January 28, 2015 - or 650 Days Since My Last Post

Boy, is it ever dusty in here.

Fake football? A new job?

Wow, that's old news! Except for the fake football thing. I still play it. I just never documented any of my adventures. If you, constant reader, have learned anything about me...it's that I rarely follow through on anything I promise in this blog. I mean, it's been 650 days since my last post. Do you want to know what's happened in that time? I played golf like five times! I bought a different car! Wanda's gotten two crowns on her teeth!

Oh, we even had a baby! Yes, ol' irresponsible Nate and his wonderful, loving, responsible wife had a beautiful baby boy named Erik. He was born 5/23/14 and has been the greatest little guy anybody could ask for and Wanda and I love him more than anything.

Life has been quite different since Erik arrived. I think the two cats have been properly traumatized with his arrival but they have been slowly coming around. We've even been teaching him how to pet them gently. I'm sure when he starts crawling (so close!) and then walking he'll be terrorizing them. But for now they tolerate him and sometimes even come close to sniff him every once in a while.

And I think I'm done for now. The chasm between wanting to write and actually writing anything is vast for me. Nearly infinite. And I have no more words at the moment. I hope to have more soon. For now, enjoy this dispatch from the void!

Fake Football Universe Revival

Hello there everyone.

I was just browsing through some of my old posts and spotted this one that covered a week in my college football "Alternaverse". Back then, I was rocking a Playstation 2 and playing NCAA Football 2007. My teams at the time were the USC Trojans, Colorado Buffaloes, and San Jose State Spartans. I didn't post anything after that but I had fun writing up the little blurbs on my teams' games and it's fun to read them now. Just as a little exercise in writing and time suckage, I'd like to revive this process. I've since upgraded the game system to an Xbox 360 and the game to NCAA Football 2013, but the spirit is still the same. EA Sports has done away with the player discipline portion (not sure what year that happened) so there won't be any infractions for me to embellish in my write-ups. Maybe I'll pick a random player from each team and write up a whole fake back story along the lines of, say, Manti Te'o? We'll see.

My two current teams in the game are my hometown Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Texas State Bobcats. Whenever I get a new version of the football game I will always start with the Cornhuskers. After I've dominated for a few years (I've already won two National Championships) I will usually have my "coach" of the Huskers take a position with a different team. But I'm still at Nebraska for now. So, my two coaches are the faux Bo Pelini (not to be confused with this faux Pelini) with the Huskers and a young whippersnapper by the name of Nate Johnson at Texas State. I find it both satisfying and frustrating to play with more than one team. You get more variety in opponents, talent, and bowl games by playing with more than one team. Especially if you have two teams on opposite ends of the spectrum like Nebraska and Texas State. But it also takes you twice as long to go through a season if you're playing with two.

The pull of a powerhouse team (aside from favorite team allegiance) is that you know you will always get top-tier talent and will almost always be in competition for a national title. But that can also get boring if your team is so good that it wins it all year after year. That's great when the real-life team is winning like that, but it gets boring in a video game. Hence the attraction of a team near the bottom. You get the challenge of trying to win with a team that is not nearly as talented. Recruiting is much harder and it usually takes at least one season to even get ranked in the top 25 and three-to-four more to be in contention for a national title. And this is even if you go undefeated and win your toilet bowl game. Usually, if your team is coming from a lesser conference and you perform well for a few years, you will be invited to join a better conference. This helps a lot in the quest for the National Championship. But it also increases the level of your competition.

In the previous "Alternaverse" the team I brought up from obscurity was San Jose State. It took quite a few years but eventually I was able to get marquee recruits and win multiple national titles. Patience and lots of time wasted are the keys to success.

I don't know how long I'll actually run this little fake football recap but I hope to have some fun with it. If you've read any of my blog you know that I am not consistent. At all. In fact, I am only consistent in not being consistent. I'm gonna shoot low and promise at least three write-ups. We shall see. In the meantime, watch this video of a dude and his dog talking about bacon.

