It was on November 6th, 1869, that Rutgers and Princeton played the very first college football game “on the banks of the Raritan” as the Rutgers fight song says. One of the things I love about college football is how far back its history goes.
It feels odd to think that Ulysses S Grant was 
in the White House when Continue reading
Filed under college football
American Dough Boys
Many people tend to confuse World Wars One and Two. With Veteran’s Day coming up Balladeer’s Blog presents a look at some of the ways in which World War One stands out from the later conflict.
WW I – Lasted from 1914 to 1918 *** WW II – Lasted from 1939 to 1945
WW I – America entered the war in April, 1917 *** WW II – America entered the war in December, 1941
WW I – Italy and Japan fought on the side of the Allied Powers *** WW II – Italy and Japan fought on the side of the Axis Powers
WW I – Germany, under Kaiser Wilhelm, led the Central Powers *** WW II- Germany, under Adolf Hitler, led the Axis Powers
WW I – Sinking of the Lusitania *** WW II – Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
WW I – The Allied disaster at Gallipoli *** WW II – The Allied disaster Operation: Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
THE LANGSTON LIONS RULE THE WORLD – Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with the way in which each weekend of every college football season brings at least one NAIA football team upsetting a team from NCAA Divisions ONE or TWO. Yesterday the LANGSTON LIONS got in on the act, winning an Instant Classic on the road against Division Two’s PANHANDLE STATE AGGIES. The final score was Lions 20 Aggies 19. Congratulations Langston!
TOP 25 UPSETS – NAIA – The unranked BETHANY COLLEGE SWEDES salvaged a little from their disappointing 2013 season by shocking the nation with their 24-17 road upset of the 7th ranked TABOR COLLEGE BLUE JAYS ### Meanwhile the number 12 team in the country, the MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE VIKINGS, likewise pulled off a road upset. In the case of the Vikings they toppled the 9th-ranked PERU STATE BOBCATS in a 21-14 comeback for the ages!
TOP 25 UPSETS – NCAA DIVISION 2 – The EASTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY GREYHOUNDS traveled to face the number 8 WEST TEXAS A&M BUFFALOES and in the shock of the day in D2 brought them down in a 39-38 nailbiter ### The UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA LIONS upset the visiting 11th-ranked WEST ALABAMA TIGERS 30-27 in Overtime ### And the number 19 EMPORIA STATE HORNETS took it on the road and stunned the 13th ranked MISSOURI WESTERN GRIFFONS by a score of 35-30.
TOP 25 UPSETS – NCAA DIVISION 2: THE SEQUEL – There were so many upsets in the D2 rankings yesterday they merit a 2nd section to cover them all! The number 21 LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY BEARS crushed the visiting 18th ranked CARSON NEWMAN EAGLES by a score of 37-3 ### And the DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY STATESMEN upset the number 22 defending champions of D2 football, the VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS, in a Continue reading
Filed under college football
“Anyone who questions my policies is a racist who kicks puppy dogs and I want them SILENCED!”
Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, the only site on the web that is truly nonpartisan in its criticism of the lobotomized political zombies called Liberals and Conservatives!
More loathsome behavior from Little Barry Obama’s mindless and unquestioning worshippers (and let’s face it – that weak, inept and crooked little man doesn’t have supporters, he has fascistic worshippers). In their typically heartless and unfeeling way they’re expressing anger at the suffering VICTIMS of their Dear Leader’s failed policies for DARING to point out the negative impact his ill-considered Obamacare disaster has had on their lives.
The repulsive Bill Moyers, who thinks it’s still the 1960’s, is one of the brain-dead Liberal zealots attacking the victims for speaking out about Little Barry’s latest disaster. Moyers and others insist the Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
A Golem as depicted in the 1920’s silent film
Last week’s premier episode of the new cable horror series 21st Century Golem sparked a fair amount of controversy with its depiction of a Golem wiping out Hamas terrorists who were targeting Israeli children. The show’s way of using Barack Obama as a comic-relief villain blaming the Golem for the violence and siding with the Hamas butchers prompted some outcry as well, mostly from Little Barry’s mindless and unquestioning supporters. But since those people still think Obamacare was a good idea it’s impossible to take them seriously. I applaud the show for having the courage to feature an American president in a villainous light.
