Oh, Crap.

NIU 31
Ohio 38

Bad day all around. Too depressed to comment further.

New Book Entry - Once A Runner

Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr., has been described as the best book ever written about middle distance running.

It is.

Originally published in 1978, Once A Runner was out of print for years. It became a cult classic for dedicated runners (especially middle distance runners), and dog-eared copies were prized and collected by those few who happened to find a copy (for example, there are zero copies of the original 1978 printing available on either Alibris, Ebay, or Abebooks). I discovered this book via an article written last year on-line about plans to reissue it this year in hardback.

What to say? On the downside, there is some topical stuff in the book that is a litle dated, like references to the Vietnam War and such (which, in retrospect, the references to Vietnam in 1978 would have been dated even then - I suspect Parker actually wrote it earlier).

The best stuff - Parker describes running a competitive mile race, practically down to 110 yard increments, with such incredible accuracy that any middle distance runner, past or present, can feel the race in his head. It is a truly amazing narrative. Additionally, he describes a hard interval workout - the bread and butter of middle distance runners, with amazingly spot-on accuracy. I found both of these sections impossible to put down, and truly engrossing. It's like Hemingway in Nikes.

I read one review of the book by a "dedicated triathlete" who said he thought the book wasn't about running, and found it boring. All I can say is - dude, you've never been a miler.

Final note - Parker describes an incident relayed to him by famed American runner Frank Shorter in which Shorter describes running over the hood of a car stopped at a stop light after the occupants of the car verbally hassled him while he was running. I heard the same story personally from Shorter himself, while I was attending summer running camp at the University of Wisconsin when I was in high school. The way Parker writes it is the way I remember Shorter telling the story almost 30 years ago, word for word. We also got to listen to Dave Wottle describe his victory in the 800 meter in the 1972 Olympic Trials, after having been spiked and having lost one of his shoes. He then went on to win the gold at Munich. His gold medal victory in 800 final in the 72 Olympics is one of the greatest races ever run by an American athlete. Cool beans. Very cool beans.

Uncurdled But Curdled - Huh?

OK, a quick entry in both the weird food and bad marketing ideas category - Uncurdled Bean Curdle Pot Stew.

What? Is is curdled? Is it uncurdled? How can a curdle be uncurdled? I'm so confused.

Does it matter? Who would want to eat either curdled bean pot stew or uncurdled curdle bean pot stew? Whatever it is, I'll take a pass.

NIU - Getting Some Attention in Mid-November

Here's Rivals.com's take on NIU football going into the Ohio game this Saturday. Lookin' good!

Mike Huguenin
Rivals.com College Football Editor

Generally, second- and third-place teams in the Sun Belt Conference and fourth- and fifth-place teams in the Mid-American Conference don't garner much attention.
But fans need to start paying attention to the likes of Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Northern Illinois, Kent State and Ohio University because it seems extremely likely that three or four of those teams will be bowl-bound this season.
The ACC, Big Ten, Mountain West and Pac-10 could have trouble filling all their bowl slots, and in the quest to fill those open spots, bowl officials are going to have to turn to non-affiliated teams with winning records (not 6-6 marks). Those teams are going to come from the MAC and Sun Belt.
The Sun Belt has one tie-in, with the New Orleans Bowl. Troy looks as if it will win the league for the fourth season in a row. But Middle Tennessee (7-3), Louisiana-Monroe (6-4) and Louisiana-Lafayette (5-5) still have a lot at stake. MTSU has a shot at finishing 9-3, but regardless of how the Blue Raiders finish, they are in great shape for a bid because they already have seven wins. ULM and ULL - which play each other Saturday - also would have legitimate chances at a bid if they can get to seven wins.
The Mid-American has three tie-ins, with the Little Caesars Pizza (formerly the Motor City), International and GMAC bowls. The two division champs are guaranteed bowl spots. Right now,Central Michigan (8-2) in the West and Temple (8-2) in the East are in the driver's seat in their respective divisions. Ohio U. (7-3), Northern Illinois (7-3), Bowling Green (5-5) and Kent State (5-5) still have legit division title hopes, with Ohio and NIU - which play Saturday - also in good shape for the league's third bowl bid. One of those plus BG and Kent State - assuming each can get to seven wins - also will be in the mix for any "leftover" bowl slots.
In the Rivals.com bowl projections this week, we had spots open in the EagleBank (an ACC slot), GMAC (ACC), Little Caesars Pizza (Big Ten) and Humanitarian (Mountain West) bowls.
Northern Illinois starting RB Chad Spann has an injured shoulder and may miss Saturday's key game against Ohio U. He will be a game-time decision. Spann is fifth in the nation with 16 rushing touchdowns and is a major reason NIU has won four in a row for the first time since 2006.