The Final Countdown Has Begun...Again

Hey all you faithful readers out there! If you've ever read a thing or two on my blog you know that I'm prone to Grand Canyon-esque lapses between my posts. And it's been 44 days since my last activity here. But I've actually got a few semi-good reasons for that this time. In addition to my elephantine laziness, of course.

I've been directing my occasional posting efforts to an up-and-coming sports blog that I recently joined as a contributor. The site's NoCoastBias.com (NCB) and you can find my bio page and blog posts here and here. My writing there focuses mostly on the NFL and making fun of myself. So, it'll be fairly similar to what I post here! You should definitely check out the site. Not just because of me (although that is a good reason to go in the first place!) but because the site's founder, Derek Hernandez, has put together an impressive list of writers and contributors and we're churning out new content every day. Speaking of new content, I'm proud to say that my good friend Andy Soto joined the site as well and has written some great articles. Andy's got a wealth of sports knowledge in his handsome noggin and if you're a Chiefs fan you're in for a treat (though Andy may begin writing some depressing articles if the Chiefs keep losing).

Also, as the title of this piece suggests, the final countdown has begun! Again. A little background for you:

Do you guys remember MySpace? That social networking site that a lot of people (myself included) though would outlast Facebook and keep giving us glittery profile backgrounds and embedded content forever! Well, we were wrong! Anyway, back about a month before I graduated from college the first time, I added the song The Final Countdown by Europe as my profile song. In case you haven't heard it or want to hear it again, here's the video:

God, isn't that freaking awesome? Did you ever wish that you could have lived through the eighties? To be fair, I was born in '84, so I was a little kid during some of the prime rocking eighties time. If only my birth could have been dialed back a few years then maybe I could have gone to a Phil Collins concert while he was still cool and not pumping out Disney tunes. What am I saying? Phil is the best. I love Phil Collins. Did you know he was in the movie Hook? As a kid who had ample time to both wear out my dad's No Jacket Required tape AND watch lots of VHS movies, I thought that was the coolest thing ever to see him in that movie. Anyway, what was my point with all of this eighties stuff? Oh yes, the countdown. Well, I'm counting down to my second college graduation. I can't decide if that's a sad thing or not. I suppose if it results in me getting some better opportunities than I had before (and more money is always nice) and if I enjoy my work more than I did before then it won't be sad. It'll be worth the time that I put into it. That's what I (and my very patient wife) are hoping for. And since I'm counting down to graduation, that means I have to actually pass my classes this semester! And that means actually doing homework and going to class! Terrible things, I know. But necessary.

So even though I still find many ways to waste my time, I do have TWO WHOLE reasons for why you haven't been seeing much of me here lately. I hope to remedy that a bit. I've enjoyed writing about sports at NCB but I've missed writing about whatever the hell is running through my head at any moment and there's no reason that I can't do both. If you're looking for hard statistical analysis and rock-solid predictions about the NFL on NCB you probably don't want to read my articles. Check out Andy's stuff or any of the other crew members who post on the NFL. But if you want to read something goofy, self-deprecating, and loosely tied to the NFL, then I'm your man.

Sports Post-Football: Addendum

As an addition to my REAL (sorry Canada; Arena) football replacement candidates piece, I would like to add Canadian football. However, it's not really a replacement since it coincides with the NFL season. Their preseason is already underway and they wrap up on November 25th (CFL official site).

Anyway, I caught this Deadspin article about NBC's new 24-hour sports network that is looking for some live programming. I guess they're going to air some Canadian football this season. I've heard some crazy things about the sport: wider field, three downs, punting into the endzone for points (here's Wikipedia's entry), etc. I could see myself watching a few games, just for the sheer spectacle of it! Seriously, it could be fun.

It's too bad that they don't play during the summer because it would be a highly desirable NFL replacement (much better than the nearly non-existent Arena Football League). So, until August 27th, we will be deprived of CFL action on NBC Sports Network and we will have to make-due with mediocre preseason NFL starting this Sunday.

