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Saturday October 4th, 2003

1:19pm

Game 3: Cubs 3 vs. Braves 1

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

That is my favorite and most memorable moment in my 12 years as a Cubs fan. Wow, was He great? When I say He, I'm referring to the new Cub's legend Mark Prior. He just simply amazes me, I mean, I get giddy talking about Him and how He's a Cub. He pretty much embarrassed the best hitting club in the National League last night. Here's His line:

IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GSc
9	2	1	1	4	7	82

As amazing a game it was and as pumped I was about it, I only saw the last 3 batters of the game because Jennifer and I went into Houston for my brother's Homecoming game because he was elected to the Homecoming Court (which is the reason I wasn't able to do my aTm/tt preview last night). I only committed my attendance after verifying that the game was indeed on ESPN Radio, and thus Jennifer, the non-baseball fan, endured about 2 hours of Cubs baseball via radio. Thanks Babe, I can't tell you how much I appreciate that....Anyways, so we heard the 1st through the middle of the 4th before we got to the football stadium and then we heard the 7th & 8th in the car back to my house and I walked in just in time to see the strikeout/passed ball where the runner took first on Prior. My mom said I should leave, but I didn't and He pulled it off.

The Cubs are sooo lucky that their top starters can go deep into games because keeping the Atlanta hitters from facing a very weak bullpen has been crucial in the Cubs first two victories of the series.

I'm not going to do a preview of Game 4, because frankly I don't have time to. The game starts in 2 hours and in the time it would take me to get all the stats together and typed up and posted the first pitch would already be thrown. Sorry about that.....it will be Matt Clement vs. Game 1 loser, Russ Ortiz....You can just look at my Game 1 preview for the Cubs stats against Ortiz....Game 4 on Fox at 3pm CST....

Texas A&M vs. texas tech

This pains me to say, but this evening Texas A&M will be looking for our first victory in Lubbock since 1993. That is 10 years. Obviously, since we switch home fields each year that is really only 4 games + the game tonight, but that's still bad. I imagine there will be a sellout crowd of 55,000 on hand to watch the game tonight (considering that only twice since 1960 has aTm's arrival in town not been that season's attendance high) , and hopefully this year only the players, coaches and officials will be on the field.

For those of you that may not remember, in 2001 when we last played at tech, the fans were so excited and pumped after beating an unranked Texas A&M, that they stormed the field and tore down the goalposts. If not enough, they then carried the goalpost towards the visitor's section of Jones Stadium, and threw it into the crowd of Aggies. Fighting and violence burst out all around. It was a terrible thing but it let the rest of the nation see how t.t. fans really act.

As you probably picked up from my last paragraph, I really don't like the red raiders. In my time here at A&M, never once during all the athletic events I've been to (and I've been to every tt baseball game, 2 basketball games, a volleyball game, and 2 football games since my arrival in the Fall of '00) did any tech fan impress me or make me think anything but negative thoughts towards their program.

Ok, so we've established that I can't stand tech, so now let's get to the game at hand.....

9pm on Fox Southwest

The Aggies are up for a bit of a challenge tonight. tech is 3-1 on the year and has a pretty good QB in B.J. Symmons. As I pointed out earlier in the week, Symmons is from Houston (Cy-Creek; he pitched against us in high school), and he's just lighting up the skies. His individual game stats for the year looked like this:

• 9/27 vs. Mississippi 44-64-1-661
• 9/20 vs. NC State 39-63-1-586
• 9/06 vs. New Mexico 37-54-1-418
• 8/30 vs. SMU 23-38-1-297

Those are good....very good....good for a total of 1,962 yards and 16 TDs, the USA Today's National Player of the Week, and a guest spot on Fox's Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Here is how the offenses stack up against the defenses:

A&M's Offense vs. tech's Defense

	TAMU	tech
Passing yds/game	189.5	302.5
TDs Passing	4	6
Rushing yds/game	170.8	176.5
TDs Rushing	7	7
Points/Game	24.8	33.0

tech's Offense vs. A&M's Defense

	tech	TAMU
Passing yds/game	494.8	162.5
TDs Passing	16	7
Rushing yds/game	77.0	196.8
TDs Rushing	6	7
Points/Game	42.5	27.2

Obviously, Tech's passing game is just outstanding and we showed last weekend vs. Pitt that we're vulnerable to the pass.

Tech also ranks #1 nationally in total offense/game with 571.8 yards/game while our defense isn't ranked and we allow 359.2 ypg.

