Sunday, November 7, 2010

Week 10 recap:Waterloo, Appomattox and Lubbock?

History is full of monumental victories.  With every one of those comes a monumental defeat.  I've always defended Coach Pinkel as a man that I was proud to have in charge of my adopted team.  I will continue to support GP in spite of last night, but I've also thought if he had a major fault, it was the amount of loyalty he's shown to his assistant coaches.  It's apparent that a combination of things is threatening to tank the Tigers season and they have to be laid at the feet of offensive coordinator David Yost.  Yes, Blaine Gabbert suffered his 2nd consecutive bad game going 12-30 for less than 100 yards, although there were several dropped passes.  We appear to lack a guy that can stretch the defense, but you know what?  Good coordinators adjust their offense to fit the talent and we've not seen that.  The Tigers did rush for 260 yards, but most of that was in the first half.  And if you were looking for a season MVP, allow me to nominate Dominique Hamilton.  Since Dom went down in the OU game, the Tigers defense which had been so good against the run has floundered which has put more pressure on the pass defense.  Yet, that wasn't the cause of the loss last night as the Tigers scored exactly 0 points after intermission, although the inability to get off the field was a contributor.  To continue to improve, I'm afraid that Coach Pinkel is going to have to address some deficiencies in the coaching staff.   Next week Missouri hosts it's final home game against Kansas State, in a game that suddenly appears to be entirely loosable.  Tech travels to Norman to face a pissed off Sooner squad that is 30-0 in it's last 30 home games.
It was one of those Waterloo weekends for me also as I went 2-4 for the week and a hideous 1-5 against the spread.  For the year I'm 61-17 straight up but once again sitting at .500 with a 35-35 record against Vegas.
The only game I was completely successful in the week happened in Stillwater, as the Oklahoma State Cowboys ignored the fact that they were merely 7 1/2 point favorites as they routed the Baylor Bears 55-28.  Okie Lite now has to be considered the favorite to win the south as next week they take their 8-1 record to Austin to face the suddenly pedestrian Texas Longhorns.  Baylor is at home to face a Texas A&M squad that has discovered new life.
In Ames, it was hoped, at least by Missouri fans that the Cyclones could pull another upset over corn nation.  The hicks came in as 19 1/2 point favorites but it took an interception of a 2 point conversion attempt to allow them to escape with a 31-30 win.  Next up for the huskers is a date at home with the university of kansas while the 'Clones travel to Colorado.
Another loss for me happened in of all places lawrence as the jawhawks erupted for 35 4th quarter point to overtake Colorado 52-45 despite being installed as 9 point underdogs.  If Dan Hawkins was allowed to ride home on the plane it's a travesty of justice.
Another coach whose seat just went up another 50 degrees is in Austin after the Longwhorns fell to 4-5 on the season after losing 39-14 to Kansas State.  There are schools where a rebuilding year would be considered acceptable following an appearance in the national championship game the previous season.  However, the University of Texas isn't one of those places.  Things don't get any easier for UT as Oklahoma State comes to town next week, while the Wildcats will attempt to take over 2nd place in the north when they travel to Columbia.
At College Station it appears that Mike Sherman will retain his job for another year as the Aggies upset the Oklahoma Sooners 33-19.  A&M is now bowl eligible at 6-3 with a good chance to reach 8 or 9 wins with trip to Baylor and Texas and a home date with a Nebraska squad that despite it's record hasn't shown itself to be unbeatable by any means.
That's all I've got for this week.  I'm going to take a couple of days off to get some work on my new web site that will be up and running within a few weeks.  In case you'd like to stop by and see how things are progressing, just travel to www.merlinsedge.com    My Tiger blog will continue here, but there are other things I enjoy talking about and that will be more of a focus there.  There will also be a shopping site where you'll be able to purchase items that may be useful as well as many that will be nothing short of obscure.  Some interesting games to talk about and we'll be doing just that around Thursday or Friday.  Have a great week.   
       

