Sports Then and Now

Penn State won in Week 6.

Zultan is sad to report that after the Iowa Hawkeyes self-destructed in Happy Valley on Saturday, Mom had to be carted off the premises by the guys in the white coats.

Now in rehab, Mom sings the Iowa Fight song from sun up to dusk.  The only thing that can possibly restore her sanity is a win this week over the ever-ruinous Northwestern Wildcats.
After all, Zultan needs Mom to cook his meals.  Come on black birds—win one for the old lady!

The All-Seeing Seer is also forced to report that the “Show-Me” state showed little in the way of winning last Saturday as Missouri failed to upend the Kansas State Wildcats in a Big Z upset. Okay Bill Snyder, you “showed” up the mighty Zultan in Week No. 6.

The ultimate lesson came from Northwestern and their newly refurbished quarterback who showed all the right signs to upset the Michigan Wolverines making their first road trip—but sadly, Persa failed to deliver and Zultan was saddled with three—count them, three losses.

Still – it was better than four from the previous week.  The dozens of you who outguessed the mighty Zultan will be applauded at the end of this article and given your due respect by the All-Seeing magnanimous one.

It is now time to turn our focus to the crystal ball and week seven.  At the conclusion of this weekend of action, the BCS will unload their ranking for the first time this season.  We are already halfway through the 2011 season.

Click here to enter your picks for this week’s slate of ten games and see if you can surpass the mighty Zultan this week. Zultan feels mighty lucky but that could be from a lack of Mom’s Goodwill brownies.

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Typically, the Hawkeyes seldom score a victory against the Buckeyes.

It is that time in the college football season when hope may have begun to fade for those teams whose ambitions exceeded their ability to deliver—whose luck has run out.

Often, it is hard not to relive those accumulated missed tackles, extra points and dropped passes.

This inclination might allow disappointment to saturate a team’s outlook in the one or two remaining games because winning now seems not to make a difference.

A single victory cannot take you to that pinnacle you imagined in your future at the beginning of the season.

This is a state of mind that a good coaching staff immediately nips in the bud because every time a college football team walks out on the field, the players make a statement about themselves, their program and the school.

Ending well is every bit as important as beginning well. Kirk Ferentz and staff will bring that point home.

As to the charge of being a “spoiler,” winning games is the goal each and every game during the entire season. Iowa has as much to play for against Ohio State as they did against Northwestern.

Each week the team that wins, is a spoiler.

So being called one now is redundant. Every contest this weekend will celebrate some spoiler’s victory at the end of the game.

The goal to win is exactly what will inspire the Iowa Hawkeyes to upend the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 12.

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Zultan's predictions for Week 5

The Northern Illinois Huskies and the Toledo Rockets derailed Zultan’s perfect 14-0 Week 4.

These MAC teams accomplished what the SEC, PAC 10 and Big East conferences could not––confound the All-Seeing One by bringing out previously hidden talent to overrun the supposedly more talent-laden Big Ten teams––Purdue and Minnesota.

But now, as conference play gets underway, the prognostication game grows deadly serious.  There are no more gimmes on the horizon, for all appearances to the contrary. The lop-sided scoring by the top-ranked Big Ten teams over cup-cake opponents is over. This begins the run for conference titles and other guarantees of glory in the post season.

Zultan has never dipped below 500 in his two-year stint forecasting games; but this could be the week.  Don’t miss your opportunity to outguess the Seer of Seers.  Click here to make your own picks for Week 5.  But be warned, Zultan has polished up his crystal ball, tweaking his football radar as he readies himself for that all important first step in Week 5.

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