Slow States Podcast #14: Me, Myself and I

What's a man to do when he's spending his very last night in a strange town and the rest of the Slow States crew has bailed? SOLO PODCAST, BABY. Is it any good? Probably not, but it's a (thankfully) short spin through this week's Big Ten games and the scissor lift tragedy at Notre Dame.

And yes, that closing song combines Kanye West, Wilco, and the Superbowl Shuffle. You're welcome. Kevin will be back with tales from the Rally To Restore Sanity / Rally To Keep Fear Alive event in D.C, and Patrick will be back with...well, a victory hangover if my prediction is correct.

Slow States Podcast #13: We're All Waterskiing Tea Cup Riders Now

What kind of world are we living in when Illinois has a totally legitimate shot at 9-3? Well, it's a world in which Ohio State goes Cobra Kai on Purdue, and Penn State forgets the coveted Governors' Victory Bell on the sideline after beating Minnesota. Or maybe it's a world in which Michigan State is an unstoppable force, and Iowa can't execute a special teams play without utter disaster.

Yeah. None of it makes sense anymore. Thankfully, the full Slow States team is here to break down Saturday's games, and throws in a few music and beer suggestions for good measure.

Slow States Podcast #12: We Are Living In The Future

Technology continues to plague our master plan to spread out and dominate the central part of the country, but adversity made us stronger on this occasion. Some decisive die will be cast with Penn State on the ropes, Ohio State off their pedestal, and Iowa is either in this Big Ten race or not after their bout with Wisconsin this week. We’ve got a lot to talk about.

Music: Intro from Jupiter One, and more from our interlude from the Hey Marseilles on NPR.

Slow States Podcast #11: GO FIGHT PODCAST WIN

A great Big Ten slate, Michigan State rolls, Wisconsin with the upset, and Penn State is saved by the bye.

Brewster went down early and, sadly, for the last time as a member of our beloved money-grabbing brotherhood. We're (temporarily) a man down but marching on after one of the best weeks of Big Ten football in years.

Podcast 10: Double Digit Yammering, Because It's Good For You

The gang does their best to chart where exactly this apparent Paterno disaster fits on the Bowden-Bear scale, and is Patrick really more worried about losing Kirk Ferentz in 2011 than losing to Michigan in 2010? You'll probably be surprised.

Music picks: The Walkmen have most of their new tracks on YouTube, and NPR has your 1962-1964 Bob Dylan right here.

Super Late Podcast Madness

With Patrick off plotting his hatred for Iowa's dastardly rival Purdue, Kevin and I finally got around to discussing Penn State's debacle in Iowa City, the continued scorched earth campaign of Denard Robinson, and we debate who's dumber: Joe Paterno or Ron Zook. Seriously. It's come to this.

Podcast Seven: When The Grain Belt Gives You Lemons, Drink Grain Belt

Our wrap of last week's Big Ten contests with some venting from the inconsolable Patrick. Never has a fan base worked so hard to watch something so disappointing.

We skimp on the preview if only because this is the worst Big Ten slate of our lifetime. You can thank us later, for that and the (as always) beverage and music picks before the wrap-up.

Music: The Black Crowes on last.fm, A second link for the new Neil Young and yes this Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings stuff is pretty good. Right-click here to download the podcast.

Podcast Six: The Week The Internet Became Nothing More Than A Couch In Morgantown

It was billed as a Week 2 for the ages, and although most of the games turned out to be less competitive than everyone hoped, we certainly learned a lot. At least we hope we did. And yes, a strong set of games calls for a strong set of extremes. Does Penn State's defense, a top 15 unit for years now, needs to tear the house down? Denard for Heisman? Anything is possible.

And a bonus for you early subscribers: With Patrick temporarily Interwebless, there was nothing to keep Chris and I from spending a lot of time on the pretty outrageous online reaction to an absolutely practical event: Penn State losing to #1 ranked Alabama on the road. Chris even turns on David Jones. Briefly, but we here at Slow States know garbage when we see it.

We hope to double dip in a couple of days when we take a look at Go Ahead And Sleep In Saturday, I mean it doesn't get any better than this, does it? We'll throw our musical picks at you then.

Podcast Five: It’s All A Relative Mess

Data! We've got it, kind of. Your friends at Slow States take a look at what stood out during week one, discuss how to evaluate Michigan and Notre Dame when their week one adversaries are somewhat unknown, and note what we're looking for on MONSTER SATURDAY. SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY!

As always, stick around for the music suggestions, with a Texas beer pick to boot.

Listening Links: Stream the new The Walkmen album from NPR or pick it up Lisbon at Amazon. You know how to find Johnny Cougar, but here's a start. Check out King Khan & the Shrines on MySpace.

Podcast Four: Where Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad

We somehow managed to not make a single Meat Loaf reference during the entire half-hour podcast. Come for the sane discussion about Information Overload Wednesday, and as always, stay for the parting music suggestions.

Speaking of parting music: Get all seven minutes of Adirondack Amish Holler, off the Frontier Ruckus album The Orion Songbook. Outro tune part of Pomplamoose's "Another Day," live from the "basement" studio. One of their older albums if you're inclined: Pomplamoose Videosongs. The new Aqualung album, Magnetic North, which Patrick assures you doesn't suck.

Podcast Three: Splintered Rays Of Infallible Knowledge In All Directions

Well, perhaps that's slightly overstating things, but we assembled the full Slow States team and blitzed our way through a full Big Ten preview. And by "blitzed", I mean we lazily sauntered through all eleven Big Ten teams and an extended discussion of the ongoing saga of Michigan, tOSU, and tGame.

It's the only Big Ten preview you'll need, assuming you don't need anything factually accurate, entertaining, or informative.

Slow States Podcast 2: Prison Letters And The Agony Of Defeat

Ethics! What should you do with a letter that's meant for an imprisoned Florida sex offender? How should you handle the delicate process of booting a student-athlete from your football program because of oversigning? We attempt to provide sound counsel, and masochistically revive the memories of two Penn State tragedies in honor of ESPN's House Of Pain series. And would you really drink a Beer Bloody Mary?

Slow States Podcast #1

Beer, music and Big Ten football: let's give it a shot.

Big Ten Media Days strays off topic, but we don’t. Delany sheds some light on how exactly the divisional process will work out. And why you should never, ever let your guard down between sets.