A Good Read - The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Not your usual estate sale. An entire Episcopal church closing in Kansas City. Church, parsonage, school, rectory, everything. It was kinda sad.

But there is always a bright side. Among the many many books at the sale, I ran across a copy of The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Hershel Shanks, which is one of the best histories and layman's explanation of the Dead Sea Scrolls (it is certainly the most readable). In a whole bunch of different ways, a completely fascinating book. First, the history of the discovery of the scrolls, and how they were obtained against the backdrop of the birth of the State of Israel. Shanks is remarkably even in his hind-sight look at history, even when discussing in incidents and individuals he clearly found objectionable. For example, while he clearly took issue with the composition of the original scroll team (primarily Catholic priests, and no Jews), he does clarify that the team was technically employed by the Jordanian Government, which would never have countenanced Jewish involvement.

Alternately, Shanks tends to defer a bitt too much to the professional reputations of the original scroll scholars, even though he was a lifelong critic of their slowness and secretiveness regarding their findings. What does come through, however, between the lines was that many of the scholars and their financial sponsors acted very badly, at times almost childishly, regarding their research and their place in history.

In one part of the book I found a bit head scratching, Shanks at length describes his puzzlement at a prohibition in the scrolls against spitting. Frankly, I didn't think it strange at all. Most of the Jewish dietary and ritualistic prohibitions, such as not eating pork, have their ancient origin in health and disease prevention roots. A prohibition against spitting, which spreads diseases like tuberculosis, is entirely logical (as it is in China today). Just because this particular restriction died out in the Jewish traditions over time, I couldn't see why Shanks found it so unusual, or improbable.

Finally, Shanks does an excellent job in tying together biblical history with that of the the scrolls and making is accessible for the layman. Shanks is clearly more comfortable, and much more scholarly in his knowledge of the relevance of the Old Testament to the scrolls. Frankly, I found his references between the scrolls and books of the New Testament to be somewhat unsupportable, if not a little far fetched.

For anyone wanting a basic introduction and history to the Dead sea Scrolls, this is the first book to read.

Bubble & Squeak - Another Nick Page Book

I just finished reading Nick Page's Keep It Simple, a pocket-sized book of hints and ideas intended to help folks simplify their lives and live in a better and more fulfilling way. Chapters including topics such as simple possessions, work, money, relationships, and truths. I found a lot in it to read and re-read later, and have green sticky labels all over the place to make neat ideas that I want to revisit. I expect to keep this on the nightstand, and keep going back to it. I particularly liked the chapter on quietness.

Published in the UK in 1999, I don't think it has ever been released in the US, and is hard to get here. I ordered a used copy from a UK book dealer through Alibris.com.

Of course, and book published exclusively in Great Britain is going to have a few of those linguistic Britishisms that drive us Americans crazy. It didn't take me long to figure out that a "car boot sale" is a "flea market", and not a place to buy the Denver Boot to annoy your neighbors or save a good downtown parking spot. But then I came across this line:

"Leftovers can be great (anyone for bubble and squeak?)."

"Bubble and squeak"? What the? Is that a real term? And, y'know, food? Who would name a dish "bubble and squeak"? I was totally lost.