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Week 10:Time to snap back

Toward the end of the Larry Smith era at Missouri the Tigers had reverted to the form they'd shown during the Woody Widenhoffer and Bob Stull years.  That means they were bad...really bad.  Larry was trying to figure out ways to keep morale up after the devastating losses would continue to pile up.  One time he gave every player a tennis ball so they'd remember to bounce back.  That seemed stupid enough but when he gave everyone rubber bands to wear around their wrists to remember to snap back I knew he was a dead man walking, and it probably was going to end badly in Columbia for him.  At that point we'd pretty much been terrible for the better part of 2 decades and I wondered if we'd ever be decent again.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was less than excited when I heard we'd hired Gary Pinkel.  Mainly because I'd never heard of Gary Pinkel.  Thankfully I was wrong and now I couldn't be happier to have him coaching my team.
Both the Tigers and I have to snap back this week.  They suffered their first loss of the season at Lincoln last week against the soon departing hicks and I once again lost more than I won against the spread with my predictions.  I went 4-2 straight up but on 2-3 against the spread.  For the year I'm 59-15 straight up but only a touch above water at 34-30 against the point spread.  So I'm hoping for better things from both of us this weekend, but mostly my Tigers.
Mizzou travels to Lubbock Saturday night on ABC's nationally televised game against the Red Raiders.  Tech is 4-4 on the season and 2-4 in conference play.  Last weekend they fell 45-27 to Texas A&M at College Station in a game that really wasn't that close.  Mike Leach no longer patrols the sideline for Tech which isn't particularly good news since Coach Pinkel seemed to have his number.  However, Tommy Tuberville has experienced a lot of growing pains and it appears that the Red Raiders bowl streak may well end this year.  Missouri only opens as a 4 1/2 point favorite and the crowd isn't going to be nearly as intimidating as it was last week in Bugtussel.  If I was a gambler this would be like taking money to me.  I'm going to pick the Tigers to get back into the win column this week and cover 31-17.
Something happened this year that no one forsaw and that's the rebirth of the Baylor football program.  The Bears, fresh off an upset of Texas last week in Austin travel north this weekend to Stillwater to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are 6-1 themselves.  Okie Light opens as a 7 1/2 point favorite in this one but I believe they'll do a bit better.  I'm taking the Cowboys to win and cover 35-27.
In lawrence this weekend it's the rumble at Mount Oread as the Colorado Buffalo's come to town to face the jayhawks for undisputed possession of 11th place in the conference.  Both teams are 0-4 in Big XII play and this represents their last best chance to avoid the cellar.  The Buff's open as a 9 point favorite.  I love to hate on kansas as much as anyone, but that line seems ridiculous to me.  Not that I think ku doesn't suck; they do, but so does Colorado and their dead man walking coach.  In a game where neither team has an offense or defense, I'm going to take the Pac 10's newest crown jewel to win but fail to cover.  Colorado wins 28-24.
It's back to grand times in Lincoln as their countrified version of the big red machine pulls up stakes and heads east for their final battle with Iowa State.  After their convincing win over the Tigers last weekend, hick nation is once again out in full force and predicting losses to the 7 or 8 teams in front of them as they march to their rightful destination in Glendale at the national championship game.  The corn open as 19 point favorites in this game and believe me, nothing would give me more pleasure than watching a repeat of last years game in Hooterville.  Unfortunately I don't see it happening.  Nebraska wins and covers 38-13.
Oh how the mighty have fallen this year.  In Manhattan, last years national champion runner's up the Texas Longhorns limp in with their 4-4 record to face the Wildcats who are still looking for their 6th win and bowl eligibility.  The whorns open as 4 point favorites in this game and while I'd like to pick the Cats, I think that UT has enough to pull this one out on the road, although I think it will be a nail biter.  I'm picking Texas 24-21.
The week closes out at College Station where the A&M Aggies play host to the Sooners who are still walking a bit stiff from their loss in Columbia a couple of weeks ago.  Texas A&M switched out to quarterback Ryan Tannehill last weekend and it paid off big as they swept past Texas Tech 45-27.  I feel safe saying this OU team is light years better than the Red Raiders, and the line opening at OU minus 3 1/2 looks like a license to print money.  The Sooners roll, 41-14.   
That's all I have for now.  I hope to get back to you Sunday with a recap of my Tigers getting back in the win column.  Have a great weekend!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Week 9 recap:Message board free week for me.

