Hey when I said “See you Monday!” I didn’t say which Monday!

Once! Upon a time! I thought the Freak Formal was on a Saturday!

Another quick weekend-ish post to apologize for the inactivity this week. A combination of new day job issues (I don’t have a mortgage to pay but I’m beginning to know Litos’ lament well) and old man back issues (as I writhed in pain after throwing my back out walking to the kitchen, I fondly recalled the days when I’d roller skate with a bad back, get off my lawn) meant I couldn’t get to the CAA Running Tally on Monday, or any other day this week. That’s coming Monday, this coming one, I promise you. Unless I throw my back out again while sleeping.

In the meantime, slowly improving back willing, hope to see you at Hofstra Soccer Stadium today for the doubleheader as the Flying Dutchwomen aim to complete a perfect CAA regular season when they oppose Northeastern at 4:30 and the Flying Dutchmen hope to continue their stirring late-season run when they face no. 17 William & Mary at 7.

And after that of course we’ll all don cheap costumes, head over to the Freak Formal and drink even cheaper beer. Actually, I think it’s just called the Halloween Dance. Sigh. Must you rename everything near and dear to my heart, Hofstra? Oh and wait I just double checked and it was tonight. Damnit! What am I going to do with my flannel shirt and Lollapalooza ’92 shirt now?

Anyway, some links here as I decide whether or not to dress up like Eddie Vedder around the house Sunday:

—Both basketball teams have a closed scrimmage this afternoon. The men face Bucknell and the women play Fordham. Damn. I’d pay good money to sneak into the men’s scrimmage if it was the other way around! Speaking of Fordham, the Rams play Villanova, according to Jeff Goodman. Now that would be fun to see, too—the first time Tom Pecora and Jay Wright ever oppose each other as head coaches.

—Way late with this, but my bitter blogging rival Gary Moore has a good writeup from last Saturday’s Blue/White Scrimmage.

—As if you needed another reason to ditch Cablevision (does anyone know who won the National League pennant? Anyone?): Every home basketball game—men’s and women’s—will be televised by FIOS this winter. Seriously, that might be enough for me to switch.

—Quick football note here: Raheem Morris is really starting to sound like Joe Gardi. The second-year coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—known worldwide as The Official NFL Team of Defiantly Dutch—declared the Buccaneers were the best team in the NFC after their exciting comeback win over the St. Louis Rams (a ha! Revenge for 1999!!!) Sunday. A consensus pick to repeat as cellar-dwellers in the loaded NFC South, the Bucs are instead a surprising—nay, shocking—4-2 and a mere half-game behind the Giants and Atlanta Falcons for the top seed in the conference.

Now, it’s a rather tenuous 4-2: The Bucs’ four wins have come against teams with a combined record of 8-18, and they needed fourth quarter comebacks against the Rams, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. Combined margin of victory in those wins: Seven points. And the two losses were to the last two Super Bowl champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, by a combined score of 69-19.

The Bucs also rank 23rd in the NFL in total offense and 22nd in total defense. Morris’ response?

“Stats are for losers,” he told reporters Monday. Close your eyes and you can almost hear Gardi.

Morris continued to channel Gardi Thursday when he further explained his comments. Good stuff. And of the Buccaneers’ next four games, two are against teams that currently have one win (Carolina and San Francisco) and Sunday’s is against Arizona, which is 3-3 despite a point differential of minus-62. So the Buccaneers might very well still be in the running for best team in the NFC a month from now, at which point the rest of the world will have no choice but to take them seriously.

—Lastly, MSG.com’s Jon Rothstein stopped by the Flying Dutchmen’s practice Thursday and filed five thoughts on this year’s team. I am in particular agreement on his final point—David Imes is going to have a big year. More on him next week. Unless I throw my back out again while eating.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.