Wha' Happened: Illinois

I'm delayed again in an airport, so this means I must blog. Unfortunately, it will now be an official tradition, which could get annoying...

The price we pay.

I also don't want to make a tradition of waiting this long after games to review them. Looking back on our nice, solid win over Illinois last week, I still feel very good about our bowl game position and our season as a whole.

Many have said that this was our most complete win; I'm not sure I completely agree. Illinois did to us what we did to Michigan the week before -- they came out of halftime with a much better offensive strategy. If not for critical drive-killers like sacks and turnovers, we might have been in greater trouble than we ever were.

Still, it was a 9th win. A good win. Right? Right.

Yesterday's victory by Oregon helps us, but other wins this week hurt some. We'll have another week of waiting and tentative planning before we know anything for certain, winter-sun-wise. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that OSU will sneak into the BCS and we will get the Outback Bowl berth that we have deserved for the last 8 years.

Let's go Cats!

Thoughts on: Illinois...

...and also the rest of the Big Ten's games for the last weekend of our season.

Does anyone else dread this game every year? It seems like it rarely helps us (exception: 2000), and sometimes we get hammered (um...last year, anyone?). So, I am concerned, especially as we go in without any running backs and or half our defensive line.

There are promising things though. Nate Williams has really stepped in well for Malcom Arrington, and Prince Kwateng has carried A LOT of the weight for that LB corps. Stephen Simmons has shown a couple flashes, and C.J. had a great 3rd quarter last weekend.

So, let's just pick this game and then look a the 4 others of note in our conference. The Cats are coming in as 3-point underdogs. Yeah, really. I don't know. Seing how it's senior day and we have, I think, 23 seniors, I'm picking Northwestern 33, Illinois 10.

Let's go Cats!

Around the conference, I think we're rooting for PSU and OSU to win. That might get two Big Ten teams into the BCS again. That would leave us tied with MSU for 3rd in the Big Ten (should we win). Then, we want Minnesota to beat Iowa for "Floyd of Rosedale." Right? So that we stay two games ahead of Iowa?

Oh yeah and never has the Old Oaken Bucket seemed so meaningless. I love the Indiana-Purdue rivalry, but this is so a nothing game this year. le sigh.

Wha' Happened?: Michigan

Why do I always do this? Why do I wait until just before I am about to write the next preview before I review the last game? The obvious answer is that I'm lazy, but that hardly seems to cover the full gamut of reasons that I wait until the very last minute. I mean seriously, if it weren't an afternoon game today, I'd never have gotten to this at all. Maybe it's something to explore in December.

So, Cats win! Last week, that is. I did watch the game from the relative comfort of my parents' couch (a little cold) and on the relative awesomeness of their new TV (no complaints there). It was perhaps a little anticlimactic, but upon reflection I don't think this was because I was watching alone. I think it was because this was a game the ApostroCats "should win." And they did. So there. We won't curry a lot of favor for beating Michigan, even in Ann Arbor, in such a down year. But we sure would have lost a lot of it if we hadn't won.

So, that was basically a relief. All of you who really care about the reunion I attended have heard the tales, I think, so I'll just make this PSA:

***
The bridge is not out. Bridge St., west of the bridge, is one-way in the east-bound direction. But you can still cross the bridge in both directions.
***


Let's go Cats!

Thoughts on: Michigan

So, tomorrow, the ApostroCats (is that better, Mike?) travel to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.  This is always a popular road trip option for NU students and alums, so it should not surprise you to learn that I am typing this entry en route.

Well, en route to somewhere, anyway.

I’m actually sitting in O’hare International “Airport”* unwilling to pay for wifi.  That means no fact-checking or the like in this entry.  Which is no big deal, because I’m not headed to or writing about Ann Arbor, I’m headed to Pennington, NJ, by way of Philadelphia.  Yes, I have my 10-year high school reunion tomorrow.  Good old Hopewell Valley Central High School.  The fightin’ Bulldogs.  The Black and Gold.  The, uh, place where I was a total geek and why am I going to this reunion again?

But, I am going nonetheless.  It’ll be good to see Pennington again.  Not that the reunion will be in Pennington.  Or in New Jersey.  What? It’s at some bar in New Hope, PA? And the only bridge I know how to use to get to New Hope is under construction? Promising!

I’m not totally sure what to expect from this thing.  Questions are percolating.  Will I still like the people I used to like?  Will I still hate the people I used to hate?  Will those two groups have switched? Are there people I used to hate reading this? Hi! I secretly always liked you, and I only pretended to hate you to keep up appearances!

Will they all have had cool jobs for the last 5 years?  Will they be impressed by the cool job that I’ve had for the last 5 weeks?

How many people will be married, and how many will have kids?  Is there a place somewhere near my parents’ house that I can easily and cheaply get a kid to bring along.  Like a child talent agency?  Or a poorly-staffed day care center?

At least there are some things I think will probably be just fine. I’ll stay in my parents’ house, although they’re thousands of miles away in Italy this weekend.  I’ll see a couple friends who I feel confident I will still like.  I’ll get to play with a GPS deal in my rental car.  I'll get hosed by the Avis bus, and have to rent a more expensive car from Dollar with no GPS.  I’ll watch the NU-Michigan game on my parents’ new HDTV.

See what I did there? Brought it all back to the original topic, didn’t I? Bow before me, as I make my weekly prediction!  Northwestern 28, Michigan 20.