Tiger nation is in full meltdown mode today.  Gary Pinkel, Dave Yost and Dave Steckel are apparently back to being idiots that have no business coaching in a BCS conference and our players should have their scholarships revoked.  And if Mike Alden doesn't take care of this then by golly we're going to storm his house and run him out too.  God there are days when I hate a percentage of our fan base.  
Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, the Huskers jumped out to a 24-0 lead 12 minutes into the game and the Tigers were never able to get back into the contest.  Roy Helu rushed for 307 yards as the hicks were able to control the line of scrimmage, and the offensive line gave Blaine Gabbert no time to throw.  There is no way around it, it was a dominating effort by a pretty darned good husker team.  I made a trip to my favorite pay site and read the message board for about 3 minutes and realized I would spend no time there this week.  And I'm not even going going to think about heading over to Tigerboard.  Anyway, I was 4-2 straight up for the week but only 2-3 vs the spread.  (No line was given on kansas/ISU)  For the year I'm 59-15 straight up and 34-30 playing the odds.
As angry as Missouri fan is today, I can't begin to imagine what things are like on the Longhorn boards as Texas dropped to 4-4 and 2-3 in conference play following a 30-22 loss to Baylor in Austin.  The Bears didn't do anything particularly well yesterday.  They passed for a little over 200 yards and rushed for a little over 100 and simply stuck around and waited for the Longwhorns to implode in the 4th quarter.  Yes, this is another game that I completely whiffed on but it's hard to hate on Baylor.  I can only imagine how much dancing was going on in the streets of Waco.  Or would have been going on if Baptists danced.  
The game that I split on this week was in College Station where the Aggies hosted Texas Tech as a 7 point favorite.  I thought A&M would win but fail to cover, but they drilled the Red Raiders 45-27.  The Tigers have to hope that A&M is coming into it's own as they host the huskers in a couple of weeks.
Going into the games I picked correctly this week, one occurred in Norman where the Sooners hosted Colorado.  OU came in as a 24 point favorite and you just knew that they'd be in a foul mood after dropping last weeks game against the Tigers.  Oklahoma used a 26 point 2nd quarter to end this game at the half as they rolled 43-10.
When I began making my predictions for last week, the Oklahoma State team still had their star receiver, Justin Blackmon on tap for this week.  However, a DUI arrest put him out of commission.  Fortunately for the Cowboys, they had a trip to Manhattan to face the Wildcats who are generally always undermanned.  Brandon Weeden still threw for almost 300 yards and a couple of touchdown as Okie State won and covered 24-14.
The final game of the week was in Ames where the Cyclones played host to a kansas team that may be among the worst in conference history this year.    There was no line on this game since the beaks were down to their 3rd string quarterback.  It was easily ku's best defensive effort of the year, but in the end, the result was the same as the jayhawks dropped their 11th straight conference game 28-16.  It was win # 5 for the clones as they hope to go to consecutive bowls under Paul Rhodes.  They close with 2 games at home and just one on the road, which is at Colorado so you'd think they were a shoe in.  Unfortunately for ISU, their 2 home games are against Nebraska next week and closing their season against Missouri.  For kansas fans the season can't end quickly enough.  heh.
That's all I've got for this week.  There are some interesting games next weekend involving some unlikely players as Baylor visits Oklahoma State, and Colorado travels to lawrence as those 2 teams battle for uncontested possession of 11th place in the conference.      
    

