I like…

Wired’s Epicenter blog has an interesting post about the WGA strike and the effect it might have on WebTV.

The Buffalo News’ Bob DiCesare is the latest member of the media to advocate a playoff in college football.

See if you can follow this one: Wyoming coach guarantees win over Utah.. Utah blows out Wyoming.. up 43 Utah coach shows zero class and attempts an onside kick … Wyoming coach gives him the finger on national television.

SI’s Stewart Mandel updated his bowl projections and has IU playing in Vegas.

I don’t like…

Adrian Peterson is out a week with a torn knee ligament. I really hope this kid can stay healthy but he did have trouble with his knees in college and hopefully he is able to bounce back from this.

They loooooove Photo Booth.

The band has a really cool, quick cut short by drummer Will Champion on their site.

I’ve gotta say that I enjoyed last night’s Next Iron Chef finale as much as I’ve ever enjoyed any episode of Iron Chef America and rivaled the excitement of any Top Chef finale, as much as I think that is the protoype of competitive cooking television. Even my girlfriend, who had never watched a single episode of the Next Iron Chef miniseries, was on pins and needles as Chef John Besh raced to finish his swordfish-inspired brik pasty dessert, as jokingly requested by Iron Chef Masahuru Morimoto with seconds remaining on the clock. It was gold, Jerry, gold!

The show and the series was really good and for me, has heightened my interest in watching Iron Chef America, having now gotten to know one of the Chefs over the course of seven weeks. One of the best moments for me was the unveiling of winner Michael Symon’s Chairman Mao sized portrait on the wall of Kitchen Stadium. There was something triumphant about that moment, as much as I think the show’s drama is trite and completely contrived.

I think the judges, in this case Morimoto, Bobby Flay and Cat Cora, really got this one right. Besh was, without a doubt, consistent throughout the competition but I thought he relied a little too much on his style, which he defined last night as a contemporary french with a definite Louisiana influence. Kitchen Stadium only has room for one one-trick pony and Bobby Flay doesn’t plan on going back to Mesa Grille anytime soon. Simply put, it appeared that when Symon was at his best, he was a knotch above Besh.

The real telling sign for me last night was that Symon, famous for his love of pork and his Mediterranean-influenced food, pretty much steered clear of pig and had only a couple traces of his greek roots. It showed a versatility, a daring and growth.

I hope that Food Network decides to do this again at one point. I’m not sure how much of a turnover they can possibly have amongst the Iron Chefs but the show and it’s abbreviated format were a well-received respite from a Top Chef-less world.

As a sidenote, was anyone downright horrified by the prospect of a Marc Ecko-designed chef’s jacket. I’m expecting some ghastly hip-hop inspired mess, maybe some graffiti or Pollock-esque paint spatterings. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

Apparently there was some sniping between the judges over voting, Michael Ruhlman has more on his blog.

Peyton Manning really likes throwing to Antonio Cromartie

Only problem with that is Cromartie isn’t really on his team. The ever-mopey MVP threw three, count ‘em, three picks to the second-year corner out of Florida State in Sunday’s loss on the road to the Chargers. I would think after a while you would stop throwing in someone’s direction after they’ve picked you off twice but Peyton was courteous enough to give Cromartie the trifecta on way to throwing six interceptions. I know that it never entered Colts head coach Tony Dungy’s mind to pull the struggling quarterback but he should have. Am I surprised that he didn’t? No. But it would have been Dungy’s chance to show that no matter who you are or how many companies and products you shill for, if you don’t perform, you don’t play. Make this two weeks in a row that Manning and the Colts offense has blown big conference games.

You may want to wait before buying those Saints playoff tickets

The Saints dropped a bad home game yesterday against the formerly win-less Rams after putting together a nice little streak and putting themselves back in playoff contention. Given that the Saints play in what is arguably the weakest division in football, I think , barring any further collapses, they are still going to the playoffs but it’s important to remember that prior to their four-game winning streak, they started the season 0-4. You have to wonder if a loss to a bad team like the Rams will send the formerly terrible Saints into a shame spiral and out of the playoff race. Time will tell. Their schedule the rest of the way is pretty mild and none of the games they still have on tap jump out at you as being potential landmines.

