Compass Points

CO2 A dnager to human health

2009-12-07T15:34:00.005-05:00

In case you haven't seen it yet, the US EPA has deemed CO2 (along with a number of other naturally occurring greenhouse gases) a danger to human health. (EPA: Greenhouse gases endanger human health)

Such an action paves the way for the EPA to write rules restricting the emission of said gases without any input by--well--anybody. The rules they are expected to approve will create havoc within our economy while doing absolutely nothing positive.

The EPA served a purpose once upon a time. Clean water, clean air are all something to strive for but this dictate is something well beyond its original mandate.

Aerie Report, Decmber 7, 2009

2009-12-07T13:30:00.008-05:00

It dropped down to 20 degrees again last night. It's now "up" to 27 at the Aerie at 1:30 PM. Weather.com says it's 31 wherever they've got their station and AccuHunch agrees. Both say we'll get up to 36 but, with overcast skies and precious little wind, I don't see it happening. The radio forecaster says we'll get some more snow late afternoon tomorrow and that it will transition to freezing rain overnight and then all rain on Wednesday. We'll see.

UPDATE: AccuHunch now says 1-3 inches tomorrow afternoon into the night. Then, they say, it will be flurries and sleet on Wednesday. Feh.

UPDATE 2: It's just after 4 PM and it's snowing. Not supposed to be happening. Never did get above 27 degrees. Double "feh" plus.

******

Terry's stitching clubs have started their Christmas parties at she made a big pot of vegetarian chili for today's event. I hope they leave some for us to add a bunch of venison chop meat to for tonight's dinner.

UPDATE: Half a pot came home! Yipee!

******

There were three windmills turning earlier today but they came to a stop despite some breeze still blowing. A couple of them have been doing that the last few days. Intermittent operations seem to be the norm at the moment. Makes me think that the crews are just running tests on them and that they are not yet ready to be put on line.

Even when the closest ones are turning, I can't really hear anything from them. Part of that is due to the rustling in the trees as the wind shakes the branches and part of it is probably due to the design of the windmills themselves. A spokesman for the company doing the installations did tell us that at 100 yards it wouldn't be any noisier than a refrigerator operating across the room. Not bad considering the blades on the things are 75 feet long. And the closet windmill is between 400 and 500 yards away and slightly over the ridge, to boot. Only its topmost blade can be seen when it's whirling about.

Let's Go Bowling!

2009-12-07T12:55:00.003-05:00

If you’re a college football fan as I am, then you know that the second season is nearly upon us. I am referring to the Bowl Season, of course. Yesterday (Sunday) nearly the entire lineup for this season was presented to us. I say “nearly the entire lineup” because there is still some doubt as to who Temple will be playing in the EagleBank Bowl on December 29th. Should Army pull off a minor miracle and defeat Navy on Saturday, they will be the foe. If they do not, then it will be UCLA.

In any event, I present the matchups as they now stand including the network airing the game and the start time. There are 34 games in all starting December 19th and ending with the BCS Title Game on January 7th. Plan your holiday festivities accordingly

In the BCS games:

Jan. 1 Oregon (10-2) vs. Ohio State (10-2) Rose Bowl Pasadena, Calif. ABC 5 p.m.

Jan. 1 Cincinnati (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1) Sugar Bowl New Orleans, La. FOX 8:30 p.m.

Jan. 4 TCU (12-0) vs. Boise State (13-0) Fiesta Bowl Glendale, Ariz. FOX 8 p.m.

Jan. 5 Georgia Tech (11-2) vs. Iowa (10-2) Orange Bowl Miami FOX 8 p.m.

Jan. 7 Alabama (13-0) vs. Texas (13-0) BCS Title Game Pasadena, Calif. ABC 8 p.m.

In the Non-BCS Games:

Dec. 19 Wyoming (6-6) vs. Fresno State (8-4) New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, N.M. ESPN 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 19 Rutgers (8-4) vs. UCF (8-4) St. Petersburg Bowl St. Petersburg, Fla. ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 20 Middle Tennessee State (9-3) vs. Southern Miss (7-5) New Orleans Bowl New Orleans ESPN 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 22 Oregon State (8-4) vs. BYU (10-2) Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, Nev. ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 23 Utah (9-3) vs. California (8-4) Poinsettia Bowl San Diego, Calif. ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 24 Nevada (8-4) vs. SMU (7-5) Hawaii Bowl Honolulu ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 26 Ohio (9-4) vs. Marshall (6-6) Little Caesars Bowl Detroit, Mich. ESPN 1 p.m.

Dec. 26 North Carolina (8-4) vs. Pittsburgh (9-3) Meineke Car Care Bowl Charlotte, N.C. ESPN 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 26 Boston College (8-4) vs. Southern California (8-4) Emerald Bowl San Francisco ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 27 Kentucky (7-5) vs. Clemson (8-5) Music City Bowl Nashville, Tenn. ESPN 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 28 Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5) Independence Bowl Shreveport, La. ESPN2 5 p.m.

Dec. 29 Temple (9-3) vs Army or UCLA EagleBank Bowl Washington D.C. ESPN 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 29 Miami (Fla.) (9-3) vs. Wisconsin (9-3) Champs Sports Bowl Orlando, Fla. ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 30 Idaho (7-5) vs. Bowling Green (7-5) Humanitarian Bowl Boise, Idaho ESPN 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 30 Nebraska (9-4) vs. Arizona (8-4) Holiday Bowl San Diego, Calif. ESPN 8 p.m.

Dec. 31 Stanford (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-5) Sun Bowl El Paso, Tex. CBS Noon

Dec. 31 Air Force (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3) Armed Forces Bowl Fort Worth, Tex. ESPN Noon

Dec. 31 Missouri (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4) Texas Bowl Houston ESPN 3:30 p.m.

Dec. 31 Minnesota (6-6) vs. Iowa State (6-6) Insight Bowl Tempe, Ariz. NFL Net. 6 p.m.

Dec. 31 Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5) Chick-fil-A Bowl Atlanta ESPN 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 1 Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5) Outback Bowl Tampa, Fla. ESPN 11 a.m.

Jan. 1 West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6) Gator Bowl Jacksonville, Fla. CBS 1 p.m.

Jan. 1 Penn State (10-2) vs. LSU (9-3) Capital One Bowl Orlando, Fla. ABC 1 p.m.

Jan. 2 South Florida (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5) International Bowl Toronto ESPN2 Noon

Jan. 2 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Mississippi (8-4) Cotton Bowl Dallas FOX 2 p.m.

Jan. 2 Connecticut (7-5) vs. South Carolina (7-5) Papajohns.com Bowl Birmingham, Ala. ESPN 2 p.m.

Jan. 2 East Carolina (9-4) vs. Arkansas (7-5) Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tenn. ESPN 5:30 p.m.

Jan. 2 Texas Tech (8-4) vs. Michigan State (6-6) Alamo Bowl San Antonio ESPN 9 p.m.

