I hope my satellite dish holds out...

Quasi Non Football Thought:

With Hurricane Ike bearing down upon Texas, it's time to play a morbid game we here like to call "Predict the Damage."

1-2: Odds that we're all underestimating this storm, especially inland, and that it will be much worse than Hurricane Alicia.

3-1: Odds that more than 1 million people will lose power in the Dallas metro area.

1-1: Odds that none of us Texans will be able to watch the USC-Ohio State game because of power outages.

2-1: Odds that the power will stay on long enough for all of us to watch the entire Florida Atlantic-Michigan State game on ESPN2.

4-1: Odds that the newspaper calls us in to work in a timely manner for storm coverage.

1-1: Odds that the newspaper calls us in to work way too late when it's dangerous to drive and the storm is wreaking havoc.

2-1: Odds that Baylor is strongly criticized for hosting a football game late on Friday evening when Ike is making landfall in Houston.

10-1: Odds that my humongo high-def satellite dish, which might as well be a wind sock, remains standing by Sunday evening.

20-1: Odds that the air conditioning is working properly in the newsroom when we return on Monday.

100-1: Odds that the power will be restored by the time Matt Cassel takes the field in Sunday's Pats-Jets showdown.

2-1: Odds I'm forced to eat at least one PowerBar this weekend.

Stay safe all.