Five down, five to go.
It's kind of hard to believe but the prep football season is already half over. After winning their first three games, the Blytheville Chickasaws have now lost two in a row and need to turn things around fast if they want to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011. This week, the Chicks travel to Greene County Tech. Interesting point to note, Tech was the location of the last Chickasaw 5A East victory, Oct. 5, 2012. So, if making the playoffs isn't enough incentive for Ben Fisher's squad, squashing a losing streak that has lasted over two years ought to do the trick.
Meanwhile, out in Gosnell, the Pirates are about where most people expected them to be right now at 4-0-1. That tie against Rivercrest bothers me more because of the fact that I have to type three numbers for their record than anything else. The Pirates have been banged up for much of the first half but have still managed to pull through without a loss. After this week's home game against Trumann, the Pirates hit the road for the dreaded Highland/Pocahontas road trip. Every other year, Gosnell has back-to-back games at those two locations. They haven't swept those two games on the road since 2009. First things first, take care of Trumann Friday night.
Speaking of breaking two-year losing streaks, congratulations to the Manila Lions. Thanks to a 16-6 win over Cedar Ridge last Friday, the Lions broke a 20-game losing streak that started in late September of 2012 to Corning. Their last win before Friday was Sept. 21, 2012, in a 29-14 decision over Piggott.
It was a wild weekend for college football. I must say, I didn't pick any of the upsets, but I still picked up a few spots in the Pigskin Panel. It was so bad last week that Lisa Bryant was actually one of the two (yours truly was the other) who picked as many as nine winners. Analysts are already starting to predict who's going to be in the first Division I playoff. Four teams is a start but an eight-team playoff will be closer to perfect. Andy Weld suggested the conference champ from the Power 5 conferences (SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12 and ACC) and then three at-large bids. That sounds like it should work. Although, I'm sure SEC fans probably think that the top eight in that conference would be the only scenario that should be considered.
As some of you may know, I'm a die-hard Chicago Bears fan. I've been a huge supporter of Jay Cutler, but last week's loss to Carolina, that included two more interceptions, almost had me jumping off his bandwagon. I guess there still has to be at least one person on that wagon. Chris Pinkard tweeted a picture of a jersey that summed up in four words what most Bear fans relationship with Cutler is. It said, "Cutler Makes Me Drink." Yup. As Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that."
There's enough room for a little baseball talk. My hopes of a Cardinals/Angels World Series with Albert Pujols returning to Busch Stadium was shot to pieces after the Angles were swept by the Kansas City Royals. Two weeks ago, that sentence would have been perfect for the hashtag #saidnooneever. But it's the truth. The Royals are for real, if not just very fast. I'll have to double-down on my default pairing of a Beltway Series between the Nationals and the Orioles.
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com
@CN_AaronF