Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs (1-3)	my Golden Bears (#24 4-0)	my Chargers (1-2)
#1	U San Diego (FCS) W 37-3	Grambling State (FCS) W 73-14
#2	@Cal (P12) L 7-35	SDSU (MW) W 35-7	Lions W 33-28
#3	South Alabama (SB) (OT) L 27-34	@Texas (B12) W 45-44	@Bengals L 19-23
#4	@Penn State (B10) L 21-37	@Washington* W 30-24	@Vikings L 14-31
#5 Oct. 3	Fresno State* (1-3) 7:30	Washington State* (2-1) 1:00	Browns (1-2) 1:05
#6 Oct. 10	@Hawaii* (2-2) 9:00	@Utah (#10 4-0) 7:00	Steelers (2-2) MON 5:30

^{* Division Rival. NFL Sunday, unless noted. Rankings from AP Poll. Odds from espn.com.}


If you can't imagine losing to a zero-scholarship FCS team... then Sabo's Aztecs had the worst non-conference season imaginable. Their 21-37 spanking in Happy Valley ensured a 1-3 non-conference record. Gone are Sabo's dreams of a New Year's Six bowl game. His sights are now set on what every FBS team's are... well except Notre Dame, Army, and BYU... winning their conference. Which would probably mean playing in the Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 29th in Ft.Worth. This is very imaginable, as Sabo's Aztecs were the preseason consensus pick to win the Western division. They start conference play at the Q -vs- last year's division winner: Fresno State. The Aztecs are -335 (-8½ pts).

My Chargers season is similarly slipping away. After their 14-31 spanking in Minneapolis, Football Outsiders (football's version of Baseball Prospectus) lists them as 19.1% to make the playoffs... down from odds-on to start the season. I'll admit to feeling a certain urgency this season... so I'll submit they really need to beat the bottom-feeder Browns at the Q this week and even their record. The Chargers are -335 (-7½ pts).

OTOH, my Golden Bears successfully started conference play beating Washington 30-24. Their 4-0 start has earned them a #24 ranking. They'll try to stay in the rankings -vs- Washington State in Berkeley this week. Cal is -900 (-18 pts).

Quote:

Sabo's Dog Day Champions

• 2004: Pittsburgh
• 2005: Chicago Cubs
• 2006: Chicago White Sox
• 2007: Chicago White Sox
• 2008: Chicago White Sox
• 2009: Chicago White Sox
• 2012: San Diego
• 2013: San Diego
• 2014: Chicago White Sox
• 2015: St.Louis Cardinals !!!1!

^{Championship was on hiatus 2010 & 2011.}

Today, and Tuesday, the rains washed away the remainder of the dog game season. This means the Cardinals were crowned SDDC champions. On Sabo's behalf, I'd like to congratulate the St.Louis Cardinals, and of course their Pouches in the Ballpark, for winning Sabo's 2015 Dog Day Championship !!!1!

The Tuesday rain out left the Cubs and Card's with identical 3-0 records. The Home Game Tiebreaker then kicked in, with the Card's having their Pouches in the Ballpark (1) -vs- the Cubs 70+ year no pet policy (0). One of the Card's three wins was that first 'knothole' game back on August 23rd. Without that win the Cubs are champions. This is the controversy: That 'knothole' game only became 'official' when the Competition Committee retroactively changed the rule from 'attend' to 'see'.

Sabo runs with the big dogs... so he's just smiling at this so-called controversy. If you ask me, it sounds like the Billy Goat curse biting the Cubbies in the butt again. As I've blogged before... I'm glad Sabo & me don't have to make these big time policy decisions. That's the Competition Committee's job.


OTOH one drawback of having the Competition Committee is they tend to dump their dirty work on others, like the question above, and this whole The Audit in general. That... and neither Sabo or me are exactly sure why Condoleezza Rice, Archie Manning, or Pete Townsend are on the committee to begin with. Anyways... after perusing hundreds of links over a score of days going back a dozen years, the findings are in (below). In particular, no they didn't let the dogs into any remaining Pirate games this season.

Who woulda-thunk it’s actually hard to get a simple list of dog games? Last year the Competition Committee just picked some list off the interwebs. This year they commissioned the original research of MLB websites and official press releases I published in Post #141. During this audit, I found seven other such lists from various bloggers or pet supply companies for 2014 or 2015. Upon review, all nine of those lists, mine included, had errors and omissions. Beyond errors and omissions, sometimes dog games later get cancelled or added... as I've blogged in depth recently.

Especially embarrassing was that phantom 6-22 Rangers @Cardinals game. Not only was it on my list for 2015, it was on pretty much all the other eight lists... for both 2014 and 2015. The Rangers and Cardinals didn't even play each other in 2014 or 2015. It turns out there was a 6-22 Rangers @Cardinals dog day back in 2013 .

Quote:

The Audit

Mandate:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissileDog

...In light of 'Typo-gate', and also these newly official Missile-era games that need researching, the Competition Committee has authorized a Sabo-metric audit of the Sabo Dog Day Championship official game log. Upon completion, all standings posted before today might be re-stated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissileDog

... The Competition Committee has decided to amend which retro dog day games are recognized as official. In 1997... any Dodger or Angel dog days... From 1998-2005... any Angels, Dodgers, or Padres dog days. From 2006-2009... any Cubs or White Sox dog days...[and] any 2012 or 2013 Padres dog days...

Findings: Respectfully submitted to the Competition Committee: The Audit establishes eight official 'retro' games, corresponding to the retro championships honoring Flower and Cinnamon Stick, as listed below. The Audit confirms, under the rules prevailing in 2014, that the White Sox were indeed champions. The entire 2014 schedule is restated below. The Audit also verifies the 2015 schedule, as amended from time to time ITT, and as listed below, is correct.

Certification:. The Competition Committee hereby certifies the following 97 games as officially 'official'...

2004-8-8 pr 4-pd 2	2014-5-17 mt 5-ex 2	2014-8-26 cb 3-rd 0	2015-5-3 mr 6-as 7	2015-8-3 pd 3-an 17 S#4
2005-6-4 cb 11-pd 5	2014-5-20 or 9-pr 2	2014-8-26 cr 2-pr 5	2015-5-3 rd 0-br 5	2015-8-4 cb 5-pr 0
2006-4-21 tw 1-ws 7	2014-5-24 dd 3-ph 5	2014-8-30 bz 1-gn 3	2015-5-5 rd 7-pr 1	2015-8-6 as 5-at 4
2007-5-11 ry 1-ws 2	2014-6-5 or 6-rn 8	2014-8-31 mz 0-br 1	2015-5-16 bz 1-mt 14	2015-8-18 dm 8-pr 9
2008-6-6 ry 2-ws 6	2014-6-14 ex 1-cr 4	2014-9-7 ph 2-ex 3	2015-5-19 tw 8-pr 5	2015-8-19 ex 4-rc 1
2009-5-20 tw 4-ws 7	2014-6-17 an 9-in 3	2014-9-8 at 4-ws 5	2015-5-23 ph 8-ex 1	2015-8-23 cr 10-pd 3 S#5
2012-7-17 as 2-pd 8	2014-6-17 rd 6-pr 5	2014-9-9 pr 3-ph 4	2015-5-26 rc 1-rd 2	2015-8-26 dd 7-rd 4
2013-7-9 rc 1-pd 2	2014-6-22 br 1-ex 4	2014-9-14 pd 6-dm 8 S	2015-5-30 rc 5-ph 2	2015-8-29 cr 6-gn 0 S
2014-4-6 rd 2-mt 1	2014-6-22 mr 2-ry 1	2014-9-14 ex 3-mt 0	2015-6-3 bj 8-ex 0	2015-9-3 br 1-ex 15
2014-4-6 rn 3-dr 0	2014-6-22 mt 11-mz 5	2014-9-18 dm 4-rc 6	2015-6-6 mt 1-dm 2	2015-9-15#2 cb 2-pr 1
2014-4-14 pr 8-rd 7	2014-6-22 gn 4-dm 1	2014-9-23 bz 1-rd 3	2015-6-9 bz 4-pr 1	2015-9-16 at 4-ws 9
2014-4-19 cr 4-ex 3	2014-7-1 dm 3-pr 2	2015-3-14 rn 0-pd 2 S#3	2015-6-13 rc 1-mz 4	2015-9-20 ph 1-br 2
2014-4-19 br 7-mt 5	2014-7-8 tw 2-mr 0	2015-4-18 ph 5-ex 3	2015-6-13 ry 2-cr 3	2015-9-20 or 6-dr 7
2014-4-22 rd 4-pr 1	2014-7-18 or 4-at 5	2015-4-19 mz 6-mt 7	2015-6-20 gn 6-dd 2 S	2015-9-22 mr 11-ry 2
2014-4-27 rd 0-br 1	2014-7-22 dd 7-pr 12	2015-4-21 tw 5-ry 6	2015-6-21 pr 2-ex 9	2015-9-24 mt 6-rd 4
2014-4-27 at 1-as 5	2014-7-29 cr 1-pd 3 S	2015-4-21 cb 9-pr 8	2015-6-23 rd 6-pr 7	2015-9-24 gn 4-pd 5 S#5
2014-4-28 dr 3-ws 7	2014-8-3 rd 7-mz 3	2015-4-26 bj 1-dr 5	2015-7-1 mr 7-pd 0 S	2015-9-26 ph 1-ex 2
2014-5-6 gn 1-pr 2	2014-8-5 mz 6-pr 3	2015-4-27 bz 6-rd 8	2015-7-7 pd 2-pr 3
2014-5-11 ph 4-mt 5	2014-8-19 br 11-pr 3	2015-5-2 at 7-rn 8	2015-7-9 an 2-mr 7
2014-5-13 pd 2-rd 1	2014-8-23 mt 4-dd 7	2015-5-2 ex 1-mt 0	2015-8-2 pd 2-mz 3

Key: S Sabo games. Home teams second. For team abbreviations see post #135. #2 Second game of doubleheader, #3 Spring game @Peoria Sports Complex, #4 Class A: Lake Elsinore Storm (pd) @Inland Empire 66ers (an, San Bernardino), #5 'Knothole' game from Hotel Indigo.

