Hey, Y'all! Still here.

Egads! Almost three weeks since I last posted?
The Mets are still leading the NL East!?!
And college football has started?

Yeah, I'm still alive and (mostly) well.

We finally got word on the title search for the Bolt Hole. Success! The closing date came and went but the title search folks persisted and came up with a reasonably clean title that seems to have satisfied the buyers' attorney. THe closing is now scheduled for Friday, Septemebr 11th. Our attorney has all the paperwork needed to act on our behalf so I won't have to go up there for any reason.

The Mets have continued to make baseball interesting as the hold on to a five game lead over the Washington Nationals for first place in the NL East. There's a little controversy about Matt Harvey pitching only 180 innings (he's currently at 166 or so innings) but he's also got a remarkable low pitch-per-inning count that should allow him to pitch more.

The college football season got under way this week and there are still a couple of games to be played Sunday and Monday. My Rutgers Scarlet Knights had their share of controversy this week, too. Several players were arrested for off campus criminal behavior. (All five have been dropped from the team.) Head Coach Kyle Flood was accused of contacting an instructor to discuss one player's eligibility--a violation of school rules and now a moot point as regards that particular student as he was among the five. And several players were benched for the first half against Norfolk State for breaking curfew and trying to use a false ID to enter an establishment. (Two of them--Leonte Carroo and Chris Laviano connected for three TD passes in the second half.) RU had four passing TDs, four rushing TDs and a special teams TD when Janarion Grant ran the second half opening kickoff back 80 yards for a score. Oh, and the defense allowed minus four (-4) yards rushing.

Pro football starts next week and I'll be cheering on the Jets and GIants (in that order!).

Pro politics continues to amuse/frighten with Hillary Clinton being exposed (finally!) as incompetent, a liar and an incompetent liar to boot. That leaves Socialist Bernie Sanders as the Democratic front runner. (Yeah, he calls himself an Independent but if you listen to him, he's clearly a Socialist.) On the Republican side, Donald Trump is saying the things people agree with. Dr. Ben Carson is too but with less narcissism. And Ted Cruz is smarter than anybody else but has the disadvantage(?) of being a Senator. Anyway, pro politics, especially of the Presidential kind, is a l-o-n-g season.

Health and College Football

Sorry about the lack of posting lately I've been battling a head/chest cold that threatens my upcoming back surgery. (I seem to be winning, however, and a call as to whether or not the surgery will need to be postponed will wait until at least Friday.)

Terry and I do have appointments over at Robert Packer Hospital on Sayre tomorrow. She goes for a mammogram and I get to be fitted for a back brace.

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College football season came to a close Monday night with the crowning of Ohio State as National Champions. I have to admit that, while I was rooting for them, I picked the Ducks because I wasn't sure a red-shirt freshmen making just his third start at quarterback could do the job. As someone said, "Third string? Who the hell did they have ahead of him? Johnny Unitas and Joe Theisman?"

Yeah. Cardale Jones did just fine on the big stage; 16 of 23 for 242 yards, one passing TD and one rushing TD. And that Ezekiel Elliot kid didn't do too badly running the ball, either; 36 carries for 246 yards and four TDs.

Guess the biggest question in Columbus for the next few months will be who the heck is their starting QB going to be?

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College Football: Bowl Season

Tomorrow begins the bowl season for the FBS schools. (Division III Championship is being decided tonight between Wisconsin-Whitewater and Mount Union. The FCS is in their semifinals this weekend with the championship game scheduled for next week.)

With the playoff scheduled for the top four teams (Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State and Florida State) the January 12th FBS Championship game participants are to be determined. I predict that Oregon will end up being the National Champion.

My niece and sister and I have once more decided to pit our wits against one another in a little friendly competition. We've each made our picks and notified the others. May the best MAN win!

Since I'll be in Disneyland--or traveling to and from Anaheim--from Monday the 22nd through late Saturday the 27th, I'll miss watching 13 of these games including the Quick Lane Bowl between my Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the North Carolina Tarheels to be played on the 26th in Detroit. Terry and I would have been there to cheer on the Scarlet if we hadn't already made plans to be with family on the west coast.