Donovan McNabb may be headed to Minnesota

The latest trade rumor has Donovan McNabb headed to Minnesota after this year to re-unite with former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress. I’ve gotta say this rumor smacks of irony to me. He would be leaving a team with a great running back, a decent offensive line and no receivers to go to a team with a great running back, a decent (if not overpaid) offensive line and no receivers. Are are Troy Williamson and Sidney Rice that much of an upgrade over Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown? I think that no matter where McNabb goes (unless it’s New England), his best years are behind him.

Ron Zook is the national coach of the year

As it turns out, Gator fans, Ron Zook can actually coach. Forget about Jim Leavitt or Mark Mangino, no one has done a better job this year than Ron Zook. Zook took a team that was 2-10 last year and made them nationally relevant this weekend, knocking off top-ranked Ohio State on the road to get their 8th win of the year. If Zook can continue to pull big time recruits like Arrelious Benn and recruit well in the Chicago area, Illinois could become a real force to be reckoned with.

It’s 1994 all over again in Bloomington

The last time Indiana was bowl eligible it was 1994, they went 6-5 and didn’t get invited to a bowl. Well boys and girls, welcome to 1994. I’ll be rocking my Zubaz pants and my #2 Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson jersey and listening to Meatloaf and Ace of Base. Indiana, barring a miraculous win at home next week against Purdue, isn’t going to a bowl this year. Saturday just wasn’t a banner day for the Hoosier football team. Not only did they give away a game that would have given them seven wins and a virtual bowl guarantee, they gave Northwestern their sixth win of the season, and Iowa and Michigan State all became bowl eligible as well. I’m going to go sulk and listen to Gin Blossoms.

Sylvester Croom will have a job next year

The Fighting Crooms of Mississippi State have put together a nice little resume this year, on their way to become bowl eligible for the first time since people were spazzing out about Y2K. After upending #22-ranked Alabama this weekend, Croom has seemingly changed the football culture in Starkville. The Bulldogs, who play excellent defense and the worst offense imaginable, have knocked off Auburn, Kentucky and now the Saban-led Crimson Tide and have a chance at seven wins when they play Ole Miss next week in the Egg Bowl. Well done, coach.

I like….

Serious Eats has some recipes for… wait for it.. bacon-wrapped Turkey.

The Indianapolis Star has a good article today about Big Ten teams and bowl eligibility. As of this week, only Minnesota doesn’t have a chance to become bowl eligible.

Georgia might be rocking black jerseys in their game against Auburn this weekend.

USAToday has a nice Indiana basketball preview story.

Lifehacker had a link to a handy app called BookBump. The application helps you keep track of books in your library, books you’re looking to acquire and helps student cite books in different formats for academic papers.

The Office shutting down production… Lost may not come on until February 2009.. now this…

I like Indiana’s interim head football coach as much as the next guy. Bill Lynch seems like a very capable, intelligent guy who cares about his players and about this program. He has been undoubtedly been put into a tough spot and performed admirably. Following Terry Hoeppner is no easy task. Hoeppner in his short time at IU had become something of an iconic figure in Bloomington, a symbol of the program’s new hope and any coach would have a tough time following that. It’s always tough being the guy after the guy and Coach Hep was well on his way to becoming the guy at IU. This program, now more than ever, needs someone with Hep’s charisma and Hep’s enthusiasm and likability and I just don’t think Bill Lynch is that guy.

Frankly, whatever success the Hoosiers are having this year and whatever the result of this season is, bowl berth or not, Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan would do well to remember why student ticket sales for the last three years have been on the rise and why there is a renewed enthusiasm surrounding this program. Indiana football is on the up and up because of Terry Hoeppner. Terry Hoeppner was the face of this program and Terry Hoeppner was a difficult guy not to like, not to follow and not to believe.

