Game: The GMAC Bowl
Teams: Ball State Cardinals (12-1) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (10-3)
Location: Mobile, Alabama, Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Start Time: 8PM EST (ESPN)
Network and Announcers: Dave Pasch, Andre Ware
Favorite: Tulsa (-3)
AA's Pick: Ball State 45 - Tulsa 38

Last game before the National Championship. I'll be checking parts of it out after the Clemens interview and I'll be updating the quotes down below the preview. Hey someone's gotta care about Bowling Green and Tulsa right?





Bowling Green vs. Tulsa
The GMAC Bowl
8:00 PM ET, January 6, 2008
Ladd Peebles Stadium - Mobile, AL

Weather: 58 Degrees, Cloudy
Spread: Tulsa -6, O/U 77
AA's Pick: Tulsa -6 (Record 16-11-2)
Announcers: Rece Davis, Mark May, Lou Holtz Bob Wischusen, Andre Ware (ESPN)

Team Leaders

Bowling Green Passing: Sheehan- 63.2%, 3123 Yards, 23 TDs, 11 INTs
Tulsa Passing: Smith- 60.1%, 4753 Yards, 42 TDs, 19 INTs

Bowling Green Rushing: Turner- 101 Carries, 501 Yards, 5.0 avg, 9 TDs
Tulsa Rushing: Adams- 202 Carries, 1113 Yards, 5.5 avg, 7 TDs

Bowling Green Receiving: Barnes- 77 Catches, 891 Yards, 11.6 avg, 9 TDs
Tulsa Receiving: Marion- 39 Catches, 1244 Yards, 31.9 avg, 11 TDs
_____________________________________

Okay, so I completely skipped the majority of Bowl Games to watch American Gladiators, but I did happen to catch this.....

10:29 - Ohio gets the first down on forward progress. That should be considered a moral victory at this point.

10:31 - I think I've ripped off Deadspin for my last two post titles. Hope they don't get mad - I'm counting on their support.

10:32 - To everyone who's still watching this game and talking me down off the ledge, thank you. I'm having a surprising amount of fun and your comments are a large reason why.

10:34 - HA! I never realized that the aforementioned Chip 'n Dale commercial is sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods. Is there such a thing as a triple entendre?

10:36 - It's easy to be cynical, but it was actually nice to see the players from these two schools visiting the children's hospital in Mobile. It might not seem like much to us - "Gee, a guy from a mid-major school, how exciting" - but after working for an independent league baseball team for two years, I've seen how kids respond to any sort of athlete - they love it. They'll be talking about it for weeks. I'm glad they made the effort to do something good like that.

10:39 - Back to cynicism (is that even a word?) - Signal to Noise said... I wasn't aware Dick's supported chipmunk-on-man double teams, but it's clear that they do and the terrorists have won.

I don't even know what to say...these commercials have totally changed my outlook on life.

10: 41 - "Lou P. said...Did Gary Thorne just refer to one of the Southern Miss players as "Old Man Handy"?!?"

I missed that, Lou - but nothing at this point would surprise me.

10:42 - Southern Miss allows Ohio a courtesy touchdown, and it's 28-7.

10:43 - It was funny the first time I saw it, but that Bruce Campbell commercial for Old Spice is starting to annoy the crap out of me. Rob Thomas songs have the same effect on me - I wonder if Rob Thomas wrote it?

10:45 - Mike Gottfried is a father-figure to a 12-year old boy. I don't feel that I'm qualified to comment on this matter.

10:46 - They're joking about him taking Rob Stone's sideline reporting job, but I'm pretty sure he's gunning for Andre Ware.

10:48 - It's early in this drive, but Ohio appears to be stiffening up on defense. I wonder if the game plan all along was to spot Southern Miss four touchdowns, then start playing for real in the fourth quarter.

10:49 - Love the fact that Division 1A is now referred to as the Bowl Subdivision. Thank you, NCAA, for replacing a reasonable term with one that takes twice as long to type.

10:51 - That note from three minutes ago? Just kidding - Austin Everson throws an interception for Ohio, Southern Miss returns it to the Ohio thirty.

10:53 - Signal to Noise said... Ack, I just imagined Fouts, Ware, and Gottfried as the team to call a game, and now I want to pour bleach into my ears to wash the notion out of my brain.

Who is the sideline reporter for this team from Hell? Eric Dickerson or Tony Siragusa (aka the anti-Erin Andrews)?

