Quick Fire - Arkansas v Auburn

I've gotten some heat from my prediction of the Arkansas-Auburn game. To set the record straight, I think Arkansas is an outstanding team. Their passing game is great, but I am very suspect of their rushing ability and a way to keep the Auburn offense off the field. Auburn's strength is their rush defense, so I can't imagine Arkansas having a redemption game on the ground. However, their passing ability plays to Auburn's weakness, so Chizik and defensive coordinator Ted Roof will have to come up with a gameplan to slow down the Razorback passing game.

Here is how I picture the 4th quarter going down, where Auburn has won most this year. Auburn will get/have the ball at the start of the 4th. They will milk the clock down with a 1-point lead (I am guessing 28-27). Auburn eats up 4-5 minutes, kicks a FG and puts it up to a 4-point lead, 31-27, with just under 10:00 left. Arkansas drives down the field, but can't get into FG range, punts, and Auburn gets the ball with 6-7 minutes left in the game. Arkansas needs a big stop. Auburn drives the length of the field, eats up all but a minute of the clock, scores a TD, put them up by 11. Arkansas claws their way down the field, but eventually runs out of time, heaves a hail mary from about 40 yards out with time winding down, incomplete, ball game.

GoogleCL - Google Command Line

GoogleCL allows you to access Google services via the command line. GoogleCL is available as Debian package, Windows package, and source. Python 2.5 or greater is required. With GoogleCL, I am posting this blog entry. I can also add calendar entries, view current entries, upload to YouTube, and view Google Docs, amongst so much more. Head over to http://code.google.com/p/googlecl/ and download GoogleCL. Keep an ear out on my Twitter feed, @kenosando, and my blog, kenosando.blogspot.com for some scripts I plan on writing for various services.

NCAA Football Four Square: Part Two

So, college football is at its halfway point - but the good news is there is still nearly two months left, but we all know bowl season is so spread out, and several weeks after the final regular season/conference championship games, we aren't really halfway as far as time goes, just in games.

Either way, we still have top 15 matchups in the SEC into week 7 of the college football season. Arkansas at Auburn highlights this weeks SEC matchup, and the only other top 25 matchup of two teams is the Big 10 clash of #18 Wisconsin and #1 Ohio State. I'll do my best to break down both, starting with the Badgers hosting the nation's top team, the Buckeyes.

Wisconsin has flew under the radar this year, and quite frankly the past few years, simply because they don't have the marquee player or coach to propel them into the spotlight. That is probably a great thing for Wisconsin. Although they come in with a loss against still-unbeaten and highly inspired Michigan State (#13 this week), they still have hopes to win Big 10 title and possibly a BCS Championship, although we can't say for sure they are inline with the crazy BCS system. It does hinge on how they fare with the Buckeyes, and a win would surely help their cause, just as South Carolina's redemption game against then #1 Alabama after a tough loss against Auburn two weeks prior. Wisconsin has some bruisers for running backs, both approaching 10 TDs, averaging 6.0+ yards per carry, and could very well control the tempo of the game. I expect some Ohio State players on the defensive side needed a substitute midway through some drives.

Wisconsin has a pretty good defense, ranking 3rd in the Big 10 behind Ohio State and Iowa in yards allowed per game. That comes against UNLV, San Jose State, Arizona State, Austin Peay, Michigan State, and Minnesota, and we can say the level of competition for Ohio State has been similiar, although their win over Miami (FL) was a good resume booster. Ohio State has done well against Indiana and Illinois, we will see how well each defense competes this weekend. I'd like to say Ohio State goes down, simply because we've seen a #1 team go down so often during the regular season in the past, but Ohio State finds ways to win, with Terrell Pryor, a great quarterback who has done nothing but get better, a great defense, a great coach, and simply because they are Ohio State - but not this week! Ohio State 23 Wisconsin 24 (not the lock of the year, sorry!)