At this point, I refuse to watch baseball.

Onward!

Tecmo Time: Follow-up

 

 I Finished up my current season in Tecmo Super Bowl. The "version" of the game that I'm playing has been updated but you can tell how long it's been since I last played since all of the rosters are reflective of the 2010 season. Anyway, I played through the season with the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. These teams actually played each other twice in the season--once in the regular season and again in the AFC Championship. I briefly agonized over which team to play with, even flipping a bottle cap (too lazy to find a coin) to see which team I would use. Then I just decided to let ol' Tecmo decide for me. I let them play each other. Crazily enough (well, not that crazy, since Tom Brady was really just Steve Grogan in disguise and Kyle Orton is nonother than the hallowed John Elway), the Broncos won both times.

 Now, anyone who is familiar with Tecmo Super Bowl knows that playoff games often become much much more difficult than regular season ones. (I think we can all relate to the experiences had by a player named Arnold in this article.) Something that I have encountered, and maybe you have too, is that it seems that even the regular season games toward the end of the season tend to get more difficult. Receivers who were once wide-open are now blanketed, forcing your not-so-nimble quarterback to shamble down the sideline for a few precious yards. Holes that were once a mile wide are now mere inches and your once unstoppable running back is now stuffed after two or three yards.

 So, I was a wee bit nervous about going into the playoffs with my two teams. Denver won a hard-fought game against Seattle in a wild card match-up while New England got a bye. Oddly enough, the Denver v. Seattle game was the only really difficult game of the playoffs. Denver then beat up Houston, err, Tennessee in the Divisional round and New England handily defeated Buffalo. This set up the previously mentioned AFC Championship. Denver won and would play Philadelphia, led by Michael Vick (Randall Cunningham). I gave the birds quite a drubbing and basked in the Tecmo glory.

Tecmo Time: The Game that Shall Live Forever

Faithful readers, I met with a dear friend of mine this weekend. That friend is Tecmo Super Bowl. I previously regaled you with a brief remembrance of joyful childhood holidays at my grandparents house playing this game; sitting in the basement conjuring whatever black magic spell was needed to keep the wheezy Nintendo running and pumping this 8-bit wonder through the equally-taxed television. Those are days rich with dreams and untapped potential. If you could take a perennial punching bag like the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl, you could easily become an astronaut heart surgeon cowboy.


I've had the game on my computer, accessible by an emulator, for a while. I go through spurts of playing and it's been a while since I last took a turn on it.

Well, I fired it up on Sunday and played a few games. Just like putting on an old pair of shoes or riding a bicycle or whatever you want to call it. Good times.

One of my favorite things to do is to start a season with one team and then, about halfway through the season, check to see what teams are languishing in last place; one sickly burp of the life support machine away from not making the playoffs. I'll pick one of those teams and see if I can will them through the rest of the season and on to Tecmo glory. To see that scene with your team, your coach lifted, and your players listed is one of life's grandest achievements.

Speaking of scenes, my cousins and I used to watch the intro to the game and scream out the players being showcased:

"Joe Montana!"


"Barry Sanders!"


"Lawrence Taylor!"


It was awesome. Back when there were no thoughts of brain-addling diseases debilitating our idols and not a drop of cynicism to be found in our minds. And every time I fire up that game, a little bit of that childhood magic comes back. Memories. Sweet sweet memories.

Holy Schnoodles

Yes, holy schnoodles, indeed. Fair and good readers, I am not Gurg. Gurg was something that probably should not have seen the light of day. He has traveled back to his home planet, never to return. I burned his green card and shredded his passport into his breakfast cereal. Bid him a farewell. Not a fond one, just a farewell.

