Week 8 Pizza Parlor Index

Will post more tomorrow once I land in Columbus. With the Buckeyes No. 3. I might not be so welcome.

Rnk Team PPIndex
1 USC 82.908
2 Michigan 82.830
3 Ohio State 82.634
4 West Virginia* 82.121
5 Louisville 81.886
6 Rutgers* 81.391
7 Boise State* 77.412
8 Florida 75.158
9 Auburn 74.806
10 Texas* 74.250
11 Tennessee 73.950
12 Texas A&M* 73.570
13 Clemson 73.298
14 California* 73.290
15 Missouri* 72.055
16 Boston College* 71.809
17 Wisconsin* 71.575
18 Arkansas* 70.936
19 Notre Dame 70.791
20 Wake Forest* 69.950
21 Tulsa* 68.669
22 LSU 67.105
23 Oklahoma 65.046
24 Nebraska* 64.377
25 Oregon 63.901
26 Georgia* 63.581
27 South Carolina* 63.460
28 Maryland* 62.458
29 Brigham Young 62.123
30 Pittsburgh* 61.792
31 Virginia Tech* 61.766
32 Navy* 60.504
33 Miami, FL* 60.416
34 Georgia Tech* 60.388
35 Western Michigan 59.807
36 Washington State 59.347
37 Arkansas State 58.199
38 Kent State 58.088
39 Hawaii* 57.652
40 Alabama 57.353
41 Florida State 56.558
42 Indiana** 56.417
43 UCLA 56.101
44 Iowa* 56.101
45 Texas Tech* 56.069
46 Penn State* 55.657
47 TCU* 54.336
48 South Florida* 54.265
49 Purdue* 53.709
50 Ohio* 53.166
51 Houston* 53.065
52 New Mexico** 52.769
53 Central Michigan 52.461
54 Louisiana-Lafayette* 52.431
55 Oklahoma State* 52.342
56 Oregon State* 52.049
57 San Jose State* 51.989
58 Michigan State 51.824
59 Northern Illinois* 51.728
60 Washington 51.043
61 UTEP 50.923
62 Arizona State* 50.830
63 Nevada 50.751
64 Air Force 50.338
65 Cincinnati* 49.123
66 Wyoming 48.636
67 Middle Tennessee State* 48.293
68 Southern Miss* 47.827
69 Colorado State* 47.081
70 Baylor* 46.605
71 Kansas State* 45.699
72 Utah* 44.859
73 Syracuse 44.591
74 Southern Methodist* 44.263
75 East Carolina 43.900
76 Idaho* 43.750
77 Akron 43.676
78 Connecticut* 43.655
79 Virginia 42.482
80 Bowling Green 42.239
81 Kentucky* 42.150
82 Rice 41.913
83 Minnesota* 41.300
84 North Carolina State* 41.191
85 Ball State** 39.350
86 UAB 39.175
87 Arizona* 39.120
88 Vanderbilt* 38.971
89 Northwestern** 38.267
90 Army* 38.184
91 Iowa State* 36.404
92 Mississippi 36.355
93 Tulane 36.018
94 Kansas* 33.678
95 North Texas 33.515
96 Illinois* 31.108
97 Louisiana Tech* 30.958
98 Mississippi State* 30.459
99 UCF* 29.605
100 Colorado** 29.288
101 San Diego State 29.178
102 Eastern Michigan 28.889
103 Troy* 28.337
104 Marshall* 28.082
105 Fresno State 27.909
106 Buffalo 27.793
107 Florida Atlantic* 26.458
108 Toledo* 26.455
109 Utah State 26.025
110 Miami, OH 25.804
111 Stanford 21.942
112 North Carolina* 21.694
113 Duke* 20.450
114 Temple 19.816
115 Memphis* 18.821
116 New Mexico State^ 18.380
117 UNLV* 18.328
118 Florida International 17.787
119 Louisiana-Monroe* 16.674

wRONg KIND

I do very little political stuff on this blog but this can't be ignored. It's an Election Year and local races are tight and control of both Houses of Congress are in the balance. Of course, this brings some pretty negative campaigning. While in Massachusetts Gubernatorial Candidate Deval Patrick is being portrayed as "Pro-Rape" the nastiest campaign may be in Wisconsin. Check out this Paul R. Nelson Ad about Incumbent Democrat Congressman Ron Kind.