It rained yesterday and this morning. It wasn't cold and it wasn't enough water to matter... but it did break this terrible heat streak we've been having the last 6-7 weeks. That's a good thing for a little dog. That's especially good for a little 'go-dog' who had his canyon hikes embargoed during the heat wave. Sabo knows the solstice was two weeks ago... but these are the first two days that have really felt like fall.

Yesterday was also the last day of the regular baseball season... another sure sign it isn't summer anymore. This means, for 100% of Sabo's life (89% historically), that his Padres season is over. I'm not pulling Sabo's tail when I say he s his Padres. He must have memorized the schedule, as he really does almost always wander in, or get up and come over, just about game time for this Padres, and reminds me to put on the game... and then usually lays facing the tv, while listening carefully to the game (the refresh rate makes tv looks like a perpetual 'flickr' to dogs, that's why most dogs don't watch a lot of tv).

I'm sure Sabo will be having Padre withdrawals... but at least he has his Aztecs, and the MLB playoffs, to ween him into the offseason. Here are Sabo & my playoff picks...
Hopefully MLB won't find a way to mess-up the playoffs like they did the last day of the regular season. This year MLB tried something old, stupid and failed. That's not what you might have heard on the tv, as universally the talking heads are calling this something new and bold, while preemptively calling it a success. What they did was play all the last day games simultaneously.

This stupid idea was tried back in 1994-5 when MLB first expanded the playoffs to eight teams. They tried playing the first round games simultaneously too. The 'reasoning' at that time was it'd be like the college basketball tournament, that they'd make baseball more 'exciting' by cutting back -n- forth between four games. Instead it ruined all the games... it was a stupid idea that failed.

MLB ended up with seven games that mattered on Sunday. However five of the seven only mattered for homefield seeding... in other words they didn't really matter much at all. As a rule of thumb, coming into the games on Sunday, a Cubs or Pirates win improves their chances of winning the World Series by ~3/8 of 1%; Royals & Blue Jays by ~1/4 of 1%, Yankees by ~3/16 of 1%.

The other two games mattered a lot. What MLB should have done is, like usual, what the NFL does: Make it a triple-header by flexing the best game to 7pm cdt (Angles-Rangers), showing the other big game at it's normal 1pm mst start time (Astros-D'Backs), and showing, say, the Reds-Pirates at it's normal 1pm edt start time. Instead we got only a single game, distracted by 'Gamecast'...stupid !!!1!

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(2-3)	my Golden Bears	(#23 5-0)	my Chargers	(2-2)
#1	U San Diego (FCS)	W 37-3	Grambling State (FCS)	W 73-14
#2	@Cal (P12)	L 7-35	SDSU (MW)	W 35-7	Lions	W 33-28
#3	South Alabama (SB)	L 27-34 (OT)	@Texas (B12)	W 45-44	@Bengals	L 19-23
#4	@Penn State (B10)	L 21-37	@Washington*	W 30-24	@Vikings	L 14-31
#5	Fresno State*	W 21-7	Washington State*	W 34-28	Browns	W 30-27
#6 Oct. 10	@Hawaii* (2-3)	9:00 pm	@Utah (#5 4-0)	7:00	Steelers (2-2)	Mon 5:30
#7 Oct. 17	@San Jose State* (2-3)	7:30			@Packers (4-0)	1:25

^{* Division Rival. NFL on Sunday, unless noted. All times PDT. Rankings from AP. Odds from 5dimes.eu.}

Well, in Week #5, all three of Sabo & my football teams were comfortable favorites at home. And... all three won, miracles do sometimes happen. However, only Sabo's Aztecs ended up winning comfortably. Even that game was closer than the score indicated. OTOH my Golden Bears up in Berkeley, and my Chargers the next day at the Q, needed an assortment of comebacks, defensive stands, opponent's bonehead penalties, and field goals after time had expired to win. Boy it was ugly... but as they say, a win is a win is a win, that's what counts.

It just gets tougher from here.

Sabo's Aztecs play their next two games on the road against division rivals... Hawaii and San Jose State. We should have a good idea if they are contenders or pretenders when they get back to the Q. The next game is @Hawaii, and there's no question that the Rainbow's have a special home field advantage over mainland teams. SDSU is +120 (+2½ pts).

My Chargers are playing the always dangerous Steelers, in one of those always problematic Monday night games at the Q. Then they travel to Wisconsin and play the so-far undefeated Packers six days later. The Chargers are -170 (-3 pts) -vs- the Steelers.

My Golden Bears moved up one spot in the rankings to #23. One thing I can guarantee, is they won't be staying there. They'll either be moving up big time, or disappearing. That's because their next three games are against ranked teams, including @UCLA (now #20 4-1) and USC (now #17 3-1) after their bye. This week, before their bye, they're playing the highest ranked PAC12 team, Utah (#5 4-0), on the road. Cal is +240 (+7½ pts). Oh yeah, a win makes Cal bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.

Click here for Sabo's interactive, updated Road Trips Map

San Francisco Trip, Part VI of X

Logistics and Expenses.

We made several drives to support this Sabo Big Weekend™. August 27: Sabotat to OTL Island shake-down trip, then onto the Beach Shack; August 28: Beach Shack to San Francisco; August 30: San Francisco to Marina; August 31: Marina to Santa Maria; Sept. 1: Santa Maria to Beach Shack; Sept. 3: Roundtrip: Beach Shack to Dog Beach San Diego; Sept. 4: Roundtrip: Beach Shack to Sabotat (I had the usual beginning of month chores, and Sabo always misses Grandpa); Sept 8th: Planned roundtrip: Beach Shack, Del Mar and Encinitas; and Sept 9: Beach Shack, Coronado, Imperial Beach, then back home to the Sabotat.

I'll admit I was trepadacious making the long drive to San Francisco. Google Maps showed it 33% longer than the drive to Kingman, AZ… and I felt pretty damn ‘beat’ after driving that straight through both recent times with Sabo. I decided to take the minvan, so I could make a human nest in the back just in case... or to take a ‘hippy van’ break later on our way back down the coast route. Of course, I made Sabo’s nest in the back too. I also did all the right things on the days before: pre-packed, pre-shopped road munchies, shifted my bedtime, didn’t go out to the bars, we weren’t late-night scofflaws at Missile Beach. And...

The magic worked !!!1!

We left the Beach Shack before dawn, made our way to I-5, and enjoyed sunrise in Mission Viejo. We picked up a little traffic going by downtown LA, and then zoomed up the central valley. The only time the minvan came to a stop was at the Lost Hills I-5 off-ramp. There I bought gas, and Sabo took care of some business. We picked up our only other traffic through Livermore on I-580, cruised over the new (to me) east span of the Bay Bridge on I-80 (not I-580). As we were staying in SOMA, the freeway dumped us off pretty much right at our hotel. We made it in 8:20 (including our stop), exactly 500 miles, average speed 60.0 mph... and I didn’t feel ‘beat’ at all. Amazing.

Just as planned, we got to our hotel before check-in... with just enough time to take Sabo on another 'duty' walk. Then our room was ready ~ perfect timing. I got this hotel at the last minute through one of those ‘mystery-bid’ websites, so I didn’t know anything about the hotel. Except one thing: it was the good hotel. That’s because that was it’s name: the Good Hotel. I wouldn’t go that far, but it was certainly adequate for our visit. It was one of those funky old San Francisco hotels... tiny rooms, no A/C, you couldn’t easily see the TV from the bed, and it had funky bathroom fixtures. But it was very clean, the TV and fixtures were modern. It had a ceiling fan and a working window that opened into a light well, which cooled the room just fine. The slow-as-shiz elevator worked just fine too. Most important... it was within walking distance of AT&T Park.

As opposed to 500 miles all in one drive on the way up... the trip back down the coast route was 681 miles over three days and two nights. Again, I did everything right... we weren't out on the road over 10 hours any day (except the last leg), we didn't drive at night (again, except for the last leg), and the one evening I did feel a bit tired (Sept. 1st) we stopped a bit early, stayed in, and left a bit later the next morning. And...

The magic worked again !!!1!

Neither Sabo, nor myself, ever stepped foot in the back of the minvan. I could have taken the car instead. Oh well. I ended up buying gas in Lost Hills ($3.099), Felton ($3.159), Goleta ($3.399), and filling up again in San Diego ($3.259). All totaled, 59.872 gallons for $194.20. That's an average price of $3.244... and 19.7 MPH. Ouch. In the minvans defense... it was hot everywhere we went, and I had the AC cranking the entire trip. Our transportation costs also included $21.48 in tolls ($4 Bay Bridge; $10 17-Mile Drive; $7.48 OC Toll road CA-73), and $94.80 Parking ($79.80 Good Hotel 2 days; $8 Roaring Camp, Felton; $5 Big Sur Station, $2 Port Hueneme Pier)... totaling to $310.48.

My shelter costs were $478.60 ($319.32 Good Hotel 2 nights; $90.76 in Marina; $68.52 in Santa Maria). My entertainment costs were ($ -10.34). Yes... I made money entertaining myself, as I won $128 at poker, and spent $88.66 on two human Giants tickets, and $29 for the train rides. This brings my entire cost for the San Francisco leg of the vacation to $778.74.


OTOH, Sabo's entire cost of vacation was $121.18. His entertainment costs were $87.33 (canine Giants ticket), his shelter costs were $29.08 (dog fee at the Good Hotel), and extra food cost $4.77 (Tri-tips at the Brewhouse, including $1 tip).

As for the drive itself... well, Sabo really does like carefully watching the road and taking in the scenery. We've been on enough long road trips now, so I know his style. If it's daytime, he'll spend most all the trip standing right next to me, mainly watching traffic out the front window. If it's night, he'll curl up and take a nap.

I gotta figure Sabo enjoyed the stretch through Big Sur the most. Not only was he actively checking out the coast around Bixby Bridge, and Big Creek Bridge... but also because most of the road through here passes through the Los Padres National Forest. Which is named, of course, after Sabo's San Diego Padres. See... another example of the eerie San Diego connects we experienced on the entire trip.

Sabo's least favorite stretch was Cannery Row in Monterey. I had planned for us to hike the new (to me) trail built along the old railroad R/W. However, the entire district is infested with usury parking meters... and there was an army of ticket writers clogging up the streets. I cycled around the blocks a few times... but Sabo just curled up, seemingly in disgust, and clearly wasn't interested. Who can blame him... the whole district has been 100% Disney-fied. There wasn't a sniff of any Steinbeck-style ambiance left. We kept moving on to Pacific Grove.