Holy schnoodles, it has (again) been a long time since I've written anything. Here is what's shaking:

• It is very very very very very very very very hot here in Lincoln. It is also very very very very very very very very very very hot everywhere else.
• I attempted to hike up a 14,000 foot mountain (a 14er) in Colorado and I failed.
• Baseball is still here. Good God when will the season end and football begin? For all of my moaning about not wanting our future children to play football, I cannot freaking wait for the season to start. The allure of cooler weather and a wave of CTE-tinged pigskin matches is always something to look forward to. Am I a terrible person for saying this? Yes, I probably am.
• I am nearing the start of the last semester of my retread-college career. Let's hope that I don't see the need to go back to school again. Ever.
• And that's about it.

A Dream Dashed

Hello, my faithful and wonderful readers. I trust that this ol' world has been treating you well since our last convergence. Recently I read a couple articles about football and concussions. One is from Yahoo's The Post Game writer Patrick Hruby (on Twitter @patrick_hruby) and the other is from CBS Sports writer Gregg Doyel (on Twitter @greggdoyelcbs).

End Game: Brain Trauma And The Future Of Youth Football In America - Post Game
Death of football? That's crazy, until you start thinking about it - CBS Sports

**Disclaimer: I know nothing about parenting. Anything related to it below is pure speculation and guessing on my part**

My wife and I do not have any children....yet! But we will someday (relax, all you eager beavers!). And when we do, there's a 50/50 chance that we will have a boy. And I'd be lying if I hadn't thought about my future son playing sports--specifically football (yes yes, a girl could also play football if she wanted to). Now, I'm not going to be one of those dads that seeks to live out his childhood dreams through his child and I certainly am not going to turn our son or daughter into a robot who's only goal and purpose in life is to play in the NFL. No no. I want to be supportive and our son or daughter will be able to freely pursue whatever they want, Tiger Mom be damned!

Shifting gears for a moment: I'm interested in reading that Tiger Mom book after having read an article discussing it. The article escapes me at the moment, I'll have to try and dig it up later.

All right, back on track: After reading these two articles about football and concussions I've come to the conclusion that I don't want our child to play football. There's too much at stake and all of the "character building" and "toughening up" that purportedly comes from football can easily come from other, less dangerous sports. The mantra of red-blooded booze swilling Americans is that football is a man's game that teaches boys how to be men. Getting nailed in the head so hard you can't remember your own name is just part of the joy of football. It makes you a man. Being concussed into oblivion and having your brain turned to a rotten swiss cheese mush is also part of the deal. Becoming crippled, potentially abusive and suicidal are also part of it. All for the glory, right? You sacrifice your body for the beauty and wonder of the sport. It's part of the game. Right. Just because that's the way it's been for years and all of these kids are brainwashed into believing that doesn't make it true. Football is violent. Football can be deadly. Yet so many play it.

Football is a game that I've enjoyed and lusted after since I was a child, just as countless other people have. I played flag football in my youth and one year of tackle football in middle school. I've played in the backyard and put up with the pansy (there I go, perpetuating that stereotype!) rules of intramural flag football at my college. I watch it on television and I've even been to a few games. Actually, the first NFL game I went to was on September 10, 2006. It was in Kansas City and I saw Trent Green get knocked out cold. At the time I didn't think much of it. I vaguely hoped that he'd be okay, much like most football fans probably do when an injury like that occurs. We as fans don't really care much about what happens to the players. As long as somebody good is out there for our team it doesn't matter. It's entertainment, right!??! Those guys get paid millions and they know the risks! Sure sure.

We start to care when it's our family members, though. When you see your kid get laid out and later see him stumbling around the sidelines, you care.

As I said before, I want our child to be free to pursue what they want in life. If they're set on playing football, I don't know that I'll be able to stand in the way. Can you really forbid your offspring from participating in a sport? Sure you can! They may resent you for a long time, but you could do it. I don't know! Football folks are in uncharted waters right now. But science is starting to map out where the violence of the sport leads. The fog of football is slowly rolling away to reveal uncomfortable truths about our nation's real pastime. As the CBS article discusses, the death of football seems preposterous right now. But give it time.

