Congrats Tampa!

Good job guys. You're like the Bad News Bears (the original, of course) meets Rookie of the Year. Congrats!

Warm regards,
Bill Simmons

I'm in the Times!

Or more accurately, I'm on a New York Times blog. Along with a lot of other bloggers. Ok I'm not special at all but I figured I might as well pretend I am. Each week the NYT blog "The Fifth Down" asks for guest bloggers to write 100 words about the upcoming Jets and Giants games. Since the Niners are coming to town, I wrote one of the entries about the Niners-Giants game. I'm known there as "WJackalope."

Many thanks to Fooch over at Niners Nation for getting the word out and giving us a chance to participate.

Pre-gaming: Asses are Burning

[Editor's note: This will be a regular Friday feature at PlayboyU. It's molded after BDD's Jamboroo.]

That wonderful graph, which greatly resembles the current state of the economy/stock market/financial situation/housing market/the Washington Huskies' season, is from Chris Mottram at The Sporting Blog, who knew long before I that Clemson's Tommy Bowden was a lame duck.

Bowden, who was canned as Clemson's football coach Monday after nine-plus seasons, eight bowl appearances and zero ACC titles, was great at turning a preseason contender (this year, ranked No. 9 and the favorite to win the ACC) into a middle-of-the-road, 8-4, 7-5 kind of team.

Bowden technically resigned and Tigers AD Terry Don Phillips said, "There wasn't a gun to his head."

However, my guess is that there was a knife to Bowden's throat, his Gatorade was poisoned and he was strapped with explosives. But, yeah, no gun to his head.

Dabo Swinney will be the Tigers interim coach. I wouldn't name a kid Dabo. That's mean. The name couldn't have been good for him when he was in grade school.

Bowden is the first coach at a major program to be fired this season, but some could follow soon and others will exit at season's end.

Other coaches whose asses are on fire include:

Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
Ty Willingham, Washington
Tommy Tuberville, Auburn
Ty Willingham, Washington
Ty Willingham, Washington
Mike Sherman, Texas A&M
Ty Willingham, Washington
Greg Robinson, Syracuse
Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee

(Fulmer and Willingham, by the way, are on the hot seat. Thought I should inform you. See a comprehensive list of coaches on the hot seat here).

Whose job will be jeopardized Saturday?

Games broken down on a one-to-four-bunny scale:

Four bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not have sex. Do not watch House re-runs. Turn the fucking channel to this game and watch it."

Three bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not watch House re-runs. If sex is an option, absolutely do not turn it down. Do it twice. But unless you're knockin' boots, watch these games."

Two bunnies means: Eh, if it's pissing rain and your girlfriend is shopping, it's not a bad option.

One bunny means: You've never touched a girl. You're allergic to the sun. Porn doesn't do it for you. You wanna prove that you can, in fact, sit on your ass and watch college football for 12 hours.

Game on. All times Eastern.

No. 11 Missouri at No. 1 Texas, 8 p.m., ABC: Texas' schedule is harder than a fresh-faced 18-year-old getting his first lap dance. Jeez. This thing just doesn't ease up. The Missouri team that lost last week to an over-achieving Oklahoma State is not the same Tigers squad we'll see Saturday. Chase Daniel's Heisman chances dropped like the stock market, but he'll be back. Texas, though, is very, very good. But don't ever name a child Colt. That's mean. If they can name a kid Colt, I'm calling a kid Barbaro. Texas 38, Missouri 34.

No. 12 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State , 3:30 p.m., ABC: Here's Ohio State's chance to get back in some BCS discussion (Buckeyes will still need to beat Penn State on Oct. 25). Michigan State has been playing very well since a tough season-opening loss at Cal. Javon Ringer is among the country's best running backs and Ohio State, ew, I guess that Pryor kid is exciting. That might be the first time I've ever typed "Ohio State" and "exciting" in the same sentence. Ohio State 20, Michigan State 14.

No. 16 Kansas at No. 4 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m., ABC. It's like the Big 12 is the new SEC with multiple top-25 matchups every week. Don't think this one will be close, though. Oklahoma 38, Kansas 24.

No. 22 Vanderbilt at No. 10 Georgia, 12:30 p.m., Gameplan: Weak slate of games in the SEC this week. Not too often does the top game involve Vanderbilt or does any game of significance, for that matter. But just when I started to get excited that Vanderbilt was winning football games, they go out and lose to a hapless Mississippi State squad. Darn. Georgia 24, Vandy 10.

No. 21 Wake Forest at Maryland, noon, Gameplan: The good: Maryland beat Cal and Clemson. The bad: Maryland lost to Middle Tennessee State and got shutout by Virginia. Hey, maybe the strange trend continues. Maryland 24, Wake Forest 17.

