It’s about to get nasty — again — in South Bend. Heavy rain and lots of lightning is on its way. (Though it looks like the worst of it may pass to our southwest… too soon to tell for sure, though.)
It’s nasty up in Wisconsin, too. Not sure if that stuff will get to us later tonight.
UPDATE: The rain came through, with a fair amount of lightning to boot, but then the western sky cleared a short while before sunset, while the eastern sky remained stormy, creating a telltale contrast-heavy mixture of sunlight and dark clouds that made me think, “Hey, a rainbow might form!” So, I went outside with my camera and its extra lenses (telephoto and wide-angle), and sure enough, after I had waited patiently for a few minutes, a rainbow did indeed form. It wasn’t nearly as spectacular as the rainbow over the Dome, but still, it was purty. Later, a stubby mini-rainbow appeared on the opposite side.
But things really got spectacular as sunset got closer, and the crepuscular and anti-crepuscular rays started to appear:
Another cool shot: you can see the anti-crepuscular rays with the stubby mini-rainbow at bottom left here. Nice.
One giant leap for Trojan-kind.
There’s been a lot of talk about USC wide receiver Steve Smith’s performance against Washington State, stepping up his game to make up for the injury to Dwayne Jarrett. Conquest Chronicles named him the “stud” of the game. The Daily Breeze’s Phil Collin says “Smith made his mark” against the Cougars. The L.A. Times’s J.A. Adande says Smith “picked a good day to step to the forefront.”
That’s all true, and Smith deserves the praise, but I’m standing by what I said at the time: the player of the game was punter Greg Woidneck, the 6-foot-0, 195-pound redshirt sophomore transfer from Arizona State, for a game-saving play that isn’t getting enough nearly attention, IMHO. The Press-Enterprise describes it thusly:
Punting from his own 40 with 1:10 left, USC’s Greg Woidneck had to make as athletic a catch as any by Smith just to pull in Will Collins’ bullet of a snap that was heading for the USC end zone on a bounce if Woidneck hadn’t grabbed it with his fingertips at the highest point of his leap.
“I hopped a little bit on it, too,” USC coach Pete Carroll admitted, “as high as Woidneck did.”
But Woidneck got off a 37-yard, end-over-end punt as USC once more managed to do what it needed to…get out of here unbeaten.
Granted, statistically speaking, Woidneck is no Tom Malone… and his name isn’t nearly as fun to say as kickoff man Troy Van Blarcom… but how many punters can say they’ve made a play which single-handedly preserved a team’s chances at a national championship? Usually, when punters change the course of a season, they do so in the role of goat, like Minnesota’s Justin Kucek last year. (Whenever I see that video clip, I always think, “Take the safety, kid! Take the freakin’ safety!” Alas, he never does.) But not Woidneck. He’s a bona fide hero. As Carroll said, that ball was within “an eyelash [of] being over his head” … and with USC’s lead just 6 points in the game’s final minute, that very likely translates into the Cougars being within an eyelash of winning the game outright in regulation.
Put another way: the Trojans almost Coug’d it. :) But Woidneck wouldn’t let that happen.
Anyway, the point of this post is simply to say: thanks, Greg, for proving that white men can jump, and saving our season in the process. Trojan Nation is in your debt.
Greg Woidneck, IrishTrojan.com Player of the Week.
BEAT THE HUSKIES!!
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Categories: USC, College Football
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So, over the weekend, I’m perusing the Notre Dame page of the AOL Fanhouse blog when I notice an intriguing headline pop up on “The Word”: Kirk Herbstreit Calls Erin Andrews “Poopsie”. I think to myself, “Yeah, I think I remember hearing that, and wondering, ‘What the hell?’” So I click the link. It says:
Kirk Herbstreit took time out of [Thursday’s Tigers-Cocks game] broadcast to apologize to South Carolina fans for wearing an orange tie. He said his wife chose the tie and had no idea what teams were playing tonight. Of course, he may just have to apologize to his wife for the sorta-flirty-and-intimate reference to sideline reporter Erin Andrews as “Poopsie”.
Not much information there. A bit of Googling, however, brings me to this post with more details and, uh, analysis of the situation:
After watching the Thursday night game between Auburn and South Carolina, I decided enough is enough. Let’s get it out there and see a show of hands – who thinks Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews are getting it on? Herbstreit has been married since 1998, has 3 year-old twin boys, and a house just north of Columbus, OH. Week after week, his poor wife must witness the endless flirting on national television. In fact, I almost felt obligated to hop in the car and drive to Columbus to console and maybe sleep with his hot wife when I heard Herbstreit say to Andrews, “Poopsie, you should get back in the tent.�
Further Googling reveals that this is hardly the first time the blogosphere has engaged in shameless, gossipy Herbstreit-Andrews speculation. For instance, more than three weeks ago, Mark May Be Wrong discussed the “over/under” on “the number of times Kirk bangs the bejesus out of Erin Andrews after one of their Thursday Night games.” Hurrah for new betting opportunities! :) But the most extensive Kirk-and-Erin talk that I could find was at Barstool Sports, which has a whole discussion on the question: “Do you think Kirk Herbstreit is banging Erin Andrews?”
Now, let us all collectively wag our fingers at this awful blogospheric intrusion in the private lives of poor Mr. Herbstreit and Ms. Andrews… and then gossip about them in comments. :)