Last night’s episode of 21st Century Golem upped the ante and has caused a hundred times the uproar of that debut broadcast. The first act of the episode, titled Halloween for Hamas, featured the heroic Golem thwarting a Hamas plot to blow up a hospital full of Jews and Christians amid some incredibly violent scenes. Some have Continue reading
Filed under Fantastic Movie Reviews, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
NCAA DIVISION THREE – 1. SAINT NORBERT COLLEGE GREEN KNIGHTS ### 2. UW-EAU CLAIRE BLUGOLDS (defending champions) ### 3. NORWICH UNIVERSITY CADETS ### 4. OSWEGO STATE LAKERS (2013 runners up) ### 5. UTICA COLLEGE PIONEERS ### 6. BOWDOIN COLLEGE POLAR BEARS ### 7. Continue reading
Filed under college hockey
Special thanks to the soul-shatteringly beautiful Casey James who is as versatile as she is lovely! Not only is she Balladeer’s Blog’s Official Movie Hostess but for the Halloween Season she’s branching out to welcome readers to my look at forgotten Gothic horror stories of the 1800’s. Everybody remembers the big names like Dracula and Frankenstein but Casey and I want to introduce readers to some neglected gems of Gothic horror.
THE HORRORS OF OAKENDALE ABBEY (1797) – The author of this unjustly forgotten work is known only as “Mrs Carver” but is often speculated to be a man with the leading candidate being Sir Anthony Carlisle. The tale centers around the beautiful (of course) and strong-willed (ditto) Laura, a refugee from the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution.
When Laura is reluctant to accomodate the less-than-selfless motives of her British patron Lord Oakendale he has her and a devoted maid banished to the long-abandoned Oakendale Abbey. The Abbey is believed to be haunted, a reputation enhanced by the repeated disappearances of people who venture into its sinister interior. Shortly after arriving in the mysterious decaying building Laura discovers a Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season, Sex Symbols
CONCORDIA (MI) RULES THE WORLD! – Every weekend during college football season finds at least one NAIA team pulling off an upset of teams from NCAA Division Two or even Division ONE. Yesterday the CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS played a neutral site game against Division ONE’s UMass-Lowell River Hawks. The Cardinals played like that other team from Ann Arbor and dismantled the River Hawks by a final score of FIFTY-EIGHT to NOTHING!
SAGU RULES THE WORLD, TOO! – And speaking of that NAIA college football tradition of upsetting teams from supposedly higher divisions, yesterday saw another such outcome. The SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY LIONS welcomed NCAA Division TWO’s PANHANDLE STATE AGGIES and defeated them in a 42-35 Instant Classic that the SAGU faithful will be talking about for years.
NUMBER FOUR TAKES A FALL – The fourth-ranked team in the nation, the UNIVERSITY OF ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS, welcomed the NAIA’s unranked but 6-3 ROBERT MORRIS (IL) EAGLES yesterday. Despite being in their first few years of playing intercollegiate football the Eagles have performed very solidly year in and year out and yesterday saw another signature win for Robert Morris. The Eagles toppled the Cougars in a 28-24 game for the ages.
AND ANOTHER NUMBER FOUR TAKES A FALL – Meanwhile over in the NCAA Division Two rankings, another number four team found themselves upset, and this one also fell in their own house. The 10th-ranked PITTSBURG (KS) STATE UNIVERSITY GORILLAS were taking on the number 4 MISSOURI WESTERN GRIFFONS in a clash between MIAA rivals. The Gorillas asserted their authority with a Continue reading
Filed under college football
Golem (artist’s rendering)
The first episode of the hot new cable series Twenty-First Century Golem premiered last night. For the uninitiated the Golem is a clay monster from Jewish folklore created by a Rabbi to protect the Jewish people from their oppressors. Most Golem stories are set hundreds of years ago but this new show, from the director of the hit action movie The Burqa, is set here in the year 2013.
This Golem is created in Israel to protect Israeli civilians from mad dog Hamas terrorists. The Hamas butchers are targeting Israeli children and gleefully whooping as their fragile young bodies are blown to bloody pieces. The Golem wades into their Continue reading
Filed under Fantastic Movie Reviews
Four baseball professionals who played their college ball at institutions covered by Balladeer’s Blog are in the World Series.
The Cardinals have one of them – Rob Johnson, formerly of the SADDLEBACK COLLEGE GAUCHOS. The Red Sox have the other three – Jonny Gomes from the SANTA ROSA COLLEGE BEAR CUBS, Quinton Berry from the GROSSMONT COLLEGE GRIFFINS and Daniel Nava from the Continue reading
Filed under College Baseball
