Year Odds and Ends

As 2016 comes to a close, it has certainly been an interesting year. One year ends and another begins. I hope 2017 will be a better year and I hope I have the time to make more entries here. My current job takes up the vast majority of my time, but sooner or later, that will change.

A year ago, I figured Second Chance would have been published by now. Little did I know that my sixth book, Justice, will end up being my fifth published book. Justice is still in the editing process, but it's looking much better. After this post, I'm making the time to get some significant work done on it.

Since I haven't made a post since July, let's get down to business.

Congrats to the 59-103 Minnesota Twins. You are the 2016 MLB Kings of the Cellar. Even though you ended the year on a two game winning streak, you dominated the runner-up 68-94 Cincinnati Reds by nine games!

This week's NFL Kings of the Cellar, the 1-14 Cleveland Browns, are one loss away from the winning the beer in the NFL cellar. They face a playoff bound Pittsburgh Steelers team on the road, so their title is all but earned. Their only competition, the 2-13 San Francisco 49ers, will host the Seattle Seahawks. The title will go to who wants the beer more.

Now for some trivia. On December 22, 1979, the LSU Tigers faced off against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the Tangerine Bowl (now the Citrus Bowl). LSU won easily, 34-10. Here's some trivia about the players in that game.

• Wake Forest's head coach was John Mackovic. He had a 34-14 record there and went on to coach at Illinois (1988-91), Texas (1992-97), and Arizona (2001-03). His record was 95-82-3. 
• Mackovic was also a QB for the team from 1962-64. As QB, he threw 6 TD's and 26 INTs. This was his only bowl appearance with the Demon Deacons.
• Wake Forest WR Kenny Duckett was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1982 Draft.  He played for the Saints from 1982-85 and the Dallas Cowboys in 1985. Over his career, he caught 36 passes for 503 yards and 4 TD's.
• The was LSU head coach Charlie McClendon's last season with the Tigers. He coached the team for 18 seasons with a 137-59-7 record. His bowl record was 7-6.
• LSU QB David Woodley went on to get drafted in the 8th round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He played for Miami from 1980-83, including an appearance in Super Bowl XVII, and the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1983-85. Over his career, he passed for 8,558 yards 48 TD's and 63 INT's.
• LSU RB Hokie Gajan went on to get drafted in the 10th round of the 1981 Draft by the New Orleans Saints. He played for the team until 1985, when a knee injury ended his playing career. Over his career, he rushed 252 - 1358 yds and 11 TD's, for a Saints record of 5.4 yards per carry. He also caught 63 passes for 515 yards and 2 TD's. He went on to be a scout for the team and later, the color analyst for WWL radio. He passed away in 2016.
• LSU RB Carlos Carson was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 5th round the the 1980 Draft. He played from 1980-89 with the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles (1989). He played WR and caught 353 passes for 6,372 yards and 33 TD's.
• LSU WR Tracy Porter was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 4th round of the 1981 Draft. He played for the Lions (1981-82) and the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (1983-84). He caught 79 passes for 1,161 yards and 3 TD's.
• LSU WR Orlando McDaniel was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1982 Draft by the Denver Broncos. This was his only season in the NFL. He played in 3 games, with no statistics.
• LSU TE Greg LaFleur went on to get drafted in the 3rd round of the 1981 Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. However, he never played for the team. Instead, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1981-86) and the Indianapolis Colts (1986). He caught 64 passes for 729 yards and 3 TD's.
• LSU TE Malcolm Scott was drafted by the New York Giants in the 5th round of the 1983 Draft. This was his only year with the team. He played again during the 1987 players' strike with the Saints. Over his brief career, he caught 23 passes for 241 yards and no TD's.
• LSU DB Willie Teal went on the play for the Minnesota Vikings from 1980-86 and the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987.
• LSU DB Chris Williams went on to play for the Buffalo Bills from 1981-83.
  
  Here is a link to the video of the 1979 Tangerine Bowl on YouTube. Enjoy.
  
  Have a great day and Happy New Year!!!

Some AP Top 10 Series Trivia

Welcome to the first installment of this year's Top Ten Series Trivia. Here are the tidbits for this week.

The #1 Alabama Crimson Tide roll in to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. Alabama leads the series 15-7 and are on a five game winning streak. The only other time Alabama won five straight against Arkansas was the first five games of the series, from the two Sugar Bowl matchups in 1962 and 1980, and the first three years the Razorbacks were in the SEC, from 1992-94. The Razorbacks last beat the Tide in 2005 in a close one, 24-23. Arkansas's longest win streak against Alabama was only two games and they also did that twice, in 1997-98 and 2003-04. There have been no shutouts in the series.

The #2 USC Trojans will invade Stanford Stadium to play the #21 Stanford Cardinal. USC leads the series 59-28-3, but Stanford enjoys a three game winning streak against the Trojans. The series is fairly even since 1991, with USC leading 11-10 since 1991. They first met in 1905 at Stanford, with the Cardinal winning 16-0. The last time USC shut out Stanford was 42-0 in 2006. The last time the Cardinal shut out the Trojans was 13-0 in 1941. Their last tie was 21-21 in 1979.

The #3 LSU Tigers host the Idaho Vandals in Tiger Stadium. They only played one other time and LSU spanked Idaho 53-20 in 1998, so LSU leads the series 1-0.

