Monday, January 30, 2006

I Didn't Take No Shortcuts

77 days out and I ran a nice 21 miles today in just under 2:40, averaging 7:37/mile. Nice. In BA news, the BAA announced a week or so ago that they are changing the start of the race to a wave start. This won't have any impact on me as I'll be in the first wave anyway. They also announced that they are changing the course toward the end which means another hill. If you know anything about the Boston Marathon, it is legendary for its hills. This is the part that worries me the most as the sprawling metropolis of Lansing, Mi is quite flat.

If you haven't ever been over to Deadspin, be sure to check it out.

Grandaddy have decided to split up
. This saddens me as they are one of my favorite indie rock bands. They play a nice version of sunny california space rock. We'll see what Jason Lytle has cooking up in his post-Grandaddy days.

Music For Robots has an MP3 up of a song from the new forthcoming Belle and Sebastian album. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm sure it is some auditory goodness.

What else...oh yeah me and the OFOMOL went out and saw Munich over the weekend. It was a very good film and not what I expected. My only complaint is that during the opening credits we saw that wonderful misleading phrase of Inspired By True Events. This always gets me. It means that to some degree what happened in the movie is true, but there are other parts that are completely fictionalized. This is my worry with Flight 93.

OK it is off to dinner and then some coaching.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

There are bitches in the living room gettin' it on...

This is GREER the guest publisher. Teets is cool. Dont forget it.

Mark has on a tie-dye shirt. I havent seen a look like this since Dazed and Confused. Its coming back people, be prepared. Mark certainly is.

He has lots of men looking at him in his room. That includes Michael Stipe, 2X REM, Jack Kerouac, and a passion flower. Hey, to each their own. I do appreciate that theres a Franz Ferdinand CD taped to the wall.

I have yet to meet OFOMOL. Maybe shes hiding from my malternative. Can you blame her? But really, bring out the foreigner! I love foreigner (see: my BF is Icelandic). Laskey, I know you feel me yo.

Okay, I need to stop before Mark denies me publishing rights. Jenny was a friend of mine.
I love mark I love mark!

What I Am is What I Am

I got this from the Runner's World Forums. The ones that are in bold are then ones that I relate with.

