Yesterday the D'back beat the Brewers. Also, the Phillies won, winning the series 2-1, and re-hanging Sabo's Padres with the dreaded "~0". That was little consolation for the Phillie Dogs, as their loss eliminated them. Tomorrow is Tuesday, so it must be PNC Park, against Sabo's Padres. Also tomorrow, the Mariners have an elimination game at home against the Tigers.

• Week -1: Chargers @Titans (exhibition). The only way I'm going to this game @Nissan Stadium is if some hot chica drives me there on a surprise date. Like in the Altima commercial (above).
  
  
• Week 1: Chargers @Vikings (exhibition). Since I'm not going to buy any tix from the Chargers, I took a long look at the road games. Even though this is a lowly exhibition game (ugh), I gave it some serious consideration. I've never been to Minneapolis, where I have friends. I've never even been to Minnesota for that matter, which is on my "bucket list". This game is the grand opening of the new Vikings stadium, US Bank Stadium, which from all reports is quite innovative and spectacular. Also, I could see a Twins game @Target Field too. Alas, the game has sold out.
  
  
• Week 3: Cal @SDSU. I already have tix in hand for this game: press level, 45 yard line on the Cal side. This is Sabo & my big "House Divided" game, and it'll be for perhaps years worth of yapping/taunting rights too.
  
  
• Week 7: Rivalry Bowl, Chargers @Raiders. The Chargers out-of-division visits this year are: Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte and Cleveland... none of which rocked my fancy. So I decided to key on the Black Hole. There's plenty of cheaper flights to Oakland, it's close enough to just fly-in and fly-out, and O.Co is located right at the airport, no ground transportation needed. I'm listing this as tentative, as I'm still working on talking someone into going along. FYI: These are all FBS weeks.
  
  
• Week 10: Cal @USC: I already have tix in hand for this game too: open end, 5 yard line on the Cal side. The LA Coliseum is #2 on my stadium "bucket list"... not the least because it's the former home of the LA Dodgers (1958-1961). This will make six defunct MLB stadiums I've been to (LA Coliseum, Candlestick, Arlington Stadium, Riverfront, Astrodome, and the Q).
  
  
• Week 11: Fish Bowl, Titans @Chargers. The Chargers play the Dolphins at home again this season, so I could have picked that game again as the "Fish Bowl". However, the "fish" refers to me being a fish and buying tix from the Evil Carpetbagging Spanos Family. This game is two days before the election. So, when it looked like the Chargers referendum only needed 50%+1 to pass, this looked to be the possible last non-lame duck game. However, now that they need 2/3rds, IMO the whole season is lame-duck. So... now I won't be going to this game.
  
  
• Week 15: Mountain West Championship Game, MW @SDSU. Only if @Q. There's a good chance this happens.
  
  
• Week 17: Hooligan Bowl, Raiders @Chargers. I won't be going to this game... even if I'm offered free tix.
  
  
• Week 17: Poinsettia Bowl, BYU @SDSU. Only if SDSU plays. If BYU goes bowling, and they should, they bowl here. If SDSU goes bowling, and they should, and they don't win the conference, it's a lock they'll go bowling here too. There's a good chance this happens too... although Sabo would prefer his Aztecs win the conference and play in the Las Vegas Bowl instead.
  
  
• Week 18: Holiday Bowl, Cal -vs- B12 @Q. Only if Cal plays. The Holiday Bowl has the #3 pick of non-playoff Pac-12 teams. So if Cal goes bowling, there's a chance it might be here.
  
  
• Week 19: Charger Bowl, Chiefs @Chargers. This New Years Day game could be the last San Diego Chargers game ever. I'm not going to buy tix. However, I'm prolly going to this game as a guest of one of my brothermen.
  
  
• Week 19: Rose Bowl, Cal -vs- B10. Only if Cal plays. Rose Bowl Stadium is #3 on my stadium "bucket list". Hey, I can dream.
  
  
• Week 20: FBS Championship @Raymond James Stadium, Tampa FL. Only if Cal or SDSU plays. Hey, Sabo can dream too.

We haven't heard from Good Nurse Sabo since February... and that's a good thing. Last summer was, of course, the Summer of Sabo. This summer Sabo's been a really big fan of the fan. It's been pretty hot all summer, high 80s with higher than average humidity. I've been running the big floor fan pretty much constantly, and Sabo's found a new love. He's been pretty much stuck to the front of it all summer.

Except when there's yapping that needs doing, of course. Then Sabo's all business, dancing up & down those terraces like he can fly. But he can't fly. It seems he made another bad landing, and has broken his left front dewclaw again. This must have happened yesterday, as Good Nurse Sabo's been giving the dangling claw, which seems to be cracked right at the skin line, a good lickin' pretty steady ever since. It's not bothering him. and it can't really hurt, as he'll let me poke at it.

I'm going to give Good Nurse Sabo a coupla days, then I'm going to take him to the vet regardless. I want to ask his vet if she recommends "doggy downers" for our big Hot-Lanta trip next month.

There are few structural changes in football this season. In FBS UMass has quit the MAC and is now the fourth independant. The Big-10 is now playing nine conference games instead of eight. In the NFL the Rams moved back to LA from St.Louis.

FBS teams play 12 regular season games, excepting Hawaii who plays 13 this season. There are 874 FBS games: 514 conference games, 2 ind-vs-ind games (Week#12 11-12 Army-vs-Notre Dame @Alamodome, San Antonio TX and Week#13 11-19 UMass @BYU), 113 FCS@FBS games (two @Army, NC State, Kent St; none for 18 programs), 196 other out-of-conference games, 8 conference championship games, 38 non-playoff bowl games (there is a moratorium on new bowls), and 3 playoff games (Peach & Fiesta bowls are the semis this season). NFL teams play 16 regular season games. There are 267 NFL games: 256 regular season, and 11 payoff.

There are 24 neutral site regular season FBS games this season, including Alcorn State (FCS)-vs-Arkansas @War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock and three UMass @Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. Two are international games: Week#1 (8-26) Cal-vs-Hawaii @ANZ Stadium, Sydney AU (Sat 8-27 3pm local time), and Week#2 (9-3) Boston College-vs-Georgia Tech @Aviva Stadium, Dublin IE (4:30 am pdt). Also of note is Week#3 (9-10) Tennessee-vs-Virginia Tech on a temporary field @Bristol Speedway, Bristol TN. This game is expected to break the football attendance record.

There are four neutral site NFL games this season, all international: Week#6 (10-2) Colts-vs-Jaguars and Week#10 (10-30) Washington-vs-Bengals, both @Wembly Stadium, London UK; Week#9 (10-23) Giants-vs-Rams @Twikenham Stadium, London UK, a new venue for the NFL; and Week#13 (11-21) Texans-vs-Raiders @Azteca Stadium, Mexico City MX. The three London games are Sunday 6:30am pdt kickoffs. The second NFL game in Azteca Stadium has the regular MNF 5:30 pst kickoff. As a result, the Jaguars, Bengals, Rams and Raiders only have seven home games this season.

Combined, that's 1130 FBS+NFL games, not counting spring practice games, preseason games, or all-star games. That's 3955 hours... or 10:19 hr/day every single day of the year (including Leap Year's day). Even if you only watched live games, that's 829:01 hours, and up to 66:29 per week. Here are the daily first and last kickoff times for the 2016 football season...

