THE CRIMSON PIGSKIN e-LETTER
BOLTING DEVELOPMENT
New in theaters this weekend is a family film from Disney Pixar. Bolt is a tale of a dog who goes from big screen hero to the animal shelter from whence he came as a pup. Voiced by John Travolta, the playful never say die, Bolt has to find his owner after he inadvertently gets shipped from Los Angeles to New York City. Not until he meets a cynical cat and a superfan hamster, complete with hamster ball, does he realize real life is better than watching his reruns on the tele (British for television).
The voice of Miley Cyrus keeps turning up as Bolt's owner, Penny, a little girl who longs for the return of her canine rescuer. Bolt and company meet pigeons of various accents during a cross-country journey Lassie and Rin Tin Tin would be envious of. This 3-D feature is for kids and kids at heart. So much so, it warranted an ovation from all ages in the audience as the credits began to roll (also in 3-D).
ROBOBILITATION 2
In a follow-up to an earlier CPEL story about University of Oklahoma students developing robot systems to help medical patients with musculo-skeletal rehabilitation, namely teaching people to walk again, Honda has designed a new device which helps people hoof around even when there may be impairments keeping them stationary. FoxNews.com compares Honda's invention, direct from Tokyo, Japan, to a "bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames to a pair of shoes".
Even though it's nice to have a toaster that looks like a kitty cat, inventions like the one Honda is contributing to society will make life better for many people who may not be able to get from room to room, much less from coast to coast. A stylish Bolt decal would be a welcome accent for those fashion conscious readers and you know who you are. And, you heard it here first because OU beat Honda to the punch.
KING OF KP
Smithsonian Magazine for November, 2008 ran a small article about the king of rock n' roll's time in the United States Army. Of Elvis' days in green, Smithsonian states Presley's commanding officers were instructed to treat him like anyone else in the the armed forces, singing voice, record sales and swiveling hips notwithstanding. The report continues by adding the fact the entertainer whose popularity has now spanned three generations pulled kitchen patrol duty, cleaned toilets and took part in all the daily activities of the average GI. Maybe that's why America and most of the world fell in love with him to begin with.
TULSA
After a week off, a fragile Tulsa Golden Hurricane squad traveled to Houston, Texas (birthplace of humidity) and took a lickin' a Timex watch would have stone cold stopped over. After being bitten a number of times by the turnover bug, resembling a Gulf Coast mosquito, Tulsa couldn't recover and as TU was crossing the 30-point mark, UH was crossing the 60-point mark. It was especially difficult to watch after the close loss at Arkansas two weeks earlier.
Tulsa returns to the friendly confines of Chapman Stadium in Tulsa for Senior Day versus Tulane on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is set for 2:00pm CST. Take a jacket and watch the Hurricane in their last stop before the Conference USA championship. Tulsa 45, Tulane 35.
ARKANSAS
The Hogs were off on November 15th in preparation for the last winnable game on the U of A schedule. Saturday finds the Razorbacks in Starkville, Mississippi for a game against divisional opponent Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are the last team likely to be bulldogged by Arkansas because the following week Louisiana State pays a visit.
Even with a national ranking hovering around 20, LSU is dangerous. Friday after Thanksgiving, there will be some more ham on the table. Arkansas 27, MSU 21.
TENNESSEE
The Volunteers take on in-state rival Vanderbilt in Nashville on Saturday at 11:30am CST. Vandy is 6-4 on the year and is known as an academic institution as well as a mid-range athletic school. That means there will be a lot of intelligent sorts in the black jerseys. This however, doesn't mean the Commodores won't take a break from the books to rub in one of the worst records in Tennessee football history.
Tennessee starts over on so many levels but not until the Kentucky game is over on November 29th. On the coaching front, UT plans to name a head coach in December. A broken shell of a former team folds in Music City USA. Vandy 40, Tennessee 3.
OKLAHOMA STATE
In a conference as good as the Big 12, teams must win trap road games like the Colorado game Saturday night. Even in the thin air just outside the Mile-High City, Oklahoma State was able to secure a 30-17 win, going away. Each time CU got anything going on offense, OSU had an answering score and control of the game well before the fourth quarter even started. While Colorado isn't the best team in the northern division of the Big 12, the Cowboys' solid win again shows the strength of the southern division which still holds four spots in the top 10 nationally.
At 9-2, OSU is idle on the 22nd. Thanksgiving is next week and maybe Poke fans will be thankful for a win over arch-rival Oklahoma on the 29th. More on that later.
OKLAHOMA
To date, two teams have clearly outclassed the rest of college football. Those two teams are Alabama and Texas Tech. Both sport undefeated records going into the last two weekends of the college football season. One team's path runs through Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday night at 7pm CST. That's when Texas Tech visits OU in what has become a divisional rivalry in recent years.
The presence of Mike Leach as head coach at Tech and Double-T's ability to defeat Oklahoma in two of the last three meetings, controversial as the wins may be, have brought a little West Texas salsa to a series which Oklahoma owned since the Big 12 was formed. Controversy, amazingly enough, decreases exponentially the further one travels from Lubbock, Texas. Tech had an advantage in games against then number one Texas and number 6 Oklahoma State because the games were at Tech. The game against the Sooners in not going to be in friendly confines.
Oklahoma's chance to spoil 2nd ranked Tech's chances for a Big 12 championship comes on a chilly night in front of a capacity crowd at Owen Field. In Tech's favor is the fact Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has requested fans be more vocal for this top five match-up. While they're at it, fans shouldn't call a fake punt on 4th and 13 in OU territory and come up 18 inches short of a possible national title the fifth weekend of the season. Then a game like this might be between number one and number two.
Not sure picking on the fans to be louder is the way to go since the last time Stoopsey spoke of this kind of thing, it was from a stage on Hollywood Beach, Florida. "Be loud tomorrow,…We're gonna need you!" he said. The next night, USC spanked the Sooners in a 55-19 loss the program has yet to rebound from entirely. Viewers in Japan will see this game via tele (British for television) at 10am along with various football fans all over the world as the Sooners put a 59-2 home record under Stoops on the line.
Mr. Mayogi needs to tell Daniel Sahn ball control is key. Keeping Tech's superstar quarterback and wide receiver off the field, then gathering up a couple of opportune turnovers, the Sooners pull it out in the end. Oklahoma 48, Tech 41 in OT.
THE PERCENTAGES
With only two CPEL teams in action last week, the picks were 1-1. This brings the season record to 37-8 for all those Honda engineers out there. Onward and upward!
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend! Sayonara!
Carlos
www.crimsonpigskin.com
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