Jan. 6 Central Michigan (11-2) vs. Troy (9-3) GMAC Bowl Mobile, Ala. ESPN 7 p.m.

Update on Terry's Doctor's visit

2009-12-06T19:08:00.003-05:00

I should have posted this before since I made mention of Terry's follow up mammogram in this post a couple of days ago.

They did a second mammogram and determined that the little blip they saw a few months ago was nothing more than some debris in a duct. So they kicked her tires and sent her home saying she was good for a year.

It was good news and like the main stream media deals with good news, I promptly forgot to mention it here.

Nearly FInal Top 25 (more or less)

2009-12-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

The final week of college football is in the books. Only one regular season game remains to be played as Army and Navy will square off this upcoming Saturday. Win or lose Navy will be heading into a bowl game. Not so Army. [UPDATE: Should Army defeat Navy they will become bowl eligible with a 6-6 record and will play in the Eagle Bank Bowl against Temple. Should Army lose, then UCLA goes bowling in their place.]

As you might expect, with the championship play and several upsets there was considerable movement in the Top 25 polls. Each of the teams listed here will be going to a bowl as will about 30 other teams. There are some 34 bowls starting December 19th and running until the National Championship game on January 7th in Pasadena.

(The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 14. Team records are those after week 14 play.)

1/1/1 (2/3/3) Alabama (13-0)

2/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (13-0)

3/3/3 (4/4/4) TCU (12-0)

4/4/4 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (12-0)

5/5/5 (1/1/1) Florida (12-1)

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (13-0)

7/7/8 (7/8/8) Oregon (10-2)

8/8/7 (8/7/7) Ohio State (10-2)

9/10/9 (12/12/11) Georgia Tech (11-2)

10/11/10 (9/10/9) Iowa (10-2)

11/9/11 (10/9/10) Penn State (10-2)

12/12/13 (11/11/14) Virginia Tech (9-3)

13/13/15 (15/14/17) LSU (9-3)

14/15/14 (17/17/15) Miami (Fla.) (9-3)

15/14/12 (16/13/12) Brigham Young (10-2)

16/20/25 (13/16/18) Oregon State (8-4)

17/16/19 (14/15/16) Pittsburgh (9-3)

18/17/18 (24/23/NA) West Virginia (9-3)

19/21/20 (23/24/23) Stanford (8-4)

20/19/21 (21/20/19) Nebraska (9-4)

21/18/NA (22/21/NA) Oklahoma State (9-3)

22/23/22 (NA/NA/NA) Arizona (8-4)

23/24/NA (NA/23/NA) Utah (9-3)

24/22/17 (NA/NA/22) Wisconsin (9-3)

25/NA/23 (NA/NA/25) Central Michigan (11-2)

NA/25/NA (18/18/21) Houston (10-3)

NA/NA/24 (NA/NA/NA) East Carolina (9-4)

Brrr!

2009-12-06T10:26:00.003-05:00

Hey baby it's cold outside!

Got down to 20 degrees overnight making it the coldest morning of the season. and the snow that was supposed to have stopped sorta lightly kept on keeping on. Not much additional accumulation from last evening's 1-1/2 to 2 inches. What was coming down this morning was more along the lines of the lazy lake effect type of snow. Moisture in the air just gave up because it was too cold and became snow flakes. Since there is a gentle wind coming out of the west northwest it could well be from Lakes Erie and Ontario. Now that the sun is out, those lake effect snow showers will be more confined to the lake shores.

Points east of here--the Poconos for instance--got 6 or 7 inches of snow from the coastal storm. Looking at the maps for up in NY, There's some lake effect (1-3 inches) off the east end of Lake Ontario but it hardly reaches the Bolt Hole and might miss Utica completely. (They are still looking for their first 2-inch snowfall of the year. Normally happens early November.)

Anyway, the Sun is out now and we should be warming up to, or sightly above, the freezing mark. Certainly, the sunshine will melt the thin layer of snow on the driveway--won't it?

Week 14 Results

2009-12-06T10:09:00.004-05:00

WOW! What a weekend. Lots of close games, a few blow outs. Some great individual performances. And several upsets. Who could ask for more? (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 13. Team records are those after week 14 play.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (12-1) The Gators lost to #2 Alabama(13-0) 32-13 for the SEC title.

2/3/3 (2/3/3) Alabama (13-0) The Crimson Tide made a statement against #1 Florida (12-1) winning the SEC Championship 32-13 in a game that wasn’t quite that close as the Tide dominated both sides of the ball.

3/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (13-0) The Longhorns edged past #21 Nebraska (9-4) 13-12 for the Big 12 title. It took a video replay to show the Longhorns had one second left on the clock in which to attempt a 46-yard field goal by Hunter Lawrence. The Cornhuskers came T-H-I-S close to pulling off the upset after sacking Colt McCoy nine times. Nebraska was held to just 106 yards total offense on 55 plays but also held Texas to just 202 yards on 74 plays.

4/4/4 (4/4/4) TCU (12-0) DONE

5/5/5 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (12-0) The Bearcats outlasted #14 Pittsburgh (9-3) on Saturday scoring a 45-44 victory on when the Panthers flubbed an extra point in the final minutes and the Bearcats came back to score and make their own point after with just 33 seconds remaining. Mardy Gilyard scored on a 99 yard kickoff return, a 68 yard pass from Tony Pike and a 2 point conversion pass from Pike. Dion Lewis ran for 194 yards and three TDs for the Panthers.

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (13-0) The Broncos routed New Mexico State (3-10) on the Blue Rug 42-7. Kellen Moore was 19 0f 30 for 272 yards and just one TD in three quarters of work. He left with the score 35-0 after three periods. The TD was his 39th of the year, a school record. The Broncos’ Doug Martin ran just eight times for 84 yards but scored four TDs.

7/8/8 (10/10/10) Oregon (10-2) The Ducks slipped past #13 Oregon State (8-4) 37-33 on Thursday night to claim the PAC-10 Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. LaMichael James ran for 166 yards and three TDs in the victory.

8/7/7 (9/8/9) Ohio State (10-2) DONE

9/10/9 (13/13/11) Iowa (10-2) DONE

10/9/10 (12/11/12) Penn State (10-2) DONE

11/11/14 (14/14/18) Virginia Tech (9-3) DONE

12/12/11 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (11-2) The Yellow Jackets edged Clemson (8-5) 39-34 for the ACC title when Jonathan Dwyer scored his second TD of the game with 1:20 remaining. C.J. Spiller rushed for 233 yards and four TDs for Clemson.

13/16/18 (16/18/20) Oregon State (8-4) The Beavers dropped a close one to #7 Oregon (10-2) 37-33 on Thursday night.

14/15/16 (8/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-3) The Panthers lost a heart breaker to #5 Cincinnati (12-0) 45-44 on a flubbed extra point attempt in the snow/sleet with less than two minutes to play. They still lead at the time 44-38, but Tony Pike and crew were not to be denied as they rapidly scored and made their extra point for the win with 33 seconds to go.