Quote:

Key: All times are PT. Elapsed game time estimated at 3:30. Sabo's football weeks are seven days, starting on Wednesday. This differs from most FBS sources whose football week starts on Tuesday, and which lumps the first 11 days into a week (8-26 to 9-5). Add one to these sources to get Sabo's weeks, excepting Tuesday games and Friday 8-26. Add two to convert the standard NFL weeks to Sabo's weeks. PM times in bold. Gaps over an hour marked with '/'. Estimated kickoff of TBA games in italics. Off day MLB marked '⚾', if necessary day (in parans).

Week	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Live Hrs
#1 8-24	⚾	⚾	7:00	⚾	⚾	⚾	⚾	3:30
#2 8-31	⚾	4:00 7:00	3:00 6:30	4:30 7:45	4:30	5:00	⚾	37:15
#3 9-7	⚾	5:30	4:00 5:00	9:00 7:45	10:01 5:30	4:10 7:10	⚾	39:44
#4 9-14	⚾	4:30 5:25	5:00 6:30	9:00 7:45	10:01 5:30	5:30	⚾	38:09
#5 9-21	⚾	4:30 5:25	4:30 6:00	9:00 7:30	10:01 5:30	5:30	⚾	37:54
#6 9-28	⚾	5:00 5:25	6:00 7:15	9:00 7:30	6:30 5:30	5:30	⚾	40:40
#7 10-5	5:00	5:00 5:25	4:30 6:00	8:30 7:00	10:01 5:30	5:30	(⚾)	40:54
#8 10-12	5:00	4:30 5:25	4:00 7:15	9:00 7:30	10:01 5:30	5:30	⚾	43:09
#9 10-19	⚾	4:00 7:00	4:00 7:30	9:00 7:30	10:01 5:30	5:30	⚾	41:59
#10 10-26	⚾	4:00 7:00	4:00 7:30	9:00 7:30	6:30 5:30	5:30	5:00	49:00
#11 11-2	4:30	3:00 6:00	3:00 7:15	8:30 7:30	6:30 5:30	5:30	4:30	53:45
#12 11-9	5:00	4:00 6:30	4:30	9:00 7:30	10:01 5:30	5:30	4:00	43:59
#13 11-16	4:00	5:00 6:30	5:00 6:00	9:00 7:30	10:00 5:30	5:30	4:00	44:59
#14 11-23		9:30 5:30	9:00 6:30	9:00 6:30	10:01 5:30	5:30		51:59
#15 11-30		5:25	4:00 6:00	9:00 5:00	10:01 5:30	5:30		34:59
#16 12-7		5:25		12:01	10:01 5:30	5:30		21:29
#17 12-14		5:25		11:00 6:00	10:01 5:30	11:30/5:30	9:00 7:15	45:44
#18 12-21	4:00	4:00 5:25	10:00 5:00	10:01 5:25	1:30 5:30	8:00/2:00 5:30	4:00	50:49
#19 12-28	11:00 6:00	11:00 6:00	9:00 5:00	8:00 5:00	10:01 5:30	10:00 5:00		66:29
#20 1-4				1:35 5:15	10:05 1:40	5:00		17:45
#21 1-11				1:35 5:15	10:05 1:40			14:15
#22 1-18					12:05 3:40			7:05
#23 1-25
#24 2-1					3:30			3:30

Channel	Air	TWC	DirTV	Sports
ESPN/ABC	10	10	10	FBS, NFL
ESPN		29	206	MLB, FBS, NFL
ESPN2		30	209	MLB, FBS
ESPNews		302	207	FBS
ESPN Classic		303	614	FBS
ESPNU		370	208	FBS
Fox	69	5	69	MLB, FBS, NFL
FoxS-SD		61	694	MLB
FoxS-1		93	219	MLB, FBS
CBS	8	8	8	FBS, NFL
CBSSN		315	221	FBS
NBC	39	7	39	FBS, NFL
TBS		2	247	MLB
MLBN		306	213	MLB
PAC-12N		376		FBS
SECN		384	611	FBS
NFLN		310	212	NFL

Sabo is disappointed and jealous.

It's hard to explain just how much Sabo lives & dies with his Padres. After his Padres win a game, I'll call him over, and we'll celebrate. He'll often even let his slightly frisky side out, or sometimes retire to the Sabotat for some happy victory yapping. After his Padres lose a game, I'll leave him alone. Sometimes he'll come over for some consolation snuggling, sometimes he'll take it out on the neighbors with some angry yapping... but usually he'll just lay there in a funk of depressed silence.

So it was Tuesday, when his Padres lost in front of the dogs of the Monongahela, Susquehanna, and Ohio confluence. Sabo was very disappointed, and sulked in front of the fan. He was also disappointed to hear that his hero & favorite Padre, opening day starter Tyson Ross, won't be playing a second game this season. And he's really jealous of the other dog Ross is holding in the pix above... and who could blame him?

Also on Tuesday, the Mariners avoided elimination. These two games had the side effect of rehanging the idle Marlins (4-2) and Orioles (2-0) with the dreaded "~0". The Astros organization remains the All-Star Sabo-Metric favorite (2-0 27%). Tomorrow it's the yearly dog game in Denver. A Rockies win eliminates the Nationals.

Last night, after a lengthy rain delay, the Rockies eliminated the Nationals. However, the teams still in the hunt increased by one as the ongoing 'The Audit' identified five new dog games added after the season started. The key game is the defending SDDC champion zombie Card's @zombie Phillies, 4:05 pdt Saturday. In addition, the D'backs added four midweek 6:40 mst "Dog Days of Summer", two of which they've already lost.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if lots more, maybe all, D'backs games have these dog friendly boxes for sale next year. As for Sabo's Padres, they've sent an email saying the remaining three "Bark at the Park" (general paid dog games) are also only open to previous "Dog Days of Summer" (main free general dog game), or "Barkyard" (dog boxes), dogs. I'm guessing when the Padres opened the "Barkyard" they re-thought the four "Bark"... but decided to go ahead and run these limited editions anyways since it was on their public promo schedule. I'm also going to guess these Padre "Bark" games are a one-time thingee this year.

Tomorrow starts an 8-day, 12-game stretch of dog games, the first half of which features a four game D'back "Barkyard" series. A Padres series win eliminates the D'backs. The zombie@zombie game mentioned above is double elimination. Also it's the Giants yearly "Dog Day of Summer" @ATT Park on Sunday. Sabo & me have fond memories of this game last year... part of the legendary Summer of Sabo.

Oh well, the repeat dream dies again for the zombie Cardinals. Sabo's Padres also bit the head off the snake's title hopes. The second half of this 12 games in seven days stretch could be just as tumultuous...

A Tuesday win @PNC Park makes the favorite Astro's organization odds on at ~54%. A Pirates win eliminates the Astros. A Rangers win Wednesday @Great America eliminates the Orioles (2-0 ~0) and Marlins (4-2 ~0). Texas & Pittsburgh wins make the Rangers new favorites at ~41%. A Reds win eliminates the Rangers. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & San Diego wins make the Pirates new favorites at ~24%. Astros & Rangers wins eliminate the Pirates. A three game sweep of Sabo's Padres, along with Pirates & Reds wins, make the Cubs new favorites at ~49%. A Padres & Rangers win -or- two Padres wins eliminate the Cubs.

