The End of an Era

Until this evening, my primary mode of transportation was a '95 Chrysler Concorde (Big Blue) that I bought from my grandparents. I bought it in the winter of 2003, and it had about 50,000 miles on it. Today, it has 106,000 miles on it and a lot of memories. This was the car that took me to Miami and back, to my ex-girlfriend's and back, all over the Midwest in search of a job, then finally to Detroit to begin my career. There has been much singing along with the radio, yelling at other drivers, conversations with myself, thoughts running through my head and even some tears. In the last couple of years, I've had to get quite a bit of work done on it, but it's still a pretty smooth ride for its age and the amount of work that's been done to keep it running. Its 6-cylinder engine can still give a pretty mean acceleration.

But ever since I first saw the Pontiac Solstice on The Apprentice a couple of years ago, I wanted it. Today, I finished the buying process I started about a couple of months ago by signing the paperwork and driving away in my brand new, '07 Solstice (red color of course). It won't be as powerful since it's only a 4-cylinder, but it has a little giddyup. And I think it just looks awesome. It should be a very smooth ride. I did keep the Concorde for occasional use, specifically winter use since it's bigger and would provide a greater deal of balance on the slick roads that a Solstice would struggle with.

But as great as the Solstice will be, there will be only one Big Blue. You're my boy Blue!

The long summer wait ends tomorrow. College football begins tomorrow night. Here are my predictions certain to go wrong:

• In the MAC, Central Michigan will beat Miami for the championship. Central did lose 2 1st-day NFL draft picks, but they return QB Dan LeFevour, RB Onterrio Sneed, and WR Bryan Anderson. New head coach Butch Jones is familiar with the Central players and the system, so there won't be a loss of continuity. Western will challenge in the West and will host Central late in November, but Western always seems to fall 1 game short. Ball St. will be a solid 3rd with their great set of offensive talent, led by their QB Nate Davis. Eastern Michigan will be improved, and Toledo and Northern Illinois will struggle. Toledo is still having to deal with the point-shaving scandal that came about in the spring. Northern Illinois lost a number of starters and will have its youngest team in awhile. In the East, I honestly think Miami will win the division. Miami lost a lot of close games in the 4th quarter due to their lack of depth which was caused by numerous injuries. So far, everybody's healthy, including the offensive line, which should allow Miami to exploit their depth and the young talent they've accumulated in the last couple of recruiting classes. Kent St. will finish a close 2nd, led by QB Julian Edelman. Kent was the best team in the East during the st half of last year. Bowling Green returns 16 starters, 8 on each side of the ball, so they'll be a legitimate threat. OU is the defending champ, but they lost a lot of key pieces from last year's team. Temple, Akron, and Buffalo challenge the top of the league on their respective home fields, but are too young to contend.
• Wisconsin will go undefeated and win the Big 10. They get Michigan at home and even though they have to go to Columbus, they've had OSU's number in recent years. Tyler Donovan looked good at QB at the end of last year, he'll have a good year. I see Michigan losing 2 games. The right side of their offensive line is weak and there are too many question marks in their secondary. If you're curious, I have OSU going 8-4. Tressell-ball will keep them in games, but I don't see them scoring a lot of points offensively. I like Boeckman as a QB, but I don't see any consistent big-play guys on the outside as of yet. They're a year away offensively.
• In the Big 12, I like Texas A&M to beat Colorado in the Championship. I see Texas and Texas A&M being undefeated when they meet in College Station. A&M has a lot of guys back that lost a lot of close games, but beat Texas in a defensive slugfest. I don't see Oklahoma winning the South with a freshman QB and a relatively inexperienced front 7. I know a lot of people are excited in Lincoln, but Sam Keller won't help them on defense where they only return 4 starters and must travel to Missouri, Texas, and Colorado. Colorado was pretty competitive for a 2-10 team and their toughest road game is at Kansas St. Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska all must come to Boulder. I don't know if Colorado is best team in the Big 12 North, but they certainly have the most advantageous schedule.
• In the SEC, I like Alabama to beat Kentucky for the Championship. Yup, you heard me correctly. The Tide basically return their entire offense, and you know their defense will be good under Nick Saban. The SEC West is down as a whole, and they get LSU in Tuscaloosa (Bama might have just a little bit of a home field advantage for that game). I don't think a Les Miles-coached team can win the big, big game. Beating Notre Dame in front of a partisan Superdome crowd doesn't count. In the East, there are a lot of questions. How good will Florida's defense be with only 2 returning starters? Can Georgia play consistent football every week? Will Tennessee beat a name opponent away from Knoxville? Does Steve Spurrier have the talent level to win the East? That brings me to Kentucky, whose program is on a high after winning their first bowl game in forever last year. QB Andre Woodson is one of the top 10 QBs in the nation. They get LSU, Florida, and Tennessee at home. Their losses at South Carolina and Tennessee could've easily been wins last year.
• In the ACC, Boston College will beat Virginia for the Championship. The Atlantic division is the weaker half in my opinion. Even with a new coach, BC has a lot coming back, including QB Matt Ryan. Wake Forest will prove they're new fluke by going 9-3. Florida St. might have a new scheme offensively, but their talent level still isn't what it used to be and the 'Noles will struggle. On the other side, Virginia and Virginia Tech will go into their season ending meeting in Charlottesville undefeated and Virginia will pull the upset. Virginia has a lot coming back from a 7-5 team and the schedule works out for them as their toughest trip is to the Orange Bowl to play a Miami team that they beat last year.
• No surprise in the Pac-10, I like USC. And I think USC will win the National Championship. I think UCLA and Arizona will contend but USC has too much experience and too much talent. In my opinion, Cal is a little overrated, but they will get revenge vs. Tennessee, emotion will carry them to victory in that game.
• One more surprise for you. I think South Florida will win the Big East. Matt Groethe is another QB you probably haven't heard of, he's a dual run/pass threat. And the defense is fast, they were one of the few to contain West Virginia's running attack. They get West Virginia and Louisville at home, where Da Bulls are even tougher to beat. I don't see Louisville and West Virginia stopping many people on defense, and Rutgers won't have the magical season they did last year, but they'll back it up by going 9-3. It might be possible that no one outside of the top 4 in the Big East will be bowl eligible.
• Hawaii will go undefeated but won't be in the running for the BCS because they don't play anybody.
• TCU will not give Texas the challenge most people think. Texas will win by at least 3 TDs.

So there ya go, predictions bound to go wrong.

Football tomorrow, yessss.