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There is going to be a “secret” screening of The Return of the King tomorrow night at 7:00 PM at USC … starting just as my flight is landing in L.A. … and afterwards all four hobbits will be there (i.e., actors Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd) to answer questions … and I’ll be on campus right around then, picking up my football tickets …

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

(jumping up and down frantically)

:)

As I wrote in an e-mail to several people after learning about this: Who do I have to sleep with to get in??? :)

The movie is being shown by film critic Leonard Maltin to the 347 students in his cinema-television critical-studies class, Theatrical Film Symposium (better known simply as “366,” its class number).

He mentioned the planned screening on New Zealand TV, but the “secret” is apparently still pretty much a secret; the media don’t seem to have caught on. But TheOneRing.net has many spies — birds, beasts, kiwis — and thus I found out.

(Note: Maltin reportedly said the screening is on “Friday.” But I am assuming this is because he was on New Zealand TV, and in New Zealand, tomorrow is Friday. His class normally meets on Thursdays from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Los Angeles time, in the Norris Cinema Theater, and presumably this week is no different.)

We wants to seeee the hobbits, my preciouss! And we wants to seeeee the movie too, yes, yessss my preciousss!!!

UPDATE: I have ascertained that one of my former roommates, Chris, is in the class that gets to watch the movie. (Lucky bastard.) He apparently did not know about this until now, thus lending credence to the description of this as a “secret.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: “You have to have an ID proving that you’re in the class to get into any of those screenings,” says Daily Trojan editor-in-chief Blake Hennon, after I e-mailed him about the ROTK screening and jokingly offered my services if the DT needed a reporter. I’m glad to know this — it puts to rest (well, pretty much) my thoughts of attempting to fly standby on an earlier flight to L.A. so that I could try to sneak into the screening with Chris. :)

The last Daily Trojanissue of the semester just went online, by the way. Alas, rumor has it there will be no online updates during winter break, even though USC’s football and women’s volleyball teams could both win national championships during that span. The DT continues to be stuck in a mid-to-late-1990s mentality, believing you shouldn’t put something on your website if it isn’t in the print version of your newspaper. They seem to think there’s some sort of legal issue or something. They’re such wimps. Pity.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. It’s tough to be a prolific blogger when you’re a working man. :) But now that I’m on my lunch break, I do have some good news to share.

Clearing up yesterday’s MAC confusion, it seems I was wrong to believe USC fans should root for Bowling Green over Miami of Ohio for fear of falling to #4 — behind Miami — in two of the seven computer polls. Rich Tellshow now says that USC will almost certainly finish #3 or higher in at least six polls. And since your lowest poll gets dropped, that’s enough. He explains:

Anderson himself believes Miami-Ohio has very little chance to overcome USC in his poll. It may happen in Sagarin, but it won’t hurt USC unless they fall to 4th in 2 computer polls. … The odds of USC falling to 4th in 2 computers is low. So I think we can say with more confidence that if ND and Hawaii win USC will be #2. (emphasis added)

Good news, that. In addition, I believe we can add that if Miami and ND win, USC will be #2 regardless of what happens with Hawaii. (See details here. Reminder: a Bowling Green win helps LSU’s strength of schedule, while a Miami win hurts it.) So obviously, this clears up our rooting picture for tomorrow night’s game. GO MIAMI!!!

Who are USC fans supposed to root for in Thursday’s MAC title game, Bowling Green or Miami (Ohio)? It’s rather confusing… and I’m not sure whether or not this clears it up. :)

I think I’ll be rooting for Bowling Green… but I’m not sure if that’s right…

I don’t have time to fully analyze this latest statement from Rich Tellshow, because I have to go to work, but it contains some significant tidbits of information, so I’ll just post it without comment:

As I have stated below it is possible that USC could drop to 4th in a couple of computer polls. In my opinion this could only happen in Sagarin and Anderson if Miami-OH wins, as Bowling Green is a better opponent than Oregon State. I expect USC to break the tie with Michigan in the NYTimes by playing 7-4 Oregon St. USC is 4th in Massey but barely behind OSU 4.463 to 4.428. I could be wrong but I expect USC to be 3rd in Massey next week. USC leads M.OH by 0.7 points in Sagarin and this will be a very close call. USC leads M.OH .757 to .745 in Anderson. This also will be close but my gut feeling is that USC holds off Miami. B.G. is 22nd in Anderson and may not give enough of a boost. The good news for USC is that the lead over LSU in Wolfe is larger than I thought it would be this week. I would not be surprised if USC finishes in the #2 spot in Wolfe’s poll. If ND wins then USC will be #2 in the Colley Matrix.