Mississippi at No. 2 Alabama, 3:30 p.m., CBS.
Michigan at No. 3 Penn State, 4:30 p.m., ESPN.

Tailgate Beverage of the Week:

Tilt


This alcoholic energy drink should probably be called the "Heart Attack." Somewhere, somehow, I got the impression that mixing uppers and downers wasn't a very good idea.

But if you want to roll the dice, I strongly recommend the lemon lime flavor, pictured on the right. It's stronger, prettier and tastes more like sugar than battery acid. Perfect for game day and the caffeine will take you right into Sunday's NFL slate!

Lou Holtz Pep-Talk Quote:

"@kjxpYxaw;/Rw,nc" (Use the run to set up the pass).

Bet It Hard:

The game you should bet your paycheck on.

No. 6 USC (-42.5) at Washington State. Until Washington State plays like a team that puts 11 guys on the field at one time, I'm picking against them -- even as a six-touchdown underdog.

2008 Bet It Hard Record: 3-0. (All picks against WSU).

Pac-10 Player That I Want to Hang With a Fucking Jump Rope:

Lyle Moevao, QB, Oregon State.

I've never met Lyle Moevao. Sure, he's better looking, better at football, and bangs better (and more) women. Just for that, I want to hang him with a fucking jump rope. (But that goes for just about every athlete, entertainer or celebrity).

But Moevao grinds my fucking gears because he has made me look like a fucking moron.

I had the chance to draft Moevao in one of the middle rounds of my Pac-10 fantasy league draft. But thinking Oregon State was mediocre and last year's starter Sean Canfield was back, Moevao would platoon at best.

So I drafted Tavita Pritchard of Stanford to play QB. Pritchard was the hero in the Cardinal's shocking win over USC last season and he was a young talent in the pass-happy Pac-10. (Or what used to be the pass-happy Pac-10).

Bad. Fucking. Move.

Moevao has thrown for nearly 1,600 yards and has 14 total TDs.

Pritchard has thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and has eight total TDs.

Start sucking, Lyle. (I also wouldn't name a kid Lyle. That's almost as mean as Dabo).

Playboy Babe of the Week:


March, 2004 Cybergirl Melissa Puente.

Yum. Thought I needed a little diversity in this spot.

Boner-popping photos here (NSFW! Or look at porn at work. See what I care. I'm looking at porn right now and I'm working. So there.)

College football and Playboy. What could be better? Enjoy the games, friends.

Giants fans celebrate Dodgers losing

The SBNation Giants Blog McCovey Chronicles is one of the most popular and busy blogs on the SBNation network. And last night the "McCoven" as they refer to themselves were brought together by one thing: The Dodgers losing. The celebration on McCC far overshadowed what was seen on the Phillies Blog, The Good Phight.

Looking at these blogs it's astonishing to see that more Giants fans were participating in the Gameday thread on McCC than Dodgers fans were on True Blue LA. Looking closer we see that True Blue LA gets a lot less traffic than McCC. For instance, McCC's recent fanposts include 10 from the last 2 days. True Blue LA's 10 most recent fanposts date back an entire month.

But what's really striking is the aftermath of the Phillies clinching the NLCS victory last night. The gameday thread on True Blue LA picks up here, with the best comment:

Now we just have to worry about the disasters Colletti cooks up this off-season.

The Good Phight celebration starts here, and is pretty subdued. But over on McCC the game ends and the party begins, people going crazy, throwing up images, you can practically hear these people sitting in their mothers basements yelling and popping bottles of bubbly. They even started a separate post game celebration thread. Ok I confess, I was one of them. BEAT LA!! BEAT LA!!

So what does this teach us? Giants fans care more about the Dodgers losing than Dodgers fans.

The Citgo sign is on fire

The roof the roof the roof is on fire
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker burn

Boston Boston Boston is on fire
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker burn

The Red Sox the Red Sox the Red Sox are on fire
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker burn

The Citgo sign the Citgo sign the Citgo sign is on fire
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
Burn motherfucker burn

No joke. The famous Citgo sign outside of Fenway Park was on fucking fire.

The fire Wednesday melted and blackened some of the plastic panels on the red, white and blue Citgo sign over Fenway's Green Monster in left field. No one was injured.

The wire story made all the "Boston's season could be up in flames" jokes for us, so that leaves us nothing more clever than: Fuck Boston! (Great sign, though. A true landmark).

An interview with Maxine Christine of Playboy's Girls of the Big 10 issue

As part of the gig at PlayboyU, we get access to Playmates, Cybergirls and, most recently, Girls of the Big 10. Access does not mean: in-person interviews, party invites or mouth sex. Access does mean: email contact, promotional photos and that's it. No mouth sex. Fuck.

