt well enough to go out to dinner with Terry at the Penn Wells Hotel in Wellsboro Sunday. Afterward we went to the Gemeiner Center for an art show that was opening. Mostly wildlife art and really, really good.

Today I go back to the therapist for more torture therapy. I've two more appointments this week. We'll see ho it feels on Friday before deciding on whether I need more or not.

Idaho 35, Louisiana Tech 34

The resurgence of Idaho football continues after their disaster last week in Nevada (70-45 loss). Playing at home in the Kibbie Dome, the Vandals opened the show with something that seemed extremely common this Halloween weekend: a 98-yard kickoff return for a TD.

They promptly gave that score back with interest as they fell behind to the Louisiana-Tech Bulldogs 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. On the theory that slow and steady wins the race (ask the tortoise), the Vandals scored 7 in the second, and 7 in the third while holding the Bulldogs to just 7 points in the second, to draw to 28-21 and set up a wild fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs' Myke Compton scored on a 1-yard run but then they missed the extra point giving them a 34-21 lead.

The Vandals then came back with two scores of their own, the final coming with just 52 seconds left, and, more importantly, made both extra points for a 35-34 victory.

Next up for the Vandals is a home game with the Fresno State Bulldogs(5-3, 4-1).

Idaho is now 7-2 overall and 4-1 in conference and ranked 44 on the CBSSports120. Having dropped their game to Nevada (5-3, 4-0) and with Boise State (8-0, 3-0) two weeks from now, it is unlikely that the Vandals will be able to win the Western Athletic title, but their accomplishments thus far after years of frustration (when they were consistently down there around 110 of 120 or so) should get a lot of notice for Coach Robb Akey's Vandals.

BCS Standings Post Week 9

BCS Rank, Team, and BCS Pct following last week's action.
In an effort to show trends, I've included last week's values in parentheses.


1 Florida 0.992 (1, 0.973)

2 Texas 0.923 (3, 0.893)

3 Alabama 0.917 (2, 0.945)

4 Iowa 0.841 (4, 0.825)

5 Cincinnati 0.803 (8, 0.774)

6 TCU 0.801 (6, 0.789)

7 Boise State 0.786 (7, 0.775)

8 Oregon 0.765 (10, 0.646)

9 LSU 0.712 (9, 0.703)

10 Georgia Tech 0.629 (11, 0.59)

11 Penn State 0.617 (12, 0.585)

12 Southern California 0.534 (5, 0.794)

13 Pittsburgh 0.44 (15, 0.342)

14 Utah 0.423 (16. 0.316)

15 Houston 0.421 (18, 0.315)

16 Ohio State 0.378 (17, 0.315)

17 Miami (Fla.) 0.371 (19, 0.249)

18 Arizona 0.259 (20, 0.224)

19 Oklahoma State 0.218 (14, 0.449)

20 California 0.21 (24, 0.092)

21 Wisconsin 0.194 (NA)

22 Notre Dame 0.19 (23, 0.12)

23 Virginia Tech 0.156 (13, 0.492)

24 Oklahoma 0.149 (NA)

25 South Florida 0.079 (NA)

Week 9 in College Football Top 25...more or less...Results

Week 9 saw almost everyone in the Top 25 (more or less) in action. And there was a lot of action! And scoring. The numbers between 40 and 50 got used a great deal this week—sometimes by both sides in the same game. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 8


1/1/2 (2/1/2) Florida (8-0) The Gators routed The Georgia Bulldogs (4-4) by a score of 41-17.

2/2/1 (1/2/1) Alabama (7-0) The Crimson Tide was idle this week.

3/3/3 (3/2/2) Texas (8-0) The Longhorns dismantled the #13 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-2). Two defensive TDs helped make it 41-14.

4/4/7 (4/4/6) Southern California (6-2) The Trojans were taken apart by #10 Oregon (7-1) Ducks—who may still be scoring, although the official final was 47-20.

5/7/5 (5/6/5) Cincinnati (8-0) The Bearcats defeated the Syracuse Orange (3-5) 28-7. Cincy’s sub QB Zach Collaros threw four TD passes.

6/5/8 (6/5/7) Boise State (8-0) The Broncos jumped all over the San Jose St. Spartans (1-6) 45-7.

7/8/4 (7/8/4) Iowa (9-0) The Hawkeyes came from way, way back to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers (4-5) 42-24. Hard to believe it was Indiana leading at the half 21-7 and after 3 quarters 24-14. This was the fourth time this year the Hawkeyes have come back from behind in the fourth quarter to win.

8/6/6 (10/7/9) TCU (8-0) The Horned Frogs had their way with the UNLV Rebels (3-6) 41-0.

9/9/9 (9/10/10) LSU (7-1) The Tigers shut out the Tulane Green Wave (2-6) 42-0.

10/12/11 (12/14/12) Oregon (7-1) The Ducks really, really beat on the #4 USC Trojans (6-2) 47-20. Trust me, it wasn’t nearly that close.

11/11/13 (11/13/14) Georgia Tech (8-1) The Yellow Jackets stung Vanderbilt (2-7) in a score fest, 56-31.

12/10/10 (13/11/11) Penn State (7-1) The Nittany Lions started slow but came out to play in the second half as they beat the Northwestern Wildcats (5-4) 34-13.

13/13/12 (14/12/13) Oklahoma State (6-2) The Cowboys helped the Longhorns of #3 Texas (8-0) get two defensive scores as they got gored 41-14.

14/14/14 (15/15/15) Virginia Tech (5-3) The Hokies hosted North Carolina (5-3) on Thursday night. Oops! NC got a field goal on the final play of the game to come away 20-17 victors.

15/16/18 (17/18/18) Houston (7-1) The Cougars hosted the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (5-4) in the football version of Rocky. Casey Keenum threw his 5th TD pass (for 46 yards) with 21 seconds remaining in the game for a Houston 50-43 victory. Keenum had a total of 595 yards passing for the game.

16/17/17 (20/19/20) Pittsburgh (7-1) The Panthers will be idle this week.

17/15/15 (18/17/16) Ohio State (7-2) The Buckeyes shut out the New Mexico State Aggies (3-6) 45-0.

18/18/16 (8/9/8) Miami (Fla.) (6-2) The Hurricanes trailed the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-5) for most of the game, but they got two TDs in the final quarter—the second with about one minute to go—to win 28-27.

19/19/19 (19/20/19) Utah (7-1) The Utes beat the Wyoming Cowboys (4-4), 22-10.

20/20/20 (22/22/24) West Virginia (6-2) The Mountaineers went south to face off against the South Florida Bulls (6-2) on Friday night. They forgot to bring their A-game. The Bulls dominated behind the play of B.J. Daniels, 30-19.

21/21/25 (23/23/NA) South Carolina (6-3) The Gamecocks were beaten by the Tennessee Volunteers (4-3), 31-13.

22/23/24 (25/NA/NA) Oklahoma (5-3) The Sooners beat the Kansas State Wildcats (5-4), 42-30.

23/24/23 (NA/NA/NA) Arizona (5-2) The Wildcats will be idle this week.

24/22/21 (NA/25/22) Mississippi (6-3) The Rebels got beat by the Auburn Tigers (6-3), 33-20.