15/14/17 (17/17/22) LSU (9-3) DONE

16/13/12 (18/15/15) Brigham Young (10-2) DONE

17/17/15 (19/21/19) Miami (Fla.) (9-3) DONE

18/18/21 (25/20/NA) Houston (10-3) The Cougars had a problem all afternoon with East Carolina (9-4) as the Pirates took the Conference USA title 38-32. That despite Case Keenum completing 56 of 75 passes for title game-record 527 yards and five touchdowns. However, he also threw three INTs.

19/22/13 (21/NA/NA) California (8-4) The Golden Bears got thumped by Washington (5-7) Saturday evening 42-10. Huskies QB Jake Locker was 19 of 23 for 248 yards and three TDs and also ran for another two in the rout. (Washington was 0-12 last year.)

20/19/24 (24/22/NA) Southern California (8-4) The Trojans lost to Arizona (8-4) on Saturday 21-17.

21/20/19 (NA/23/24) Nebraska (9-4) The Cornhuskers saw their chance for an upset over #3 Texas (13-0) sail through the uprights on a last second (literally) field goal 13-12.

22/21/NA (11/12/13) Oklahoma State (9-3) DONE

23/24/23 (NA/NA/NA) Stanford (8-4) DONE

24/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (9-3) The Mountaineers beat Rutgers (8-4) Saturday for the 15th consecutive year. This time it was by a score of 24-21. The Scarlet Knights held Noel Devine to just 65 yards rushing with one TD and had a 91 yard kickoff return by Joe Lefeged and a 65 yard TD pass reception by Mohamed Sanu. A 24 yard interception return by WVU’s Sidney Glover and a last minute interception of a tipped Tom Savage pass by the Mountaineers proved to be the difference.

25/NA/NA (15/16/16) Clemson (8-4) The Tigers lost to the #12 Georgia Tech 39-34.

NA/25/NA (22/19/23) Utah (9-3) DONE

NA/NA/20 (NA/NA/25) Northwestern (8-4) DONE

NA/NA/22 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (9-3) The Badgers played at Hawaii (6-7) Saturday night. They really, really enjoyed their trip as they thumped the Rainbow Warriors 51-10. John Clay rushed for 172 yards and three TDs as the Badgers rolled up 554 yards of offense.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Central Michigan (11-2) The Chippewas beat Ohio (9-4) 20-10 for the Mid American Championship Game Friday night.

On a side note:

Thus far only Eastern Michigan (0-12) has failed to achieve even one victory in the 2009 season. The Eagles hardly soared as they are ranked 119 out of 120 in the CBSSports120 rankings.

Number 120? That would be Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The Hilltoppers have one more chance for a W as they play the 3-and-8 Arkansas State Red Wolves in their final game of the season on Saturday. As Chris Berman says on ESPN, “Everyone deserves at least one win. No one should go 0-for-the-season.” (I’m paraphrasing there.)

Let’s go Hilltoppers!

UPDATE: The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers played Thursday, not Saturday. And they lost to the Red Wolves 24-20 despite leading early in the second half 20-3. The winning score was on a sack, fumble and 27 yard return of same for a TD.*sigh*

Aerie Report, December 5, 2009

2009-12-05T18:04:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning at 5:30 AM, ate breakfast, got geared up and headed out to the woods. It was dead calm at 6:45 AM as I went out and the temperature had dropped down to 28 degrees. The sky was overcast and snow flurries were promised for the afternoon.

I took my seat and waited. And waited. And waited. The temperatures fell through the morning but there would be no new venison falling to the turf.

At 11 AM--after seeing nothing but one other hunter crossing the top of my property--I headed back to the Aerie.

******

Why return to the Aerie by noon? Two reasons really: Pitt vs Cincinnati and Rutgers vs West Virginia.

The first was a high scoring affair with Cincinnati eventually prevailing by virtue of a Pitt missed extra point 45-44. Not much defense there!

The second was a heart breaker if you're an RU fan. The Knights lost to WVU for the 15th consecutive year. The final was 24-21 and there was a lot of defense in this one. Each team had to punt nine times. RU returned one kickoff for a TD. WVU returned one of two interceptions for a TD. Neither team got more than 280 yards of offense. Noel Devine got 65 yards rushing for the Mountaineers--the same amount as the entire RU running squad. Tom Savage got sacked five times for minus 33 yards on the ground.

Both games were played on sloppy fields with rain, sleet and snow falling throughout.

West Virginia will be going to the Gator Bowl to be played on January 1st. Rutgers is also bowl-bound but we'll probably have to wait until Sunday night to find out where.

******

Speaking of snow.... We got our third measurable amount of snow here at the Aerie. It started son after I got back to the house after my morning hunt. A fine, light snow fell all afternoon yielding one to two inches by dark. It looks like it's stopped now, but it continues from a short distance east of here to the eastern seaboard. All afternoon, the temperatures fell slowly so that it is now 25 degrees.

Some one pointed out on TV today, that Houston, TX had two inches of snow before Syracuse, NY. Then again, there are towns on the shores of Lake Erie that have had over a foot of lake effect snow. Go figure.

Interesting...

2009-12-04T10:26:00.002-05:00

ADDED: The End of the Line for Climate Hysteria? Read the whole thing.

Heh?

2009-12-03T16:03:00.003-05:00

The AGW meme must be imploding big time:

Gore cancels on Copenhagen lecture – leaves ticketholders in a lurch

Or maybe Gore just didn't want the whole thing to be snowed out.

Remember, this is the man with a Nobel Prize and an Oscar for his hype work and a bank vault full of weregelt from his proselytizing. This is also the man who has said repeatedly that "the science is settled" and refuses to debate any one of the many, many scientists who believe he is in error.

Thank goodness for Florida 2000!

(as seen at Watt's Up With That)

Oh my!

2009-12-02T20:50:00.003-05:00

Under the heading of "Be careful what you wish for..."

Antarctica may heat up dramatically as ozone hole repairs, warn scientists

The hole in the Earth's ozone layer has shielded Antarctica from the worst effects of global warming until now, according to the most comprehensive review to date of the state of the Antarctic climate. But scientists warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by around 3C on average, with melting ice contributing to a global sea-level increases of up to 1.4m.

Let me first say that I sincerely doubt that the ice cap will melt if the average temperature rises just 3 degrees C. It will still be freakin' cold! They don't get many days above 0 degrees C on Antarctica but they get an awful lot of them at minus 20 and minus 30 degrees C.

My second thought is if the temperature did rise, wouldn't that allow for more evaporation and eventually precipitation? The place is a desert now getting only a meager amount of snow each year. More precipitation would mean more snow replacing the melting ice on the edges of the continent.

Third, wasn't it just a few short years ago that scientist screamed that we had to do something to shrink the ozone hole or we would all fry under the sun's brutal UV rays?

Yeah, I thought so.