So, I start googling. Aha! Those crafty, hilarious Brits. "Bubble and Squeak" is what we Americans on this side of the lake would call, ahem, "hash". That's it. Hash. Bubble and squeak, appparently, was yet another sad victim of Teddy Roosevelt's Simplified Spelling Board (which is why we Americans say "aluminum" instead of "aluminium"). And aren't we the lesser for it? Once I found out what bubble and squeak was, I saw a link to a Jamie Oliver bubble and squeak recipe. Jackpot! I love Jamie Oliver. So I look at the recipe. The first thing I see - add "two knobs butter, divided".

Oh, come on! A "knob of butter"? Knob? What the heck is a "knob"? Aaarrrgghh!

Bubble and Squeak with Sausages and Onion Gravy

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/4 pounds mixed winter vegetables such as carrots, Brussels sprouts, rutabagas, turnips, onions, leeks or savoy cabbage, peeled or trimmed and chopped into equal-sized chunks
Olive oil
2 knobs butter, divided
1 (7-ounce) package vacuum packed chestnuts
6 good quality pork sausages, linked together
6 good quality venison or beef sausages, linked together
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
Nutmeg, for grating
3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
Few bay leaves
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon good-quality vegetable or chicken stock
Directions
Cook the potatoes and mixed vegetables in a pan of boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. When they're cooked right through, drain and put aside.

Heat a glug of olive oil and half the butter in a large frying pan and add the chestnuts. When they start to sizzle, add the potatoes and vegetables. Mash the vegetables up in the pan, then pat the mixture into a thick pancake shape. Fry on a medium heat for about 1/2 an hour, checking it every 5 minutes. When the bottom turns golden, flip it over bit by bit and mash it back into itself. Pat it out flat again and continue cooking until really crisp all over.

Preheat the oven and a roasting pan to 425 degrees F.

Unravel the pork sausage links and squeeze the filling between them until all 6 sausages are joined together. Do the same to your venison or beef sausages. Pat them to flatten them a bit. Drizzle with olive oil and massage this into your 2 long sausages. Sprinkle over a pinch of pepper, the rosemary and some nutmeg. Put 1sausage on top of the other and roll them up like a licorice wheel! Poke 2 skewers through, in a cross shape, to hold the sausages together.

Take the preheated roasting pan from the oven. Drizzle in some olive oil and add the onions. Season, add the remaining butter and stir. Place the sausage wheel on the onions and stick the bay leaves between the sausages. Drizzle with some more oil and roast in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes, or until golden and crisp. When your sausages and onions are done, your bubble and squeak should be ready too. If it still hasn't browned, put it under a hot broiler for 5 minutes.

Remove the sausages to a plate and place the pan with the onions on the stove top. Whack the heat up to full and stir in the flour, balsamic vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil and leave to thicken to a nice gravy consistency, stirring every now and then, and season to taste. Remove the skewers and cut the sausages into wedges. Serve the bubble and squeak with a good portion of sausage, a spoonful of onion gravy and perhaps some lovely dressed watercress.

The Crowned Jewel of Sedalia - The Guberburger

After driving past the Wheel Inn Drive In billboard on Route 50 between KC and Jeff City every week for a year, I decided it was finally time to try the "Famous Guberburger". So once in Sedalia, I took the four block detour down Route 65 to the Wheel In Drive In, and sat at the counter to order a guberburger, fries, and a Diet Coke.

The good news. The Wheel Inn Drive In is no greasy spoon. It has a 50s diner decor, and is very clean and new looking inside. The service and kitchen staff - three rather matronly ladies -were fast, helpful, and small town friendly. Prices on the menu are low, with almost every burger on the menu under $4.00.

In the not-so-great side - well the guberburger itself. It's been the specialty at the Wheel Inn for over 50 years, but I, for one, just don't get the attraction. The guberburger is a hamburger bun, a beef patty, peanut butter on top of the meat, and then topped with lettuce, tomato, and salad dressing ($3.40). I'm assuming there was salad dressing on it, because I never actually tasted it. The problem with the g-burger - the peanut butter is so overwhelming that you don't really taste anything else. You can barely taste the burger. They do also have a double meat guberburger, but I doubt that would make a difference.

I guess it's an acquired taste. I just haven't acquired it.