To put all this into perspective, this may be the most efficient way....B.J. Symmons is averaging 490.5 ypg passing vs. Reggie McNeil's 143.8. The difference between those two numbers is 346.7, which is 12.5 yards away from being our average total offense.

Here's my take on the game though....I think that tech will just bomb away, but I think that we'll have a few big picks, something that hasn't been a terrible problem for tech (just 4 INTs in 219 pass attempts). Tech likes to throw short little 10-15 yard out passes and that just drives defenses crazy. One of the keys will be how Reggie leads the team offensively. As shown, tech's defense isn't very good either, and if Reggie can get 250 yards passing to go with our average of 170 yards rushing, we'll put some points on the board.

It's going to be a close one, just like last year, but I think that Todd Pegram is up to the kicking this year and he'll be the biggest difference in the game and my pregame key to victory.

All that said, there's something else that I'd like to point out....This is exactly word for word from t.t.'s website:

Top 10 Single-Game Attendance Numbers

Attend	Game	Result	Date
55,008	Tech vs. Texas A&M	L, 17-33	1977
54,187	Tech vs. Texas	W, 31-28	1976
54,012	Tech vs. Texas	L, 7-24	1978
53,513	Tech vs. Texas A&M	W, 21-19	1999
53,124	Tech vs. Texas	L, 13-35	1970
53,027	Tech vs. Texas	L, 17-29	2000
52,991	Tech vs. Southern Cal	L, 7-21	1979
52,649	Tech vs. Texas A&M	W, 12-0	2001
52,254	Tech vs. Texas A&M	L, 9-38	1975
52,187	Tech vs. Texas	L, 20-25	1972
52,109	Tech vs. Texas A&M	W, 3-0	1983

I know that A&M is always teased about being an Ag school and therefore being dumb, but I count 11 games there, not 10....check it out for yourself (at the very very bottom).

Friday October 3rd, 2003

11:29am

Game 2: Braves 5 vs. Cubs 3

• Game 1
• Game 2

This game was one filled with missed opportunities. Once again the Cubs left a lot of men on base (8) and really did a terrible job running the bases. I had to leave the apartment when the game was tied 2-2 in order to get to my Iron Spikes meeting, and I was excited, when I got back into my truck afterwards, to hear that Smoltz had given up the lead and they were tied once again in the 8th. The bullpen blew another game (Dave Veres this time) after Carlos Hernandez had a decent start.

Cubs v. Braves-Game 3 Preview

This is the game I've been waiting for....Mark Prior (18-6, 2.43 ERA) vs. Greg Maddux (16-11, 3.96 ERA)! This game will be the turning of the tide from one great generation of pitchers to the next. There have been numerous articles popping up about this match up and here are a few:

• Cubs Past vs. Future: Maddux Faces Prior
• Magical Matchup on Tap For Game 3
• Maddux Familiar with Wrigley Field
• Prior Goes Prime Time in Game 3
• Wild at Wrigley

The forecast for tonight at Wrigley Field is a low 43 degrees, a high of 59 degrees. This is familiar weather for any Cubs game, and Maddux is not new to Wrigley, remember he was a Cub from his rookie year (1986) until 1993. Here are each pitcher's career stats at Wrigley:

Pitcher	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/BB	ERA	BAA
M.Prior	24	11-6	163.0	136	63	57	19	206/41	3.15	.224
G.Maddux	109	51-33	779.2	714	318	273	47	530/234	3.15	.245

It's going to be a great match up! Here is how the pitchers match up against the opposing team's normal starting lineup:

Cubs vs. Greg Maddux

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
K.Lofton	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
M.Grudzielanek	32	12	1	0	1	.375	.800
S.Sosa	31	6	7	3	4	.194	.781
M.Alou	23	8	2	0	5	.348	.913
A.Ramirez	14	3	0	0	0	.214	.527
Simon/Karros	2/28	0/10	0/8	0/2	0/4	.000/.357	.000/1.000
Gonzalez/Martinez	12/13	1/1	1/2	1/0	1/2	.083/.077	.429/.154
Miller/Bako	15/15	6/4	6/0	0/0	3/1	.400/.267	1.060/.600

Braves vs. Mark Prior

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
R.Furcal	6	2	0	0	0	.333	.667
M.Giles	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
G.Sheffield	2	0	1	0	0	.000	.000
C.Jones	6	1	0	0	1	.167	.500
A.Jones	5	2	2	1	1	.400	.1.500
J.Lopez	4	2	1	0	1	.500	1.350
R.Fick	1	1	0	0	1	1.000	3.000
V.Castilla	5	2	4	1	1	.400	1.400

Prior has only one start vs. Atlanta this year (2 in his career) and he didn't do too well...actually it was the worst start of his career. He got the loss by going 4.2 innings, while giving up 6 ER on 6 hits (11.57 ERA) while walking 3 and striking out 5 and giving up 1 HR.

