Wrapping up a busy weekend

- It was a bad weekend for my college football prognostications--only four out of eight were correctly picked. I flubbed Oklahoma's loss at Miami, Michigan losing in overtime to in-state rival Michigan State, Texas A&M's embarrassment in Cowboy Stadium to Arkansas, and Tennessee's loss to Auburn. What we learned? Well, A&M isn't very good because a not-so-good Arkansas team made them look bad. Tennessee's loss wasn't as close as the score, given that the Vols scored late, and Miami's speed is reminiscent of their national champion squads. I'm certainly not suggesting that Miami is that good, but they actually made OU look slow.

- How about Tony Stewart and, more importantly, how about Tony's crew chief and team? They made the call to only take two tires on the last pit stop and used that time to gain track position, and the win. Greg Biffle clearly had the best car at the Kansas race yesterday but took four tires on his stop, which cost him the win.

- Nice to see January Jones (Mad Men) in the garage area yesterday at Kansas Speedway. The actress, better known as Mrs. Betty Draper, was getting indoctrinated into NASCAR. And, from this fan's vantage point, her outfit and overall appearance made her stand out from the NASCAR Nation's female fan base as well.

- The tabloids are having a field day over the split of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Did he really dump her over the phone? Is Rihanna his latest love interest? Did he finally get fed up with Biel's passion for tough workouts in the gym where J.T. was reported to not be able to keep up? Inquiring minds want to know...

- Did you know there is a pumpkin shortage in the U.S.? I'm not kidding--I was informed of that this past week. Better buy that canned pumpkin filling, if you see it on the shelves, now as it's liable to be long gone by Thanksgiving.

- Some have suggested that Chicago bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, now that the votes have been tallied for 2016. Unfortunately, the United States Olympic Committee is in a shambles organizationally and the International Olympic Committee has been known to have long memories. I was surprised that Rio got the nod given that the 2018 World Cup will be played there and the IOC typically is loath to have its games scheduled in proximity to another, huge world event. But, it's the first time for the Games in South America and that apparently swayed the voters. Chicago had a very good package--it's unfortunate that the situation with the USOC cost them at least getting to the final two in the voting.

- On the topic of the Olympics, how much of a hit did President Barack Obama's political capital take given his trek to Copenhagen to lobby for the Chicago games? The fact that Chicago's bid didn't even make it out of the first round of voting is a huge blow to the President.