It’s been a wacky week leading up to Turkey Day, with Rupert Murdoch and Fox, of all people, coming to their collective senses for once by deciding that a special and corresponding book where O.J. Simpson goes through a “hypothetical” rendering of how he would have killed Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman is a bad idea, Michael Richards of Cosmo Kramer fame spewing out the N-word on stage over the past weekend and then gets laughed at in the middle of his apology on David Letterman, the Cubs organization opening up its wallet to sign Alfonso Soriano until he’s eligible for Social Security, the Jets attempting an onside kick at the opening of the 2nd half that didn’t work against the Bears, Northwestern attempting an onside kick at the opening of the 2nd half that worked perfectly against Illinois, an Ohio State-Michigan rematch for the national championship being a distinct possibility after a classic game on Saturday (although USC needs to lose one of its last two games, forcing the Wolverines to switch gears and having to cheer for Notre Dame this weekend), and Suri Cruise no longer has parents out of wedlock. Despite of all that, there are still plenty of links out there for your Thanksgiving weekend:
(1) Steve Milton: The Rubber Industry’s New Best Friend (Chicagoist) – At some point in my lifetime, the Guiness Book of World Records went from being a collection of outstanding human achievements such as getting to the top of Mount Everest the fastest or the having the longest long jump in international competition to morph into a freak show that honors the carnie that can cram the most piercings into his belly button. That being said, this rubber band ball is pretty sweet.
(2) Macy’s Brands the Holidays (Wall Street Journal) – The only thing that could be worse than the feeling that I had walking by the old Marshall Field’s on State Street the other day to see a bunch of red Macy’s banners all over the place is the thought of someone putting a huge spaceship in the middle of Soldier Field. Oh wait…
(3) Q and A with Will Carroll (Siberian Baseball) – Minneapolis Red Sox had a great session on the gyroball with a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.
(4) White Sox Top 10 Prospects (South Side Sox) – Speaking of baseball, here’s a summary of the top 10 prospects in the White Sox farm system.
(5) Time To Bring On Tougher Challenges (Mark Tupper Weblog) – The schedule has been pretty easy for Illini basketball so far, but it’s going to kick into high gear with games against Maryland and Arizona last week. Rich McBride looked sharp last night coming off of his suspension for impersonating a Portland Trailblazer.
(6) You’re Beautiful (Linda) – My talented sister had a show at the MFA Gallery at Montclair State (I’m not sure which exit that is in Jersey) this week. In case you were wondering, I received absolutely NONE of the artist genes that run in the family.
(7) Don’t Blame Me If You Freeze Your Ass (Chronically Insane) – Tips from Chronically Insane to keep warm during this holiday season.
(8) Bowing Down to the Golden Calf (Fleece the Pig, Flog the Pony) – Another year, another disasterous Circus Trip for the Bulls. I will never understand why Jerry Reinsdorf and Bill Wirtz don’t use their pull to get Ringling Bros. to come to the United Center during the summer when the building is empty as opposed to the very beginning of both the basketball and hockey seasons.
(9) Bush’s Daughter Robbed in Argentina (Washington Post) – A theft that’s pulled off right in front of a bunch of Secret Service agents? Now that’s something that truly deserves an entry into the Guiness Book of World Records.
Go Bears, Go Illini, Go Bulls, and Happy Thanksgiving!
(UPDATE: For even more entertainment, via a Deadspin tip, Gilbert Arenas has his own blog now and it’s highly recommended reading.)
(Image from New York Times)
FRANK THE TANK'S SLANT 
Being a big 10 guy what do you think about the natl championship with regards to Michigan gettin a rematch vs. having USC in there?
I keep flip flopping on the idea
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Jeeves,
I personally would like to see a Michigan-Ohio State rematch in the national championship. As a matter of fairness, though, it’s a tough call. Assuming that USC wins out, the Trojans’ lone loss would have been to an unranked Oregon State team while Michigan’s only loss was to the clear #1 team on the road, which would give the Wolverines the edge in that category. However, I have to really respect the way USC put together an aggressive non-conference schedule by playing Arkansas (even though they lost yesterday, they still ended up being a top contender in the mega-tough SEC this year), Nebraska (a guaranteed participant in the Big 12 championship game), and Notre Dame (a top 10 team in the BCS all season). It’s unheard of for such a prominent program to not schedule a single “guarantee home game” against a non-BCS school these days and I hope that other schools take note if USC ends up being the beneficiary of such strong scheduling.
We’ll see how USC does against Notre Dame tonight since the Irish are the one common opponent for the Trojans and Wolverines. If USC routs ND, then the Trojans should probably be in the national championship game. However, if USC only wins in a squeaker at home, I think Michigan’s case becomes a whole lot stronger since their pounding of the Irish on the road in South Bend would be a much more impressive win over a common opponent.
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My thoughts were along the same lines. I guess I had a tough time separating the Wolverine fan (I was raised a Wolverine football fan) and the College Football fan in me.
At this point, assuming USC beats UCLA (which I’m praying doesn’t happen), I’d have to give the bid to them, just to avoid the possibility of having Michigan beat Ohio State and having all hell break loose.
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Judging by how USC handled Notre Dame pretty easily and the way the BCS points are set up as of today, the Trojans are definitely in if they end up beating UCLA.
So, it looks like a Big Ten-Pac 10 matchup for the national championship game. I only wish that the game was in Pasadena this year. Speaking of which, since the Rose Bowl loses both of its conference tie-ins assuming USC wins out, that means that they get the first 2 at-large picks, right? What are the chances of a Michigan-Notre Dame rematch in the Rose Bowl? Even though the Irish don’t necessarily deserve a BCS bid this year, having them in Pasadena for the first time in decades would certainly be something that the Rose Bowl officials would salivate over.
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