Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Between the Hashmarks Week 6-2014


COLLEGE ZEBRAS SUCK LIFE OUT OF NFL GAMES
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (UPI)…Fans, players and coaches are frustrated with the significant uptick in penalties being called, but their irritations are misdirected at league rules-changes. Ahead of the Rebels’ Mountain West opener at San Diego State, head coach Bobby Hauck publically-rued being heavily-flagged by MAC and American Athletic officials during the non-conference schedule after the 2013 season saw UNLV finish among the least-penalized teams in the country. The Vegas squad drew eight hankies for just 32 yards against the Aztecs, but it appears crews from the aforementioned-conferences dotted the NFL landscape on Sunday, combining to throw 90 flags for more than 7 football fields worth of distance in just five of the eleven pro stadiums in action, including a gaudy 22-hankie outing here in the Iron City during the Steelers’ loss to Tampa Bay!

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Honoring Stephen King’s birthday (September 21, 1947), ENCORE played flicks from the Stephen King Collection every night last month. We enjoyed watchin’ “Children of Da’ Cornhuskers”, “The Dark Halftime”, “The Mean Green Mile” (filmed in the North Texas locker room), “The Running Back Man”, “Goal-Line-Stand By Me”, “Yards Per Carrie” and of course…“The Shawshanked-Punt Redemption”!

Speakin’ of Chitlins of Da’ Corn, we took in the Appalachian State-Joja’ Southern tilt on Thursday night. The Mountaineers feature a WR named Malachi Jones. Don’t get us wrong…we understand the whole religious, prophet, etc. affiliation. But after “Children of the Corn” came out in hardback in 1977 and the subsequent horror flick in 1984, we’re wonderin’ why any parent since then would name their kid “Malachi”!!!! “Outlanderrrr! We have yer womannnn!”
The State of Kansas has proclaimed October as “Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Month”, going on the premise that if the general population can be ready to react to a zombie-outbreak, then they’ll also be prepared to handle other disasters. The protocol is already being implemented given the condition of the Jayhawks football season. KU squeaked by I-AA Southeast Mizzou State 34-28 and beat the Chippies of Central Michigan by two touchdowns, but were blasted by Duke and shut-out by Texas (scoring a total of 27 points in its three FBS tilts), tallying its 41st loss in 43 conference games (and counting!), leading to dismissal of former coach Charlie Weis. A quick peek at the remaining slate says the Blewbirds have seen their last outright victory on the year!

Last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin hoped to cripple corporate America economically by banning chicken imports as payback for international sanctions. Despite nominally-higher prices, U.S. consumers are still purchasin’ chicken at a just-slightly lower-than-usual pace, while impoverished Soviet citizens find themselves seriously-missin’ said game-hens. In fact, the only poultry-boycott goin’ on this side of the Atlantic is being conducted by fans of South Carolina’s football team, which already has two games in the loss-column following its late 21-20 defeat by Missouri, leaving the Fightin’ Fowls’ record at 3-2 outright and 1-4 against da’ spread!
On a more serious note, we render a heart-felt Vindicator salute to the Mallards of Oregon, who will sport black-and-pink jerseys with pink numbers and pink names on the back of said-jerseys and cleats to match on Thursday night vs. Arizona, honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

With the baseball playoffs underway, we note the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the L.A. Dodgers in a two-game series played in Australia to open the Major League season. Just wonderin’ if players had to run the bases clockwise and if curve balls broke in the opposite direction they do in the U.S.?!
We thank Iowa State (+21) for pushing vs. Baylor and Maryland (+4) for “upsetting” Indiana on the road, while Duke (+7) lost by a dozen at Miami to cost us a parlay win, wasting a big win by Temple (-6) at UConn!

 

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