There were other local specialties on the menu that looked pretty interesting, and would be worth another stop at the Wheel Inn in Sedalia. I'll probably try the bacon sandwich next time, or - if I need to eat enough to last a couple days - the Wimpy Burger, with three meat patties and three slices of cheese. They also have an egg sandwich, and a bacon and egg sandwich, topped with lettuce, tomato, and Miracle Whip. Just like Mom used to make.

The Wheel Inn Drive In
2103 S Limit (Route 65 South)
Sedalia MO
660-826-5

NIU's Seventh Win

Tonight's score:

NIU 26
Ball State 20

Another great night at Sidepockets in Lee's Summit, who once again gave us a dedicayed 8 ft flatscreen to watch the game. The steaks were excellent as well.

Another good write-up from the Chicago Tribune on the game (better than the NIU-EMU article, where is seemed that the Trib writer wrote most of the article in advance, and then stopped watching the game at the half), and even a write up in the Sun Times (or, as I call, it, the South Bend Times, as it seems that the Sun Times thinks the only college football team in the area is Notre Dame).

From ESPN.com:

Northern Illinois has quietly put itself in the hunt

While Central Michigan has dominated many of the headlines in the Mid-American Conference this season with their 8-2 campaign, Northern Illinois has quietly crept up the standings to give the Chippewas a challenge.

The Huskies have won three straight and are just one back of the Chippewas with three games to play, including tonight’s contest against Ball State. If Northern Illinois and Central Michigan continue to win, it sets up a pivotal game between the two at the end of the regular season to decide the West Division champion.

“To be honest, I think we’re a little farther along than I thought we would be,” Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill said. “We’re so, so young on defense and we’ve had some critical injuries. We’ve lost two defensive tackles, we’re playing two true freshman on the defensive line. I was a little nervous, but our kids have really stepped up and put us in a good position. Now they’ve got to close out. There’s three games left and they’ve got to play very well.”

Central Michigan made a big statement Wednesday night with a 56-28 win over Toledo. Tonight, the Huskies take on a Ball State team that has just one win on the season, but has won the last two against the Huskies.

Kill said he’s been most impressed with his team’s ability to rally despite some tough situations. The three games the Huskies have lost have been by eight or fewer points. They’re lone league loss was a 20-19 decision against Toledo and the Huskies had a blocked field goal in the final seconds.

Not to mention the Huskies have been riddled with injuries, including a knee injury that has sidelined starting quarterback Chandler Harnish since that Toledo game. Backup DeMarcus Grady has filled in the past three games and led the Huskies to three consecutive victories. Both quarterbacks are expected to be available tonight.

“The hard thing for us is that we lost a two-point game to Idaho and we had a chance to win it on field goal at Toledo and then Wisconsin. We’ve been in every game,” Kill said. “Once we lost to Toledo, and certainly losing your starting quarterback, it would have been easy to just tank. But they’ve been able to fight through it, have some guys step up and that’s what it’s all about.”

Northern Illinois also has been helped by a running game that is one of the best in the country. Led by junior Chad Spann, who has 767 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns this season, the Huskies’ running game has allowed Grady to settle in at quarterback and now he’s contributing to the running option as well.

“Me, Me’co [Brown], Justin [Anderson], we’ve had to pick it up ourselves and just try to carry the team as far as we can,” Spann said. “But DeMarcus has bloomed very well, he’s gotten better every game and he’s taken pressure off of us and he’s putting a little bit on himself as well. So, he’s filled in very nicely.”

In Kill’s two seasons with Northern Illinois, he’s won at least six games. Last season, the Huskies went to a bowl and figure to be in the mix for another postseason appearance this year. But a divisional championship is something that would exceed expectations. The Huskies haven’t won the MAC West since 2005 and haven’t won the MAC title while the conference has played a championship game.

“All of our goals are still there,” Spann said. “We just want to focus on one game at a time, get that one game out of the way and we’ll be where we want to be. That’s the kind of mentality we’ve taken and that’s how we’re going to keep going.”

Huskie Bowl Options

The Ball State game is three days away, but it's looking more and more like NIU will be going to a bowl game somewhere - just as long as we don't leave it up to the chuckleheads at Sports.com (a division of the Fox Network - 'nuff sed) to decide where.