Now, on to Arkansas-Auburn. Auburn comes in with a Heisman candidate, an undefeated record, and a #7 ranking. They've had close games in every game, save the cupcakes Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe, and we've only seen the defense dominate a few of their games overall, mainly the Mississippi State game. Cam Newton, Auburn's offensive lineman who plays quarterback, has been impressive. He has remained the second-highest rated passer in the country, simply because he doesn't throw that often, and when he does, the receivers go for touchdowns quite a bit. Nick Fairley, the Tigers' defensive tackle who actually plays defensive tackle, has been lighting up running backs, including Marcus Lattimore, who happened to stomp over the Tide last week. Although the defensive unit is suspect, there are plenty of play makers. The offense is where this team shines, especially running the ball. They have continually progressed on the offensive side of the ball so far this year, and as long as the defense can keep the big plays and long drives to a minimum, Arkansas can be beat.

Arkansas, nearly an opposite team, has been playing improved defense all year, yet their offense has sputtered, even with the conference's best quarterback, Ryan Mallet. However, his three INTs against Alabama doomed their chances, and he has yet to put together a perfect game, which is what a lot of analysts expected of him this year. Over the entire year, his numbers look great, but he can't allow for bad passes or turnovers against Auburn, because they can take the ball down the field at will, read the South Carolina game where two late USC turnovers led to an Auburn win. Auburn will have to play their best defense this year, regardless of how well the Arkansas offense plays, in order to keep their defense off the field and put it in the hands of Cam Newton and their squadron of running backs. This could get ugly late, depending on who's defense steps up. I am leaning towards the Tigers. Arkansas 27 Auburn 38

I've failed miserable of posting a rankings of these college teams, since I thought Texas was a #3 team, and they lost back-to-back. I'll just say Nebraska is a top 5 team, better than Oklahoma, TCU, Boise State, and possibly Oregon. TCU and Boise State will just have to run their tables and hope for the best when it comes to the rest of the top 10 teams.

There are 5 teams that could finish the season undefeated. Ohio State, Boise State, Texas Christian, Oregon, and Nebraska. Can we expect a 1-loss SEC champion to face one of these teams, or will the BCS actually pick two of the top 5 teams?

What if Michigan State and Ohio State both finish undefeated? Co-Big 10 champions playing in a BCS title game?

For the first time in three years, the SEC championship will not be between two undefeated teams, and may not even feature one undefeated team, nor a #1 or #2 team.

Nokia C3-00: First Impressions

I recently ordered a Nokia C3-00 (slate) from Nokia USA for my wife. Since her Samsung Magnet took a swim, she has been using my old Nokia E61. She gets really great use out of it, especially with WiFi and the large screen and great keyboard. However, I felt it be necessary she gets an upgrade (although her Magnet was also an upgrade back in April, but I digress ...) since my eyes have been set on the Nokia N8 for nearly 6 months now.

Upon opening the box (I will get some pictures up in a full review - not a very exciting unboxing) I found a beautifully colored slate blue phone atop the box, and the underneath compartments housed the battery, Nokia's world-famous pin-connector charger, and a set of headphones, which are also for hands-free calling. I powered up the phone without a SIM card, and it asked if I wanted to continue since a SIM was not detected - very nice feature. I then had to manually set the date, time, timezone and daylight savings. Then, on to the home screen, which is setup rather nicely for a feature phone are three slots for "widgets" that can be customized however you'd like. Anything from application shortcuts, Facebook and Twitter status updater, Music and Radio player, Favorite contacts, and more built-in, as well as downloadable from the Ovi Store (which is built-in). I noticed immediately the shortcut keys for Bluetooth (Hold '*') and Silent/Normal profile (Hold '#') didn't work with this version of S40, but not a huge deal, and there are shortcuts that can handle that I found that the lower right button is both the control character and Normal/Silent profile toggle - the Symbol key is now a dedicated key left of the spacebar. The menus look very nice, and the notification screens have large, bold text that makes it easy to see, even on a small screen. The screen itself is nice and bright. I connected my wife's Facebook to the phone, connected to the wireless network at my office, did a Google search straight from the home screen, and was able to pick up a few radio stations via the FM radio built-in (headphones required to act as antenna as usual). The headphone jack is a 3.5mm size, so that is very surprising, considering Nokia's past with the 2.5mm or proprietary connectors, but in this day, it is hard to get away with not having 3.5mm. They keyboard is fantastic, and the keys are a bit longer than the E71's. The phone, although very light in weight, feels durable and well crafted. I sent a picture over Bluetooth from my laptop and it worked seamlessly. The camera takes decent pictures, but they wouldn't let me delete them? I haven't dug into the user guide yet, so I will page through that, and cook up a full review of this very slick feature phone.

