Saturday. . .

work and football.

I am at work. Yay work!

It's Saturday and what I should be doing is beginning to simmer a pot of chicken bones on the stove and wondering to myself how long I'm going to hold out before I drink a beer.

Instead, I'm here. Waiting. Waiting for a contractor to call.

It rained like a mother last night, but wet subgrade soils won't keep contractors for doing dumb things. Like pouring concrete in mud. So, I wait.

I know if I keep staring at the phone it'll never ring.

*sigh*

This weekend I'm thinking about making pot roast. Or more specifically, boeuf bourguignon. Beef braised in red wine with root vegetables and the traditional garnish of mushrooms and pearl onions. I'll probably skip the pearl onions because those things are a pain in the rumpelstiltskin to deal with. Nothing a little large white onion won't solve.

On today's football menu, Ole Miss will play West Central North Eastern Community Technical College aka The University of Louisiana at Monroe and the Dawgs of Mississippi Cowbell College will send the practice team of South Panola High School to take on the #1 ranked Toilet Paper Elephants of Alabama.

I expect Ole Miss to hand defeat to ULM readily to pad my ever widening lead vs. Linder's Bulldogs and the Bulldogs probably won't even show up today out of fear. They'll just forfeit by virtue of sending out messages tied to carrier pigeons who will land in the Alabama stadium at game time.

On a serious note, I expect that Mississippi State is quietly preparing for the departure of Sylvester Croom, the SEC's first black head coach. His impact was felt as a new future was written for black coaches in the SEC and expectations were high. However, in the SEC and anywhere sports are played, winning games is the key. Through 2007, Croom's Bulldogs have gone 14-30. Not so good. My sources tell me that within the alumni circles of MSU, the grumblings are getting louder for a new coach. We'll see. Will Mississippi State again make history, by FIRING the first black coach of the SEC?

An outstanding performance and a win against Croom's old team, Alabama, where he cut his coaching teeth, would do wonders for his current situation. Gotta find those bright spots in a crap season like the Bulldog's are having.

Ole Miss is also treading water. A huge win against Florida raised expectations a little too high, but in the games Ole Miss has lost against other top 25 teams, the margin of defeat has been slim. And most defeats have been because of simple mistakes. Rudiments. Dropping the ball, fumbles, critical holding or unsportsmanlike conduct calls late in the game. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Ole Miss still has the potential for drawing a bowl game this year. Maybe the Liberty or Independence. Another Cotton Bowl appearance would be wonderful, but the Rebels will have to go undefeated for the rest of the year. Unlikely considering that they face LSU at LSU. Big time disadvantage. But, we hold hope alive. LSU is struggling a bit this year and the Rebels have played strong against some first line teams.

Well, with all that being said, I hope both teams strike out and stomp ass this weekend. I'd like my bet with Linder to come down to the last game of the season.

Y'all have a good day. And Hoddy Toddy!!