Ben Folds "Song of the Day"

Ben Folds has recently announced new tour dates, and fortunately, Florida is the site of two shows, both of which I will be attending. The first show is on March 16th in Orlando at the House of Blues. I've never been, but I hear it's a nice, intimate venue. The second show is being hosted by my alma mater, the University of Florida on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. If Ben's past shows are any indication, this should kick some serious ass.
I first saw Ben back in August 2007. He opened for John Mayer. I bought my ticket for one reason and one reason only: Ben Folds. I was at the front of the lawn rocking the fuck out in front of 60,000 teenage girls who had no idea who the dude playing the piano was. Once Ben was finished performing, I left before Mayer played. Because John Mayer sucks, and shame on you for supporting his greedy greedy ways.
The second time I had the pleasure of seeing Ben was in 2008 at Bonnaroo. He played on the What stage and debuted some songs from "Way to Normal," including Errant Dog, Hiroshima, and Free Coffee. I was in a bit of an altered state, but you can see me in the official video of "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces," (but more on that later). He told us that show he was retiring "Bitches Ain't Shit," but he lied.
The next time I saw Folds was in April 2009. I was literally the first one in line at UNF's arena, and when the doors opened, I was thrilled to see that it was a free for all- just a floor and a barrier in front of the stage. Naturally, I was front and center for that show, and even got to touch Ben during the "Frown Song," (note the emission of the "e").

So onto the purpose of this post- to demonstrate the sheer awesomeness that is Ben Folds. Each day from now until the concert, I will post a Ben Folds "Song of the Day." The songs will all be Ben Folds originals, unless his cover version is that much better than the original (they usually are). So where to start on day one?
Hiro's Song! This neat little ditty was release on the Japanese version of "Rockin the Suburbs" and later came to the US as part of the "Songs for Goldfish" album of b-sides and rarities. This song is even relatively new to me, I've probably only known it for 11 or so months. Still, it's an awesome song that shows us what Ben's about- taking some fun, simple riffs, and turning them into a kick-ass song. Enjoy!

Senior Bowl practice- South Team & Tebow watch

3:57 P.M.- Broadcast fo the practice is over. Wish I didn't have to work every day, I'd love to watch this all week. Oh well.

3:53 P.M.- Full on drills, whole teams on the field. Jarrett Brown up first. Complete to Andre Roberts on his first pass. Second play, Dexter McCluster just had a nice run up the middle, and would've taken it in were it not for the whistles.

3:49 P.M.- Just got to see one Tebow pass from his seven on seven, and he almost threw a pick to Darryl Sharpton (Miami). Also took awhile to get his feet set and still had that long wind-up.

3:45 P.M.- Terrence Cody is good enough to just punish some of the best senior O-linemen lining up against him. Two tries, two trips to the backfield for him. Jeff Byers (Southern Cal) keeps getting pushed around by the SEC linemen. If he can't handle SEC guys, he'll have a time trying to handle NFL guys.

3:42 P.M.- Linemen drills right now, Geno Atkins looking good, Brandon Lang (from Troy) had a nice pass rush as well. Ciron Black (LSU) is working like a beast keeping the D-Linemen out of the backfield. Chris Scott (Tennssee) not looking as good. Antonio Coleman (Auburn) just blew by him.

3:38 P.M.- Seven on seven drills, with Zac Robinson up first. Nice completion to Jeremy Williams from Tulane. Joe Webb finally made a catch, but wrapped up quick by Javy Arenas.

3:35 P.M.- Andre Roberts just beat Taylor Mays, ouch. Jarrett Brown throwing now. Terry Coleman just stopped Joe Webb from UAB- Don't think  he's helping himself too much. Cooper also just dropped a pass, followed right away by Dexter McCluster dropping one.

3:31 P.M.- Most of Tebow's incompletions were right on the money. Only completely missed one receiver (Cooper) cause he got tangled up with Taylor Mays. Every other incomplete pass was catchable or knocked out by the defender.

3:29 P.M.- Tebow keeps completing deep throws- Dropped one into Hodge over Trevard Lindley (Kentucky). Joe Webb keeps dropping passes right into his chest. Cooper just made a nice catch being ]covered from Patrick Robinson.

3:26 P.M.- Joe Webb (UAB) just dropped a nicely thrown Tebow passed. Myron Rolle knocked it out. Riley Cooper then beat Nate Allen from USF. Dexter McCluster just ran away from Javier Arenas, Tebow dropped it right into his hands. Cooper just beat Taylor Mays off the line, but got tangled up.

