Never Too Early To Tailgate

National Signing Day is here!

2012-02-01T08:25:00.000-05:00

Well, the first major milestone on the way to the next football season is here: National Signing Day. You know, that day when all the high-school kiddo's decide where they are going to spend the next 3-5 years making thier case that they too should be morbidly over-paid superstars. Of course once the season does begin and these kiddies start getting real hits and have to live up to very real expectations it really doesn't matter to anyone which school "won" the Signing Day raffle.

But it is fun on this one day, and FSU has a nice page detailing all the signing day hoopla at Signing Day Central.

I have to actually work today (why can't they make signing day on a weekend?) so I won't be actually tailgating for this one, but remember, baseball season is just around the corner and we're already gearing up for PBR-infused good-times (PBR being the official beer of baseball tailgates).

So until then, good luck on signing day, and Go Noles!

Is It OK To Tailgate Before Jury Duty?

2012-01-21T20:11:00.000-05:00

The obvious answer is of course "yes", however you probably don't want to go overboard on the imbibing, just in case you get a zeolous judge. The question arose since I was called for Federal Jury Duty this past week. This is the first time I've actually had to show up, so show up I did Tuesday morning at the Federal Court House downtown. Of course I did try to sway the chances of not getting picked in my favor: I hadn't shaved in a week and my suit jacket was in somewhat need of a good cleaning and pressing. When it came down to it though there was one question that the judge asked that barred me from even the short list: have you ever been a member of the NRA? I was when I was a kid (thanks dad!) and since the case aw an illegal firearms thing I was right out. But not before I managed to get this very blog added to the caes's permanent record!

You see one of the things they now ask is if you have a bog, and if you answer in the affirmative you get asked about the nature of the blog. So when my time came the judge asked what is the topic of my blog and I said tailgating. The judge then wanted to know if I meant following too close or football, so I answered "football, it's NeverTooEarlyToTailgate.com". A bit of laughter may have muffled the URL, but I said it and its right there in the transcript.

So some day, years from now, some poor law student will be reading this case and wonder just what all this NTETTG stuff was about. And if they happen to look us up and this post still happens to be here, let me just say "thanks for stopping in, good luck on the bar exam and, of course, Go Noles!"

Well thanks for nothing Frank and Dabo!

2012-01-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

Can we now all agree that Virginia Tech should not be allowed to represent the ACC in a BCS bowl again for, let's say, at least a decade? And as for Clemson, let's hope its another 30 years before they see the light of a major bowl game again (or maybe we can trade them to another conference in the mean time).

I mean we know, we just KNOW, that The Big Easy (I mean East) is a pitiful conference and doesn't deserve an AQ spot. But how can we say that now after they scored more points than any other team has EVER FREAKIN' SCORED in a bowl game against the ACC Champions?!?!?! I mean, how can we defend that position now that Clemson allowed that to happen? At least Frankie took his team into over-time and lost it because of not having institutional control over his kicking program: the first string VT kicker was arrested, the second string was sent home for breaking curfew (on a freakin' Grey Hound Bus, that I respect), and the guy who was left actually did a pretty good job up to the very end, considering.

Of course this was (maybe) West Virginia's last game as a Big Easy (I mean East) team, as they are (maybe) jumping conference to the Big 12 (or is it 10, or 11, or....I'm not sure I'd be a math major at a school in that conference, or the Big 10, or is it...oh never mind). And let us not forget that next fall the WV Hillbilly's (I mean Mountaineers) come into Da Doak, so based on last night's game should we be worried? I don't think so. I think this was more an indictment on Clemson and less an announcement that WV is a National Champion contender in 2012. And I also feel this was yet another example of Dabo not having any control over his team or his emotions. I mean at one point I thought the guy was going to cry on the sidelines. As a player how can you go out there and play for a cry-baby like that? Come on Dabo, I was so ready to back you and Clemson after you took us to the wood shed and began, I thought, proving your worth, but now, as they (used) to say on Mott Street, fuggetaboutit! You are dead to me Dabo. And now that I think about it, Clemson is scheduled to show its unworthy head in Da Doak next year as well. So we will have a chance to beat both participants of the Orange Crush Bowl. Nice.

Quick reminder, baseball season is quickly approaching. I'm negotiating with A-Red on some early-game tailgates and when we get that more firmed up I'll those one or two dedicated readers know.