The game is on ESPN starting at 7:05 pm....

Question of the Day

Should Ted Turner be allowed to wear a baseball hat....

Or for that matter, even be allowed at games????

A&M vs. texas tech

I'll get a post about tomorrow's game up a little later in the day, I have to make a final look-over of my Fluid Power notes before my test. Wish me luck....

Wednesday October 1st, 2003

12:42am

Happy Birthday

I just want to wish my little brother, Sean, a happy 18th birthday....Now you can go register for the military, and if you're not careful, Mom and Dad can kick you out and you can't legally do anything about it....Have a great day you little punk....Love ya....

Game 1: Cubs 4 v. Braves 2

What a great game! Kerry Wood stepped up and pitched really well...oh yeah, and he drove in the game winning runs on his double! What a stud he is!

The Brave's front office needs to send a little thank you note to the city of Chicago for helping fill up Turner Field for a playoff game...something that hasn't happened too terribly often in recent years. How sweet is it to hear the "Let's go Cubs" chant or the "Kerry, Kerry" chant at an opposing team's ballpark in the postseason? "Very cool", I tell you, "Very cool"....

I'll let you guys read the ESPN Recap of the game because I'm in a bit of a time crunch...

Cubs v. Braves-Game 2 Preview

After an exciting Game 1, the Cubs need to do a little better with runners on base. They stranded 9 runners on base which can't happen again. As important as it was yesterday for Kerry Wood to stay calm and try to not get emotional, it is even more important that Cub's starter, Carlos Zambrano, does the same. Carlos is 4 years younger than Kerry is and he's just finishing up his first full season, while Kerry broke into the league 6 seasons ago.

Here are each team's normal starting lineups vs. the Game 2 starters (career stats):

Cubs vs. Mike Hampton

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
K.Lofton	4	1	0	0	0	.250	.500
M.Grudzielanek	32	12	6	1	4	.375	.991
S.Sosa	29	13	11	6	7	.448	1.646
M.Alou	15	7	3	1	2	.467	1.233
A.Ramirez	10	3	2	0	2	.300	.885
Simon/Karros	0/20	0/3	0/2	0/0	0/0	.000/.150	.000/.411
Gonzalez/Martinez	7/11	1/3	0/2	0/0	1/2	.143/.273	.429/.921
Miller/Bako	9/3	4/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	.444/.000	1.060/.000

Braves vs. Carlos Zambrano

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
R.Furcal	9	0	0	0	0	.000	.100
M.Giles	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
G.Sheffield	6	2	0	0	0	.333	.889
C.Jones	6	1	0	0	0	.167	.611
A.Jones	5	0	1	0	0	.000	.333
J.Lopez	8	2	0	0	0	.250	.500
R.Fick	3	1	2	0	1	.333	1.000
V.Castilla	8	3	2	0	0	.375	.819

Here are each pitcher's numbers at Turner Field for their career:

Pitcher	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/BB	ERA	BAA
C.Zambrano	1	1-0	5.0	2	0	0	0	6/6	0.00	.118
M.Hampton	21	7-7	132.1	128	58	52	7	78/56	3.54	.258

You have to keep in mind that since Zambrano is young, and has only had 3 starts vs. the Braves and only 1 start at Turner Field. Something else to look at is how the Cubs 2-3-4 hitters OWN Mike Hampton (yeah, that's a combined 32-for-76, a .421 BA, with 8 HRs & 20 RBI).

This is going to be a good one folks....check it out on ESPN at 6pm CST....

Oakland vs. Boston: Game 1 Preview

I'm not going to go into as much detail about this series as I have the Cubs v. Braves, but I do want to make sure that you all realize what a GREAT pitching match up this game will be...Pedro v. Huddy.

In all honesty, I think that if the A's are going to win this series, Hudson will have to win 2 games and in order to get him two starts it means the series will have to go the max of 5 games. With Mulder on the DL and Zito just not quite pitching up to the standards he has set previously, I just don't think that the A's can rely solely on their core-competency, pitching.

Back to the pitching match up at hand...