When the time comes for my wife and I to discuss sports and other extracurricular activities with our children (around, say, three years old? Give or take a few?) we may be in for some difficult times. I have no idea, really, what we're going to do. I guess we just do our best to educate our children about the benefits and the dangers of activities that they're interested in and be as supportive as we can.

But I'm hoping that my son or daughter doesn't take a shine to football. Basketball's a fine sport and we've got my dad to help in that department. He was quite the roundball player in his day. :-)

My perspective on football has changed. Like so many other follies of youthful thinking, the scales have begun to fall from my eyes.

Sports Post-Football

My faithful readers. I am so sorry it has been a while since I have last written. Blame the laziness. And video games. Homework? Nah, mostly video games. And reading. Surprise! Yes, reading. I, Nate Johnson, have actually been reading a book lately. It's Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63, and I really like it. King has long been my favorite author. After I read The Stand, The Tommyknockers, and It, I was hooked for life. He's got such a way of painting daily life and transforming it into things alternately wonderful and horrifying. He's awesome, the bee's knees.

That aside, I thought I'd comment on sport's fandom/watchiness post-Super Bowl. I know, I know, a lot of people will scoff at the notion that sports even exist between early February and September, but they do! Not that they're anywhere near as good, but a man dying of thirst isn't too picky about where his water comes from, is he? Without further horse patoot, here we go:

Daytona 500/NASCAR: This is something fairly new for me. In the past I've attempted to "get into" NASCAR. But I really can't. I just can't. For me, it's like trying to get into hockey. I did watch the end of the shootout race last weekend at Daytona and surprisingly enjoyed it. The massive wreck I saw probably helped a lot. You couldn't help but watch with all the drama unfolding! A huge wreck with two laps to go and only ten cars left? Riveting! So, I'll give the 500 a shot this weekend, if only for more wrecks.


March Madness: Ah, yes. March Madness (It really is madness because the tournament doesn't end until sometime in April). The month or so out of the year when I actually pay slight attention to college basketball. Until my Yahoo tournament bracket is busted, then I pretty much check out. But it's something, right??!!

NBA playoffs: Again, I don't really care about the NBA until the playoffs arrive, and I still don't care that much. I try to watch a few games, but I'd rather be doing something else.

Hockey playoffs: I usually catch snippets of a game or two each year. Nothing more.

Arena Football??: The cheap, artificial sweetener of football. If you can find what channel it's on, you deserve a medal. Also, I can only watch a few plays before I zone out.

Baseball: America's Pastime! The great sport of baseball! Baseball is a great sport, I recognize that. And I can't help but get excited when it starts up every year. For the first month I'm into it! Heck, one year I even watched the MLB Network in the run-up to the season and had spring training games on in the background while I did other stuff! I don't usually do that; it was a one-time thing. I immerse myself in fantasy drafts and preseason magazines; I watch the Royals on FSN (gah!); I tune in to Sunday-Monday-Wednesday-Funday Night Baseball on ESPN (it really feels like there's a primetime game every night). I watch Baseball Tonight on ESPN. All those fancy baseball card animations at the beginning! Catch phrases! It's awesome! And then I peter out and sink into the long, hot summer.

Baseball? Again!??!


God, when does football start??!!


What channel is Arena Football on? I need something! Even if it doesn't taste quite right! Someone please tell me!! What? It's on NFL Network? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We only have piddly cable. And NFL Network, possibly the greatest channel on earth, is not available on cable. Not even on fancy pants digital cable! Not even with the sports pack! Only on satellite. Curse you, NFL. Curse you. Sure, we get the NBA, MLB, and NHL networks. But who watches that stuff? Sheesh.

So, there it is. I will absently watch the summer full of non-football sporting events while scouring Twitter and various sports sites for news on the NFL. Go Dolphins!

Super 8 and the Holiday Weekend

Just got back from watching Super 8. I really liked it. It was a collaboration between JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg so I knew it was going to be something pretty great. In some ways it felt like Close Encounters, which was fine with me. The setting, the music, and a lot of the mystery and terror-tinged suspense.