A perfect example of why no one should be jumping to "do something" about AGW. Which doesn't exist. Or any global warming which hasn't existed for the last 11 years picture of polar bears on ice floes or not.

Repeat after me: There is no AGW

2009-12-02T20:15:00.005-05:00

Oh for crying out loud! Let's just call these: "Stuck on Stupid!"

Boxer: Hackers should face criminal probe over 'Climategate'
This in response to a call by Sen. Inhofe to investigate the scientists for possible fraud since they 1) fudged data, 2) destroyed the original data, 3) violated FOI laws, 4) apparently trashed the peer review process, etc., etc., etc.

Sen. Kerry sees 'definite Republican votes' for climate change legislation
(But he's not naming names. sounds like a strawman to me. "They" will vote for it so you should to.)

Obama Science Adviser Urges Climate Action Amid Uproar

The adviser, John Holdren, said scientists generally are capable of defensiveness, bias and "misbehavior." But he said the meaning of some of the statements in the emails isn't clear, and that the significance of others has been exaggerated.

Human activity is "beyond any reasonable doubt" the primary cause of warming temperatures, Mr. Holdren said.

Mr. Holdren's comments drew a unanimously supportive response from Democrats

I guess there's too much power and money to let a little thing like fraudulent "science" get in the way.

******

Perhaps the folks still clinging bitterly to their AGW should listen to some real scientists. This is especially true for Senators Kerry and Boxer as well as Carol Browner (one of Omaba's czars dealing with global warming) who has said she will stick with the 2500 scientists promoting Anthropogenic Global Warming. Most of whom have either direct connections to the East Anglia Climate Research Unit or who have used the same fudged data.

Flawed climate data

Steve [McIntyre] and I [Ross McKitrick] showed that the mathematics behind the Mann Hockey Stick were badly flawed, such that its shape was determined by suspect bristlecone tree ring data. Controversies quickly piled up: Two expert panels involving the U.S. National Academy of Sciences were asked to investigate, the U.S. Congress held a hearing, and the media followed the story around the world.

The expert reports upheld all of our criticisms of the Mann Hockey Stick, both of the mathematics and of its reliance on flawed bristlecone pine data. One of the panels, however, argued that while the Mann Hockey Stick itself was flawed, a series of other studies published since 1998 had similar shapes, thus providing support for the view that the late 20th century is unusually warm. The IPCC also made this argument in its 2007 report. But the second expert panel, led by statistician Edward Wegman, pointed out that the other studies are not independent. They are written by the same small circle of authors, only the names are in different orders, and they reuse the same few data climate proxy series over and over.

Go read the whole thing for a clearer definition of "circle jerk."

CLIMATE CHANGE 'FRAUD'

THE scientific consensus that mankind has caused climate change was rocked yesterday as a leading academic called it a “load of hot air underpinned by fraud”.

Professor Ian Plimer condemned the climate change lobby as “climate comrades” keeping the “gravy train” going.

Professor Plimer wrote Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, The Missing Science wherein he goes into great detail as to what the climate "experts" missed in their investigation into global warming as they rushed to pronounce it "Anthropogenic" (man-made) in nature and that "the science is settled." (BTW Professor Plimer freely admits the Earth has warmed over the last 18,000 years and, more specifically since around 1800 AD. That's what happens after an ice age.)

Aerie Report, December 2, 2009

2009-12-02T19:01:00.003-05:00

There's not much to report on at the Aerie.

I've been watching them make progress on the three windmills across the way. They got one of them up and running early this afternoon. Wouldn't know it was spinning if you weren't watching it. Totally silent as far as I can tell. A second was turned to face the wind but it hadn't yet been let loose to do it's thing yet. Both have blinking red light to ward of any planes stupid enough to be flying that low. Still, the blades reach some 75 feet above the lights. I imagine all three will be churning out the watts by tomorrow night. Most of those alone the ridge east of here and into Bradford County are already online.

I spent part of the day composing our annual Christmas letter while Terry has been addressing the cards. They'll get into the mail in the next day or so. We've already received one card from an old girlfriend of Terry's.

******

An hour with the Kitchen Aid yesterday turned out ten pounds of ground venison for the freezer. It's remarkable lean meat since the deer, unlike the cow, stores its fat beneath the skin and isn't marbled like beef. Tastes great in spaghetti sauce or in tacos but it makes a poor hamburger without more fat.

Add the ten pounds of stew meat chunks, all the steaks, fillets and roasts and we could live high on the buck for quite a while.

******

Terry has a follow-up mammogram tomorrow over at the hospital in Sayre. They'll take a second look at a small lump they found and investigated six months ago and determine a course of treatment if any is necessary.

******

It's been around 40 degrees all day with a leaden sky for much of the time. Rain finally started falling around 4:30 PM and will last much of the night. The guy on the boob tube says it will be heaviest around 4 AM but will end before 7 AM. Then the temperatures will drop...again...into the 30s for the rest of the week.

******

I'll be headed back into the workshop tomorrow to work on another wooden quilt square. I hope I cut the strips to the right width this time since I don't have any spare wood to use if I goofed. When the square is done, I might turn to the scroll saw to do some patterns I've got for ornaments/hangers. That is, if I don't grab the rifle to hit the woods in hopes of filling my doe tag.

******

Speaking of hunting. Things have really quieted down from opening Monday. Hardly any shots were heard today. I guess that's to be expected since the kids are back in school and the dads are probably going back to work for a few days. I know the number of guys at the camp down the hill has decreased and the deer (or was it two?) they had on their meat pole has (have?) disappeared. I expect Saturday will be another big day as will a week from Saturday which is the final day of the season.

******

Well, that's about all I got on the home front for now.

I don't watch TV, but...

2009-12-02T17:05:00.002-05:00

Jon Stewert on Climategate

If you've lost Jon Stewert, you've lost the battle.

Just say no to Copenhagen and Cap and Tax

BCS Ranks Post Week 13

2009-12-01T14:57:00.002-05:00

The BCS Ranks after Week 13 show little change at the top. Georgia Tech and Pitt dropped out of the Top 10 as might be expected after their losses over the weekend. The Top 3 solidified their positions going into the big showdown between #1 and #2 this week. That leaves #4 TCU and #5 Cincinnati with little to no chance of getting into a National Title game. I mean, either Florida or Alabama is in--unless they manage to play to a tie with a negative score or a jihadist blows up both team busses prior to the game. As for Texas? The Longhorns play Nebraska for the Big 12 Championship. The Cornhuskers may have been able to corral the Buffaloes of Colorado last week, but the Longhorn is a whole ‘nother critter. Unless there's a lot of swine flu on the Texas campus this week, they will play for the National Title against the SEC Champ.