25/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Notre Dame (6-2) The Fighting Irish beat the snot out of the Washington State Cougars (1-7) 40-14…in Texas?

NA/NA/22 (NA/NA/23) Central Michigan (7-2) The Chippewas got walloped by Boston College (6-3), 31-10.

Windmills at the Aerie

The clouds lifted a bit this morning. Probably because the wind has continued to blow strongly out of the southwest. Those winds hit the west end of the ridge which curls slightly to the north and are forced upwards. This tends to push things up and away from the Aerie when the winds come from the southwest. Occasionally this breaks any small storm cell that heads our way. Today, it just lifted the clouds...for a while.

Before the clouds settled down to obscure the view, the crane was busy setting the second piece of each of the three windmills and lifting the generator housings to the tops.

The view before the fog. Two towers are done
and the second housing is going up.

Once the fog set in, the work was hidden from view. You could hear the crane at work, but could only guess at what was happening.

The lifting of the clouds exposed the completed windmills.

Three sets of blades are in place.

During a brief break in the fog yesterday, I could see that the crane, near the middle windmill at the time, had been lowered. I assumed it would be leaving the ridge. Today, it appeared off to the left. Could another windmill be in the offing?

The wind may be blowing, but the windmills aren't set up yet to generate any power. Still, they are turning...very...very...slowly.

Oh, BTW, it's raining again.

Aerie Report, October 30, 2009

I attended my third torture therapy session today. Surprising to me is the lack of pain in the knee as we go through the exercises. There's plenty of cramping going on in the quad of my left leg, however. Every exercise seems to require that I tighten that big muscle. And when you're doing four or five different exercises in three sets of 10 each (that's 30 reps of each exercise), heh! I might as well be climbing 15 flights of stairs. Luckily, few of the exercises put any real pressure on the knee joint. The therapists has suggested I do a little more walking about the house without the use of either the cane or the leg brace. I'm cool with that as it means a little more freedom.

I've got three more sessions scheduled for next week and I'm hoping that the progress will continue at the same pace and I'll be able to start walking in the woods again soon.

******

We had one of those "blah" days here at the Aerie. Our low for the day was just 46 degrees and our high was 50. Blah! It didn't actually rain, but it misted from time to time. The fog of yesterday remained just above us. The ceiling must have been close to 2200 feet. The tops of the new windmills across the way were shrouded in fog much of the day. The presence of fog usually means that things are quiet. Not so! The wind is actually howling. Again, just above the Aerie. Standing on the deck the sound is similar to standing on the cliffs above ocean's edge and hearing the surf crash against the beach. There's a constant roar in the tree tops but here's very little movement at ground level. If the winds blow like this, we'll never hear anything from the windmills. (The company rep said the sound 200-300 yards from one of these machines would be no more than that from a refrigerator across the room. And from visits to other new wind farms, I'd have to agree. They're pretty quiet--one might say eerily so.)

[UPDATE: While watching the West Virginia vs South Florida game on ESPN, the winds have found the Aerie. The occasional gusts make the very substantial log home creak and groan. They have to be in the 30-40 mph range.]

Aerie Report, October 29, 2009

The fog lifted--well, it didn't actually lift lift, it sorta just thinned out temporarily--to expose the windmills across the way and that crane must have been busy under the cloak of the clouds. All the blades are in place and I never got to see if they lift all three at once--which I suspect is the modus operandi--or if they do it one at a time. Guess I'll never know unless I hit one of the breakfast spots (or a gin mill) where the crews hang out.

******

As I mentioned this morning, the weather.com folks said we would have a mere 10% chance of rain today and that it would be mostly cloudy. Well, truth be told it hasn't rained, but it's difficult for it to rain when you are either in or above the clouds. Thank goodness the temperature has been hovering between a low of 48 and a high of 52 degrees. If this had happened when the air was around 32 and the surfaces cooler, everything would be coated in ice.

I see that it's supposed to be around 50-55 degrees at Yankee Stadium tonight and no precipitation is expected. Looks like MLB has lucked out for one more night. I look forward to when the Brewers make the World Series and get to play in their new outdoor facility some brisk November evening. Or even for the Rockies to make it into the fall classic. Perhaps they can play it with baseballs colored orange or some other more visible shade. Certainly the fans in the stands will have an abundant supply of blue ones.

******

That wasn't a backhoe on the flat bed as I suspected, it was a grader. I know this for a fact because it went to work grading the road in front of the Aerie just a short time ago. It was being followed by the sad sack of a flat bed that it came in on. Probably had to repair the damage to the road the flat bed created while it was spinning its wheels.

As long as the grader makes things flat again, the fleet of loaded dump trucks--which continue to move up and down the hill--will have it packed as hard as any steamroller could possibly ever hope to do.

******

The little birds continue to hit the feeders on the deck hard. They were joined today by some Goldfinches, a couple of Purple Finches and a pair of Downy Woodpeckers. I watched the female Downy give the male a lesson in proper etiquette (ladies first, last and always, sucker! and don't you forget it!) and then settle down to wedge a sunflower seed in the cracks between the deck floorboards where she could comfortably peck it open for the kernel inside.

We even had a couple of gray squirrels come up on the deck for some sunflower seeds. This is a bit of a surprise because there's been one heck of a crop of acorns in the woods and I thought the squirrels would still be busy with that harvest. Perhaps they just wanted some variety.

I think I can. I think I can. I th...OH SH*T

I've mentioned before that the Aerie is situated at 2100 feet. I may have also mentioned that the road up to the Aerie is quite steep-especially the last 100 yards up and the 3-400 yards beyond the driveway--hence the need for Terry to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle for those times when the Aveo can't quite make it.

Well, snow and ice are not the only deterrents to travel on that steep stretch. The road is packed clay and gravel, but mostly clay. And when it gets wet....

Not only does it radically change the color of my dark green Tundra and the bright yellow Aveo, giving each a nice shade of tan along their sides, but it becomes slippery as...well...snow or ice.

The dump trucks (which continue to to carry heavy loads up the hill as I type) have little trouble making the grade since they have that spare third pair of tires on the rear and enough gears to down shift sufficiently to create a rumble that causes the earth to quake. But (and there's always a "but") there are some trucks that just can't cope with the conditions. These are usually cargo containers on 18-wheelers or flat beds. Regardless of whatever load they are hauling, the weight is distributed differently and deflected off the drive axles of which there are usually only two directly behind the cab and ahead of the load.

I've watched several 18-wheelers grind their gears and make it just past the driveway only to run out of low gears and come to a halt a few yards up the hill. They then have to back down the hill and try, try again. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they give up.

I saw one give up and park on the side of the road until a bulldozer came down the hill to haul the flat bed the rest of the way up the hill. That truck's engine must have hemorrhaged for it backed (rolled?) down the hill and remained on the side of the road for days. The driver stayed with it for much of the time until one day it was gone.

Today, a flat bed hauling a large backhoe attempted The Hill several times.Each time it would creep past the Aerie and grind to a halt just above our driveway. It would slowly back down the hill to a somewhat leveler area and have another run at it. Three times it tried. Three times it failed. After the third attempt, it backed down and parked along the side of the road. I heard some wheel chocks being moved about and then the backhoe fired up its diesel engine. Then the backhoe climbed the hill to be followed a short time later by the unburdened flat bed looking totally embarrassed.

