Happy October!

The Griz and the Cats…
Montana and Montana State both found themselves behind 10-0 early hosting Weber State and Idaho State. Both were still behind at halftime, but came back for victories. The Griz game was a penalty bowl with 24 penalties for 240 yards, but the Griz won 18-10, and they are 4-0. The Bobcats beat Idaho State 40-20 to go 3-1 on the season.

Big College Football…

Looking more like an episode of ER and flag day for yellow hankies, USC beat Washington Saturday night 27-24. It was not pretty, but it was a win for USC. USC was flagged 16 times for 161 yards. I imagine the USC practice will be pretty tough this week.

The LSU Tigers, the number two team in the polls, started slowly and managed a 10-9 lead at halftime over Tulane. The halftime speech must have been a good one as LSU nailed Tulane in the second half to win going away, 34-9.

So, will USC remain number one, or will LSU move up a spot?

Upset Specials:

The top 10 teams should have taken notice on Friday night when #5 West Virginia lost to #18 South Florida 21-14. It set the table for a bad Saturday for the top 10 teams.

Colorado beat #3 Oklahoma 27-24 on a 45 yard field goal as time expired.

Auburn beat #4 Florida 20-17 on a last second field goal.

Kansas State beat #7 Texas 41-21 (at Texas).

The entertaining game for Saturday: The #6 California Bears beat #11 Oregon Ducks 31-24. Oregon fumbled late in the fourth quarter (the ball went out of the end zone). The Ducks’ QB (Dixon) threw two interceptions in the 4^th Quarter. Former Great Falls (CMR) Quarterback, Brady Leaf, is the backup to Dixon.

The Auburn/Florida game was a great one, too.

Sunday Tackle Football (for a paycheck):

It was a tough week in my pro football pool. In fact, I bombed this week going 4-9 going into the Monday night game. I’m sure glad they throw the worst week out.

Chiefs 30-Chargers 16. Yep, it was an upset. The Chiefs scored 24 unanswered points. Larry Johnson had 25 carries for 123 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson had 20 carries for 132 yards, but around 115 of those yards were in the first half.

Where’s Marty? Late in the 4^th Quarter, the Chargers fans were chatting, “Mar-ty, Mar-ty.” The San Diego Chargers are 1-3. Last year they were 14-2 with Marty Schottenheimer as head coach. I like Marty. He has 200 victories as a head coach with 126 losses (.613). Of course, this was the regular season. He had trouble winning in the playoffs. As the Kansas City Chiefs’ coach, he averaged 10 wins per season for 10 years.

The Chargers and their fans probably wish Marty was back. I would.

Kansas City, Denver, and Oakland (2-2) are tied for first place in the AFC West. Whoda thunk it?

Another upset is when the Cardinals beat the Steelers 21-14.

Brett Favre broke Dan Marino’s record for touchdown passes and the Packers stayed undefeated by beating the Vikings 23-16. The Pack is 4-0. Go Pack!!

Detroit beat Chicago 37-27. Brian Griese, starting for Rex Grossman, had three interceptions. So who will be the starting QB next week?

The big play was when a Bears’ onside kick bounced to the Lions’ Casey FitzSimmons (Chester, Montana native and Carroll College alum), and he returned it for a touchdown.

Green Bay, Dallas, Indianapolis, and are 4-0. New England is 3-0 going into Monday night’s game.

The Giants beat the Eagles Sunday night in a very boring game.

BASEBALL

The regular season is over. 162 games – yawn. There’s one more game tonight to decide the National League Wildcard team. The San Diego Padres travel to Colorado to take on the Rockies for the final spot in the post season.

In the American League, it will be Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles Angels, and the New York Yankees.

In the National League, it will be Philadelphia, Chicago, Arizona and either San Diego or Colorado.

RACIN’

NASCAR was at the Kansas Speedway. There were rain delays and the race was shortened and then it was called with a few laps left because of darkness. The winner ran out of fuel and could not keep up with the pace car, but it appears they gave him the race win any way. NASCAR has some serious problems with the way they change the rules, sometimes weekly, to fit their own needs. It’s beginning to look a lot like professional wrestling.