Heisman hype

Last year, Central Florida running back Kevin Smith rushed for 2,567 yards and fell just short of Barry Sanders' single-season NCAA rushing record of 2,628 yards. Yet Smith finished eighth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, which ultimately went to Tim Tebow of Florida. Two years before, Reggie Bush of Southern California captured the trophy by rushing for nearly 1,000 fewer yards than Smith.

Winning the Heisman Trophy correlates now with team success more than at any point during the past 25 years, according to a study by the patternless area. Just three of the past 27 Heisman finalists, 11 percent, are from schools that finished outside the top 15 in the final Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings. Between 1983 and 2000, 32 percent of finalists were "outsiders" from beyond the top 15 (using the AP poll between 1983 and 1997). The heyday of the Heisman outsider was from 1985 to 1990, when 42 percent of finalists came from less-successful teams or even from outside Division I-A.

Despite Smith's omission in 2007, the four-finalist Heisman field included one outsider: Darren McFadden of Arkansas. The only other outsiders since 2001 are Brady Quinn of Notre Dame (2004) and Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh (2003). This year only three players have been deemed Heisman finalists--Tim Tebow of Florida, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Colt McCoy of Texas--and they are from the top three teams in the nation.

Heisman history is dotted with players who came from relatively obscure programs but made it to Manhattan's Downtown Athletic Club as finalists: Tim Couch of Kentucky in 1998, Randy Moss of Marshall in 1997, Troy Davis of Iowa State in 1996, Marshall Faulk of San Diego State in 1992 and 1993. Three outsiders have won the trophy in the past 25 years: Ricky Williams of Texas in 1998, Ty Detmer of Brigham Young in 1990 and Bo Jackson of Auburn in 1985. Two finalists weren't even playing for Division I-A schools when they were invited: Steve McNair of Alcorn State in 1994 and Gordon Lockbaum of Holy Cross in 1987. Obscure players like Shawn Moore of Virginia (1990), Anthony Thompson of Indiana (1989) and Paul Palmer of Temple (1986) made it to New York.

Even as the Internet and cable television have made it easier to follow college football, the pool of potential Heisman candidates has narrowed. Rarely do players come out of nowhere like Sanders did in 1988, or Faulk in 1992, and if they do, like Kevin Smith, they are mostly ignored. Why?

-The BCS has focused all attention on schools in the big six major conferences: the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pacific 10 and Southeastern. This year, Utah and Boise State have gone unbeaten and only Utah scraped into a BCS bowl. Boise State isn't even playing after Christmas, facing Texas Christian in something called the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 23. Back in 1984, Brigham Young, of the Western Athletic Conference, won the national title by beating Michigan in the Holiday Bowl. Nearly half the teams in the grouping formerly known as Division I-A aren't even competing for the national title now.

-The media like to reward themselves. Heisman prognostications arrive in mid-summer, and the forecasters don't like to admit they were wrong when someone emerges in October.

-As expansive as the TV coverage is, few people watch the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night games that showcase lesser known conferences. Many sports fans are following baseball on those nights early in the football season.

-Widespread analysis and coverage derails the hopes of anomalies like B.J. Symons of Texas Tech, who threw for more than 5,000 yards in 2003. It's easier to dismiss players as "products of a system" rather than inherently talented. Analysts also seem more like to take this tack now, though I'm not sure why. Back in 1989, when Andre Ware won the Heisman at Houston, few decried his choice even though he was a product of the new-fangled Run and Shoot offense.

-The criteria for the Heisman Trophy have changed over time. Already murky at best, the definition of the "most outstanding player" has evolved to mean the best player on the best team. Back in the 1980s, stats seemed to matter more and team success not as much.

The Heisman already is inherently flawed since it 99 percent of the time awards players from three positions: quarterback, running back and wide receiver. In recent years, it's nearly all quarterbacks. This year, voters have a chance to combine the best of the '80s with the 2000s approach and pick Oklahoma's Bradford, whose jaw-dropping numbers combine with team success.

Other observations: Back in the late '80s and early '90s there were a lot more defensive players in the hunt for the Heisman. Names like Steve Emtman and Marvin Jones made the top 10 in voting. Charles Woodson of Michigan, of course, somehow won the Heisman as a defensive back in 1997.