San Francisco Trip, Part VII of X

Sabo's Surfari III ~ Peninsula

At this point, a month later, there can only be one question in mind. Sure, the dedication was nice (Part I). Then we had poker (Part II), trains (Part III), hiking (Part IV), food (Part V), and the price of gas (Part VI). Yada, yada, yada... who cares about that shiz? This was supposed to be The Big Kahuna: Sabo's Surfari III (August 30-Sept. 9, 2015)... orders of magnitude more gnarly than the first Sabo Surfari (May 23-27, 2014), and Sabo's Surfari II (July 31-August 4, 2015). WTF happened to the Surfari ??

Rest assured, my (perhaps four) readers... you are correct, this extended Sabo Big Weekend™ was mainly about Sabo's Surfari III. I was just getting the misc. details out of the way, and saving the best for last. Below are the beaches we 'surfed' (visited), and coast we 'cruised' (drove nearby) on this epic trip. Organized from north to south, this post covers the San Francisco Peninsula, Part VIII will cover the Central Coast, Part IX will cover the South Coast, and the final Part X will cover San Diego & South Bay.

• Kayaking McCovey Cove, San Francisco (kayaking skipped): Sabo walked it !!!1!
• Walk the Embarcadero: Ferry Building to AT&T Park: Sabo walked it !!!1!
• Walk the Embarcadero: Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf (not in scope):
• Crissy Field (not in scope):
• Cruise: Golden Gate bridge to Ocean Beach (skipped):
• Shooting the Golden Gate Bridge supports (skipped): I was just pulling Sabo's tail about kayaking, or surfing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Actually, we didn't go near that bridge at all. Crissey field is a leash-free sandy shore just inside of the Golden Gate Bridge, and so is technically outside of our Surfari mandate. However, any visit to all of San Francisco's beaches really should include walking the whole Embarcadero, and an off-leash romp at Crissy Field.
  
  
• #1 Baker Beach, San Francisco (skipped): This Surfari was huge... pretty much covering the whole Pacific Coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Mexican border. All in three days and two nights. It was obvious, even to Sabo, that we couldn't possibly visit every beach down the coast... that would take three weeks maybe. We couldn't even visit every dog-friendly beach in three days.
  
  Accordingly... I naively set our mandate as cruising from the Golden Gate bridge to San Onofre, visiting every 100% legal leash-free beach to the Mexican border, and also to visit (on-leash) what we missed on Surfari II: San Onofre SB, Cardiff SB, and upon further review, Imperial Beach. Here, and below, I've numbered and highlighted the 14 leash-free beaches in our mandate.
  
  So... why was it skipped? After putting paws on the ground in San Francisco, it became obvious, even to Sabo, that it'd take a whole day, at least, to properly explore the waterfront, and all four leash-free beaches and shores. So... I had to make an executive decision here, and the decision was to only visit San Francisco's main beach: Ocean Beach. The rest of the waterfront and beaches we're saving for the Bert Memorial Trip.
  
  
  
  
• #2 Ocean Beach, San Francisco: Ocean Beach is San Francisco’s main beach (pix above). There are seasonal wildlife restrictions both north of stairs #1 and south of stairs #29, but other than that the entire beach, over three miles long, is off-leash. I used to think San Diego’s Dog Beach, in San Diego’s Ocean Beach neighborhood, had to be the best true dog beach… and it’s still the archetype ‘classic’ style semi-isolated dog beach. But San Francisco’s Ocean Beach has got to be the flat-out best dog beach in the US. Sabo enjoyed our visit.
  
  
• Cruise: Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Pismo Beach: I mis-blogged earlier when I said we'd be taking CA-1. What I meant to say is that we'd be taking the 'Coast Route' ~ as in we took the closest reasonable through road to the coast, be it a city street, CA-1, or US-101. Here in San Francisco, we started our cruise on the Great Highway.
  
  
• #3 Fort Funston, San Francisco (skipped): In addition to the revised plan to skip visiting here, by all reports the beach at Fort Funston is a hike in, and that trail was heavily damaged recently by erosion. It wasn’t clear to me, searching the interwebs, if that trail had been repaired and reopened. This made us a pitiful 1 for 3 visiting our mandated Surfari beaches
  
  
• #4 Esplanade Beach, Pacifica (missed): Here’s what happens when you have a dog as a your co-pilot… we inadvertently missed the off-ramp for this beach. I didn’t realize this until we were after a point of no-return, passing through the new (to me) Devil’s Slide tunnels (the 2nd and 3rd longest car tunnels in CA).
  
  Overall, Sabo did an otherwise excellent job as navigator, including an upcoming surprise detour around the closed CA-9. Also, in Sabo’s defense, the off-ramp directly exits onto the street to the beach… but a post-drive review on the interwebs shows it signed for another street it exits to. Oh well… Esplanade Beach is only five miles south Fort Funston, so we’ll add this to the Bert Memorial Trip too. This made us an even more pitiful 1 for 4 visiting our mandated Surfari beaches
  
  
• #5 Mitchell’s Cove, Santa Cruz (skipped): There was no way we were going to catch our train in Felton, the last train of the week, if we stopped here. As CA-9 was unexpectedly closed, we had to get to Felton using the longer, and true road from hell: CA-17. Because of the detour, we basically had to run from the car to the train. Luckily for us, the conductor really liked Sabo. He let us buy a ticket back in Felton after we took the round trip rides. This made us downright pathetic 1 for 5 visiting our mandated Surfari beaches

San Francisco Trip ~ Part VIII of X

Surfari III ~ Central Coast

• Santa Cruz Boardwalk: This is the beach area we visited by train. Unfortunately, the beach itself, the pier, the boardwalk (walkway), and the amusement park (also called The Boardwalk) are all not dog friendly. It used to be worse... up until a only few years ago dogs weren't even allowed on the streets in Santa Cruz. We would have had to stay on the train during our hour layover.
  
  As it was, we checked out the famous Santa Cruz roller coaster, the twin brother of the Missile Beach roller coaster, as best we could from the street. We also visited the the Beach Flats pocket park, and had a brew and 'sli' (old Missile Beach slang for pizza sold by the slice) on the patio of a local pizzeria.
  
  
• #5 Mitchell’s Cove ~ Backtrack: After we were done riding the train, and got back to Felton, we doubled back to Mitchell’s Cove in Santa Cruz. Sabo & me were really glad we did. This beach is accessed by long stairs down the cliffs, and has this cool rock spire on the beach (pix above). Sabo had a blast wading around and exploring the rocks and shelves along the cliff.
  
  
  
  
• (#5 1/2) Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach (scofflaw): We took the 17-Mile Drive through Pebble Beach between Pacific Grove and Carmel. This is a private scenic toll road. There was nothing about dogs in the 17-Mile drive map/brochure, and none of the Pebble Beach signs referenced dogs. A fair amount of dogs were being walked on-leash along the roads, but those might well have been residents, not toll-road customers. Anyways... we pulled over to enjoy the view at this beach (pix above), and there wasn't another soul around. So… I assume it wasn’t really OK… but somehow Sabo got off the leash on this beach, and had an awful lot of fun romping around, until I finally ‘caught’ him.
  
  
• #6 City Beach, Carmel: Carmel advertises itself as the most dog-friendly town in California. We didn’t check out the business district, but their beach lives up to the billing, it’s all leash free… the only true dog beach in Monterey County. This might have been Sabo’s favorite dog beach. The reason I say this is because some dude remarked that my dog was simply having a blast. I said ‘yea, dogs smile just like people’. He said he knew that, and Sabo had about the biggest smile he’d seen on a dog. Gotta that Sabo !!!1!
  
  
• #7 Fisherman’s Beach, Avila Beach: The only true dog beaches in SLOCo are in Avila Beach. I’ve driven the coast route a few times, but Avila Beach is off a dead-end side road, which I had never been down before. Fisherman’s Beach is the tiny sandy patch north of the Olde Port Pier, at the very end of that dead-end road. Instead of scrambling down the rip-rap, I just took Sabo off his leash and tossed him down the ~four feet onto the sand. When he was done exploring the beach, he just scrambled up the rip-rap back to me. The Olde Port Pier is also leashed dog friendly... Sabo & me walked it too.
  
  
  
  
• #8 Olde Port Beach, Avila Beach: Olde Port Beach is between the Cal Poly Pier and Olde Port Pier, on that same dead end road, across the bridge from Avila Beach proper. This is a large area, which is really could be called two beaches, separated by the rocks at Tunnell point. All the beach north of the bridge is off-leash. The Tunnel Point rocks form a buncha tide pools, that were just being filled when we visited. Sabo jumped right in and happily splashed around exploring those pools.
  
  
• City Beach, Avila Beach: South of the bridge, in Avila Beach proper, it's leashed dogs on the beach, except between 9am and 5pm. It was too early to walk this beach when we had lunch at the Custom's House. But later, after we visited Mr.Ricks, it was after 5pm... and we walked this nice compact beach too, thereby concluding our complete tour of everything Avila Beach.
  
  
• Cruise: Pismo Beach to Oceano (skipped):
• Cruise: Gaviota to Redondo Beach: South of Pismo Beach, I was originally planning on taking CA-1 along the coast to Oceano, about four miles. From there CA-1 heads inland through Lompoc before rejoining US-101. However... I later realized that Bert's last home (that I never visited) was just off CA-1, and I felt I should save this short part of the cruise for the upcoming Bert Memorial Trip also. Instead we stayed on US-101, which is a more direct inland route via Santa Maria, and a freeway along this stretch. There is no coastal access through Point Conception. The road regains the Pacific Coast at Gaviota.
  
  
  
  
• #9 Hendry’s Beach, Santa Barbara: This was my favorite of the beaches we visited. As soon as we got here, I realized I'd been here before. This cool little beach is off by itself, the only thing there... is it's own bar & grill. It also has a small slough. The leash-free area is south of the slough, under a tall cliff (pix above).
  
  We got there right near high-tide. So I knew if I took Sabo over to the leash free area, by the time we got down the beach, the little wavelets would start licking the cliff... and when we came back the little wavelets would be washing over into the slough. So Sabo would have to 'swim'...actually just wade, but he'd need to get wet. He loved it too.
  
