2009 Week 10
November 10, 2009
We're now at the time of year when ESPN's networks are showing football every night of the week. College, high school, heck, tonight they even have the NFL's Bills hosting some barnstorming Ohio team.
Now some people think football is overexposed, that there's too much football on television these days. Anybody who remembers back to the 60's knows this isn't the case.
I can remember receiving my first Social Security check and going out to buy myself a color television, just to watch the big 1969 Texas/Arkansas game. And that was the only game on television the entire week! You young'uns don't know what it was like to turn on the TV on Saturday night, hoping for some exciting football action, and be stuck watching the Carol Brunette show. That Tom Conway couldn't take a hit to save his life.
There were a lot of interesting games this past week. Top 10 rated Oregon showed it has all the staying power of a 13-year-old boy in getting smashed by Stanford. Wily veteran coach Jack Harbaugh has done a fine job with the Indians.
Oregon's most recent win is now a bit tainted, as R Kansas also socked it to USC, 33-16.
Temple has had a great turnaround, they knocked off fellow East Coast independent Miami 34-32. And, judging by some of the team photos, the Owls may be the front-runner for the Jack Lambert Trophy, which goes to the East Coast team with the most missing teeth.
Auburn bombed Furman 63-31. I asked my good friend Chris Berman, "Chris, what's a Furman?" He started mumbling some stuff about sites on the Internet featuring friendly men with hairy backs. I don't understand Chris at times.
One of the more exciting games was on ABC Saturday night. Those Canadian boys from Yukon fought down to the wire in Cincy, but fell 47-45 to the Bengals.
I was also glad to see that one of the great rivalries had another classic, as Nebraska beat Oklahoma 10-3. I think the Huskers' 5-run third inning was the key.
Now I, along with everyone else concerned with college football, was saddened to hear that Florida State's finest will be making a major career change. No, Bobby's still around. But famed FSU fan Jenn Sterger will be having her implants removed. I'm not sure what sort of plants they are, but judging by the photos I think they were cantalopes.
I understand the difficult decisions faced by those who have had plastic surgery. Liposuction, tummy tucks, and the insertion of extra chins are not easy choices. And, whoa nellie, they're expensive.
Surgery can help one's appearance but can also result in an athletic advantage.
Way back in the 1930s there was a backup running back at Washington State named Ed McBride. Midway through the season Ed had some severe pain. He went to the doctor, who diagnosed a bad gall bladder and removed it surgically. Unfortunately, the incision got infected so it never really healed right.
Pretty soon Ed had a big bag of pus on his upper abdomen. It wasn't too painful, so Ed strapped on his helmet and went out there to play for his team as the Cougars had a critical road game against their nearby archrival, the Idaho Vandals.
Late in the game, with Idaho leading 14-10, the starting running back left with a knee injury and Ed entered the contest. The ball was at midfield and there were two minutes left. Ed went to his right and took a hard pitch.
One of the opponents grabbed at him and his jersey rode up. Another Idaho player tried to strip the ball and Ed bobbled it. Just then the ball disappeared and nobody could find it at all. The ball apparently had slid into the pouch created by the bag of pus. Ed ran all the way into the endzone for the winning TD.
When they went to take the ball out, the refs declared the game as over as no one wanted to touch the ball for the extra point. Fortunately for Ed's health, pigs are sufficiently closely related to humans so the pigskin didn't cause any infection.
Washington State continued to take advantage of Ed's surgical problem over the next few weeks, as his teammates stuffed the ball into Ed's pouch on a regular basis. My good friend Lee Corso said he likes it when guys stuff balls into his pouch as well. I don't understand Lee at times.
Soon enough the NCAA created a new rule barring the use of pouches or any other result of surgery. So Ed's career ended almost as soon as it took off.
Washington State still was grateful for the few weeks that Ed performed so well. They even renamed the trick play in honor of Ed's bobble and the location where it first occurred, on the University of Idaho's campus in Moscow, Idaho. So that's how the fumble-rooskie was named.
And now you know the rest of the story.