-Lockbaum was a two-way player, a tailback and defensive back.

-A lot of winners were total washouts in the NFL: Jason White, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Danny Wuerffel, Rashaan Salaam, Gino Torretta to name a few.

Bird day

About two hours before this photo was taken, a peregrine falcon alighted on one of the gothic towers at St. Columbanus Church on Chicago's South Side.

Barry O

There's no doubt I'm going through election withdrawal along with thousands of others. I still make feeble visits to andrewsullivan.com and fivethirtyeight.com, mostly out of habit. I've pretty much stopped visiting talkingpointsmemo.com and slate.com for now. I am still following Sarah Palin's every move however. Her campaign for 2012 is going so well, what with the coherent interviews and all.

Anyway, I have uploaded several photos to flickr. This is not our best work--we may need a camera upgrade (or at least knowledge of the nighttime settings)--but I think these capture a bit more of the event. I still can't get over the scene on Michigan Avenue that night, especially when I'm driving in that vicinity now. Pure magic.

Making history

The Election Night Rally in Grant Park, of course, will be one of the most memorable nights of our lives. It still hasn't sunk in yet, though.

We rode our bikes down to the vicinity of the park, arriving at about 8:30. After a brief struggle, we found a chain link construction fence to latch up to near the intersection of Monroe and Wabash. There was a throng walking toward Grant Park, but the crowd mostly was subdued. It was mix of young and old, white and black. One thing I will always remember was a guy on a cellphone who loudly said "He won Ohio!" to anyone nearby. A round of cheers and applause went up. At this point, we already knew Obama had won Pennsylvania--a major development--but, as any regular fivethirtyeight.com reader will tell you, Ohio was far from certain (and of course the Buckeye State is meaningful to me). An Ohio win plus Pennsylvania virtually assured Obama of the presidency.

We kept making our way toward the park, passing through three security checkpoints. There was something a little surreal about it. The combination of the loudspeakers echoing across the park and off the row of buildings on Michigan Avenue, combined with a fairly quiet crowd, created an eerie feeling. Not to mention the unseasonable temperatures in the 60s. One doesn't often gather with this many people unless it is for a sporting event or concert, and fans of sports and music are quite boisterous.

We made our way to an area probably 300 yards from the stage. CNN was playing on a big video board, and whoops of delight went up whenever a state was called for Obama. At about five minutes to 10, CNN called Virginia for Obama, who by now had a huge lead. It sent the crowd into a frenzy. At 10, the polls closed on the West Coast and CNN declared Obama victorious. The crowd reached another level of jubilation, with people hugging and crying (the picture above is from just after the announcement). It was shocking to see the word "president" next to Obama's name and photo, as shocking as learning of any other major world-changing event. It's strange because we knew he would probably win last night. It just wasn't something I really allowed myself to imagine after the disappointments of the past eight years. And to think that this is the same guy I was standing in a South Side pantry with about two years ago.

The time between 10 and 11 was mostly spent listening to music and watching the video board. (One song I remember was "Signed, Sealed, Delivered.") CNN provided some analysis, and McCain delivered his concession speech. Many in the crowd graciously clapped for sections of McCain's speech. A few started singing "Hey Hey Goodbye." (And after all of the Republican hit jobs, smear tactics and dishonesty, who could blame them.)

After an invocation, pledge of allegiance and the national anthem, Obama took the stage with his family. He delivered a speech that was very serious in tone. A speech that didn't self-reference his remarkable achievement but rather focused on the steep challenges that we face. The inspiring oratory prompted more tears and cheers.

We could see the runway that jutted from the stage, Obama looking like a miniature person in the distance. After the speech, the Obama and Biden families appeared together and waved to the crowd. Most everyone in the audience stayed until after the stage was cleared.

We made our way to the exits and walked toward Michigan Avenue, which was awash in revelers. It was a very peaceful celebration with everyone lining the streets, chanting, cheering and taking pictures. By 1, we had ridden all the way back north. The entire evening was such a rare opportunity, and I'm thankful that we happened to be in the right place at the right time to be a part of it.

Organizing hope

I'd like to note that one reason President-Elect Obama won--and captured traditionally red states--is because of his and his campaign's effectiveness at community organizing, the old job Republicans mocked at their convention.