Friday, October 29, 2010

Week 9:The next "biggest game of the year"http://www.blogger.com/

It's a by-product of success.  Every time you win a big game, it makes the next game even bigger and adds more pressure to the coaches and players.  It's not like this week wasn't going to huge to begin with.  For the last 4 years the winner of the Missouri/Nebraska game has won the division and the right to be the sacrificial lamb in the conference championship game.  Well, make it # 5 with a bullet.  Mizzou travels north and puts their 7-0 record on the line against the 6-1 Huskers.  The Tigers will be without their best defensive tackle, Dominique Hamilton who suffered a broken ankle in Saturday nights 36-27 win over # 2 ranked Oklahoma.  The hicks bounced back from a home loss to Texas to out gun Oklahoma State 51-41 in Stillwater.  Corn nation has actually fared better on the road the last couple of years and some of their players, Nyles Paul in particular, not to mention head coach Bo Pelini have made disparaging comments about their fans.  Nebraska opens as an 8 point favorite in this one and I don't buy it for a minute.  The game opened at 7 but apparently money has been pouring in on the nubs.  I'm guessing a lot of farmers have suddenly taken out loans on their combines.  Despite the fact that I've admitted to being a shameless homer, I just have no idea what the odds makers and betters are thinking.  I'm taking the Tigers to not only cover, but to win outright.  MU 31-21.
Columbia wasn't the only program that was celebrating homecoming last weekend. A few miles to the west of here the jayhawks were taking on Texas A&M, Missouri's victim the week before in College Station Saturday night in larry.  While the crowd may not have been quite as large as the one in CoMo, there's something to be said for the ability to sit most anywhere you want.  This week the Crimson and Blue wrecking crew travel north to face Iowa State who pulled the upset of the week, and maybe the year last Saturday in a 28-21 win over Texas in Austin.  There hasn't been a line established for this game as of Tuesday.  I don't know if it's because of some Iowa State injury I haven't heard about of if the gamblers just plain forgot this game was being played.  At any rate, I'm going to predict the beaks fall to 0-4 in the conference as the Cyclones win 38-13.
In Austin, the bowl eligible Bears from Baylor visit the not yet bowl eligible Texas Longhorns.  It's like we've entered some sort of parallel universe as the whorns sit at 4-3 and suffered that home loss to Iowa State.  Texas fans being Texas fans, there has been some rumbling that Mack Brown may have lost his edge and they might need to replace him.  Mack himself has told his assistants that their jobs could be in jeopardy if they can't get the team playing with more emotion.  The fact that Texas was in the NC game last year doesn't really mean much to UT fans.  The athletic department at UT rakes in over 120 million a year and they aren't really familiar with the term rebuilding.  Texas opens as a 7 1/2 point favorite and I'm thinking they get off the 2 game home skid Saturday and win 38-24.   If Baylor was to pull off the upset here, and I certainly believe they're capable, we'll be hearing some major bitching from the Longhorn not so faithful.
Speaking of coaches and hot seats, Dan Hawkins makes his last trip to Norman to face a pissed off Sooner team in his farewell tour.  Expect the Hawk to be terminated before the last fan leaves the stadium in their final game, and really why wouldn't he be?  Meanwhile the Sooners will still be smarting from their nationally televised loss at the hands of my Tigers last weekend and you just know that Bob Stoops and company are going to take it out on someone.  Big game Bob has no problem running the score up on an over matched opponent as they try to get back in the national championship picture.  Oklahoma opens as a 24 point favorite in this one and they may cover that before the 1st quarter ends.  Pick OU in a rout, 59-7.  They will have one less rabid fan following the game this week so maybe they can dedicate the game to him.   Boomer Sooner.
Over in Manhattan the 5-2 K State Wildcats have another opportunity to get to bowl eligibility this week as they host Oklahoma State.  The Cowboys dreams of an unbeaten season were shattered last week in a 51-41 loss to hick nation.  Early Tuesday morning they got more bad news when star receiver Justin Blackmon was arrested for speeding and suspected driving under the influence as he was returning from the Monday night football game in Dallas.  The Cowboys open as a 6 point favorite in this one and I'm really tempted to call for the upset.  However, the Wildcats just aren't very good yet and I'm not ready to call for Carson Coffman to pull off a Taylor Martinez performance this weekend.  Look for the Cowboys to rally and win 41-24.
The week wraps up in College Station as the Aggies play host to the Red Raiders from Texas Tech.  Both  teams should be feeling better about themselves after wins last week over perennial powers Colorado and kansas.  A&M opens as a 7 point favorite in this one and the winning coach will feel the temperature of the seat he's on to cool a bit, but just a bit.  I'm going to take the Aggies to win, but fail to cover 24-21.
That's all I have for this week.  It should be a beautiful weekend in Kansas City and my honey do list is long.  I'll probably have to DVR the Missouri game and just catch some scores during the afternoon while I go out and mutilate some bushes in the yard.  Have a good weekend folks and we'll talk next Sunday.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Week 8 recap:How do you like us now?