But today we get to hear from Big 10 hottie Maxine Christine. She's a Northwestern student, though we asked her nothing about the Wildcats' fast start on the football field. But we did ask her about the craziest place she's done it. (She didn't answer). You can see a few safe-for-work photos here. Enjoy, knuckleheads.

1. For the record:

Name: Maxine Christine
Age: 19
Occupation: Student - Dance and Spanish double major
Location: Northwestern University

2. You're in the Girls of the Big 10 edition. Awesome! Tell us about the process. How'd you hear about the opportunity? What was the process like of being selected? How long did the shoot take?

It's kind of a funny story. When I got back to my dorm one night last fall all the girls on my floor were giggling around our school newspaper reading an article about the Playboy auditions. That was the first time I heard about the audition, and apparently they already happened earlier that week. As soon as I finished reading the article I e-mailed Playboy to see if I could still arrange an audition. I auditioned the next day and the day after that, their last day in town, I had my photo shoot. They told me right on the spot that I would have a photo shoot the next morning so luckily I didn't have to wait for that phone call. I would say the photo shoot, including wardrobe, makeup, and scene setup took about four hours.

3. Not only were you in the issue, but jeez, you won Hottest Girl of the Big Ten! What was your reaction?

I feel so honored to win, especially representing Northwestern University where Hugh Hefner used to study. I was so pleased to just be discovered last fall. Now, winning the title of Hottest Girl in the Big Ten, I am one step further in the Playboy family. The entire ride has been such a positive learning experience this far, and I hope it continues into the future.

4. Now that you've been in Playboy, what's the reaction like now around town? Are you like a minor celebrity? More heads turning now?

Haha...yea I guess you could say more heads are turning now. I've definitely noticed that way more people know me by name now compared to freshman year. But honestly, I don't consider myself a "celebrity" so its kind of funny when freshman girls come up to me and tell me that I'm their idol...I think they are more interested in my sorority life than me.

5. Have any other modeling opportunities come up since you posed for the premiere men's magazine?

I've had a few offers, but haven't acted on anything yet because I am working on a project of my own. I can't give any details yet, but you will hear about it within the next few weeks!

6. Hypothetical situation (sort of). You're out a party. You have like 20 guys approach you throughout the night:

a. Which ones do you give the time of day to?

The guys who are confident with themselves, but not to the point of arrogance. And NOT the creepers.

b. How do you let them know you're not interested?

I always feel bad letting a guy down, because I know it takes courage to walk up to the opposite sex and start a conversation. But I usually find a way to end the conversation and walk away without giving them my number, or I'll have one of my wing girls save me.

c. Which one are you going home with?

Well, if I told you that I wouldn't get to meet the other 19 guys...

7. D.O.B. is June 20, 1989. You're a baby! What's the frat/house party scene like at Northwestern? Been able to sneak into bars, yet? How's it being close to Chicago and how's the nightlife there?

Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't know how to have a good time. Northwestern is not a state school...but we can hold our own...the party scene is fun especially when I turn it into a mad dance party!! Chicago is a fun city but I usually go downtown to see dance shows or plays that my friends are in so I haven't really tasted the full nightlife scene there yet. I'm working on it though!

8. Dream job? Go.

My dream job is to own, choreograph for, and dance in my own dance company. I can't see my life without dance, but I am a marketer and a fundraiser so owning a dance company would be a perfect fit for me! I have a very strong ballet background, but I am also working on my modern, lyrical, jazz, and hip hop, so I hope to create a really diverse and exciting company some day.

9. It's Saturday night, 11 p.m. What are you doing?

You can find me on the dance floor tearin' it up!

10. Quick hitters:

a. Favorite drink? Starbucks Hazelnut Latte
b. Favorite sport to watch? Does dance count?!?
c. Favorite sport to play? Mud wrestling
d. Favorite late-night food? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
e. Favorite position? That's for me to know and you to find out ;)
f. Granny panties or g-string? G-string!
g. ESPN or E!? E!
h. Jeans or sweats? Boys' sweats...so comfy!!
i. Your preference: all natural or fake it? All natural
j. Favorite movie? That's too hard...but I can tell you that I do not like scary movies.
k. Threesome: Pick one -- Absolutely! Never! Already tried it, thanks! Absolutely!!

Big Brown haning up his (horse) shoes

When we first heard the news that Big Brown had injured his right front foot, we immediately thought the worse.

We're not too far removed from the passing of Eight Belles and, of course, Barbaro to think that a foot-related injury could spell the end of days for Big Brown.

Good news: it's not! No one's getting euthanized anytime soon, though Big Brown's racing career is over, which is probably getting the folks at PETA all riled up. RACING IS BAD! ANIMALS ARE GOOD! REVOLUTION!

