Life on the Edge: Bye Week Edition

Most of you know Edge as the roving correspondent for our OTP Muncie bureau. He brings delight and joy to the masses with his Rock & Roll Report Cards after Ball State games which he decides to rock out at in person. In an effort to ensure your Awesome Quotient, or AQ as we like to call it, increases on a weekly basis, Edge offers insight into the Cards' upcoming opponent as well. This week's edition? A bye week!.

Life On The Edge: Off Week Edition

This week is as good as any for a bye week, and it couldn't come a moment too soon. The Cards avoided the dreaded trap, and have now secured a winning season by going 7-0 and coming in at number 24 with a bullet. If history is correct, not losing this weekend could skyrocket them all the way to 23rd. Granted, a lot of beds will have to be shat upon, but is it not entirely possible?

Watching the WKU game on a 17" laptop screen seemed to be appropriate. Who needs hi-def to see a game like the one we saw Saturday? Everything about it was ugly, and it might as well be on a low-quality stream, just to enhance its ugliness. On all fronts, this game was just… bleh.

The beauty of seeing this game on the computer was the fact it allowed me to listen to some real homers. These announcers were bad, man. For instance, at many points in the first half, they claimed WKU were absolutely dominating the game. Really? A fumble out of the end zone, a missed field goal, and another lost fumble? And you're "dominating"? Come on guys. Just because the BSU offense was running on about 70% efficiency doesn't mean you're earning anything.

That brings up the next point of the Cards play on both sides of the ball Saturday. Yes, we held them to only 7 points, but by all rights, this game should have been close on the scoreboard. Like I said earlier, this is a good week for a bye. You can see the mild exhaustion in the players at this point. With some huge games coming up, they need this time to recharge the batteries. It appeared that the Cards were simply in conservation mode, but they need to get back to big game mentality starting next week.

In other news… I just can't seem to avoid talking about IU this week. They are a staggering 2-4 this season, and I'm thinking of a polite way to say, "I told you so, arrogant shits!" Alan is much more of a wordsmith than I am, so I'll ask for his advice. In the meantime, as I mentioned a month or so ago, there are phases to the Lynch Era as a fan. The first step is denial. Clearly this has been the case thus far.

But I'm hearing rumblings that some fans are past this stage and have headed towards anger. AA gives out chips for achievements in sobriety, so I will present these people with a chip. You're doing well, but it's a long road ahead ladies and gents of the cream and crimson.

Things in life are cyclical: the stock market ups and downs, the ebb and flow of industry, bellbottoms, and even the weather. Lynch Eras fall into this cycle. You will fail; there is no getting around it. Acceptance awaits you, and it's humbling. I mean look at Ball State… 24th in the nation and 7-0 now. Five years ago I'd say you were bullshitting me and probably pull a Pete Townshend guitar smash over your back. But the Cards are out of the dark and finally into the light. And now the cycle is complete.