If I Only Lived in Montana....The REAL Opening Of College Football Season - And My Predictions Part 1

Although I am sad to see another summer come to a close (especially since I did not get to display my beach body this season) the sadness I feel is tempered with the knowledge that the 2015 College Football Season is just about to start.  Did I say "tempered?  I meant FORGOTTEN!!!!!  Kick off is slated for September 3rd!

Geaux Tigers!!!  Guns Up, Raiders!!!  Sic 'em, Bears!

Hold on...college football actually opens on an obscure date in an obscure location, Missoula, Montana on August 29th, or tomorrow night, if you are picky.  The two teams are "obscure" as well, at least to me.  I know nothing about North Dakota State, and just as much about Montana, except that they are in the new FCS Division, which used to be the old AA division.  But I would watch Norma's Beauty College vs. Bradley's School of Business if they had football teams!  I do not care about obscure, as long as it is football!

In fact it turns out that the North Dakota State Bison football team is one of the most underrated schools playing football today, except that they are NOT underrated in their division.  Nor by certain FBS teams!  The Bison defeated Iowa State last year.  In 2013 the Bison defeated Kansas State, a team that went on to defeat no less than the Wolverines in the playoffs!  North Dakota State's record with FBS teams over the past ten years is 8-3.  Not too shabby. NOW, would you want to watch this opening game?  I think it would be a treat; however, unless by some lucky chance this game shows on ESPN I doubt if I will get to watch it. 

So the official opening of NCAA Football Season is September 3rd.  I will definitely be on hand for that day, and I am equally sure the lawnmower won't start, nor will the weed eater fire up.  In fact, I am thinking some person unknown may borrow these tools.  Hopefully he will not return them until well into February!

Last year I elected not to predict the winners of various college games or the rankings at the end of football season.  I had these predictions all ready to go, but as they proved to be 99.9 % wrong, it was a good thing I did not post them.  I realize most of you would wonder how I could doubt my own football predications, and I certainly understand that.  There was just something wrong with my vibes last year.  That proved to be a fortunate decision.

But this year...I am back, and my predictions for the 2015 season will be dead on!  Or was that "dead on arrival?"  So, with no further ado, here are my first round of predictions:

Aug. 29th - North Dakota State Bison VS Montana Grizzlies
                   North Dakota State Bison take this game rather easily, 37-7. 

Sept. 3rd -  There are three games, two of which involve Texas universities.
                  
TCU VS Minnesota Gold Gophers The Horned Frogs take this one, also easily, 49-3, but only if Minnesota has an accurate kicker.

Arizona Bobcats VS University of Texas - San Antonio
The Wildcats ended last year at #22.  I do not know much about UTSA football, but I believe the Wildcats will win this one.  Can UTSA make it game?  42 - 7

The third game (actually the first game of the day) I think will not be a squeaker.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets VS Alcorn State.
I am not getting any specific vibes on this game, but I see the Jackets (#16) pulling a skunk out of the hat while scoring at least forty points themselves.

As far my predictions for the various conference winners, here is part 1:

Big 12
Dave Campbell's staff as well as others have decided that TCU will be the conference champion, and Baylor will be a close second.  I think Art Briles will bring his team to a conference championship this year and defeat the Horned Frogs in the process.  Look for Baylor and TCU to be in playoffs once again, but both teams will win their respective bowls this year.  Obviously the game of the year in the Big 12 will be Baylor VS TCU...this game decides the conference!

For the Longhorns, this year should be better, after last year's disappointing bowl loss to Arkansas.  And for Coach Charles Strong, a strong finish is necessary to keep him out of the hot seat.  The folks in Austin want their team to be back in the top three.  I do not believe that will happen this year.

Texas Tech, under direction of Kliff Kingsbury, should have a better year for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, the guys are getting used to their coach.  For another, it appears that Kingsbury has settled on a quarterback this year, namely Pat Mahomes.  But...if the defense does not step up, the Red Raiders, my adopted team, will find themselves once again fighting to stay out of the cellar.  Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats will be fighting and clawing right behind Tech for the number five or four spot in the conference.  It too close for me to call at this point.

By the way, this spoiler alert is for TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma, to beware of the Cowboys of Oklahoma State.  This team will be good.  The Cowboys have little chance of winning the Big 12, but they have a great chance of rearranging the top three teams, and maybe sending one of the top three teams to a lesser bowl game.