  
• Port Hueneme Pier, Port Hueneme: Pronounced /ˌpɔrt waɪˈniːmiː/ wy-nee-mee. There are plenty of on-leash beaches in Ventura County, but there are no legal leash-free beaches. Well… Sabo wants to at least represent in every coastal county, and like Avila Beach, Port Hueneme is down a series of side roads. It’s the only other place on this trip I’ve never been to before.
  
  No dogs on the sand here, but leashed dogs are welcome on the boardwalk, pier, which we walked, and in the adjacent grassy park. This park was really nice. It had some different kinda grass which was ‘spongy’... and must take less water as it was a full rich green even with the statewide drought inspired watering restrictions.

San Francisco Trip ~ Part IX of X

Surfari III ~ South Coast. Cliffs: For various reasons, we ended up skipping the south coast.

• Miramar Park, Redondo Beach:
• Cruise: Torrance to San Onofre (skipped):
• #10 Rosie's Beach, Long Beach (skipped):
• #11 Dog Beach, Huntington Beach (skipped): Sabo & me enjoyed the sunset at Miramar Park, along the beach at the south end of Redondo Beach. What this meant is I did a terrible job of estimating the driving time on this segment of the trip. We hit traffic from Malibu onward, and driving the coast south of Santa Monica is all by local, and more-or-less side, streets... kinda like trying to make time driving through a dozen Missile Beaches in a row. In hindsight, our Surfari mandate really needed five days to do properly, not three: an extra day in San Francisco, and another day doing LA & Orange Cos.
  
  So... once again I had to make an executive decision, and that decision was to skip everything remaining north of Encinitas. We headed inland, and took the freeways back to the Beach Shack. Or, in other words, we've saved this stretch for Sabo's Surfari IV.
  
  
• San Onofre State Beach (skipped): ~ The two dog friendly trails in San Onofre State Beach park are called Trail #1, and Trail #6. They are about three miles apart from each other, and each go from a day use parking lot along the top of the cliffs down to the beach. The beach itself is not dog friendly. The trails are from the area south of the now closed SONGS, a few miles from the Trestles surf breaks. These two hikes were also saved for Sabo's Surfari IV.
  
  
• Cardiff State Beach, Encinitas (skipped):
• #12 Horse Beach, Del Mar (skipped): The plan was to go to Cardiff State Beach (on-leash), and Del Mar Horse Beach (off-leash) on Local Summer... the Tuesday after Labor Day. This is a local holiday which celebrates us beach locals getting our beaches and neighborhoods back from the tourists, and is also the day Horse Beach reopens to dogs. Just like Surfari II... it didn't happen.
  
  At least Sabo didn't get bit in the head this time. This day was super hot, the most miserable of the heat wave. I took Sabo out for his 'duty' walk in the morning in Missile Beach... and it was already hot. Sabo started to shade-hunt, like he's done in the canyons a couple of times when the heat was getting to him. One good thing about staying at the beach, is you don't need to go to the beach to see what the beach is like. This day Sabo was telling me directly the beach was too hot for his liking.
  
  So... this time Sabo make an executive decision, and that decision was to skip everything remaining to the north. We headed back inside the Beach Shack, and Sabo hunkered down in front of the floor fan. Oh well... more fun saved up for Surfari IV.

San Francisco Trip ~ Part X of X

Surfari III ~ San Diego & South Bay

• Missile Beach, San Diego ~ We stayed at the Beach shack eight nights on this Surfari, but only four were any good for scofflawing the bayside: Tuesday Sept. 1st, Wednesday the 2nd, Thursday the 3rd, and Tuesday the 8th. This is because the big three summer holiday weekends are infamous for stepped up late night enforcement. Still, we were successful in our effort to cumulative scofflaw the bayside, excepting the various points that stick out into the bay.
  
  Notice that Sept 5-7, over the Labor Day weekend proper, were no-driving days. This was upholding an old Missile Beach tradition that, excepting wage slavery, during the big three summer holiday weekends locals don't (a) drive at all, or (b) don't leave the neighborhood, even on foot. Since the whole world joins us in our neighborhood these weekends... only a tourist or idiot would feel a need to leave or drive. Ignoring this custom was what fundamentally doomed the previous 0-4 attempts at the ill-fated big 'swim' project.
  
  
• OTL Island, San Diego: Wouldn't you know it, we went to OTL Island as a shake-down run before the Surfari proper. And... I just plain forgot to try out that doggy life vest again. I brought it with us for the whole Surfari anyways, but we never were in any real situation where we would need or want to use it.
  
  
  
  
• #13 Dog Beach, San Diego: Sabo's almost a reg here... as this is his usual daytime 'break'. His home 'break' is, of course, scofflawing Missile Beach 'round midnight. It was hot the day we visited... so Sabo jumped right in the water to cool off.
  
  
• #14 North Beach, Coronado: It was hot the final morning of this extended Sabo Big Weekend™ too. However, on our morning 'duty' walk in Missile Beach, Sabo didn't start shade-hunting again... so off we went. This was Sabo's second visit to Coronado North Beach. What a difference the season being over made... as we had zero problems parking this time.
  
  There is a short hike under a NAS North Island flight path to the leash free area. A jet went over just as Sabo & me walk under, spooking Sabo a little. The sand was really hot... but Sabo, being a smart dog, walked in the adjacent pickle-weed. When I let him off the leash... he immediately took off and shade-hunted under the life-guard tower. But when I caught up, he followed me down into the water, and spent the rest of the time keeping cool by frolicking in the waves. He had a lotta fun at this unique 'end of the world' beach.
  
  
  
  After 50 years, the Elephant Cage was torn down in 2014
• Elephant Cage Beach, Coronado-Imperial Beach. I miss-blogged earlier regarding Imperial Beach's beaches. Outside of special events, like the Surf Dog Competition, dogs aren't allowed from Palm Av to Imperial Beach Bl... meaning Sabo had actually missed the normal beaches in Imperial Beach previously. Since part of our Surfari III mandate was to hit the San Diego Co beaches we missed on Surfari II, we headed south to IB as the finish to our extended Sabo Big Weekend™.
  
  The beach south of Imperial Beach Bl is extensive, going a few miles all the way to mouth of the Tijuana River. We weren't prepared for a ~six mile round trip this day... it was way too hot, and I wasn't carrying fluids for both of us. So I figured we'd do the short section north of Palm Av, which is only about a block south of the Silver Strand Training Complex (the premier training facility for U.S. Special Operations Forces), and also about a block south of the Coronado city line.
  
  As I blogged earlier, I had never been to the beach in Imperial Beach. I always assumed that the beach fronting this military base was closed to the public... after all the seal teams train here. Even if it was open to the public, it's in the city of Coronado, which advertises North Beach as their only dog-friendly beach. However... it turns out this beach is under Navy jurisdiction, and is clearly signed as open to the public, leashed dogs included. However... we weren't prepared for the ~six mile round trip hike, and so only did the first 1/2 mile or so.
  
  
• Cruise: to Border Field State Park (out of scope): It wasn't part of this Surfari. However, it might be a part of Sabo's Surfari IV. Sabo has cruised all the San Diego County coast from Camp Pendleton south to Imperial Beach. However, south of Imperial Beach, across the Tijuana River, there is Border Field State Park. The Monument Mesa picnic area of the park is leashed dog friendly and overlooks the beach (no dogs allowed on the beach itself), and border fence (from the US side, no humans allowed up to the fence anymore). It's only open to cars on a select few summer weekends ($5 parking)... and dogs aren't allowed to hike in the other days. I've never been to the US side of this park... but I have been to the Mexican side.

So... was this the best Sabo Big Weekend™ ever ???/?

Well... we were only 9 out of 14 in hitting our mandated leash-free beaches, we blew off a substantial part of our cruise from Torrance to San Onofre, and once again skipped on-leash Cardiff and San Onofre State Beaches. However... we already have upcoming trips planned to cover these gaps (the Bert Memorial Trip & Sabo's Surfari IV). In other words, we missed greater Los Angeles (which we routinely visit, not always even blogged), and most of San Francisco... but we covered the Central Coast, which was really the heart of the trip.

Considering we covered the heart of the trip, went to AT&T Park, rode the tourist train, walked a little in The City, hiked a little in the redwoods, etc... and especially the time Sabo & me we spent together bonding & enjoying the drive, and the scenery, and the new places and adventures together, I can safely say....

This was the best Sabo Big Weekend™ ever !!!1!

No proverb this time... Sabo actually did heal himself. This mysterious wound appeared more than a month ago (pix below). It wasn't a puncture wound, it was a scrape... kinda like a skinned knee in a person. I asked Sabo directly how he got it... but he just looked at me like he didn't understand English or something. Obviously, he ain't saying because he's embarrassed. I think I know why. Sabo jumps up and down the terraces in the Sabotat like they were steps. Lots of times he's concentrating on his yapping... over the fence, up a tree, or off into the ozone. I'm guessing he had a slip-n-fall jumping around on the terraces, while distracted by his yapping.

Regardless, Sabo licked his wounds, both figuratively and literally. It seemed to take a long time healing, and I was worried he might be licking it too much... which dogs sometimes do by habit. But it kept getting better, and now it's just a patch of shorter hair, which will grow all the way out before too long. Gotta that Good Nurse Sabo !!!1!

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(3-3)	my Golden Bears	(#23 5-1)	my Chargers	(2-3)
#4	@Penn State (B10)	L 21-37	@Washington*	W 30-24	@Vikings	L 14-31
#5	Fresno State*	W 21-7	Washington State*	W 34-28	Browns	W 30-27
#6	@Hawaii*	W 28-14	@Utah	L 24-30	Steelers	L 20-24 Mon
#7 Oct. 17	@San Jose State* (3-3)	7:30			@Packers (5-0)	1:25
#8 Oct. 24	Utah State (3-2)	Fri 7:30	@UCLA (#18 4-2)	Thu 6:00	Raiders* (2-3)	1:05

^{* Division Rival. FBS games Saturday, NFL Sunday, unless noted. All times PDT. Rankings from AP. Odds from 5dimes.eu.}

Sabo's Aztecs, who were small dogs on the road, went into Aloha Stadium and kicked some butt. The game wasn't as close as the score indicates. The Aztecs' stud running back, true junior D.Pumphrey, shredded the Rainbow's defense at will, while the Aztecs defense generally shut down Hawaii. It was their best game of the season... and a pretty impressive win. FBS teams rarely have actual road trips... the Aztecs surely flew back to San Diego on Sunday, and will fly to San Jose tomorrow... however, they are facing the second of key back-to-back road games vs division rivals on Saturday. The Aztecs are +120 (+2½ pts).