Here's the bowl schedule and my picks.

BOWL	MATCHUP	LOCATION	MY PICK	TIME (ET)	DATE	TV
New Orleans	Nevada vs. La.-Lafayette	New Orleans	Nevada	11 a.m.	Dec. 20	ESPN
New Mexico	UTEP vs. Utah State	Albuquerque, N.M.	UTEP	2:20 p.m.	Dec. 20	ESPN
Las Vegas	Colorado St. vs. Utah	Las Vegas	Colorado State	3:30 p.m.	Dec. 20	ABC
Famous Idaho Potato	Western Mich. vs. Air Force	Boise, Idaho	Western Michigan	5:45 p.m.	Dec. 20	ESPN
Camellia	Bowling Green vs. South Ala.	Montgomery, Ala.	South Alabama	9:15 p.m.	Dec. 20	ESPN
Miami Beach	BYU vs. Memphis	Miami	Memphis	2 p.m.	Dec. 22	ESPN
Boca Raton	Marshall vs. Northern Ill.	Boca Raton, Fla.	Marshall	6 p.m.	Dec. 23	ESPN
Poinsettia	Navy vs. San Diego State	San Diego	San Diego St.	9:30 p.m.	Dec. 23	ESPN
Popeyes	Western Ky. vs. Central Mich.	Nassau, Bahamas	Western Ky.	Noon	Dec. 24	ESPN
Hawaii	Rice vs. Fresno State	Honolulu	Rice	8 p.m.	Dec. 24	ESPN
Heart of Dallas	Illinois vs. La. Tech	Dallas	Illinois	1 p.m.	Dec. 26	ESPN
Quick Lane	Rutgers vs. North Carolina	Detroit	RUTGERS!	4:30 p.m.	Dec. 26	ESPN
St. Petersburg	NC State vs. UCF	St. Petersburg, Fla.	UCF	8 p.m.	Dec. 26	ESPN
Military	Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati	Annapolis, Md.	Virginia Tech	1 p.m.	Dec. 27	ESPN
Sun	Duke vs. Arizona State	El Paso, Texas	Arizona St.	2 p.m.	Dec. 27	CBS
Independence	Miami (Fla.) vs. South Carolina	Shreveport, La.	South Carolina	3:30 p.m.	Dec. 27	ABC
Pinstripe	Boston College vs. Penn State	Bronx, N.Y.	Penn State	4:30 p.m.	Dec. 27	ESPN
Holiday	Nebraska vs. USC	San Diego	USC	8 p.m.	Dec. 27	ESPN
Liberty	West Virginia vs. Texas A&M	Memphis, Tenn.	West Virginia	2 p.m.	Dec. 29	ESPN
Russell Athletic	Clemson vs. Oklahoma	Orlando, Fla.	Clemson	5:30 p.m.	Dec. 29	ESPN
Texas	Texas vs. Arkansas	Houston	Arkansas	9 p.m.	Dec. 29	ESPN
Music City	Notre Dame vs. LSU	Nashville, Tenn.	LSU	3 p.m.	Dec. 30	ESPN
Belk	Louisville vs. Georgia	Charlotte, N.C.	Georgia	6:30 p.m.	Dec. 30	ESPN
Foster Farms	Maryland vs. Stanford	Santa Clara, Calif.	Stanford	10 p.m.	Dec. 30	ESPN
Peach	Ole Miss vs. TCU	Atlanta	TCU	12:30 p.m.	Dec. 31	ESPN
Fiesta	Boise State vs. Arizona	Glendale, Ariz.	Arizona	4 p.m.	Dec. 31	ESPN
Orange	Miss. State vs. Ga. Tech	Miami Gardens, Fla.	Ga. Tech	8 p.m.	Dec. 31	ESPN
Outback	Wisconsin vs. Auburn	Tampa, Fla.	Wisconsin	Noon	Jan. 1	ESPN2
Cotton	Michigan St. vs. Baylor	Arlington, Texas	Michigan St.	12:30 p.m.	Jan. 1	ESPN
Citrus	Minnesota vs. Missouri	Orlando, Fla.	Minnesota	12:30 p.m.	Jan. 1	ABC
* Rose	Oregon vs. Florida State	Pasadena, Calif.	Oregon	5 p.m.	Jan. 1	ESPN
* Sugar	Alabama vs. Ohio State	New Orleans	Ohio State	8:30 p.m.	Jan. 1	ESPN
Armed Forces	Pittsburgh vs. Houston	Fort Worth, Texas	Houston	Noon	Jan. 2	ESPN
Gator	Iowa vs. Tennessee	Jacksonville, Fla.	Iowa	3 p.m.	Jan. 2	ESPN
Alamo	Kansas State vs. UCLA	San Antonio	Kansas St.	6:30 p.m.	Jan. 2	ESPN
Cactus	Okla. State vs. Washington	Tempe, Ariz.	Okla. State	10 p.m.	Jan. 2	ESPN
Birmingham	Florida vs. East Carolina	Birmingham, Ala.	East Carolina	Noon	Jan. 3	ESPN
GoDaddy	Toledo vs. Arkansas State	Mobile, Ala.	Arkansas St.	9 p.m.	Jan. 4	ESPN
CFP Champ. Game	TBD vs. TBD	Arlington, Texas	Oregon	8:30 p.m.	Jan. 12	ESPN
* -- College Football Playoff semifinal games