Pedro is 6-2 vs. the A's in 9 starts during his career with 85Ks in 58.1 IP and with a 2.16 ERA. I actually got to see one of those 9 starts on the glorious day I went to Fenway (5/12/01). None of the A's big boppers have very good numbers against Pedro---Tejada: 5-for-21, 1 HR, 2 RBI; Chavez: 3-for-21, 1 HR, 3 RBI; Jermaine Dye: 6-for-18, 2 RBI; Jose Guillen: 4-for-12, 1 HR, 3 RBI....The only time Pedro faced up against the A's this year was August 11th and he went head-to-head with Huddy and lost 4-0. Huddy went the distance and only gave up 2 hits, while striking out 7 in the shutout. Pedro went 5 innings, gave up 5 hits, 2 ER while also striking out 7.

Hudson's career numbers vs. Boston aren't quite as good as his counterpart's, but they are what they are...3-3 in 6 GS, 39.0 IP, 28K, 4.15 ERA. Boston's two big guys, Nomar and Manny, have had as good of luck as any of their teammates against him during their careers....Nomar: 4-for-13, 2B; Manny: 6-for-19, 2B, 3B, & 3 RBI.

This series will go to the team who wins Game 1. The Red Sox lineup may just be too powerful....but crazy things happen in the playoffs, so who knows.....

Game time tonight is 9pm CST on ESPN....For those of you in the EST, set those VCRs and watch it on Thursday sometime b/c it'll be a great game....

Tuesday September 30th, 2003

posted Monday 9/29/03 at 9:34pm

Busy Week

I wanted to let everyone know that this week is one of those busy weeks for me.

It started off like every Monday seems to...not too terrific. I had this presentation for one of my classes at 10am yesterday and I worked on it late Sunday night (hence the early post yesterday). I got myself up at 8am to prep a bit more. Keep in mind that normally I don't have class until 12:40 on Mondays so 8am was really early. Anyways, I put on my nice shirt and slacks and combed my hair---lets just say that I can count the number of times I've combed my hair since coming to college 3 1/2 years ago with my fingers and toes, so that was a big thing for me. I got on the bus to go to campus and I went to the room where I was presenting and when I showed up I realized that I wasn't supposed to present at 10am on September 29th, I am supposed to present at 10am on September 30th. So this morning, as you read this, I'm on campus with my nice shirt with my slacks and my combed hair making the presentation I spent my Sunday night working on.

Monday actually turned out to be pretty good. It was the most beautiful day I could ever imagine--75 degrees, a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. It was one of those days when I think to myself, "Man, it's great to be in college where I can walk around on a day like this and not have to be cooped up in an office somewhere."....Sucks for you, huh Dad?

Today I have "the" presentation, a group meeting for another presentation on Friday, I have to update the Iron Spikes Constitution, find some time to watch what I can of the Cubs/Braves Game 1, and oh yeah....class. Tomorrow I've got IS meeting, and hardcore studying for my test later in the week and if possible Cubs/Braves G2. Thursday, or "Day of Unhappy Ryan", I have to get prepared for my presentation, and make sure I have a good understanding of torque, horse power, power, friction, levers, pulleys, gear--lots of gears, clutches--lots of clutches, brakes, gear drives, belts & chains, couplings, u-joints and bearings for my IDIS 403 test which is on Friday.

It's my least favorite class, mainly because it's my hardest class. It's not the fact that the information is difficult, just that there is so much and my prof likes to ask VERY detailed questions about itty bitty stuff he mentions in afterthoughts during class or in lab sections that he attends (which means the people not in that lab section don't have a clue and he covers himself by saying it was in the text--regardless of if it isn't in the chapters the test is over). Even though this is my first test in the class, I know this because I've taken another course from him before and let’s just say "Thank goodness for extra credit". Well, there isn't any extra credit in this class.

I suppose everyone has a class like that sometime during school, and if you're like me, you've had a few like that. Well, just remember what that feeling was like when you're reading the site and thinking, "I typed www.geocities.com/kies19 all into my browser and this is the information I get?"