Vote rocking

To: Everyone in Swing States and Red States
From: Everyone in Blue States

Please vote tomorrow. And then tell a bunch of other people to vote.

Thanks.

Wry guy

I know Jim Rome isn't for everyone, and it's hard to explain why I like him so much to anyone who hasn't regularly listened to his radio show, but I found this take on golfer John Daly especially funny (Daly's "friends" left him at a Hooters in a drunken stupor):

[[I don’t know what's worse, J.D. “hitting it” that hard, again. Or, his “crew” just abandoning him? What happened to the “boozer’s credo”: ‘no one gets left behind enemy lines. Everyone in, everyone out. Never leave your wingman. Ever! Either that, or this guy is ‘hashing our buzz’; he’s ‘killing us’. Everyone out the back door! Yeah. but what about J.D.? Who cares, he won’t even know we’re gone.”]]

Polling place

And the fivethirtyeight.com coverage continues at a feverish pace!

Politically correct

The 1994 movie "PCU" takes place at fictional Port Chester University, a place where fraternities have been banned and fun is basically outlawed. The main character nominally is a "pre-frosh" named Tom Lawrence, though really Jeremy Piven's Droz (rhymes with "Ross") is the main character. Droz is a seventh-year senior who is assigned the pre-frosh. He lives in a place called "The Pit" where a random cast of characters resides and generally has a good time. Two of Droz' cohorts are Gutter, a dimwitted big guy, and Mullaney, an easygoing sort who happened to be played by Alex Desert, frontman for the third-wave ska band Hepcat. The Pit residents are foiled by David Spade's preppy Rand McPherson and University President Garcia-Thompson, as played by Jessica Walter who went on to play Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development." The university cracks down on all things fun, and, living up to its name, bans anything that might offend almost anyone. At one point, the school mascot becomes an endangered whooping crane. (In a cinematic ornithological gaffe, the crane that emerges on state in ceremony is actually a gray-crowned crane.)

What else did we learn from "PCU?"

-That George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic might actually show up at your party if you dream enough.

-That the Caine-Hackman Theory is true: there is a 100 percent statistical probability that at any given moment in time, a film starring either Michael Caine or Gene Hackman will be showing on television.

-That you should never go to a concert wearing a T-shirt of the band you are about to see (Droz' quote: "What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy."). (I directly violated this rule by wearing a vintage 1994 RATM T-shirt to Lollapalooza.)

This is all by way of saying that the Jon Favreau who writes Sen. Barack Obama's speeches is not the Jon Favreau who played Gutter in "PCU."

Silver lining

The Chicago Tribune featured Nate Silver, creator of fivethirtyeight.com, the election polling site, in the paper yesterday. Silver, who resides in Chicago, formerly was known for his stat-geek work with Baseball Prospectus. He has Sen. Obama winning in a landslide.

Midwest best

Geographical reasons for why Chicago might be the best place in the country to launch a presidential campaign.

Runway finale

I missed the finale of "Project Runway" because of the presidential debate. I thought about watching both, but it was just too much. I am aware of who won this season. (If you don't want to know, stop reading here.)

In reviewing photos of the final collection, it's hard to question Leanne's victory. To me, it wasn't a very compelling season of "Runway." Maybe it's that the show has had two seasons this year already. Despite her pseudo-spacey demeanor, Leanne deserved to win over the weaker-than-usual field.

Sprawl space

One of the silver linings of the foreclosure crisis is that it might slow the inexorable expansion of suburban development.

Senator impaling

I gave up on the "Runway" finale tonight to focus on the debate. Here are some thoughts:

8:03 - The little desk and chairs look like the set of a debate parody rather than the set of an actual debate.

8:09 - Sen. Obama gets the first laugh by saying that Sen. McCain has been "watching ads of Sen. McCain's."

8:11 - Sen. McCain looks unhinged tonight.

8:13 - He wants to spread the wealth by cutting taxes to the rich. Huh?

8:18 - Ethanol: you can't start a new talking point this late in the election.

8:19 - I hope Adler Planetarium does get a new projector.

8:25 - Ooh, "The Say It to His Face" segment.

8:28 - Sen. McCain sometimes seems a decent person, but the smears against Sen. Obama indeed have been awful by him and Gov. Palin.