It all seems so futile for some of these trucks. There are more gentle slopes to the west and east but none as direct as our road. Still, I have to wonder if the wear and tear on the engines, the time lost in multiple attempts, etc. couldn't be better spent in exploring one of those alternate routes.

A Love Story

For ThreeCollie at Northview Dairy:

I will seek you and find you.

I shall take you to my bed and have my way with you.

I will make you ache, shake, and sweat until you moan and groan.

I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.

I will exhaust you to the point you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.

And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,

The Flu

Now get your mind out of the gutter and go get your flu shot!

(Stolen shamelessly from Theo.)

A Foggy Day at the Aerie

Well, the weather gurus have screwed up again. Sometime after dark, the rain (that wasn't supposed to happen) moved in and fell for a goodly portion of the night. Current statement on weather.com is for cloudy skies but just 10% chance of showers and a visibility of 10 miles. Even the temperature readings are off. They say 54 degrees we have 48. That's not uncommon, however, since we are at 2100 feet and Lord knows where the "official" readings are being taken.

Meanwhile we're sitting in a cloud bank. Visibility may be measured in hundreds of yards--if that. I can't see what's happening across the way with the windmills but I can hear the crane at work. Perhaps when the fog lifts off the hillside they will have finished erecting the third windmill.

Dump truck after dump truck of gravel and stone have been going up the hill for the last two days. There were at least twenty loads yesterday and another twenty this morning. I can hear some grading going on in the distance. They are either working on the road along the mountain ridge or the access roads to the windmills and gas drilling sites after the heavy rains. I'm sure all that water must have turned some of those into quagmires.

[UPDATE: A second caravan of trucks went up the road at 11 AM. Makes me wonder how many I missed yesterday! They are moving mountains, I tell you! Mountains!]

One things for certain, if you run a stone quarry or drive a dump truck in this area, you are making out damn well right now.

Progress

It was raining like the Dickens when I went out to PT (physical therapy...not that other stuff grunts do at basic) this morning. I felt sure there would be no progress on the windmills...and little on my knee.

Boy was I wrong! The therapists headed my knee, bend and twisted my knee and then had me doing the same to it on my own. Then they put me on the stationary bike for 10 minutes to "stretch it out." Surprisingly, that seemed to work! Afterward, it was more bending and twisting as I did more exercises. Then the ice pack and electrical route once more. I won't say I was ready to polka out the door, but after more ice on the joint this afternoon, I feel remarkable better about avoiding any form of surgery than I did a few days ago.

Still, I'll take the Doctor's and therapist's advice and stay off it as much as possible for a few more days. I'll do the exercises the therapist gave me and apply ice when I'm through as he recommended. We'll see how it feels on Friday when I have my next appointment.

******

Now, about those windmills. When I got home around noon, the rain had stopped and the crane was lifting the second section of one of the towers into place. Then around 2 PM it lifted the housing for the generator to the top of the tower. I sort of forgot to follow along for a while after that but the next thing I know, there are three blades spinning slowly on the top of that windmill and the crane has moved on to the third on the hillside.

No doubt, if the weather holds tomorrow--and it is supposed to be a beautiful day, they will erect the second section, the generator, and the blades of that third windmill before moving back up the hill to the first which awaits its blades. (I'm guessing they didn't install those blades because the crane has to go past that windmill on its way out. And that may be done before quitting time tomorrow.)

I failed to see if they put the entire blade assembly in place as a unit--which is my guess--or if they put one blade up at a time. Tough to see how they could do the latter. Heck, it's difficult enough to understand how they attach the entire blade assembly except when you see the generator housing on a truck and realize it's about the size of an 8'x10' shed. It looks so damn small perched atop the tower and when in contrast to the 75' long blades.

Cool thing is there was the tiniest of breezes blowing at sundown and those newly installed blades were turning ever so slowly.

******

Speaking of the weather, Terry emptied the rain gauge last evening and poured out nearly two inches of water. That would be water from last Friday through Monday. The stuff that fell last night was pretty intense and I'm sure must have been well over 3/4 of an inch. (I didn't empty it today, however, so that's just a guess. Tomorrow I'll get to see what is really in there.) Temperatures have been right at, or at least around, the seasonal averages for Aerie. Morning frost on clear nights and afternoons in the upper 50s.

They're baaaackk!

We started putting some sunflower seeds out for the birds when the snow began a couple of weekends ago. While we haven't been putting all the feeders out every day, the ones we do put out are getting hit pretty hard by Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches. The last three birds are in the habit of coming up to the deck, grabbing a seed and then zooming off into the pines to either eat it or tuck it away in a safe place for later. Only the Titmice will actually eat a seed or two before taking one back to their larder.

The Blue Jays? They would stay until there wasn't a crumb on the tray if they weren't pestered by the smaller birds.

Black-capped Chickadee at the feeder.

Red-breasted Nuthatch at the feeder.

The little birds don't much care if we're standing on the deck when they come in, either. The Jay's won't come in if we're outside, but the little guys will sit on the rail a few feet away and tell us to vamoose...or go right on feeding.

Luckily the Agway is having a sale on sunflower seed right now. At $14 a fifty-pound bag, I may have to pick up ten or more bags. The problem will be getting them into the garage with this bum knee.

Wind Central

Windmills are popping up on the ridge line like mushrooms on a warm morning after a soaking rain. They are clearly visible from down in the valley but many of them disappear from view as we approach the Aerie. They are juuusssst over the ridge and down behind the trees. I made Terry stop the Jeep so I could take a couple of pictures.

Two windmills just to the west of the Aerie.

Three more just above and to the east of the Aerie.

Only one of these is at all visible from the Aerie and then only if you know just where to look. Even then all you'll see are one or two of the blades as they lift above the tree line.

When we got back to the Aerie, they were hard at work erecting one of the windmills across from us on the hillside I photographed a few weeks ago when it was full of color. Now it will also have three windmills.

A crane lifts the second section on one of three across the way.

As you can probably deduce, we have no Kennedys living in our neck of the woods to complain about the damage to the environment from fossil fuels AND block construction of windmills or the drilling of gas wells.

Thank goodness!

Therapist

Well, I've been to the physical therapist and he poked and prodded and twisted and pulled on my left knee eliciting a few little moans and groans from me in the process. And despite swelling and some pain (especially when he pulled AND twisted at the same time!) there is good news as well. It is his opinion that there is no damage to the cruciate ligaments. If either the lateral, anterior or interior cruciate had been torn, he says, 1) I would have experienced far more pain when he twisted and pulled on the joint 2) he would have been able to feel more looseness in the joint than he did. (I told him that if 1) had occurred, he would be seeing an orthodontists this afternoon.) He believes that if there is any damage, it may be to the meniscus--those gristly parts that are supposed to cushion the joint.

The bad news is that even an MRI won't reveal damage in that area. So, we wait and see if it gets better before going to the next stage which would be scoping the knee.

