Last night I held two 2 loser hands. Both times we had a 1-2-6 auction. What did I have? ATxxx, AKQx, -, AKQx. The opponents intervened with a diamond overcall and advance sacrifice and somehow I was the only one to bid 6S. We were cold for 7 as long as spades came in opposite KQx after having to ruff truck 1. The other freak 2 loser hand I had was AKQTxx, AQ, AQxxx, -. We had a true 1S-2S-6S auction. I was able to pick up Jxxx of spades onside but wasn’t able to take the heart finesse so made 6 (partner had both minor kings and that’s all) but was strangely again the only one in slam.
There were a ton of good intermediate defensive problems that I should have written down as they would be good candidates for articles in the book I will eventually write about becoming a better defender. I wasn’t taking notes or keeping score but perhaps I should go back and copy down a few of those hands so that when I inevitably get bored/motivated again, I’ll have something more write about.
In other news, bowl season is upon us. Anyone for a Notre Dame-Florida championship game? Yeah, Georgia fans would pitch a huge fit if that happened. Here are the rankings headed into the bowls. My computer finished the regular season beating the spread 55.9% of the time, which makes it 54% over the last 3 years. Maybe it’s time to start betting on these games. Despite ND being ranked #1, even my computer predicts Alabama to win. It also picks a number of other things that aren’t very logical, especially Northern Illinois, a 14 point underdog with the weakest schedule in all of the FBS, to beat Florida State.
Strength of
| |||||||
Rank
|
Prev
|
BCS
|
W
|
L
|
Team
|
Schedule
|
Total Rtg.
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
12
|
0
|
NOTRE DAME
|
12
|
95.518
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
11
|
1
|
FLORIDA
|
7
|
90.513
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
12
|
1
|
ALABAMA
|
36
|
87.560
|
4
|
4
|
NE
|
12
|
0
|
OHIO STATE
|
61
|
85.700
|
5
|
6
|
4
|
11
|
1
|
OREGON
|
39
|
84.530
|
6
|
7
|
5
|
11
|
1
|
KANSAS STATE
|
38
|
84.101
|
7
|
5
|
11
|
9
|
2
|
OKLAHOMA
|
26
|
83.875
|
8
|
9
|
6
|
11
|
2
|
STANFORD
|
5
|
82.741
|
9
|
11
|
10
|
10
|
2
|
SOUTH CAROLINA
|
29
|
80.205
|
10
|
12
|
8
|
10
|
2
|
LSU
|
27
|
80.097
|
11
|
13
|
9
|
10
|
2
|
TEXAS A&M
|
33
|
79.520
|
12
|
10
|
7
|
11
|
2
|
GEORGIA
|
58
|
79.218
|
13
|
8
|
16
|
10
|
3
|
NEBRASKA
|
17
|
78.604
|
14
|
14
|
13
|
8
|
3
|
OREGON STATE
|
11
|
77.875
|
15
|
16
|
24
|
10
|
2
|
San Jose State
|
77
|
72.718
|
16
|
15
|
17
|
9
|
4
|
UCLA
|
31
|
71.691
|
17
|
17
|
14
|
10
|
2
|
CLEMSON
|
71
|
71.162
|
18
|
18
|
12
|
11
|
2
|
FLORIDA STATE
|
93
|
70.589
|
19
|
22
|
15
|
12
|
1
|
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
|
124
|
69.259
|
20
|
19
|
9
|
3
|
Ball State
|
66
|
68.960
| |
21
|
20
|
18
|
8
|
4
|
MICHIGAN
|
13
|
68.106
|
22
|
23
|
9
|
3
|
Fresno State
|
89
|
67.370
| |
23
|
21
|
25
|
11
|
2
|
Kent State
|
113
|
66.087
|
24
|
24
|
NE
|
8
|
4
|
PENN STATE
|
35
|
65.029
|
25
|
27
|
20
|
9
|
3
|
Northwestern
|
75
|
64.179
|
26
|
29
|
22
|
10
|
2
|
Utah State
|
121
|
64.154
|
27
|
30
|
19
|
10
|
2
|
BOISE STATE
|
119
|
64.120
|
28
|
25
|
23
|
8
|
4
|
TEXAS
|
28
|
63.885
|
29
|
32
|
9
|
3
|
Arkansas State
|
81
|
63.453
| |
30
|
28
|
9
|
3
|
RUTGERS
|
97
|
62.781
| |
31
|
31
|
9
|
3
|
TOLEDO
|
92
|
62.314
| |
32
|
34
|
21
|
10
|
2
|
LOUISVILLE
|
117
|
61.940
|
