Game of the Week: 2012 Week 1

So, as promised, I am going to give ya my "Game of the Week" to go watch.

This week, it's Saturday night's #8 Michigan vs. #2 Alabama.

This will see the returning BCS National Champions facing off against a highly ranked Michigan team in the neutral territory field of Dallas Cowboys stadium, which is an impressive venue, if you have ever been there.

Some close runners up this week include: Clemson vs. Auburn (Saturday), Boise State vs. Michigan State (Friday), and South Carolina at Vanderbilt (Thursday).

I'll be watching SMU vs. Baylor in addition to Michigan vs. Alabama.

ARE YOU READY!?!?!?!?!

We're all confused

I mean really confused.  A few times in the past week, water droplets started falling out of the sky and landing all around us.  Last Saturday, in fact, the water fell out of the sky so fast that it was creating puddles and lakes around us.

What is this plague that is happening?  Why is the sky spitting upon us so?

In all seriousness, the rain has been good.  The backyard is greening up.

Now I'm looking at what we need to do to plant some fall garden veggies out there.

Games of Interest Weeks 11-15 (picked pre-season)

And here's the final installment of my preseason "games to watch" picks for the 2012 FBS college football schedule.

All times are still Central where noted.

• Week Eleven
• November 8
• Florida State @ Virginia Tech (6:30 ESPN)
• November 9
• Pitt @ UConn (7:00 ESPN2)
• November 10
• Georgia @ Auburn
• Wisconsin @ Indiana
• Georgia Tech @ North Carolina
• Louisville @ Syracuse
• West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
• Baylor @ Oklahoma
• Iowa State @ Texas
• Texas A&M @ Alabama
• Kansas State @ TCU
• Tulsa @ Houston (4:00)
• Boise State @ Hawaii (6:00)
• Week Twelve
• November 15
• North Carolina @ Virginia (6:30 ESPN)
• November 16
• Hawaii @ Air Force (8:30 ESPN2)
• November 17
• USC @ UCLA
• Ole Miss @ LSU
• Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State
• Kansas State @ Baylor
• Oklahoma @ West Virginia
• Stanford @ Oregon
• Memphis @ UAB (1:00)
• November 20
• Akron @ Toledo (6:00 ESPN2)
• Week Thirteen (Hmmm, is this rivalry week?)
• November 23
• Nebraska @ Iowa (11:00 AM ABC)
• LSU @ Arkansas (1:30 CBS College Sports)
• Arizona State @ Arizona (9:00 ESPN)
• November 24
• Notre Dame @ USC
• Florida @ Florida State
• Georgia Tech @ Georgia
• Mississippi State @ Ole Miss
• Michigan @ Ohio State (11:00 AM ABC)
• Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma
• Oregon @ Oregon State
• South Carolina @ Clemson
• Virginia @ Virginia Tech
• Auburn @ Alabama
• Kentucky @ Tennessee
• Baylor vs. Texas Tech
• Idaho @ Utah State (2:00 ESPN3)
• Rice @ UTEP (6:00)
• Week Fourteen (light week)
• November 29
• Louisville @ Rutgers (6:30 PM ESPN)
• December 1
• Oklahoma State @ Baylor
• Texas @ Kansas State
• Boise State @ Nevada
• Oklahoma @ TCU
• Week Fifteen (one game, people)
• December 8
• Navy vs. Army (2:00)

Well, that does it.  I hope you have printed all of these guides so you can go and set your Tivos and watch about 200 games of football or more this fall.

It's almost time for kickoff.

Games of Interest Weeks 6-10 (picked pre-season)

Here comes the second installment in my pre-season games to watch selections...all times once again Central.

• Week Six
• October 4
• USC @ Utah (8:00 ESPN)
• October 5
• Pitt @ Syracuse (6:00 ESPN)
• October 6
• Navy @ Air Force (10:30 AM CBS)
• Arkansas @ Auburn
• LSU @ Florida
• Kansas @ Kansas State 
• Georgia @ South Carolina
• Week Seven
• October 11
• Western Kentucky @ Troy (6:30 ESPNU)
• Arizona State @ Colorado (8:00 ESPN)
• October 13
• South Carolina @ LSU
• TCU @ Baylor
• Texas vs. Oklahoma (ABC)
• Louisville @ Pittsburgh
• Syracuse @ Rutgers
• West Virginia @ Texas Tech
• Week Eight
• October 18
• Houston @ SMU (7:00)
• Oregon @ Arizona State (8:00 ESPN)
• October 19
• UConn @ Syracuse (7:00 ESPN)
• October 20
• Stanford @ California
• South Carolina @ Florida
• Michigan State @ Michigan
• Baylor @ Texas
• Texas Tech @ TCU
• Alabama @ Tennessee
• New Mexico State @ Utah State (2:00)
• October 23
• Arkansas State @ Louisiana-Lafayette
• Week Nine
• October 25
• Clemson @ Wake Forest (6:30 ESPN)
• October 26
• Cincinatti @ Louisville (7:00 ESPN2)
• Nevada @ Air Force (7:00)
• October 27
• USC @ Arizona
• Baylor @ Iowa State
• TCU @ Oklahoma State
• NC State @ North Carolina
• Mississippi State @ Alabama
• Texas @ Kansas
• Texas Tech @ Kansas State
• Ole Miss @ Arkansas (2:30)
• Florida vs. Georgia (2:30 CBS College Sports)
• Michigan State @ Wisconsin (2:30 ABC)
• Boise State @ Wyoming (2:30)
• Hawaii @ Colorado State (6:00)
• Michigan @ Nebraska (7:00)
• Week Ten
• November 1
• Virginia Tech @ Miami (6:30 ESPN)
• November 2
• Washington @ California (8:00 ESPN)
• November 3
• Oregon @ USC
• Houston @ East Carolina
• Kansas @ Baylor
• TCU @ West Virginia
• Air Force @ Army
• Oklahoma State @ Kansas State
• Texas @ Texas Tech
• Alabama @ LSU (7:00 CBS College Sports)

There you have it.  As I've gone through here, I've also noticed some opportunities to pick a "game of the week" or something like that, so maybe I will do that and even compare with what ESPN picks on their weekly podcast, I dunno.

Only 5 more weeks to go - did I miss your favorite game yet?

Aquarium Update

Armed with a 15% off coupon for plants during the month of August, I decided to do a little "gardening" in the aquarium, adding some live and artificial plants to complement those that I already had.  The two tufts of purple onion grass and the big plant on the left are artificial.  The giant Amazon sword in the back is real.  The other plants (large bamboo on the right, small sword in the front, and anubias) were already there.  The goal was to create more "rooms" or compartments in the aquarium so as to break up some of the line of sight between the fish - gives them a few more private quarters to retire to.

Oh, and not sure if you can see that they've already uprooted one of the purple onion grasses.  Will have to try to fix that this evening a little more permanently.  Kinda creepy how the flash made all their eyes stand out like that.  Zombie fish.