I’ve added a JavaScript to the front page to redirect you to a more Netscape 4-friendly page. Hopefully, this will stop the browser from crashing for no good reason.
Still, are you sure that you don’t want to upgrade? 🙂
After a week break, the Arkansas and South Carolina editions of UA Football Facts are online.
A while back, I told you about my drive on Grants Mill Road and Highway 119 towards Pelham. The other day, I decided to go the other way on 119 and see where that took me. Then I decided to go on Rex Lake Road off of Grants Mill.
I believe that I’ve found my new fall drive.
I said earlier that the drive on Grants Mill is hilly and twisty. At times, you kind of feel like you’re on a roller coaster in a car. At one point, the curve is so steep that the recommended speed is 10 m.p.h. And I was right. It looks pretty amazing in fall, especially over the narrow bridge that you cross just before you reach Highway 119.
Making a left on 119, you find some amazing stuff. I had no idea there were so many riding acadamies on this road. I must have passed at least four stables. There are some great views of yellow-green fields with lots of mountainous, deciduous areas as a background. There are a couple of times that the road itself vanishes into leaves of gold, and you’re in one of the best fall sceneries not found in New England.
I made it to Leeds somewhere, turned around, and came back. Coming back towards home on Grants Mill Road, I decided to turn onto Rex Lake Road. I had a feeling that this would also be a fun road to drive. I wasn’t disappointed.
This section of road had times that made you think of those Goodyear commercials where the tires have to be “validated” before you can drive on the road you select. The speed limit is 45-55 miles an hour, and you’re going through some relatively curved roads. It’s a great drive.
I made it all the way to the end of the road and found myself intersecting with a road that connected almost immediately to I-20. I had no idea how far away from my normal exit I was.
I had made it to Leeds again, at least 10 miles from Grants Mill. I got on the interstate and headed for home.
There’s a reason that Paul Fussell called interstates “conduits of the middle-class”. Interstates are designed to get you to your destination as quickly as possible. If you see something along the way, so much the better, but that’s not the original intent of them. They’re not nearly as fun to drive as the back roads, with their farms and lakes and fall colors. When you’re not rushing to your next stop, take a drive on a back road or two and you’ll see what I mean.
AOL’s current promotion is 1000 free hours. Sounds great, until you realize that it’s only over 45 days. A little basic math tells you that this works out to 22.2 hours per day. Isn’t this just a little overkill?
This one is pretty lucid, in my opinion…
I can’t determine yet whether or not I want to start doing this as a new feature or not. The gathering of data wouldn’t be that difficult, but it’d just be another thing to keep up with. So for a potential taste of the future, here’s an impromptu edition of SEC Football Facts, which gives some information on all the teams in the SEC and who they’re playing.
This is Alabama’s first meeting against UTEP. It will be the Tide’s 113th different opponent. More about Alabama later this week in UA Football Facts.
Arkansas will be playing Weber State, a game that was scheduled this year after its originally scheduled game with North Texas wasn’t rescheduled. Arkansas has never played the Wildcats, but are 1-1 all-time versus I-AA schools (a win over Southwest Missouri State last year and a loss to the Citadel in 1992).
Auburn is trying to break a four-game losing streak against Mississippi State. That’s MSU’s longest winning streak against the Tigers since 1941-48, a span of 7 games. The Tigers are 22-5 against Mississippi State when they play at home. Auburn has 50 wins against Mississippi State, tying them with another set of Bulldogs (Georgia’s) as the team Auburn holds the most victories against.
Florida and LSU will tangle for the 48th time. Florida holds a 25-19-3 series edge, and has won twelve of the last thirteen. The last LSU win in the series was the 28-21 upset of the then #1 Gators in 1997.
Georgia and Tennessee have played 30 times previously, with the series standing 17-11-2 in Tennessee’s favor. Georgia broke a nine-game losing streak to the Volunteers last year with a 21-10 decision. The Dawgs are only 5-9-1 in Knoxville, though.
Kentucky and South Carolina play for the 13th time, with the Wildcats holding a slight 6-5-1 edge. Kentucky has only scored two more points than the Gamecocks in this series (251-249). The series is 5-4 in UK’s favor since Carolina joined the SEC in 1992.
Ole Miss faces a consistently overmatched Arkansas State team this weekend. The Rebels hold a decisive 16-1-2 advantage in this series, with the Indians’ only win coming in 1915. Every game in this series has been played in Oxford. The closest Arkansas State has come in the past five meetings is 13 points in 1998.
Vandy plays Louisville this weekend. Louisville holds the distinction in Vandy’s record book as the only school other than Birmingham-Southern that has played Vandy at least three times and never scored. Vandy holds a 2-0-1 series edge, but the last time that the teams played was in 1974.
This Saturday, Long Beach Poly High School hosts Concord De La Salle High School in a football game. Tickets are going fast. There’s a good reason.
Long Beach Poly is ranked #1 in the nation in USA Today’s high school football poll. Concord De La Salle is #2.
Oh, yeah, by the way…Concord De La Salle hasn’t lost a game since 1991.
That’s right. 1991. They’ve won 116 games in a row. That’s a national record. They’ve had nine straight undefeated seasons. That’s a national record. Their coach has a lifetime 94.7% winning percentage. That’s a national record.
I’m back! Here’s an update on things: to begin with, my grandmother is doing better now. Her arm still hurts (that’s what was wrong with her), but she feels somewhat better and is out of the hospital.
As loyal readers know, nothing got updated last week at all. I didn’t even check my e-mail during the last part of the week because I couldn’t get online. Something was wrong with my dial-up service provider. (One more reason I need to have a cable modem.) UA Football Facts hasn’t been updated in a while; I will do that for both the Arkansas and South Carolina games later this week. I didn’t do picks last week either. I’m discontinuing them entirely just because I don’t think anyone really cares. 🙂
The job hunt is slowly progressing. Some contacts have been made, and some opportunities look to be coming, but I haven’t gotten the all-important interview yet. Stay tuned.
Fall is almost here. The weather hasn’t completely turned cold yet. But I did wear flannel yesterday for the first time since last winter. It’s almost Flannel Quest time, Ricky…can you feel it?
I’m going to be taking a little break from pressing on. How long, I don’t know. In the meantime, if you would please pray for my grandmother, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.
They’re ready to go. Check out the game 3 edition.