8:30 - Ooh, Sen. McCain says Sen. Obama attacked his healthcare plan. And then admits to being an Arizona Cardinals fan--shocking!

8:39 - I just think the Ayers meme is a loser for McCain.

8:40 - Yeah, Bob Schieffer. He serves up an Obama softball on "why is your running mate qualified to be president?" Sen. Obama executes a reverse windmill double-pump slam dunk in Sen. McCain's face.

8:42 - I'm shooting holes into everything Sen. McCain says about Gov. Palin. Take this one: "She's a reformer." Oh yeah, a reformer who uses her power to wrongly fire people. Who accepts pork barrel projects only to renounce them. Who was for the Bridge before she was against it. That's a reformer.

8:46 - Schieffer is ruling this debate with an iron fist.

8:49 - If all the Obama-Biden signs I saw in rural West Virginia and Virginia this weekend are an indicator, this will be a landslide in November.

9:00 - Sen. McCain uses the "my friend" device.

9:05 - Sen. McCain just called Sen. Obama "Senator Government" by mistake.

9:12 - Once and for all: 'present' votes are common in Illinois, one of the few states that offer this option.

9:24 - Um, Sarah Palin's child has Down Syndrome, not autism. Get it straight.

Reform school

Gov. Palin tonight seemed to equate "Washington outsider" to a lack of knowledge about anything that's gone on in Washington, ever. She interchangeably used "outsider" status with simply not knowing much about the national news. In actuality, anyone who's picked up a newspaper or turned on a TV during the past couple centuries would know more than she did about what's taken place in Washington. Maybe it's just me, but inattention to national political issues is not the kind of reform I'm looking for.

Debate report

Thoughts on last night's debate...

-McCain played the "old" card a lot, even starting with a reference to Eisenhower. He later blasted Obama's experience and referred to a bunch of things he did or observed 20 or 30 years ago. History and experience are important, but if you value history and experience this much how can you choose the least qualified running mate ever?

-McCain uses this rhetorical device of starting statements by saying "My friends." Lieberman does the same thing. No you are not my friend and I won't believe what you're telling me.

-Obama could have made a statement like "John, how can we believe you on this fact when you and your running mate have run a campaign full of lies?" I'm not sure why he didn't--maybe there are too many people who would feel sympathy for the old guy? There are just so many documented lies at this point. Obama did say "Not true, not true" to several of McCain's statements however.

-I agree with the pundits who said Obama held his own on foreign policy. I think John McCain and Sarah Palin not only want another Cold War with Russia, they actually want a real war this time around. I don't think Obama, though, could make this comment because of his initially soft posture toward the Georgia conflict--a posture that generally wasn't well received from what I understand. What else would it be though but war if NATO defended Georgia against Russia? And do you think Putin wouldn't fight back if we sent troops into Georgia?

Third down

Tonight's episode of "Project Runway" was a shocker. I really don't have a good sense of who will win this season, but I do believe that THIRD PERSON should not have been eliminated tonight. THIRD PERSON designed a "rock-and-roll" outfit for Jerrell that really wasn't all that bad. Kenley designed a disgusting pair of "mom jeans" for Leanne that were supposed to be "hip-hop." Not only were the jeans an affront to hip-hop, they were an affront to all fashion. The inexplicable high-risers wouldn't be appropriate for any genre.

There were many other times earlier this season when I thought THIRD PERSON should have been eliminated but not tonight. So THIRD PERSON departs leaving us with four survivors. Really, this season feels like Stephen King's early novel "The Long Walk."

Fired up

Young sighing

Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan writes that this year's National League Cy Young race is a referendum on whether young Sabremetricians--those who swear by statistical analysis--will topple the Old Guard in the journalists' voting for the award. Passan states that victories have typically been the barometer by which Cy Young candidates are judged, earned-run averages and other stats be damned.

I take the position that victory totals, while an imperfect measure, still matter. There's something about playing behind a winning pitcher, an ace, a stud, that gets a team going. Winners keep teams in the game--guys like Jack Morris come to mind--and throw a lot of pitches while doing it. Workhorses matter.

In this year's NL race, it's come down to Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. Lincecum sports a gaudy ERA and Webb a slightly better win total on a better team. In all fairness the award could go to either guy, though I think Lincecum has been more dominant.