Nearly two years later, we still can't believe Barbaro is dead. Fuck. Just as you're getting to like someone.. (That photo, by the way, is a picture of Barbaro, because who the fuck knows the difference between these horses anyway?)

Pre-gaming: Red River Shootout Edition

[Editor's note: This will be a regular Friday feature at PlayboyU. It's molded after BDD's Jamboroo.]

Fuck it. Right to the good stuff this week.

Games broken down on a one-to-four bunny scale of watch-ability.

Four bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not have sex. Do not watch House re-runs. Turn the fucking channel to this game and watch it.

Three bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not watch House re-runs. If sex is an option, absolutely do not turn it down. Do it twice. But unless you're knockin' boots, watch these games.

Two bunnies means: Eh, if it's pissing rain and your girlfriend is shopping, it's not a bad option.

One bunny means: You've never touched a girl. You're allergic to the sun. Porn doesn't do it for you. You wanna prove that you can, in fact, sit on your ass and watch college football for 12 hours.

Here we go. All times Eastern.

No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma at Cotton Bowl, 12 p.m., ABC: This is pretty much the East Coast's version of sticking a hockey stick in the West Coast's collective ass. After a late night of partying Friday, us West Coasters are supposed to be up by 9 a.m. to see kickoff? Fuck. That. Primetime was meant for a fucking reason and this was one of them. You have two top teams, with the winner being a front-runner for the BCS title game and I have to set an alarm? Not fun.

As far as the game goes, well, it should be good. So good I might set my fucking alarm on a Saturday morning to see this. Fuck the schedulers! Ridiculous. FYI, this is a "home game" for Oklahoma despite it being played in Dallas. We'll see how that works out. Oklahoma 30, Texas 24.

No. 4 LSU at No. 11 Florida, 8 p.m., CBS: Love the SEC! Love it! Jeez, I think if I could stick my penis into the SEC, I would probably consider it after three Long Islands.

Another blockbuster -- this one in Primetime; take a fucking hint, Big 12 -- and while Florida is sitting right outside of the top 10, I'm still convinced the Gators are a top-five team.

LSU will start Jarrett Lee at quarteback, but Andrew Hatch, who still isn't quite sure where he is after getting a concussion a few weeks back against Auburn, will get in the game within a few offensive series according to coach Les Miles.

No QB issues for the Gators as reigning Heisman winner Tim Tebow will guide Florida. The man is a good football player. For some reason I root against him. It's probably because he could fuck anything that walks. That's where he and I differ. But I think he's probably capable of beating a solid Tigers defense all by himself. The home crowd won't hurt either. Florida 14, LSU 13.

No. 17 Oklahoma State at No. 3 Missouri, 8 p.m., ESPN 2: Oklahoma is one of those ranked teams which I imagine that most college football fans can't name a player. I can name two pretty good ones on Mizzou: QB Chase Daniel and WR/KR/STUD Jeremy Maclin. Those two are enough, at home, to make this one a laugher. Missouri 45, Oklahoma State 20.

No. 6 Penn State at Wisconsin, 8 p.m., ESPN: Back-to-back tough losses for Wisconsin who has gotta be one of those unranked teams that could probably beat anyone ranked from 10-25 on a given day.

Penn State, meanwhile, is the only reason I still take the Big 10 remotely seriously. The Nittany Lions are playing awfully well with that new spread offense, showing some remarkable athleticism from the QB spot which hasn't been present since Michael Robinson

Wisconsin could put a good scare into PSU, but how can you pick against Joe Pa? Penn State 24, Wisconsin 21.

No. 23 Michigan State vs. Northwestern, 3:30 p.m., ESPN 2: Michigan State hasn't lost since Week 1. Northwestern -- Northwestern! -- hasn't lost at all. 5-0, bitches!

But the Wildcats have played Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio and Iowa. Those teams are not real football teams. Michigan State is. Michigan State 38, Northwestern 20.

Arizona State at No. 8 USC, 12:30 p.m., ABC

Tennesse at No. 10 Georgia, 12:30 p.m., CBS: Much like a trainwreck, I might be drawn to this just to see how bad the Vols look. If they lose ugly, is that it for Phillip Fulmer? Georiga 21 Tennesee 9.

Colorado at No. 16 Kansas, 12:30 p.m., ESPN.
Notre Dame at No. 22 North Carolina, 12:30 p.m., ABC.

Tailgate Beverage of the Week:

MICKEYs Grenades


The wide-mouth, non-40 version of Mickeys basically says, "I'm gonna puke later and I don't give a fuck who knows about it."

Perfect drink for the fan who doesn't mind being in the toilet by halftime or who needs liquid-help to watch his miserable team.