The feature game is tomorrow, when as a Sabo Big Day™, Sabo gets to go see his Padres host the Chicago Cubs. This will be Sabo's 18th pro baseball game. The give-away for this "Bark at the Park" is a Padres logo poop-bag dispenser.

Here we go !!!1!

Hawaii & my Golden Bears start the season a week earlier than the 126 other teams... downunder @ANZ Stadium, Sydney AU. My brotherman JS posed a good question: "Why"? The NFL plays games in London, and this year Mexico City, to sell tix, sell gear, support their foreign tv deals, and perhaps to lay the groundwork for teams in those cities. That's their line of business. However, colleges aren't supposed to be about selling gear, etc, and they aren't going to move the campuses. Sure... it's an extracurricular learning experience or the team and student staff... but is that it? Well anyways, whatev I guess. They're expecting 70k+ fans for this noon Saturday start in AU... so bring on the games.

Welcome to the post J.Goff (#1 pick in the NFL) era. It's not going to be easy. Most pundits are predicting a no bowl rebuilding year, as lots of other offensive talent also departed. The schedule is brutal.ESPN's FPI ranks it as the 4th most difficult in FBS. They play G5 Hawaii in AU, instead of FCS Grambling State at home. The other 11 games are the same as last season, except at the opposing venue. They do catch a break there however, as they get four of the five (yikes) AP preseason ranked teams at home (UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, Washington), and only one on the road (USC). Nine opponents went bowling last season (yikes), including Sabo's Aztecs... which Cal has never beaten @Q.

Cal is -1600, -20pts, by the VI Consensus. These are our FBS season picks...

Saturday	Sabo's Aztecs	11-3	my Golden Bears	8-5	my Chargers	4-12
#-2 Aug 6						(canc) Sun	(Packers v.Colts, ex) @Benson, Canton
#-1 Aug 13					(@Titans, ex)	(loss)
#0 Aug 20					(Cardinals, ex)	(win) Fri
#1 Aug 27			v.Hawaii 3-10 (MW)	7:00 Fri	(@Vikings, ex)	10:01 Sun	v.@ANZ, Sydney AU
#2 Sep 3	New Hamp 7-5 (FCS)	5:30			(49ers, ex)	7:00 Thu
#3 Sep 10	Cal 8-5 (P12)	7:30	@SDSU 11-3 (MW)	7:30	@Chiefs 12-6	10:01 Sun	Key:
#4 Sep 17	@N.Illinois 8-6 (MAC)	12:30	Texas 5-7 (B12)	7:30	Jaguars 5-11	1:25 Sun	Times PT
#5 Sep 24			@Ariz St 6-7		@Colts 8-8	1:25 Sun	# AP preseason ranking
#6 Oct 1	@S.Alabama 5-7 (SB)		Utah 10-3		Saints 7-9	1:25 Sun	'ex' NFL preseason
#7 Oct 8	UNLV 3-9		@Ore St 2-10		@Raiders 7-9	1:25 Sun	& Top conference tie-in
#8 Oct 15	@Fresno St 3-9	7:00 Fri			Broncos 15-4	5:25 Thu	$ Playoffs
#9 Oct 22	San Jose St 6-7	7:30 Fri	Oregon 9-4 #24	7:30 Fri	@Falcons 8-8	1:05 Sun	Possible games in italics
#10 Oct 29	@Utah St 6-7	5:00 Fri	@USC 8-6 #20	7:30 Thu	@Broncos	1:05 Sun	2015 Records
#11 Nov 5	Hawaii 3-10	4:00	Wash 7-6 #14		Titans 3-13	1:25 Sun
#12 Nov 12	@Nevada 7-6	7:00	@Wash St 9-4		Dolphins 6-10	1:05 Sun
#13 Nov 19	@Wyoming 2-10	12:30	Stanford 12-2 #8
#14 Nov 26	Colo St 7-6	6:00	UCLA 8-5 #16		@Texans 9-8	10:01 Sun
#15 Dec 3	MW Champ		v.P12 Champ	6:00 Fri	Buccaneers 6-10	1:25 Sun	v.@Levi, Santa Clara
#16 Dec 10					@Panthers 17-2	10:01 Sun
#17 Dec 17	v.Las Vegas Bowl &	3:30			Raiders	1:25 Sun
#18 Dec 24					@Browns 3-13	10:01
#19 12-31	v.Fiesta Bowl $		v.Rose Bowl &	2:00 Mon	Chiefs	1:25 Sun	Or... v.Peach Bowl $
#20 Jan 7	v.FBS Champ $	5:30 Mon	v.FBS Champ $	5:30 Mon	Wild Card $		v.@Raymond James, Tampa
#21 Jan 14					Divisional $
#22 Jan 21					Conference $	Sun
#23 Jan 28
#24 Feb 4					v.Superb Owl $	3:30 Sun	v.@NRG, Houston

Monday Sabo & me attended the "Bark at the Park" game. Sabo's Padres lost, but I'll save the details for tomorrow's blogging. A few quick notes: they had a good crowd, mid 30k, but I was surprised it wasn't sold out... considering it was the Cubs, who always travel well, and this year the Cubs are the best team in baseball. Second, Sabo was again #1 on the list of about ~15 dogs on the VIP list. I asked if that was because the Padres liked Sabo the most. They said it was because I smashed the 'buy' button first.

Last night, Sabo & my friend JQ, and myself went to Canine Cocktails, the off-leash doggy happy hour @Hotel Indigo. We got some more dog food samples for Sabo... again this summer I haven't spent a dime on dog food. Sabo has now been to Petco Park, and the Hotel Indigo, over a dozen time each. He's been down in the Gaslamp now scores of times... including living down there for most of a week last month. He's very comfortable at these venues.

His comfortableness really shined, as at the Padres game and against my normal policy, I said "yes" when peeps, including over a dozen children, asked if they could pet Sabo. He was great, perfect even, not showing any discomfort at all. On the grass, he went around to all the folks in his twelve foot diameter, and said "hi". For a while he even went over and hung with with another couple five feet away, and peeps were coming up and asking them if they could pet Sabo. Last night off leash @Hotel Indigo he also shined. He worked the whole crowd on the patio, saying "hi" and letting peeps pet him. Gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy !!!1!

This last 12 games in seven days stretch was the second mass extinction event in this season's SDDC. The Astros, zombie Cardinals (2-2), D'backs, Marlins (4-2), and Orioles (2-0) all dined on the dirt sandwich. And then there were ten. In All-Star Sabo-Metric favorite order: Rangers, Cubs, Pirates, Dodgers (2-1 6%), Rockies (3-1 5%), Mariners (3-1 4%), zombie Phillies (5-2 2%), my Red Sox, Giants, and Sabo's Padres.

The feature game over the next 11 days is the next "Bark at the Park": my Red Sox @Sabo's Padres. This will be my Red Sox all time SDDC debut, the last of the 30 MLB teams to do so. It'll also be Sabo's 19th baseball game. A win by Sabo's Padres eliminates my Red Sox.