Playoffs

I'm very fortunate because 3 of my 4 favorite teams have advanced to the "Season #2" this year. I am unfortunate that 2 of them (the A's and Red Sox) are matched up against each other. I think I'll just root for my favorite players from each team in that situation. Anyways, I figure that since everyone is throwing around their "expert" opinions, I'll put my 2cents into the hat and give you some of my predictions/wishes:

The only difference between my wishful and realistic picks in the NL is the Cubs. Obviously, I'm a HUGE Cubs fan, and I want more than anything (ok, not more than anything, but as much as anybody who is a nut for their team would) for the Cubs to win it all, but I just don't know about their experience and composure when matched up against the Braves. The Braves have won their division every single year from 1991-2003 and have a TON of postseason experience. The Cubs have only been in the playoffs once during that time (1998 as the NL Wild Card), and bowed out to the Braves in 3 quick, painful games.

Here is the key to this series: Cubs starting pitching must pitch like it has all season. If that can happen, then Cubs will win this series and go on to win it all. I truly believe that. If the Cubs get past the Braves and meet the Giants, Dusty Baker's experience with the Giants will give the Cubs the edge. That being said, the Cubs have to make sure to keep Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano calm. Both of them are EXTREMELY emotional pitchers, and they have to stay within themselves to pitch well and stay in the game late by not letting their control get the best of them. If they can't go deep into the games, then the Cubs bullpen will let the Braves's awesome lineup run away with the series.

As for the difference in the AL Real vs. Wishful, I think it would be awesome for a Red Sox/Yankees series to be followed up by a Cubs/Red Sox series. No matter what happens, I don't want to see the Yankees. Please....no Yankees.

How Do the Cubs Match Up with Atlanta?

As I mentioned earlier, the Cubs have a lot less playoff experience than Atlanta does, but so did Anaheim last year. The Cubs are really hot coming into this series (19-8 in September), and Sammy is doing his thing (4 Hrs in his last 4 games).

Here are each team's normal starting lineups vs. the Game 1 starters (career stats):

Cubs vs. Russ Ortiz

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
K.Lofton	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.333
M.Grudzielanek	28	11	6	1	3	.393	1.009
S.Sosa	18	5	5	2	2	.278	1.020
M.Alou	7	1	0	0	0	.143	.597
A.Ramirez	10	4	2	1	3	.400	1.355
Simon/Karros	3/27	1/10	1/5	0/0	1/1	.333/.370	1.000/.774
Gonzalez/Martinez	2/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/0	.000/.000	.333/.000
Miller/Bako	15/0	3/0	2/0	0/0	0/0	.200/.000	.533/.000
T.Womack	32	11	2	0	1	.344	.728

Braves vs. Kerry Wood

Batter	AB	H	RBI	HR	XBH	BA	OPS
R.Furcal	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
M.Giles	3	1	1	0	0	.333	.667
G.Sheffield	3	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
C.Jones	14	3	2	1	0	.214	.782
A.Jones	15	4	1	0	1	.267	.600
J.Lopez	9	0	RBI	0	0	.000	.000
R.Fick	4	1	0	0	0	.250	.821
V.Castilla	9	2	0	0	0	.222	.444

That isn't too large of a sample size, but I like what I see. I would LOVE to see Tony Womack play SS over Alex Gonzalez (who hit .188 in the second half in 191 ABs).

Here are each pitcher's numbers at Turner Field for their career:

Pitcher	GS	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO/BB	ERA	BAA
K.Wood	3	2-0	20.2	15	4	4	2	23/11	1.74	.203
R.Ortiz	23	15-6	141.2	121	74	64	15	102/75	4.07	.227

Something that I don't think is included in those last numbers is Kerry Wood's performance in Game 3 of the 1998 NLDS. He was 0-1 in 1 start going 5.0 innings and allowing 3 hits, 1 ER while walking 4 and striking out 5. That was his last start before having his reconstructive elbow surgery that kept him out of the entire 1999 season. That is Kerry's only previous playoff appearance.

I suppose if I'm going to include previous playoff numbers, I should show Russ Ortiz’s also....

Year	Series	GS	W-L	IP	H	ER	SO/BB	ERA
2000	NLDS vs. NYM	1	0-0	5.1	2	1	4/4	1.69
2002	NLDS vs. ATL	2	2-0	12.1	9	3	8/8	2.19
	NLCS vs. STL	1	0-0	4.7	5	4	3/3	7.71
	WS vs. ANA	2	0-0	8.0	13	9	2/2	10.12
Totals	4 series	6	2-0	30.3	29	17	17/17	5.05

Coach Fran

I was reading CoachFran.com today and I wanted to reprint a column that I read. I think I can reprint it here without copy right infringement, but if not someone please tell me and I'll take it down right away. Click on the title to go straight to the actual article...