1 Florida 0.987

2 Alabama 0.951

3 Texas 0.928

4 TCU 0.869

5 Cincinnati 0.855

6 Boise State 0.81

7 Oregon 0.734

8 Ohio State 0.688

9 Iowa 0.603

10 Georgia Tech 0.581

11 Penn State 0.55

12 Virginia Tech 0.538

13 LSU 0.514

14 Brigham Young 0.439

15 Pittsburgh 0.41

16 Oregon State 0.407

17 Miami (Fla.) 0.384

18 Southern California 0.357

19 California 0.239

20 Oklahoma State 0.225

21 Houston 0.22

22 Nebraska 0.149

23 West Virginia 0.14

24 Stanford 0.12

25 Utah 0.071

Week 14 Top 25 (more or less) and their opponents

2009-12-01T14:08:00.002-05:00

Heading into Week 14 (and the final week except for the Army-Navy Game) we see lots of shifting around in the rankings once you get past those in the top 6 teams—which all remain undefeated. That, at least will change when #1 Florida plays #2 Alabama Oklahoma State (now #22 from #11) and Clemson (now #25 down from #15) fell the most after big upsets last week. Both have a chance to redeem themselves against higher ranked opponents this week. Lots of conference titles on the line this week, too, as well as bowl slots. Should be some good football on store. (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 13. Team records are those after week 13 play.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (12-0) The Gators play #2 Alabama for the SEC title.

2/3/3 (2/3/3) Alabama (12-0) The Crimson Tide squares off against #1Flroida in the SEC Championship game.

3/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (12-0) The Longhorns will play #21 Nebraska (9-3) for the Big 12 title.

4/4/4 (4/4/4) TCU (12-0) DONE

5/5/5 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (11-0) The Bearcats play at #14 Pittsburgh (9-2) on Saturday.

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (12-0) The Broncos will play New Mexico State (3-9) on the Blue Rug on Saturday.

7/8/8 (10/10/10) Oregon (9-2) The Ducks host #13 Oregon State (8-3) on Thursday night.

8/7/7 (9/8/9) Ohio State (10-2) DONE

9/10/9 (13/13/11) Iowa (10-2) DONE

10/9/10 (12/11/12) Penn State (10-2) DONE

11/11/14 (14/14/18) Virginia Tech (9-3) DONE

12/12/11 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-2) The Yellow Jackets play Clemson (8-4) for the ACC title.

13/16/18 (16/18/20) Oregon State (8-3) The Beavers play at #7 Oregon (9-2) on Thursday night.

14/15/16 (8/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-2) The Panthers will host #5 Cincinnati (11-0) on Saturday.

15/14/17 (17/17/22) LSU (9-3) DONE

16/13/12 (18/15/15) Brigham Young (10-2) DONE

17/17/15 (19/21/19) Miami (Fla.) (9-3) DONE

18/18/21 (25/20/NA) Houston (10-2) The Cougars face East Carolina (8-4) for the Conference USA title.

19/22/13 (21/NA/NA) California (8-3) The Golden Bears play at Washington (4-7) Saturday evening.

20/19/24 (24/22/NA) Southern California (8-3) The Trojans host Arizona (7-4) on Saturday.

21/20/19 (NA/23/24) Nebraska (9-3) The Cornhuskers face #3 Texas (12-0) for the Big 12 title.

22/21/NA (11/12/13) Oklahoma State (9-3) DONE23/24/23 (NA/NA/NA) Stanford (8-4) DONE

24/23/NA (NA/NA/NA) West Virginia (8-3) The Mountaineers play at Rutgers (8-3) at noon on Saturday.

25/NA/NA (15/16/16) Clemson (8-4) The Tigers face #12 Georgia Tech for the ACC title.

NA/25/NA (22/19/23) Utah (9-3) DONE

NA/NA/20 (NA/NA/25) Northwestern (8-4) DONE

NA/NA/22 (NA/NA/NA) Wisconsin (8-3) The Badgers play at Hawaii (6-6) this weekend.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Central Michigan (10-2) The Chippewas host Ohio (9-3) in the Mid American Championship Game Friday night.

On a side note:
Thus far only Eastern Michigan (0-12) has failed to achieve even one victory in the 2009 season. The Eagles hardly soared as they are ranked 119 out of 120 in the CBSSports120 rankings.

Number 120? That would be Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The Hilltoppers have one more chance for a "W" as they host the 3-and-8 Arkansas State Red Wolves in their final game of the season on Saturday. As Chris Berman says on ESPN, “Everyone deserves at least one win. No one should go 0-for-the-season.” (I’m paraphrasing there.) Let’s go Hilltoppers!

Who Dat!

2009-12-01T10:48:00.001-05:00

Can any team stop the Saints? It sure didn't look like it last night! If my hearing didn't deceive me, I thought I heard the announcers say that there have been 19 (!) different guys to score for the Saints this year. NINETEEN! That's an amazing number. Yet they have no runner who has come close to rushing for 1,000 yards (Pierre Thomas leads with 648) or receiver close to 1,000 yards (Marques Colston has 808 yards and may make that 1K mark in the final five games). They currently rank #1 in rush defense and #31 in pass defense (probably because their opponents can't run and are usually way behind) for a #22 ranking in over all defense. But offensively...ah, offensively they are #2 in rushing offense and #5 in passing offense for a combined ranking of #1, baby.

So we now have two teams that are 11-0. While the Indy Colts have had some cardiac finishes, the closest any one has come to beating the Saints was in game 9 when the St. Louis Rams came within five points 28-23 thanks to three New Orleans' turnovers.

Atlanta at 6-5 and Dallas at 8-3 are the only teams remaining on the Saints schedule with a winning record at this time. They beat Atlanta on November 2 by a score of 35-27 in the Dome. They play in Atlanta on the 13th. The play Dallas in New Orleans on the 19th. They also play Washington (3-8) and Carolina (4-7) on the road while hosting the 1-10 Tampa Bay Bucs.

The Colts host 5-6, but red hot, Tennessee next week and then 7-4 Denver a week later. They're on the road for 6-5 Jacksonville, at home for the 5-6 Jets and then on the road to finish against 4-7 Buffalo Bills on January 3rd. Anything could happen but don't wager too heavily against Payton Manning and his peeps in any of these games. They have shown an ability to be stretched without ever really snapping.

Could we have two teams at 16-0 going into the playoffs? Maybe, but this is the NFL and on any given Sunday....

Aerie Report, December 1, 2009

2009-12-01T09:46:00.003-05:00

Welcome to December!

I'm glad I got my deer yesterday morning. Not only were there more hunters afield than today (based upon the number of shots I heard between 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM) but the temperature has dropped like the proverbial stone. It was a rainy 45 degrees when I left the Aerie at 6:45 Am yesterday. Today it was a mere 30 degrees at that hour with very light snow flurries. It seems the temperature began dropping about the same time I was bent over and field dressing my buck. It got down into the mid to low 30s as I was boning out the meat.

******

After the venison gets ground and packaged this morning, I'll have to get back into the workshop to finish one more quilted square for Christmas. Then it will be time to put the finishing touches on the basement steps, frame the utility room door, put up the trim around the chair rail in the basement, build a shelf/closet or two in the laundry room, and do a myriad number of little items here and there. (If one thing is certain, the shelf/closets in the laundry room will get built around the freezer. No way am I going to move that thing for awhile!)