3:25 P.M.- Starting nine on seven drills- Lots of SEC running backs here. Jarrett Brown almost lost a faked handoff. Took it himself for a nice gain the next play.

3:23 P.M.- Tebow with a nice completion on a running throw to a Citadel receiver, name coming as soon as I look it up (Andre Roberts). Jarrett Brown also looking pretty impressive. Robinson has been the least impressive of the QBs thus far.

3:18 P.M.- Tim just threw a bullet to Shay Hodge from Ole Miss, but can we see some other QBs? And here we are, Robinson had a nice throw to Jimmy Graham.

3:16 P.M.- Tebow's back, offensive players practicing some throwing drills- made a nice completion to Staffon Johnson with a nice spiral. Tim just took about one and a half seconds longer to get his feet set to throw. And Cooper just dropped his pass.

3:13 P.M.- Linemen blocking against each other. George Sielve didn't let the O-lineman get to the second level- Terrence Cody did. C.J. Wilson from ECU just got pushed back pretty easily.

3:11 P.M.- Wide receivers/defensive backs practice. The WRs are working on blocking. Riley Cooper is about to go up against Patrick Robinson (from FSU), didn't do bad- held his block long enough for his man to get some yards.

3:08 P.M. - Been listening to the guys talk about Tebow not being an "accurate" quarterback since the broadcast started. Tebow still has a long windup, but it's not as bad. Contrary to yesterday's reports, Tebow looks fine taking snaps from under center. Zac Robinson was the worst out of the three QBs- sailed one pass over his receiever and underthrew one a little bit.

Urban Meyer is gone

That's not a typo. Urban Meyer, Florida's head football coach, has resigned. According to ESPN, he's citing health and family as major reasons for this decision. The Palm Beach Post says that the health reason may be an inoperable brain cyst that flares up due to stress.
Whatever the reason, this is not encouraging news for a program who is graduating a senior class that could have 48 wins, losing a large number of top juniors to the NFL draft, losing recruits, and losing coaches such as Charlie Strong and Billy Gonzalez.
Who could step in at Florida? Anything right now is pure speculation. Could we hire back Charlie Strong? What about Bud Foster? Tommy Tuberville, Tony Dungy, Mike Shannahan, maybe Bob Stoops? Could Steve Spurrier come back? Time will tell, but you know what? I'm sure a lot of Gator fans are crying like Tim Tebow.

Bowls galore! Part 4, featuring Exciting Bowls

With the first "Exciting Bowl" of the season set to kick off tonight, I figure it'd probably best that I take a break from Cafe World to come over here and update the ol' blog.
Also, haven't been too hot picking teams thus far... I'm 1-2, even though I really wanted to go with MTSU over Southern Miss. Oh well, shoulda, woulda, coulda. Onto the Exciting Bowls!

Macco Las Vegas Bowl, Tuesday, December 22, 8:00 P.M. on ESPN
Oregon State vs BYU
The first of the exciting bowl games features two high octane offenses. The running styles are different, as Jaquizz Rodgers will try and cut in and out of lanes, while Harvey Unga will just run you over. The Cougars also have Max Hall, which is an advantage at the quarterback position. Fortunatley, neither of these teams play outstanding defense, so we'll get to see the scoreboard light up. I think it's really tough to call this one, but I think that BYU may pull this one out and show people that the MWC really is better than some people are willing to accept.

Bowls galore! Part 3, featuring "Decent Bowls"

Today, we feature the second half of our decent bowl games, as well as a bonus "Boring" bowl, whose fate was decided with the outcome of the Army-Navy game yesterday. So, without futher ado, onto the next of the Decent bowls!

Texas Bowl, Thursday, December 31, 3:30 P.M. on ESPN
Navy vs Missouri
Navy has unsurprisingly been the best academy team this year. They have nine wins, and can get to double digits, and maybe a ranked finish, by beating Missouri. Things were looking good for the Tigers early, despite losing Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin to the draft, but the wheels fell off in Big 12 play, where they had to rebound big time to finish at .500 in the division. Missouri's spread against Navy's triple option should be fun to watch. I honestly can't say I believe either team will run away. Missouri may have a slight edge, but you can never count a team like Navy out.