Aggies face No. 1 passer--again! T-Murph leads nation

Symons leads the NCAA Division I-A stats in three categories after setting school and Big 12 records each of the last two weeks against North Carolina State (in defeat) and Mississippi (in victory). His 661 yards against Ole Miss, including six touchdown passes, gave him 1,247 yards in the last two games.

He leads the nation in yards passing (1,962), total offense (509.3 a game), and in points responsible for (28 a game). He is tied for first in TD passes, 16, with Rod Rutherford of Pittsburgh, who just left town with a victory over the Aggies, and J.P. Losman of Tulane.

Symons' line this season is 143 for 219, 65.3 percent, with 4 intercepted. He averages 8.96 yards for every attempt. He has 4 rushing touchdowns and a two-point conversion pass for 122 points responsible for. A senior who has been back-up three years, he ranks No. 7 in the NCAA QB efficiency ratings.

His favorite target is senior Carlos Francis, who averages 103 yards a game -- No. 12 in the latest national stats.

Texas Tech ranks No. 1 in passing yards and total offense and is fourth in scoring, 42.5 a game.

The Red Raiders also have another No. 1 in stats -- DB Ryan Aycock, one of five players averaging an interception a game. He has four.

***

Among the top 100 players listed in all-purpose yards, Terrence Murphy (photo) of the Aggies leads the list in yards per touch, 24.7, and he is second in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 49 yards. Devin Hester of Miami (Fla.) averages 49.5.

Texas Tech has a strong kick returner in Johnnie Mack, ranked No. 9 at 31.44 yards average.

***

Rutherford of Pittsburgh remained No. 1 in QB efficiency ratings at 182.6. His prime target, sophomore receiver Larry Fitzgerald, still leads then nation in averages receiving yards, 145.75 a game, after catching three touchdown passes against Texas A&M.

Among the upcoming opponents, four quarterbacks rank among the top eight in the nation in QB efficiency ratings: Symons, No. 2 Chance Mock of Texas, No. 5 Bill Whittemore of Kansas, and No. 8 Jason White of Oklahoma.

The Aggies have faced three others in the top 26 -- Rutherford, No. 17 Bryan Randall of Virginia Tech, and No. 26 Alex Smith of Utah.

***

Texas A&M has the No. 2-rated toughest schedule in the latest NCAA stats behind Iowa State in both overall and in future opponents. Covering the entire schedule, Texas A&M opponents are 39-12, tied for highest winning percentage with Colorado's opponents. Future opponents are 27-7, .794.

The four teams the Aggies have played stand 12-5, ranking 16th among opposition.

I thought that was really interesting....especially the part about our schedule being the No.2-rated toughest schedule in the land! That makes me feel just a hair better about being 2-2, but not much.

Boy, for not thinking I was going to type much today, I sure sat here for a long time (like 2.5 hours). Now I've got a presentation to prepare for and a lab report to finish up....peace out....

Monday September 29th, 2003

posted at 7:07pm Sunday 9/28/03

A&M vs. Pitt

Like I said yesterday, I was too exhausted to write about the game so I'm going to do it now.

Special Teams/Field Position

The final score was 37-26 in Pitt's favor, and really we kind of handed it to them. They scored 23 points on four Aggie turnovers, two of which were fumbled punts (one by #3 Terrence Thomas and one by #7 Jason Carter). I said on Friday that our special teams would be huge for this game, and that field position would tell the tale. It did. Pitt did a great job of keeping the ball out of the NCAA Kick Return Leader, Terrence Murphy's hands giving him only one touch on a kick-off (he returned it for 25 yards). Everything else either went to the other side of the field or into the back of the end zone. Our best field position of the game came on our second possession and we started on Pitt's 49 with our next best being on our own 43. Pitt, however, started on our 29, our 48, our 15, our 46, & our 45. Recap---We only started once on their side of the field vs. them starting 5 times on our side of the field.

Pitt's Playmakers

Pitt's QB & WR combo that I was worried about proved why they are so good. QB, Rod Rutherford, threw for 283 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT on a 14-for-28 day. Their WR, Larry Fitzgerald, had 3 TDs on 7 catches for 135 yards. Fitzgerald was really, really good overcoming double and triple teams throughout the game. He had one play (his 49 yard TD) where he was guarded by 3 Aggie defenders and made a Willie Mays over-the-head catch in the end zone. It was stunning. They were the only 4 players within 35 yards of anyone else, and Fitzgerald just made a great play.