I appreciated that care was taken to show the story from the perspective of the group of middle-school friends. It's a pleasant dive back into the innocence and adventure of childhood and the interplay between friends, and also the relationships with parents. A good film that I'd recommend to anyone.

We're heading out to my aunt and uncle's place at Johnson Lake tomorrow to celebrate the holiday weekend. Looking forward to a good time with family and some quality water time. As Wanda would say regarding herself and her family, "We're not water folk." I always joke with her whenever she says that, that her family is not like the water folk in The Lord of the Rings. From page 51 of The Fellowship of the Ring: The Shadow of the Past: "[T]here lived by the banks of the Great River on the edge of Wilderland a clever-handed and quiet-footed little people. I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors, for they loved the River, and often swam in it, or made little boats of reeds."

Wanda also would say that I often ramble and detour into excessive ramblings when I'm trying to make a simple comparison. Much like the one above. She would be quite right about that. Back to the water:

Myself? I've never been huge on boating activities like skiing (tried it once with a jet ski trying to pull me. Didn't work), tubing, wake-boarding, etc. I don't mind the occasional tube ride, but I mostly spend it white-knuckling the tube handles and trying not to get thrown off.

When I was much younger I did enjoy going fishing on a boat and I enjoy a good boat ride. When we would visit my grandparents I loved to go fishing with my grandpa and my cousin. Grandpa and Grandma had a cabin out at Red Willow Lake (some know it as Hugh Butler Lake) and we'd spend a lot of time out there. Sometimes we'd go out in the boat to fish, but mostly we fished off the docks. Good times.

The Big Ten Network is dedicating what seems like all of their programming this weekend to Nebraska since we officially joined the conference on the 1st. So I sat down and watched the 1995 Orange Bowl between Nebraska and the Miami Hurricanes. It was kind of weird watching it now, because I was only ten when it was played. I didn't know that Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis were on that Hurricanes team. I also didn't know that Cris Collinsworth was one of the announcers. And now I do. Good stuff.

I suppose I should be getting ready for bed since we're shoving off relatively early, for me anyway. Adios.

Goings Ons and Suchs

My, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything on here. I've been tidying up some email business and decided to dust off this blog a bit as well. I also decided to stop importing it into my Notes on Facebook. Why? Dunno, maybe I'm tired of linking everything with my Facebook page. The inevitable Facebookization of the universe. Or maybe I'm just prepping to jump ship to Google+, whenever I can scare up an invite! Took me a few minutes to figure out how to stop importing into Facebook: had to go to their help page, had to search for Notes on Facebook, took me to the first result which was the wrong one, clicked for all search results, thought I found the right one, instead it was a fan page or something for Notes which had porn on it (good move, Facebook), went back to search results, sorted by Apps, finally found the real Notes page, and was finally able to click 'Stop Importing.' Nice.

Anyway--funny thing, listening to the Dan Patrick Show, which is my favorite (and pretty much only) podcast, Dan and the Danettes were at the premier of the show Damages last night and were discussing it on today's show along with social etiquette. When someone says at an awkward point in a conversation at a party, "Anyway . . ." that's a blow-off. That person is done with you! It was funny.

Anyway . . . I'm not blowing you off, I'm just changing the subject a bit. I'm back in school now, at Union College here in good ol' Nebraska studying Information Technology. No mas at Nelnet, just felt it was time to take a crack at figuring out what I really want to do when I grow up. Hopefully I can find a job I enjoy and that pays enough. That's all anyone can ask for I suppose, right?

