Cat/Griz:
The annual Cat/Griz game is this Saturday. The state of Montana is divided leading up to the game. I watch both teams throughout the season and have no ties to either school.
In regards to Cat/Griz football, during the regular season, I wish the schedulers for both schools would schedule their games at different times so we neutral fans could watch both games on Saturdays. My hand gets a little sore running the remote! It would also be great to schedule the teams so that one team is playing at home and the other on the road as much as possible throughout the season. Oh well, at least they are on TV most of the time. Don’t forget to make your pick in my poll on the left side of the screen!
I like the Obama plan:
President elect Barack Obama wants a major college playoff system with eight teams. I agree with him, but I would like to see more teams selected for the playoffs and use the bowl games for the playoffs. Way back in January 2006, I listed my plan for college football playoffs. You can view it HERE.
NASCAR
The NASCAR season ended on Sunday with Jimmy Johnson winning his third consecutive title. Congratulations to Jimmy. Johnson is really a nice fellow.
I used to watch NASCAR a lot, but sometimes their “instant” rulings remind me of professional wrestling, like when the field is frozen as soon as the yellow flag comes out, except in the case of the Daytona 500 a couple years ago when Mark Martin was leading. That’s when my remote started jumping to other sports and flipping back to the race a few times during a commercial. Hey boys, you lost me.
Pro Football
The Brett Favre-led Jets are 7-3 and sitting at the top of the AFC East. The Green Bay Packers are 5-5 and tied for first in the NFC Central. Hmmm.
My Kansas City Chiefs (1-9) are fighting it out for the top pick in the NFL draft with the Detroit Lions (0-10), the Cincinnati Bengals (1-8-1), the St. Louis Rams (2-8), Seattle Seahawks (2-8), and the Oakland Raiders (2-8). The Chiefs play the Raiders and the Bengals during the last six weeks of the season. Get the popcorn ready.
Shout Outs
As a youngster, I attended many schools. One school, located in the small town of Princeton Missouri, has made the football playoffs many years. Last year, they made it to the semi-finals. This year they have again made it to the semi-finals. Congratulations to the Princeton Tigers! The playoffs for Class 1 in Missouri start with 32 teams. The first couple of week’s teams play on Wednesday and Saturdays. The championship for all six classes of schools playing 11 man football in Missouri are held the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving in St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome (home of the NFL St. Louis Rams). They also hold the championship for eight-man that weekend, too.
Carroll College starts the path to their sixth National Championship in seven years this weekend when they host Dickenson State in Helena. Go Saints!
The Western Word 
Doug – Good points about NASCAR – safety has increased with the frozen field rule, but it just seems that sometimes the officials are thinking things up as they go or not enforcing rules sometimes when they should. I still watch it, but not as much as I use to. Thanks for your comments. -Jack
Anon: I like those types of fans. You can walk through the parking lot at the next Chiefs home game and feel like they are 10-0 instead of 1-9. I still hold out hope they just might make it to the big show one more time before I kick the bucket. Thanks for your comments. -Jack
I’m a NASCAR knucklehead, so I had to come back with something of a defense. I believe what happened in that race was that the field was frozen <>at the last scoring loop<>, at which point Mark Martin was behind. Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t a scoring loop between there and the finish line.Technology has helped a lot in NASCAR, but it also has caused situations like this to come up. I believe Tony Stewart won a race that way this year as well. Without installing the loops a car length apart on every track (I would imagine a very expensive proposition), the only cure here would be to allow racing to continue after a yellow on the final lap. The problem there, of course, is safety. I know my pucker factor used to go way up when watching the cars race back to the line after a caution, often with the competitors blowing by the wrecked cars at 200 mph.Anyway, good stuff. And also, GO SAINTS. If they go to Rome this year I may just have to tag along.
Two of my best friends are Chiefs fans and they say wait two years and then buy your tickets to the superbowl ’cause that will be the Chiefs year. I, unfortunately, remind them they’ve been saying that since the last time the Chiefs went to the superbowl. LOL.