Welcome to the my Web site, v. XII. The blog is typically published Monday - Saturday. My primary topics tend to be the Nats, Penn State (esp. football), BeltwayLand, transportation, media, photos and more. The rest of the site gets updated as warranted and is noted on the blog.
D.C. gets bowl game - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, May 01, 2008
D.C. gets bowl game
NCAA Approves Bowl for Washington - The Post Yesterday, the NCAA approved the Congressional Bowl, a new game to be played in Washington. The 2008 edition will be December 20 at either Nationals Park or RFK Stadium. Navy has signed on, provided they win the necessary six games, for this year and Army for 2009. The ACC would send the other team.
Hopefully, the game will be in RFK Stadium; wouldn't it be great to see Midshipmen or Cadets making the stands rock?
We're Not Miserable! - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Monday, April 14, 2008
We're Not Miserable!
America's Most Miserable Sports Cities - Forbes D.C. doesn't make the top ten of "Most Miserable Sports Cities." Atlanta, you are #1 with Seattle right behind you. The rest: Buffalo, Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, Denver, Cleveland, Philadelphia and the Twin Cities.
Scouting Coastal Carolina University - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Scouting Coastal Carolina University
CONWAY, S.C. -- Penn State's first opponent of the 2008 football season is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. It just so happened that our drive down to see Aunt Janet took us right past Brooks Stadium, home of CCU football. After our visit this past weekend, we stopped by the campus to take photos.
The campus itself is spread out with pleasant looking brick buildings. The athletic complex on the edge of campus is suitable for a school of its size. There was a baseball tournament going on with Pitt beating Virginia Tech, 9-3 in the fourth inning before dozens of spectators.
Brooks Stadium is a small, but attractive football stadium. According CCU Athletics, it seats over 6,000. It also doesn't have locked gates, so I walked around and even onto the field. I was a bit surprised, but pleased to see that CCU plays on grass and not a rug. Good for them, it almost makes up for the teal and black colors.
I think Ohio State will win because they have as much talent as anyone. They have a big game coach who has already won a national title at Ohio State and several at Youngstown State in I-AA. The Buckeyes have a bad taste in their mouths after getting blown out in last year's title game. Unlike last year, the Michigan game wasn't the biggest game of all time. There wasn't a circus involving whether their coach would stay or not and their defensive coordinator hasn't been dividing his time between that job and a new head coaching job. Ohio State will also be motivated by the lack of respect that they have gotten this year.
Don't forget to check out BuckeyeBuzz.com, which I helped build.
NHL in Beaver Stadium? - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Friday, December 21, 2007
NHL in Beaver Stadium?
I always through it would be pretty cool if there was a "battle for Pennsylvania" at Penn State's Beaver Stadium between the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Now I find out from Eric McErlain of Fanhouse that the Flyers are considering hosting the Pengyunz at Beaver Stadium next season. Michigan State did this in 2001 when they hosted Michigan.
Forgive the pun, but that would very cool, even though I can't stand either team. People still talk about what State College was like during the 2000 playoffs between the two teams, apparently it was quite a scene. I had graduated by then. Hopefully, this could be used as an opportunity to advance the cause of varsity hockey at Penn State. A well-placed source at Penn State told me that the money is there for a new arena, but the administration wants to hold off on building for a few years.
Cartman introduces the Buffs - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Cartman introduces the Buffs
As I mentioned earlier, Eric Cartman of South Park, Colo. introduced the offense and defense during the Colorado vs. Nebraska game a while back. I'm rerunning the defense introductions so that both will be in one place.
Ron Cherry is an embarassment. The ACC should fire fire him.
# posted by Caps Nut :
Monday, November 26, 2007 1:46:00 PM
I think his brother Don would be very upset if that happened.
# posted by WFY :
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:20:00 AM
Post a CommentOld Ivy League Stadia - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Old Ivy League Stadia
Football's Oldest Stadiums: Witnesses to Game's Evolution - ESPN With The Game just days away, take a look at this ESPN article about the site of this year's game, the Yale Bowl as well as two other ancient Ivy stadiums: Harvard Stadium and Franklin Field.