Anyhow, he treated my knee with ice and electrical stimulation, gave me some simple exercises to do, recommended I use crutches instead of the cane to keep weight off the knee as much as possible and we made an appointment for tomorrow at 10 AM to do it all over again. And another for later in the week. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Saw the Doc today.

Went to see my doctor today (a GP) and he set me up to have some PT for my knee starting tomorrow. If there's no improvement in a week or two then we talk about MRI and the rest.

Until then, I've my meds for pain and the leg brace and cane for when I'm up and about. (Speaking of the meds, the Hydroco/APAP is actually Vicodin in disguise. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.)

******

Some interesting base line readings by the nurse/aide who took my vitals while I waited for the Doc to come in:

My BP was 150 over 80 (which seems a bit high to me but raised no flags among the medicos).
My pulse rate was a mere 52.
My temperature was between 95 and 96 degrees.

The numbers were not affected by my meds...which I last took the night before at 10 PM.

The temperature proves that I'm a cold-blooded SOB.
And that pulse rate? Must be time to hibernate, dude.

BCS Standings Post Week 8

BCS Rank, (Last Week's Rank), Team, and BCS Pct.

1 (1) Florida 0.973
2 (2) Alabama 0.945
3 (3) Texas 0.893
4 (6) Iowa 0.825
5 (7) Southern California 0.794
6 (8) TCU 0.789
7 (4) Boise State 0.775
8 (5) Cincinnati 0.774
9 (9) LSU 0.703
10 (11) Oregon 0.646
11 (12) Georgia Tech 0.59
12 (13) Penn State 0.585
13 (14) Virginia Tech 0.492
14 (15) Oklahoma State 0.449
15 (20) Pittsburgh 0.342
16 (18) Utah 0.316
17 (19) Ohio State 0.315
18 (17) Houston 0.315
19 (10) Miami (Fla.) 0.249
20 (22) Arizona 0.224
21 (23) West Virginia 0.196
22 (24) South Carolina 0.189
23 (NA) Notre Dame 0.12
24 (NA) California 0.092
25 (NA) Mississippi 0.091

Week 9 in College Football Top 25.,,more or less

Week 9’s competition for the Top 25 (more or less) will see almost everyone in action. The key matches this week will be #3 Texas @ #13 Oklahoma State and #4 USC @ #10 Oregon. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into Week 8


1/1/2 (2/1/2) Florida (7-0) The Gators will host The Georgia Bulldogs (4-3).

2/2/1 (1/2/1) Alabama (7-0) The Crimson Tide will be idle this week.

3/3/3 (3/2/2) Texas (7-0) The Longhorns are on the road to face off against #13 Oklahoma State (6-1).

4/4/7 (4/4/6) Southern California (6-1) The Trojans will play at #10 Oregon (6-1).

5/7/5 (5/6/5) Cincinnati (7-0) The Bearcats will play in the Carrier Dome of the Syracuse Orange (3-4).

6/5/8 (6/5/7) Boise State (7-0) The Broncos will host the San Jose St. Spartans (1-5).

7/8/4 (7/8/4) Iowa (8-0) The Hawkeyes will host the Indiana Hoosiers (4-4).

8/6/6 (10/7/9) TCU (7-0) The Horned Frogs host the UNLV Rebels (3-5).

9/9/9 (9/10/10) LSU (6-1) The Tigers will host the Tulane Green Wave (2-5).

10/12/11 (12/14/12) Oregon (6-1) The Ducks will host the #4 USC Trojans (6-1).

11/11/13 (11/13/14) Georgia Tech (7-1) The Yellow Jackets play at Vanderbilt (2-6).

12/10/10 (13/11/11) Penn State (6-1) The Nittany Lions will travel to play against the Northwestern Wildcats (5-3).

13/13/12 (14/12/13) Oklahoma State (6-1) The Cowboys will host the Longhorns of #3 Texas (7-0).

14/14/14 (15/15/15) Virginia Tech (5-2) The Hokies will host North Carolina (4-3) on Thursday night.

15/16/18 (17/18/18) Houston (6-1) The Cougars will host the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (5-3).

16/17/17 (20/19/20) Pittsburgh (7-1) The Panthers will be idle this week.

17/15/15 (18/17/16) Ohio State (6-2) The Buckeyes will be hosting the New Mexico State Aggies (3-5).

18/18/16 (8/9/8) Miami (Fla.) (5-2) The Hurricanes will be playing at Wake Forest, home of the Demon Deacons (4-4).

19/19/19 (19/20/19) Utah (6-1) The Utes play host to the Wyoming Cowboys (4-3).

20/20/20 (22/22/24) West Virginia (6-1) The Mountaineers travel south to face off against the South Florida Bulls (5-2) on Friday night.

21/21/25 (23/23/NA) South Carolina (6-2) The Gamecocks will play at Tennessee (3-3).

22/23/24 (25/NA/NA) Oklahoma (4-3) The Sooners host the Kansas State Wildcats (5-3).

23/24/23 (NA/NA/NA) Arizona (5-2) The Wildcats will be idle this week.

24/22/21 (NA/25/22) Mississippi (6-2) The Rebels will travel to play the Auburn Tigers (5-3).

25/25/NA (NA/NA/NA) Notre Dame (5-2) The Fighting Irish will host Washington State Cougars (1-6)

NA/NA/22 (NA/NA/23) Central Michigan (7-1) The Chippewas will play at Boston College (5-3)

My Day with the Pros

So, I've been sittin' on my butt all day watching pro football all afternoon. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the temperature rising to the mid 60s.

So far, so good. The Steelers beat the Vikings. (I felt sorta bad about the Steelers ganging up on the "Old Man" like that.

The Jets went to Oakland and beat the snot out of the Raiders. The Jets ran and ran and ran some more. Despite losing their best runner early to an ankle injury, they still gained over 300 yards on the ground. (The Jets had more than 300 last week against Buffalo in a loss. First time in fifty years that a team has had back to back 300-yard games.) It's always good when someone beats the snot out of the Raiders. I was super pleased when the Giants did it earlier in the season, but today was icing on the cake. 38-0 Wahoo!

The Giants are yet to play against Arizona. Eli will have to have a good game to match his older brother. (Eli completed 23-34 for 235 yards and 3 TD while leading the Colts to an easy 42-6 over the Rams.) I may not make it passed the first half tonight, so I hope he gets out the gate quickly.[UPDATE: I did go to bed at the half. As a result, I missed the Giants' offensive collapse in the second half that saw them lose to the Cardinals.]

Miami looked like it was going to trounce the Saints, beating them to death with the Wildcat. At one point the Fish lead 24-3. But then New Orleans saw the light, Drew Brees threw for another gazillion yards, the Saints put 36 points on the board in the second half, and the managed to remain undefeated.

New England played in London. They should stay there. And based upon the way their opponents, Tampa Bay, played, the folks in Tampa may want John McKay back.

Vanadlized!

Idaho scored 45 points against Nevada...and lost 70-45.

Nevada's (4-3, 3-0) QB Colin Kaepernick was a one man wrecking crew as he ran for 238 yards and four touchdowns and threw for two others. But the longest run for the Wolf Pack belonged to Vai Taua who scampered 89 yards for a TD in the first quarter. Nevada finished the day with 484 rushing yards.