After last weekend, Western Michigan and Kent State pretty much choked themselves out of bowl contention (especially KSU, who apparently went out of their way to lose to Akron). That leaves MAC leader Central Michigan, Temple, NIU, and Ohio. Here are the most recent predictions:

CBS and Rivals.com is predicting that NIU will get offered the Eaglebank Bowl at RFK Stadium in DC on December 29 - as an at-large, as Army, unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) sucks again this year at 3-6 thus far, and will not be bowl eligible.

ESPN (Watson) and College Football Talk are predicting that NIU will be offered the January 2nd International Bowl in Toronto, Canada, as third place trailers in the MAC behind CMU and Temple. At first I thought, hell, Canada in January! Then I realized, closed dome - inside game. All in all, probably better than freezing my kiester off at RFK in late December at the Eaglebank Bowl.

NBC, Rogers Poll, and Operation Sports are predicting that NIU will be offered the GMAC Bowl, in Mobile, Alabama, on January 6th.

ESPN (Schlabach and Feldmann) is predicting NIU will be offered the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit on December 26th against Iowa State or Northwestern. Frankly, I don't see the bowl committee inviting two schools from northern Illinois located 70 miles away from each other. And even if technically bowl eligible, Northwestern doesn't have a good track record for a traveling fan base (hey, they have problems filling up home games). Iowa State, though, knows how to fill up a stadium.

On the outside, CycloneFanatic is predicting NIU will get a shot at the New Mexico Bowl on December 19th, to face Fresno State. BCS Watch has NIU tagged to play in the St Petersburg Bowl on 19 December against Houston. Finally, Stewart Mandel from SI.COM has NIU tagged for the Humanitarian Bowl at Boise, Idaho against Idaho. There are a couple of other bowls that may be up for grabs, particularly those that might draw from C-USA. I just don't see C-USA having six decent, bowl eligible teams this year.

Frankly, anything would be better than the Poinsettia Bowl again, which I went to, and while I will admit was very comfy to watch a bowl game in San Diego in late December. But, hey - the Poinsettia Bowl is practically a punch-line for bowl games(hey, does that make it a Punch Bowl? Argh. I kill myself). I can't believe that TCU (who creamed NIU in it in 2006, and then were dumb enough to return the year after that) would even consider going back.

Finally, Scout.com has shown they are indeed as accurate and thoughtful as its Fox Network parent, predicting on November 8th that while NIU would not get a bowl bid, Bowling Green would get an invite to the International Bowl (BSU's record as of 11/3 was 4-5, pretty much out of the mix).

So - Detroit, Toronto, Mobile, DC, St Petersburg, Albuquerque, or Boise. ROAD TRIP!

Veggie Weird Crap #2 = Carrots as a Fruit

Yet another Korean grocery store atrocity. Carrot fruit juice? Umm. Ahh. Ohh.

Apparently, somebody wasn't paying attention in Physical Science class.

Veggie Weird Crap #1

You're either canned pork - or you're not. I've eaten this. Trust me. It ain't pork. Or "mock pork". Mock rubber, perhaps. Uggh. Inedible.

Who buys this stuff?

Catching up on the WTF posts.

Catching up series - number one. I've got several of 'em. Another weirdness tale from the Korean grocery store in Overland Park.

What. The. @#%&?

Vegetarian Soy Sauce? What? Isn't ALL soy sauce, by it's very nature, vegetarian. Normally, I'd give a sliver of possibility to this one, but - hey- my family owns a soy bean farm in Illinois. The last time I looked, none of our soybeans has hooves or, y'know, mammal-type vital organs. I'm pretty sure they were all plants.

I just don't get this.

NIU vs EMU - Kill's Class Act

Many thanks go out to Sidepockets in Lee's Summit for setting aside a table and in 80 inch flatscreen for 1/2 of the Kansas City Chapter of the NIU Alumni Association (that is, umm, me - the other guy couldn't make it). Matt had a great time as well, and NIU's Coach Kill offered a great teaching point on sportsmanship.

