Early Saturday morning, Buffalo Bisons player Kevin Kouzmanoff got a phone call from the Cleveland Indians, telling him he was being called up to the major leagues. Instead of playing the Rochester Red Wings on Saturday, he’d be playing the Texas Rangers. Nice.

But it got better for Kouzmanoff. Much better. Saturday night, Kouzmanoff came into the Indians’ game against the Rangers as a pinch hitter — and hit a grand slam on the first pitch he faced! He is only the fourth player to hit a grand slam in his first major-league game, the third to do so in his first at-bat, and the first player ever, in all of baseball history, to hit a grand slam on his first pitch. Nice. Really nice.

The SportsCenter guys think he should just retire now. :)

P.S. The Buffalo-Rochester game was cancelled due to rain… in case anybody was wondering. Methinks Kouzmanoff had a slightly more exciting day than if he’d been in a soggy dugout in Rochester waiting for word on whether the game would be played.

P.P.S. In other bizarre baseball action, the Devil Rays pulled a strike-him-out, throw-him-out triple play.

[UPDATE: USC 50, Arkansas 14, final. WOOHOO!!! BEAT THE CORNHUSKERS!!!!!]

It took a while, and there was much nervousness and gnashing of teeth in the land of Troy (at least among nervous-nelly fans like me), but USC has turned on the Pete Carroll Second Half Magic^TM and pulled away for what has become a blowout victory. With 10 minutes left, the Trojans lead Arkansas 44-14.

This has to be a frustrating game to watch for Arkansas fans, because the final score notwithstanding, the Razorbacks had a chance in this game. In fact, they were arguably the better team in the first half, and should have had the lead except for multiple turnovers — three first-half fumbles and an interception early in the second half, if I remember correctly. 13 of USC’s 16 first-half points came off those turnovers. They also repeatedly took the wind out of Arkansas’s offensive sails and kept Arkansas’s defense on the field for far too long, with the result that the defensive players were exhausted midway through the third quarter. And USC took advantage. You can’t give any gifts to a team as good as USC and expect to have a chance.

For Trojan fans, the big news is how good John David Booty looked. In the first half, he looked merely solid. The announcers used the word “workmanlike,” and that seemed accurate. In the second half, Booty looked awesome, and his stats as I write this are 24 of 36 passing for 261 yards, with 3 touchdowns. Compare that to Matt Leinart’s debut, also in SEC country: 17 of 30 with 192 yards and 1 touchdown in USC’s 23-0 win over Auburn in 2003. Hey, nice job, Booty!

P.S. I do need to criticize Booty on one thing, though. He made an extremely poor decision in the closing seconds of the first half, heaving a blind pass that could easily have been intercepted and returned for a devastating Arkansas touchdown that would have given the Razorbacks the lead. But luckily for Booty — and it was pure luck, unless he has eyes in the back of his head — the ball somehow found its way directly into the hands of a USC receiver, and the Trojans got a field goal out of it. Incredibly, the announcer called the pass a “heads up play” by Booty, which is a great example of judging decisions with the wisdom of hindsight. (Would Reggie Bush’s lateral in the Rose Bowl have been a “heads up play” if it had succeeded?) It was a horrible play by Booty, a classic rookie mistake, and he should thank his lucky stars he didn’t pay for it. Next time, if he ever throws a blind pass to a spot like that again, it probably won’t end well.

It was ugly, it was suspenseful, it wasn’t Charlie Weis’s or Brady Quinn’s (or the offensive line’s) finest hour, but Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 14-10, to start the season on a winning note. And hey, a W is a W, right?

Bring on the Nittany Lions!!!

P.S. ND’s point total was its lowest since losing to USC 41-10 in 2004 — i.e., the lowest point total of the Weis era. It was also the lowest point total in a win since the 14-6 win over Pitt in 2002, Ty’s first year. The Irish haven’t won with a lower point total since beating USC, 10-6, in 1990. (All historical scores here.)

P.P.S. Over at The Blue-Gray Sky, a commenter writes:

Well, this could mean one of 2 things. Either we are vastly overrated and due for at least 3 losses, or we showed the grit of a championship team fighting through an off-night in a very hostile environment.

I’m leaning towards the latter for now, but I’m a complete homer. Please God, don’t let any game come down to the kicking game this year!

Elsewhere in the Domersphere, here’s a detailed analysis, and here’s a drunken analysis.

Notre Dame and USC both just scored touchdowns, at 9:44 PM, within about 30 seconds of each other. Needless to say, I was doing a lot of frantic channel-flipping, and I managed to see both TDs.

Go Irish! Go Trojans!

P.S. I’m going to stop blogging for now, and just watch.

Gamecast here.

And, WOOHOO! Just when Arkansas seemed to be off to a good start, USC recovered a fumble! Trojan ball!

UPDATE: 3-0 Trojans.

UPDATE 2: Becky’s and my former tutee Kyle Williams, in his first career start, has committed two penalties, the most recent one quite costly. D’oh! Still 3-0. Arkansas defense doing a good job.

UPDATE 3: Touchdown Trojans! 10-0.

But honestly, it’s mostly because of mistakes by Arkansas that USC has this lead. Indeed, both of their scores came off turnovers in Arkansas territory.

Let the season begin!

UPDATE: Irish not looking very impressive so far. And now, Georgia Tech has taken a 7-0 lead. D’oh!

UPDATE 2: ND misses a field goal; still 7-0. Brady Quinn is getting a lot of pressure, and his passing isn’t terribly accurate.

UPDATE 3: Still 7-0 after a potential game-breaking Quinn-to-McKnight pass is screwed up by blatant pass interference that wasn’t called. (Or is it now legal to grab a guy’s helmet and yank his head backwards while he’s trying to catch the ball?)

UPDATE 4: With 2:35 left, Notre Dame is still trailing 10-0, and at risk of being shut out in the first half for the first time since the Michigan game our 1L year. Of course, the Irish ultimately won that game, 28-20. But still.

UPDATE 5: Touchdown Irish!

10-7 at halftime.

John David Booty is ready for his first start.

Also starting for the first time is offensive linesman Kyle Williams, who Becky and I used to tutor when he was a freshman.

Cal is getting spanked by Tennessee, 21-0, early in the third quarter.

UPDATE: Now 28-0.

UPDATE: 35-0.

UPDATE: Cal came back late, but never threatened. 35-18, final.

There are just over four hours left to enter the Irish Trojan ND & USC prediction contests. Deadline is 8:00 PM Eastern time. Sign up now!

Mmmm… beer.

The #1-ranked Notre Dame women’s soccer team defeated #17 USC yesterday, 2-0. D’oh!

Fresno State beat Nevada in yesterday’s only college-football game. Today, the season begins in earnest. Full scoreboard here.

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Hurricane John roars ashore near Cabo del Este, Mexico, on the southeast coast of Baja California as a Category 2 hurricane. Visit CNN for the latest.

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