Idaho QB Nathan Enderle passed for 342 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of 73-yard strikes to Maurice Shaw but it was not nearly enough for the Vandals (6-2, 3-1).

The two teams combined for 1156 net yards.

Nevada hosts Hawaii next week while Idaho hosts Louisiana Tech. Current #6 Boise State (7-0, 2-0) looms in the future for both teams.

Week 8 Results In Top 25 More or Less

Week 8’s competition for the Top 25 (more or less) will see almost everyone in action. Only two real upsets in this week's play: Clemson's beating of #8 Miami and Texas A&M's rout of #21 Texas Tech. Everything else played out pretty much as could be expected. That should mean there will be little change in this weeks rankings. The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 7.


1/2/1 (2/3/3) Alabama (7-0) The Crimson Tide edged the Vols of Tennessee (3-4) by a score of 12-10 thanks to a blocked field goal as time was running out..

2/1/2 (1/1/1) Florida (7-0) The Gators struggled against Mississippi State (3-5) in the first half, but they made the corrections necessary to come away with a 29-19 victory.

3/3/3 (3/2/2) Texas (7-0) The Longhorns had no problem in defeating Missouri (4-3) 41-7.

4/4/6 (6/5/7) Southern California (6-1) The Trojans got all they could handle against Oregon State (4-3) but they held on in a frenzied 42-36 contest.

5/6/5 (8/9/10) Cincinnati (7-0) The Bearcats dominated the Louisville Cardinals (2-5) 41-10.

6/5/7 (5/6/6) Boise State (7-0) The Broncos enjoyed their trip to Hawaii thumping the Rainbow Warriors (2-5) 54-9.

7/8/4 (11/12/9) Iowa (8-0) The Hawkeyes won at Michigan State (4-4) by just 2 points, 15-13. Four of their seven victories have been by three points or less.

8/9/8 (9/11/11) Miami (Fla.) (5-2) The Hurricanes battled the Clemson Tigers (4-3) into overtime but the Tigers prevailed in the OT to win 40-37.

9/10/10 (10/10/13) LSU (6-1) The LSU Tigers prevailed over the Tigers of Auburn (5-3), 31-10.

10/7/9 (12/8/8) TCU (7-0) The Horned Frogs went on the road and pummeled #16 Brigham Young (6-2) 38-7.

11/13/14 (19/20/20) Georgia Tech (7-1) The Yellow Jackets beat up on the Virginia Cavaliers (3-4) 34-9.

12/14/12 (13/16/16) Oregon (6-1) The Ducks breezed past Washington (3-5) 43-19.

13/11/11 (14/12/14) Penn State (6-1) The Nittany Lions easily handled Michigan (5-3) 35-10.

14/12/13 (16/14/15) Oklahoma State (6-1) The Cowboys drew down on the Baylor Bears (3-4) and came away with a new rug, 34-7.

15/15/15 (4/4/4) Virginia Tech (5-2) The Hokies took the week off.

16/16/17 (18/19/17) Brigham Young (6-2) BYU lost badly to #10 TCU (7-0) 38-7.

17/18/18 (23/23/21) Houston (6-1) The Cougars rolled over Southern Methodist (3-4) 38-15.

18/17/16 (7/7/5) Ohio State (6-2) The Buckeyes’ offense clicked on all cylinders over Minnesota (4-4), 38-7.

19/20/19 (24/NA/NA) Utah (6-1) The Utes needed to go into OT to ground Air Force (4-4), 23-16.

20/19/20 (NA/NA/NA) Pittsburgh (7-1) The Panthers dominated the South Florida Bulls (5-2), 41-14.

21/24/25 (NA/NA/NA) Texas Tech (5-3) Tech’s Red Raiders got embarrassed by Texas A&M’s Aggies (4-3), 52-30.

22/22/24 (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (6-1) The Mountaineers had all they could handle with a determined Connecticut Huskies team (4-3) in an emotional game that went back and forth but ended with WVU on top 28-24.

23/23/NA (22/22/22) South Carolina (6-2) The Gamecocks prevailed over the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-6) 14-10.

24/21/21 (17/15/13) Kansas (5-2) The Jayhawks got stomped by #25 Oklahoma Sooners (3-4) 35-13.

25/NA/NA (20/18/18) Oklahoma (4-3) The Sooners beat up #24 Kansas (5-2) 35-13.

NA/25/22 (NA/NA/23) Mississippi (6-2) The Rebels beat the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-4) 30-17.

NA/NA/23 (NA/NA/NA) Central Michigan (7-1) The Chippewas beat Bowling Green (3-5) 24-10.

Aerie Report, October 24, 2009

A fairly restless night. I took the Hydrococo/APAP before hitting the sack and removed the leg brace when I got into bed. As soon as the medication wore off, I woke up. Over and over again. No matter what position I got in, the knee hurt. It didn't help that the wind outside was howling and the rain was beating down on the metal roof.

Terry and I finally got out of bed at 7 AM. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we went about the business of packing the Jeep and Tundra with all the stuff that needed to come home in case I should not be able to get back there before the deep cold arrives. We drained all the pipes, added antifreeze to the traps, cleaned up all the trash, packed up the clothes, took the perishables out of the fridge, etc. Then we were on the road by 10 AM.

Getting into and out of the Tundra with the leg brace on is a bit of a task, but once seated behind the wheel, I was fine. Although, I would have liked to have been able to move my left leg from time to time.

Four and a half hours later, we got back to the Aerie and reversed the process. We didn't travel together and didn't even follow the same route. We both stopped for gas (although Terry also stopped for a quick meal while I didn't). And, while I beat Terry back to the Aerie, she pulled in less than ten minutes behind me.

I talking about our rides, I had the better of it. By traveling west on the NYST until I got to the Route 14 exit (mm 327) and then heading south, I had run around the heavy rain. Oh, it was really bad through Syracuse, but soon after I was in the clear. Terry had gone as far as I-481 and then south to I-81, Cortland and Route 13 through Ithaca to Elmira. She was in rain virtually the entire time.

******

I was surprised to see how much progress has been made in putting up windmills on the ridge. When I left for the Bolt Hole a little over a week ago, there were none visible above us. Sure, parts were stockpiled in the clearings where they would be erected, but they hadn't been put up yet. Today there are five directly above us and between one and three on the hillside to the west. (Terry says there will be only one, but there are three bases standing there. Still, she says, the maps only showed ONE windmill over there. Yeah, but that was over a year ago when they said they were going to put up 76 and now it's 67. Things change.)

I'll see about taking some pictures tomorrow but only the one(s) across the way is/are actually visible from the Aerie.

******

Mark sent an email asking if there was anything I needed him to do at the Bolt Hole. He also sent me some advice from a friend who worked ortho with the US Ski Team. Essentially it was to keep the brace on, don't take the prescriptions except to sleep, keep off my feet as much as possible, try to keep the foot as high as my eyes. Test the pain level once or twice a day. Be sure to see my doc on Monday, give him the X-rays, and advise him of what has been happening. I was told that an MRI is often not done immediately, but after three or four days IF the pain remains.