NIU was up 50-6 with a little under two minutes to go witha first down on Eastern Michigan's 1 yard line. Had it been Oklahoma or Florida or some school like that, they would have gone for the TD for no reason other than racking up an even bigger score. And it's not like NIU would have had a problem scoring - they pretty much walked over Eastern for the entire game. NIU had already put in their third-string quarterback and pulled most of their starters, and still was having an easy go of it. But rather than go for another TD when they were already up by 44 points, Kill had his offense take a knee and run out the clock - on the Eastern Michigan one yard line. Class act.

Here's the play by play for the last 1:25 of the game:

3rd and 5 at EMU 6Justin Anderson rush for 5 yards to the EMich 1 for a 1ST down.
1st and Goal at EMU 1Timeout NORTHERN ILLINOIS, clock 1:25.
1st and Goal at EMU 1Team rush for a loss of 3 yards to the EMich 4.
2nd and Goal at EMU 4Team rush for a loss of 5 yards to the EMich 9.
End of 4th Quarter


Northern Illinois routs Eastern Michigan 50-6
Chad Spann scores 2 TDs on runs of 65 and 79 yards
By Fred Mitchell, Tribune reporter

DeKALB, Ill. -- Jerry Kill dreaded having his team play on a weeknight.

"I like playing at 11 o'clock, I like playing at 12 and I like playing at 1. And I don't like playing at night," the colorful Northern Illinois coach said before Thursday night's game. "High school football ought to be played on Friday night, college on Saturday, pros on Sunday.

"I'm a traditional dude."

Turns out his Huskies probably could beat winless Eastern Michigan any day of the week. They dispatched the Eagles 50-6 at Huskie Stadium.

Kill wondered before the game if his team would have any "juice" after playing five days ago against Akron. The answer came on the opening kickoff as the Huskies (6-3, 4-1 MAC) became bowl eligible with their sixth victory.

Chad Spann scored two touchdowns and had 151 of his career-best 174 rushing yards in the first half. Quarterback DeMarcus Grady rushed for 104 yards and one touchdown and passed for two touchdowns.

"I thought we played fast coming off the short week," Kill said.

Tommy Davis returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. Davis, a redshirt freshman from East St. Louis, appeared to be bottled up around the Eastern Michigan 28-yard line before breaking loose.

"I ran up in there and it was kind of cloudy," Davis said. "But I broke through a tackle and I was able to break free."

It was the first NIU kickoff return for a touchdown since Aug. 29, 2002, when Michael Turner, now with the Falcons, ran one back 93 yards against Wake Forest.

The Huskies' 50 points tied their fourth-highest total in a MAC game and marked the first time NIU has scored 50 or more since Oct. 23, 2004, when it beat Western Michigan 59-38.

Eastern Michigan (0-9, 0-5) kicked a 21-yard field goal for its first score after NIU muffed a punt and the Eagles recovered.

The Huskies responded with a six-play, 73-yard drive that was capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Grady to Landon Cox.

Joe Carithers kicked his second field goal, but that was it for the Eagles.

Spann ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run 17 seconds later. Mike Salerno added a 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter as NIU increased its lead to 23-6.

Spann's second carry of the night was a 79-yard touchdown sprint, a career long and the 10th-longest in NIU history. It was his 16th touchdown of the season.

"The front line did a great job, as always," Spann said. "It's my job to get to the second level. I have to make a play there. I just had to turn on the speed and try to beat them to the end zone."

Grady hooked up with Cox again with 47 seconds left in the half. The 31-yard touchdown pass made it 37-6 at halftime.

Kansas City's Gift to Mankind - Root Beer Milk

The Shatto Milk Company. True visionaries. Sure, anyone can come up with Banana Milk, or Strawberry Milk. And the occasional seasonal eggnog. Child's play.

But this. Oh yes. Root Beer Milk rules.

To Akron -- and Beyond!

NIU played a substandard game against a lousy Akron team last week to win. A win is a win, but games like that are not going to get NIU past Ohio or Central Michigan - or into a bowl game.