Southeast Conference
The SEC is the conference most people focus on during the college football season, and with good reason.  Both the East and West divisions boast some of the most powerful teams in all of college football.  Some writers and coaches have picked the Georgia Bulldogs to win the East and the Crimson Tide of Alabama to lock up the West division.  My innards tell me that Missouri will push Georgia out of the top slot, and will then defend the East against Alabama for the conference playoff.  I believe that LSU, while not in contention for the top spot, will be the divisional spoiler.  Last year the South Carolina Gamecocks came in like a lion and went out like a deflated balloon.  But this year, they will be the spoilers in the SEC East.  Plus, the usual suspects will be in bowl games.  Look also for the SEC to hog most of the bowl wins this season.

LSU is my other favorite team.  Les Miles having TWO bad years in a row?  Not likely!  Look for LSU to be in the top three in the SEC West.

I hope you have enjoyed Part 1 of my college football predictions for 2015.  Part 2 follows in a later post.

DISCLAIMER:  I am not a sports expert, sports writer, or odds maker.  I cannot take any responsibility for any loss a person may suffer by following my score predictions.  EXCEPT if the person wins based on my predictions, I then require a fifty-fifty consulting fee.






 

Little Things That Really Matter

During the weekend past, I had the pleasure of visiting my mother.  She had never seen Baby Leah and I did not tell her that my lovely bride and I were accompanied by Baby Leah.  We had invited Mom to lunch, so I brought her out to the car where everyone else was waiting.  I opened the back door to let Mom into the car, and I said, "Look Mom...look what's in the back seat!"  The look on Mom's face was priceless.  She nearly cried, and I knew that Baby Leah immediately had Mom wrapped around her little finger.  Mom held the baby later, when we returned to her home, and the smiles on both faces were priceless.  Baby Leah also met her great-uncle there, and he too was enraptured by this precious little bundle. 

Mom is getting older now, and does not venture as far away from home as she once did.  I think she had, in her heart, despaired of seeing Baby Leah in this lifetime, so I was especially glad that we were able to bring the baby to her.  I am so thankful that Leah's parents, Child B and her karate man, allowed us to take the baby with us for such a long trip.  I know Child B wanted "Grandma" to see Baby Leah as much as we did.  This was especially poignant to me, because while we were on the trip I learned that my sweet cousins had just lost their mother.  I am so sorry for my cousins' loss and I am so happy that we had the opportunity to let Mom visit with Baby Leah for a few hours.

Then today, I had the rare pleasure of dining at lunch with Child A.  I love Child A and Child B so much, and I am so happy that these two kids (well, they're grown now) thought they had cool parents, and now, as my lovely bride and I are both in our fifties, Child A and Child B STILL think they have cool parents.  My previous job was one in which I worked shift work, and thus Child A and I had lunch together at least once per week.  Today Child A himself asked if I would have lunch with him, I am so happy that Child A still wants to have lunch with me. This is one of life's little pleasures that I cannot take for granted. 

The trip from Midland to Waco this past week was one of the most dangerous trips we have ever had.  Before we were fifteen miles from the house we witnessed an accident and in fact were very nearly involved in it.  A drunk driver at six in the morning and an oilfield worker trying to get to work too fast led to a near-death-experience.  And the baby was in the car...she slept through the entire ordeal, including the hour it took to give our statements to the state trooper.  By the time we had reached our destination in Waco, we had avoided a couple of accidents and were trapped in the Interstate 35 traffic jam by another car wreck near Waco. 

My heart goes out to all who lost loved ones or who were themselves injured in car accidents on the road this week.  I am thankful to the Lord that we, my lovely bride and I, were spared from these accidents, and that Baby Leah was not hurt.  I know Child B and Child B-1 were very worried about their child.  We kept them posted of our locale (AND our condition) at all times, and sent photos and videos of the baby.  Life is very precious, turns on a dime, and sometimes ends tragically.  Other times, life ends naturally, but for each one of us, life ends.  We never know when or how, but we know the end will come eventually.  Everyone who is born will one day pass from this life.  What matters is that we live through all the days we have, and love those in our lives while we can.

 

Top Hand Cowboy Church and King David

We had the pleasure of attending the Top Hand Cowboy Church near Valley Mills today.  This is the second time I have been to this church and I enjoyed it very much.  Pastor Greg Moore is a great minister for this church.  And today, my lovely bride took our little Granddaughter to Pastor Greg as he was dedicating some little children to the Lord, and Leah got her share of the blessing too.