So, I'll be sitting here watching football, napping and staying off my feet for the next day or so and then get Terry to taxi me to the doc's on Monday.


Time to hit the sack. .

Oh Sh*t!

My NYS muzzle loader season came to an abrupt end this morning. Not with a BANG! but a whimper. No BOOM and flash. No air filled with the smell of burnt powder. (Although I may have turned the air blue with some of my utterings!)

After some heavy rains early last night, I figured the woods would be nice and quiet this morning, but being on my own (Mark had to o help someone with a concrete pour and left at the crack of dawn this morning) I didn't want to go far. I decided I would take a short, slow walk behind the cabin and never leave my property. I got about 300 yards into my walk (about one third to my goal) when one of those turtle rocks reached up and grabbed me. My left foot slipped on the moss covered stone and I went down wrenching my left knee. If that had been all, I would have been okay, but there was a crunching sound from the knee as it gave way and when I tried to stand up it was as if someone poked me with a red hot iron straight from the fire. I was toast.

Having no one to call for assistance, I gathered my one and a half legs beneath me and hobbled back to the cabin doing a great imitation of Walter Brennan.Once there, I immediately applied an ice pack to the knee and called Terry to let her know what had happened. She suggested the emergency room in Utica.

Two hours later, when the ice pack was body temperature and the knee was still sore as hell, I agreed and hobbled into the Tundra and drove down to St. Lukes, arriving at noon. Only one other person was in the walk-in waiting room so I figured I had beat the Friday Insanity Crowd that usually shows up at ERs every week.

Well, maybe I did and maybe the hospital scheduled everyone to show up for the expected rush. It was 2:30 PM before I was shown into one of the examination rooms and another thirty minutes before the doctor took a look at me. (By that time I had called Terry again and told her to come and help me pack up to get back to PA tomorrow.) The doc said it sounded like no more than a severely sprained knee but he wanted X-rays to confirm nothing was broken or dislocated. Since I hadn't really fallen on the knee and the lower part of my leg wasn't dangling, I felt that was over protection but, hey!, he's got the degree.

Twenty minutes later I'm still waiting to get taken to the X-ray room that's 100 feet down the hall...maybe, when the doc peeks in at me again and asks if they've done them yet. I say "no" and off he goes to get the ball rolling. Five minutes later a guy shows up to take me to X-ray and asks if I'd like a wheel chair. By now the knee hurts like the seventh level of hell and I can put virtually no weight on it at all so I say "yes." He disappears in search of a wheel chair...for twenty minutes! It's finally 4 PM when he returns with a chair but I've already got one thanks to a helpful nurse who asked what was up.

So, I get X-rayed and return to my room. At 4:30 PM the doc returns to say the X-rays showed no breaks or dislocations. It's nice to have your diagnosis confirmed by a pro! He gets me a knee immobilizer (think removable cast from the crotch to the ankle) and prescribes Ibuprofen (800 mg which is the prescription strength stuff) and Hydroco/Apap5-- a federally controlled substance, it says on the bottle. I get a warning about the drugs, drinking and driving. I'm told to see my regular physician on Monday AM and tell him what happened. I get a warning that if it doesn't feel better I might have done some ligament damage (which the X-rays won't show). And I get a CD of the four X-rays to take to my doc.

I'm finally on my way back to the Bolt Hole after spending nearly 5 hours in the ER. But first, I have to go to Wally World to get the scrips filled. It takes them nearly 45 minutes to get my prescriptions filled because of the number of cases ahead of me.

Back at the Bolt Hole, finally, at 6:15 PM. The heavy rains that are forecast to fall all night and much of tomorrow, begin at 6:30 PM. It's now 7:30 and Terry should be arriving any minute.

We'll pack the truck and her jeep in the rain tomorrow morning, drain the pipes and put antifreeze in the traps in case I don't get back up again until after the freeze, and then head back to PA.

I'll take one pill tonight so I can sleep and then suffer through the day since I'll be driving. But once I'm home....

Man, it sucks getting old!

Bolt Hole Report, October 22, 2009

Yet another day in fruitless pursuit of a white-tail. And a warm day it was, too! I slow walked a circuit in the woods to the south of the old jeep road. Most was on state property but some was on property we (Mark and I) have permission to hunt. The going was complicated by the number of blow-downs I had to either go around or climb over and the "turtle" rocks beneath sphagnum moss that had me slipping and sliding in the flat wet spots.

While I didn't see anything to shoot at (deer, bear, coyote, etc.) I did gather information and see a large owl being chased by a raucous blue jay.

I had stopped on the edge of a relatively clear are to catch my breath and try to cool down when the jay set up a racket off to the north. At first I thought it might have spotted a land critter and so went on high alert. I've had them do that before and been rewarded with a shot at a deer and the sighting of a fox traipsing through the woods. But this jay moved too swiftly for it to be a land based creature it was alarmed about. I therefore turned my attention to the sky expecting to see a hawk come into sight. Instead, a large owl (probably a barred owl as it's the most common around these parts) came gliding over the tree tops heading south toward some hemlocks on the far side of the hollow.

The owl flight is remarkable in that it is totally silent. A raven's or even a hawk's wings will make a noticeable flapping sound that can be heard for some distance, but not the owl. While sitting in a tree stand one bow season I once had a barred owl land above me. It had approached from my rear and I wouldn't have even known it was there except the tree actually shook with its landing. It sat for some minutes scanning the ground about us before taking off. Again the tree shook with its launch into space and its great wings could be seen flapping but there wasn't a sound.

So that sighting was my excitement for the morning. Well, that and the discovery of a rub line--a series of small trees along the trail that a buck had used to rub the velvet off its antlers. I found four altogether, but they were at least several weeks old. No fresh bark lay atop the leaves that had gathered at the base of the trees. Interestingly, one was a small cedar tree but the others were all stripped maples. This despite an abundance of small beech trees in the area.

******

This afternoon was more of the same. I went into an area I had visited several times over the last few years only to be foiled by the presence of new blow-downs that blocked the trail and my vision. Them and the beech leaves which are just now turning yellow. I walked about 3/4 of a mile (the same as this morning) and saw nothing. I didn't even bother to sit in the spot for which I headed. I couldn't see more than 20-30 yards anywhere. So after two hours I was back in the Bolt Hole just as the showers--and colder temperatures--blew in from Canada.

******

Speaking of beech trees...I know that Tolkien seemed to have a love of those smooth barked lovelies. It was a beech forest that the elves lived and Tolkien's description of their grand city in the air speaks of his fondness for the beech tree. Well, as far as I'm concerned, they could all burn!

Beech trees seem to be the most fickle of all seed producers. Like Goldilocks, they demand that things be "just right" before they will produce their nourishing nuts. Unfortunately, things are seldom perfect. This is the second consecutive year in which the beech nut crop has been a failure and that hurts squirrels, birds, deer and bear. When the nuts are plentiful, the critters will gorge themselves in the deep woods and seldom move far from a thick stand of beech trees. When they aren't around...then neither are the critters. Or, at least, the critters need to wonder more in search of food.