Lou Holtz Pep-Talk Quote:

"PizUop*ax#L+wkp" (Don't stop until you hear the whistle).

Bet It Hard:

The game you should bet your paycheck on.

Washington State at Oregon State (-30). Back-t0-back weeks I've gone against Wazzu and I've nailed it twice. No reason to switch things up, even with the 2-3 Beavers more than a four-TD favorite. Washington State is miserable and Oregon State, well, no need to praise OSU. Washington State is dreadful.

Pac-10 Player That I Want to Hang With a Fucking Jump Rope:

USC wideout Vidal Hazelton is on my shit list this week. Originally the high-flying Trojans' No. 2 receiver, Hazelton caught five passes for 33 yards in USC's opener against Virginia and hasn't played since. He hurt his ankle and is being a little pussy about it.

Get the fuck back in there, man. You're one of my top wideouts. I need your help, bro!

Playboy Babe of the Week:


Mellie Zadeh.

See. I don't just like blonds with fake cans.

Relatively, but not really...well, sorta, kinda safe-for-work photos here.

College football and Playboy. What could be better? Enjoy the games, friends.

Blogger Interviews: Busted Coverage

We're running a segment here at The Big Picture where we'll interview some of the biggest names in the sports blogosphere. What's the point? Well, these guys spend countless, thankless hours writing, so a little recognition from time to time is well warranted. Think of this as the blogger's version of a reach-around or something.

Gotta fun one today as Joe from Busted Coverage joins us. Busted Coverage is bringing you anything but the Xs and Os -- ranging from good college football finds to hot chicks that are far more entertaining than sports. Joe work his ass off to bring you plenty of content daily, so make sure you have at it in the comments.

1. The rundown:

Name: Joe
Location: Ohio
Occupation: Work in newspaper industry
Favorite team: Baseball (Reds), Football (Bengals)
Favorite posts(3-5):

The Alison Stokke Cal Photo post was a huge moment for Busted Coverage. For some reason not much had been written about Stokke and she was half way through her freshman year of college. One day I was looking through Flickr and about shit when this image popped up. It was the first Stokke college photo posted on the Internet and I found it. It was a huge ego booster.

The 7 Scariest Women At The Olympics was great because it hit the front page of Digg and was on sites around the world. It was a highlight of this year's sports blogging of the Olympics.

The Tim Tebow doing the Heisman was a quick post but one of my favorites because of how lucky I was to find that photo which was buried in some blog about a family who was with the Tebow church in Asia. When the photo was discovered the sports world had no idea Timmy was even overseas. That photo quickly spread across the Internet and started at BC.

Time spent per day blogging/reading blogs: 4-5 hours blogging. 2-3 reading.

2. Busted Coverage is a go-to spot for sports, booze, and especially trim. How do you balance the posts ranging from sports to hot chicks in sports to hot chicks that are loosely-if-at-all connected to sports?

This site isn't supposed to be about Xs and Os. If people want that they will visit the great sites like ESPN, The Sporting News, SI, etc. I refer to BC as "sportstainment." Visitors will find something that they won't see on SportsCenter, like Cuff 'Em.

There is no real theory into balancing things. There is no rule that says every post has to be related to sports. Isn't that what made the Internet great? If we wanted to follow rules then working 9 to 5 for the man seems logical.

3. BC links to some of the best stuff around. How do you find some of these gems? Scour the depths of the Interwebs? Get emailed in tips? Do tell.

The initial way to making the site successful was opening up the Daily Dump to anyone. And I mean anyone (within reason). Bloggers were and still are encouraged to send in links. Sharing traffic with guys who are busting their ass only makes sense.

As for how to find gems, the secret is to get your ass out of bed very early and beat everyone to the punch. Sleep is pretty overrated if you want to be successful in this business.

4. The chicks you post about or link to are just absolute dimes! But they're like unknown hotties. And we know porn and hot chicks 10 times better than the next guys. Where are you finding these ladies? Any good sites we should check out when we're all alone? (Links, please!) And you whack it like three times a day, yes?

The women just somehow find their way to us. Sites such as CelebSlam.com, GorillaMask, CamelTap, on205th all do a great job providing me with images. There is also a pretty high level of scouring to 'discover' chicks. The Central Michigan 18-year-old that popped up recently became a huge hit and I cannot even remember how it all happened.

I'm not really into mainstream women. Most of the beautiful women featured on the site have never appeared in a movie, magazine or football sideline.

5. The 2007 Sports Blog of the Year tournament was a brilliant idea and fun before you gave us a No. 16 seed and put us up against FanHouse you fucking asshole. (Kidding. Sorta.) Can we expect a 2008 edition?

