Schedule (Hay)Makers

10th in Big Ten Schedule
According to SI.com, NU boasts the 10th hardest schedule in the conference. Better put, we've got the 2nd easiest schedule behind Indiana. Every year, I scan the list and mentally click off wins and losses. Nearly every year I also am wrong, and we lose 1 non-conference game we shouldn't. So away we go...

The Good:Being the stubborn fool I am, we will go 4-0 non-conference this year beating Northeastern, Nevada (trap game!), Duke and Eastern Michigan (November). You can't blame Murphy and company - I applaud them - for this Wisconsin-esque September. These 4 patsies went a combined 14-34 last year. Bring it. Will be the 2nd time in 30+ years we start 3-0 and then...

The Bad:We open the Big Ten slate at the Shoe and then return home for the conference home opener against Michigan. Are you kidding me? The folks in Park Ridge have either a great sense of humor or simply want to test our resolve. Still saying 8-4.

The Ugly: In the "no such thing as an ugly "w" category, NU's pennance for the OSU-Michigan back-to-backer is the fact we lose Wisconsin and Penn St. from the slate. So, the final 7 games of the year are not "name" games, but I don't care - I just want the "w"s....@MSU, vs MN, @Eastern Michigan (Ford Field), @Purdue, vs Iowa, vs Indiana, @IL


Word on the Street...
The converted QB-to-WR Andrew Brewer is turning heads among NU staff. He's allegedly got the best hands since Musso.

Draft, Schmaft

Purple Spin on Draft Night
Considering this cat cares about the draft as much as SEC fans care about the Northeastern-Northwestern opener, time to have a NU CFB take on tonight's big doings. I've taken the NBA draft order and paired the names of the drafting teams with the most relevant Cat. Now this is a mock (-ery) draft:

2007 NU Mock Draft
1. The Blazer
Fitz. The South Bend-spurned Southside Chicagoan paves a path to the best 2-year run of any Big Ten defensive player in history and is the nucleus of the best. college. football. story. Ever. (wink to pal Dan Shanoff).

2. The Sonic
Eric Scott. Only the truest of Cats remembers his game-winning (setup) kickoff return against BC in 1993. The only thing more fleeting than his feet was his tenure at NU.

3. The Hawk
Chris Martin. Any NU DB who can shut down one half of the field in Big Ten play gets my vote.

4. The Grizzly
Casey Dailey. The straggly-haired assasin posted sacks like Oden double-doubles.

5. The Celtic
No brainer. Tim McGarigle. Nuff said.

6. Bucks
Barry Gardner and Napoleon Harris. True grit, great attitude, relentless pursuit.

7. T(een)-Wolves
Brian Musso. Can't you just see him transforming into the Michael J. Fox character in the football sequel of the sports cult classic?

8. The Bobcat
GB. The infamous Ohio U. (see Bobcat connection) cheap shot against above mentioned T-Wolve in the 98 opener (punt return that nearly decapitated Musso) sent our former fearless leader into attack mode.

9. Bulls
Noah Herron and Matt Hartl (tie). Only thing matching their toughness was their likability.

10. Kings
Entire 1995 team. Despite slightly tarnished GB image, the luster will never fade from the Purple to Pasadena team.

Speaking of Purple to Pasadena...
ESPN's current list of top 100 moments lists the Cats Purple to Pasadena SEASON in the #79 slot. What a joke. The ND upset alone ranks in the top 10. Interestingly, the top 100 moments contains an obscure NU reference - an ailing George Gipp 70-yard TD pass in the last seconds at NU for a 33-7 win. Further underlining the absurdity of the list, this meaningless play is 5 spots AHEAD of the 1995 Cats season in the #74 spot.

Taking the Purple Plunge

I've taken the plunge. The blog plunge. The Northwestern Football blog plunge. Our present day uber-niche wild west media world enables me to contribute to your procrastination habits by offering a perspective of NU football that hopefully helps satisfy the "how many days to kickoff?" bug we share.

In the interest of full disclosure I have selfish motivations. First, I'm trying to immerse myself in the blog world as part of my day job. Second, I am cursed/blessed with being a diehard Cats football fan. Third, I, like you, procrastinate and figure this perhaps can be a way to channel it constructively. So there you are - my opening salvo - the shot across the Ryan Field bow.

All 13 of us that consider ourselves diehard Cats fans can hopefully reminisce, stir the pot and keep the faith collectively. I have been beaten down by the lists Gods and feel that despite the alleged highbrow demographic of the Cat fan - I should create a list we care about. ESPN's Top 100 college football moments - heh! If you don't list NU's win over ND in 1995 - you lose all credibility with me (I will repeatedly refer to this as the biggest college football upset in history - this is my go-to barroom debate - I've yet to lose in my own mind). So bear with me as I get my blog legs under me and kick-off with the first ever (to my knowledge) NU's Top 24 football moments (tip of cap to #24, "The Real Deal", of course -heretofor known as TRD). It launches on Monday.

I can only claim diehard status of 17 years, so please note - this blog acknowledges the ESPN era only (1979-present), with an emphasis on 1991-present. My first game was a Rice-NU game in September of 1991 - a drubbing in front of 14,000 fans. Despite this, I was hooked (I was one of 6 people who went to the Orrington to watch the next week's game at Rutgers on satellite TV).

So, sit back, bookmark this link and get ready to start prophesizing, reminiscing an speculating, we're going 8-4 baby!