Also, I'm working with the monkey's on updating the ranking algorithm, as we get to something remotely viable I"ll try to put a post or two together on where we are.

So until next time, GO NOLES!

Test post from the IPad.

2011-12-23T12:46:00.000-05:00

This is a test post from the new iPad. I hope to be able to use this during the tailgates this next year...and speaking of that, we should be looking to the spring baseball season for some good low-key PBR-infused tailgating pretty soon.

And until then...

Go Noles!

Bowl Game Tickets available

2011-12-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Through our close partnership with the Seminole Boosters we've been able to obtain 4 tickets to the Champs Sports Bowl on December 29 where FSU will battle against Notre Dame. We are able to provide them to our faithful readers at cost ($75 each plus shipping). Please notify me ASAP if you are interested as supplies are very limited (4, like I already said).

And until the bowl: Go Noles!

SDL College Football Rankings Week 14 2011

2011-12-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Well, the football season has come and gone and we're left with a big-redo of what was supposed to be Armageddon in Alabama, but was actually more of an After-thought in Alabama. Oddly enough the SDLCFR puts LSU and Alabama at #1 and #2 as well. I'm still not 100% comfortable with where Houston fell to (I will not speak of what happened during that game).

So, I will run this one last time for the 2011 season after all the bowls have been played, but then in the off season I'm going to work the monkeys over that run the numbers and try to refine Das Formula a little bit more.

And here is the rankings for the last weekend of the season:

SDL College Football Rankings Week 14

RANK	TEAM	INDEX	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.79900412	13	0	0.59800824
2	Alabama	0.7417903	11	1	0.56691394
3	Oklahoma State	0.74172514	11	1	0.56678361
4	Boise State	0.71893548	11	1	0.52120429
5	Stanford	0.71195609	11	1	0.50724551
6	Houston	0.70576334	12	1	0.48844975
7	Virginia Tech	0.702643	11	2	0.55913214
8	South Carolina	0.69849842	10	2	0.5636635
9	Kansas State	0.69790933	10	2	0.56248532
10	Oregon	0.6974124	11	2	0.54867095
11	Michigan	0.69425287	10	2	0.55517241
12	Arkansas	0.69002054	10	2	0.54670775
13	Wisconsin	0.68593883	11	2	0.52572382
14	Southern Cal	0.68496374	10	2	0.53659416
15	TCU	0.67735016	10	2	0.52136698
16	Georgia	0.66971021	10	3	0.57018964
17	Clemson	0.6685338	10	3	0.56783683
18	Southern Miss	0.66778413	11	2	0.48941441
19	Oklahoma	0.66600168	9	3	0.58200337
20	Baylor	0.6654673	9	3	0.58093459
21	Nebraska	0.66530064	9	3	0.58060127
22	Penn State	0.65638336	9	3	0.56276671
23	Michigan State	0.64945557	10	3	0.52968037
24	West Virginia	0.64576192	9	3	0.54152384
25	Arkansas State	0.64160524	10	2	0.44987714

SDL College Football Rankings Week 13 2011

2011-11-28T09:39:00.000-05:00

Whew, I'm glad that game is over. For the second year in a row FSU is State Champs, but in a very ugly way. In any case, here's the latest SDLCFR for you're enjoyment and probable amusement. While the BCS has finally pulled Houston up in the ranks ahead of Boise State, the SDLCFR has pushed them even higher, ahead of those posers from the south west. My prediction is Oklahoma takes care of OK State this weekend, but we'll see. For those wondering, FSU is at #39 in the SDLCFR this week, and UF has fallen to #57.

Until next time, GO NOLES!!!