Bowls galore! Part 2, featuring "Decent Bowls"

Okay, it's time for the second installment of Bowls Galore!
Today, we're going to take a look at the early "Decent" games, or games that you should watch if they're on and you're not doing anything better. However, if there's an "Exciting" bowl game on during the same time, swtich the damn channel! "Decent" bowl games can also be used as an excuse to ignore your drunken uncle, who was done after just a cup and a half of eggnog. Onto the first half of the decent bowls!

Bowls galore, featuring "Boring Bowls"

First and foremost, let's check out how I did when I tired to predict where some of the ranked teams would end up in my week 15 rankings.
Cincy/Florida- I said Sugar, and Sugar it is, though Sugar is supposed to be sweet and this is anything but as a Gator fan.
TCU- Nope. I thought Orange. Instead the Fiesta pit them against Boise. More on that subject later though.
Iowa/Penn State- Predicted a BCS berth for one, but got the bowl wrong (Orange, not Fiesta).
Miami (FL)- Champs Sports, boom!
Pittsburgh- Meineke Car Care Bowl FTW.
Brigham Young- Las Vegas Bowl bound indeed.
Stanford- I said Emerald or Holiday, but they got Brut Sun Bowl. Swing and a miss.
Arizona- Holiday Bowl, called it.
Central Michigan- I thought the Little Caesars got the MAC champs? Guess not. Wrong.
Wisconsin- I foresaw Champs Sports, and Champs Sports it is.
Utah- Pointsettia, done and done.
Oregon State- Not, in fact, playing in the Brut Sun Bowl. Another one in the wrong column.
Nebraska- At least I ended with a win (Holiday Bowl).
So what's that put me at, nine out of 14? Not too shabby, but I'm not going to start betting or anything.
Next up, I'd like to share with you a helpful guide. I've divided the bowls into three categories. The three categories are "Boring Bowls," "Decent Bowls," and "Exciting Bowls." Not the flashiest names, but hey, Occam's Razor. Not surprisingly, there's more "Decent" than "Boring" or "Exciting" bowls, probably due to simple rules of random distribution.
I've classified each bowl game into one of those three categories for various reasons. Right now, I'll start with the "Boring Bowls," or the bowls you shouldn't stress missing, and shouldn't go out of your way to watch unless your alma matter is involved or something. So without further ado, here we go.

Week 15 rankings

Well, if anything, we learned who the real best team in the country is. I can't say I'm too happy about it, but it is what it is. Here we go.

1. Alabama (13-0): Well, there's really no question left about it now, is there?
2. Texas Christian (12-0): They've played like the second best team in the country all year and deserve to play for the title.
3. Texas (13-0): That didn't look like a championship team. If not for a stupid horse-collar tackle by Nebraska, the Huskers are playing in Glendale, with Texas probably playing in the Orange.
4. Cincinnati (12-0): Are they better than the Longhorns as well? Probably not, but their one point win was arguably better than Texas'.
5. Florida (12-1): Alabama pretty much annihilated Florida. Without Dunlap to put pressre on McElroy, the Florida D couldn't get pressure to force the Tide into making mistakes. A date with Cincy probably awaits in the Sugar Bowl.

This week's previews: #19 Oregon State vs #7 Oregon

This one has the potential to be an instant classic. Both teams are pretty close to the middle of the pack defensively, raking #4 (Oregon State) and #5 (Oregon) in the Pac 10 defensively. Both also put up big numbers on offense, with Oregon in the top 10 nationally and Oregon State at #21.

Week 14 rankings

Not much to say this week- Les Miles remembered how to coach, and I grudgingly moved Southern Cal back into the rankings. The national semi-final is all set for the SEC Championship next week, and there's some small upheval in the top five.

1. Florida (12-0): They had the best performance of any of the three big contenders this weekend. Tim may have cried before the game, but the Gators dominated and never looked back. This team is starting to fire on all cylinders at just the right time.
2. Alabama (12-0): Going down 14 points on the road in a rivalry game isn;t the best way to start off, but Bama showed that even if that does happen, they are prepared to handle it and win the game.
3. Texas Christian (12-0): They just looked better than Texas this weekend. They dominated a very dominate-able team, but like I said, they've often looked better than Texas this season. Rivalry weekend was the straw that broke the camel's back.
4. Texas (12-0): Unlike Florida, they didn't dominate. Unlike Bama, they never seemed like they would need a big comeback. They just played a sloppy game against a rival. You can't do that this late in the season, especially with a very good Nebraska defense up next.
5. Cincinnati (11-0): Remember Tony Pike? He's back. Six TDs on the day makes you wonder, would he have been running away with the Heisman if he hadn't been hurt?