In an update to much much older post, I've upgraded my College Football gaming experience by a few years. I've been playing NCAA Football 11 on my Xbox 360 and have found it to be an enjoyable (and occasionally frustrating, which Wanda can attest to. I can be one of those dreaded poor-sport babies) game with solid graphics and gameplay. I'm currently spending my time crafting Nate Johnson from College View Academy into a legendary Syracuse running back in the Road to Glory feature. Before that I won five straight National Titles with Nebraska before hanging it up there. My current dynasty is with the Florida International Golden Panthers who I've improved enough to get an invite to the ACC, finally moving out of the whipping-post Sun Belt conference. Gotta love those fake sports. I'm thinking that I should probably fill up as much on fake sports as I can and gobble up all the real college football this fall that I can handle, because it's still not looking super great for there to be an NFL season this year. If I had the NFL Network (hello, Time Warner Cable and the NFL!) I could at least watch Canadian football and Arena football. Alas, I do not. So all I've got is baseball this summer. Someone suggested I should start watching soccer, but I don't know if I can get into that or not. I suppose it would be worth a shot. But that would be cutting into my fake sports time. Gotta love those priorities! No more 'gotta loves', I've already had two.

Okay, this is getting very rambly, I could go on for much longer, but I think this is as good a place as any to end for now. Anyway . . .

The Alternaverse: College Football Style-Powered by NCAA 2007

Uh, disclaimer, I guess: This is all based on my so-called dynasty that I'm playing on my trusty old Playstation 2 with EA Sports' NCAA 2007 Football. They give you the option to name the players, and, as Sam Keller sure pointed out (and we all knew anyway) you can put the players from real life in the game! Awesome.

Nate's teams (in bold):

USC Trojans: 14
Washington: 0

This was a defensive battle from the beginning. Actually, this was USC's defense showing Washington's quarterback what dirt tastes like. Sacked him so many times I lost count. Knocked out the first-string quarterback. Trojan offense failed to execute on third downs. Punted after the first two drives. Maybe it was the rain. Or maybe these guys are starting to enjoy LA a little too much and aren't focusing enough on football! You know those women will leave you as soon as you don't get drafted, right? Sheesh.

Texas A&M Aggies: 10
Colorado Buffaloes: 31

Pre-game notes: Colorado's punter, Matt DiLallo is suspended for three games due to his inability to turn in classwork on time. Far be it from me to be overly harsh on a student-athlete, but the last time I decided to reduce the punishment from what ol' EA Sports recommended, I was slapped with two years of probation.

Colorado lost a tough one in their Big 12 conference opener to Oklahoma State last week. They've gotten close to the National Championship game the last two years but haven't quite been able to make it in. The loss to the Cowboys is a setback but Coach Hawkins doesn't seem worried. He certainly made the right decision last season in benching his decidedly average son, Cody Hawkins, at quarterback and going with the true freshman Demetrius Johnson. Johnson presents many more challenges for defenses, as he is able to not only throw the ball, but also runs the option well.

Colorado had no problem with A&M in this game. Two early interceptions thrown by the Aggies sealed their fate. The only glimmer of offense came on a long pass play that went for a touchdown towards the end of the first half.

San Jose State Spartans: 28
Utah State Aggies: 3

No problems here. Lots of interceptions. Long TD passes. Now if only I can get the Spartans into the Top 25 . . .

The Top 25:

1. Florida State
2. Nebraska
3. Oklahoma
4. Penn State
5. USC
6. Notre Dame
7. West Virginia
8. Oregon
9. Colorado
10. Texas
11. Ohio State
12. Texas A&M
13. Louisville
14. Alabama
15. LSU
16. Virginia Tech
17. Auburn
18. Michigan
19.UCLA
20. Missouri
21. Utah
22. Northwestern
23. Tennessee
24. Arizona State
25. Oklahoma State

Alas, it's not San Jose State's week. Maybe they'll be up there in time for the first BCS Standings to come out. Until next time: Stay true to your dorky selves.

My Dad, a Husker?