It's shaping up to be a tough battle for the not-quite-best. Central Michigan has already locked in a bowl, with a 7-2 record, and got just a few votes short of being listed in the top 25 before last weeks loss to Boston College. NIU is second in the MAC West behind CMU, helped a lot by Western Michigan's loss to Kent State last week. NIU is now 3-1 in the MAC West. However, Ohio and Kent State are both 4-1 behind Temple in the MAC East. WMU's loss to KSU puts them at 3-3 in the MAC West, and probably out of the running. But that leaves NIU, Kent State, and Ohio to vie for bowl game scraps, assuming Temple and CMU are lock-ins.

Fortunately for NIU, they play Eastern Michigan tomorrow, which should be an easy win (if they lose, however, the rest of the season is, for all intents and purposes, tanked). If they win on Thursday, they go to 4-1 in the MAC, and 6-3 overall. Assuming Ball State continues to suck as bad as EMU, the Huskies should go into the last two weeks, against Ohio and CMU, with a 5-1 conference record, and a 7-3 record overall. Frankly, I don't see NIU being consistent or strong enough to knock off CMU (if so, it would be as awesome as the Purdue game), but they seem pretty evenly matched against Ohio. That one's a toss-up.

As for their opponents and bowl slots: Western Michigan - for some ungodly reason, scheduled a game against Michigan State this week. An easily predicted loss there will drop them to 4-6 overall and should end any remote post-season chance for them. Both Kent State and Ohio still have to play Temple in coming weeks, which could affect the MAC East title.

It's going to be an interesting November. Five MAC teams - NIU, CMU, KSU, Ohio, and Temple - will have winning records, and all five will probably have seven wins (CMU should have 9 wins before facing NIU on the 27th). Five winning teams, but there aren't gong to be five bowl slots (Somebody is goin' to get screwed).

From last week's Tribune:

NIU rally overcomes upset-minded Akron 27-10
Chad Spann's 2 4th-quarter touchdowns lift the Huskies

By Fred Mitchell, Tribune reporter

November 1, 2009


DEKALB -- Northern Illinois saved its best for last Saturday, overcoming a four-point fourth-quarter deficit to dispatch upset-minded Akron 27-10 at Huskie Stadium as Chadd Spann rushed for two touchdowns and Nathan Palmer added another in the final period.

NIU (5-3, 3-1 MAC) prevailed with redshirt sophomore DeMarcus Grady starting at quarterback in place of injured starter Chandler Harnish. On a day when gusting winds were swirling at 30 mph, Grady passed for 62 yards and ran for 109.

"I just tried to play my game and not think so much," Grady said of his second straight start. "I took what the defense gave me."

The Huskies enjoyed an advantage in the kicking game that resulted in good field position. Mike Salerno averaged 52.7 yards on three punts with rugby-style kicks, and two of them landed inside the 20. Josh Wilber later punted twice for a 43.5-yard average.

Akron (1-7, 0-4) entered the contest with 13 scholarship players out with injuries. Freshman quarterback Patrick Nicely completed 11 of 27 passes for 124 yards and was sacked three times.

The Zips started the season with three-year starter Chris Jacquemain at quarterback, but coach J.C. Brookhart dismissed him from the team before the Sept. 19 Indiana game for breaking team rules. His successor was sophomore Matt Rodgers, who was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in the Oct. 10 loss to Ohio University.

Salerno put NIU on the board on its second possession, converting a 22-yard field goal after an eight-play, 46-yard drive. With 2 minutes, 50 seconds left until halftime, Salerno added a 37-yarder.

The Zips scored on their opening drive of the second half when Branko Rogovic connected on a 34-yard field goal.

Akron used a little razzle-dazzle to take the lead with 5:25 left in the third period. Senior Alex Allen threw an 80-yard halfback pass to wide receiver Andre Jones, who was wide open for an easy score.

"The halfback pass was huge, a real shift in momentum," Brookhart said. "It really felt at that point we were in pretty good shape."

Spann regained the lead for NIU with a determined 28-yard run with 13:35 left in the game. Spann appeared to be wrapped up by Akron defenders before breaking loose.

