Could we get the replacement refs back please?

Just kidding. But if you’re a Green Bay Packers fan, I understand why you might be frustrated. Good thing your team won this time. I mean… last time.

• • •

Okay. I finally got to watch the University of Texas Longhorns. Damn. Who knew quarterback David Ash would come along so well? I didn’t. He’s even throwing the long passes down field.

He’s only 19 years old, you know. I was going to give him one more year before I passed judgment, and I might yet. He should be amazing next year, the year the Burnt Orange of Austin, Texas should be ranked in the top three at the 2013 season’s start.

This year? I don’t know. What happened to the defense? More specifically, what happened to tackling?

Today on local radio, Texas head coach Mac Brown said the tentative tackling was due to the new rules tempering head-to-head contact. Okay. But how about hand-to-thigh contact? If you’re going head-to-head on an open field tackle, you’re messing up from the get go.

We’ll see. The defense seemed like the best part of the Longhorns at the start of the season, and in a way it is. But it’s a specific part of the defense—the pass rush of defensive ends Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat.

The upcoming game against West Virginia will be very telling. For both teams. Best defense wins.

• • •

I wrote the above after the Longhorns defeated Oklahom State. Here’s what I think after watching the Longhorns lose to West Virginia—I think West Virginia could win it all. Geno Smith is good.

Oddly, I thought the Texas defense did well, even though they gave up 48 points. But they also forced two fumbles, one on the goal line that allowed Jackson Jeffcoat to score a touchdown, and got four sacks.

And David Ash did great again, for the most part.

I know, I know. Next year.

• • •

Hey USGA, do you want to win the Ryder Cup? Here’s an idea. Get Ian Poulter American citizenship. You’ve got about 700 days to get ‘er done. Go for it.

• • •

Isn’t the Ryder Cup great? Golf with real crowd noise. Even cheering. And jeering. Love it.

• • •

I think I figured out the problem with the Dallas Cowboys. It’s the quarterback.

Oh. Right. You read my columns to read stuff you don’t read anywhere else. Sorry. Guess I’m piling on.

• • •

Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are the real deal. But I think Cam Newton will be to the Carolina Panthers what Vince Young was to the Tennessee Titans. Too much head hanging there.

• • •

“Team suckage is real. It should be a stat.” Rod Babers, Oct. 9, 2012 on 300 The Zone, Austin, Texas.

-30-

My pick for the BCS winner

Here’s my pick for the Bowl Championship Series winner—LSU over Alabama by 14 points.

Frankly, my pick is as good as yours. Yours might even be better. My pick is based on three criteria—whim, caprice, and bias.

LSU already beat Alabama on the Crimson Tide’s home field, but tonight’s game (it’s 90 minutes to kickoff as of this writing) is pretty much being played on LSU’s home turf.

Okay, at least it’s being played in LSU’s home state, right?

So. Why do I say LSU will win by 14 points? No reason, really. That’s where the whim and caprice come in.

Here’s where the bias comes in—I despise Oklahoma State aka billionaire T. Boone Pickens’ main charity. I despise the alumni, the whiny coach, the color scheme, the aging QB, and even the Cowboys name.

See where this is going yet?

If LSU wins, OK State will have no claim whatsoever on the national championship. But if Alabama wins, we’ll be forced to endure the crying and gnashing of teeth from Stillwater until next August.

Go Tigers. And hook ’em Horns.