I've been to the Bowl several times, seen Franklin Field's exterior in the dark and rain and viewed Harvard Stadium from the top of the Prudential building in Boston. By the way, Harvard doesn't have bleachers -- just concrete. Yale's blue bleachers are made of wood and has backs -- much more comfortable than aluminum without a back.
The accompanying article on The Game is also worth a read. This year's edition, number 124 in the series, is for the undisputed Ivy title. Both teams are undefeated in league play for the first time since 1968 I believe.
The Linc - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Linc
PHILADELPHIA -- Saturday's trip to Lincoln Financial Field was my fifth Nittany Lions road game. It was the fourth different stadium in that group, joining Scott Stadium (Univ. of Virginia), Alumni Stadium (Boston College) and Giants Stadium (vs. Rutgers and USC). This was also the third NFL stadium (all in the NFC East) that I have seen a football game at, though FedEx Field has only been for Redskins games.
What strikes me most about The Linc is the contrived alignment of the seating decks. What's the point? It isn't like an old baseball stadium where stands and angles reflected the layout of the available space. For football, this is just silly.
Other notes:
This was the first college football game that I can recall where beer was sold. I didn't get around to buying any though.
Sitting in chair backs as opposed to bleachers sure are nice.
The concourses were nice and wide.
No concessions lines, but the food was cold. Can you guess the concessionaire?
The two previous items combine into a downside though -- people wouldn't stay in their seats, so we were always having to get up and let people through.
Driving in was easy -- just up I-95. We sat for about 20-25 minutes waiting to exit, but once we were onto Broad Street, we were quickly directed to parking. We wound up on the west side of the Spectrum. Parking was surprisingly $11.
After hanging out with Wiley and Ashley for about 45 minutes, we pulled right out onto Broad Street and I-95 without delay. That sure beats the wait to get out of lot 12 only to get stuck in Port Matilda or the Lewistown Narrows, doesn't it.
Why did Penn State play the Trojans in New Jersey?
# posted by Anonymous :
Monday, November 12, 2007 2:27:00 PM
Kickoff Classic 2000 (let's not talk about it)
1996 too.
# posted by WFY :
Monday, November 12, 2007 3:26:00 PM
Post a CommentAnnapolis acts like its been there before - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Annapolis acts like its been there before
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-- Prior to the Icers game against Navy, we stopped in downtown Annapolis for a quick bite to eat. An traffic jam on the Beltway limited the amount of time we could budget for dinner, so we stopped at Chick & Ruth's Delly on Main Street. Our arrival coincided with the end of regulation of the Navy vs. Notre Dame football game.
Navy went into South Bend having not beaten the Fighting Irish since 1963, coming agonizingly close several times. It seems like every time I would turn on the Navy vs. Notre Dame game, Navy would have a shot in the last few seconds. This time was no different. Navy scored a touchdown and extra point in the first overtime with Notre Dame responding accordingly. Several tables away, a midshipman announced he would do push-ups if Navy could pull it out. The second overtime saw the two gold helmeted teams trade field goals. In the third overtime, Navy threw for a touchdown on the first play and converted two points on another pass. On Notre Dame's 3rd OT possession, a fourth down pass was batted away, seemingly bringing victory to Navy, but a pass interference penalty (I suggested the ref hates America) nullified it and gave Notre Dame another shot. They ran it on fourth down and Navy stuffed them, ending the streak. There were a few hoots, some clapping, but overall the reaction was nothing more than what you would see after a regular season baseball win. The streets of Annapolis had no buzz either. I can't decide if I was disappointed or admired the restraint.
Although Chick & Ruth's wasn't what we had in mind when we planned our trip to Annapolis, we found it to be a pleasant enough diner, although I know someone who would take issue with the spelling of the proprietors' name. Clearly, there is a lot of history at Chick & Ruth's, but we were admittedly distracted from it by the game. Erica enjoyed her crabcake sandwich. Since we were in a hurry, I ordered a burger which was fine. Perhaps sometime when we spend a whole day in Annapolis (which we have been meaning to do for a long time) we'll have a more leisurely lunch there.
50 years of soccer style kickers - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
50 years of soccer style kickers
DAN DALY - Going sideways into history - The Wash. Times A great article about the history of soccer style placekickers. It was fifty years ago Friday that Fred Bednarski of Texas became the first kicker to make a field goal soccer style in college football.
Congressional Bowl, college football, D.C.
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