robertreid

I've been to most Canadian cities -- still not seen Halifax for one -- and Montreal is easily my favorite, the Canadian city I most want to...

Beyond the bigness of things, here are a couple things:...

Texas is scared of other teams:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-bcs102009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Oh, and the link for ESPN: http://bit.ly/4uQnQ7

CollegeGameDay: State College, PA

Here's my take on what to do -- football and otherwise -- at State College, the home of Penn State and the 3am 'sticky.' Not as bad as it sounds. Well, it is bad for you.

Game Pick: Penn State over Iowa, 27-9

But as a destination? Iowa City is near some interesting sights -- I really enjoyed seeing Herbert Hoover's home, a half-hour drive away. The campus is nice. I had some veggie curry and saw bad rock bands playing by the river. But actually found other parts of Iowa more inspiring -- like the Loess Hills near Nebraska, or (particularly) the gorgeous Mississippi River Valley around Dubuque (which has a funicular train). Iowa City points: 13

State College has its moments, often drunken or high in cholesterol, but the nearby bike paths and mountains to climb are hard to argue with. I've been going to the area all my life. My mom was born in Franklin, just west. State College points: 17

State College beats Iowa City as destination, 17-13.

Actually State College seems more interesting to me than Columbus, Ohio.

Vs Network You know you're not top tier programming when you label the 'third guy' in the booth as 'ThirdGuy.' As seen during the Kansas/Duke game about 25 minutes ago.

Anyone watching football last weekend could see it plainly: the screams swelling at every pass, punt or hiked ball in college football...

Tech Fan Says Predicts Longhorn Loss

I wrote about Austin's game-day scene for ESPN this week:

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=4479120

And a Tech grad living in Austin told me Tech would pull the big upset (making Red Raiders' record for key on-the-road big games something like 1-86 over the year), and a Texas band member acknowledged the girlishness of the Longhorn band uniform.

Predictions and key surprises of week:

* Tennessee doesn't score vs Florida. Final 42-0.
* Tech does not win.
* Fresno State beats Boise State tonight, 18-13.
* Nebraska beats Virginia Tech on the road, 30-20
* Oklahoma struggles big time with Tulsa, but wins ugly, 38-34
* Florida State beats BYU and nonsense talk of Max Hall as Heisman candidate (based on double turnover game vs shellshocked, Bradford-less Oklahoma, who missed last-second FG for win) will end. Final 28-9
* Arkansas beats Georgia at home. 7-6

"I have been drinking heavily and don't blame myself at all"

Perhaps the best quote of all time from a college football fan, coming from a Colorado fan after the team got crushed by Toledo.

"I have been drinking heavily and don't blame myself at all."

Link: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/34375/this_week_in_schadenfreude_sept._14

Thanks Lake T. If the season's goal is to win a national championship, OU's season is already about other games -- they have no chance to...

Cal? USC? UCLA? A Pac 10 fan, I'm guessing....

Lake, stay focused. It's easy to go back and forth on games, but you don't have to. What's your team, your conference? ...

Don't Go Back

Part of why I travel so much now is how much of a planning role I got to play as a kid. And that works hand in hand with going to NEW places -- and not just back to Disney World or 'the lake' every summer.

My parents always let me play an active (sometimes lead -- sometimes failing) role as a planner, finding B&Bs, ski resorts and the like for family trips. One wasn't so successful. I wrote about it, and why going to NEW PLACES are the huge family bonder for Travel Savvy Mom today:

http://www.travelsavvymom.com/blog/family-travel/just-had-a-great-family-vacation-super-just-dont-go-back/#comments

Columbus tail gate > LA's tail gate

Ohio State fans think the Big 10 knows how the pre-game ritual better than the Pac 10, and with as many fans outside a stadium as in, it's kinda hard to argue. Here's my take the perfect game day on ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=4452781

By the way, check out Google Maps' street view around Columbus' Horseshoe. The photos were made on a game day -- so you can see the tailgate frenzy for yourself.

For those who don't understand why Hunter S Thompson titled his suicide letter "Football Season is Over" don't really...