As I browsed through some of the Nebraska Cornhusker football rushing records, I discovered that there was a Craig Johnson (which is also my dad's name) who holds the single-game record for yards-per-carry. He ran for 192 yards on 10 carries against Kansas on November 4, 1978 for a 19.2 yard average. I'm pretty sure my dad wasn't a Husker I-back but I still think it's cool. My dad was a basketball player and hails from McCook, Nebraska. The Husker CJ is from Omaha. Perhaps more investigation is warranted, since I wasn't around back then to validate that it wasn't him. Hehe.

Vinny Testaverde = Hall of Fame?

Just spending some time on Pro-Football-Reference.com looking at the career rankings for quarterbacks. Vinny Testaverde ranks:

The good:

7th in passes completed (3,787)
6th in pass attempts (6,701)
6th in passing yards (46,233)
8th in passing touchdowns (275)

Not so good:

92nd in passer rating (75.0)
4th in interceptions (267)

Career record: 90-123-1

I would think he'd have a good shot at getting in. He retired in 2007, so we'll have to wait until after the 2012 season when he becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame.

P.S.

P.S. In my previous post I failed to mention the one football video game that I'm actually good at: Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES. This game will live on forever, a god among men. A game where 350 yards rushing in a single game is a mere pittance and six or seven passing touchdowns is something to scoff at. Ah, those were the days, sitting in Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's basement over Thanksgiving or Christmas, duking it out with my cousins. Long live Tecmo Super Bowl!

You Sure Aren't Madden Nation Material

I love football. I've been a fan as long as I can remember. I recall, back in elementary school as a wee towhead, spacing out during social studies, I'd be drawing helmets and coming up with clever mascots and logos (à la the USFL) such as the Chicago Great Danes (after my best friend Dane Johnson). Of course, as most of my friends and family know, I've been a Miami Dolphins fan throughout my football life. That affinity sprang to life after my Mom bought me a Starting Lineup figurine of Dan Marino. A love of the Nebraska Cornhuskers has naturally followed as I'm a citizen of the great state of Nebraska. So, throughout the years I've cultivated a healthy, non-fanatical love of the game of football. Although, I do thoroughly enjoy spending countless hours reading about the history of teams and players and viewing career statistics and records.

Anyway, I've lost track of my original point (which I don't think I've even made previous to now), which is that although I love football, I'm pretty terrible at football video games. You would think that a love of football and of video games I would be pretty good at football video games. Not so. Madden Nation material I am not. I can't even beat the computer! I can't imagine how paltry I would be against human competition. Usually, I'll get really excited after a watching a good game and I'll decide to try my hand on Madden 08 or NCAA 07. I may win a game or two, but usually I'll be getting beat and decide to turn the game off. Sigh. Did I forget to mention that I'm a poor sport, too? Oh well, sometimes you just have to admit that some things you're good at, and some things you're not.

Here I Am Again . . . On A Blog.

Well, I've decided to start an official blog here at blogger.com. Yes, I know there have been many a sloppy and ranting mess on MySpace and pitiful notes on Facebook, but this is the real, official, no holds barred deal. I'm not sure what I'm going to write about, but I know I'd like to write something. Anything, really. I recently tried (and failed) to write a blog on MySpace about my favorite college football teams from each state. I suppose it was an attempt to spur some words to fall from my brain and through my fingers onto ye olde webbe. Of course, as in most of my attempts at anything, I didn't follow through and now that blog sits amidst the cyber dust bunnies. I'll start simple, maybe with a list or two.

Random (or are they?) things I appreciate:

-Wikipedia
-The Miami Dolphins
-Caffeine in general
-Starbucks
-Board games
-the Grand Theft Auto game franchise

Terrible, terrible songs that I hear over and over again at work:

-These Days by Bardot
-Summer Sunshine by The Corrs
-Countless others I haven't bothered to figure out the names for.

I'm amazed that these songs haven't triggered someone to just snap and start killing people. They're so deeply cheesified and uber girly-pop that I just want to scream when I hear them! But, they're also pretty dang catchy . . . and that just makes me more crazy. Ugh. It doesn't help when I sit right underneath the damn muzak speaker in the cubicle jungle.