More important, Labor Day is the biggest of 'House Divided' games between Sabo & myself. It might be the biggest ever. It's highly unlikely that Cal & SDSU will meet again in Sabo's lifetime. It was 20 years between meetings before last season. Baring a World Series matchup, the Padres & Red Sox won't meet again until 2019. That series will almost certainly be @Fenway, where they don't do dog games. The next likely time they'll meet @Petco, where Sabo can attend, is in 2022... when Sabo will be 10yo.

And... it's not just a single game. There are two other 'house divided' Red Sox @Padres games on Local Summer & 9-7... followed by the Cal@SDSU 'house divided' game on 9-10. There's a likely three years of yapping (aka taunting) rights on the line. This is huge. It's a megapalooza 'house divided' week !!!1!

Seeing as it is a megapalooza, me & and da boyz (negotiating on Sabo's behalf) have come up with some special rules: (1) I immediately lose my yapping rights for the indiscretion of 'over-taunting'. Last year I taunted Sabo that he'd never get to go to a Red Sox game, and here now I have tix in hand to take him to one. Shame on me. (2) The winner of each of these four games will have yapping rights, however... (3) Starting on 9-12, the winner of this effective four game series will have yapping rights. In the case of a 2-2 tie, the winner of the Labor Day game, which we'll both be attending, will have yapping rights.

Saturday will be the biggest home attendance for Sabo's Aztecs. It's the only game they even bother opening the upper deck. All for a FCS team. Why is the University of New Hampshire so popular here?

They're not. The reason for the big crowd is the KGB Sky Show. For those who aren't from here, KGB is a local classic rock radio station. Fortyone years ago they invented the art of a massive fireworks display coordinated with their rock music broadcast. The inaugural show was over Mission Bay, and IIRC was at the time the largest fireworks display in North America. For the last several years the Sky Show has been at the Q following an Aztec game.

The Sky Show is always the highest attended home Aztec game. One big reason is that SDSU students get free tickets, as they do to all home games. However... tailgating is legal at the Q, including alcohol for those 21+. This all means that these games are also infamous for everyone tailgating during the game, and only coming inside the stadium afterwards to see the fireworks. That shouldn't really be an issue this season for defending Mountain West champions.

ESPN's FPI gives Sabo's Aztecs 20% chance of defending their conference championship. They also give them a 0.7% chance of winning out. SBnation predicts them to be favored in every game excepting 49% @Utah State.

If SDSU goes 13-0, are they in the FBS playoffs? Not likely IMO. First, I'll believe any G5 team is de facto eligible for the playoffs when I see it. Second, SDSU has the 120th of 128 easiest schedule by simple win/loss (103rd by ESPN's FPI). In the regular season they play 10 of the 12 they played last year, except at the alternate venue. The difference is this year they play FCS scholarship New Hampshire instead of FCS no-scholarship USD, and G5 @Northern Illinois instead of P5 @Penn State. I think a 13-0 record would get them the G5 bid to the Cotton Bowl.

SDSU is -32½ pts.

Which, since Sabo just hung out with his new love the last two days, this STD™er will actually be three days long. Just like last summer is known as the Summer of Sabo, this summer might come to be known as the "Summer of the Floor Fan". This is what we plan to do...

• Labor Day: First, Sabo & me are going to the Petco Store to get him ~$1 in treats. That's 'cause they're having a buy anything, get a $5 coupon. Alas, his personal trainer C has the holiday off. Then it's off to Petco Park, and the mother of all House Divided games: my Red Sox @his Padres in a day game. It's Padre All-Star Drew Pomeranz (-260) @Edwin Jackson. This game, Sabo's 19th, is huge... it's for perhaps three years of yapping/taunting rights !!!1! Next... off to the Rabbit Hole in Normal Heights, for our monthly IWW social meetup at 7pm. Finally, we'll end up at the Beach Shack to begin two nights and one day at the beach.
  
  
• Local Summer: Local Summer is, of course, the locals-only holiday the day after Labor Day, and the end of the tourist season. It's the day we symbolically take back our beach. I'm, not going to jinx myself again, but maybe we'll finally visit a certain restaurant in Old Missile Beach I've promised to take Sabo to several times before. Just saying... perhaps some Midnight Missile Recon might be in order too. We won't leave Missile Beach at all... except I'm going to sneak out to Petco Park to see the second House Divided rs@pd game at night.
  
  
• Wednesday: The Summer of the Floor Fan has really precluded making progress on Sabo's proclaimed, but so far mysterious, Third Quest. Well, the heat has finally somewhat dissipated this weekend, so we'll get back at it. Also Sabo's due for a late summer visit to OTL Island y/o Dog Beach. Sabo's big STD™er will end Tuesday evening back at the Sabotat. I, however, will once again sneak out at night to Petco Park for the third House Divided rs@pd game.

Today was a beautiful day at Petco Park, warm & sunny, but not too hot with a breeze. My long time friend JQ joined us for Sabo's 19th baseball game... a sellout and the mother of all House Divided matchups. Sabo also got a Padres leash, to go with his Padres collar, Padres jingle-jangle, and Padres shirt. Need I even say he sniffed his shrine too? And... Sabo was so good, again saying 'hi' to our neighbors, and again even letting children paw him without distress. Gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy !!!1!

It was a great game. D.Ortiz pinch hit with two outs in the ninth... and ended the game. Sabo's Padres beat my Red Sox 2-1. The loss eliminated my Red Sox from the SDDC. Perhaps more important, Sabo for the first time ever has yapping/taunting rights over me. If my Red Sox don't win tomorrow in the second big House Divided game, Sabo will clinch yapping/taunting rights for perhaps up to three years. Yikes... the stakes are huge !!!1!

Also, tomorrow a Rangers win makes them odds on favorites at ~96%, and triggers the third mass extinction event, eliminating the Cubs (5-1 28%), Dodgers (2-1 6%), Phillies (5-2 2%), Giants (5-4 1%), Pirates, Mariners, and if they lose, Sabo's Padres. The Rangers and Pirates are each eliminated with a loss.

Yesterday, the newly Mighty Rangers won, completing a perfect 4-0 dog game season. This makes them prohibitive favorites, and caused the final mass extinction event, eliminating the re-Mighty Cubs (5-1), Dodgers (2-1), zombie Phillies, Giants, Pirates, Mariners, and Sabo's Padres. The only other organization left standing is the Rockies. They have five dog games remaining, starting with four in the Barkyard tomorrow. They need to win out to be SDDC champions.

Of course, yapping/taunting rights are at stake too. Last night I snuck away from Sabo and went to the second big House Divided Red Sox@Padres game. I parked out with the homeless near I-5 again. Without Sabo that nice ~9 block walk seems like a terrible trudge. My Red Sox returned the favor from Monday, and helped eliminate Sabo's Padres from the SDDC. I gained yapping/taunting rights over Sabo. However, to keep'em tonight, and have any chance of keeping them for perhaps the next three years, my Red Sox need to win again tonight. Also, if the Red Sox win, they'll be dubbed Mighty.