SDLCFR Week 13

RANK	TEAM	INDEX	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.79229026	12	0	0.58458051
2	Alabama	0.74019311	11	1	0.56371955
3	Houston	0.7332542	12	0	0.4665084
4	Oklahoma State	0.73233327	10	1	0.55557563
5	Virginia Tech	0.72920582	11	1	0.54174498
6	Boise State	0.72841388	10	1	0.54773685
7	Stanford	0.71214905	11	1	0.50763143
8	South Carolina	0.69836638	10	2	0.56339942
9	Michigan	0.69455832	10	2	0.5557833
10	Kansas State	0.69204652	9	2	0.56591123
11	Oregon	0.69169638	10	2	0.55005942
12	Oklahoma	0.69077307	9	2	0.56336433
13	Arkansas	0.6906169	10	2	0.54790046
14	Georgia	0.68873041	10	2	0.54412749
15	Southern Cal	0.68643075	10	2	0.53952816
16	TCU	0.67713824	9	2	0.53609466
17	Michigan State	0.67189555	10	2	0.51045777
18	Wisconsin	0.67164617	10	2	0.509959
19	Nebraska	0.66590415	9	3	0.5818083
20	Penn State	0.65487573	9	3	0.55975147
21	Baylor	0.6537224	8	3	0.58017207
22	Clemson	0.65174479	9	3	0.55348958
23	Southern Miss	0.64763528	10	2	0.46193722
24	Arkansas State	0.64106828	9	2	0.46395474
25	West Virginia	0.63748602	8	3	0.54769931

SDL College Football Rankings Week 12 2011

2011-11-24T09:54:00.001-05:00

Well, now the fun begins. I hope you have already noticed that my top 3 DO NOT fully mirror the BCS or major poll's top 3. Arkansas is way down at #7 in the SDLCFR scheme, and I think that's about right. Arkansas' strength of schedule is significantly lower than OK State or Va Tech, even though they are in what some pundits believe is the strongest division of the strongest conference ever in the history of college football. I was going to say wrongly believed, but then I did some digging using my own algorithm and sure enough that SEC West is one heck of toughy, based on Strength of Schedule of each team.

But, at the end of the day its not strong enough for Arkansas to push itself any higher than 7. And there's my Houston, inching ever closer to an actual BCS Bowl berth, with or without my two cents. If they can beat Tulsa (#29 on the SDLCFR) Saturday they are, based on the BCS Formula (try not to laugh at the phase), they will have to be invited to the grown-up table...nicey nice!

But everyone around these parts will be saddled up ready for the only Big Game that matters, FSU vs UF. For those that care that's a #44 vs #51 SDLCFR match-up. So with that in mind...

Go Noles!!!

Oh, yeah, here's the rankings:

SDLCFR Week 12

RANK	TEAM	RANK	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.78515545	11	0	0.57031091
2	Alabama	0.74009936	10	1	0.57110782
3	Oklahoma State	0.73771484	10	1	0.56633877
4	Virginia Tech	0.72887333	10	1	0.54865576
5	Houston	0.72881549	11	0	0.45763099
6	Boise State	0.72313437	9	1	0.54626875
7	Arkansas	0.71516511	10	1	0.52123931
8	Kansas State	0.69847809	9	2	0.57877436
9	Stanford	0.69725011	10	1	0.48540932
10	Michigan	0.69101786	9	2	0.5638539
11	Oregon	0.68814103	9	2	0.55810023
12	Penn State	0.68698184	9	2	0.55578186
13	South Carolina	0.68677262	9	2	0.55536342
14	Oklahoma	0.68676975	8	2	0.57353951
15	Clemson	0.67927623	9	2	0.54037065
16	Georgia	0.67813462	9	2	0.53808742
17	Southern Cal	0.67651593	9	2	0.53485004
18	TCU	0.67458799	9	2	0.53099415
19	Michigan State	0.6627134	9	2	0.50724499
20	Nebraska	0.6562807	8	3	0.58528867
21	Wisconsin	0.65536594	9	2	0.49255006
22	Baylor	0.65357717	7	3	0.60715433
23	Southern Miss	0.65179426	9	2	0.4854067
24	Arkansas State	0.64109934	9	2	0.46401686
25	Notre Dame	0.63295001	8	3	0.53862729

SDL College Football Rankings Week 11 2011

2011-11-24T09:35:00.001-05:00

Well, that little trip to Germany sure put a stop to my plans for both keeping up to date on the rankings as well as working on the next generations algorithm for the rankings (SDLCFR 2.0 [trademarked, copyrighted, trade-secretes act, etc, etc, etc]).

I think one of the surprises is that my Cinderella Story team, Houston, actually dropped this week, and is now pretty much where the Big Boys have them this week.

I'm not going to pontificate any more on this week since its old and moldy by now, and since as we now know the next week is where the real BCS fun begins!

And even though we know what happened in the FSU game, let me just use a phrase from Germany to send you off:

FSU Uber Alles!!!

