Some of you may be wondering what happened to the Longhorns in the first quarter as the Baylor Bears put the hurt on the reigning national champs for a nanosecond before totally falling apart. As a guy who was formerly sort-of engaged to a Baylor co-ed, I can sum it up in one word: naughty.

Yes, the Bears were being naughty. Everyone told them they didn’t have a chance against the big, bad Mega-State-U, and they looked upon it much as they did when told that dancing is sinful, and sleeping with a preacher’s daughter is a lot more fun when it’ll send you straight to hell. (Hell, by the way, is located somewhere near Waco, I have it on good authority.) It made them want to do it even more.

   Bar games, pub games, or parlor games – call them what you will, but there is no denying that Americans love sporting action when they drink.
   And I can’t blame them. I’m one of them.
   So pour me another one, barkeep, and rack 'em because this week we’re playing the king-daddy of all bar games: pool.
   Pool, or “pocket billiards,” is a vague subclassification of the broader category of billiards. All such table games are thought to have evolved into indoor games from outdoor stick-and-ball games.
   I learn this from Harry Murdoch, a mean mother of a pool player, on a Saturday night at Click’s on East Oltorf. Click’s is one of many pool halls in town, and my being in this particular one probably has more to do with the fine Vietnamese food down the road at Hai Ky as it does with the pool hall itself.
   Not to take anything away from the fine folks at Click’s. Heck, if I hadn’t dropped in, I wouldn’t have met Harry.
   You know him. His type, anyway. Tall and rangy, walking with a slow and leisurely gait, he walks in the front door after stubbing out a Pall Mall, carrying his own pool cue in a small case.

Number Nine, Number Nine: The first BCS standings came out Sunday and things don't look so hot for the Texas Longhorns, who debuted at No. 9, despite being ranked No. 5 in the human polls. It will be mighty difficult for the Longhorns to get into the championship game over a one-loss SEC team, a one-loss Ohio State, or an undefeated Louisville or West Virginia. But crazier things have happened.

AD, Good Night: As if Oklahoma's season could get any more disappointing, they lost Adrian Peterson for the rest of eternity on Saturday afternoon after AD broke his collarbone diving into the end zone after a highlight-reel 53-yard scamper which capped the Sooners’ 34-9 victory over Iowa State. So, the best player in college football will not win the Heisman Trophy for about the 43rd time. Players like Peterson come along about every 20 years, even at factories like Oklahoma, and for him to have only played one full season of college football is really a shame, no matter who you root for.

Remember all those mean things I've said about TO in the last few weeks? Probably not – that last sentence is based on the assumption that I have regular readers other than my dad, and the creepy guy who lives in the apartment above me. I have, however, taken a few cheap shots at Terrell Owens, all of which I would've been more than willing to eat if he'd managed to score three touchdowns against the Eagles last week. Unfortunately for him (because I'm sure he reads this blog all the time), he caught the hat trick against the Texans, something even an average player could do without trying. All he really had to do was stand in the end zone with his arms out. Honestly, I wouldn't have been too surprised if one of the Texans had intercepted a pass in the end zone, gotten confused, and handed it to TO.

Somewhere behind perfectly manicured hedges, Donovan McNabb’s patronizing mama comforts her sobbing son with a warm bowl of Campbell’s Chunky Soup. The bruises on McNabb’s hip from Charles Grant's helmet make every swallow a wince-filled reminder of the New Orleans Saints’ 27-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon. Former Westlake Chaparral Drew Brees filled McNabb’s temporarily-vacated hero role by tossing three critical touchdowns and meticulously leading his team on an eight-and-a-half minute drive that clipped the wings of the visiting Eagles with a game-winning field goal. As the Superdome crowd enjoyed its team’s third straight home victory, football pundits nationwide could be heard in mass literally thrusting themselves upon the Saints bandwagon with the urgency of a ravenous carpetbagging herd.

This weekend's headline game should be a corker, or at least closer than McCallum's 52-0 blowout over LBJ last night. (Stamp Cedar Park's playoff passport too, though the T-Wolves were lucky to get past Stony Point by a single, stony point, 14-13.) Hurry up and head out 290; even with Friday afternoon traffic, there's still plenty of time to get to Giddings in time for the kickoff of a game with the outcome of 23-3A in the balance. The hometown Buffs entertain the fightin' Leopards of La Grange, and whoever walks off the field with fewer points will do so for the first time all year. The visitors are playing for more than that: the Buffs tied them to the whipping post 58-6 last year, plus La Grange hasn't been scored on since the fourth quarter of their September 15 game at Sealy.

If you'd rather head north, Hutto drops by Cameron Yoe for some payback – the Hippos advanced to the 3A Division II state finals last year but lost to the Yoemen 17-13 at home. Cameron is likewise looking for revenge – Hutto ended their season in the playoffs.

The Crying Boy of OU is apparently getting his mug plastered all over T-shirts and e-mail attachments slinging back and forth across the Red River. See the above photo of the sobbing youngster who may or may not have been upset that his beloved Sooners got squashed by the University of Texas Longhorns. Or maybe his dad wouldn't buy him a corny dog.

In either case, he's not the only one in Norman with crocodile tears. OU Coach Bob Stoops has also been letting a few drip over what he sees as "questionable" calls made in favor of Texas in the Sooners' 28-10 loss last Saturday. Was it a lateral or was it a forward pass? Did Adrian Peterson actually fumble or did the ground knock the ball loose? Who cares, Bob? You lost.

The Lady Longhorns had a great weekend up north, beating Kansas, 1-0, then coming from behind to beat 14th-ranked Colorado, 2-1, with freshman Emily Anderson (Westlake High) nailing the winner, the first goal of her college career. With that, the Horns ran their season record to 10-3-1, including 6-2 on the road. This week they host Sam Houston State – Friday, Oct. 13, 7pm, Mike A. Myers Stadium, $7, or four for $8 – before heading back north to Nebraska for a Sunday-afternoon game. The Huskers have been disappointing this season, after being a preseason pick to finish second in the Big 12. -------------------- The long season for national teams pretty much wrapped up this week with two very full days of Euro 2008 qualifiers on Saturday and Wednesday. It was a tough week for England, who were held to a home draw by Macedonia, then lost in Zagreb to a very good Croatian team. Likewise Ireland, who crashed badly at lowly Cyprus, to pretty much kill off their hopes. Only Scotland salvaged some British pride, surprising France, 1-0, in a battle of previously unbeatens, while Italy got two late goals and a vital win over Ukraine to get untracked in the same group. And in a tale of two teams going in opposite directions, defending champ Greece beat Norway, 1-0, and then Bosnia on the road; while Spain ended the year on a sour note with their second straight loss. Click below for the full results.

There's activity aplenty within the Ice Bats organization, but no news is more exciting than its move into Austin proper. While they made some improvements to the barn commonly known as the Travis County Expo Center, and it had a certain charm, relocating to the Chaparral Ice Arena may be the biggest news from the Ice Bats since they first dropped the puck 10 years ago. The new Bat Cave is located on I-35 North between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway and has seen several improvements in the last year in preparation of hosting the Bats. Among the many renovations is the addition of a new ritzy club seating level. Here's a description: “The new second-tier Center Club and Balcony Club sections will be complete by the opening of the team's training camp. The new seating levels will comprise a private club on the arena's north side. Ticket holders in those sections will receive exclusive amenities including full wait service at their seat, a private entrance and exit, and reserved, close-in VIP parking.” Pretty sweet. Let the pampering begin.


For Ice Bats' roster moves, affiliations, and schedule ...