Are you ready for some football? The NFL kicks off in Denver this evening with a Superb Owl rematch. The Panthers are -150, -3pts. On Sunday, in Kansas City, my Chargers open what might be their last season. The Chefs are -300, -6½pts. I'll blog more of the NFL next week after my personal NFL news embargo is lifted. The feature game this week is, of course, the game I'm going to on Saturday, the grand final of the big four game House Divided series: my Golden Bears @ Sabo's Aztecs. With my Red Sox beating Sabo's Padres in last night's House Divided game, I've retained yapping/taunting rights over Sabo. This sets up this final House Divided game for all the marbles... yapping/taunting rights for perhaps the next three years. This is huge !!!1!


Cal is 1-0 after beating Hawaii in Australia two weeks ago. Hawaii started the FBS season off with an onside kick. Coach N.Rolovich said: "I wanted to make sure Australian fans got to see an onside kick, and in my first game, too." It was unsuccessful however, and after a tight first quarter, Cal pulled ahead and stayed ahead. From all reports a great 'Gridiron' time was had by the 61,247 in the 83,500-seat stadium. Grad transfer Davis Webb (38/54 441yds), who had started at TX Tech, threw four TDs and ran for another... and had no picks. The 'Bear Raid' offense seems in good hands post J.Goff. However, a weak Hawaii team scored 31 points, and the Golden Bear defense didn't really look like they could stop them in a pinch. Not that good IMO.

AFAIK Sabo's Aztecs opening game last week wasn't broadcast. As I didn't watch the game, I'll quote SBNation "In San Diego State's 31-0 season opener against New Hampshire, QB Christian Chapman threw crisply, WR Mikah Holder was on fire and RB Donnel Pumphrey passed Bo Jackson in all time NCAA rushing... in front of a crowd of 46,486... The Aztecs piled up 461 total yards while holding New Hampshire to just 141, and 0-14 on third downs." My Golden Bears lead the series 4-3, but Sabo's Aztecs are 3-0 @Q. The Aztecs are -280, -7pts.

This thread isn't the first Missile thread. But in a sense, this other Brick and Mortar thread was the last. This was my OP seven years, one month ago: Reasonable Dog Freindly Hotel, NW Indiana...

Seven years ago today... yikes can it have been that long... we sent The Missile onwards. Even though I have Sabo now, I still shed a tear for my little Missile... she was a good little dog. Excuse me a bit. Sabo come here! Oh, that's a good Sabo. [Snuggle] Gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy. OK, where were we. Oh yeah, a little more than a year later the long gone fun160 bumped my thread. I replied...

About two and a half years ago, I bumped the thread to complete the story... that the time had come, and the purpose of my Indiana trip was to send The Missile onward...

What I forgot to do was point out that there's plenty more to read about The Missile's live & times, and lots of pix that actually work, over in my dog blog: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/22...-sabo-1420473/

Quote:

Official Mid Season Rulings

• Let it be known, the championship is now determined by: Record Difficulty Factor, winning percentage, head-to-head, hosted MLB dog games, Sabo actual seen games, then Flagship’s proximity to Sabo’s shrine... the Tony Gwynn Sr statue. Record Difficulty Factor is the probability a break even team would have a worse record.
  
• Whereas Sabo's favorite Padre is Tyson Ross, and Whereas Sabo & me are going see the last dog game ever at Turner Field for our big vacation this summer. Let it be known that Tyson Ross' first career start against the Braves is now an Official Envisioned SDDC game. This was 2014-8-3 Braves 3 @Padres 4.
  
• Upon further review, there is insufficient evidence that Sabo actually went to the USD dorms overlooking the 2014-3-28 Indians 16 -vs- Padres 4 Cactus League game. Therefore, he can't be presumed to pass the five inning/one hour test. Let it be known, this game has been reclassified as Envisioned.

~ The Competition Committee

Correction: Colorado was 3-1, and needed to sweep the four Barkyard games to win the SDDC. Thursday, in the first game of that series, Sabo's Padres destroyed the Rockies 14-1. This game, along with the mid-season rule change above, is the clincher for the Mighty Texas Ranger's victory in the 2016 edition of Sabo's Dog Day Championship. On Sabo's behalf, I'd like to congratulate all the dogs of Arlington... all yap/hail the SDCC champion Rangers !!!1!

In other news, I enjoyed my now Mighty Red Sox winning the third House Divided game Wednesday... Sabo suffered the defeat by his Padres on the radio from the Sabotat. The Indians will be dubbed Mighty if they win their only dog game of the season @Great Rate Stadium (aka New Comiskey). With the race over, the feature games are Sabo's last two attended games this season: his 20th in his 10th stadium, 9-18 Nationals@Braves -and- his 21st, 9-19 D'backs@Padres.

He'll be involved in some stunt travelling, all as part of Sabo's Second Quest: The Multimobile Sabo. He'll be making his first airplane trip on Friday. I could go see the Nationals on Friday and Saturday... we'll be staying across the street from Turner Field, and Braves aren't selling tix even at $10. Sabo would guard our hotel room. Next Sunday, however, is the stunt travelling day. Sabo will be attending his 20th game, the last ever "Bark in the Park" @Turner Field. Sabo's Padres will be playing in Denver (no dogs). In Phoenix, the D'backs will be hosting the Dodgers at a "Dog Days of Summer". The very next day, next Monday, Sabo will have scrambled 1889 miles, his Padres 834 miles, and the D'Backs 299 miles... 3022 miles total all to assemble for Sabo's 21st game @Petco Park.

Quote:

Sabo's Dog Day Champions

2004. 1-0 Pittsburgh
2005. 1-0 Chicago Cubs
2006. 1-0 Chicago White Sox
2007. 1-0 Chicago White Sox
2008. 1-0 Chicago White Sox
2009. 1-0 Chicago White Sox
2012. 1-0 San Diego
2013. 1-0 San Diego
2014. 2-0 Chicago White Sox
2015. 3-0 St.Louis
2016. 4-0 Texas

Alas, it's true. Sabo's Aztecs beat my Golden Bears 45-40 in the House Divided Grand Final last night. Sabo now has yapping|taunting rights over me... perhaps until my Red Sox next play his Padres in 2019. Ouch. I had left the radio on his Padres when I snuck away to the Q... so he didn't know until I got back after midnight. After giving me the Big Greeting, he went out in the Sabotat to yap to the neighbors about his Aztecs win. And, with Sabo now having yapping rights over me... there... was... nothing... I... could... do... about... it

There was a big crowd on a perfect late summer evening. They even opened the upper deck to fit the 42473. It was long game, over four hours. It was a great game, which was in doubt until SDSU's Damontae Kazee interception with nine seconds left. Sabo's Aztecs, led by Christian Chapman (14/23, 129, 1 td, 1 inr), ran up 463 yards on a porous Cal defense. Cal's Davis Webb (41/72, 522, 5 td, 3 int) and the 'Bear Raid' shockingly ran up more yards on the R.Long defense, gaining 604 yards. The Aztecs however added a pick-six by Ronley Lakalaka, plus the fourth career kickoff return by Rashaad Perry, an Aztec record. Sabo's Aztecs finally went up by 17 midway through the 3rd. Cal cut the lead to five with less than a minute left, recovered an onside kick, and had driven the ball to the SDSU 22 before that game saving interception. The star of the game was Donnel Pumphrey (281, 3 td) who also broke Aztec great Marshall Faulk's team rushing record.

