Yesterday

Yesterday - all my troubles seemed so far away. - Paul McCartney

Yesterday morning I got the call I knew was coming. My buddy Tim called and asked if I wanted to go down to New Haven to watch the Holy Cross / Yale game.

I was conflicted because this would mean missing the Red Sox / Yankees game which would be airing at the same time. Eventually I decided to go to the Yale game and my reasoning was as follows:

- I've never been to the Yale Bowl and I'm always up for new experiences
- If the Red Sox won - there would be another game on Sunday and the playoffs to follow
- If the Red Sox were to lose - then I really would prefer doing something else. Anything else. I can't stand to watch the Red Sox when they lose.
- Spending a day drinking and watching football is every red blooded American's civic duty.

And when I say "spend a day" I really mean spend a day. We started on the road about 10:30 and I got home about midnight. I couldn't count the number of beers I had - let's just say it was a lot and lets just say that I needed a couple asprins this morning.

I'm glad I decided to go to the Holy Cross game though. The Crusaders beat Yale 22-20 (their first win in the past 12 games against Yale) in a game that came down to two things:

1. Holy Cross had better coaching than the Bulldogs/ Eli
2. Holy Cross had Steve Silva and Yale did not.

First - the coaching.

In the first quarted Yale called a reverse in their own endzone. The result was a safety and 2 points for Holy Cross. Two points. By coincidence Yale lost by two points. You NEVER call a reverse when you are backed up to your own endzone.

My buddy Tim mentioned that Holy Cross running back Steve Silva should be up for the Walter Payton Award as the best player in 1-AA football and his brother Brian said that Silva is the "heart and soul" of the team. I think they both may be right.

Yesterday Silva had 92 yards rushing and 52 yards receiving but he also had a back breaking kickoff return for a touchdown that really sealed the game for Holy Cross. For the season Silva has 626 yards in rushing and receiving plus he's thrown for 2 TDs (including yesterday's kickoff return - Silva has accounted for 10 TD's in just 4 games).

Nationally, Silva is only ranked 11th in scoring but Omar Cuff of Delaware is first and Clifton Dawson of Harvard is fourth and Silva was clearly better than either of those players when Holy Cross faced the Blue Hens and the Crimson.

The Yale Bowl? Let me say that the Yale Bowl is a pit and the area that surrounds the Yale campus is a pit too. There is no way to sugarcoat this. For a university with the resources that Yale has there is no excuse for allowing their stadium to get as run down as the Yale Bowl is right now. I know that they are renovating it but right now it is a PIT!

On the way back from the game we stopped at Archie Moore's in Wallingford for a bite to eat. Archie Moore's has really good food and a very good selection of draft beer (I had three Blue Moon's there yesterday). If you are ever in Wallingford - Archie Moore's get's my full endorsement.

The night was spent watching the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame dismantle Purdue. I'm a Notre Dame fan and I have to say I'm starting to think that ND just may be able to beat USC (mainly because I view Charlie Weis vs. Pete Carrol as a mismatch).