Our Defense

Our defense, once again, didn't play up to Wrecking Crew standards. I would, however, like to congratulate #6 Bryan Singleton and #41 Archie McDaniel for both taking the team lead in sacks with one each on the season. #19 Jaxon Appel continues to play very well for the Ags and for the first time all year he wasn't the team tackle leader (he finished with 8, which was 3 behind Johnny Jolly's 11), but he's still averaging 13.25 tackles/game---as a SAFETY.

We gave up 195 rushing yards and 283 passing yards, which is right about avg. for us rushing yard wise but well above our previous 122.3 yds passing/game we had coming into Saturday.

Officiating

I will say, not that it really matters now, that the referees were terrible. They weren't just bad on a couple of plays, they were terrible all game long. In the first quarter there was a play where #5 Terrence Murphy took the hand off and #16 Reggie took off around the end to go for the pass. Well, Reggie was held for about 2 full seconds and Murphy ended up having to scramble for a measly 2 yards.

Also during the 1st half, there were 2 pass interference calls that were really just great plays by our defenders. To make matters worse, there were many, many bad spots that the replays on the JumboTron confirmed...and we're talking 1-1 1/2 yard bad spots.

None of that compares to the biggest blunder of the day. It came in the second quarter with just under 10:00 min. to play in the half when we had a 3rd and 1 on Pitt's 14 yard line. We ran to the left with #25 Courtney Lewis and he had the 1st down plus about 4 more and stopped running because there was a flag thrown at the beginning of the play. Well the moron who threw it decided to call "No penalty on the play" and we had to replay 3rd down. We didn't make the 1st down on the next play and had to settle for a field goal by #13 Todd Pegram. That cost us 4 points and killed our momentum; we would have gone into the locker-room at halftime with a 14-9 score instead of a 10-9 score. It really was the worst officiated game I've ever seen at Kyle Field. I don't know which conference those referees were from, but I feel bad for the teams that they will be calling the rest of the season. I'm not blaming the refs for our loss, but they sure made the #19 team in the nation seem more like the #9 team they were two weeks ago.

Now for the good things....

Offense

On offense I think we looked really good. I loved these new plays that we're running (a couple handoffs to WR #5 Murphy, a pass attempt by #5 Murphy and lots and lots of option plays). I think the option game is big for us, and it really makes me think of college football. We're throwing the ball a lot more, which I like, but at the same time we're running enough to keep the opposing defense on their toes.

#25 Courtney Lewis is proving to be a really good running back for us. He had 105 yards on 16 carries and 1 TD. He's averaging 5.54 yards/carry and has 5 TDs in 4 games. He also broke into our receiving game with 4 catches for 75 yards, which I liked a lot.

#16 Reggie had one of his best games, statistically, of his career. He was 12-for-20 with no INTs for 215 yards and 1 TD. He also rushed for 52 on 11 carries. His mobility is what allows for our WRs to get open, as well as being a big factor in keeping the defense from being comfortable. #16 Reggie came out in the 4th quarter after taking a hit to the hip (at least that's what it looked like from section 233 row 22). #18 Dustin Long came in to replace him and did O.K. He was 9-for-17 for 102 yards and a TD, but had a terrible INT on a big drive for us, which pretty much sealed the deal for Pitt. I really like Dustin, but as I've said before, I think Reggie is the key for us and really is our future. If Reggie can continue to grow the way he has been over the last few games, we'll be in great shape in 2005 when Miami rolls into Kyle Field!

Our wide receivers are great! As I've said before, #5 Terrence Murphy is my favorite current Aggie, and he will leave this school as the best receiver we've seen. Before that happens, #2 Jamaar Taylor will have something to say about it. For those of you who have checked out my T-Murph link, both of these guys should break the All-Time career receiving record here at A&M this season (Jamaar can do it before the Nebraska game). Although A&M has traditionally been a big running game school, I like that we're starting to throw the pigskin around a bit more. We're definitely playing more towards our strengths when we do. Jamaar had a big game on Saturday catching 6 passes for 110 yards and a TD. It was his 5th career 100-yard game which gives him the most in A&M history. T-Murph had 4 receptions for 61 yards, and also rushed for 40 yards on 3 carries (Taylor also rushed for 13 yards on 2 carries).

Thanks Coach

I would like to thank Coach Fran for suiting up 109 guys for the game. If you remember (7-25-03 & 8-9-03), my friend Evan, decided to walk-on last spring and he was able to dress for the first time against Pitt. It was exciting to see him come out of the locker-room and get to be on the sidelines during the game. So thank you Coach for letting the guys who work hard in practice get a little bit of glory to go with their bruises and hard work...