While the beech apparently needs perfect conditions to produce fruit, they seem to create their own conditions for living. Get one beech tree growing and have it produce just one good corp of mast and pretty soon you'll have a thicket of beech trees. And thicket is the proper term for they will be so close together that it will be tough to get through them. And they are sloppy trees, to boot. The lower branches seem to wear out and die after just a few years and then break off at the trunk of the tree. The broken branches dangle from their mates or litter the forest floor. Some of them are up to an inch or more in diameter at the base and several yards long. While they can't be considered "widow makers" getting bonked on the head by one when you brush against it enough to dislodge it from its perch can generate respect.

And the leaves! I can truthfully say that I have never seen a beech leaf with any insect damage. Oh, there may be some that are broken and torn from falling branches (self inflicted wounds) but for the most part they are intact. And persistent. While nearly all the trees have lost their leaves, the beech is just now turning from green to bright yellow. Eventually they will turn brown. But even then, many--perhaps 50%--will remain on the tree all winter long. In the winter, while the snow covers the ground, the rattling of dry, brown leaves of the beech may be the only sound in the woods. Trying to hunt in an area populated by beech trees that are still clinging to their leaves is a challenge. Your line of sight is reduced considerably.

The forest ranger from whom we got our burn permit for the brush piles in the apple orchard wistfully spoke of the possibility of forest fire. He actually said the area "needed" one. I haven't checked on this, but the leaves of the beech may contain some oil or chemical that protects them from insects but also from decay. Their buildup on the forest floor may hinder other species from taking root and surviving. I do know that when wet they are as slick as a pool of hydrolic oil on smooth concrete. (Don't ask. It's a long story in which a rainy night, a spinning forklift, and a very angry foreman play parts.)

I've come to the conclusion that the elves must have worked awfully hard to keep their beech woods neat and tidy.

All in all, between the plethora of beech trees and blow-downs in the "forever wild" lands here about, perhaps a forest fire isn't such a bad idea. Certainly the forest could use a little rejuvenation.

Bolt Hole Report, October 21, 2009

I still haven't sighted a deer other than the three that visited the yard after dark the other night. Even if those three had showed up during the day, I wouldn't have shot at them--no horns to be seen. Although it's legal to shoot a doe with the bow or muzzleloader, I have promised not to do so. The "herd" in the area is severely depleted due to coyote depredations and lack of mast (for the second consecutive year, the beechs have not produced any nuts) and possibly due to the presence of some critters that aren't supposed to be in the Adirondacks. Mark swears he and a local saw two cougars cross the road less than three miles from where we are.

Still, I had a nice day out in the woods. We had a tiny bit of rain overnight and the jump in humidity made walking in the woods a bit less noisy so I took a slow stroll along the state boundary line this morning. Most of the paint marking the line has worn off making finding the line a little tough, but I've marked the section that abuts my property on the GPS and that gave me a straight line to follow. I recorded points along the way as I found them so I've now got a continuous line on the GPS from my northwest corner to where the state line crosses the jeep trail to the east. Along the way, I did spot some tracks but nothing else.

This afternoon I went to the northwest corner and sat until dark. There's a fairly large creek over there with some grass on the banks and islands that I thought might tempt a deer or two, but, if it does, they weren't partaking during the daylight hours. Except for the sound of the water flowing over the stones in the creek bed and a couple of curious red squirrels there wasn't a sound to be heard. Even the small birds weren't moving about much. I'll confess I fell asleep for a few minutes listening to the gently sounds of that creek. But, at least one red squirrel was having none of that! It chattered as loudly as it could from just feet away from me. Perhaps I do snore after all.

Today's weather could not be beat. The temperatures were in the upper 50s--maybe even the 60s--and although it was overcast all day, we got now rain and virtually no breeze. The trees normally make a hushed rustling sound in the tiniest of breezes but they were silent today.

Some showers are supposed to make their way into the area tonight but tomorrow may be an even better day with a high in the mid 60s. That will end, according to the weather guys, on Friday. Rain arrives in earnest Friday night and will continue all day Saturday with some heavy, heavy precipitation. Over 1 1/2 inches of rain is forecast. Of course! Saturday is the opening day of the rifle season here in the north zone. Not that it matters much if there aren't any deer to shoot. Still, there might be more hunters afield and that could get some deer that have been in hiding out and about.

BTW, those temperatures I mentioned earlier...The average high for the day is 55, the low: 35. Those are just about what we had today. Tomorrow will be warmer than the average, but the overnight low (upper 20s) will be below average. And once we get passed tomorrows warmer than average high, we'll be below average for the next ten days. Although we won't be as far below as we were last week! The highs will be above freezing and in the mid to upper 40s.

Bolt Hole Report, October 20, 2009

Not much to report on today. I didn't go out into the woods and just took the day off. After all the running around since last Wednesday--to the Bolt Hole, down to NJ, back to the Bolt Hole, etc.--and two disappointing days in the field, I felt the need to just sit back, read, and relax. Besides, it was damn warm out there.

I dressed in my hunting clothes--including long johns--after breakfast but before looking at the thermometer. Mistake. It was already in the forties at 7 AM. Not a breeze moved, either. Needless to say, there was no crunching of frost when I walked over to see if Mark was up and about. He was, but he was also packing to go back to his apartment for the day. I decided to try and walk up the jeep road to the old beaver dam and back through the woods. I made it about four hundred yards before realizing 1) I was way over dressed and 2) the little bit of rain we may have gotten over night had done nothing to soften the leaf litter and it was like walking on corn flakes strewn upon a layer or two of bubble wrap. No way was I going to be able to still hunt under those conditions. If I had been sitting in a tree stand it would have been great for I would have heard anything that moved within a hundred yards. So I turned back to the cabin, changed into lighter clothing and put my feet up. There's always tomorrow. And, even if it's going to be another warm day, I'll dress properly this time and go and sit somewhere instead of trying to walk.

******

I mentioned that I didn't see any deer while in the woods neither Sunday afternoon nor all day on Monday. But when I went to bed last night around 9:45, I flipped on the outdoor light to peek at the thermometer on the deck and spotted three antlerless deer in the yard behind the house. From their size and behavior I surmised that it was Mom and the Twins. The Twins are nearly full grown but decidedly smaller than Mom. That they are so large and traveling with an experienced doe may be the reason they have managed to survive any marauding from the fairly large coyote population--some of which I heard yapping and barking off in the distance this morning when I left Mark's place on my abbreviated walk.

******

Terry called today to report that she had some visitors at the Aerie. Her cousin had given me a package of Cajun flavored peanuts which I was not going to eat (I prefer to have mine just salted, thank you), so she had put them out on the bird feeder. Well, did you know raccoons like Cajun flavored peanuts? He'd probably enjoy ettufe (or however it's spelled) as well, but he ain't getting that from me! I like my Cajun crawfish. He cleaned up what the birds had left in the tray on the deck overnight leaving just his paw prints to tell the tale. And this morning, Terry says, there was a turkey in the yard. Of course there was. Fall turkey season it ain't!

Week 8 Top 25 and Opponents

Week 8’s competition for the Top 25 (more or less) will see almost everyone in action. Only #15 Virginia Tech is idle this week and only two contests pit Top 25 teams against one another (#10 TCU @ #16 BYU and #24 Kansas vs#25 Oklahoma). The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 7.