Great question! Of course there will be a 2008 edition. Bloggers really took to this idea and things went pretty crazy over a 3 week period in 2007. It was a transition period for me and Busted Coverage. The site was originally called Big Ten Tailgate but lawyers had an issue with that name. Within three weeks of being shut down Busted Coverage was pretty much a known name throughout the sports blogosphere.

I actually want the SBOTY Tourney to be a pretty big fucking deal. Bloggers, no matter what they say, want to be recognized for being idiots who post Erin Andrews photos. The tourney is a great way to end the year.

If you are lucky we'll get you a 15 seed.

6. There are all sorts of wonderful blogs out there. A few you'd recommend?

TV Tan Line is one of my favorites and is pretty much an unknown. Scott does a great job with screen grabs. It wonderful to not have to read, just look at the photos.

Fire Joe Morgan, of course. Great writing.

I'm always reading what Matt has to say at With Leather. The guy can write unlike most of us.

Awful Announcing is great for a fix of sports media news.

I'm not a huge blog geek. There are things like eating dinner, watching the Daily Show and dating that usually eat up my time.

7. Most rewarding parts of blogging? Most frustrating?

The rewards come in the mail and must be cashed at a bank. I am amused by people who get into a business and act like it's not about money. Bullshit. I took my father to the USC-OSU game in L.A. with money from this site. It was a great father-son moment and wouldn't have been possible without BC.

But in a real sense this blogging stuff opens up so many doors in life. I would have never had contact with certain people if this blog never happened. I would have never been mentioned on a cable TV show if not for BC. It sounds pretentious, but I really think people are looking for a little recognition in life.

Seeing your site name on Sports Illustrated can help one's ego. Knowing that your site is being looked at by some pretty friggin' important people is amusing for a guy who grew up in Small Town, USA. There was no golden spoon.

The frustrating part would be the lack of sleep. Getting up any later than 6:30 a.m. is not an option.

8. Dream job? Go.

Owning an Internet blog publishing company and putting together a team of 5-7 people (with sites) capable of sharing my passion for blogging.

9. What's the ultimate goal of your site/your writing?

I want the site to continue its current growth pattern. BC has set new visitor highs the last three months.

I also would like to take the site on the road more often to big sporting events. The Kentucky Derby, an SEC football game, an MMA fight, etc. would be great events for BC fodder.

11. It's hard to get a new site off the ground, and coming to the blogosphere in 2007, BC was already entering a world with established sites. How'd you carve out a niche and start getting good traffic?

By making friends. It sounds simple and is.

I also started getting good traffic by not dicking around with Xs and Os. Again, Internet readers have a trigger finger. If it's more than three paragraphs it better be an award-winner because it's off to another site for many of these people.

And if one is to be successful, I've said it before, be prepared to write your ass off. It's like being a car mechanic. You can't just work on one car a day. That just doesn't cut it. The guy isn't going to feed his family with that work ethic.

12. You're having dinner with a college football coach, a famous athlete and a smokin' hot babe. Who are they? Why? And, hey, where are you having dinner?

The college football coach would be Mark Mangino. Just to watch him pound the food. It must be a sweet sight.

The athlete would be John Daly just to watch him pound the beer.

And the hot babe would obviously be Erin Andrews. After reading about her breakfast eating habits I can only imagine dinner.

Dinner would be at a hibachi just to watch the cook's face when Mangino and Daly are followed by Erin Andrews. Sake bombs for everyone!

(Past interviews; also found on right sidebar: Dawizofodds; Matt Ufford; The Mighty MJD; Jamie Mottram; The Big Lead; The Cavalier; Will Leitch; Dan Shanoff; Dan Steinberg; Brooks; Unsilent Majority; J.E. Skeets; Henry Abbott; The Dugout; NFL Adam; Bethlehem Shoals; Orson Swindle; Big Daddy Drew; Brian Cook; Awful Announcing; JoeSportsFan; Matt Mosley; Chris Mottram; Dave Lozo; Christmas Ape; Jason Gurney; Hugging Harold Reynolds; Rick Stiles George.)

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Zach Wins! Zach Wins! Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaach Wins!

Ladies and Gentlemen you heard it here first, Zach's fantasy football team finally won! After a brutal 0-4 start he finally broke through with a victory this week. Never mind the fact that his team scored a modest 67.77 points and that the team he played managed only 34.57. He won!

Zach will spend the day sending thank you cards to LT, McNabb, Santonio Holmes, LenDale White, Chris Johnson, Josh Scobee, and the Green Bay defense for all scoring less than four points apiece and dooming Zach's opponent, who was previously 2-2. Zach's favorite fantasy player Ryan Grant got him 4.15 and he was carried by Stephen Gostkowski, Roddy White, and Reggie Bush.