College Football: Week 15 ResultsChampionship Week

The winners of this week’s games were pretty much as expected. The margin of victory, however, was sometimes surprising. We had bigger victories and slimmer margins but only one real upset: Oklahoma State beating #20 Oklahoma.  The rankings listed are those of the Selection Committee.

The PAC-12 Championship goes to the #2 Oregon Ducks (12-1) who defeated the #7 Arizona Wildcats (10-3) 51-13 on Friday night. Marcus Mariota probably wrapped up the Heisman in this game as well. Mariota threw for 303 yards and two TDs and ran for three more TDs. The Ducks lead 30-0 before the Wildcats got on the board in the third quarter. There was a bit of revenge in this game. The Ducks’ only loss this year was a 42-16 beat down by Arizona in Tucson.

The Mid-American Conference Championship belongs to the Northern Illinois Huskies (11-2) who drubbed the Bowling Green Falcons (7-6) 51-17. It was close in the first half with the Huskies up just 2010, but they exploded for 21 points in the third quarter for a 37-10 lead. Cameron Stingily helped salt the game away with 116 yards rushing and two second half TDs. Northern Illinois amassed 334 yards on the ground and 552 yards total offense while running 100 plays from scrimmage.

The Conference USA Championship game saw Marshall Thundering Herd (12-1) eke out a victory over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-5) 26-23. The Herd trailed the entire game until Rakeem Cato (25 of 46 for 308 yards and two TD) hit Deon-Tay McManus on for a 5-yard TD with 1:50 remaining in the game. Kenneth Dixon ran for 156 yards and three TDs for the Bulldogs who had just 72 yards passing.

The SEC Championship game had the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) rolling over the #16 Missouri Tigers (10-3) 42-13. T.J. Yeldon (14 carries for 47 yards) ran for two TDs, Derrick Henry (20 carries for 141 yards) ran for two TDs and Blake Sims (23 of 27 for 262 yards) threw for two TDs. Now if they only had a field goal kicker…. Do they need a field goal kicker?

The ACC Championship belongs to the #4 Florida State Seminoles (13-0) who held off the #11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-3) 37-35. Jameis Winston threw for 309 yards and three TDs and Davin Cook rushed for 177 yards and a TD for the Seminoles. Synjyn Days rushed for three TDs for the Bulldogs.

The Mountain West Championship game saw Fresno State Bulldogs (6-7) beaten by the #22 Boise State Broncos (11-2) 28-14. Grant Hendrick ran for two TDs and Tanner Vallejo returned an interception 63 yards for a score for the Broncos who took a 28-0 lead in the third quarter.