OTOH, my Chargers, who were a small favorite at home on Monday, lost to the Steelers. It was a game they coulda and shoulda won... but the defense couldn't hold a late lead, and gave up the game winning TD as time expired. The loss puts my 2-3 Chargers in a bad place... as they play in Green Bay six days later. The still undefeated Packers are ubiquitously considered, along with the Patriots, the best team so far this season. The Chargers are +425 (+10½ pts).

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(4-3)	my Golden Bears	(#20 5-1)	my Chargers	(2-4)
#4	@Penn State (B10)	L 21-37	@Washington*	W 30-24	@Vikings	L 14-31
#5	Fresno State*	W 21-7	Washington State*	W 34-28	Browns	W 30-27
#6	@Hawaii*	W 28-14	@Utah	L 24-30	Steelers	L 20-24 Mon
#7	@San Jose State*	W 30-7			@Packers	L 20-27
#8 Oct. 24	Utah State (4-2)	Fri 7:30	@UCLA (4-2)	Thu 6:00	Raiders* (2-3)	1:05
#9 Oct. 31	@Colorado State (3-4)	12:30	USC (3-3)		@Ravens (1-5)	10:01

^{* Division Rival. FBS games Saturday, NFL Sunday, unless noted. All times PDT. Rankings from AP. Odds from 5dimes.eu.}

Sabo's Aztecs knew the way to San Jose Saturday, and just like in Hawaii they came in as small dogs... and kicked bootay. The game was as much of a blow-out as the 30-7 final indicates. D.Pumphrey had 207 offensive yards, the rest of the Aztecs had 170 more -vs- 148 total for the Spartans as a team. As I blogged back on Oct. 7th, we'd know if Sabo's Aztecs are contenders or pretenders by now. Well, in the last two weeks they've established a winning record at 4-3, and are 1¾ games up in the MW Western division with five games left... the extra ¼ signifying now having the tie-breaker over second place San Jose State.

They return home Friday to face the leader of the MW Mountain division: Utah State. History favors the Sabo's Aztecs, who are 10-1 alltime over Utah State, including an eight game winning streak. The only Utah State win was back in 1967... at the Q (then San Diego Stadium) in it's inaugural season, and before the Div I-A split (now FBS). Current events seem to favor the Aggies, as they have a 16-3 record since joining the Mountain West, and are fresh off whipping then #21 Boise State 52-26 last Friday. The Aztecs are +175 (+5 pts).


We won't need to discuss PLAYOFFS until after
my Charger's bye week (three more games)

OTOH my Chargers suffered a heart-breaking loss in Green Bay. They fell two touchdowns down early, tied it up in the 3rd, fell behind again, but made an impressive "two minute" drive down to the Packers two yard line... before turning the ball over on downs with a handful of seconds left. The good news is this was the best they've looked all season. P.Rivers rewrote the franchise record book with 65 attempts, 43 completions, and 503 passing yards, and they played basically even up with one of the NFL's elite teams. The bad news, besides a loss, is a loss, is a loss... is still more key injuries: K.Allen, M.Scifres, M.Gordon, and more to whatever OL guys are left by now.

Playoffs don't matter this Sunday anyways... as it's the Hooligan Bowl. Yes, my Chargers are playing the hated Raiders at the Q. Even 2-14 isn't really a bad season as long as those two wins are over the Raiders... likewise, losing either game always leaves that season fundamentally flawed, regardless of how successful the rest it is otherwise. Yes... I'm a true powder blue Raider Hater !!!1! The Chargers are -210 (-4 pts).

The Hooligan Bowl is the shame of the NFL. It's always played at the Q, and always features the Raiders. FYI: Chargers-Raiders games in Oakland aren't Hooligan Bowls, they're just normal rivalry games. As I blogged earlier, I bought tickets to a game this season, but I wouldn't have picked this game... even if the seats were free.

This all started back in the Fouts era, as the Raiders game became infamous for large scale drunken brawls, and other displays of hooliganism. Of course, the blame all went on those stereotypical Raider fans coming down from Oakland... then coming down from LA... then coming down from Oakland. Which is all a buncha BS. How many people actually come down from Oakland... the Raiders can't even sell their own seats up there. Besides, the last thing those silly dudes who play dress-up want is to have their make-up smeared or get a tear in their PJs.

No, the hooligans are the same basic demographic that ruined drinking on the beach... the stereotypical rednecks from El Cajon. It is a very local San Diego county thingee. And... it takes two sides to tango, so there's just as many hooligans, actually more, who claim to be Charger fans. The truth is none of these retrobates are football fans at all... Chargers, Raiders, or whatever. They're just a gang of hooligans, mainly home grown, whose only interest is getting drunk and starting fights.


The Hooligan Bowl ~ Not my idea of fun

My Golden Bears are coming off their bye week... which is always a good time to evaluate where the season is going.

Cal is 5-1 and ranked #20. It might not look like it right now, with 14 undefeated teams, but a one loss Pac-12 Champion should make the playoffs. As for that conference championship... Cal is 1½ back with six left to Stanford in the Pac-12 North. Cal controls their own destiny however, being only a game back in the loss column. As for playing in the Rose Bowl... just like all the above, the road heads through Palo Alto this year. The Big Game (Nov. 21) could be huge this year.

Back on Oct. 10th they lost their first game in Salt Lake City. It was a great game to watch, and frustrating too... as Cal's QB, Jared Goff (no relation to Judy) threw five interceptions. It was what seemed the typical 'marquee' game for a program trying to take things to the next level... where they play toe-to-toe with the 'established' team, but end up finding a way to lose. I'd like to see a replay in Santa Clara... and without the five picks.

Hey, it won't be easy (ESPN's FPI has Cal at 0.8% to win out, and 2.8% to win the Pac-12), but this team is good enough to get it done. Go Bears !!!1!

I predicted back on the 7th Cal would drop out of the rankings with a loss. LOL @me. Cal lost, then took a week off... and moved up from #23 to #20. I also blogged back then Cal would be playing three consecutive games against ranked teams. In the mean time UCLA & USC have dropped out of the rankings. Still, it's a tough stretch, against three previously ranked teams: as Cal is a dog @UCLA tomorrow , and might well be a dog -vs- USC a week Saturday, and @Oregon the Saturday after that. These three games are definitely the make-or-break stretch of Cal's season.

History is not on Cal's side: they're 5-17 playing in Rose Bowl stadium, including 4-12 -vs- UCLA. Cal is +145 (+3 pts). Oh yeah... a win sends my Golden Bears bowling for the first time since the 2011 season.

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(5-3)	my Golden Bears	(5-2)	my Chargers	(2-5)
#5	Fresno State*	W 21-7	Washington State*	W 34-28	Browns	W 30-27
#6	@Hawaii*	W 28-14	@Utah #13	L 24-30	Steelers	L 20-24 Mon
#7	@San Jose State*	W 30-7			@Packers	L 20-27
#8	Utah State	W 48-14 Fri	@UCLA #24	L 24-40 Thu	Raiders*	L 29-37
#9 Oct. 31	@Colorado State (3-4)	12:30 pdt	USC (4-3)	12:00 pdt	@Ravens (1-6)	10:01
#10 Nov. 7			@Oregon* (4-3)		Bears (2-4)	Mon 5:30

^{* Division Rival. Unless noted NFL on Sunday, times PST. Current rankings from AP. Odds from 5dimes.eu.}

In the Rose Bowl Thursday night, UCLA beat my Golden Bears every which way but lightly. Just like six weeks ago, when my Bears beat Sabo's Aztecs... with this loss, Cal fans can now let any playoff dreams go bye-bye. Goodbye rankings too. I'm sure no Ohio State fan would be caught dead saying this... but there is a certain refreshing pre-BCS purity about having your goals (now) being simply to win the conference (for the first time since it was called the Pac-8), and get back here to the Rose Bowl game (for the first time since the Joe Kapp era, after the 1959 season).

I won't be easy... Cal no longer controls their own destiny, and ESPN's FPI gives them only a 0.7% chance of winning the conference. With only five games left, Cal is now 2½ back of Stanford, and have fallen ¾ back of Washington State too. The Cardinal (-13½) plays at Pullman this Saturday. Cal needs to take care of their own business first, of course. The second of three in-and-out of the rankings opponents in this make-or-break post bye stretch of Cal's schedule is USC: this Saturday in Berkeley. Cal is +6 pts. Oh yeah... a Cal win sends them bowling for the first time since the 2011 season.



At the Q Friday night, Sabo's Aztecs came in as a dog... and once again kicked bootay. D.Pumphrey had a big day, the Aztec defense had a bigger day... all together it was another impressive win. Sabo's Aztecs retain their 1¾ game lead, now with four games left. They will be looking to extend their six game conference win streak, and keep the momentum going into their bye week, this Saturday @Colorado State. SDSU is -4½ pts.

The Hooligan Bowl (1967-2015)
(Raiders at the Q)

Wins	Team	L-T W%	Includes...
21	San Diego	30-1 .413	0-1 Playoffs, 1-1 Preseason
20	Oakland	18-1 .526	1-1 Playoffs, 0-1 Preseason
10	Los Angeles	4-0 .714	1-0 Preseason
1	Tampa Bay	0-0 1.000	Super Bowl XXXVII

There wasn't anything in the news about mass arrests, or another stabbing, at the Hooligan Bowl on Sunday. The lack of arrests wouldn't have made King Stahlman happy (RIP, see above). I assume the violence at this game still occurs, but isn't newsworthy if it doesn't rise to that level. Oh yeah... on the field, my Chargers got slaughtered. Don't let the score fool you... as it was 37-6 before 23 garbage-time points. The outcome was never in doubt. *Sigh*... we can officially declare this season "fundamentally flawed".

My Chargers will try to turn around this, *cough* urgent *cough*, season, and prove they can win on the road, in Baltimore on Sunday. The sad sack Ravens are one of only three teams with less wins.