In the AL, it's no contest. Cliff Lee should make it back-to-back Cy Youngs for the Cleveland Indians. Despite playing on a .500 team, he leads the league in wins (21-2) and ERA.

Vicious bicycle

I'm not really sure what to make of Lance Armstrong's comeback. On one hand, I have a cynical view and don't believe it's all about cancer awareness. On the other, I missed watching him in the Tour. But I would find it strange if he does ride for Team Astana, which was booted from this year's Tour because team leader Alexandre Vinokourov was doping in 2007. It's also strange that Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's longtime team director with the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel, is leading the sketchy Astana team. Even more strange is how much the Team Astana Web site reminds me of the Sacha Baron Cohen character Borat (OK, maybe it's just the Kazakh flag).

I thought seven straight Tour wins was plenty for one career, especially one that managed to avoid ever testing positive despite all the "smoke" billowing around. But this will make next year's Tour a lot more interesting.

Big picture

The Republican National Convention is part hilarious, part deeply disturbing. The first two full days have been filled with head-scratching comments, tepid applause and a lot of shots of the same five (only five?) 35-year-old women in the crowd.

-By far the most absurd moment of either convention took place on Tuesday. Ohio Rep. John Boehner organized the convention photo, asking that everyone stand still for one to two minutes. The compliant delegates stood statue still, including the expressionless Congressman and all of the dignitaries on stage. It was like an old-fashioned photograph where everyone had to stand motionless for a really long time. If I missed it and the Democrats did anything like this, please leave a comment.

-The music for this convention differs from the Democratic convention. So far, mostly music that sounds like the score from a made-for-TV movie. Then Journey came on. No one really danced to it, just half-heartedly waved their signs back and forth to it.

-A speaker called the Vice Presidential nominee "Sarah Pawlenty," combining the little-known governor's name with the name of one-time VP possibility Tim Pawlenty.

-There's an Abraham Lincoln lookalike in the crowd. You wonder if he got named a delegate just for his costume and beard.

-Finally, full disclosure, I caught a Sen. Obama flub on C-SPAN 2. Speaking in New Philadelphia, Ohio, he called the town "New Pennsylvania."

Conventional wisdom

The first three days of the 45th National Convention of the Democratic Party have been wildly entertaining. Random observations as we prepare for the big rally tonight in the Broncos' stadium.

-I like the panel seated at the table on stage. They remind me of the Politburo watching a boxing match (veiled "Rocky IV" reference).

-The "Town Hall" hosted by the great Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was strange. TV commentators made it sound like no one in the arena was paying attention to it. In fact, I don't even think the audience had any questions when Sen. Brown asked at the end.

-When the Democrats air an elegy to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I like to picture all the Republicans across the country becoming nauseous. Other moments that had Republicans reaching for their Leanne-approved barf bags: all of Sen. Clinton's speech, the Sen. Ted Kennedy tribute, President Clinton's speech and when all of the female House members took to the stage.

-The best of the convention takes place in the late afternoon/early evening. It's kind of CNBC's badminton to NBC's gymnastics--far more interesting without all the hype. (For a good story on the frustrating Olympics TV coverage, click here. Thanks to a patternless area correspondent for finding this.)

-CSPAN is by far the best network for watching the convention. No commentary, constant video feed. Yesterday, they kicked off their coverage by showing an assortment of delegates dancing to live music for about 8 minutes. I like the delegate in the donkey costume.

-I liked the camera that followed all of President Clinton's reactions during Sen. Clinton's speech on Tuesday. Sen. Biden is a close second on most entertaining reaction shots.

-DNC Chairman Howard Dean is the best. Even watching him read a motion yesterday was fun.

-Finally, how did celebrities Omarosa and Jennifer Garner get tickets? Egad.

Keith Institutionalized?

Some have questioned my allegiance to Keith on this season's "Project Runway." I mostly was intrigued by his close similarity to bandanna-ed Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir as well as his Mormon upbringing. Keith's dismissal last night came as no surprise. The horrors of last week's tattered outfit and this week's disaster were too much to overcome. And his retort at Michael Kors' criticism last night sealed his demise. Just as Kors said, anyone who presents something to the public has to be prepared for criticism. Keith couldn't handle it and buckled under the pressure. So long, Keith.

