OK, they pulled the game out in East Lansing, winning in OT. They did better than I thought they would, but there’s still a Jekyll/Hyde quality to the offense. But having gotten past the Spartan hurdle, they’ll probably have a winning season now. They could even still win the Big Ten, but it still seems unlikely to me.

When I read this story about a woman apparently killed on her motorcycle up in Sonoma County on the coast highway, I wondered how it happened, and if she might be alive today had she known about this.

Of course, she may also have been a good rider, and just encountered oncoming traffic in her lane, or a slick spot in the road. We may never know.

The man who played “Butch” has died.

I was never a big “Little Rascals” fan, but on a personal note, I was serving on jury duty in LA about fifteen years ago, and I got called to a panel in which he was a civil litigant (plaintiff, I think), and we were asked a number of questions about if we’d seen the series, and recognized the characters, and so on, to determine if any of us would be biased against someone who played a famous bully. We ended up getting dismissed before trial, I think because they decided to settle once they saw that there was a jury, and that this was really going to happen (which is one of the purposes of empaneling a jury).

Sadly, the Wolverines are performing about as I predicted after the Notre Dame game. I expect the Spartans to mop up the field with them next week.

This will be a long season.

[Update at 8:43 AM EDT]

Speaking of Big Ten football, David “Pretty-in-Pink” Burge writes about locker-room psyops in Iowa City. Even without these kinds of evil tricks, though, I expect the Hawkeyes to beat Michigan next month. In fact, looking at the Wolverine schedule, I could easily see them losing six games this season.

Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.

Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.

Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.

Rita was a late bloomer (staying a tropical storm long after predictions of becoming a hurricane Real Soon Now), but once she got into the Florida straights and out into the Gulf, she heated up in a hurry. She’s now a Cat 5, with winds in excess of 165 mph. Look out, Houston.

Rita was a late bloomer (staying a tropical storm long after predictions of becoming a hurricane Real Soon Now), but once she got into the Florida straights and out into the Gulf, she heated up in a hurry. She’s now a Cat 5, with winds in excess of 165 mph. Look out, Houston.

Rita was a late bloomer (staying a tropical storm long after predictions of becoming a hurricane Real Soon Now), but once she got into the Florida straights and out into the Gulf, she heated up in a hurry. She’s now a Cat 5, with winds in excess of 165 mph. Look out, Houston.