Entering the home stretch for high school football, with only four weeks of games remaining before the playoffs begin. As of now, local teams are poised to strongly represent Southern Arizona in the postseason, but a lot can still happen since most the playoff hopefuls have to face at least one fellow in-the-running team.

Except, that is, for Sabino.

The Sabercats (4-2) are currently rated seventh in the Division III power points standings, but the remaining opponents on their schedule are a combined 6-18. The "best" of the group is Pueblo (3-3), which sits 30th, while this week's foe Catalina (1-5) is 37th.

A soft finish to the season after such a tough beginning — Sabino got thumped by Salpointe Catholic and Goodyear Desert Edge, both of whom are unbeaten and rated No. 1 in their respective divisions — can be both good and bad for the Sabercats. Good because it can get them prepared for an almost certain playoff berth, since every section is guaranteed its top-rated team. But bad because Sabino could finish 8-2 yet still end up outside the top eight spots due to the weakness of their future foes, meaning it would open the playoffs on the road.

As for all the other locals in playoff contention, here's what they're facing tonight:

Welcome, class, to Power Points 101.

Today we will make no attempts to explain the convoluted power point system the Arizona Interscholastic Association uses to determine high school playoff qualifiers and their postseason seeding, mostly because neither the AIA or points administrator MaxPreps will divulge just what goes into its "proprietary algorithm."

All we know is a school's rating is based on their record (with extra points given to beating bigger schools, and less for beating smaller schools), their opponents' record, and, possibly, their opponents' opponents' records. Say that five times fast.

What isn't known is whether margin of victory or other such intangibles are factored in, making what should be a simple, straightforward system for sending high school kids to the playoffs into the red-headed stepchild of college football's BCS standings.

But it's what we got, so we're just gonna have to deal with it.

Apparently, that sweet Living Social deal for tickets to the season opener didn't work out as well as planned for Arizona State University's football team.

The Arizona Republic reported today that ASU plans to tear out a chunk of the upper deck in Sun Devil Stadium in January in what's being explained as separate from the as-yet-completely-unfunded plan to do a $300 million renovation of the facility so bad it wasn't good enough for the Arizona Cardinals.

The tearout, scheduled to happen right after Sun Devil Stadium hosts the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (!) on Dec. 28, will remove 10 sections and 5,700 seats, reducing the capacity to about 66,000. The work would be completed in time for ASU's 2014 season, which includes a home game against Notre Dame but otherwise will probably result in thousands of empty seats for the other matchups.

ASU wants to completely redo Sun Devil Stadium, possibly putting in a shade canopy, but that project still needs to find a funding source. The school is trying to work a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks to play games at Chase Field while the work is done, whenever that happens.

Arizona's just-completed North End Zone project also reduced capacity by a few thousand, but also added club seating, luxury boxes, a multi-level football training facility and, most notably, seatbacks and armrests.

Tedy Bruschi, the University of Arizona great turned Super Bowl champ turned TV commentator, is among those getting inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame, the fourth such Wildcat player to earn the honor.

The official induction ceremony isn't until December in New York City, but the NFF's local chapter is making sure those in Tucson interested in giving Bruschi their well-wishes have a shot.

A lunch reception is scheduled for Oct. 18 at the DoubleTree Hotel on Alvernon Way. Tickets to the event are $50 per person, or $500 for a table of 10, which gets you access to a cocktail reception followed by a luncheon.

Additional information can be found on the event's Facebook page.

The other former UA players in the NFF Hall of Fame are Ricky Hunley, Chuck Cecil and Rob Waldrop. Players are only eligible if they were named to the first team of an eligible All-America list during college, and eligibility comes 10 years after their college career is over and they've retired from professional football.

Bruschi played at the UA from 1992-1995, where he finished with 52 sacks, tied for most in NCAA history. He was the 1995 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and a linchpin in the Desert Swarm defense that put Arizona on the map in the early- to mid-1990s.

Bruschi went on to play 13 seasons for the New England Patriots, winning three Super Bowl titles along the way.

Here's a highlight package (straight from the wayback machine, before college gear became so high-tech) the UA put together after Bruschi's induction was first announced in May:

• Image courtesy of Shutterstock

True story (unfortunately): Two weeks ago, when I got on a bike for the first time after a six- or seven-year hiatus, two teenage girls in my neighborhood laughed at me from their porch.

Wait, that's not even really the full truth. They came out of their house, presumably after seeing me struggle with even basic gear changes and the art of balance on the street in front of their window, then they laughed at me. They didn't even really make much of an effort to hide it.