The lesson was probably supposed to be about "training up your children in the way of the Lord, and when they are old, they will not stray."  But somehow this sermon morphed into something else.  Something to do with "real life," and that is that troubles are with us all our lives, even the most blessed people (which Christians are, if you think about it).  But King David, in Psalm 13: 1 and verses following, was obviously having troubles:

1 How long,¹ O LORD? Will you forget me² forever? How long will you hide your face³ from me?

                                            

References for Psalms 13:1

• Cross References

• 1 13:1 - Ps 6:3
• 2 13:1 - Ps 42:9 ; La 5:20
• 3 13:1 - S Dt 31:17 ; S Ps 22:24 ; S Isa 8:17 ; S 54:9 ; Job 13:24 ; Ps 44:24

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts⁴ and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?⁵

References for Psalms 13:2

• Cross References

• 4 13:2 - Ps 42:4 ; 55:2 ; 139:23 ; Isa 33:18 ; Da 7:28
• 5 13:2 - Ps 94:3 ; Ps 42:9

3 Look on me⁶ and answer,⁷ O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes,⁸ or I will sleep in death;⁹

References for Psalms 13:3

• Cross References

• 6 13:3 - Ps 9:12 ; 25:18 ; 31:7 ; 35:23 ; 59:4 ; 80:14 ; 107:41 ; 119:50,153
• 7 13:3 - S Ps 4:1 ; Ps 5:1
• 8 13:3 - S Ezr 9:8
• 9 13:3 - Ps 76:5 ; 90:5 ; Jer 51:39

4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,¹⁰" and my foes will rejoice when I fall.¹¹

References for Psalms 13:4

• Cross References

• 10 13:4 - S 1Ki 19:2 ; Ps 25:2
• 11 13:4 - Ps 38:16 ; 118:13

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;¹² my heart rejoices in your salvation.¹³

References for Psalms 13:5

• Cross References

• 12 13:5 - S Ps 6:4 ; Ps 52:8
• 13 13:5 - S 33:2 S 33:2

6">Job ; Ps 9:14 ; Isa 25:9 S 33:2 6">Job

6 I will sing¹⁴ to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

 

I have read this Psalm many times but there was something I had always missed, and Pastor Greg pointed it out today.  He pointed out that David asked three times, "How long, oh Lord?!"  King David, God's anointed king and chief over the Children of Israel, the man after God's own heart, felt alone, felt that God had abandoned him.  Above all, he felt that God was not answering his prayers immediately. 

 

But here is the most important part that I had missed, and Pastor Greg pointed it out so clearly.  In the middle of King David's despair and loneliness, in his feeling of being ignored by God, of being alone in his troubles and while he was surrounded by his enemies, in the midst of this terrible situation, God did not answer David; at least it is not noted in this Psalm.  But, instead of either feeling sorry for himself or cursing and yelling at God, what did David say?

 

In verse Five and Six, King David, who had not yet received an answer for God, said, "But I will trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

 

King David knew we would not always have prosperity, peace, and rain in this world, but nevertheless he would always trust in God's unfailing love, because his heart could rejoice in his salvation no matter what the world or the Devil might have to offer, and whether or not David received an answer from God immediately. 

 

I struggle with trying to understand why bad things happen to good people, and why Christians face the same trials, or maybe worse, than nonbelievers.  There are really only three answers, as King David told us.  Trust in God's unfailing love, rejoice in God's unfailing salvation, and sing praises to God, because he has been good to you.

 

It was a great service and a great lesson, and here it is in a nutshell.  I hope these words offer a little encouragement to you even though we live in a crazy world where bad things happen, and even worse, bad things happen to good people.    And I will say this again, trust in God's unfailing love, rejoice in God's unfailing salvation, and sing praises to God, because he has been good to you.

 

Amen, and God Bless America

 

 

 

Jade Helm Is Being Quiet Tonight

Operation Jade Helm, the very alarming "realistic military exercise" (I always thought most military exercises were fairly realistic) got underway on July 15th with barely an audible whimper.  This operation is taking place simultaneously in at least nine states, but most of America cannot see it, and no news is being reported about it, at least on main stream media (MSM).  I saw a few articles in the news about how that the military was not going to allow the media to have access to Jade Helm exercises, and it appears that this is in fact the case.