I'm sure my (perhaps four) readers are wondering... besides sweating his Aztecs, what has Sabo been up to recently? Well... just like all of us 'city' Wobs, he's been busy organizing (and not mourning) the big Joe Hill 100th show. Which I'm pretty sure I mis-blogged previously... the correct date is Thursday, November 5th. As I have taken on responsibilities myself, which I can't fulfill while also watching the dog, I originally told Sabo he couldn't go to the show. However... upon further review, I forgot this show is in the evening, and is post summer and time change. So... Sabo gets to go, but also gets to spend some quality time in the car. We'll have to see how thing go... but he might well get to see a good part of the show anyways. Which is only fair, considering all the work he's put in to make this show happen.

A couple of weeks ago, I turned on the TV, and there was one of those light-news thingees about a harbor cruise for dogs. We couldn't go that day, because Sabo had his regular IWW meeting. But, it turns out they do this twice a year. The next time is 2016-4-30... pencil this date in!!!1! Sabo's been in a car, and on a train before, but he's never been on a boat (although he has been on the floating dinghy piers along San Diego's embarcadero).

What else... well my "Beware of Dogs" signs worked yesterday (pix below). We had some 'pole climbers' yesterday, and they came to the door and asked first before going into the Sabotat. I brought Sabo in for them. Surprising enough they were SDG&E not TWC. And they didn't actually climb the pole... instead they drilled a core sample to check for termites. I asked them if SDG&E is ever going to get around to undergrounding that damn pole, but they said they don't personally make those decisions.

To be continued...

OK, besides sweating his Aztecs, and helping organize the Joe Hill 100th Show, and waiting to go on his first boat trip... what has Sabo been up to in this Autumn of Sabo (part of 2015: The Year of Sabo) ??

Well, one thing he hasn't been doing is yapping at his erstwhile nemesis, the giant opossum. In fact, after the new big dog moved in next door, we haven't had a single confirmed opossum treeing. However, for a while before our SF trip this summer, Sabo had substituted yapping at that big dog for yapping at opossums. However, just like earlier with the Chihuahua that lives over there, after we got back from SF, Sabo & that dog cut their yapping way, way down. Speaking of the Chihuahua, after almost two years they got to meet face-to-face out front recently... which was quite anti-climatic. They quickly and perfunctorily smelled each others butts, then just as quickly indifferently wandered off in separate directions.

Another change has been Sabo's nest & his nesting habits. His nest has expanded. Two items have been added to his signature red Drakkar Noir #8 lap-blanket, and the two undecorated red lap-blankets. The first item was a worm out red bed-spread, which IIRC dates from the Flower era. The second item is a very nice old-school brown Padres jacket. The jacket was re-gifted to me from my brotherman T ages ago. The reason being it is a 'small', which wouldn't come close to fitting T. Of course, it quickly wasn't close to fitting me either. I've been meaning to re-re-gift it back to T for ages now, but never got around to it. Well, a few weeks ago T just up and moved to Texas... so now it's Sabo's.

The changes in his nesting habits are a part of the Year of Sabo. I stopped ejecting him from the bed when I go to sleep. Sabo likes sleeping out of the way on one of the corners of the bed, and he's always such a good little boy whenever rousted... there really isn't any reason he can't sleep there. He still goes and sleeps in his nest about 20% of the time anyways.

Finally, what Sabo & me have been doing is getting back in the habit of trying to take at least a short hike in the Tri-Canyon parks pretty much every day. I still haven't decided if I'm actually going to write up an actual trail guide, or just give a summary when we finish. What I have been working on is a detailed interactive map of all of Sabo's San Diego Co hikes... which I can already promise will be very neato.

The 'where' was New York City, the 'when' was Sunday... on Sabo's behalf I'd like to congratulate the Kansas City Royals on their World Series victory !!!1! Now that the season is over, we can review Sabo & my picks for this year...
Yeah, basically we sucked at predicting the future.

My Red Sox finished seven game better than 2014, but they still finished in last, six games under .500. I had picked them to have a winning record. Sabo's Padres had their worst season in Sabo's lifetime, winning three less games than 2014, and dropped from 3rd to 4th. Sabo picked them in the playoffs, and I picked them having a winning season. None of the four teams Sabo & me picked to be in the World Series even made the playoffs... Sabo's two teams didn't even have winning records. So much for our preseason picks. These were our playoff picks (below). We were perhaps even more pathetic here, underperforming a flipping coin. In the end, Sabo won this contest in pitifulness 4-9 -vs- my 3-11. All I can say is... Wait 'Till Next Year !!!1!

OK, here's one of my pet-peeves. All during the playoffs we get to hear the talking heads say things like: "ZOMG the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009", or "ZOMG the Mets have never won a World Series in Citi Field", etc, etc. What a bunch-o-crap.

Sure 29 years is a long time in dog-years... but it's not a particularly long time in baseball-years. In fact, considering there are now 30 MLB teams, winning a World Series every 30 years (like the Royals just did) is par for the course... and certainly not something extraordinary. A more reasonable way to look at this is to divide MLB teams into three columns (see below)... the No-Whining Zone for recent WS winners (like my Red Sox, you won't hear me whining about not winning recently), a Median zone for markets which are around the median, and a ZOMG zone for markets who have a legitimate lengthy WS drought (like Sabo's Padres). FYI: the Royals have never been on the ZOMG list. Like all expansion teams, they started out on the No Whining list. They never got off the No Whining list before they won their first WS (in only their 17th year, which was extraordinary). And their recent 29 year drought only made it onto the Median list.

Also here's the list of MLB stadiums, besides Citi Field, that have never hosted a WS champion: Tropicana Field, Camden Yards, Globe Life Park, Progressive Field, Coors Field, Turner Field, Safeco Field, Comerica Park, Minute Maid Park, Miller Park, PNC Park, Great American Ball Park, Nationals Park, Target Field, Marlins Park and Petco Park. In other words... a significant majority of MLB stadiums have never hosted a WS champion.

/pet-peeve.

World Series Droughts, By Market

Years	Last WS	ZOMG	Years	Last WS	Median	Years	Last WS	No Whining Zone
#1 67	1948	Cleveland	#9 31	1984	Detroit	#18 12	2003	Miami
#2 54	--	Houston (est 1962)	#10 25	1990	Cincinnati	#19 11	--	Washington (est 2005)
#3 47	--	San Diego (est 1969)	#11 24	1991	Minnesota	#20 10	2005	Chicago*
#4 46	--	Milwaukee (est 1970)	#12 23	--	Colorado (est 1993)	#21 7	2008	Philadelphia
#5 44	--	Texas (est 1972)	#13 22	1993	Toronto	#22 6	2009	New York*
#6 39	--	Seattle (est 1977)	#14 20	1995	Atlanta	#23 4	2011	St.Louis
#7 36	1979	Pittsburgh	#15 18	--	Tampa Bay (est 1998)	#24 2	2013	Boston
#8 32	1983	Baltimore	#16 14	2001	Arizona	#25 1	2014	San Francisco*
			#17 13	2002	Los Angeles*	#26 --	2015	Kansas City

* ^{Two team market, last WS win for other team: Cubs 1908, Mets 1986, Dodgers 1988, Oakland A’s 1989.}

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(6-3)	my Golden Bears	(5-3)	my Chargers	(2-6)
#6	@Hawaii*	W 28-14	@Utah #12	L 24-30	Steelers	L 20-24 Mon
#7	@San Jose State*	W 30-7			@Packers	L 20-27
#8	Utah State	W 48-14 Fri	@UCLA #23	L 24-40 Thu	Raiders*	L 29-37
#9	@Colorado State	W 41-17	USC	L 21-27	@Ravens	L 26-29
#10 Nov. 7			@Oregon* (5-3)	7:30	Bears (2-5)	Mon 5:30
#11 Nov. 14	Wyoming (1-8)	7:30	Oregon State* (2-6)	7:30

^{* Division Rival. Times PST. Current rankings from playoff committee. Odds from 5dimes.eu. Unless noted NFL on Sunday.}

My Golden Bears, in the third game against foes who have been in-and-out of the rankings, play @Oregon this week. So far this pivotal stretch of games is breaking, not making, Cal's season. Cal is +165 (+4½ pts). Oh yeah... a Cal win sends them bowling for the first time since the 2011 season.

Last week, at home against USC, Cal lost their third straight game. It was a close enough game... but in the end Cal couldn't mount a comeback, and a loss is a loss is a loss. This loss almost... but not quite... extinguishes Cal's Rose Bowl dreams. ESPN's FPI gives them 0.1 of 1% chance to win the conference. At least we have clarity now: All Cal needs is (a) to win out (9.5% by ESPN's FPI), (b) get a Colorado win this week (+600, +16½ pts), (c) get an Oregon win on 11-14, and (d) get an Arizona State win this week (+120, +2½ pts) -or- a UCLA win 11-14 -or- another Colorado win 11-21 -or- a Washington win 11-28.

My Chargers play the Bears, at the Q, in one of those always problematic Monday night games. And then, mercifully, they then go into their bye week. The Chargers are -210 (-4 pts).

Baltimore-Chargers Rivalry (1969-2015)

Record	Team	Includes...
6-5	Ravens	3-1 @MT&T Stadium
8-8 (0-1)	Chargers	5-5 (0-1) @Q
2-3 (1-0)	Colts	0-2 @Memorial Stadium

^{Preseason games in (parans).}

This rivalry started with the AFL Chargers vs the NFL Colts back in 1969... in a preseason game. It was before my time... but starting in 1967, AFL and NFL teams started playing preseason games against each other. These games, up through 1969, were called the "Little Super Bowls"... and were considered a cut-above typical preseason games, as outside of the actual Super Bowl, it was the only time the leagues team's met on the field.

The NFL slaughtered the AFL teams in these preseason games. For example: my AFL Chargers were 3-6-1 vs the NFL. Up until the Jets-Colts in Super Bowl III, the AFL was considered a joke. Then Namath happened. No NFL team in history had more incentive to redeem themselves in one of these "Little Super Bowls" than the 1969 Baltimore Colts. And... their very first game after their iconic Super Bowl loss... was 1969-8-2 at the Q. The Colts won 26-6, the game still doesn't count.