SDLCFR Week 11

RANK	TEAM	INDEX	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.79583834	10	0	0.59167667
2	Oklahoma State	0.780852	10	0	0.561704
3	Alabama	0.73364629	9	1	0.56729258
4	Oklahoma	0.73223645	8	1	0.575584
5	Oregon	0.72866297	9	1	0.55732593
6	Virginia Tech	0.72175368	9	1	0.54350736
7	Clemson	0.71998421	9	1	0.53996842
8	Houston	0.71734799	10	0	0.43469597
9	Boise State	0.71472402	8	1	0.54055915
10	Arkansas	0.70634872	9	1	0.51269743
11	Southern Miss	0.69946237	9	1	0.49892473
12	Kansas State	0.69138399	8	2	0.58276798
13	Stanford	0.689448	9	1	0.47889599
14	Nebraska	0.68574188	8	2	0.57148376
15	Penn State	0.68252659	8	2	0.56505317
16	Michigan	0.67922187	8	2	0.55844373
17	South Carolina	0.67570242	8	2	0.55140484
18	TCU	0.67432144	8	2	0.54864289
19	Georgia	0.67206171	8	2	0.54412342
20	Michigan State	0.66899133	8	2	0.53798266
21	Southern Cal	0.66067352	8	2	0.52134704
22	Wisconsin	0.64578303	8	2	0.49156606
23	Arkansas State	0.64349295	8	2	0.48698591
24	Cincinnati	0.63330074	7	2	0.4888237
25	Notre Dame	0.63031627	7	3	0.56063254

Quick update from Miami game

2011-11-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

I'm traveling to Germany today and I won't have time to put up the full post from the so-called "tailgate" or game until later this week. I did want to post a quick link that I think sums up pretty good the issues with the game yesterday, namely the "officials", or as I've heard them called today, the ACC's remedial officials.

Here's the post by Reginald Eller from the Uncounqured Blog

More later this week, and the new Rankings as well, but I'm using German monkeys this week to run it so it should be interesting!

Until then, Go Noles!

A Lion sleeps tonight

2011-11-10T00:08:00.001-05:00

Whatever I may have said about the legitamacy of the last several years of Joe Paterno's head coaching record, I never, remeate NEVER would have wished this end. A-Red and I discussed tonight who, now that Joe Pa is gone (from coaching), is the Head Dean of College Football. What we're now left with is the wishy-washy Frank Beamers and Mack Browns. As of November 10 that's your #1 and #2 active winningest coaches. Think about the coaching icons of the last 40 years: Joe Pa, Bobby, The Bear, Woody, Bo...and who else even touches that icon status? Let's break down those guys fate. Jo Pa, we now know. Bowden, too little too late. Woody, one hit too many. The Bear, one final championship then two months and done. Bo Schembeckler is the only one thus far who left on his own terms and had a decent life after, and now even he's gone.

So while I will not, can not defend the omission of moral responsibility Joe Pa and Penn State exhibited, this does illustrate yet again the theory that Old Coaches, unlike Old Soildersn do not fade away on their own anymore.

SDL College Football Rankings Week 10 2011

2011-11-09T12:22:00.000-05:00

Now things start getting interesting. While the Cinderella Story Houston remained at we know have two one-loss teams ahead of them. After the Lame-Of-The-Century Saturday night Alabama dropped down, although they were NOT sitting at the #2 spot in last weeks SDL Rankings (they were #4!). Based on strength of schedule Oklahoma jumped back into the top 5 and Standford fell to 7. And let me say this about Houston, two other computer rankings have them in the top 10 as well (Colley as #7 and Anderson as #9). The BCS has them at #11 now, so don't be surprised if they sneak into the "offical" top 10 in the next week or so. Will they be a BCS top 5 at the end of the season? Probably not, but it could happen....

