Weekly football post #62.

Why not go for 62? Well, it's not all good news, that's one reason why. We go on, in spite of all that.

Fountain Valley didn't hold up their end of the Friar/Baron pact this weekend, falling out of the Pac-5 playoffs with a 24-431 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (Servite, meanwhile, held up their end of the bargain and go against LB Poly next week). After opening the season 8-0, FV finished poorly, with two straight losses. The bow out in the playoffs against ND was expected. In the loss, Kyle Middlebrooks had a 50 yard TD run, a 57 yard TD run, and a 6 yard TD run. But he was doing all the work, and it wouldn't be enough. In the end, it was a big second and fourth quarter for Sherman that knocked us out. KM finished with a strong 273 on the ground, but despite that big time performance, we are left wanting more in 2010. Hopefully we can finished as strong as we start next time around. Farewell Barons of '09.

Speaking of teams who has given up, how about Notre Dame. They started with high promise, despite losses to Michigan and USC, and then decided to give up on the season starting with the Navy game. The latest installment of the pain and suffering at South Bend was a 30-33 OT loss to former Irish backup QB Zac Frazer and the UConn Huskies. The loss has media all over the world calling for Weis' head at ND, with ESPN guaranteeing that he won't be back on the side line in 2010. That may be, but for know we have a season to finish. ND started strong, with Golden Tate (8 yard TD pass) and Jimmy Clausen (1 yard TD run) pushing us ahead by 14 part way into the second, and we were able to hold on for a 14-10 lead at the half. Should have been a time for slight adjustments, and an easy stroll to a win, right? Well, after getting a rare Irish FG we went up 17-10, and were feeling good. Then, Jordan Todman went 96 yards on the kickoff to send us to the fourth quarter tied at 17. Trading field goals, the Irish marched into OT with their heads down, and it showed. In the second over time, David Ruffer nailed his third field goal, and then the Irish couldn't stop the Huskies. It was over. I mean, our chances at a solid season have been over since losing to Navy in reality, but you'd think we would have at least played the season out, right? Jimmy "Hopefully Going Pro" Clausen finished 30/45 for 239 and 2 TD, Armando Allen Jr. went 24 carries for just 106 yards (and added 64 in the air), and the Golden/Floyd combo went 227 yards on 17 catches for 2 TDs. Of course, the glaring questions were on defense. Defense!!! The loss drops Charlie's Irish to 6-5 on the year, a pitiful penultimate record after such a promising start, and the final week of the season isn't looking pretty. The Domers will line up against the surprising Stanford (7-4). The Tree have come away with some shocking wins this year, and Notre Dame will have to have Jesus on their side (providing some divine intervention) to have any kind of chance against this year's West Coast Wonders. I'll be in Nor Cal for the weekend, so hopefully I can bring some ND love to the situation.

Despite Kurt Warner getting knocked out of the game for the Cards this weekend, the Rams still found a way to love 13-21. Keep in mind that this happened also despite the fact that Arizona didn't score a single second half point. Can the Rams actually be this bad? Steven Jackson did all he could, getting 116 yards on 24 carries to turn in his fourth straight 100+ yard rushing game after a poor start, but like Kyle Middlebrooks, he couldn't do it all. Marc Bulger again left us wanting more, going 19/37 for 215 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. When will we give up? Like we talked about this weekend, maybe if the Rams draft Jimmy Clausen in next year's draft. I would cry out loud. The receiving duties were split among three, with Avery, Gibson, and Amendola getting 65, 61, and 61 respectively. Amendola is an underrated Texas Tech graduate, who can hopefully bring us a little bit of hope. Despite all the hoping, though, the Rams are 1-9 on the season (outscored 113-270 in their ten games). Next week they go up against the second worst team in the NFC West in the Seahawks (3-7). This could be a chance to steal win #2, especially with the Hawks being 0-5 on the road. You must protect this house!

The BC Lions finally figured out that they didn't belong in the Grey Cup Playoffs this weekend, with a rough 18-56 loss to Montreal. The Grey Cup will now be a battle between Montreal and the Rough Riders. Should be a good game. Can Jon's Sask's take it all? The Lions 3rd string QB, Casey Printers, went just 20 for 40 for 234 yards, and amazingly, Martell Mallett ran for just 6 rushes and 5 yards. What the hell happened? No receivers went over 100 for BC, and it was just an all around horrible outing. But, with the season we had, and all the injuries we've suffered, I'm just proud that we made it this far. We'll see-F-L you next season.

In the soccer world, Celtic got tripped up by Dundee 1-2 off of a 90th minute goal. The Celts took the lead on a Barry Robson penalty in the 72nd minute, only to have in cancelled 11 minutes later by the Crocs. Then, when things were getting down to business, just brief moments away from a respectable draw, Darren Dods came away with a 90th minute winner for the bad guys. It's a tough loss for Lukasz Zaluska in net for the Hoops, but they simply didn't have the pressure of Dundee to make good on the game. We also got called for offsides 4 times to Dundee getting the flag just once. The loss actually dropped us behind the Protties of Rangers by 1 point, at 7-2-3 (24 points). 1 freaking point back of Rangers! Ahhhhh!!! Next week it's a battle with St. Mirren (3-5-4, 13 points). Should be a much easier game than this week against Dundee (22 points), but we need Mowbray to focus the boys on getting this easy win done right.

Newcastle United still hasn't played yet this weekend, as they set up for a big Monday Night battle against Preston North End. This should be Newcastle's last game without brand new signing Fabrice Pancrate. Pancrate is a 29 year old Frenchie who signed with the Magpies on November 14 and will be rocking the #21 jersey, and he put in 12 goals in his last 5 seasons (spent mostly with Paris Saint-Germain). Can this Winger bring us some luck to push forward to the EPL after this season? Well, without him we're 3-2 over our last 5 and Preston are 1-2-2 over their last 5. A win would put us back into the #1 spot in the ELC table. Come on boys!

As you know, Chivas USA isn't doing much outside of having picnics at Mile Square Park this weekend. This shocking MLS Cup match gets under way in about 15 mintues, as the hated LA Galaxy go head to head with the shocking Real Salt Lake. Between those two teams, who most of Goat Nation hate with a passion, how can you choose? F the MLS Cup this year.