The first time my Chargers played Baltimore for real was also at the Q, on 1970-9-20. The Colts won that game too 16-14. The last time my Chargers played the Baltimore Colts was 1982-12-26 at the Q. This was also the only effective divisional game in the series, as the NFL combined divisions in this strike shortened season. My Chargers won 44-26.

A little over a year later, on 1984-3-29, carpetbagger R.Irsay pulled his infamous midnight moving van stunt. Historically, fans in Baltimore were bitter... even though the Colts had only been in Baltimore for a measly 32 years, a whole generation short of the 55 the Chargers have been in San Diego.

In 1996, after 12 seasons without a team, the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore went on hiatus, and a new Baltimore expansion team was stocked with the current Browns players and staff. My Chargers first played the Ravens the next season, winning 21-17 on 1997-9-28. Last Sunday, they may have completed the series... San Diego Chargers -vs- Baltimore might forever be tied up at 8-8. My Chargers lost another heartbreaker, losing to the Ravens on a field goal as time expired.

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(6-3)	my Golden Bears	(5-4)	my Chargers	(2-7)
#7	@San Jose State*	W 30-7			@Packers	L 20-27
#8	Utah State	W 48-14 Fri	@UCLA #19	L 24-40 Thu	Raiders*	L 29-37
#9	@Colorado State	W 41-17	USC	L 21-27	@Ravens	L 26-29
#10			@Oregon*	L 28-44	Bears	L 19-22 Mon
#11 Nov. 14	Wyoming (1-9)	7:30	Oregon State* (2-7)	7:30
#12 Nov. 21	@UNLV* (3-6)	7:30	@Stanford* #7 (8-1)		Chiefs* (3-5)	5:30

^{* Division Rival. Times PST. Current rankings from playoff committee. Odds from 5dimes.eu. Unless noted NFL on Sunday.}

Sabo's Aztecs are coming out of their bye week... which is always a good time to evaluate the season so far.

So far, Sabo's Aztecs gotta like where they're at. After a disastrous non-conference schedule (1-3, 0-3 -vs- teams that grant football scholarships) they won four conference games going into Colorado Springs two weeks ago. The underrated Colorado State team and SDSU played pretty much even during the first half, but the Aztecs blew them out in the second. Once again, a quite impressive win.

This week is homecoming, and they face a bottom feeder 1-9 Wyoming team. With an Aztec win, and a San Jose State win (-102, +1 pt), SDSU clinches the MW Western division. This would send Sabo's Aztecs to their first ever conference championship game. SDSU is -2750 (-24½ pts). Oh yeah... an Aztec win also sends them bowling for a school record sixth consecutive season.

In one of those pesky morning games, Colorado got slaughtered by Stanford 10-42. So, for my Golden Bears, the dream of the rose again dies on the vine. The goals now become (a) just get any bowl eligible for the first time since the 2011 season, and (b) beat Stanford in The Big Game: 11-21 @Palo Alto. Half a day later, in the third of these post bye-week break-not-make games -vs- teams out-n-in the rankings, Cal got whipped by the Ducks... for the time being, failing to accomplish the first goal.

Next up for my Golden Bears is Oregon State at Berkeley. This is Cal's best shot at getting bowl eligible. They'll be heavy underdogs in The Big Game, and their last game of the year is against a 4-5 Arizona State team. Also... it sure would be nice to get this whole bowling thingee out of the way before facing Stanford. Cal is -1450 (-21½ pts).

Well, I'm sure my (perhaps four) readers are wondering... how did the Joe Hill show go, and did Sabo get to see any of it? Well the show itself, the musicians and Joe's and their songs, were fantastic. This was the first show of the west coast leg of the tour... so any at points north I strongly suggest look for this show, and check it out. Also Tuesday, at the Troubadour in LA, our brother Tom Morello (active in the LA IWW GMB), is hosting his own Joe Hill tribute show... featuring Joan Baez, Ziggy Marley, Boots Riley, and many others in addition to Tom himself. We'd be going to that show too... except it sold out by word-of-mouth before it was even publicly announced.

As for us San Diego 'city' wobs... we've been working on the logistics of hosting this show for a few months now. And... we hit the ball out of the park !!!1! Everything went perfectly, from renting and setting up the stage, lights, etc... to filling our room, creating a space to mingle, getting everyone fed and refreshed, and cleaning everything up afterwards. This even though our brother E, who was going to use his trailer to move the stage... until it got totaled, and E got rather hurt, in a traffic accident just two days before. Even though we had a $zero promotion budget, if we'd had more attendees we'd have run out of room. Amazing.

As for Sabo, who put such hard work in organizing this show (and by that I mean our other sisters and brothers, as Sabo and me didn't actually do that much)... he was actually able to see about 80% of the show, and got to greet everyone while they were leaving... as the new and very unofficial mascot of the IWW. I showed up early to help set up, and Sabo helped too... if you count yapping at the band from where I had him tethered helping. I had volunteered to work the door... which I couldn't do while watching the dog, so Sabo got to spend some quality time in the car during this period. But after everyone had gone into the show, I brought Sabo in to sit with me by the door, in the very back of the room.

We're 'striking while hot', and are using our new and expanded visibility to host a potluck roundtable discussion on the state of organizing in San Diego County this Sunday (Nov 15th, 12:30pm), at the same venue (SDEA Union Hall, 10393 San Diego Mission Rd). Sabo will be there !!!1!

In December we're having our regular meeting at the same venue on Saturday the 19th @12:30 PM... as me & my Chargers will be at the Q on the 20th (for perhaps the last time ever). In January, our regular meeting will for sure be regular (same venue, third Sunday of the month, 12:30pm), as the 2-7 Chargers are just not going to earn a first round bye and host a playoff game on Jan. 17th.

I woke up this morning, and my left ankle was swollen the size of grapefruit. It sometimes messes up like this ever since I stepped in a pot-hole six years ago, and caused some significant and permanent soft-tissue damage (and got a really bad conclusion too). Today was especially bad, as I've been in constant pain, and am effectively incapacitated, as I can't put any weight on that ankle at all. I had to ask Grandpa to dig out the crutches, which haven't been used since Sabo reinjured my trick left knee a year and a half ago.

I tell you, these little dogs can tell when you aren't feeling well... and they can tell when you are in pain. Good Nurse Sabo has been just the best... with his solicitous bedside manner, his timely "nose nudges" to get my mind off the pain, and onto enjoying my little boy's company, and even his judicious use of a little strategic snuggling. Gotta that Good Nurse Sabo !!!1!

The late games Saturday were a double bowl-o-rama.

At the Q, Sabo's Aztecs thoroughly dominated Wyoming, becoming bowl eligible for a school record sixth straight season. At the same time, up the coast in Berkeley, my Golden Bears demolished Oregon State, and became bowl eligible for the first time since the 2011 season. We won't know which bowls the teams are actually playing in until Selection Day, December 6th. Right now Cal has the seventh best record in the Pac-12, and the seventh conference tie-in is the Cactus Bowl @Chase Field. It certainly wasn't a tv-sports 'house divided' that night... and I'll admit Sabo wasn't the only one doing a little late night celebratory yapping !!!1!

Sabo's Aztecs still have bigger fish to fry than where they go bowling. They're still looking to clinch the MW West division, as San Jose State lost in overtime 34-37 @Nevada. Sabo, who isn't always that snuggly, watched the end of regulation and the overtime. He went behind me while I was streaming the San Jose State game, and then snuggled over my right knee. But instead of flaking out, as he usually does, he watched the game on my laptop. I guess the refresh rate must be better for dogs. Gotta that Sabo !!!1!

To clinch this week, Sabo's Aztecs need a win in Vegas =or= a Utah State win in Logan, Utah (-700, -15½ pts). Oh yeah... I mis-blogged regarding week #9: Colorado State is in Ft.Collins not Colorado Springs. SDSU is -700 (-16 pts) @UNLV.

A lot changed in the last few weeks. The Big Game isn't looking so huge right now. Both Cal & Stanford have seen their playoff dreams squished. Both teams are bowl eligible. A USC win earlier in the day, and Stanford will have already clinched the Pac-12 North. But it's still a big game... because it's The Big Game . Cal is +380 (+11 pts). Go Bears !!!1!



As for my Chargers... well, they're coming out of their bye-week, which is always a good time to evaluate where the season is headed. That, and I promised to talk playoffs after the bye-week. No need to drag J.Mora in here... my Chargers aren't going to make the playoffs this season. There... I said it. No, they aren't mathematically eliminated, not yet just quite... but trust me, they aren't making it this time. Even the NFL is saying what's up, as they've de-flexed this week's game back to a 1:05 start.

Seasons	Playoff	Champ Gm	Wins
1961-1965 AFL	11 of 40*	1 of 4**	1 of 8
1966-1967 AFL West	1 of 4	1 of 8	1 of 16
1968 AFL	3 of 10*	1 of 10	1 of 20
1969 AFL	2 of 5	"	"
1970-1975	4 of 13	1 of 13	1 of 26
1976-1977	2 of 7	1 of 14	1 of 28
1978-1981, 1983-1989	5 of 14	"	"
1982	4 of 7	"	"
1990-1994	3 of 7	"	"
1995-1998	2 of 5	1 of 15	1 of 30
1999-2015 AFC	3 of 8	1 of 16	1 of 32
Par 1961-2015	18.08	5.10	2.55
Actual	17	5	1
Deficit	-1.08	-.10	-1.55

* ^{Includes a division tie playoff.} ** ^{Pre-Super Bowl era.}

Historically, my Chargers have been under performers in the playoffs, but not really gross under performers. Of course, that counts the pre-Super Bowl, Balboa Stadium golden-era... which besides being before my time, sadly, nobody really references anymore. In the Super Bowl era, my Chargers have been gross under performers, making the playoffs 27% less often than an average team, and only getting to the big game once in 50 years... where they lost the biggest blowout in Super Bowl history. Ouch. And thanks to the evil greedy carpetbagging Spanos family, that's perhaps now their permanent all-time legacy. Double-ouch... 'nuff said about playoffs.



Bears - San Diego Rivalry (1925-2015)

In the modern NFL, all exhibition games are preseason against league members, and only the Hall of Fame game is played at a neutral site. Things weren't like that back in the 1920s & 1930s. Back then teams would play exhibition games preseason, midseason, and postseason, often barnstorming neutral sites playing against various all-star teams.

