Time for some sports trash talk, so let’s get hip to that California trip.
California is still burning. The death toll is now officially at 71 and the number additionally classified as missing is up to 1,011. This is an immense disaster, and there is increasing speculation that PG&E, including by PG&E itself, may have played a key role in the start of the Camp Fire. The old Route 66 ended in Santa Monica after “more than two thousand miles all the way”. In Santa Monica now, people on the beach can see the smoke of their neighbor Malibu burning to the ground. The rest of western California is faring no better and the Cal-Stanford “Big Game” has been postponed for the first time since JFK was assassinated as a result. It is not good on the coast with the most, keep them in your thoughts.
In NCAA games that will be played today, for this late in the season, there are not that many fascinating match ups. One I will be watching is Iowa State at Texas. As I noted earlier in the yeah, ISU is being led by Brock Purdy, a true freshman phenom that came from the Phoenix area. The kid is seriously good, and makes ISU a scary team since he took over the team early into the season. The game is in Austin, but Texas may have a real problem on their hands. Cinci at UCF may actually be a fair game, but big edge to currently undefeated UCF at home in Orlando. West Virginia at Oklahoma State could be pretty good. WV is clearly the favorite, but OSU is capable of getting hot and blowing up the scoreboard, so this is a potential upset special. Utah at Colorado and Arizona at Pirate Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars are very import and games in the Pac-12 worth paying attention to. As are my Sun Devils who are up in Autzen to play the Quackers in a late night game. Autzen is a brutally tough place to play, and the Ducks almost always win there. ASU has really improved through the season, but hard to see them having enough to beat the Ducks tonight.
In the Pros, Seattle put a stake in the heart of Aaron Rodgers and the Pack on Thursday night. Close and very good game, and one Green Bay “should” have won, but the loss was catastrophic to their playoff chances. Washington at the Texans looks pretty interesting. Both teams are 6-3 and need to maintain their momentum. I’ll take the Texans at home and with Deshaun Watson starting to really blow up. Iggles are at Nawlins to visit Drew Breeeees and the Saints. Sorry Philly fans, that is too steep a mountain, and the loss puts your playoff chances in even more jeopardy than Green Bay. The Sunday Night game of Minnesota at Bears should be really good. Both teams evenly matched. But the Bears are at home, and Mitch Trubisky is on a little roll, so I’ll take the Bears in that one. The best game of the week is, of course, the Monday Night pairing of Chiefs at Rams. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Mexico City, but the turf at Stadium Azteca was just too beat up and in poor shape. So now the game is in LA, where the air quality is not the greatest currently. Yikes. No idea who wins this game, but it ought to be great. Rams have a better defense, and are at home now, so I’ll go with the Rams.
Alright, that is it for this week’s Trash. As you can tell, it is all about Route 66. It is an all time great song, and a great boogie. The early versions by Nat King Cole and The Stones are superb. But for a while now, the two versions I have loved the most are by Asleep At The Wheel and Diana Krall. So you get those two today! Happy motoring, and rock on.