1/2/1 (2/3/3) Alabama (6-0) The Crimson Tide hosts the Vols of Tennessee (3-3).

2/1/2 (1/1/1) Florida (6-0) The Gators are on the road to play Mississippi State (3-4).

3/3/3 (3/2/2) Texas (6-0) The Longhorns play at Missouri (4-2).

4/4/6 (6/5/7) Southern California (5-1) The Trojans will host Oregon State (4-2).

5/6/5 (8/9/10) Cincinnati (6-0) The Bearcats host Louisville (2-4).

6/5/7 (5/6/6) Boise State (6-0) The Broncos travel to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors (2-4).

7/8/4 (11/12/9) Iowa (7-0) The Hawkeyes will play at Michigan State (4-3).

8/9/8 (9/11/11) Miami (Fla.) (5-1) The Hurricanes host the Clemson Tigers (3-3).

9/10/10 (10/10/13) LSU (5-1) The Tigers host, well, the Tigers of Auburn (5-2).

10/7/9 (12/8/8) TCU (6-0) The Horned Frogs will play at #16 Brigham Young (6-1).

11/13/14 (19/20/20) Georgia Tech (6-1) The Yellow Jackets will play at Virginia (3-3).

12/14/12 (13/16/16) Oregon (5-1) The Ducks will play at Washington (3-4).

13/11/11 (14/12/14) Penn State (5-1) The Nittany Lions play at Michigan (5-2).

14/12/13 (16/14/15) Oklahoma State (5-1) The Cowboys play at Baylor (3-3).

15/15/15 (4/4/4) Virginia Tech (5-2) The Hokies will take the week off.

16/16/17 (18/19/17) Brigham Young (6-1) BYU will host #10 TCU (6-0).

17/18/18 (23/23/21) Houston (5-1) The Cougars will host Southern Methodist (3-3).

18/17/16 (7/7/5) Ohio State (5-2) The Buckeyes host Minnesota (4-3).

19/20/19 (24/NA/NA) Utah (5-1) The Utes will host Air Force(4-3).

20/19/20 (NA/NA/NA) Pittsburgh (6-1) The Panthers will host South Florida (5-1).

21/24/25 (NA/NA/NA) Texas Tech (5-2) Tech hosts Texas A&M (3-3).

22/22/24 (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (5-1) The Mountaineers will host Connecticut (4-2).

23/23/NA (22/22/22) South Carolina (5-2) The Gamecocks will host the Commodores of Vanderbilt (2-5).

24/21/21 (17/15/13) Kansas (5-1) The Jayhawks host #25 Oklahoma (3-3).

25/NA/NA (20/18/18) Oklahoma (3-3) The Sooners play at #24 Kansas (5-1).

NA/25/22 (NA/NA/23) Mississippi (5-2) The Rebels will host Arkansas (3-3).

NA/NA/23 (NA/NA/NA) Central Michigan (6-1) The Chippewas will play at Bowling Green (3-4).

Afternoon: October 19, 2009

Great weather to sit and watch. The temperature was in the upper 40s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There still weren't any clouds when I came in at a little after 6 PM. If it's going to shower tonight, that will have to change soon.

It was so comfortable sitting there that I dozed off a couple times. each time, my chin hitting my chest woke me up. Perhaps if I had started to snore, it would have drawn a deer within range. It's happened before.

One year Mark fell asleep in his recliner next to an open window. He woke to find a fork-horned young buck staring in the window. he crabbed his brand new muzzle loader out of the box, loaded it and pocketed a spare charge before going out the door to follow the deer down his driveway and into my yard. When the deer went behind the garage, Mark climbed onto the roof using a ladder we had leaning against the wall, and shot the deer with the spare load after missing the first shot. The deer had no idea where the first shot came from and stood there looking around instead of bolting for deeper cover.

Another time he fell asleep while sitting on a five-gallon bucket behind his place and woke up to find a group of seven deer, including a nice six-pointer coming at him. The six didn't make it passed Mark. But the bigger eight-pointer that was trailing that bunch did.

******

I sat on a little knoll overlooking a depression on the west side of the property. No deer but there were the usual red squirrels and one wandering ruffed grouse that came by. At first, I thought the grouse was just a red squirrel out collecting some dried leaves to insulate its home but the sound kept getting closer and closer until the head of the grouse popped up over a log fifteen feet away from me. It was chattering and clucking to itself in a fair imitation of a squirrel as it looked around and then wandered on off to the east.

A brown creeper landed on a small tree not more than a few feet away from me and explored the bark for spiders and insect eggs. When it had climbed about twenty feet, it flew down to a second nearby tree and started its search all over again. eventually, it flew off to look elsewhere.

Several ravens flew about in the trees not far away. Besides their crow-like caw, they have some of the most liquid notes of any bird I've ever heard. It sounds like water dripping into a fountain only glassy, if you can imagine that.

BCS Rankings: The first of the year

From the wonderful world of the BCS Computer we have the first “meaningful” rankings of the year. (They are “meaningful” only in that they will eventually determine who plays in the “most prestigious” bowl games.) They use, among other things, the Harris Poll and the Coaches’ Poll to come up with this thing that was supposed to make arguments about who is Number 1 obsolete. Of course, it didn’t.

1 Florida 0.989

2 Alabama 0.959

3 Texas 0.891

4 Boise State 0.808

5 Cincinnati 0.787

6 Iowa 0.787

7 Southern California 0.77

8 TCU 0.714

9 LSU 0.708

10 Miami (Fla.) 0.627

11 Oregon 0.585

12 Georgia Tech 0.57

13 Penn State 0.498

14 Virginia Tech 0.495

15 Oklahoma State 0.404

16 Brigham Young 0.299

17 Houston 0.266

18 Utah 0.251

19 Ohio State 0.222

20 Pittsburgh 0.201

21 Wisconsin 0.118

22 Arizona 0.114

23 West Virginia 0.111

24 South Carolina 0.104

25 Kansas 0.097

The morning afield, October 19, 2009

It got down to 22 degrees overnight here at the Bolt Hole. The result was quite a bit of frost on the ground making the leaves like corn flakes to walk on. Nevertheless, I was out before 7 AM and on my way for a short (distance) walk in the woods carrying my muzzle loader.

I'd walk for ten or fifteen yards and then stop, look and listen for 10-15 minutes. I scanned the tree trunks for rubs and the ground for droppings and tracks. I only covered about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in the 3 1/2 hours I was out. I tried to cover areas where we had spotted activity in the past but there was nothing to see today other than a few old piles of droppings, a few red squirrels, and birds--mostly chickadees and small woodpeckers.

I'll head out again a little later this afternoon and pick a spot to sit for the evening hours. Without any sign and very, very few (like none) other hunters in the woods, however, things do not look promising.

It did warm up a bit while I was out. It was 41 degrees when I got back to the cabin and is now over 43 degrees at 12:15 PM. The sun is shining brightly and there isn't a cloud in the sky. A slight breeze is blowing from the west, however, and that may bring some light showers late tonight when the temperature is supposed to drop into the low 30s.