******

Speaking of venison and freezer...In order to make room for all that fresh meat, Terry pulled out a loaf of zucchini bread for today's breakfast and a package of pork spare ribs for dinner today and--based upon the size of the package--tomorrow. That spare rib pack sure looks good to eat, but they sure don't come in nice, neat rectangles now, do they?

I'll try to help out with the space problem by pulling out a bag of blue berries for cereal and ice cream topping. And another half gallon (more or less--mostly less) of ice cream will get moved tot he fridge freezer for consumption.

A long day...but worth it.

2009-11-30T20:18:00.005-05:00

I'm sitting here watching Monday Nite Football (GO SAINTS!) and icing my knee after one very long day.

Up at 5:30 Am this morning and out at 6:45 after breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. The rain started at 6:30 causing me to change my attire at the last minute. With long johns, first layer of pants and shirt, second layer of warm coat and hat, then a rain pants and coat layer topped by a camo-orange vest. I felt like the Michelin Tire Man. slow walk up the hill in the early twilight carrying a backpack, a stool and my .270 took nearly half an hour. (I have got to work out more!)

I sat down in the rain at 7:00 AM and spent the next hour watching the fog blow in from the northwest. Up the slope and in my face. The fog lifted just after 8 AM and the wind shifted slightly so as to come out of the northwest. Still in my face but now and an angle. The rain continued, however, so that there would be no help hearing any approaching deer.

At 8:30 AM I caught a movement to my right directly under the white pine where I had hung my bow stand last year. A buck! But he was moving fast down the hill--not running like a thoroughbred, more like a trotter. He was going down that hill as if he had a date with destiny. It wasn't with me! I tried to get my rifle up and made a bleating sound to stop his progress just as I've seen them do on the Outdoor Channel's hunting shows. It worked! He stopped--behind a clump of trees. And that was all she wrote. Once he started moving again, he had no desire to slow down--or come out in the open. Five minutes later, on the hillside across the way, there was a single BOOM! and that buck may have met his destiny.

My first thought was, "Oh no! Not again." Last year I let one walk because it was a young spike and you need at least three points on one side for a buck to be legal. Moments later: BOOM! Then I missed two shots on a larger buck at just 70 yards only to hear: BOOM! along his projected path a few minutes later.

My second thought was, "Shoot! I did get to see a couple of deer last year and it's only 8:30! Plenty of time." So I took out my clippers and cleared a few small beech trees to better clear my shooting lanes before sitting down to watch and wait.

At 9:30, in exactly the same spot, cam a deer that could have been the first ones twin except that it was slightly lighter in color milk chocolate to the others dark chocolate. It looked to have the required points...barely. I flipped off the safety, and removed the caps from my scope. Managed to find the deer in the scope and watched as he went behind the same clump of trees as the 8:30 buck. Only, instead of going directly down the slope and into the thickest brush, this one veered to his left and began to traverse the slope 40 yards below me. I settled the scope on his shoulder as he stepped into a clear spot--now easily available because of my earlier clipping--and then bleated to stop him. And it worked again! I squeezed the trigger. The deer arched his back which told me he was hit. Then he bolted down the hillside. As I watched, he took two, three bounds and went ass over antlers! I found him laying two yards off the ATV/skidway that leads back to the Aerie in about 300 yards.

I checked his horns and was relieved to see that there were, in deed, three points on his left side and a broken off nub on the right that would have made him a five point if it were still intact. I don't know what this deer had been rubbing his antlers on, but it must have been oak, hickory or ironwood. None of the tips were pointed and, as I said, one was broked off close to the main beam.

My second thought, after elation that he was legal, centered around the hard work now ahead of me. First I had to field dress the deer. Then it had to be dragged out to the Aerie's yard. I would then skin and bone out the meat. Finally, the boned meat would be cut into steaks, roasts, fillets, tenderloins, stew meat and chop meat. Oy! What have I gotten myself into?

My first PA deer. There are three points on the
right antler (the deer's left). Trust me on that.

I worked from 11:30 until 5:30 to complete the butchering job. (I really need to take a class or something.) Okay, I still have to grind up the chunks to be used for chop meat...if I can't talk Terry into doing it.

I've been told I can't go out and shoot a doe. There's no room in the freezer with all the blue berries and string beans in there. I might agree with that considering the amount of work involved to butcher the deer. Then again, there are several butchers in the area who will do the hard work for a modest fee.

BTW: Thanks for all those who were wishing me luck. It worked!

PA Deer Season

2009-11-29T18:19:00.004-05:00

Monday is the opening of the firearms deer season here in PA. Local schools are closed in this clinger territory and all the hunting camps are filled. So, of course, the weather is iffy at sunrise. A little rain, a little snow. I'll be out early anyway. If need be I'll be out until after dark.

Did a bit of a walk about yesterday to pick the spot I will be sitting. (I didn't put the tree stand up--yet--and will sit on the ground on a stool as I did last year. My spot has a good view of the hillside as well as the driveway and logging skidway they created this summer. That path, the skidway, follows the path of the buck I had a shot at last year. Hopefully a buck or doe will use this easy trail tomorrow.

On my walk I did see a couple of fresh rubs. Two of them were directly beneath the white pine I used for my tree stand during last year's bow season. My knee (plus the porch rebuild and attempts for an Adirondack deer) prevented me from doing any bow hunting this year.

I'm still trying to decide if I shout take the .270 or the slug gun for an outing tomorrow. The slug gun will be chambered with Lightfield slugs. One-and-a-half ounces of lead that shoots relatively flat for 100-125 yards. It laughs at tiny twigs. And with the scope, I'm more than willing to give it a go. None of my shots should be more than 100 yards. The .270 failed me last year when the bullet clipped a beech branch but it is capable of reaching out a bit further.

A Scientific Experiment

2009-11-29T17:29:00.002-05:00

Experiments

Step three of the Scientific Method is to perform an experiment to test your Hypothesis. That sounds easy but it is anything but. To have a valid test you must control all but one of the variables. In the laboratory and for a basic experiment that may be possible but once you’ve opened the door and gone into the real world it can get complicated very, very quickly.

Let’s say you wanted to test the Hypothesis: “Increased temperature will cause Joshua trees to grow more robustly as measured by the thickness of the rings in the trunk at chest height.”

First you must control for all the things that might affect the growth of the tree: water, amount of sunlight, gases in the air, nutrients in the ground, organisms in the ground, etc. In the lab you might be able to start with a closed cabinet in which you’ve placed a sterile loam soil. Controlled amounts of nutrients (fertilizer) could be provided. Controlled amount of water could be provided. The amount of “sunlight” can be controlled by artificial lights. The very air within the cabinet can be controlled by hermetically sealing the dang thing. Make ten or more of these cabinets all of them identical in content. Use genetically identical seeds or cuttings of the tree species to be tested. NOW you can vary the temperature in each of those cabinets so each is, say two degrees C different ranging from 0 degrees C on up to 20 degrees C. To ensure things are truly like the natural world, you turn all the temperatures down in all the cabinets to -5 degrees C for six months out of every twelve.