NFL Four Square: Part I

We're a quarter of the way through what has been an interesting NFL season thus far. Interesting the the sense that there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason this year, in comparison to previous years. We've have a multitude of unbeaten teams to this point in the past, but this year - one. That one is not the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, or Denver Broncos, all who were undefeated going into week 5. Just one team. Kansas City Chiefs. Although their bye was week 4, their 3-0 record is still the top of the league, but what about the team behind the record? They had a great outing on the opening Monday Night Football, physically man-handling a so far inconsistent San Diego Chargers team. They had a close win against the Browns, and a near perfect game against the 49ers, but these teams have a combined 3-9 record. The rest of the AFC East hasn't made too much noise, although Kyle Orton is leading the Broncos to an NFL best 339.5 passing yards per game, yet they have split their first two games, including an opening day loss to the Jaguars. Orton is on pace to be Denver's best quarterback in their history, statistically that is, not to mention a candidate for MVP, but there just isn't enough on either side of the ball to tip their scales when in a close game, although Denver managed a great win against Tennessee. Denver's complete lack of a rushing attack, aided by Knowshon Moreno's absence due to injury, has been an aid for the passing attack, but Kyle Orton cannot throw the ball 50 times every game and his team win. Peyton Manning proved he could last year with the league's worst rushing offense, but that was Peyton Manning - this is Kyle Orton. With the whirlwind of trades just going down this past week, we can safely assume that the new looks of the Seahawks with Marshawn Lynch and a familiar look with the Vikings with Randy Moss spells for potential disaster. Lest we forget, Lynch has had a few run-ins with the law, one of which resulted in a suspension last year. Add that to his lingering injuries, Seattle may or may not find a great rushing attack duo with Lynch and Justin Forsett - but only time can tell. Moss, on the other hand, may be a total disaster in Minnesota. Sure the Vikings are 100% behind the trade, but how much value will he add if Brett Favre can barely get the ball down field? Favre's main target this year has been tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, mainly because of the injury sustained to Sidney Rice, but he hasn't been able to get a vertical game going for his team, and although Randy Moss is a great talent, the ball still has to be thrown to him for him to be effective. He will more than likely be hit or miss, and you know that he will get the attention from defensive backs, leaving Shiancoe and whoever else dresses up as Viking wide outs to catch the bulk of the passes. At least Favre has some guy by the name of Adrian Peterson.

All ranting aside, let's run through the entire league, from top to bottom, as I see it:

1) Pittsburgh Steelers - I cannot deny the Steelers are back. Back to Super Bowl form. And that included the first four games without their Super Bowl quarterback. The defense has done quite well, and the offense has showed signs of life when needed. The Baltimore game aside, this team is near perfect on defense.

2) Baltimore Ravens - Had they not played so badly against Cincinatti, or if the referees not have officiated so badly, the Ravens would be 4-0. They, like the Steelers, are dominating on defense. The difference is, they have their quarterback, and a new wide receiver in Anquan Boldin, yet their offense has yet to take off, aside from the Pittsburgh game, where the offense drove down the field for the win. Pittsburg is still one up now with Big Ben coming back for their next game in Week 6.

3) Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons lost to the Steelers in overtime on an amazing scamper by Rashad Mendenhall. They have since dominated the Cardinals (not a hard task), squeezed by the 49ers, and edged out the Super Bowl Champs Saints. Not bad for a team in the shadow of the aforementioned New Orleans championship team.

4) New York Jets - Despite a lack-luster offensive showing in week 1, Rex Ryan has ignited the same fire he usually tends to in the defense straight into the spine of Mark Sanchez, Dustin Keller, and Ladanian Tomlinson, because, together, they have won 3 straight, all of which were division games, including a Sunday Night showdown in Miami, and a very respectable defeating of the Patriots. If they continue this pace all year, they will be very tough to beat, even out of the division.