This was a big win for the Aztec football program. To take it to the next level, to be the next Utah or Boise St, they needed to start beating P5 programs. Now they've just beaten a P5 team, they have the second longest FBS win streak at 12, and they've won one of the harder games on their schedule. Their NY6 dream lives. For my Golden Bears, their NY6 dream is still alive too. However, they've lost one of the easier games on their schedule, and going bowling just got a lot harder. If they don't beat #11 Texas, they'll need to have a winning record in the Pac-12... something that they've never had.


Next up for Sabo's Aztecs: their first road trip. They'll be travelling to DeKalb IL, where they'll play Northern Illinois (0-2). This year NIU opened with a wacky 3OT loss to Wyoming 34-40 which ended at 2:34am Laramie time. Yesterday in Tampa they got spanked 17-48 by South Florida. Beware the Huskies: this G5 program has been consistently successful, having won the MAC West six straight years, with three MAC titles and an Orange Bowl appearance. The teams have never met before. SDSU is -9pts.


Next up for my Golden Bears: their home opener. They'll host the revitalized Texas Longhorns (#11 2-1). This wasn't supposed to be one of the hard games this season. Then... unranked Texas beat then #10 Notre Dame in Austin in a 2OT thriller 50-47. Yesterday they slaughtered UTEP in Austin 41-7. Texas leads the Cal series 5-1; 2-0 at Memorial Stadium. Cal's only win was last season in Austin. There Cal won a wild 45-44 game on a missed Longhorn PAT. Cal is +6½pts.


OK, my personal NFL news blackout has been lifted. Not everyone are pessimistic about my Bolts. Coming into the season, Football Outsiders has my Chargers at 40.5% to make the playoffs, 13% to get a bye.

I couldn't help but hear about the Bosa saga... so I might as well discuss that. Seeing that this is the win-this-year-at-all-costs season, I was happy they picked Bosa, who should be able to step right in and be an impact starter (he didn't play today because of routine injuries). I'm really, really, really happy they didn't trade the pick for future draft picks BTW. Of course, the Evil Carpetbagging Spanos Family (ECSF) tried to mess even that up by screwing around signing him... even with the fixed draft salaries in the new CBA. This is unofficially known as the "Chargers Rule"... for the ECSF's history of screwing around all their top draft picks... including the amnesic L.Tomlinson and A.Gates WTFBBQs. FWIW: Bosa won this stare down... the ECSF blinked when they front loaded the later year payments.

Rivers, my favorite Charger, was 25/36, 243, 1 td, 0 pick. Melvin Gordon scored his first two tds in his second season. The underdogs, my Chargers, were whipping the Chefs, a team they'd lost four straight to, 24-3 midway through the 3rd. What could go wrong? Anecdotal sure, but I don't think any team in the history of forever has found more ways to crush their fans with these come from ahead defeats. Especially here in the win-this-year-at-all-costs season, where crushing could be fatal. Yep, the Chiefs tied up the game, won the stupid NFL overtime "win the game" coin flip, and marched right on down and did just that. Final score: 27-33. After 56+ seasons, the new Kansas City + Dallas Texan's record for largest comeback: 21 points, today, vs my Chargers.

Ouch. To add injury to insult: Keenan Allan, having a great game, tore his left ACL, and may miss the rest of the season. Double Ouch.

Next up for my Chargers: Hosting Jacksonville (0-1) in perhaps their last home opener ever. Today in Jacksonville the sad sack Jaguars, by far the least followed team in the NFL, lost 23-37 to the Packers. My Chargers are 6-2 in the series, including 3-0 @Q and a 31-25 win in Jacksonville last season. The Chargers are -2½pts.

Recently, Sabo broke this left front dewclaw. I threatened to take him to the vet. However, those replacement claws really grow in fast, and Good Nurse Sabo gnawed off the old broken claw quick enough. But... he still got to go the vet today anyways, because Delta Air Freight requires a health certification 10 days before the flights to Atlanta.

Sabo's always loved going to the vet, and today was no exception. What was exceptional however happened when it was time for him to get examined. Unlike before when he happily let his vet handled him, and even take his temperature with the anal thermometer... this time he was having none of it. He rejected the thermometer, needed to be muzzled, while I handled him for the vet. He was generally scared, and defensive, and happy to leave. I also asked his vet about 'doggy downers'. She said she doesn't recommend sleeping drugs. She did however prescribe Sabo some doggy Xanax for the flight back, just in case he has problems on what will be the drug-free flight there.

Anyways, he got a clean bill-o-health for $78. He's lost 1.3 lbs from last December, and now weighs 13.5 lbs. Since I was there, I asked his vet about his 'fake poops'. Sabo makes good clean poops, and he always gives me two soon after we go out and about. Sometimes, however, after his two real poops, he'll a little later do a few fake poop attempts... nothing comes out. Which can be annoying, because I often feel obliged to go through the motions and 'pick up' the non-existence poop if we are out in a crowd. She said it's not that uncommon, that he might be trying to mark, and to not to worry about it as long as he's making those good clean poops.

Yes, of course. Welcome to Sabo's big summer vacation. This will be Sabo's seventh overnighter, his sixth major road trip, and his first two airplane trips. This is our plan...

• Tomorrow: Canine Cocktails @Hotel Indigo with our good friend JQ, and Lilly, one of her client's dogs.
  
  
• Friday: At O-Dark-Thirty, I'll be dropping Sabo off at the Delta Air Freight terminal. Then I'll go over to the passenger terminal, and board a Southwest flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta, I'll get my rental car, check-in at our hotel, kill some time, and then drive to the Delta Air Freight terminal to pick up Sabo. The reason I need to kill some time is that there's a two hour drop time before Sabo's flight, and a two hour hold time afterwards. I might go to the Braves game... it's Hank Aaron shirt night.
  
  
• Saturday: This is pretty much a free day in Atlanta. Once we're on the ground, I'll inquire where the cool places to take Sabo are. My only plan is to go to the Coca Cola museum. The Braves also play a night game, and we're staying pretty much across the street.
  
  
• Sunday: Sabo's big day. We're going to the 1:35 edt Nationals @Braves game together... the very last "Bark in the Park" at Turner Field.
  
  
• Monday: It's getaway day, as starting early in the morning I reverse what I did on Friday, except I'll kill that time at the Sabotat. Then that evening, 7:10 pdt, we're going to the D'Backs @Padres game. AFAIK Sabo will then be the only dog ever to see MLB games cross-country on back-to-back days.

Looking forward, the Cubs need a win in Pittsburgh to remain Mighty, and Sabo's Padres finish the dog game season, as well as the regular season, @the D'backs "Dog Days of Fall". Looking back, is was quite a dog game season for Sabo. He attended an amazing 14 pro baseball games. He also 'knotholed' four games from Hotel Indigo, including the All-Star Game. And he visited four new stadiums: Turner Field, along with Cashman Field, LoanMart Field, and The Hanger in MiLB. What about next season? Well, we'll see... but save this date for sure: Monday 2017-8-1 7:10pm Twins @Padres. These are the games Sabo attended this week...