The Big Ten Championship belongs to the #5 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-1) after they routed the #13 Wisconsin Badgers (10-3). 59-0? Are you kidding me? With their second freshman redshirt sophmore quarterback of the season making his first start? Amazing! Cardale Jones, who was #3 behind Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, on the depth chart back in August, threw for 257 yards and three TDs. Ezekiel Elliot carried the ball 20 times for 220 yards and two TDs and Curtis Samuel rushed for two TDs. Joey Bosa returned a fumble 4 yards for a score.

And the Big 12 (which has no championship game) has three games scheduled.

The Iowa State Cyclones (2-10) were routed by the #3 TCU Horned Frogs (11-1) 55-3. Trevone Boykin threw for 460 yards and four touchdowns but it was a 55-yard TD reception from David Porter that opened the scoring. Derrick Kindred returned an interception 44 yards for a score.

The #6 Baylor Bears (11-1) beat the #9 Kansas State Wildcats (9-3) 38-27. Bryce Petty completed 34 passes out of 40 attempts for 412 yards and one TD. He also ran for a score. Jake Waters went 22 of 27 for 300 yards and two TDs for KState.

The #20 Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) fell to in-state rival Oklahoma State (6-6) in OT, 38-35. For Oklahoma, Samaje Perine rushed for 151 yards and two TDs before an ankle injury saw him sidelined in the third quarter and Aaron Ripkowski scored two TDs on 1-yard runs and another on a 2-yard pass from Cody Thomas. The Sooners led most of the game but the Cowboys mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter that was capped by a 92-yard punt return by Tyreek Hill that tied the game at 35 with 45 seconds remaining. Oklahoma missed a 44-yard field goal attempt in the first possession in OT. Ben Grogan connected on his 21-yard field goal to win the game for the Cowboys.

In games featuring non-ranked teams, SMU (1-11) avoided a winless season with a 27-20 victory over the Connecticut Huskies (2-10). The Mustangs were penalized—twice—as the lined up in the victory formation to run out the final seconds. SMU fell behind 20-6 at the break, but held UConn to just 98 yards offense and no points in the second half. Quarterback Matt Davis ran for 191 yards and a TD and threw for 145 yards. Prescott Line rushed for 90 yards and two TDs. Congratulations to the Mustangs.

College Football: Week 15 Opponents

This week’s schedule is an abbreviated one composed mainly of Conference Championships (with a few regular season games from the Big 12 thrown in). The results will shake up the final rankings which come out next week. The rankings listed are those of the Selection Committee.

In the PAC-12 Championship, the #2 Oregon Ducks (11-1) take on the #7 Arizona Wildcats (10-2) on Friday night.

The Mid-American Conference Championship will have Northern Illinois (10-2) vs. Bowling Green (7-5) will also be played on Friday.

The Conference USA Championship has the Marshall Thundering Herd (11-1) are challenged by the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (8-4).

The SEC Championship has #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) facing the #16 Missouri Tigers (10-2).

The ACC Championship game has the #4 Florida State Seminoles (12-0) against the #11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2).

The Mountain West Championship will be decided by Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6) against the #22 Boise State Broncos (10-2).

The Big Ten Championship has the #5 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) squaring off against the #13 Wisconsin Badgers (10-2).

And the Big 12 (which has no championship game) has three games scheduled; all of which have one or more ranked teams participating.

The Iowa State Cyclones (2-9) visit the #3 TCU Horned Frogs (10-1).

The #6 Baylor Bears (10-1) will host the #9 Kansas State Wildcats (9-2).

(We could see a tie for the title if both TCU and Baylor win.)

The #20 Oklahoma Sooners (8-3) host in-state rival Oklahoma State (5-6).

In games featuring non-ranked teams, the American Athletic Conference—another without a championship game—will have a slate of three games. One of those will give SMU, currently the only team in the FBS world without a victory, one last chance—against Connecticut (2-9).