Weekly football post #60.

Can you believe that it has been 60 weeks of football posts? Incredibly boring. This one is going to suck.

The Fountain Valley Barons put there undefeated streak on the line against their most bitter rivals, and probably their most difficult challenge, and came out smelling like a pile of dog crap. Edison met with my boys at OCC and won the Bell with a 0-24 blowout that left FVHS students and alumni reeling. The Chargers scored in every quarter (6-7-8-3), and stopped Kyle Middlebrooks and the Barons every inch of the way. Middie finished with a season low 83 yards on the ground, and a horrible -3 yards through the air. Dominic Ragland tossed for just 24 yards in the loss, and the Register picture of the Chargers celebrating with the bell made me sick to my stomach. Damnit! The dream of the CIF Championship isn't over though, just on hold. At 8-1-0, the Barons will try to maintain their solid season against Los Alamitos next Friday. A rebound game after the blowout will put us at 9-1 in the regular season, and really make us proud overall.

Speaking of upsetting losses, Notre Dame got beat 21-23 by Navy this weekend, getting spanked right out of their chances for a thrilling season. Navy completely owned the game, despite only winning by two, as the Irish defense had no answer for the triple option (or the fake handoff to pass to wide open TE that they have the option of every game according to Brandon). In the end a 14 point fourth quarter (really only 7 when Navy was trying) would not be enough for all the mistakes ND made in the game. The Irish were in the red zone three times (one interception, one fumble, and one failure on fourth and goal). Add two missed field goals to that mess, and you are going to lose the game, your season, and your chances of finishing anywhere near being ranked. Bollocks. On the good news side, Michael Floyd was back in style (10 catches for 141 yards and a TD, despite dropping one that could have changed the game) to add to the amazing Golden "I play everywhere on the field" Tate (9 catches for 132 and a sweet onside kick recovery). Jimmy "Please Go Pro" Clausen went 37/51 for 452, 2 TDs and 1 INT, but just wasn't able to step it up when it really mattered. Meanwhile, this fool Dobbs from Navy only made 3 passing attempts (2 completed, 1 being a TD), but ran for 102. I mean, the triple option works in the video game for me, and it worked for Navy in real like on Saturday. Now at 6-3, the Irish have completely lost all hope for a great bowl game, and may lose everything with their season ending against Pitt on the road (the #12 team in the Nation), UConn at home (sneaky good), and Stanford on the road (who just beat Orgeon). This "cake walk" to the end of the season is actually going to be pretty hard. Remember, I predicted 9-3 this year, and it is still in reach. But it won't be easy. Rematch against Navy in the Texas Bowl??

The 1-7 Rams had a bye week!!! Don't worry, we'll get beat by the Saints next week.

BC (8-10) got killed by Edmonton over the weekend in CFL action, 13-45, but still snuck into the playoffs and will open up against Hamilton (9-9) in the opening round. T Cat fans are thinking about rolling through this game, but wouldn't it be cool if BC could shock the CFL world? We don't have a QB, but maybe Martell Mallett could carry us to a shocker. We'll see, as the game gets underway November 15.

Celtic and Falkirk had a thrilling 3-3 game over the weekend, and it was a battle all the way until the end. Caldwell took us out to the lead early in the second half, but the Kirks came marching back to a 61st minute penalty (BS) and a 64th minute goal against Zaluska that gave the jerks the lead. My boy Scottie Mac got back to back goals to thrill the crowd in the 72nd and 79th, and we all thought that the Highlighters had the game in their hands. However, an 83rd minute Falkirk goal cancelled out the excitement of the Aussie's double, and my boys had to settle with just a point. What every happened to the Holy Goalie? We could use him back!! At 7-1-3 (24 points in 11 games), my boys lead the Protties from Rangers by 2 pointsheading into next weekend's matchup with Dundee (5-1-4). We'll need a big win against the Crocs to keep the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Newcastle also posted three goals, in their 3-1 win over Peterborough United. I love playing in the Championship Division. Of course, I know I'm not actually playing, but I feel like I am as a part of Magpie Nation. Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll, and D-Man Danny Simpson carried our boys to victory, with Steven Harper really continuing to come into his own between the pipe. It was a 3-0 lead until Pete scored in the 79th, but obviously that wouldn't be enough. Goals in the 15th, 18th, and 52nd were too much for those boneheads to handle, and the Barcodes wiped the pitch with them. At 10-3-3 (33 points in 16 games), 'Castle are up 2 points on West Brom for ownership of the top of the table. Honestly, we're going to get promoted, right? Next up, after quite a break, is a Monday Night match on 11/23 against Preston (6-4-6). It won't be as much of a lock as the Pete game this weekend, but it should still be 3 for my boys.

A late penalty kick for the Galaxy knocked my Chivas USA squad out of the playoffs tonight. After the 2-2 first leg last weekend, the Galaxy earned a golden goal from Landon "Swine Flu" Donovan in the 73 minutes of tonight's game to seal the fate of my formerly Mighty Goats. Chivas couldn't score a goal against LA, and Zach Thorton did his very best to try and keep us in. You can't keep out a penalty, so it's not his fault, but it is hard to watch the Red & White bow out after such a promising start to their season. They did kind of flounder in the second half of the season, but we still hoped for much better than another 1st round bow out, especially against the Galaxy. Ah well, the MLS season is officially over, and I think despite the final result, all of Goat Nation can be proud of our boys attempt at a run all the way. Here's to 2010.

In brief, Chivas de Guada softened the MLS blow with a huge 4-1 win against Atlas this weekend. Goals from Omarcito Bravor (he's back, in the 1st minute), my main man Balcazar (3rd and 41st), and Aaron Galindo (25th) was enough of a first half impact to bust Atlas hard. Still, it is a 5-7-4 start to the season, and we trail Toluca by 13 points. In Ireland, Sligo was able to really take care of business against Drogheda, as they should have, and improved to #6 in the table, well clear of relegation. Who knew, especially based on where we were at a month ago, that we would be so clear of getting dropped? The Bit O Red go up against Sporting Fingal in their cup final in a fortnight. Nice! Lastly, Lazio dropped another to AC Milan 1-2 tonight, despite 26 shots (6 on goal). Are you kidding me? Damn, Dida was on for Milan. Lazio's only goal was an own goal! Nothing from the Blue! 2-5-5 is not a sweet start, as we march toward the Serie A relegation zone. Hopefully Pope B-16 will be praying for us on the 22nd against Napoli (5-4-3).

It has been 117 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post. Bastards.