RANK	TEAM	INDEX	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.80784332	9	0	0.61568664
2	Oklahoma State	0.78967501	9	0	0.57935003
3	Boise State	0.76077615	8	0	0.5215523
4	Oklahoma	0.73530731	8	1	0.58172573
5	Alabama	0.7315927	8	1	0.57429652
6	Houston	0.72767752	9	0	0.45535504
7	Stanford	0.72704223	9	0	0.45408445
8	Clemson	0.71762387	8	1	0.54635886
9	Virginia Tech	0.71345844	8	1	0.53802799
10	Penn State	0.71333318	8	1	0.53777747
11	Oregon	0.71186216	8	1	0.53483543
12	Arkansas	0.7025287	8	1	0.51616852
13	Southern Miss	0.69962687	8	1	0.51036484
14	Kansas State	0.68515074	7	2	0.5925237
15	Cincinnati	0.67736597	7	1	0.47973195
16	South Carolina	0.66999552	7	2	0.56221327
17	Texas	0.66974795	6	2	0.5894959
18	Nebraska	0.66665282	7	2	0.55552786
19	Michigan	0.66282451	7	2	0.54787124
20	Georgia	0.66125238	7	2	0.54472697
21	Michigan State	0.65604575	7	2	0.53431373
22	Georgia Tech	0.65388312	7	2	0.52998847
23	Southern Cal	0.64933592	7	2	0.52089407
24	TCU	0.64431092	7	2	0.51084407
25	Wisconsin	0.64240677	7	2	0.50703577

SDL College Football Rankings Week 9 2011

2011-11-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

Whoops, I seem to have let a whole week go by without posting the SDL Rankings for Week 9. I can't really blame the monkey's that do the calculations this time since they had it done on time last week. I was on yet another trip to NJ so that's gonna be my excuse.

So without further ado, here are the Week 9 results (quick and dirty with no super formatting, but you'll live):

RANK	TEAM	INDEX	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.78971905	8	0	0.57943811
2	Oklahoma State	0.78392586	8	0	0.56785171
3	Boise State	0.76998299	7	0	0.53996599
4	Alabama	0.76830938	8	0	0.53661875
5	Stanford	0.74256934	8	0	0.48513867
6	Houston	0.73917964	8	0	0.47835927
7	Oklahoma	0.73185273	7	1	0.58870545
8	Clemson	0.72921537	8	1	0.56954185
9	Nebraska	0.72888381	7	1	0.58276762
10	Virginia Tech	0.72273635	8	1	0.5565838
11	Penn State	0.71910463	8	1	0.54932036
12	Kansas State	0.71760839	7	1	0.56021678
13	Michigan	0.71086342	7	1	0.54672684
14	Oregon	0.7030139	7	1	0.53102781
15	South Carolina	0.70228985	7	1	0.5295797
16	Arkansas	0.69735558	7	1	0.51971116
17	Southern Miss	0.68676901	7	1	0.49853801
18	Georgia	0.66264126	6	2	0.57528252
19	Michigan State	0.66255007	6	2	0.57510013
20	Cincinnati	0.66151051	6	1	0.46587817
21	Georgia Tech	0.66003049	7	2	0.54228319
22	Southern Cal	0.65809346	6	2	0.56618692
23	Washington	0.64958799	6	2	0.54917597
24	West Virginia	0.64811758	6	2	0.54623516
25	Texas	0.64754315	5	2	0.58080059

NC State at FSU - October 28, 2011

2011-10-29T21:57:00.002-04:00

As a rule I hate noon games. You have to get the tailgate rolling no later than 9:00AM and even I, under normal circumstances, would say that's too early to drink. But this is a tailgate, and we are Division One Tailgaters, so let's get things started!

Today's starting tailgaters included Pope Thomas, A-Red, Mark and Chelsy and yours truly. We met up as usual at Oscar's West parking lot (Hobbit on Pensacola for the uninitiated few reading this). Very little traffic on the way to Da Doak and very few people in the lots as we arrived. In fact, as you can see from the picture at the top, we were the second car to park in the Booster Lot, and it was at least 9:10 when we got there. Come on people, as we all know, Its Never Too Early To Tailgate!

Pope Thomas decided to put to a vote whether we should put the canopy up or not, even though I pointed out its his tailgate and if he wants it up we'll put it up. He was outvoted, so no canopy. This decision was readdressed later in the morning when it became very evident that the wind was kicking our butts.

Here we have Mark and Chelsy faking a loving moment for the camera. By this time next season they'll have another tailgater, although I doubt she'll be coming to the games for a year or two.

Hey, what's that guy in the background doing...

That's what I thought it was...some idiot with an open flame next to his gas tank! Fortunately they made it through the rest of the tailgate without getting blown up.

Here's Pope Thomas pontificating as usual.

When the team buses pulled up A-Red decided to jump on one and hang out with the team. Here's a couple snapshot of him getting off the bus and walking in to Da Doak with the team.