I “watched” most of the online chat with ESPN’s BCS analyst, Brad Edwards, live… which was really unnecessary, since the whole thing is transcripted here. But anyway, although my (obviously brilliant) question did not get asked, there were some interesting insights, and a funny moment or two. Highlights:

(more…)

Dane points out that the number of posts is now just four ahead (five after this post) of the number of comments. I am tempted to go on a posting spree in an attempt to maintain my lead, however, I must admit this is a battle I can’t possibly win. Therefore, I surrender to the incoming tidal wave of comments. :)

Update after this posting: Posts 2239, Comments 2234. (But dammit, posts’ strength of schedule is stronger!)

NOTE: I could also fight the battle by going back and eliminating duplicate and spam comments, but that would only buy me a week or two, and it’s way too much trouble. :) Plus, as discussed earlier, I don’t want to create doubts about the legitimacy of Dane’s comment #2000.

I think I finally understand the difference between Rich Tellshow’s and Jerry Palm’s strength-of-schedule numbers. Tellshow just posted this message (emphasis in original):

Note the Projected SOS for LSU has changed. I had forgotten to account for the rule that LSU’s previous victory over UGA does not get counted when it plays UGA again. Also, if LSU wins, its second victory does not count as an opponent’s loss for the game on 9/20. The net effect is that LSU opponents have 2 fewer losses than I had been projecting. I appologize for publishing an incorrect projection. Check back and I’ll re-do the sos projections if Syracuse, Hawaii, etc. win.

D’oh. This makes things worse for USC. So that’s why Palm’s projections are so much more LSU-friendly than my original projections, which were based on Tellshow’s numbers; hence my initial, briefly held belief that USC controls its own destiny.

How dare our esteemed oracle of BCS wisdom make a mistake… heads must roll! :)

UPDATE: As promised, Tellshow has updated his strength of schedule numbers to reflect the new reality. It is substantially worse for USC:

USC by 0.16 if ND, Haw, MOH win*
USC by 0.12 if ND, Haw, BG win*
LSU by 0.04 if ND, BSU, MOH win**
LSU by 0.08 if ND, BSU, BG win+
LSU by 0.08 if Syr, Haw, MOH win+
LSU by 0.08 if Syr, Haw, BG win+
LSU by 0.20 if Syr, BSU, MOH win+
LSU by 0.24 if Syr, BSU, BG win++
(ND = Notre Dame; Syr = Syracuse; Haw = Hawaii; BSU = Boise State; MOH = Miami of Ohio; BG = Bowling Green)

* = LSU needs all 7 computer #2 rankings, and USC would have to fall to 4th in two computers
** = LSU needs all 7 computer #2 rankings
+ = LSU needs 6 #2 computer rankings and .1 QW points, or 7 computer #2s
++ = LSU needs 6 #2 computer rankings and no QW points.

If Syracuse and Boise State both win, it will be disastrous for USC. Remember, strength of schedule also affects the computers. Colley Matrix rests entirely on the ND-Syr game, but we also may need the Wolfe ratings, and that too could be decided by either of these games. Bottom line: Notre Dame needs to win, and if they don’t, then for the love of God, Hawaii must.

Of course, if Georgia beats LSU, we don’t have to worry about any of this crap.

Game times:
Miami (OH) vs. Bowling Green, 7:00 PM EST Thursday (ESPN2)
Notre Dame at Syracuse, 1:00 PM EST Saturday (ABC)
Oregon State at USC, 4:30 PM EST Saturday (ABC)
LSU vs. Georgia, 8:00 PM EST Saturday (CBS)
Boise State at Hawaii, 11:35 PM EST Saturday (ESPN)