It may not be pretty, but a win is a win. Congratulations, Zach!

You -- yeah, you -- can play quarterback for Washington State

High school football hero? Wanna impress that Tri-Delt you've been trying to nail? Feel the need to prove yourself to your militaristic father who's still pissed you chose choir over football in high school?

We got the answer for you: Try out to be the Washington State backup quarterback!

The need to cull a quarterback from the nearly 25,000 students became urgent because WSU lost starters Gary Rogers and Kevin Lopina to injury. Redshirt freshman Marshall Lobbestael, who began the season third on the depth chart, has started the past two games, and freshman J.T. Levenseller and redshirt freshman Dan Wagner are listed as backups.

It's good that first-year Cougs coach Paul Wulff is attributing the need to find a backup QB to multiple injuries opposed to, say, a 1-4 record with losses of 66-3 and 63-14.

Denial, they say, is the first step.

RAYS!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Picture Field Trip: Seattle Mist Tryouts

We told you that the new Seattle Lingerie Football team was holding tryouts Friday. Because we don't feel we give you enough masturbation material already, we went to check it out. Don't say we aren't dedicated to you, loyal readers.

It was pissing rain, but that didn't stop about 50 girls from attending the "tryout." And it was sorta like a football tryout, with real drills, cones and footballs.

Thankfully, the girls were told to wear "cute athletic wear." They did. We played a little pocket pool.

The dude running it, who apparently owns a production company, looked like he was doing this to help fuel his coke habit. The motherfucker could've written "sleeze" across his white shirt and nobody would've noticed anything different. The dude was wearing sunglasses and it was in the 50s and raining. You know how we feel about sunglasses when they aren't called for.

Of the 50 or so girls, 12 will make the team and there might be a few "alternates" if girls go down with injury, or, according to Sleezy Sunglass Bro, if the girls, "get impregnated."

Happens.

The girls weren't like wildly hot, be we would've probably banged about 98% of them. A few wanna-be-strippers, a few girls who maybe played some PowderPuff in high school.

Or, like Alicia McLauchlin told Hotdog & Friends:

I was working for T-Mobile and I just quit a couple days ago because I basically hated my job a lot. This would be a much better job -- I feel like I'm more set up for something like this.

As far as the football skills go, well, it's a good thing they're getting hired for their looks. Your amputee grandfather would look like Joe Montana compared to these broads.

Since we're here for you guys, we set up a little photo gallery below. Click the images for a larger view.

There. The Seattle Mist. Welcome, ladies.

Pre-gaming: College GameDay Signs

Photo courtesy of Football Jesus Las Vegas

[Editor's note: This will be a regular Friday feature at PlayboyU. It's molded after BDD's Jamboroo.]

I've never been to a game where ESPN's College GameDay has been. The nature of being on the West Coast, probably, in that the Pac-10 gets maybe one game a year with Fowler, Corso and the gang. Washington has not been involved in that game since I've been in Seattle. Probably a good reason for that, like not winning.

Perhaps watching College GameDay on TV is better because you can then see some of the signs more clearly. And while most of the inappropriate signs get taken down by ESPN staffers, a few of the gems sneak their way through and live temporarily on-air and forever on the Internet.

The "inappropriate" signs can be categorized three ways.

1. Those making fun of ESPN talent.

If it's poking fun at Lou Holtz or blatantly calling Lee Corso a penis, these signs make it clear that certain people shouldn't be on TV.

Photo courtesy of Deadspin

2. Those making fun of an opposing team's player.

Some of these signs can be PG: "Chase Daniel Eats Boogers." Or they can be more R-rated and subtle: "Tebow ♥'s Coach Urban Meyer."

Photo courtesy of CollegeGameBalls

3. Those making fun of the opposing school or region.

These can be highly creative and fun. Kinda like, "Washington State students bag my groceries." These are often humorous, yet can be tasteless. But fuck it, they're just signs. Go to town!

Photo courtesy of CollegeGameBalls

What signs will we see when GameDay is at Vanderbilt for the Vandy-Auburn game Saturday?

Speaking of games...what should you be watching Saturday? I'll break it down for ya on a one-to-four bunny scale of watch-ability.

Four bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not have sex. Do not watch House re-runs. Turn the fucking channel to this game and watch it.

Three bunnies means: "Do not go out. Do not watch House re-runs. If sex is an option, absolutely do not turn it down. Do it twice. But unless you're knockin' boots, watch these games.

Two bunnies means: Eh, if it's pissing rain and your girlfriend is shopping, it's not a bad option.

One bunny means: You've never touched a girl. You're allergic to the sun. Porn doesn't do it for you. You wanna prove that you can, in fact, sit on your ass and watch college football for 12 hours.

Here we go. All times Eastern.