A-Red and I decided to do another stroll around Da Doak, for two main reasons: a) to get picture for the Tails of the Tailgate page, and 2) to get ideas for bettering our tailgate.

As usual we couldn't go 20 yards without A-Red putting his head in some guys crotch...

I left them alone for a while and when I got back A-Red was getting a back rub from another guy.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium we ran into the WolfPacks truck, in a no-parking zone, of course.

Getting back to the core objectives of our tour, we did find something that we must, MUST, work on for future tailgates: A FULL BAR SETUP! I was very impressed with this groups tailgate. In addition to a well stocked bar (on a bar no less), they also had a generator and a full DishTV setup (although at 10:00AM the only thing worth watching is Game Day).

Moving ever further around Da Doak we started seeing people going into the BaseBall stadium next door, then we heard the Marching Chefs start up, so being the professional investigative journalists that we are we had to follow and see what was up.

What it was was a full Chefs Concert, probably for Parents Weekend. We stayed a little while and hear a couple of tunes, the most impressive of course being the FSU Fight Song.

By this time we were both done with the beverages we'd brought along on our trek around Da Doak and were in dire need of additional fortifications, so we high-tailed it back to the tailgate. Remembering that there was an open flame two cars down (and based on A-Red's actions perhaps even an open flamer at our own tailgate), we decided in the interest of safety we should tag our beverages.

Finally the time had come to pack up our stuff and migrate into Da Doak proper, where FSU finally put a whipping on NC State, 34-0.

So until next time true believers, GO NOLES!

A-Red, The Man, The Myth

SDL College Football Rankings Week 8 2011

2011-10-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

Ranking	Team	Index	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.79284314	8	0	0.58568627
2	Oklahoma State	0.78293135	7	0	0.56586271
3	Clemson	0.77441225	8	0	0.5488245
4	Alabama	0.77431362	8	0	0.54862724
5	Kansas State	0.76995711	7	0	0.53991422
6	Boise State	0.76761642	7	0	0.53523284
7	Houston	0.74051776	7	0	0.48103552
8	Stanford	0.73188854	7	0	0.46377709
9	Virginia Tech	0.72615491	7	1	0.57730982
10	Penn State	0.71584786	7	1	0.55669572
11	Oklahoma	0.71347189	6	1	0.56980093
12	Oregon	0.71074172	6	1	0.56434059
13	Nebraska	0.7025508	6	1	0.54795874
14	Arkansas	0.70172177	6	1	0.54630069
15	Michigan	0.69934885	6	1	0.54155485
16	Southern Cal	0.6987857	6	1	0.54042855
17	South Carolina	0.6953382	6	1	0.53353353
18	Michigan State	0.69363308	6	1	0.5301233
19	Wisconsin	0.68249821	6	1	0.50785356
20	Southern Miss	0.67263244	6	1	0.48812203
21	Texas A&M	0.66532604	5	2	0.61636637
22	Cincinnati	0.66286313	6	1	0.46858341
23	Syracuse	0.65701436	5	2	0.59974301
24	Georgia	0.65637141	5	2	0.5984571
25	Arizona State	0.65489423	5	2	0.59550274

The SDL College Football Rankings Week 7 2011

2011-10-18T21:55:00.001-04:00

So here it is, the first SDL Rankings for 2011. In a pre-emptive rebuttal let me say its still early and the SDL system relys heavily on actual data. I feel most of the potential anomolies of this first run will either be confirmed, or more likely weeded out over the next two weeks.

Probably the biggest outlier in this initial swag is Rutgers. But (and I write this in a room full of big NJ Butts just down the street from Piscataway), let me say "not so fast my friend"! Let us remember that as of today Rutgers does lead the Bigum Easyum, which is still a BCS Automatic Qualifying conference. And I'll point out their only loss is to a UNC team who is probably better than their 5-2 record indicates. But we'll see. The Scarlett Knights do play a lackluster Louisville this week, but they follow that with WVU and USF the following two weeks. So we'll just have to wait and see if the monkeys who crunch the numbers behind the SDL Rankings are on to something, or if they'll just Piscataway.

So, without further merde, here it is, the first official run of my rankings engine for 2011.