Unintentional Comedy off the charts!

Vote for Ron Kind!!

Get Your Jack Fix

I feel like a dork promoting an online trailer but I know more than a few of you will be interested in this.

Today at 3:00pm Fox will unveil the Trailer for Season 6 of '24'

Good idea to wait until before 5, and give time for all the other '24' dorks to go on crash the sites server then let it reboot.

Hopefully you'll get time to see it no matter WHO YOU ARE WORKING FOR!!

Darwin's Closes for Good

From the Daily Orange:

After 15 years on the Syracuse University Hill, the popular Darwin's Restaurant and Bar has announced it's closing time for good.

Owner Dirk Oudermool said he failed to renew the lease for the property at 701 S. Crouse Ave. on Sept. 30, and his landlord gave him 30 days notice to vacate the building.

"This place has been good to me and a lot of kids have had fun here, but I'm done," said Oudermool. "My landlord wanted me to sign a long-term, 5-year lease, and I just wasn't interested."

Darwin's employees were shocked and saddened when they found out about the closing on Sunday afternoon, said manager and bartender Clarke Gilbert. Oudermool informed the two managers, who called each of the other employees to break the news.

"I feel like someone died," said Gilbert, a Syracuse University senior entrepreneurship and marketing major. "This is a really tightly run bar, and Marshall Street will be missing something without it."

On the Facebook group "The Shamelessly Self-Admitted Drunks of Darwins," someone posted a bulletin saying, "To all those who might have heard that Darwins is Closing, you all have heard wrong. Darwins is in no way shape or form closing." But the news is traveling quickly, Gilbert said.

Former employees have been receiving phone calls and text messages from SU alumni and former employees who are devastated by the news, Gilbert said. He said he thinks the overwhelming response is due to the close, friendly atmosphere on which Darwin's prided itself.

"It was a bar where everyone was accepted," said Gilbert, who was a Darwin's employee for four years. "It was regular kids having fun, not a clique. The 'regulars' were good friends of ours. Everyone just came to get away and have a good time."

The welcoming atmosphere is what made Darwin's an important institution in the Marshall Street area, Oudermool said.

"We were a significant presence on the Hill," he said. "We wanted to come here and take on Faegan's, and I think we did that. Our 350-person capacity is the largest of the bars on the Hill, and we were often filled to capacity."

But Darwin's and other bars have seen a decline recently, Oudermool said.

"The bar scene is just not what it used to be," he said. "Students aren't coming out as much. There's an anti-alcohol attitude on all college campuses, and that's taken hold here to some extent. The scene is flat economically."

Gilbert said the bar business changes each year, depending on which establishment is most popular.

"With the bars, you're hot one year and not the next," he said. "Also, Darwin's was very strict with not letting young kids in here and some other bars let underage kids in more easily. Darwin's had a little bit of a decline, but all the bars have seen that this year."

But the years of owning a business in such a fickle area have been enough for Oudermool, who is also an attorney.

"I'm 66 years old, and I'm just going to practice law at this point," he said. "I want to enjoy my free time instead of worrying about this place."

Oudermool said he also missed the emphasis on fine dining that Darwin's menu once boasted.

"We were always interested in focusing on the food here," he said. "We've had wonderful parties and banquets here over the years. But when you think of fine dining, you don't think of the Hill."

Oudermool said the landlord of the property has no idea what will replace Darwin's space. But in any case, Oudermool is thinking more about what he is leaving behind.

"It's very bittersweet," he said. "There have been wonderful, talented young people we've had the opportunity to associate with. I like to think that they acquired managerial and marketing skills here. And I've learned a lot from them."

The students who worked at and patronized Darwin's are losing a close-knit community, Gilbert said.

"We've been more like a family than coworkers," he said. "None of us can believe Darwin's is really gone. A lot of people lost a lot of things with the closing of this bar."

I knew something wasn't right when I went there three weeks ago for Homecoming. SU Students looking for Thursday Night hookups are now scrambling.