I remember sitting at Alumni Hall in Bloomington when Hep held his first ever meeting with the student body at IU, shortly after being brought on to coach the Hoosiers. His excitable was palpable. You could feel that he was thrilled to death to be in that room, be on that campus, and wearing that cream triton on his chest. That passion and that excitement was absolutely contagious. One would be hard pressed to listen to Hep for 15 minutes about his vision for Indiana football and not start believing.

This season, while it is certainly a fitting tribute to the memory of Coach Hep, who passed away in June of this year from brain cancer, it has less to do with Bill Lynch’s leadership and more to do with IU’s schedule, which was ranked as one of the nation’s weakest before the season began. Frankly, with a non-conference schedule that includes three MAC teams and Div. I-AA Indiana State and a conference schedule that didn’t include Ohio State or Michigan, if there was ever a season for the Hoosiers to “Play 13,” it was this one.

At the end of the day, the guy who replaces the guy who filled in for Terry Hoeppner this season needs to be someone who shares Hep’s vision for this program’s future and an equally clear love for it. That guy just isn’t Bill Lynch. Greenspan needs to keep the ball rolling, needs to keep student interest in this program that Hoeppner helped build. He needs someone to do for IU football what Greg Schiano did for Rutgers and Jim Leavitt has done for South Florida and candidly, what Ron Zook is doing across the border in Illinois.

I like…

The Amateur Gourmet has a great Q&A with Michael Ruhlman on his new book, The Elements of Cooking.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley has a fantastic lead in his column today about the Georgia-Auburn series.

The James Beard Foundation has released its list of the 20 essential cookbooks.

The New York Times’ Grub Street blog wonders if white truffles have jumped the shark after today’s announcement that the restaurant at Times Square’s Westin Hotel will be offering a $1,000 white truffle bagel.

A nice article by SI.com’s Cory McCartney on IU being bowl eligible for the first time. It’s a nice article if you haven’t been reading these kinds of stories in the Indianapolis Star or other places who do a much more thorough job, as they should, of covering IU football.  McCartney’s article does, in my opinion, give a little too much credit to interim coach Bill Lynch for the job he’s done. Given their schedule, a schedule that doesn’t include Michigan or Ohio State, it would have been tough for them not to get to six wins this year. I don’t think he should be hired back at the program’s permanent leader but I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

I don’t like….

The Writers’ strike may bump the new season of Lost back to Fall 2008 or — February 2009! The LA Times has a great grid showing, by network, how many episodes popular TV shows had in the can before going dark this week.

Why are priests stalking Conan O’Brien?

Lost creator Damon Lindelof and Marc Cherry, creator of Desperate Housewives picketing outside the ABC/Disney Lot.

Courtesy of: United Hollywood

I have hated Notre Dame for most of my life. In fact, I can’t even remember a conscious Notre Dame-related football moment that wasn’t soaked in hatred. So it was safe to say that I enjoyed the first bit of the post-Brady Quinn downward spiral that the team took at the beginning of the season. And I enjoyed the prospect that they wouldn’t get their first win at least until November (that didn’t work out but the thought was exciting) but the laughing stock that Notre Dame football, under Charlie Weis and his purported genius, has become isn’t even fun to talk anymore.

I do think that it’s 2,000 percent deserved. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. After the abhorrent treatment and firing of Tyrone Willingham, the Golden Domers were quick to bask in short-lived glory and give their coach a 10-year-extension. Now it appears Weis may be no better, and could still certainly be a worse, coach than Willingham was and now Notre Dame is stuck with him.

What I’m left to wonder is, after how many bad years, will the rest of the BCS say to Notre Dame, “Look, you’re terrible. We don’t care about Joe Montana, Joe Thiesman, Tim Brown or Jerome Bettis, or your deal with NBC. Join a conference or get out.”

Also a note to ESPN: Do not, under any circumstance, talk about Notre Dame losing on College Gameday Final for 15 minutes ever, ever again. No one cares, not even those of us who hate Notre Dame.