No. 14 Ohio State at No. 18 Wisconsin, 8 p.m., ABC: It's one of those weeks lacking serious marquee games. When I lead off the four-bunny games with some Big 10 action, you have to know that if there's any Saturday to embrace the Farmer's Market, go see a foreign film or have a fucking picnic, this is the one.

Ohio State still has a lot to play for, whether you want to accept that or not. The Buckeyes have demonstrated the past three years that they can't beat any good teams, but they can sure beat the OK ones; and the Big 10 is filled with OK teams. If the Buckeyes run the table; USC loses again; Texas, Oklahoma and Mizzou all lose twice; and the SEC doesn't have two one-loss teams, theOhio State could get back to the National Championship. After writing that, Ohio State making the BCS title game seems as likely as Jessica Alba and I procreating. Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 13.

No. 13 Auburn at No. 19 Vanderbilt, 6 p.m., ESPN: It's another game between two ranked SEC teams (expect that sentence every week), but as far as prime SEC games go, this is not the brightest star. Auburn's D is among the best in the conference, but the Tigers' offense is about as effective as trying to masturbate with an oven mitt on your hand.

Vandy's looked good. VANDY! Fucking Vanderbilt is ranked! But how long can it last? I just can't take the Vanderbilt Commodores seriously. I want to. I do. Really. But I just can't. Auburn 9, Vandy 3.

No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC, 8 p.m., ABC: I'm not really in the mood to look this up, but I can't remember the last time USC lost back-to-back games. For how lousy the Pac-10 has been this year, Oregon is a bad game against Boise State from being in the top 15. USC, at home, is the clincher for me, but even if this was Autzen Stadium in Eugene, I'd be hard-pressed to pick against the Trojans coming off a loss. USC 38, Oregon 30.

No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska, 9 p.m., ESPN: A casual fan sees this game on paper and will expect another Mizzou rout. The way that the Tigers have played, it'd be hard to argue. But I talked to a knowledgeable coworker who's a Missouri alum and he's genuinely concerned about this game. For good reason, too. Mizzou hasn't won in Lincoln in nearly 30 years, according to him. It's a hard place to play and Bo Pelini has that Husker defense playing better. It'll be closer than expected. Missouri 27, Nebraska 21.

No. 5 Texas at Colorado, 7:10 p.m., FSN?
Arizona State at Cal, 3:30 p.m., ABC.

Florida State at Miami, 3:30 p.m., ABC: This game would've been relevant in 1999. Now, one-bunny status. How quickly some teams can fall. (I cut and pasted that sentence from last week's Virginia Tech-Nebraska game. One-part laziness, two parts making a point.) Florida State 23, Miami 14.

No. 24 UConn at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN 2.
Illinois at Michigan, 3:30 p.m., ABC.

Tailgate Beverage of the Week:

Bloody Mary


1 1/2 oz vodka
3 oz tomato juice
1 dash lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 drops Tabasco® sauce
1 lime wedge

The perfect drink for that early-morning tailgate. Fucking great first thing in the morning with your eggs and bacon. I also love Bloody Mary's when you get the celery, green bean, olives, onion and lime wedge in there. You might think I'm a pussy, but I fucking love getting plowed while eating a salad. My mother would be proud of me for eating my vegetables.

Lou Holtz Pep-Talk Quote:

"Io8ti(x$v?risxz%Dmp" (Keep the chains moving).

Bet It Hard:

The game you should bet your paycheck on.

Washington State at UCLA (-17). Last week I went with Oregon over the Cougs as the Bet It Hard of the week and the Ducks put up over 60 points. Until Washington State proves it belongs in Division I, I'm picking against them. Take the Bruins.

Pac-10 Player That I Want to Hang With a Fucking Jump Rope:

Last week I ragged on Tavita Pritchard and then he went out and had a three-touchdown game. I no longer want to hang him with a jump rope. Maybe just knock a few teeth out.

This week's Pac-10 player that I want to hang with a fucking jump rope is Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount.

First off, what kind of fucking backwards name is LeGarrette? If he's calling himself that, I'm going to start calling myself TheZach.

Also, I have Jeremiah Johnson on my Pac-10 fantasy team. Johnson was my first pick and has been fine, but fucking TheGarrette has been stealing carries from Jeremiah. I don't like that. I spend a first-round pick on a running back and that motherfucker better be getting the bulk of the carries. If Blount doesn't pull a hamstring, I'm gonna be pissed. I might have to then, ya know, roll a blunt.

Playboy Babe of the Week:


Heidi Rae.

Heidi looks like she's ready for school. (She's probably ready for something else, too...)

More not-safe-for-work photos here.

College football and Playboy. What could be better? Enjoy the games, friends.