College Football, NASCAR Playoffs, Craft Beer … & October Baseball! š š š» ā¾
Some couples bond over cooking, travel, or binge-watching reality TV. We bond by trying to absolutely destroy each other in sports trivia, brackets, and fantasy standings.
Welcome back to our updated autumn lineup: Pigskins, Pit Stops, and Pints!
Leesl: Howdy, folks! October in Fair Park brings out the big gunsāliterally. Between standing in the shadow of Big Tex himself and coming face-to-face with a massive, handsome Longhorn named Howdy, there’s no mistaking that state fair season and the Red River Rivalry are in full swing. While the fried food is sizzling and Texas-Oklahoma bragging rights are on the line, Andy and I are keeping our own cross-state rivalry fired up across college football, playoff racing, and a little nostalgia in a can.
Here is where our household multi-sport rivalry stands as October rolls on!
š Pigskins: The CFB High-Five
College Standings: Leesl: 13-12 | Andy: 12-13
Our weekly college football picking slate is a pure battle of negotiation. Each week, after a healthy amount of debating and back-and-forth, we lock in a fun, random mix of five games across the country to put our overall records on the line!
Andy: Week 5 finally gave me the bounce-back I was looking for as I finished 3-2. Huge thanks to Alabama, BYU, and Minnesota for pulling through! Now, my two losses? Total disastersāCincinnati got steamrolled in Arizona, and Michigan State completely forgot to show up against Wisconsin. But hey, a winning week gets me to 12-13 overall, putting me within striking distance of .500.
Leesl: A win is a win, Andy, but you were sweating bullets watching your BYU pick barely squeak past a struggling TCU team! I know you thought that was going to be a casual walk in the park. And bless your heart for keeping the faith in Sparty, but Wisconsin showed them theyāve got a long way to go before competing with even a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten squad.
Sure, you managed to trim my lead down to a single game this week, but I’m sleeping just fine. The real measuring stick is right in our backyard this weekend with the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl. Pass the corny dogs and watch how a true Texan handles the pressure…Hook āem Horns! š¤
Here is the Week 6 Lineup we finally agreed on:
- Game 1: Texas vs. Oklahoma ā Leesl: UT | Andy: OU
- Game 2: Georgia vs. Alabama ā Leesl: Bama | Andy: UGA
- Game 3: Houston vs. Kansas State ā Leesl: KSU | Andy: Houston
- Game 4: Texas A&M vs. Missouri ā Leesl: Mizzou | Andy: A&M
- Game 5: South Florida vs. UTSA ā Leesl: UTSA | Andy: USF
š Pit Stops: The Playoff Pulse
Current Fantasy Scoreboard: Leesl: 17,678 pts | Andy: 17,527 pts (Margin: +151 Lone Star Racin’)
Since weāve been off the track for our camping trip, weāre catching up on back-to-back playoff stopsāfrom the pit-road fists at Bristol to the Kyle Larson show at Kansasābefore setting our sights on Sin City!
Andy: Well, the Windy City Racinā win streak crashed and burned in Las Vegas. We rolled the dice and lost big as Chase Briscoe dominated the afternoon. With only four caution flags all day, we got stuck with a whole lot of single-file parade racing and a grand total of 12 lead changes. Every single driver finished the race, which doesn’t make for the most thrilling playoff action, but the top contenders handled business.
Leesl: Did you really think Lone Star Racinā was going to stumble in Vegas? My crew was built to take big gambles, and those risks are paying off in a huge way. Placing five drivers in the top 10 and all eight in the top 17 is how you coast to a 32-point weekly victory and stretch the season lead to 151 points with five races left!
Andy: Now the teams head to the high banks of Charlotte Motor Speedway. This 1.5-mile oval always delivers thrilling side-by-side action, thanks to that 24-degree banking in the turns. Plus, we’re back on the traditional oval this year instead of the Roval, which plays right into our hands. Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Chase Elliott have all run great here, and we need a monster performance to dent this huge points deficit. I’m backing Bell to drive Windy City into victory lane!
Leesl: My team loves racing in North Carolina, and having a nice comfortable cushion only fuels their fire to repeat our Memorial Day performance when we blew the doors off with a 45-point win. Fueled by William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano, we are more than prepared to keep rolling. Denny needs a statement day, so Iām calling him to take the checkered flag!
A Quick Pit Stop Tribute: Beyond the playoff battle, we have to mention the incredible moment following Friday night’s Truck Series race at Charlotte. Seeing 11-year-old Brexton Busch climb into his dadās No. 8 Chevrolet, light up the tires for a full burnout, and top it off with Kyleās signature showmanās bow on the roof left hardly a dry eye in the motorsports world and certainly in our living room. Pure class, and a moment true racing fans won’t ever forget.
š Our Official Playoff Rosters
- Leeslās Lone Star Racinā ā These boots are meant for racing!
- Hamlin, Logano, Reddick, Byron, Briscoe (winner š), Wallace, Gibbs & Hocevar.
- Andyās Windy City Racinā ā From second city to first place!
- Elliott, Larson, Blaney, Bell, Keselowski, Suarez, Cindric & Preece.
š» Pints: What Weāre Sipping
Nothing says October in Dallas quite like stepping onto the grounds at historic Fair Park for the State Fair of Texas. Itās a tradition built on music, Midway rides, and lining up for a Fletcher’s Original Corny Dog. And, no you can’t just eat any old corn dog here, because the Fletcher brothers actually invented the deep-fried, stick-mounted masterpiece right on these fairgrounds back in 1942.
And nothing washes down a historic, piping-hot Corny Dog during a round of Texas “faux fall” (hello, 90-degree October heat!) quite like an ice-cold draft beer. When the biggest icon in Texas is literally wearing your Pint of the Month on his waist, you know youāre doing autumn right. If you missed our feature last week on why this Texas classic belongs in your glass (and your kitchen) all month long, weāve got you covered.
ā¾ Extra Innings:
Andy: The White Sox season comes down to Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday night. After winning the first two games on the road, we couldnāt close out the series at homeāsomething no Sox team has done since 1906. Just like their entire season, this series has been a wild roller coaster ride. To move on to the ALCS, our pitching staff desperately needs a starter who can give us four or five good innings to save a worn-out bullpen. Offensively, we have to cut down on the strikeouts (31 in the last two games alone!) and stop leaving runners stranded (20 in the last two games). Hoping we can pull off one more road win in Cleveland and advance!
Leesl: Rivalries aside, my heart is completely with Andy on this one. To watch his team battle all season and end up in a winner-take-all Game 5 the night before his birthday? We don’t need a wrapped gift this yearāa Game 5 victory and an ALCS spot is the only birthday present that counts. Bring it home for his birthday… LETāS GO SOX!
š¬ Join the Rivalry!
Which game are you watching closest this weekendāare you shouting Hook āem Horns š¤, pulling for a major playoff upset, or crossing your fingers for an early birthday victory for Andy?
Drop your picks, your favorite state fair treats, or your birthday wishes for Andy in the comments below! š» š š
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