The #4 Oregon Ducks take on the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at home. This is their first ever meeting.

The #5 Oklahoma Sooners have a bye this week after nailing the Florida A&M Rattlers 69-13. The Sooners will host the #15 Kansas State Wildcats next week.

The #6 Florida State Seminoles host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Florida State owns the series 23-6-1. However, Wake Forest put together some wins and is 4-2 against the Seminoles since 2006. The last time Florida State shut out Wake Forest was 31-0 in 2010. The last time Wake Forest shut out Florida State was 30-0 in 2006. The only tie in the series occurred in their first ever meeting in 1956, a 14-14 score.

The #8 Georgia Bulldogs will play the Florida Atlantic Owls at home. This is their first ever meeting.

The James Madison Dukes have the unenviable task of playing the #9 West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. They only played one other time, a 45-10 spanking at the hands of West Virginia.

The #20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will invade Spartan Stadium to renew their rivalry with the #10 Michigan State Spartans. Notre Dame leads the series 46-28-1. The Spartans have kept the series interesting since 2002, going 4-5 during that period. They first met in 1897 at Notre Dame, who won 34-6. The highest scoring game in the series happened in 2005, when the Spartans beat the Irish in South Bend 44-41. The last time Notre Dame shut out Michigan State was 16-0 in 1972. The last time Michigan State shut out Notre Dame was 21-0 in 1960. Their only tie was 10-10 in 1966.


There are no historical scores for the Top 25 games this week played on this day.

Some BCS Top 10 College Football Series Trivia

November 7, 2011 – Here is this week’s BCS Top 10 series trivia.

The #1 LSU Tigers, fresh off their overtime win over Alabama, host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  This is the first ever meeting between the two teams.  Western Kentucky once owned college football’s longest current losing streak and should lose to the Tigers.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders host the #2 Oklahoma State Cowboys.  Texas Tech leads the series 21-14-3, but Oklahoma State is 5-3 against the Red Raiders since 2003.  The highest scoring game in the series was a 51-49 Cowboys win in 2003.  The last time Texas Tech shut out Oklahoma State was 58-0 in 2000.  The last time Oklahoma State shut out Texas Tech was 13-0 in 1957.  The last tie game was 13-13 in 1956.

The #3 Alabama Crimson Tide invades Starkville to take out their loss against LSU on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  Bama owns the series 75-17-3.  There isn’t too much good news for the Bulldogs, but their last wins against the Crimson Tide were in 2006 and 2007.  The last time Alabama shut out Mississippi State was 17-0 in 2005.  The last time Mississippi State shut out Alabama was 14-0 in 1941, the year after they shut out the Tide 13-0 in 1940.  Their last tie game was 7-7 in 1953.

The #7 Oregon Ducks visit Stanford Stadium to take on the #4 Stanford Cardinal in a Top 10 matchup.  The Cardinal leads the series 44-29-1, but the Ducks are 9-2 against Stanford since 1998.  The highest scoring game in the series was a 58-49 Stanford victory in 1997.  The last time Oregon shut out Stanford was 35-0 in 2003.  The last time Stanford shut out Oregon was 17-0 in 1974.  Their lone tie game was 7-7 in 1936.

The TCU Horned Frogs go to the blue field to take on the #5 Boise State Broncos.  Boise State leads the series 2-1, with all the meetings being bowl games, including last season’s BCS Fiesta Bowl game.  This is their first ever regular season meeting.  Neither team has ever shut out the other.

The #6 Oklahoma Sooners have a bye this week.  They take on the Baylor Bears next week.

The #8 Arkansas Razorbacks host the Tennessee Volunteers in War Memorial Stadium.  Tennessee owns the series 13-3, but is 3-2 in the series since 1999.  They first met in 1907, then in 1971, and finally started meeting with some regularity in 1990, with the Cotton Bowl game that year.  Neither team has ever shut out the other.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons go to Death Valley to take on the #9 Clemson Tigers.  Clemson dominates the series 58-17-1 and the Tigers are 9-4 against the Demon Deacons since 1998.  The only time Wake Forest dominated the series was a 7-1 run from 1942-49.  The highest scoring game in the series was an 82-24 spanking by Clemson in 1981.  The last time Clemson shut out Wake Forest was 31-0 in 1979.  The only time Wake Forest shut out Clemson was 6-0 in 1936.  Their only tie game was 20-20 in 1968.

The #21 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets take on the #10 Virginia Tech Hokies in Atlanta.  This is a fairly new series compared to the others.  Virginia Tech leads the series 5-3 and is 3-1 against the Yellow Jackets since 2007.  Neither team has ever shut out the other.

Here are some historical scores for this week’s BCS Top 25 matchups played on November 7,

1908 – Wisconsin 5 – Minnesota 0

1925 – Georgia 34 – Auburn 0

1953 – Illinois 19 – Michigan 3

1959 – Michigan 20 – Illinois 15

1964 – Michigan 21 – Illinois 6

1970 – Michigan 42 – Illinois 0

1980 – Michigan 70 – Illinois 21

1998 – Wisconsin 26 – Minnesota 7

2009 – Stanford 51 – Oregon 42