Another week, some crazy college stuff

Here's two random chuckles: 

From Bill Simmons on ESPN:

When ABC launches a game-show pilot called “Country Singer, Famous Assassin or Kick Returner?” the final question will definitely be, “Who is Johnnie Lee Higgins?”

From the Gonzaga game yesterday:

Fan-made sign - shape of Washington State - showing Coug, Husky, Sonics, Mariners, and Seahawks logos - the caption:  Help us Bulldogs, You're our only hope!

Raiders:

The Raiders are playing well today - a great team effort, and the aforementioned Johnnie Lee Higgins has scored 2 TDs, bringing is 3 week total to 6.  It's funny that we didn't use him at all for the last 3 years!  And we might - just might - beat the Texans today.  We're only impacting draft order - but unless we get a new GM and AD drops his chokehold on the org - the draft and the new coach won't matter.  I'd really like to see a new head coach who gets to choose his own staff.  But methinks I dream too much.

Zags:

The Zags played their butts off yesterday, and the fans made it feel like a Final Four game.  Other than a couple bad bad bad turnovers, the Zags nearly beat the #2 team in the land yesterday.  But UConn is UConn for a reason, and they had too much depth.   Once the Zags starting 5 was in trouble with poorly-officiated fouls, it became just a game of bodies.  As Few said afterwards of the foul trouble "We ended up with lineups that we never see - even in practice".  

But what I prefer to focus on is the fanbase.  It was a rabid fanbase, focused on the game, cheering at the right times, and 100% engaged in the game.  It was great to be a part of that.  I miss that about some pro-sports.  The passion of a 200-strong student section at one end of Key Arena, organized cheers, etc.  It was a great contrast to the pro-game, and just enjoying sensations of the collegiate game.  

One of the funnier parts of the game was during one TV timeout - they did the fancam and showed a little 9 month old Zag baby, and everyone cheered.  They then switched to a UConn infant, and everyone booed.  They alternated back and forth 5-6 times and the crowd cheered and booed infants.  Both babies had their bottles taken from them to participate, and finally, the Uconn baby started crying, and all 16700 of us had confusing emotions of cheering our success, and then terrible guilt for making a baby cry.  I'm sure he was fine. . .or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

And for the record, my fantasy football teams were terrible - again - but that's nothing new. . . There's always next year!!