"Chad stepped up and made a heck of a run," coach Jerry Kill said. "I don't praise kids enough sometimes. That, to me, was the play that got us going. It was a tremendous run."

Spann added his MAC-leading 14th touchdown of the year on a 2-yard run with 7:59 left to put NIU on top 20-10.

Palmer scored on an end around from 7 yards out with 46 seconds left.

Comfort Food for an Army - Beef 'N Beans Casserole (with Cringe Inducing Patriotism Thrown In Free!)

At yet another estate sale, I picked up a copy of The All American Crockery Cook Pot Cook Book for 10 cents. Apparently an early rival to, well, Rival, in the crockpot market, The All American Crockery Cook Pot apparently went by the wayside during the brutal crock pot wars of the 1970s. Their little 29 page pamphlet of recipes lives on, though, because I know at least one other person in the universe using it as a reference (here on cdkitchen.com):

http://cooking.cdkitchen.com/TheSavvySlowCooker/318.html

Anyway, the first recipe in the book is this:

Beef 'N Beans Casserole

1 1/2 lbs browned ground beef
salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
1 ea 10 1/2 oz can chili beef soup
1 ea small jar black olives, sliced (optional)
1 ea No 2 can corn, well drained
1 ea small can kidney beans
1 ea one pound can tomatoes, drained
1 ea green pepper, chopped fine
1 ea medium onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 tbs chili powder
1/2 cup water
1 ea small can tomato sauce

Directions - in bottom of Cook-pot, place onions first, then peppers, tomatoes, then corn. Add lightly browned meat. Mix tomato sauce, water, and soup together and pour over meat. Cover, stir occasionally. Serve over noodles. Cook time 6-8 hours (low); 2-4 hours (high).

I used two pounds of browned pork rather than beef because, well, it happened to be in the house. Just as tasty, if a little more bland than ground beef. The gamier the meat, the more it will have aroma and taste. I wasn't unable to find a 10 1/2 oz can of condensed chili beef soup (I'm assuming Campbell's, but perhaps no longer in production) at the local Hyvee (and I'm assuming it called for condensed soup, as all of the other recipes in the book use condensed), so I had to substitute a 17 oz non-condensed Campbell's chili beef soup can instead. I used chili beans rather than kidney beans because, again, it happened to be lying around the pantry. I assumed the small jar of black olives would be the 4 to 4 1/2 oz size (which seemed reasonable), so that's what I used. A "No 2" can of corn is 20 oz, so I used about that amount.

In short, this was a good "clean out the pantry" recipe, as it calls for stuff that's usually in the kitchen somewhere, and no obscure ingredients (except for the condensed chili beef soup, but you can sub that as well). You can substitute a lot in it, and add or hold off on spices to moderate the spiciness level, as well as increasing the volume. You can also add frozen lima beans, or can of cut green beans, as a filler. I ended up using a 5 quart crock pot for this, as I'm not sure how you would have gotten it all to fit in a standard 4 quart). It also fills the house with that great stewy smell, which is so incredibly comforting on a cold autumn or winter day. Finally, I just couldn't see serving this over noodles (a rather 70s thing), so I served it either over rice, or by itself as a thick soup.

A great hit, especially with hungry teenagers. It disappeared pretty fast.

OK - now for the cringe-inducing stuff. The mini-cookbook/pamphlet, while a treasure trove of some, frankly, pretty awesome crock pot recipes, does give one room for pause. First, on the cover, the company is hyped as "Made in America by Americans for all the World" (a bit verbose, methinks). Frankly, that seemed a little extreme. I'm assuming the alternative was "Made in America by Illegal Aliens from South and Central America..." - but, hey, probably not as good an ad slogan. But, let's face it, if you're going to hype the whole "Made in America by Americans" bit, it would help if you didn't MISSPELL A WORD on the COVER of the book. At the top of the cover, it clearly states "It dosen't need watching".

Really. No kidding.

Grandinetti Products of Lynwood, California is, apparently, no longer around. Probably some much the worse for American manufacturers. Probably so much the better for America's English majors.