Rank	TEAM	RANK	W	L	SS
1	LSU	0.788528433	7	0	0.577056866
2	Oklahoma State	0.787098419	6	0	0.574196838
3	Oklahoma	0.780473497	6	0	0.560946994
4	Clemson	0.773148148	7	0	0.546296296
5	Kansas State	0.77104642	6	0	0.54209284
6	Alabama	0.77037037	7	0	0.540740741
7	Boise State	0.77032802	6	0	0.540656041
8	Houston	0.729933159	6	0	0.459866318
9	Wisconsin	0.727119461	6	0	0.454238921
10	Virginia Tech	0.726977261	6	1	0.596811664
11	Nebraska	0.72622549	5	1	0.619117647
12	Stanford	0.723582211	6	0	0.447164423
13	Penn State	0.717910768	6	1	0.578678679
14	Oregon	0.7161159	5	1	0.598898467
15	Michigan	0.706516858	6	1	0.555890859
16	Arkansas	0.701105442	5	1	0.568877551
17	Rutgers	0.695471666	5	1	0.557609998
18	Illinois	0.694219172	6	1	0.531295488
19	West Virginia	0.693831699	5	1	0.554330065
20	South Carolina	0.692379802	6	1	0.527616747
21	Georgia Tech	0.691648939	6	1	0.526155021
22	Southern Cal	0.678366828	5	1	0.523400323
23	Washington	0.677763191	5	1	0.522193048
24	SMU	0.676350564	5	1	0.519367794
25	Michigan State	0.674561145	5	1	0.515788958

So Much For That

2011-09-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

Well, hmmm. That happened, again. So glad we decided NOT to make the trek back to Clemson this season, it would have been a replay of two years ago, probably complete with the Spanish polka music and hooker that followed Tom into the hotel...but I guess there a silver lining in every cloud.

No tailgate to report about this week since the so-called game was an away debacle, I mean event.

On the Ranking front, I did a run yesterday, but with only four weeks of data its not enough to be meaningful, or even make sense (let's just say it has a certain former Big 12, now Big 10 team as #1). It needs at least one more week in the oven before I'm ready to begin running it for real.

So until next time, GO NOLES!

#1 Oklahoma at #4 FSU - September 17, 2011

2011-09-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

And the weekend we've all been waiting for is finally here.

We kicked things off around 4:00PM at Da Doak. We were a little worried that 4 was too late but it turns out that it was perfect. We didn't get the camp setup quit as quick as the first game, but it was still ready to go in under five minutes. First Order of Bidness was getting the steaks on the fire, which Big Red did in due course. I didn't get any pictures of the mounds of steak and food, primarily because I was too busy testing all of it.

Here's a side view of the tailgate, with Pope Thomas has his pontification point setup close to the grill so he can oversee all important activities.

A view from across Pensacola Street. You may not be able to see it here but the anticipation is at a major breaking point here.

As Big Red and I make plans to do a tour around Da Doak, the Elders huddle into deep conversation about manly things...

As we begin our journey we find this message from Da Gods of Doak, but we are not wise enough to decipher their meaning.

I really don't think this needs anything further, it says it all on its own.

On our journey we discovered two missing elements to our tailgate. The first is we need to get a center piece.

The second is we need to get a LIVE BAND!

Around the side of Da Doak look who we run into...It's Himself! What is he pointing at?

Ah, good eye coach. Its the OU Cheerleaders. Probably the best thing they were able to drag out of Oklahoma.

As we made our way back to base camp we noticed we were walking all over Seminole Legends. Just twenty years short years ago I, uh, "helped" Clay through freshman geography.

Back at the Tailgate Chelsy is pondering what cravings she is currently having and how she can fulfill them.

Jeff and Dani text each other as the final minutes of The Tailgate slip away.

And finally its game-time. Here's the GameDay crew in front of us during half-time.

As for the game itself, well, that happened and we are who we thought we are, almost, but not quit back.

Till next time, Go Noles!

Oh, almost forgot, Note to Da Doak Logistics Crew: you need way more Porta-Potties. (figure it out for yourself, no way I'm elaborating on what these "ladies" are doing).

Better Late Than Never

2011-09-18T11:46:00.000-04:00

I have been off fighting the good fight in Europe (or at least drinking the good drink), and so I missed the September 10 CSU game. However, Big Red did make it and took a few pictures of the game.

At half-time the Marching Chefs did a 9/11 tribute.

Here's the same shot live from the field.

With a keen eye for the dramatic Big Red captures the band with 9:11 left in the show...

