Gamecocks Football; Points Offthebench

A beautiful sunrise here in Boulder this morning - the sun painted the snow on the mountain peaks in shades of pink and purple - it was magnificent.   Last night was CU's Homecoming game, with kick-off at 6 p.m.  My kits were a little cranky because they wanted to go out and prowl, but I kept them inside until this morning.  The apartment is a block and a half away from the CU football stadium, and the building owner charges for people to park in the unoccupied spaces - therefore, during home games, we have a lot of traffic and strangers in and around the building, and I'd rather be safe than sorry - especially with Halloween just a few days away.
  But the poor Buffs - I was watching the South Carolina Gamecocks play at Missouri on TV, but could hear the crowd in the stadium.  The Buffs had a 3 and 3 record going into the game - the best record they've had in many years - but they were playing Arizona.  I could hear the crowd roaring and lots of noise through half-time,but after the third quarter kick-off, the stadium got more and  more quiet.  At halftime, Arizona was up by only 7 points  (20 to 27), but the Buffs were not able to score again. The final score was 44 to 20. Ouch.
  In the meantime, I was watching a heck of a game on the telly.  Conner Shaw, the Gamecocks starting quarterback, was injured last week.  He was cleared to play last night, but was favoring the sore leg.  So Dylan Thompson was the designated quarterback.  At the end of the third quarter, the Gamecocks were scoreless, while the Tigers had 17 points.  (Last week I rooted for Mizzou over my Gators, but I wanted "the ol' ball coach," Steve Spurrier, to win last night.)  Steve was seen speaking to Connor  just before the end of the third quarter, and Shaw came out onto the field at the beginning of the fourth.  At the end of 15 minutes, the score was tied at 17.  At the end of the first Overtime, the score was tied at 24.  In the second Overtime period, the Gamecocks could only get a field goal on the scoreboard.  The Tigers sputtered toward the goal line, and on their last play, had to make a field goal to tie, and go into a third Overtime period.  The poor young man who kicked the ball for the Tigers hit the lacings, and the ball bounced off the outside of the goalpost upright.  SC won, 27 to 24.  And it spoiled an unbeaten season for Mizzou.
  The Gators didn't play yesterday, but I also saw the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and the Ohio State Buckeyes win their games.  Overall, it was a good football Saturday.
   Today, the Denver Broncos play the Washington Redskins at Mile High Stadium - Mike Shanahan is back in the town that fired him.  I like Mike.  I like RGIII.  I like John Fox.  I like Peyton and his receiving corps.  I have an awful feeling that I'll be rooting for both teams today...
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  Yesterday, one of the horses exercising for the Breeders Cup Championship races suffered a condylar fracture of his right fore fetlock.  Points Offthebench was galloping under jockey Mike Smith, when the colt took a misstep and went down.  Mike Smith fell easily and was unhurt.  But the big grandson of Alydar was deemed to have an irreparable break, and was euthanized.  Points Offthebench was scheduled to run in the Breeders Cup Sprint on 2 November.