A Look Towards Next Weekend

Next week we've got texas tech, who I truly, truly hate. Their QB, B.J. Symmons threw for 661 yards and 6 TDs this past weekend vs. Mississippi. The week before that he threw for 586 and 2 TDs and the week before that he threw for 418 yards and 5 TDs. After 4 games he has 1,962 yards and 16 TDs. Just to compare, the A&M record for passing yards in a season is 2,551 yards set by Mark Farris in 2000....Symmons should have that by the end of his 6th game. Needless to say, we need to prepare for those short little 5-10 yard passes Tech throws.

Oh, I almost forgot...

This past Saturday we got to see #44 TaTa Thompson (LB) and #18 Melvin Bullitt (DB) both get their first NCAA experience. They are both true freshmen and were originally going to be red shirted, but due to injuries and poor play we needed them to step into our depth chart. This wasn't what we wanted to see this year, but we just can't wait for the future because if we don't win, then we don't recruit....

Sunday September 28th, 2003

1:05am

CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN....HOLY COW!!

That guy says it all!

The Chicago Cubs are the 2003 National League Central Division Champions! I've waited a long time to be able to say that. I've already put in my order for the NL Central Division Champs T-Shirt, and hopefully it'll get in before the first round of the playoffs is over.

It took a double header sweep and a loss by the Astros, but the Cubs won their first division title since 1989!

In Game 1, Mark Prior pitched another big game, winning his 18th victory of the year while striking out 10 in 6 2/3 IP. In Game 2, Sammy hit his 40th HR of the year (just think what his numbers would have been like if played the entire season), and Matt Clement pitched a solid game giving up 2 ER in 7 2/3 innings while striking out 6.

This was a really exciting pennant race, and I'm sorry that someone had to lose. Hopefully, all you 'Stros fans out there can support the Cubs for representing the NL Central, but if not, I suppose it's understandable.

The most important thing about the Cubs clinching yesterday is that today Kerry Wood doesn't have to throw, which allows him an extra 2 days of rest before starting Game 1 vs. the Braves on Tuesday. It also allows Kerry to pitch in Game 5, if necessary.

The way things look right now, it'll look like this:

• Game 1: Tuesday September 30th at 7pm (CST) on FOX
  Kerry Wood (14-11, 3.20 ERA) vs. Russ Ortiz (21-7, 3.81 ERA)
  Turner Field, Atl.
• Game 2: Wednesday October 1st at 6pm (CST) on ESPN
  Carlos Zambrano (13-11, 3.11 ERA) vs. Mike Hampton (14-8, 3.84 ERA)
  Turner Field, Atl.
• Game 3: Friday October 3rd at 7pm (CST) on ESPN
  Mark Prior (18-6, 2.43 ERA) vs. Greg Maddux (15-11, 3.97 ERA)
  Wrigley Field, Chi.
• Game 4*: Saturday October 4th at TBD on TBD
  Matt Clement (14-12, 4.11 ERA)vs. ??
  Wrigley Field, Chi.
• Game 5*: Sunday October 5th at TBD on TBD
  Kerry Wood (14-11, 3.20 ERA) vs. Russ Ortiz (21-7, 3.81 ERA)
  Turner Field, Atl.

*if necessary

I'm not sure who will throw for Atlanta in Game 4, b/c I couldn't find the info anywhere, but I think it'll be either Shane Reynolds (11-9, 5.43 ERA), or Horacio Ramirez (12-4, 4.00 ERA), but more than likely Ramirez.

Something that is very important to the Cubs in this series is getting to the Braves starters early because we don't want John Smoltz to come into the game with a lead. The guy in the lineup I'm most worried about is Gary Sheffield, who is having an insane year (.327 BA, 38 HRs, 1.017 OPS), and would be a very strong MVP vote getter if not for this guy named Bonds (who just so happens to be really good friends with Sheff.). Not only does he do it with the bat, but he makes some great plays in RF and also has a cannon. Similarly, Javy Lopez is having a monster year (.325 BA, 42 HRs, and 1.055 OPS)---As a CATCHER!

With the Cubs great starting pitching, anything is possible in this series! Go Cubs!

Aggies vs. Pitt

We lost again....and we shouldn't have. There were two HUGE fumbles on our special teams that pretty much handed the Panthers 14 points. We lost by 11.

I'm exhausted, so I'll write about the game in much more detail in my next post.....

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