10:56 - I'm gonna take my kids to Mardi Gras someday. There is plenty of material to deliver pretty much deliver every possible "father to child" talk in that environment.

10:58 - "You know what I'm talking about, right?" - Stone - Until you said that, I was thinking to myself, "Hey, this Rob Stone isn't too bad." Now - just shut the hell up. You're an idiot. And a sideline reporter. (Which is worse: being the sideline reporter working the GMAC Bowl, or being an unpaid blogger writing a live blog of the GMAC Bowl? Wait - don't answer that.)

11:01 - "I'm Gary Thorne with Andre Ware and Rob Stone. Great crew on hand." - Thorne - unfortunately, none of them actually appear on television to talk about the game.

11:03 - "The tallest being Norwood at 6'3", 197." - Ware - first of all, Yahoo! lists Norwood at 6'1". Second, if you're talking about his height, why is his weight even relevant?

11:05 - This one is frighteningly close to being over, so let me get this out of the way now - thanks to Awful Announcing for allowing me to once again take on a live blog on his site. Anytime you need me, AA, just blow on the conch shell and call for me - I'll be playing pool ten feet away.

11:07 - After so many screw-ups this bowl season, it was nice to see a team actually hit the coach with the Gatorade bath.

11:08 - Also deserving of mention, once again: Run Up The Score, Signal to Noise, Awful Announcing and Sam T, who preceded me on the live blog slate these past couple of days. Great job all the way around, fellas - hope I lived up to the lofty standard you guys set.

11:12 - And it's official: Southern Miss takes the GMAC Bowl by the score of 28-7. Both teams finish the season at 9-5.

AA here......damn who was that hot chick with the Southern Miss coach? Anywho, thanks to the above folks who completed the longest day of live-blogging ever. Through internet issues, chilli dinners, and crap-ass Bowl Games....we completed the impossible (or the retarded).

Programming notes: Live-blog tomorrow of the National Championship Game. The same folks will be here, so I hope you will too.

Also, welcome me if you will our newest Live-blogger Marco from Just Call Me Juice. His first assignment? Well it's not exactly an assignment it's his request......College Basketball.....this Tuesday......#6 Ohio State......#4 Wisconsin......ESPN. Be there.

See everyone tomorrow....thanks for stopping by.

9:51 - Okay, so it was about twenty minutes. But we're back - LIVE - at the GMAC Bowl, sponsored by GMAC, in Mobile, Alabama.

Gary Thorne is one of those guys whose voice does NOT match his appearance.

9:52 - I'm confused - we just had the first half kickoff, THEN an interview with Frank Solich and shots of the team running out on the field. Did we really need a TAPED interview with a sideline reporter?

9:53 - I think I'm in LOVE with words in all-caps right now. Need to work on that.

9:55 - I'm a little angry right now - I didn't have time to eat my cake during halftime.

9:59 - Maybe it's because of Ole Miss, but doesn't it feel like Southern Miss should be in the SEC instead of Conference USA? It never fails to surprise and/or confuse me when I hear somebody refer to their conference, but that's due in part to the fact that I forget Conference USA exists.

10:01 - AwfulAnnouncing- said...Wow....Andre Ware might be the worst announcer ever.

I was going to respectfully disagree, as I don't think he's been awful so far tonight, but then he broke out this gem while describing a run by the Southern Miss quarterback:

"Oh no, he broke my ankles."

So yeah, maybe he IS the worst announcer ever.

10:04 - "Effort penalties, I'm okay with - those are just part of the game." - Ware - Andre, tell that to my high school coach, who gave me an earful my junior year when I was called for clipping for blocking downfield. Go ahead...TELL HIM!!!

Deep breath...I'm okay now. Talking about the good old days gets me worked up a little bit.

10:07 - The man-love for Jeremy Young and Damion Fletcher is getting old. Thorne and (especially) Ware have been verbally fellating the two of them for the duration of this Southern Miss drive.

10:08 - I've been waiting to use that "verbally fellating" line for weeks - my blog is more of a family blog, so I'm glad AA has given me the opportunity to break out material like that in more of a "locker room" environment.

10:10 - Fletcher runs laterally left, turns the corner, dives for the pylon, touchdown, 28-0 Southern Miss. Gary Thorne expresses his joy through the majesty of screaming; Andre Ware is so excited, he can't even speak.

10:12 - 17 plays, 80 yards, 9:55 off the clock. That's f'n dominance, kids.