So what is going on with Jade Helm?  I do not know.  All I do know is that I have not been arrested by any of the "unconventional forces" attempting to operate in the area "without being detected by the public."   And, like much of the rest of the public, I have not detected any of these unconventional forces myself.  I have heard people talking about seeing a few helicopters that they would not normally see.  I have not heard of anyone disappearing...but, would I hear anything about that?  If a person were indeed spirited away by unconventional forces to an unconventional location, would ANYONE hear about it?

One thing I do hear is a lot of people, both in person and in the press, talking derisively about anyone who might have been worried or "paranoid" about the true intentions, the purpose, of Jade Helm.   I hear these people, and some news personalities, saying with much laughter "look, it is July 15th and nothing happened?  See, all you paranoid rednecks...nothing happened!  You are all fools!"  Yes, there is a lot of laughter and joking going around.  And Jade Helm is going on.

Why does Jade Helm concern me just a little?  Because there are some unusual things about this particular operation that go beyond the possibility of a sudden military takeover or imposition of martial law.  First, the purpose for this RMT is so that our soldiers will be better able to conduct urban warfare over seas.  Wrong!  American soldiers operating in American cities will NOT help them operate undetected in foreign cities.  People are different in other nations, thus operating undetected in America would certainly not equal being able to operate undetected in say, an Iranian city or an Egyptian city.  The second purpose of Jade Helm is that it is so widespread across the United States so that our soldiers can practice operating on various terrains similar to those in other countries.  Wrong!  They do not need to practice OFF OF military bases scattered all over millions of acres across the United States to find this "varied terrain."  Again, not a very convincing reason for this exercise.

Many people are laughing at persons such as myself who have serious concerns about Jade Helm, by saying that "nothing" happened on July15th.  My question is, what was EXPECTED to happen on July 15th?  Were armed forces expected to attack simultaneously at many points across the southwest and western United States at the stroke of midnight on July 15th?  More likely than that would be that units of soldiers would simply begin moving across their various designated points of departure in a low keyed operation such as a simple march across the country-side.  Later on will follow more dramatic exercises.  I believe that Jade Helm will start with a whimper and go out like a lion.  But who knows?  I am certainly not a psychic.

The biggest concern I have about Jade Helm is that the United States government and the people are allowing such an operation to go on at all.  Hand in hand with this is my concern that Jade Helm is being sold as an exercise to help train our troops with urban operations overseas when in reality it is a means of showing and telling the American people that we should, and indeed MUST, allow our armed forces to train amongst the civilian population, when in reality the United States Constitution actually forbids this.  Jade Helm, in other words, is an operation to get Americans accustomed to having the military training in civilian areas at any time, and to get us accustomed to yielding to military authority in civilian areas even when the military is "just training."  Maybe we will be asked to submit to "capture" (just a part of the exercise, mind you) so that we can help our soldiers learn these skills and tactics.  All of this combines to acclimate us to having a strong military presence on our streets at all times.  And that is truly what the entire purpose of Jade Helm may be: The acclimation of the United States to martial law without martial law ever having to be declared or "implemented."

Jade Helm also may have had a secondary, and largely successful, purpose...that purpose being to bring dissidents and "concerned citizens" to the surface, to identify them, so that these people can be picked up later, or at least monitored for possible "attention" later on.  The Internet, the alternative media, are flooded right now with citizens sharing their views and their videos concerning Jade Helm.  Those who identify themselves on the Internet as a) being concerned about Jade Helm; b) having strong beliefs in the Constitution of the United States; c) espousing views as conservative Christians, etc., become subject to open identification which could be used later if Jade Helm or something like it indeed "went live" in America.

Yes, Jade Helm is being very quiet right now.  Maybe it will be that way throughout the operation.  I for one, however, would love to see this type of military operation prohibited by our military commanders, since it is prohibited by our laws.  Of course I am talking about our consensual laws, not rule by Executive Order, and worse, rule by unconstitutional laws passed by our Congress because individual senators and representatives either cannot or will not stand up for the people and for their own oaths of office, but instead cater either to political fear and correctness, or worse, to those who provide the millions of dollars at campaign time.  Executive orders now in operation have the effect of negating our Constitution and effectively placing this nation under the dictatorship of the industrial-military complex, while our elected officials do nothing to stop this, largely because they themselves are puppets of the corporate side of the same complex.  So Jade Helm is indeed quiet for the moment, and maybe it will remain so.  But this quiet is the same as the quiet of a tiger stalking its prey.  The targeted animal, oblivious to its danger, goes about its business as the tiger sets to spring.  So it is with Jade Helm.  And all is quiet tonight.

God bless America