Runway clearance

I was shocked when Daniel was eliminated from "Project Runway" last night. He seemed destined to be the pompous type who lingers throughout the season, just to infuriate most of the audience. His outfit was actually better than Keith's, and that's tough for me to say because everyone knows I'm a Keith and Suicidal Tendencies fan.

And Leanne, who could be an extra from "Children of the Corn," used the word "barf" last night.

More hubbub

The Chicago Tribune's Bob Verdi has the latest take on Brett Favre. He takes the position that Favre should have stayed retired and that the Packers made the right decision. I disagree with the latter portion of the position, but the piece is overall a solid critique:

Regularly scheduled programming on sports networks has been shelved, not only by Michael Phelps' quest for gold but by Favre's serial forays into arena addiction and self-absorption, both nourished by his acute appreciation of procrastination for dramatic effect.

And, as if we haven't had enough Favre, Verdi notes that he's gone from the smallest NFL market to its largest. Imagine the Favre hubbub to come.

Mythological Packer

Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard wrote a column about how the mythology of Brett Favre has been broken. A couple of my favorite quotes:

"Did he really believe that rumors and leaks to the media were the best way to go about returning?"

"And once Favre embraced the role of folk hero...he couldn't suddenly bail out. In Favre's case, fans expect his life to read like a compelling narrative."

Ballard also cites a Kelton Research poll that found 53 percent of Americans wishing Favre would stay retired. The numbers jumped to 59 percent in the Midwest. We don't like this wishy-washy retirement stuff.

Wither judo

I don't have too much to say about last night's "Project Runway" other than Blayne should have been eliminated. I haven't seen koolats (sp?) in the board room, but that's just me.

I do have a lot to say about the Olympics. I'm not sure who decided that we all have to watch gymnastics, beach volleyball and swimming every night, but I'm blaming NBC for it. There are so many sports that are receiving zero coverage in primetime. I realize that TV does this every Olympiad, but I could really go for some badminton right now. Or even Muggle Quidditch.

Tan man

What did we learn during this week's episode of "Project Runway?" That Blayne prefers to tan every other day. That Jennifer's elimination was overdue. That Daniel is too hip to create an Olympic outfit. That Corto and her family left Liberia when she was a child. That Apolo Ohno knows his fashion. And that many of the designers think dresses, Little Bo Peep bonnets and sweaters are appropriate for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

Favre ending

Well, I said the patternless area would be about more than camping, birding, the weather and cycling. Now I have takes on the Brett Favre saga.

First, full disclosure, I am a fan of No. 4. I have followed his career since the Atlanta Falcons took him in the second round and since he made his NFL debut in a Packers victory over Cincinnati. But, even as I enjoyed his resurgence last year, I had already grown tired of his year-to-year wishy-washy retirement decisions. It was too much. It didn't help the team and drew way too much attention to him individually. Finally, when he retired this year on (mostly) a high note (NFC Championship Game appearance), I thought that it might be over. I decided if he ever came back, I would change my opinion of him. And then the reports came that he was reconsidering.

But the Packers managed to botch the whole situation so badly that I again have regained sympathy for the Kiln, Miss., native. How this team could not let him back is absurd. QB-to-be Aaron Rodgers was a No. 20-something pick four years ago. He is not Steve Young. The franchise would be more damaged by refusing Favre than by accepting him back. In fact, accepting him back would only enhance the team's long-term image and short-term gains (and I was at Lambeau two months ago--the place is a shrine to Favre). Instead, the venerable franchise will be sullied by its rejection of a legend.

Sadly, everyone will forget about this in a few years. Who remembers that 49ers greats Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig ended their careers with other teams? Not many. But the marriage of Favre and Green Bay was so great that it is a shame to see it end this way.

Weekend hindsight

We found these sunglasses on Hutchinson Field on Sunday. Hutchinson Field is the grassy area of Grant Park where the AT&T stage was erected for Lollapalooza. For me, these sunglasses represent a lot (insert your own caption here). The mayhem of Rage Against the Machine's show, perhaps. The insanity of a three-day summer festival with more than 225,000 people and eight stages of music.