Sunday Sabo started his day with a visit to Fulton County Stadium. Well, what's left of it, which is a section of the OF fence in the middle of a parking lot. Not just any section of fence however, this is where Braves RP Tom House caught the heroic Hank Aaron's #715. Truly a baseball shrine. Georgia State is going to bring baseball back here with a new field when they take over Turner Field for football.

From there, we crossed the street, and entered Turner Field. No pet parade on the field for this game, no vendor giveaways, but Sabo did get a nice Braves leash. He chose a blue one over red. We were directed up several flights of stairs to the upper deck down the LF line. The dog area was the entire upper deck past 3B. Sabo grabbed the best seat in the dog area, front row about 110' down the LF line.

These seats were close too. So close I got hit by a foul ball. I didn't get the ball however, keeping my lifelong streak intact. Anyways, there's a ball hit foul. Sabo's sitting on the seat next to me and not paying any attention. I'm watching, and it just keeps coming and coming, not veering off left/right/up/down. ZOMG, all of a sudden time stands still, and I duck'n'cover Sabo. The ball passes right through where my noggin just was, then slams into the empty seat behind me, right next to a ~90yo man. The energy spent, it must have looped up. Then it softly slides down my back to my butt. Before I could even straighten up and "capture" it, that 90yo reaches down my butt and pulls the ball out.

Sabo's hero, Tyson Rose (above) isn't going to play again this season. His younger brother, Joe Ross, who had been on the DL since July 2nd, started the game for the Nationals. He left after three, giving up one run and eventually got the loss. Which was a mystery to those of us in the stands, but it turns out he was on a strict pitch count.

Unlike it's reputation as Hotalta, it was glorious day for baseball: 75°; with heavy overcast. That was until the top of the sixth. Then we got the rain. It was that strange eastern-staters rain that isn't disagreeable as long as you aren't out in it. NBD, as Sabo & me & everyone else & their dogs all headed up to the Uecker seats, as the last ~12 rows are under a roof. After a 1:07 delay, the tarps were off, and they resumed play. In the bottom of the seventh, it started raining again, and the tarps went back on. Finally, they had the tarps off, and had gotten the field ready to play yet again, when it just started pouring, and flooded the field. The game was called after this second 1:50 delay.

This stadium was the work of a consortium of four architecture firms. It was built as the main stadium for the 1996 Olympics. It was designed to be converted into a baseball stadium after the games, to replace the adjacent Fulton Co Stadium. The stadium was spotless, the sightlines are pristine, and while we couldn't check out the main concourse, by all reports the amenities are top-notch. This was the 7th to last Braves game here... it's absurd the Braves are leaving after only 20 years.


On Sunday, Sabo had all his Padres gear on, of course. When people in Atlanta asked "why", I amazed them by saying I was taking him to Petco Park the next day. Yesterday, he had all his Padres gear on too. When I took Sabo to Petco Park he was once again #1 on the VIP list. I amazed the Bark at the Park check in folks when I told them about Sabo's being at Turner Field the day before. Sabo could easily be the only dog to attend games across country on back to back days.

The paid attendance at Petco was 20,250. The paid at Turner field was 37,296. I'd WAG about only 10k actually showed up for each game. The weather was pretty much identical too: 73° and cloudy. However, I didn't get hit bay any home run balls, and there was no rain (that's not a complete LOL as today's game @Petco was delayed 1:10 by rain). Three time Padre Clayton Richard pitched 6⅔ innings, giving up only two runs, and got the win. Sabo got a Padres rope frisbee toy, which is now his official favorite toy, even though he don't care about toys at all. All and all, it's hard to beat ending a summer stretched out on the grass, both you & your master, pretty much by yourselves, on a beautiful summer evening, in front your shrine, watching your favorite team win. That's Sabo life... gotta that Sabo... he's a good guy !!!1!

To celebrate the change of seasons, Sabo & me are going to spend the day at the Beach Shack. We're also going to revisit the Single Fin bar & grill. I know, I'm terribly behind posting 'wrap's, but we did finally get to visit here. I told the bartender about the Tom Waits connection (he had never heard of him), and about The Missile picture connection, both with previous incarnations of this building. Which I promise to blog when I get around to the 'wrap'. I brought my prop picture of The Missile, and he placed it behind the bar in her honor... pending the approval of management. I'm curious if it's still there.

• Thursday 9-15: Our good friend JQ drove us to Canine Cocktails @Hotel Indigo. Later, back in the Sabotat, I completed Sabo's three month transition to his new nest. That being a travel kennel with his original nest, his Ole'#8 blanket, and the two other red lap blankets, within. First, the top & bottom were separated, with his old nest in one half, and his bowls in the other; then it was assembled with his bowls within and his old nest just outside; then visa versa; and finally the door was installed and closed. Temporarily, to enable this transition, he lost his overnight bed & burrow privileges. Sabo s his new nest !!!1!
  
  
• Friday: I woke Sabo and took him for a short duty walk. Then he climbed right back into his nest. At 4:30 am pdt I closed his nest door, and off we went...down to Lindbergh Field long term parking. There I parked, and carried Sabo's nest to the shuttle bus shelter. The shuttle bus dropped us at the short term parking bridge. I carried Sabo's nest over the bridge to the SWA terminal. There I used the machines to print my boarding pass. Then I carried Sabo's nest to the adjacent Delta Air Cargo terminal. It was now 5:15. They open at 5:30. What could go wrong?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #2}: The shipping clerk was 20 minutes late for work. So by the time we did his paperwork, it was 6:00. Sabo's flight didn't leave until 8:05, so he was good to go. My flight left at 6:20. Rut-roh... I hustle over to to the SWA terminal. At security, put my laptop in a bin, placed my shoes, and emptied my pockets w/phone, wallet and glasses in another bin, and put my bag on the conveyer. Then I hustled out to the gate, and presented my boarding pass at 6:18. What could go wrong now?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #2, Continued}: There were peeps standing by. So they cancelled my reservation at 6:10, ten minutes before fight time. Ouch. And no, the #2 above isn't a typo. What could have already gone wrong?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #1}: I now noticed my relatively expensive prescription sunglasses have gone missing. I hustle back to security. But, in what seems like a monstrous security hole to me... the TSA officer remembers tossing my glasses, we verified the trays were 100% empty, so my glasses had, in his words, "just vanished".
  
  So now I'm the one flying standby. T'm trying to get on a flight to PHX. I was told to check back at the gate at 6:55. Hey... the bar is 15 feet away in plain sight, and as it's now after 6:00 so it's open. So I order up a tall beer, and some breakfast. The bacon was super yummy. At 6:55 I remain in plain sight as I go over to see if I can get on this PHX flight. What next?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #⅛}: Yeah, I was on the PHX flight. But while I was up at the gate, the barkeep picks up my food and beer. I still had some of that super yummy bacon left. I had almost finished the first tall beer however, and he comped me a second tall beer, so I guess I can't really complain. Did I mention the bacon was super yummy?
  