5) New Orleans Saints - You can't deny the Saints are still a great team, although their offense hasn't put up the points and Drew Brees isn't tossing the ball over the heads of defenders as much. Their defense still shows some stiffness, but they have been involved in close games all year, including a last-second field goal to win against the lowly 49ers. They could very well break out and score 40+ for a few games in a row, so this team is dangerous still.

6) Indianapolis Colts - their defense is in shambles, good thing Manning is shooting for a fifth MVP award.
7) New England Patriots - looking good now, but the youth might take its toll.
T8) Houston Texans - their offense has been very productive, save for the Dallas game. With a consistent rushing attack, they're on the move up.
T8) Kansas City Chiefs - The impressive San Diego win coupled with a close win against the improving Cleveland and blowout of declining San Francisco, and we're 3-0 in KC.

10) Green Bay Packers - They gave up too much against Detroit, imploded against Chicago, and let up too early on the Eagles and Vick, but they have Aaron Rodgers.
11) Chicago Bears - they are going down fast, simply because we are not sure about their quarterback situation, even with Cutler playing.
12) Tampa Bay - Although they took a thumping against Charlie Batch and the Steelers, Josh Freeman is showing signs of life and they are off to a good start.
13) San Diego Chargers - Too up and down on both sides of the ball. The Kansas City loss on the opening MNF was the litmus test for this team thus far.
14) Denver Broncos - The leagues top passing team also gives up too much passing on the other side of the ball. Great win against the Titans however.
15) New York Giants - Despite a lackluster performance on offense against the Bears, their defensive domination was a turning point - they hope.
16) Miami Dolphins - Two straight divisional losses in prime time sends the Dolphins spiraling, but they still have the players to make a playoff push.
17) Washington Redskins - Great defense, yet no offensive tempo to be truly dangerous yet.
18) Philadelphia Eagles - With Vick and McCoy out, Kolb will have to make this offense run with the talent of wide receivers to make up for the lackluster defense.
19) Tennessee Titans - Still a tough defense to play against, but Kyle Orton picked them apart just enough for a win. Offense needs more Chris Johnson production.
20) Jacksonville Jaguars - Two blowout losses and two close wins, we can't really get a good feel of what this Jaguars team has to offer.
21) St. Louis Rams - I can't put them too much higher than this, simply because I am skeptical of the defense. Sure they did a number on Washington and Seattle, but both those teams have also been up and down ...
22) Seattle Seahawks - Speaking of up and down, opening with a division blowout against the 49ers and a great win against San Diego, the eggs they laid on offense against Denver and St. Louis can't go unnoticed.
23) Cincinnati Bengals - I completely forgot about the Bengals already. Sure, they beat the Ravens, but when you lose to the Browns, you become an afterthought, even with TO showing up.
24) Dallas Cowboys - Sure, you can say they are better than the Kansas City Chiefs, who are 3-0, but eventually you have to show up on Sunday's to get to the Super Bowl - the week off might hurt their rhythm.
25) Arizona Cardinals - A disaster waiting to happen on every level with this team
26) Minnesota Vikings - Peterson is all they have working for them at the .... wait a minute, is that Randy Moss in Minnesota? We'll see how this fares.
27) Cleveland Browns - The emergence of a rushing attack with Peyton Hillis is the only bright side on offense, although Seneca Wallace isn't losing games for them.
28) Oakland Raiders - A great showing for the Raiders against the Texans, although for some reason, Arian Foster had his way with their defense.
29) Detroit Lions - A would-have-been win against the Bears, an offensive explosion against the Eagles and Packers sandwiched by a typical game against the Vikes = 0-4.
30) San Francisco - They are so close, but so far. 0-4 is not the record of a division champ.
31) Carolina Panthers - Even with Clausen starting, the offense doesn't have anything to scare even East Carolina University.

... and then we have Buffalo.

Until next time!

parmesan garlic (left) & buffalo garlic (right) chicken flatbread

Garlic Naan bread with Buffalo Wild Wings sauces and five cheese blend