Oops, better do three of each--just in case.

So you’ve got 36 or so identical cabinets in which everything is identical except the temperature. There are three that are at 0 degrees C, three at 2 degrees C, three at 4 degrees C, etc., etc., up to three at 20 degrees C. Easy.

Now all you have to do is monitor your cabinets for a couple of years for your trees to grow several new rings. Then you take core samples from each tree (or cut them in half to take a disk out) at chest height and measure the thickness of those rings. Did the trees produce thicker rings (more growth) at higher temperatures?

Regardless of your results, you submit your paper describing your experiment and its results to a peer reviewed journal so others can examine your work and duplicated it if they so desire.

That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Now, take your experiment outside. Can you control the numerous variables? Unlikely. The genetic variability in the trees alone is a problem. Add the variability of soils, sunlight, yearly differences in precipitation, disease and insect infestation, etc. and you’ve got one heck of a head ache.

Yet that is precisely what some of the scientists at the Climate Research Unit have tried to do in reverse. They are trying to say that increased growth in tree rings is indicative of higher temperatures. (Or, conversely, smaller growth rings are indicative of colder temperatures.) From this they have constructed a computer model to predict the future.

The problem is, as I understand it, they have used a small sample of trees from a limited number of very localized sites. A group of trees, it must be noted, that confirms their hypothesis when certain “corrections” have been made. (Larger samples were available and other researchers have used them to refute the hypothesis.) And they then produced a computer model that can’t account for recent past temperatures. Oops!

UPDATE: About those computer models: Climategate Computer Codes Are the Real Story

"I think there’s a good reason the CRU didn’t want to give their data to people trying to replicate their work.

It’s in such a mess that they can’t replicate their own results."

The Scientific Method

2009-11-29T15:29:00.004-05:00

When I was teaching high school and middle school science we would introduce again and again the Scientific Method. This is the Bible of How To for anyone who would be a scientist. It consists of six steps:

1-Start with an observation that evokes a question.
2-Using logic and previous knowledge, state a possible answer, an “educated guess,” called a Hypothesis.
3-Perform an experiment or Test.
4-Then publish your findings in a peer-reviewed journal. Publication/sharing.
5-Other scientists read about your experiment and try to duplicate it. Verification or falsification.
6-In time, and if experiments continue to support your hypothesis, it becomes a Theory.

We drilled this into our students year after year.

What is so disturbing in the leaked emails and data of the AGW crowd working out of the Climate Research Unit at University of East Anglia is that they have ignored or subverted several of these basic steps.

They subverted step #3 with faked and cherry-picked data. They ignored data that didn’t fit their predetermined desired outcome.

While they published their results in peer-reviewed publications (#4), they worked to control who their peers were and actively worked to squash any editor who had the temerity to disagree with them or even publish opposing, critical works. They violated the law (Freedom of Information Act) by stonewalling those who wanted to examine the original data and methods.

Further, it has become impossible to duplicate the work of the CRU crowd because they now say they have “lost” or discarded the original data they used. (Steps #4 and #5.) Without these crucial steps, the premise of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) remains an untested Hypothesis, that is, an educated guess, at best.

With these flaws in their methodology, we are asked to believe “the science is settled” and we “must act now.” We are asked to wreck an already staggering economy. We are asked by these jerks to just “trust us.”

Follow the money. Millions of dollars in grant money went down this wormhole. Much of it from organizations or governments that want to don the mantle of power and control. Saying AGW doesn't exist was not an option of these "scientists" want to keep raking in the dough. They sold their souls.

UPDATE 1: "...the worst scientific scandal of our generation"

UPDATE 2: Leaked e-mails suggest climate experts rigged data
"[Professor Phil] Jones, according to the disclosures, has collected about $22.6 million in research grants since 1990, a money pit that could -- and should -- dry up with the disclosure of the deception by him and his co-conspirators."

UPDATE 3: Why I think that Michael Mann, Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf should be barred from the IPCC process
Eduardo Zorita, November 2009 "Short answer: because the scientific assessments in which they may take part are not credible anymore."

Week 13 Results

2009-11-29T14:32:00.005-05:00

WOW! A lot of good food this last weekend and some unbelievable football. Auburn came t-h-i-s close to beating Alabama but the rest of the undefeated teams didn’t have a problem extending their unbeaten strings. The same cannot be said for those teams ranked #7 on down—21 teams in all. There were six big upsets. That’s a huge number when you consider how many teams didn’t play (7). (The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are those going into week 13. Team records are those after week 13 play.)

1/1/1 (1/1/1) Florida (12-0) hosts Florida State (6-6). Tim Tebow threw for three TDs and ran for another two as the Gators dominated the Seminoles 37-10. Next week pits #1 vs #2 in the SEC Championship Game.

2/3/3 (2/3/3) Alabama (12-0) at Auburn (7-5) on Friday afternoon. The Tigers nearly pulled off the unthinkable but their 21-20 lead disappeared when the Tide scored a TD with 1:24 remaining. Next up for the Tide is a date with Florida for the SEC title.

3/2/2 (3/2/2) Texas (12-0) at Texas A&M (6-6) on Thursday night. The Longhorns had all they could do to defeat the Aggies 49-39. Neither team seemed to have brought their defense. Next up for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns is the Big 12 Championship Game against Nebraska.

4/4/4 (4/4/4) TCU (12-0) hosts New Mexico (1-11). The Horned Toads stomped all over the Lobos 51-10 as Andy Dalton threw for four TDs. Now they sit back and watch the three teams ahead of them to see if they’ll get a chance at a national title.

5/5/5 (5/5/5) Cincinnati (11-0) host Illinois (3-8) on Friday afternoon. Tony Pike returned to action for the Bearcats and tossed six (6!) TD passes as Cincinnati scored 35 points in the first half on their way to a 49-36 win over Illinois. Mardy Gilyard scored three TDs, one on a 90-yard kickoff return and two on Pike passes, for the Bearcats. Juice Williams threw for 3 TDs and ran for another for the Illini. Defense? We don’t need no stinkin’ defense?

6/6/6 (6/6/6) Boise State (12-0, 7-0 in conf.) host high-scoring Nevada (8-4, 7-1 in conf.) Friday night in a game that will likely determine the WAC Champion. Playing in a heavy, cold rain on the blue rug of Boise, the Broncos jumped out to a massive early lead and held on to defeat the Wolfpack 44-33. Titus Young returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a Bronco TD and Kellen Moore threw for five (5) TDs for the Broncos. Three of those tosses went to stand-in fullback Dan Paul who had caught just one pass prior to this game. These were his only three catches of the night and totaled just 22 yards.