So it was that the Bears played exhibition games in San Diego, following the 1925, 1933 & 1936 seasons. The Bears beat a team of California all-stars 14-0 on 1926-1-17, and Erny Pinckert's All-Stars 7-0 on 1934-2-4 and 51-20 on 1937-1-17. These exhibitions were at the original Balboa Stadium, decades before the now long-gone upper deck was added for the Chargers.

The biggest game in the series was the one never played. This would have been in early 1964, following the 1963 season, three years before the first Super Bowl. The San Diego Chargers, champions of upstart AFL, issued the pro-forma challenge to the Bears. The Chicago Bears, champions of the established NFL, responded with the pro-forma dismissal.

The first time the Bears & Chargers actually played each other was an exhibition game six years later. My Chargers belatedly settled the 1963 season, beating the Bears 14-9 at the Q on 1970-8-24. The first time they played for real was later that same year, when my Chargers won again, 20-7 at Wrigley Field. FYI: the Chargers never managed to win at Soldier Field.

The most recent time the Bears played the San Diego Chargers was a week ago Monday at the Q. In another heartbreaker, the Bears scored the go-ahead points with ~3 minutes left, and another last-gasp offensive drive came up short. Final score: 19-22. Once again, thanks to the evil greedy carpetbagging Spanos family, the Bears - San Diego Rivalry may forever be 7-5 in the Bears favor.

Bears - San Diego Rivalry (1925-2015)

Team	Record	Includes...
Bears	7-5 (5-5)	4-0 (1-2) @Soldier Field, 0-1 @Wrigley Field
Chargers	5-7 (5-2)	4-3 (3-1) @Q
California All-Stars	(0-1)	(0-1) @Balboa Stadium
Erny Pinckert's All-Stars	(0-2)	(0-2) @Balboa Stadium

^{Exhibition games in (parens).}

So. I'm sure my (perhaps four) readers are thinking: enough history already, what about your sorry Chargers right now, coming out of their bye-week. Well, for reasons that have already been mentioned twice two often in this post, this started as the most urgent of seasons. Now all that urgency has been eviscerated by this effective playoff elimination. Well urgent eviscerated times call for extra-ordinary measures. Since the last three games of the season are the only ones that really matter anymore... I'm unilaterally declaring a season do-over.

The next four games will be the new effective preseason (Chiefs, @Jaguars, Broncos, @Chiefs), making a 17-game virtual extended exhibition season, followed by this three-game virtual regular season...

• Week #V1 Sunday, Dec 20, 1:25: Dolphins @Q. Perhaps the last NFL game in San Diego, and the last pro football game at the historic Q. And... I've got tickets to this game, gosh darn it.
• Week #V2 Thursday, Xmas Eve, 5:25: @Raiders. This is our Super Bowl. Without regurgitating all the extra-ordinary eviscerated urgency... nothing would be more ignominious than going out being swept by the hated Raiders.
• Week #V3 Sunday, January 3, 1:25: @Broncos. Perhaps the last San Diego Chargers game ever.

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(7-3)	my Golden Bears	(6-4)	my Chargers	(4-9 ex)
#8	Utah State	W 48-14 Fri	@UCLA	L 24-40 Thu	(Raiders, ex)	(l)
#9	@Colorado State	W 41-17	USC #24	L 21-27	(@Ravens, ex)	(l)
#10			@Oregon* #23	L 28-44	(Bears, ex)	(l) Mon
#11	Wyoming	W 38-3	Oregon State*	W 54-24
#12 Nov. 21	@UNLV* (3-7)	7:30	@Stanford* #11 (8-2)	7:30	(Chiefs, 8-5 ex)	1:05
#13 Nov. 28	Nevada* (6-4)	7:45	Arizona State (5-5)	7:00	(@Jaguars, 4-9 ex)	10:01

* _{FBS Division Rival. Current rankings from playoff committee. FBS odds from 5dimes.eu. Times PST.}
^{ex= Virtual extended exhibition game, record includes actual preseason. Unless noted NFL on Sunday.}

The weather this last week has been a little cool. I've actually been keeping the windows shut during the day. It's been the kinda days that are cold in the shade, but otherwise has been just beautiful clear warm sunny fall days. The perfect kinda day for me to take Sabo for a hike in the canyons, or Grandpa to be out working in his garden, or Sabo to be out helping him y/o patrolling his Sabotat.

Only 1/3rd of that happened Monday-Wednesday. I was off my feet, of course, incapacitated with a badly swollen ankle. However, it's been Sabo's change of behavior that has been most noteworthy. Except for the absolute minimum trips outside to yap, and take care of some other business, Sabo didn't leave the side of my bed. He was so conspicuously MIA out in the Sabotat, that Grandpa felt compelled to check the room those three days to make sure Sabo hadn't gone 'broken arrow'.

That's just the kinda TLC that Good Nurse Sabo dispenses. No member of Sabo's pack is going to be left alone & in pain. However, Wednesday night he got up, then went to sleep in his nest. Also that night the constant pain subsided, along with about half the swelling. I was finally able to get a relatively good night's sleep. Thursday morning I could walk again !!!1! This little doggie can not only tell when I'm not feeling good... he can tell when I'm feeling substantially better too. Gotta that Good Nurse Sabo.

Now, when I say I could walk again, I meant slowly hobble. I wasn't able to even lace up and tie my left shoe until this morning. Based on past experience, it'll be another week before my ankle is strong enough to take Sabo for his usual hikes in the canyons. But... life is now back to normal, and Sabo is again back out helping Grandpa in his garden, and also fully patrolling his Sabotat.

Spring Training games of note (from here & here).

Royals -vs- Padres @Peoria AZ, Friday March 4th, 6:10 PST (7:10 MST)
White Sox @Padres, Friday April 1, 7:10 PDT
White Sox @Padres, Saturday April 2, 1:10 PDT

Sabo's Aztecs still have three (yes, three !!!1!) games left... but it's never too early for Sabo to start dreaming of Spring Training. No promises yet to Sabo about which of these games he'll be attending or knotholing at Hotel Indigo. Note: the Peoria dog game is mercifully at night this year.

On Sabo's behalf, I'd like to wish all our USA friends a happy Thanksgiving this Thursday. For the Ragin' Canadian, and all her north-of-the-border friends, I'd like to wish a belated Thanksgiving (2015-10-12). As for everyone else... you live somewhere where there's nothing to be thankful for... so no turkey or pumpkin pie for you.

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	(8-3)	my Golden Bears	(6-5)	my Chargers	(4-10 ex)
#9	@Colorado State	W 41-17	USC	L 21-27	(@Ravens, ex)	(l)
#10			@Oregon* #17	L 28-44	(Bears, ex)	(l) Mon
#11	Wyoming	W 38-3	Oregon State*	W 54-24
#12	@UNLV*	W 52-14	@Stanford* #9	L 22-35	(Chiefs, ex)	(l)
#13 Nov. 28	Nevada* (6-5)	7:45	Arizona State (6-5)	7:00	(@Jaguars, 6-8 ex)	10:01
#14 Dec. 5	& Air Force (8-3)	4:30			(Broncos, 11-3 ex)	1:05

& _{MW Championship, location TBD.} * _{FBS Division Rival. Times PST. Current rankings from playoff committee. Odds from 5dimes.eu.}
ex= ^{Virtual extended exhibition, record includes preseason. Unless noted NFL on Sunday.}

Saturday was a big day in the FBS, and there were a lotta critical games during daylight hours. Regarding Sabo & my teams, those games included Nevada 27 @Utah State 31, underrated Colorado State (from Ft.Collins) 28 @New Mexico 21, and USC 28 @Oregon 48. These game clinched the WM West for Sabo's Aztecs, clinched the MW Mountain for Air Force, and did not clinch the Pac-12 North for Stanford, respectively.

I streamed the Utah State game this week, but unlike last week, Sabo didn't snuggle in and watch it. He must have been listening however. At 4pm, right after SDSU clinched, he went out into the Sabotat, and had a good long celebratory yapping. Sabo's Aztecs will be playing in their first ever conference championship game on the 5th !!!1!

Sabo's Aztecs still had a game to play Saturday night... and their work wasn't done. The MW championship isn't played at a neutral site. Going into their game @UNLV, Sabo's Aztecs were 6-0 in conference, while Air Force is 6-1. So... if Sabo's Aztecs win out, they'll host the championship game... amirite ??

Wrong I mis-blogged this earlier.

This is absurd. Notice how overall conference record isn't even mentioned. Of course, neither Air Force or SDSU are ranked by the playoff committee... so it'll all be determined by "a composite of selected computer rankings". Holy undead corpse of the BCS. It turns out the "selected computer rankings" are these left-overs from the old BCS formulas (below). WTF BBQ ??

In the middle of all this celebration, confusion, and absurdity, Sabo's Aztecs went out and kicked UNLV's bootay up in Vegas. Once again a very impressive win... and moving their conference record to 7-0.

So... bottom line on all this absurdity? Basically, even though SDSU is a game up in conference, it'll play out as if they were a game down. To host this championship game... SDSU really needs a Senior Day win over Nevada =and= a New Mexico (+310, +10 pts) Senior Day win over Air Force =and= then hope the various ringing bells, and blowing whistles, on all these computers, go their way. Absurd. SDSU is -850 (-17 pts).

Computer Ranking	Air Force	Sabo's Aztecs
Billingsley 11-22	#36 -15	#43 -7
Colley 11-22	#47 -13	#56 +4
Wolfe 11-22	#49 -18	#59 -5
Anderson & Hester 11-23	#54 -13	#65 -3
Composite	#46.50	#55.75

+/- ^{Delta from previous week.}

At the same time SDSU was winning in Las Vegas, they were playing the Big Game in Palo Alto. USC's loss earlier in the day ensured that the Big Game was huge to the Cardinal... possibly Rose Bowl huge. This being Stanford's last conference game, it was their last chance to clinch the Pac-12 North on the field. Cal didn't get blown out by any measure, and actually led in yardage and time of possession... but Stanford did what they needed to do. Alas, Stanford won their sixth consecutive Big Game. Wait 'till next year @Cal...

Cal's last game before going bowling is against Arizona State. Both teams are bowl eligible, both would rather go into that bowl having clinched a winning season at 7-5... instead of limp in at 6-6. But only Cal is home on Senior Day. Cal is -175 (-3½ pts).