What a night in Columbia!  A packed house of rowdy fans, some who had been there since 3:30 Saturday morning when the Quad was opened up for the weeks edition of ESPN's Game Day.  An Oklahoma team that was ranked 2nd in the nation and 1st in the BCS rankings had few answers but left with plenty of questions as Mizzou rolled them 36-27, in a game that really wasn't quite that close.  OU had 402 yards of offense in the game, but only 99 of them came after halftime as the Tigers defense again rose to the challenge.  Missouri accounted for 486 yards of total offense including 178 rushing yards.  Let that one sink in.  Blaine Gabbert was once again very effective managing the offense as he threw for 308 yards on a 30 of 42 night.  He was never sacked and spread the ball around with 10 receivers making catches.  It was electric inside of Faurot and a night we that were there will be talking about in the years to come, along with 2003 vs Nebraska, and other huge wins from the past.  I called this one, but I'm not going to claim much if any credit for a gutsy prediction.  Pure and simple, I'm a homer.  So now the Tigers will get to celebrate this Sunday afternoon before the next biggest game of the year hits next weekend as the Tigers travel north to face the Cornhuskers in the battle for the north and just possibly this year, the conference.
Speaking of the hicks, there wasn't a black shirt to be found in Stillwater as the Huskers won a 51-41 shootout with the Cowboys.  Taylor Martinez threw for 323 yards and repeatedly gashed Okie Lite's secondary that came into the game ranked 114th against the pass.  We can expect that ranking will not improve with this effort.  The fact that Martinez demonstrated he can indeed throw the ball came along at the best possible moment for the nubs since I see no way they could have beaten Missouri as one dimensional as they'd shown the first 6 games.  I'd picked OSU to upset in this one, so I fell to 1-1 for the week.
Another game that I, along with the rest of American missed went down in Austin where the Iowa State Cyclones pulled the 28-21 upset of Texas.  Alexander Robinson rushed for 120 yards and 2 scores and the Clones defense forced Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert into 4 turnovers.  After their upset in Lincoln last weekend the whorns had moved back into the top 25.  I think this turd should insure they don't see that again this weekend, but who knows.  The media infatuation with Texas will likely continue as soon as they beat someone else with a pulse.
The 3rd game I missed on the weekend can't really be described as an upset.  Texas Tech walked into Boulder as 2 1/2 point favorites, but I'd picked the Buffs to win one at home for the Hawk.  However, Tech held on for a 27-24 win.  With reports this week that former coach Bill McCartney would be interested in taking over the job, I'll be surprised if Hawkins is employed longer than a half hour or so after their season ends.
In Waco it was the battle for bowl eligibility as the Bears hosted Kansas State.  I'm not interested enough to look it up, but I believe this will be the first bowl for Baylor since the 1994 season, making them the final team in the conference to play in a bowl game.  I've made no bones about the fact that Art Briles is a good coach that I like a lot.  I'm really happy for the Bears, and happy for myself since it was a game I'd picked correctly.
Another game I picked right happened just down the road in lawrence where Texas A&M found the right cure for what ails you when you're on a 3 game losing streak.  The Aggies not only won, but rolled in a 45-10 win over the hapless jayhawks.  Adding insult to injury was a disclosure this week that there was no buyout stipulation in the contract former AD Lew Perkins negotiated with Turner Gill.  In the first place, Gill was given a 2 million dollar a year salary, and now it appears if he's terminated the remainder of his contract will have to be paid within 30 days.  Frankly, I think the beaks are stuck for at least 2 or 3 more years.
For the week I wound up 3-3 on the spread and straight up.  For the year I'm 55-13 straight up and 32-27 vs the spread.  There's a lot of games this week that could go either way, so I'm going to think about things for a few days and I'll get back to you.  Have a good week and let me close with M  I  Z.....

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Week 8: The rubber hits the road