7/7/7 (7/7/7) Georgia Tech (10-2) hosts Georgia (7-5). UPSET! The Bulldogs ran and ran and ran over the Yellow Jackets 30-24. Freshman Washaun Ealey had 183 yards and Caleb King added 166 and two TDs as Georgia racked up 339 yards on the ground. Still, Georgia Tech will be playing next week in the ACC Championship against Clemson—which also lost on Saturday.

8/9/8 (8/9/8) Pittsburgh (9-2) at West Virginia (8-3) Friday night. UPSET! WVU pulled out the upset 19-16 with a last second field goal by their red shirt freshman place kicker, Tyler Bitancurt. Noel Devine had a TD run of 82 yards for the Mountaineers. Devine finished the night with 134 yards on 17 carries. Dion Lewis had 166 yards on the ground for the Panthers.
9/8/9 (9/8/9) Ohio State (10-2) DONE

10/10/10 (16/16/11) Oregon (9-2) BYE

11/12/13 (12/13/16) Oklahoma State (9-3) at Oklahoma (7-5). UPSET! 27-0. The Sooners fenced in the Cowboys permitting only 109 yards of offense by their in-state rivals.

12/11/12 (13/12/12) Penn State (10-2) DONE

13/13/11 (15/15/11) Iowa (10-2) DONE

14/14/18 (16/16/21) Virginia Tech (9-3) at Virginia (3-9). The Hokies trounced the Cavaliers 42-13. It was 14-13 in favor of VT at the half, but Tech scored 28 points in the final 21 minutes. Ryan Williams ran for 183 yards and four TDs giving him 20 for the year and setting a new ACC record for a freshman.

15/16/16 (18/19/19) Clemson (8-4) at South Carolina (7-5). UPSET! The Gamecocks beat their in-state Tigers 34-17 behind Stephen Garcia’s three TD passes. Still, Clemson will play Georgia Tech for the ACC Championship on Saturday.

16/18/20 (20/20/23) Oregon State (8-3) BYE

17/17/22 (10/10/14) LSU (9-3) hosts Arkansas (7-5). After screwing up their time management in last week’s loss to Mississippi, the Tigers got it right on Saturday night. They marched down the field and kicked a game tying field goal with seconds left. Then in over time they settled for another FG and stopped the Razorbacks cold as Alex Tejada missed a 36-yard field goal that could have forced a second OT. Tejada had already made FGs of 47, 35, and 40 yards. Josh Jasper kicked FG of 47, 47, 41 (the tier), and 36 yards for the Tigers.

18/15/15 (19/18/17) Brigham Young (10-2) host #22 Utah (9-3). The Cougars needed overtime to defeat the Utes 26-23 after Utah scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Joe Phillips kicked five FG for Utah including a 40-yard game tier with 29 seconds left.

19/21/19 (21/24/22) Miami (Fla.) (9-3) at South Florida (7-4). The Hurricane blew through the Bulls in a 37-10 rout.

20/25/21 (NA/NA/NA) Mississippi (9-4) at Mississippi State (5-7). UPSET! Anthony Dixon ran for 133 yards setting a school record while QB Chris Relf ran for 131 yards (scoring one TD) and threw for two TDs as the Bulldogs beat the Rebels 41-27.

21/NA/NA (NA/NA/NA) California (8-3) BYE

22/19/23 (23/23/NA) Utah (9-3) at #18 Brigham Young (10-2). The Utes came from way back in regulation only to lose to the Cougars in OT 26-23.

23/24/17 (NA/25/20) North Carolina (8-4) at North Carolina State (5-7). UPSET! The Wolfpack took down the Tar Heels in a 28-27 nail biter. A blocked field goal attempt with five minutes to play helped preserve the victory.

24/22/NA (22/21/NA) Southern California (8-3) host UCLA (6-6). The Trojans were winning 21-7 with 90 seconds to go and they took a knee to kill the clock. Only the Bruins wouldn’t let them. They called a time out. So USC threw for another TD making it 28-7 which is how it ended. It’s called a rivalry for a reason.

25/20/NA (24/22/NA) Houston (10-2) host Rice (2-10). The Cougars scored on each of its seven possessions in the first half and went into the locker room with a 59-0 advantage. The final was 73-14. Case Keenum completed 25 of 31 for 323 yards and two TDs. Keenum also ran for one before giving way to second stringer Cotton Turner at the start of the second half. Turner was 8 for 10 and 112 yards and one TD. Third-stringer Austin Elrod was 3 for 6 for 28 yards but no scores. Houston had 684 yards in offense while Rice racked up 377 yards. The three Rice INTs didn’t help. Houston will play Saturday against East Carolina in the Conference USA Championship game. The Pirates better bring cutlasses.

NA/23/24 (NA/NA/NA) Nebraska (9-3) at Colorado (3-9). The Buffaloes had 20 first downs to the Cornhuskers 14. The Buffs had 403 yards of offense to the Huskers 217. BUT (there’s always a “but”) the score board read Nebraska 28, Colorado 20 when the final whistle blew thanks to a punt return for a TD by the Huskers’ Niles Paul and an interception return for a TD by Husker Matt O’Hanlon.

NA/NA/25 (NA/NA/NA) Northwestern (8-4) DONE

Give it to me Straight!

2009-11-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas is coming! (Ready or not!)

For your first day of Advent listening. Enjoy.

Gentlemen, gentlemen...tsk, tsk.

2009-11-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

I've a bone to pick--okay, TWO bones to pick--with the ESPN announcers doing the WEst Virginia vs Pittsburgh game yesterday. They h=kept harping on the fact that Dion Lewis, freshman running back for Pitt, did not get many scholarship offers comming out of Blair Academy in New Jersey. They kept saying it was in "southern New Jersey." They also mentioned several times that he did not get an offer from Rutgers even after he hand delivered his highlights tape to the Scarlet Knights.

A note to the ESPN announcers/staff: Blair Academy (Dion Lewis’ Alma Mater) is NOT in “southern New Jersey.” It is, in fact, in the northwest corner of the state. You can check out their homepage here: Blair Academy. You might want to check out their map and directions. Oh, and look at their football competition while you're at it. They don’t exactly play any powerhouses which might be why Dion didn’t get many offers. Next time Google it. Okay?

Oh, and Rutgers, a team you mentioned as having turned down Lewis, has three (3!) excellent running backs who are either sophomores or freshman. Sophomore Joe Martinek holds the NJ high school records in yards and scoring (7,589 yards and 80 TDs).Red-shirt sophomore Jourdan Brooks out of Maryland. Freshman De’Antwan Williams from Virginia ran for 6,909 yards and 83 TDs in his high school career—6th best in Virginia history. All three have run for 100 yards in a game this year. And that does not include freshman Mohamed Sanu who is officially a WR but runs out of the wildcat. He gained over 100 yards on Friday. Where was Lewis going to fit?

That is all.