It's easy to imagine how someone could have lost their glasses this weekend and subsequently have them trampled. Though I like to think that someone, agitated by Zack de la Rocha's anti-capitalist rants, threw down these glasses during Rage's set and did away with Prada and materialism forever. Probably not the case.

One final observation:

Before the Rage show, somewhere deep in the throng, we saw a guy drinking out of a Coppertone bottle. Initial reaction: disgust. Upon further consideration, I wonder if this was one of those branded containers you can buy to hold illicit materials--like the Coke can that is actually filled with beer or the bottle of shaving cream with the marijuana compartment. Later, after the show, we saw one mosh survivor pick up a half-empty bottle of water that was lying on the ground. He studied it for a moment before proceeding to gulp it down. So maybe the Coppertone guy really was chugging lotion-flavored liquids after all, who knows.

Cleveland nostalgia

Trent Reznor got nostalgic Sunday night. "Seventeen summers ago Perry Farrell asked me to join Lollapalooza," said the Nine Inch Nails frontman. "We were just kids from Cleveland who didn't know anything."

Reznor did indeed spend quite a bit of time in Cleveland and grew up in Mercer, Pa., about 90 miles away. He also attended school for one year at Allegheny College.

Nine Inch Nails rocked the Bud Light stage at the north end of Grant Park, mixing old hits like "Head Like a Hole" with newer songs like "The Hand That Feeds." Their light show was phenomenal and they played a few songs behind a cage-like fence. One of the encore numbers was "Hurt," the song Johnny Cash once covered.

Other highlights from Day 3 of Lollapalooza:

-Today was steamier than yesterday but still mostly tolerable.

-Lollapalooza is no place for an agoraphobe. Admittedly, I was tired of the scene a bit today--one too many people bumping into me, a few too many port-a-poddies. Still, a lot of fun overall.

-Girl Talk was fun. It was basically a guy with a laptop (Gregg Gillis, a former biomedical engineer no less), but he almost trumped Gnarls Barkley with a dance party atmosphere at the Citi stage.

-Saul Williams was interesting, harder than expected.

-Gnarls Barkley was good, but I felt played a few too many of their darker songs from their more recent album.

-This was a tiring weekend, and I'm running out of steam now.

Multiple choice

If there's any complaint I have about Lollapalooza it is the number of cruel choices we have been forced to make. Certainly, we're not the only people who have faced these conundrums, but I think they could have spread out some of the big names a bit more. Maybe this is inevitable with eight stages.

A few of the choices:
-Day 1: The Raconteurs vs. The Cool Kids vs. Bloc Party and Stephen Malkmus.
-Day 2: Broken Social Scene vs. Battles vs. Lupe Fiasco.
-Day 3: Today we face another tough one. Love and Rockets vs. Girl Talk vs. Flosstradamus vs. Gnarls Barkley. Cee-Lo and Dangermouse of Gnarls will win out in the end, but you won't help to wonder what was going on elsewhere. There is a chance we could catch the start of Flosstradamus' set.

Oh, and the granddaddy of all of the cruel choices also is tonight. Nine Inch Nails vs. Kanye West. NIN will also win out, but if the rumored Barack Obama appearance is true we may rue the day we chose Trent over Ye.

Lotta Lolla

Tonight proved that Rage Against the Machine is still as relevant as ever. Its advocacy of unity, human rights and peace (well, mostly) may be more timely now than it was back in the 1990s. Rage ran through its catalog of anthems with the precision of a May Day march. It capped its set with the funk-metal "Wake Up" and a long soliliquy by vocalist Zack de la Rocha about "the last eight years." The encores were early 1990s classics "Freedom" and "Killing in the Name." The show was not without drama, though. De la Rocha cut off the indigenous rights diatribe "People of the Sun" when a crush of people pushed up against the stage rail. He asked that everyone move back, and after a short delay resumed the set. People mostly complied, but de la Rocha kept pleading with the crowd all night.

Other observations from Day 2:

-Lollapalooza is a study in sunglasses. In: Ray Bans. Out: Oakleys. In: Fluorescent frames. Out: Medical sunglasses.

-The weather today was perfect. Blue skies, low 80s.