Hey, it probably was funny, so how mad can I be? At the time, mad enough to try to appear casual while pedaling away from them, but now that a week and a half have passed, it's not a big deal. I probably do look sort of hilarious on the bike, considering I'm significantly overweight and suck at bicycling.

So, why the heck is a guy who generally dislikes physical activity as much he loves carne asada burritos for lunch and spends all day sitting at a desk staring at a computer on a bicycle to begin with? A good question and one I've been asking myself every time I try to ride a few miles on that infernal thing, but since my wife works at the local nonprofit Tu Nidito and one of their biggest fundraisers each year is El Tour de Tucson, I'm going to ride 42 miles as the slowest person in a pack with half of Southern Arizona. This might be the last thing I ever do, but hey, if I can raise some money for a program that helps grieving kids in the area, it seems worth pushing myself a bit.

While I struggle to push myself to a distance of ten miles this weekend (and try to block out my mind the fact that I still am, at my best, still less than a quarter of a way to the distance I'll be riding in November), at least, I can think of Aaliyah, the kid that I'm "riding" for and how Tu Nidito helped her when she lost an older brother. What she's gone through is a lot harder than some fat guy trying to ride a bike 42 miles by far.

We all know the Ooh-Aah Man.

Anyone who's ever gone to a UA men's basketball game at McKale Center — heck, even if they just watched one on TV — knows about Joseph Cavaleri, who for more than 30 years would entertain the crowd during a second half timeout with his odd-but-endearing U of A cheer that combined fan interaction with an old man slowly stripping.

Cavaleri finally hung up his collection of sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts, tank tops and short shorts in March, the 61-year-old father of four and grandfather of many more no longer able to move around with the speed and agility needed to file up 14,000 fans.

Now the Ooh Aah Man faces an even more sobering reality: the possible loss of his home.

• Ooh Aah Man's Facebook page

Considering how much this man is adored in the Tucson community, I wouldn't be surprised if a line is already forming to help Cavaleri and his family out. If you'd like to provide assistance, hit him up on his Facebook page.

UPDATE: The word of Cavaleri's plight is spreading through the community, and someone has started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for his cause. Check it out and, if you can, fork over a few bucks.

Word came down earlier this week that the Arizona Interscholastic Association was looking to host the Division II and III state title games at Arizona Stadium on Nov. 29-30. This, after apparently JUST REALIZING Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe wasn't going to be available because of some little thing called the Duel in the Desert.

So, instead of the vast majority of the Tucson area's prep football teams battling for a chance to make a long bus ride and play in front of mostly their opponents' fans, the chance is now there to get to win a championship right here in town.

And Tucson's best shot for a champion (at least at the Division II level) might be getting a preview of who they'd face in that title game tonight.

Salpointe Catholic (4-0), which has absolutely demolished its opponents by a combined score of 190-21, hosts Tempe Marcos de Niza (4-0) at 7 p.m. in a game that should have a sizable crowd full of both fans and college scouts.

Marcos de Niza, considered among the best Division II clubs in Phoenix, is averaging more than 53 points per game — but also allowing 42.5 per game. The Padres beat Sierra Vista Buena 78-57 in an up-tempo basketball game two weeks ago.

• Salpointe Catholic Facebook page
• Salpointe players celebrate following a win earlier this month over California school Crespi

Flag football ain't no joke, yo.

Just ask this Drexel University washout alum as he pumps up his fraternity's intramural team before it's latest epic battle out on the flag football field.

I'm ready to run through a wall now, bro. Pass me a Smirnoff Ice so I can shotgun it before heading out into battle.

No-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats! "The #Dodgers are idiots" http://t.co/KfZZliBFBV
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 20, 2013

Senator McComplain knows a thing or two about coming in second and watching someone take a plunge in the pool (I mean poll) #POoLITICS
— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilson38) September 20, 2013

In between pushing for war with Syria and feuding with the Tea Party, Sen. John McCain managed to get into a Twitter beef with the L.A. Dodgers in recent days. Read all about it here and here.

• Hannah Nance Partlow

It looks like we were caught with our pants down at the Tucson Weekly offices because we forgot to wish Lute Olson a happy 79th birthday yesterday. I blame Facebook for not reminding me.

I remember the first and last time I saw good old Lute. I was sweeping the floor at Park Place Century Theaters and I looked up and Olson was munching on a bag of popcorn with one of ex-wives. My hands dropped my broom and dustpan, my legs automatically ran over to open the door because god forbid they open their own door. As they walked by, I reached out to shake Lute's hand and he just walked by. Maybe he couldn't see me because I was face-to-face with his belt line or maybe he doesn't talk to the help. I'll never know.

Happy belated birthday, Lute. This Luther Campbell is for you: