CURIOUS INDEX, 10/6/08
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That’s the last time I order the chili. Tom O’Brien, seen here regretting his dietary choices prior to losing a 38-31 game to Boston College this weekend. Furry hats, attacking and killing. The internet often reminds one of a particular Tibetan folktale involving a lost hat stuck in a bush spied by travelers on the roadside. “Look, it’s a monster!” they would say as the hat sat harmless in the bush. Then, one day, called a monster enough times, the hat came to life and began attacking anyone who crossed the mountain pass it lived in: a toothy, furry monstrosity born of enough repeated intent. Thus comes the topic of Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, whose firing was invented somewhere on the internet yesterday-text messages reading “Fired at 3! WOO!”, emails, odd voicemails wondering if this was true, all of it pouring in at once. And as of five minutes ago, Franklin sits tight despite legions of Tiger fans pointing and saying “dead man walking,” hoping like hell to make it true: Tuberville said that, contrary to “Internet talk,” the offensive staff remained unified. “Everybody’s fine. Everybody’s in the same roles. Nothing’s changed and I haven’t even talked about it,” Tuberville said. So, for the moment, the wingless, one-taloned Spread Eagle will still limp along at Auburn, paralyzed by the choice between a rag-armed and mostly accurate slow quarterback or a scattershot quarterback who can run. No shame in losing to Vandy, though: unlike a 4-1 Notre Dame team, they’re actually ranked and are totally miffed that you’re blocking the library, plebe. The old magic’s still there. Joe Tiller benched a senior quarterback just one last time to see if his benchin’ hand was still strong as it ever was…and oh, for one precious moment, it was. No shakes until handwashing. Jimmy Clausen says Jim Harbaugh wanted no part of a postgame handshake after Notre Dame’s 28-21 win over Stanford: “I stuck my hand out and said, ‘Good game, coach.’ And [Harbaugh] either didn’t see me or didn’t want to talk to me,” The man is passionate about two things, Jimmy: victory and hand-washing. A bottle of Purell could have prevented this entire fiasco. Needed: fresh shame. Florida’s feeling good about itself? WE CANNOT HAVE THIS. Fresh shipments of shame needed, and the pipeline cannot work quickly enough, since LSU fans have none, and will bring none to the party this weekend. |
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1
The Bulldogs, mercifully, had a bye.
The Bearcats handled a weaker opponent with their 4th string quarterback at the helm.
An old comment from Keith Richards: “If they say you’re evil often enough, eventually you start to believe it yourself.”
Comment by OhioDawg — October 6, 2025 @ 8:42 am
2
Forida shouldn’t be feeling good about anything. I watched some of the replays after the game saturday night and was shocked the only thing they showed was the 4th quarter. For all of you who didn’t see the game - trust me, UF has problems. BIG ones.
Arkansas wore down in the 4th quarter and LSU has a week off to prepare for the Gators. No way in hell they should be favored in this one - time to make the money back you lost earlier in the season.
Comment by ALGator — October 6, 2025 @ 8:54 am
3
Errors:
F+l+orida
Comment by ALGator — October 6, 2025 @ 8:56 am
4
I like this quote from the unranked Notre Dame story:
“We’ve shown we can compete with anybody,” Bruton said. “We haven’t earned our respect entirely. We’re still fighting for it.”
If by anybody you mean teams who are a combined 8-13, then yes.
Comment by Biggus Rickus — October 6, 2025 @ 8:59 am
5
No need for Shame, Orson. Coach Urban Zook will lead your guys ready for victory.
Comment by WhiteSpeedReceiver — October 6, 2025 @ 8:59 am
6
Senor Swindle….
We are comin’….to your SITTT-TAAAAY!
Comment by Billy From Baton Rouge — October 6, 2025 @ 9:01 am
7
Lead your guys to victory. Stupid mid-sentence editing.
Comment by WhiteSpeedReceiver — October 6, 2025 @ 9:02 am
8
Amazing how one solid quarter of football can make people totally forget about the three utterly miserable ones that preceded it. Shame by the dumptruck needed, please.
Comment by NativeSon — October 6, 2025 @ 9:04 am
9
Auburn says they will trade you two good running backs for one good Tebow Orson
Comment by InsaneCoachPosse — October 6, 2025 @ 9:07 am
10
re: #4
BR,
Records of ND’s opponents (includes games vs ND):
SDSU: 1-4
Mich: 2-3
Mich St: 4-1
Purdue: 2-3
Stanford: 3-3
Total: 12-14 with ND games factored in.
Total: 11-10 with ND games removed
Total for remaining schedule: 20-15
I agree that ND shouldn’t be ranked yet. They’ll still need to 1) find a consistent running game like in the 3rd quarter vs. Purdue, 2) find a way to stop the run, and 3) somehow get someone from the ND men’s or women’s soccer teams to kick field goals!
Comment by Geaux Irish — October 6, 2025 @ 9:12 am
11
With a talent margin this close and two really good coaching staffs, Tebow vs. Lee in the Swamp scares me to death. I like the fact that LSU has had the extra week off and cannot wait to see it play out.
Comment by Snakebite Robicheaux — October 6, 2025 @ 9:17 am
12
Geaux Irish,
I wasn’t counting the 16-point loss to a pretty one-dimensional Michigan State team as competing.
However, it’s not as though I have any room to talk at this point. Sure, I think Georgia’s good, but so far they’ve beaten four medicore (at best) teams and lost in embarrassing fashion to the only good one they’ve played.
Comment by Biggus Rickus — October 6, 2025 @ 9:21 am
13
JIMMY CLAUSEN IS
Comment by Fred — October 6, 2025 @ 9:22 am
14
Damn. The last time I saw a cloud like that was outside Ben’s Chili Bowl here in DC.
Comment by DevilGrad — October 6, 2025 @ 9:26 am
15
Well, it was an ugly win…Bama will take it and limp into the bye week to get ready for Giggity.Bad news they are off too, so it should be interesting.
As an Alabama fan, I do feel bad for Auburn….If Vandy was ranked number one, you still dont lose to Vandy.
Now Auburn is falling apart from the neck down…..Tony Franklin will go “missing” after a mysterious fishing trip….Petrino is still thinking he will get that interview after the Razorbacks help complete the implosion by beating Auburn…..AU Athetic dept will tout Swimming as the new “Powerhouse” in the Athletic Building…….GO GATORS BEAT LSU!!!
Comment by Mr. Pelican Pants — October 6, 2025 @ 9:30 am
16
Wow, Fred, that’s a very Zen comment there about the Emu.
Comment by AllWhoYonder — October 6, 2025 @ 9:37 am
17
Harbaugh ignoring Clausen, Nebraska player (supposedly) spitting on Daniel… Bad sportsmanship all around this weekend.
Comment by blon — October 6, 2025 @ 9:37 am
18
Vandy approaching the Top 10…
Financial markets in absolute total chaos…
Coincidence ? I think not. Someone please whip the Dores before we all fall back to hunting and gathering !
Comment by BamaCPA — October 6, 2025 @ 9:42 am
19
Florida may be finding out why Urban never stuck around at any of his previous stops. He knew his “system” was not sustainable for the long haul. On the upside, Spurrier will be available after this year.
Comment by Crabapple Buck — October 6, 2025 @ 10:15 am
20
What Geuax Irish neglected to mention is that all of their wins have come in South Bend. When your best win of the year is over Stanford at home, and it wasn’t even a convincing win, I would keep quiet about strength of schedule.
Comment by 4.0 Point Stance — October 6, 2025 @ 11:04 am
21
i’ve done my part in spreading the Franklin fired rumor. sadly reality is much farther from the truth…much like how well Auburn’s spread offense works on NCAA 2009 vs. how it works against Revenge Of the NErds.
Comment by suicidewatch — October 6, 2025 @ 11:09 am
22
BamaCPA @#18…”cats and dogs living together…real wrath of God stuff…” if someone doesn’t take out Vandy we’re all going to suffer…and in an election year, too!
And as for Florida’s shame…no worries, we’re swimming in it.
Comment by sb — October 6, 2025 @ 11:26 am
23
re: #20 4.0 Stance
You can’t be that serious, can you? The game was 28-7 going into the 4th quarter. The Irish mailed it in during the final 15 minutes and looked awful doing it, but c’mon.
Your comment is something similar to what the Irish could say about the 2005/06 Fiesta Bowl. ND was getting got torched by Ohio State all day, but the lead was down to only 7 points with about 6 minutes left to play. Regardless of the score, folks knew that OSU was far better than ND.
Clausen thanks your defense for his career best numbers.
P.S. Sports Illustrated agrees:
• Jimmy Clausen gave us a taste of his potential in last week’s win over Purdue. Today he provided a full meal. Notre Dame’s sophomore signal-caller threw for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdown passes in Notre Dame’s 28-21 win over Stanford. (The game was more one-sided than the final score indicates; the Irish led 28-7 in the fourth quarter.)
http://fannation.com/si_blogs/the_sweep/posts/11181
Comment by Geaux Irish — October 6, 2025 @ 11:50 am
24
I think it’s a little too early to accurately gauge where Notre Dame belongs rankings-wise, but I think there are two statements that can safely be made:
1. They are miles ahead of where they were last year.
2. They are miles from being where they want to be (a legitimate Top 10 team).
Exactly where they are in the spectrum between awful and awesome is a murky question. Have they played a really good team yet? No, and they won’t until USC, though North Carolina and Pitt have both snuck into the rankings, and BC is not bad? Have they played pushovers? No (with the exception of SDSU) - Purdue and Stanford are reasonably competitive teams that should win 6 games this season. Michigan has talent and beat Wisky, but is a work in progress. MSU is one-dimensional, but their offensive line and defensive front 7 are tough and won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. ND only trailed 13-7 in the 4th quarter, but it was obvious who the better team was.
Considering where they were last season, the Irish are much improved. Considering where they want to be, they still have a long way to go.
Comment by GeronimoRumplestiltskin — October 6, 2025 @ 11:57 am
25
I’m calling it right now, BTW…10/18, if the Vols get Croomed, Phat Phil’s outta there.
/eat Snacky S’mores
Comment by the croominator — October 6, 2025 @ 2:10 pm
26
That picture of Tom O’Briend looks like a grandpa who got lost and just happened upon a smoke machine
Comment by WarCardinals — October 6, 2025 @ 7:40 pm