-We stopped by Perry's stage early in the afternoon, as event founder Perry Farrell was scheduled to make a cameo with a special guest. There was a DJ playing some music when we got there. Eventually, we could see Farrell near the back of the stage dancing. He waved to the crowd and everyone cheered. Fifteen minutes later, he was still doing the same thing. We really didn't understand what he was doing--no band, no special guest, no performance. We got bored and left.

-We had the misfortune of seeing the worst act at Lollapalooza. We took a flyer on Spank Rock, a Baltimore group, and left within 20 minutes. What they did was really an insult to music and all of humanity, in fact. I'm not sure where to begin. The act involved two MC/dancers who were so horrible at being MCs and dancers that we had to leave. And I think Tim Gunn or Michael Kors would describe their outfits as "vulgar."

-I was last at Lollapalooza in 1995. It was a simpler time. No cellphones, no Blackberries, no iPhones, no digital cameras. The Internet was only just becoming popular.

-Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco thrilled the crowd with an eight-piece band. The trumpet, trombone and saxophone on the skateboard anthem "Kick, Push" sounded great.

Sound opinions

"That's the worst headlining band I've ever seen," said one person early in Radiohead's set. He and a friend were storming away from the stage at the south end of Grant Park. Indeed, Radiohead is not typical stadium rock. It's amazing that 75,000 people showed up to watch them tonight as part of Lollapalooza. It's hard to believe this is the same band that recorded "Creep" so many years ago. Radiohead certainly delivered tonight, mostly playing hits of the past decade or so.

Other highlights today:

-Lollapalooza is a study in shirtlessness. The upper 80 degree temperatures had everyone scrambling to take their shirts off.

-Jack White of The Raconteurs is looking more and more like Glenn Danzig, former frontman of The Misfits and Danzig (pictured at right).

-Cadence Weapon left a memorable impression when DJ Weasel climbed onto the scaffolding above the stage, hung there for about 30 seconds and dropped the 6 feet or so back to the stage.

-Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks delivered their fuzzed-out post-punk sound. I saw Pavement (Malkmus' former band) at Lollapalooza in 1995, and all I remember was him hunched over a guitar with a big mop of hair. Hasn't changed much, 'cept I like it now.

-Big festivals are marathons, not a sprint. I haven't been to anything like this since approximately 1997. I learned that you can't assume you will get very close to the stage during any headlining act. It takes precision and planning to get close enough to really see one of the big names. We will take that into consideration tomorrow when Rage Against the Machine tears the roof off this sucka.

Bandanna fix

A (somewhat) live look at Episode 3, Season 5 of "Project Runway."

8:02 -- The designers utter a half-hearted hello when Heidi greets them.

8:07 -- Jennifer and Leanne look exactly alike and have a vacant look in their eyes.

8:09 -- Keith utters the words "I'm not here to become their friends" when Stella and Kenley complain about him in Times Square. (See video below for more.)



8:13 -- An ad runs for the new season of "Top Design." See you later, decorator.

8:16 -- Keith, sans bandanna, doesn't look as much like Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir (pictured at right) today.

8:18 -- I'm rooting for Joe Faris of Detroit.

8:18 -- Leanne, creator of last week's satin mess, utters the words "I hope I'm not too creative again."

8:19 -- Keith's bandanna is back!

8:21 -- Kenley is to a flapper as Emily is to a 1940s pinup.

8:28 -- Blayne inadequately explains the phrase "Holla at cha boy" to Tim Gunn.

8:33 -- You heard it here: Daniel Feld will be formidable this season.

8:39 -- I admit it, I would laugh at most anything Michael Kors says. When he says "Hey guys" to the designers each week I smile a little bit and all is right with the world.

8:48 -- In a remarkable turnaround, Leanne's outfit garners quite a bit of praise this week.

8:49 -- Jennifer, Leanne's doppelganger, appears to be in trouble however.

8:50 -- Nina Garcia says "no comment" on her dress.

8:56 -- Kenley is victorious.

8:58 -- Inexplicably, Emily is eliminated and Jennifer goes on for another week.

Holding pattern

Welcome to the patternless area, a companion blog to the driftless area. The patternless area will include views on topics beyond those covered in the driftless area. These might include television, team sports and everyday life. For those familiar with the pensieve of the Harry Potter books, the patternless area will be a tool for emptying my thoughts on a broad array of topics.