As for me I was wondering around SoHo in London knowing I would never find a place that was going to play the game, when what to my wondering eyes did appear but....The Hobbit! Well, its just not the same...

The full London/Germany trip will be detailed at my other blog later this weekend. I will post about yesterday's OU game later today as well.

Till then, Go Noles!

2011-09-05T01:14:00.001-04:00

Test from BB

FSU looses a number, gains a legend

2011-09-04T10:01:00.001-04:00

FSU retired Terrell Buckley's number during half-time of the ULM-FSU game on September 3, 2011. Here's a video from the day.

I remember seeing Buckley play my freshman year at FSU (20 years ago!@?!) He went on to have a great career in the NFL for several teams. Buckley has claimed that while at Green Bay he created the Lambeau Leap, but its creation is traditionally attributed to another FSU great LeRoy Butler.

Here's a full list of the numbers retired by FSU:

Fred Biletnikoff
No. 25 - Wide Receiver
Ron Sellers
No. 34 - Wide Receiver
Ron Simmons
No. 50 - Noseguard
Charlie Ward
No. 17 - Quarterback
Deion Sanders
No. 2 - Cornerback
Warrick Dunn
No. 28 Jersey - Running Back
Chris Weinke
No. 16 - Quarterback 1997-2000

Let's Do This!

2011-09-04T09:08:00.001-04:00

Game 1: University of Louisiana-Monroe at FSU

As B-Red said on FaceBook, "Let's Do This!" (which was itself a quote from Nathan). First TailGate of the year: done!

And it was a good one. We had Bradley's Sausage (mild and hot), and between 8-10 people officially show up.

Here's a view from across Pensacola on the tailgate in full swing. Notice The Doak just behind us.

Here's B-Red and Mark deep in a philosophical discussion about the state of the NCAA.

Two new additions for this year, Clet and Heather King.

Pope Thomas providing some guidance on B-Red's grilling techniques.

And let the sausage dog eating begin!

Going all Todd-AO, a full view of the tailgate in full session.

Pope Thomas pontificates from his perch.

Meanwhile, later that same day in the stadium, The Marching Chiefs start the half time show without their uniforms. What the heck? They came out in shorts and beach shirts to "celebrate beach music". What a load of crap. They just wanted an excuse to not have to wear those freaking hot costumes, and who can really blame them?

This is a view from our seats. Same half-time show as above.

Once I figure out how to upload it I'll post a short video from half-time of Terrell Buckley's number being retired.

So long for now, I'll be in Europe next week for the home game but will attempt to do some tailgating anyway and provide a post. I'm going to ask B-Red to take some photos of the actual tailgate so hopefully we'll have a few picts unt stories to post as well.

Go Noles!

2011-09-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

Twas the night before tailgate, and all through the city, every idiot was stirring, like high-priest of the dumb-ass committee...

Well, that was going to go down hill pretty quickly, much like Tallahassee does on game weekend. To get in the mood for the big first tailgate (and game) tomorrow I'm posting a quick video I took Wednesday at the Jimbo Fisher Call-In show.

See you at the Doak and GO NOLES!

And.....GO!

2011-07-30T18:51:00.001-04:00

Let the 2011 season begin! We are just 34 days out from the first game of the season, and thank goodness its a home game. OK, its against LA-Monroe, but its still a game, AND a tailgating opportunity. And speaking of tailgating opportunities, in the spirit of Its Never Too Early to Tailgate (INTETT), fall practice starts on August 8 (hint hint). In fact that is where the idea of INTETT started. Once fall morning after dropping the kids off at school and before I dedicated the rest of my waking hours to The Company I decided to stop by the practice field and see what was shaking. Well, practice was what was shaking of course. So out came the stogie and up went the feet. I watched a good half hour of practice while texting Big Red. Between us we decided it fit the definition of a tailgate, and thus INTETT was born!

I won't be in town on August 8 (a theme that will resurface for at least one, maybe two actual games), but the REAL practice, pads, doesn't begin until August 13, which happens to be a Saturday. I believe it is incumbent upon us to at least attempt to plan a tailgate. I'm not sure where the practice will be, but I don't think that should stop us. I will be enlisting the research power of Big Red on this and will report back once we've determined if its a go or not.

Be Safe.

The SDL College Football Rankings Week 13

2010-12-01T18:12:00.000-05:00