  At PHX I got on the standby list to ATL. I got on that flight too. In ATL I got on the tram to the terminal, then I got on the other tram to the rental cars, where I grabbed my rental. Unlike SAN, where the air freight terminal is ~50yds from the passenger terminals, in ATL Delta Air Cargo is like ~10 miles away in a whole different county. Sabo's release time was 5:15 pm edt. That's when I got there. Finally reunited, I released Sabo from his nest. Off we went to our hotel, the Ramada, right across the street from Turner Field. I park. It's about 6:00. We walk in to check in. Nothing could go wrong now... right?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #3}: The front desk clerk, a pretty young black woman, tells me they stopped taking pets on September 1st. I explained I made these reservations way back in May, we've come all the way from San Diego, and I prepaid through Priceline. She said she was sorry. I asked about a refund. She said I'd need to take that up with Priceline. I asked if she could recommend any pet friendly hotels. She again said she was sorry. She didn't know of any. Rest assured my (perhaps six) readers... I did eventually find us a more expensive hotel near the World of Coca Cola.
  
  
• Saturday: We walked, TYVM.
  
  
• Sunday: I drove to Turner Field.
  
  
• Monday: We check out of the hotel. Then I then took Sabo for a duty walk. At 7:45 am edt I stuffed him into his nest, and off we go... to ATL Delta Air Cargo. By 8:30 he's on his way back to SAN, and I'm on my way to rental return. My flight's at 10:20, nothing could go wrong this time... correct?
  
  Well... {Fiasco #4}: It seems someone had hit-n-dinged my rental car, over on the passenger side front bumper/fender. The only places I parked were at a restaurant up in Cobb County, Turner Field, and the hotel garage. So I'm waiting on an estimate about that. I still, barely, make my nonstop flight. The rest went smoothly. I got back to the Sabotat. A couple hours later I went back to the airport. Sabo's release time, both from the airline and his nest, was 3:15 pm pdt.
  
  That evening, I drove to Pantoja Park in downtown San Diego. From there Sabo & me took a pedicab to Petco Park. After the game, we walked the Martin Luther King Jr Promenade back to the car.

Sabo's now ranked Aztecs are on their bye, and then have another non-conference game. OTOH my Golden Bears start Pac-12 play tomorrow @Arizona State. Last week they finished non-conference play with another exciting win over then #11 Texas, 50-43. Last season it took a missed PAT by the Longhorns. This season Cal scored to break a 43-43 tie with 3:41 left. After a TX punt, Cal looked like they'd clinched it with an apparent TD by RB Vic Enwere at 1:22. However, while showboating, he dropped the ball before crossing the endline. Both CA & TX players ignored the ball on the ground long enough for the refs to rule "no immediate recovery". That gave Cal the ball at the one, indeed clinching the game.

The "Bear Raid" offense was again in high gear, as D.Webb went 27/40, 396 yds, no picks, and threw 4 tds, while rushing for another. He's #2 nationally with 1359 passing yards. OTOH the Cal defense still doesn't seem to be able to stop anyone. The defense again gave up more yards than the offense gained, this time 568 to 507. They have surrendered 31, 45, and 43 points... against generally weaker than Pac-12 offenses.

Things could get wild in Tempe. ASU is averaging 48 pts/gm, Cal is averaging just one less. Both the ASU & Cal defenses have sucked, and are #11 & #12 in the Pac-12. My Golden Bears are averaging the most third most yds/gm in the FBS (580.3), while the ASU pass defense is giving up the most yds/gm (379.3). The Sun Devils have scored the third most rushing TDs this season (13), while Cal has averaged the third most rushing yards allowed (296.3). Surprisingly, the O/U is in double digits (82½).

Cal beat Arizona State 48-46 at home last season. Cal leads the series 18-13. Arizona State is 10-8 at Sun Devil Stadium. The Sun Devils are also starting conference play. They went 3-0 out of conference, handily beating FCS Northern Arizona and then Big-12 Texas Tech at home. Last Friday they squeaked out a win over UTSA @Alamodome. I saw a lot of Sun Devil fans at PHX who were flying to the game that morning. Arizona State is -180, -4pts.


Sabo & myself were at Turner Field last week, so I missed the Jaguars @Chargers game. So, I'll rely on ESPN for the recap above. My Chargers last played the Colts on 2013-10-14, winning 19-9 @Q. The Chargers are 15-8 vs the Indianapolis Colts, including 2-1 in the playoffs (and are 2-1 preseason). They won their only visit to Lucas Oil 36-14 on 2010-11-28. The Colts are 0-2 this season, losing a close Lions game at home, and then a Broncos blowout on the road. The Colts are -140, -2½pts.

While it's certainly likely that Sabo won yapping|taunting rights over me for up to three years Golden Bears... it's also true a championship changes everything. My Red Sox ran off an 11 game win streak to clinch the playoffs... and as we all know, the trick to winning a championship is to get to the playoffs -and- get hot. This morning Baseball Prospectus gave my Red Sox a 24.4% chance to win the World Series. My Red Sox only need 11 wins to hush up that pesky Sabo. Here are the current seeds...

1. Now Rangers. See #2.
2. Now my Red Sox. Could be...

   AL	W-L	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
   Rangers	94-65 +1½	bz W		dr	dr	dr
   my Red Sox	92-66 --	@yn L	@yn	bj	bj	bj
   Indians	91-67 1	@tg L	@tg	@ry	@ry	@ry

   ^{Tiebreakers: Rangers > Red Sox > Indians.}
   
   My Red Sox blew a 3-0 lead in the ninth in Yankee Stadium. They had already "back door"ed the division with the Blue Jays earlier ninth inning meltdown. They're going for the #1 seed of course, but as I've blogged, that really isn't that big of a deal. Anyways, to get that seed, they need to go 4-0 and have the Rangers lose two games -or- go 3-1 while the Rangers go 0-3.
   
   
3. Now Indians. See #2.
4. Now Blue Jays. Could be Orioles, Tigers, Mariners. See #5.
5. Now Orioles. Could be...

   AL Wildcard	W-L	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
   Blue Jays	87-71 +1	or L	or	@rs	@rs	@rs
   Orioles	86-72 --	@bj W	@bj	@yn	@yn	@yn
   Tigers	85-73 1	in W	in	@br	@br	@br
   Mariners	84-74 2	@as W	at	at	at	at
   Astros	83-76 3½	mr L		@an	@an	@an

   
   
6. Cubs locked in at 101-57.
7. Now Nationals. See #8.
8. Now Dodgers. Could be...

   NL	W-L	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
   Nationals	92-66 +2	dm L	dm	mz	mz	mz
   Dodgers	90-68 --	@pd L	@pd	@gn	@gn	@gn

   ^{Tiebreaker: Dodgers > Nationals.}
   
   Fair notice: I haven't been to a World Series game in 32 years, and I said before the season if it's Red Sox vs Dodgers I'd go. Well, that could happen. Both the Dodgers and my Red Sox are in the playoffs. All-Star Sabo-Metrics rates a 10% chance that they'll match up in WS Game #3 @Dodger Stadium on Oct 28th. That's the day after I'm going to see Cal @USC @LA Coliseum. That would be an e7it3 sportscation turnaround. So... after Sabo's Padres close Petco Park tomorrow, of course... go Dodgers !!!1!
   
   
9. Now Mets. See #10.
10. Now Giants. Could be...

    NL	W-L	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
    Mets	85-74 +1½	@mz W		@ph	@ph	@ph
    Giants	83-75 --	rc L	rc	dd	dd	dd
    Cardinals	82-76 1	rd L	rd	pr	pr	pr