Let’s go Cats!

* - that is, if I ever get a chance to get up in the air.  Current estimated delay: 1 hour, 22 minutes.  Update, wheels-up was just over 2 hours late.  I got to my parents house at about 2am and stumbled around the garage blindly before finding the key.

Wha' Happened?: Ohio State

Well, that kinda blew, but I guess we saw it coming.  Right?  What’s that you say? Some of us had crazy premonitions in which the Cats won?  And in which they started off with a safety during the opening Buckeyes kickoff return?  Well, those people must be nutso internet “bloggers” or something.  Throw rocks at them.

There were some worthwhile moments in the game, despite the lopsided scoreline.  Mike Kafka did better running the ball than I ever thought he could against OSU.  I really expected them to spy on him all day and all the night.  Yet, he still ran effectively, even if the rest of the Cats didn’t really do so.

The big plays against were bad, I’m not gonna lie.  But we don’t see QBs like that too often, so maybe it’s allowable.

Also, several of us more-or-less improvised the same cheer at the same time, which was freaking awesome.

Let’s go Cats!

More lolwildcats

Because I needed to kill a little time this morning, having woken up WAY too early.

And because Corey Wootton is an absolute beast.

Thoughts on: Ohio State

I know not everyone loves the cold and wet weather, but I gotta tell ya. I came out of work to head home today, and it just felt like the best weather for football. Low 40s and drizzly? Can't get any better than that.

On to tomorrow's game! I'm hoping that the cold-and-rainy will keep it close and hard-hitting. Also, more-hyphenated! With a severe lack of senior running backs, the AprostroCats will need to keep OSU in check and score just enough to win.

Whether or not he starts, I am sure that Mike Kafka will see time under center tomorrow. You can bet on it. You can also bet that when he's at QB, OSU's James "We'll do some tests, but I'm afraid it might be" Laurinaitis will be stalking Kafka. The senior LB will probably do a little spying on our running QB, especially with our inexperienced running backs.

I'm about to make my pick, and I need to tell you something about it. I think I know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow. I've only told one person, just in case I'm wrong, but she will verify my story when I am right. The line is OSU -11, O/U 42. I'm picking Northwestern 19, OSU 11.

Let's go Cats!

$1.959

I bought this gas today. There was a line.

For serious.

Life on the road

I'm currently in Jacksonville, IL, and tomorrow I'll be in Winchester, Litchfield, and Taylor Springs. It's only for one night, but can you tell I am bored out of my mind?

One nice thing about being in the real America? I saw gas for $1.95/gal. It's $2.09 here in Jacksonville. I'll try to get a pic of a sub-$2 sign tomorrow. Also, it is nice that my hotel on this trip has good wifi, so I'm not forced to lie on the floor with my laptop in order to get a signal near the bathroom door.


Nice product placement for Coke, huh?

Here's a game! Which of the above pictures of my hotel room was taken with the $200 point-and-shoot and which with the $1000 DSLR?

More when I get home. Assuming the guy in [town name withheld] lets me leave with my life. He was not happy with me on Friday...

Wha' Happened?: Minnesota

What a strange game, huh?

In the first quarter, I thought we would win. In the second, I thought we would lose.
In the third, it looked like both coaches just sent their guys out to run suicides. And, for the last few minutes, it looked like both coaches were getting paid by the period and heading for overtime.

Then the aliens came.

Namely, Brendan Smith turned Mike Kafka's first start in two years into a dominant individual offensive performance, worthy of national attention. Before that, Kafka was just a footnote from that ever-weirder team from outside Chicago.

Smith will get all the accolades and the [INSERT SPONSOR HERE] play-of-the-week nominations, but Kafka got the Cats in the game and kept them there by taking the offense on his shoulders. The NU defense did what it could with major injury problems, but those will crop up much more in 7 days when OSU comes to Evanston.

Get some rest guys, and look to build on this with a shocker next weekend.

Let's go Cats!

Thoughts on: Minnesota

Yikes! I keep leaving these until later and later, don't I? This time I can't blame being out of town, so I guess it all falls on me. I'll try to keep up.

This week the ApostroCats take on the surprisingly competent Minnesota Gophers. Yes, this year's incarnation of the mustard-and-ketchup are 7-1 and ranked #17 in the current BCS list. That one loss is to Ohio State, so I'm thinking Minnesota is feeling pretty good right about now.

And why else might they be feeling good? Well, maybe because NU lost the two offensive skill players who touch the ball the most: QB CJ Bachér and running back Tyrell Sutton. So it looks like Northwestern fans (and opponents) should gird themselves for a heavy dose of running as backups Mike Kafka and Omar Conteh take the starting labels.

The keys for an NU win today? It's simple. 1) Efficient offense. 2) Effective defense.

If Mike Kafka can guide the offense to first downs, decent field position and, most importantly, few turnovers, the Cats should be able to put up a few points. That will leave the rest to a still-impressive defense, albeit one that gave up too many big plays a week ago. I think Coach Fitz will have had a few choice words with a few choice players, and we will see renewed vigor as the defense continues to recover from the loss of Malcom Arrington.

All together, there is a great chance for the Cats to win. Not just because I always pick them to win, but because our defense is capable of keeping us in any game. The line is Minnesota -7.5, O/U 46. I'm taking the Cats and the under: Northwestern 20, Minnesota 17.

Let's go Cats!