10:13 - Signal to Noise said... AA - if you pair him as color with Dan Fouts as play-by-play, imagine the agony.

You'd need a whole team of live-bloggers to keep up with that duo. I'm having enough trouble just handling Ware by myself.

10:15 - YES - a replay of Andre Ware throwing beads at the parade. Great stuff.

10:15 - Gary Thorne tells us, in one hundred words or less, that Ohio's night has really sucked.

10:18 - I hate when ESPN runs the bowl scores on the Bottom Line along with the dates that the games took place. It makes me think of Christmas-time and my week of vacation. I really enjoy my job, but I enjoy vacation just as much.

10:21 - "We've talked a lot about Fletcher, but Harrison kind of contributing in a big way as well." - Ware - the accompanying graphic showed 18 carries and 60 yards for Fletcher, 5 carries and 71 yards for Harrison. Just a suggestion, Andre, but you might want to talk about Harrison a bit more.

10:23 - Southern Miss is doing us all a favor and letting the clock run before punting the ball away.

10:23 - I love - LOVE - the commercial where the guy says to Chip 'n Dale, "You guys run the double team a lot, right?" Ah, the wonder of double entendres.

10:26 - "They do not want to be skunked, so they better find a way to put on in." - Thorne - I think it might be too late, Gary.

10:27 - And with that less than exciting end-around/reverse/whatever the hell that play is called, we're through three and on to the fourth.

8:47 - Southern Miss is the Golden Eagles. Why is their mascot brown?

8:49 - Ohio throws the ball deep, the quarterback is hit on the throw, Thorne freaks out, and the ball falls incomplete, fifteen yards away from the receiver. Good times.

8:53 - "When I took the job, I had every ambition that I would rule the world." - Monster.com commercial - I felt the same way when I started working at McDonald's.

8:54 - Andre Ware riding in a convertible, throwing beads. Insert joke here: ___________.

8:55 - "I thought I was gonna need rotator cuff surgery after throwing all those beads." - Ware - pretty much sums up his post-college career in one sentence.

8:56 - "Anonymous said...Are you seriously live-blogging this game? God help you."

You better believe it! (Please pray for me.)

8:58 - "Weakley had one reception on the year coming in, so now he has two." - Nance.

8:59 - "He's had an ankle problem." - Thorne (who I mistakenly referred to as Nance about three seconds ago) - nothing wrong with this. It's refreshing to hear him add the word "problem" (injury is also acceptable) after "ankle".

9:00 - Southern Miss caps off a 90 yard drive with a 43 yard touchdown run from freshman back Tory Harrison to open the scoring: 7-0, Southern Miss. And so ends my dream of a scoreless tie.

9:02 - "Sam T said...are you sure that was not a chad pennington quote?"

See Sam - this is why you're a beloved commenter. Comedy gold.

9:03 - I think I know the answer to the AFLAC trivia question. In case you're having trouble, Andre Ware is here to help: "I'll give you a hint: he's a good one...he's a really good one."

9:07 - Great...not only is the girl in the AFLAC commercial hurt and not able to work, she now has a duck-shaped hole in the wall of her apartment. Thanks a lot, AFLAC duck.

9:15 - Almost a great play by Ohio's T.J. Wright, but he can't keep the feet inbounds while trying for the interception. Doesn't matter to Gary Thorne, who issues an orgasmic "WHOA" when the play happens live.

9:16 - Touchdown, Southern Miss - Damion Fletcher dives in from a couple yards out. I've done a complete 180, from rooting for a scoreless tie to rooting for a horrific blowout. I want Frank Solich in tears on the Ohio sideline. I want him to feel the same pain as everyone currently watching this game.

9:21 - BCS final preparations at halftime? Why? What about this game we have on right now? Doesn't it mean anything to you people?!

9:21 - Did anyone else, like me for example, initially think the GMAC and International Bowls had more significance than they actually do just because of how late they are being held? Oh, of course not, me either - I was speaking in generalities.

9:23 - Southern Miss interception, touchdown, Golden Eagles on top 21-0.

9:24 - Oh yeah, I was right about the AFLAC trivia question: it was LaDainian Tomlinson, who was the MVP of the GMAC Bowl in 2000.

9:29 - Alright, ladies and gents: that's the end of the first half. I'm gonna go eat some cake and attempt to write something for my own site and/or amusement, so let's just agree to meet back here in, oh, I don't know, fifteen minutes? Sound good? Good. See you then.