It's on.  ESPN will be in Columbia Saturday morning for Game Day.  The columns will be the backdrop for America to watch as OU and Missouri prepare to meet Saturday night on ABC in the marquis match up of the weekend.   Both teams are 6-0 and 2-0 in conference.  Both are coming off impressive wins last weekend as the Tigers dominated a Texas A&M team that was desperate for a win in College Station while the Sooners blasted Iowa State 52-0 in front of a home crowd in Norman.  The Sooners are ranked # 2 in the country right now while the Tigers are ranked 18th in the AP poll and 16th in the coaches poll.  This is going to be the biggest party in Columbia since 2007 when Nebraska came to town full of high expectations before Mizzou sent them home with a 41-6 loss that sent their season down the tubes and ultimately cost Bill Callahan his job.  Oklahoma opens as a 3 point favorite in this one.  Bob Stoops has absolutely owned Gary Pinkel since both came into the league, and the Sooners seem to be hitting their stride.  Missouri played it's best and most complete game of the year last weekend against A&M.  The defense has been the best we've seen since Al Onofrio was roaming the sidelines as the defensive coordinator.  This being said, OU is and should be the favorite this week.  My head tells me to pick OU.  Well fuck my head.  I'm picking the Tigers to pull the upset again this week.  I'm taking Missouri to win 24-20.
In the other big game this week, the Cornhuskers travel to Stillwater to face the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys.  Corn nation suffered their first loss last Saturday in the game they'd had circled since last December when Texas kicked a field goal with 1 second on the clock.  In true hick fashion they even had tee shirts made to commemorate what was going to be their revenge game.  However, the Whorns gave out a blueprint on how to shut down Taylor Martinez and the Nebraska offense while scoring enough on the blackshirts to send 85,000 big red fans home, sadly dragging their oxygen tanks behind them.  It's about time we put this whole "worlds classiest fans" shit to bed as they booed an injured Texas player late in the game because they felt he was faking to give their defense a breather.  Yeah, like that's never happened before.  The Huskers open as a 5 1/2 point favorite in this one, but upsets were really good to me last week and I'm going to call another one here.  I'm taking Okie Lite to win this one 31-27 and next week my Tigers will walk into Lincoln facing a desperate Nebraska team and a crowd that suddenly finds Bo Pelini's histrionics less endearing than they did 2 weeks ago.
To the west, we wait with baited breath to see who can come out of their slide this weekend.  Texas A&M, losers of 3 straight, travels to lawrence to face Turner Gill and his jayhawks who've been outscored 114-14 in their first 2 conference games.  Mike Sherman's seat is almost as hot as Dan Hawkins in Colorado, and we're already seeing squawk nation grumbling about new HC Turner Gill and his staff.  What did they expect for 2 million a year?  To be competitive?  The Aggies open as a 13 1/2 point favorite in this one and my initial thought was no problem.  Then I remembered watching them against the Tigers last weekend.  I still believe they'll win and find a way to cover so I'm going to pick A&M 31-17.  The game will do nothing to quiet the angry mob in College Station and the beaks season just continues to circle the drain.  Another prediction is Sherman is gone after this year but Gill gets at least 1 more to show some signs of life.  I don't think he'll ever turn things around but I don't think ku can afford the PR hit by firing him 1 year into a 5 year contract.  Just remember beaks about how proud you were of having Lew Perkins as your AD.  Nice going away present from him huh?
Speaking of coaches on the hot seat, there should be a dandy in Boulder when Texas Tech and new coach Tommy Tuberville meet the Buffalos and everyone's favorite whipping boy, Dan Hawkins.  Both teams sit 3-3 and have suffered some mind numbing losses to get to this point.  Tech opens as a 2 1/2 point favorite in this game but I think that the curse of the pirate is going to play out again and I'm going to take Colorado to pull the mild upset at home.  Buffs 27, Red Faders 21.   
Things just don't get any easier for Iowa State.  A week after getting pounded at home 52-0 to Oklahoma, they now travel to Austin to face a Texas team that saved their season, at least for now last week when they upset corn nation in Lincoln.   I've said time and time again that I like Paul Rhodes, but he just doesn't have much talent to work with right now and the Clones are going to have to bite the bullet for a couple more years.  The whorns open as 21 point favorites and will probably have little trouble covering.  Take Texas in a romp, 41-13.
There should be a pretty decent ball game down in Waco as the 5-2 Bears play host to the 5-1 K State Wildcats. Baylor comes in at 5-2 while the Cats are 5-1.  Both have good coaches and should make bowl games.  As a matter of fact the winner of this game will become bowl eligible for the first time in a while.  The Bears open as a 6 point favorite and while I think they'll win, I think Bill Snyder will figure out a way to keep it close.  I'll take Baylor to win it late, 27-24.  If you've read any of my work you know I have a soft spot for the Baylor cheerleaders.  In fairness, there is some talent at K State also.
That's all I have for this week.  Hope you have a good weekend and it's dry Saturday night in Columbia.