You Know You're A Marathoner When…

o Your "easy" runs top the weekly mileage of 95% of the general population.
o You eat like a 400 lb. man, and look like you're starving.
o You've got a great looking set of legs, but if you were ever able to get into a fashion magazine, they'd show nothing from the waist up.
o Getting up early to get a weekend long run in actually sounds better than sleeping in, even if you've only had 15 hours of sleep all week.
o You miss a run and you're irritable and pissy all day and evening, as well as the next day.
o People avoid you when you're tapering.
o Your friends gag when they catch a glimpse of your toes.
o You roll your eyes when people talk about low carb diets.
o "18 weeks" becomes your most important unit of time.
o You start debating about Galloway.
o You'd rather run a marathon than go on a "real" holiday.
o You no longer think people who run marathons are crazy.
o After finishing a really tough 26.2-mile run, your first thought is: "Next race, I'm going to...."
o You have a pile of shoes in your closet because you feel like you have to have new running shoes every 400 miles.
o Any run less than 16 miles feels like an easy workout.
o You spend too much time on the Internet reading about other peoples' workouts.
o You say you're going out for a short run and come back two hours later.
o You've been busted up forever, can't really run and you go out and buy a Camelback Rogue for the long runs that you can't do.
o You think high 40s/low 50s and overcast sounds like perfect weather.
o You think it's completely normal to put band-aids on your nipples.
o When someone mentions that they live in another city, you immediately think, "Oh, I hear that's a good running city" or "Good God! I couldn't live there! Their marathon is cruddy and there's nowhere to run!"
o You start to lobby elected officials to revoke "right turn on red" laws. You don't understand why everyone in your office thinks that's crazy.
o You get up earlier on weekends than you do during the work week.
o You hate math but you do this equation in your head: T2 = T1 x (D2/D1)^1.06.
o You've heard the joke "You can say 'fartlek' with a straight face' so often that you don't remember when you laughed at it.
o You shower about 12 times a week.
o You try to negative split mowing your lawn.
o You wonder if you can get your business suits made out of Coolmax.
o Every time you see a runner when your driving you feel like you too should be running, even if you ran 15 miles earlier in the day.
o Your favorite shorts, singlet, socks and shoes cost three times as much as the clothes you got married in.
o All you get is running stuff on those gift giving occasions.
o You tell your wife you want a marathon entry as a birthday present.
o You think 40 miles is an easy week.
o Your wife wonders why you don't run 20 miles every weekend.
o When you go away for a weekend (or week) your most consuming thoughts are how you are going to get your runs in.
o When you're driving somewhere and you see a distance to next town sign and automatically calculate how long it would take to run there.
o You plan your vacations around your training schedule. A trip to Colorado is an opportunity to get some great hill work in. You could never imagine going on a cruise or a small Caribbean island. Trying to map out a 20 miler would be too hard.
o Your sons refer to you as chicken feet or ****atoo toes cause your feet are so beat up.
o You do more laundry than a family of four.
o You eat constantly and look anemic.
o Getting up Sunday mornings at 6 am is something you get excited about.
o Actually thought about Power gel as a dessert topping.
o When someone asks you how far you are planning to run, you say "I'm ONLY doing 10 today".
o When your non-running friends stop calling you to hang out the night before you do your long runs.
o You spend more time on the marathon forum than the company's intranet.
o Your friends don't understand why you'd rather get up at 4:30 and run 20 miles than get blitzed the night before and sleep in.
o You start planning your training for the next marathon before you finish the one your training for now.
o You get new shoes every "200" miles because you've gotten to know the Adidas rep personally.
o Someone asks your 4-year old whether her mom is a lawyer and she says "No. She's a runner!"
o You know what "Galloway" is all about and you have an opinion on it.
o You plan your vacations around marathons so your training turns out OK
o You actually think twice when your significant other invites you back to bed before you actually get out the door for your run.
o You have a dozen pairs of pretty nice looking running shoes that are no good for running anymore.
o You wear more electronics on a run than are in the dash of your car.
o You have spreadsheets for every variable that could explain or affect your running.
o You know every mile-landmark for a ten mile radius around your house.
o You are excited about an upcoming birthday because it will bump you up to a new age group and make it easier to get into Boston.
o You start buying GU or PowerGels in bulk from RRS.
o You realize you have more than six pairs of old running shoes that are relegated to "lawn mowing detail".
o You tell non-runners you ran 5 miles when you really ran 15. Just so you won't have to sit through the "Wow, that's far!" conversation.
o You put off having lunch with a good friend to get in 6 miles instead.
o A 5k is considered speedwork
o You spend hours on RRS reading shoe reviews.
o Every time your mother sees you, she says "You're too skinny!!"
o Even though you burn twice as many calories a day as a normal person, you feel guilty eating junk food.
o You daydream about Sunday morning's LR all week.
o You actually begin to enjoy the taste of powerbars and cliffbars.
o Missing a day of running depresses the &*#@ out of you, even if you're sick or injured.
o You use the phrase "and foot massages shall be administered..." in your wedding vows.
o You can't cuddle with you husband at night because you have ice on your knees, or your shins, or ....
o You walk into your laundry room to find coolmax running clothes hanging on everything to dry.
o You gasp when you see someone running in everyday gym socks.
o Your friends and coworkers introduce you as "this is Heather, she runs marathons".
o People no longer great you with "hi how are you", they now greet you with "hi, how many miles today?"
o You buy gels that aren't for your hair.
o You speak of clydesdales and penguins and aren't referring to animals.
o Your recycling bin at home is filled with Gatorade and water bottles.
o After you finish a race they wrap you up like a pop-tart.
o You never get around to wearing your 10k T-shirts.
o You lie about how long you'll be gone for your run.
o The Fartlek joke was never funny.
o You have a hawk's eye for seeing running trails in the distance.
o You schedule pregnancies around marathons.
o It seems like fun!
o When you plan to move to a new town you make sure it has running trails and a track nearby.
o You go home early on weekend nights so you can wake up and do you long weekend run.
o By the time everyone else is waking up on the weekend you have already completed about 15 miles
o You set the trip odometer everywhere you drive to measure potential running routes.
o You use old running shoes as flower pots.
o Your best watch is a Timex.
o You're no longer embarrassed to be seen in tights.
o You recognize everyone in your neighborhood who leaves for work before 6 A.M.
o You understand what is meant by BQ,CIM,MCM, etc.
o You can drink from a cup while running and don't mind that half goes on your chest.
o Your car smells a little sweaty from your running shoes in the back seat.
o You have cardboard boxes full of T-shirts.
o You get excited until you realize that the Nickelodeon Marathon is just a whole bunch of cartoons.
o You don't think Professional Basketball players are really in very good condition.
o Your alarm clock is set for three hours before you leave for work.
o You have lots of safety pins in your glove compartment.
o All of your running t-shirts have two Vaseline stains on the chest.
o You get nothing done around the house in the evening, if a running magazine came in the mail that day.
o You are sitting in a waiting room while your daughter is having out-patient surgery (minor), and you look desperately around for someone in running shoes and a marathon t-shirt to chat with.
o You'd much, much rather run a full marathon than a 5K.
o Your friends and co-workers always ask you how far it is from one place to another -anywhere in the town - because you just know.
o Complete strangers come up to you and say "I saw you running the other day..."
o Another complete stranger will say the exact same thing on the same day, except she saw you running on the opposite side of town.
o GU is a diet staple, and you've eaten so many bananas you feel closer to monkeys than you ought to.
o The phrase "you're crazy" or "how can you possibly run that far" doesn't even warrant a response any more.
o You have friends that tell you "I don't even drive 26 miles without packing a lunch."
o You see the pasta salad bar as the self service gas station for your body.
o Buy more jars of Vaseline than when you had 2 babies.
o When the best conversation time with your friends is when they are all sweat and smell bad after the long run.
o You do not have a boyfriend or significant other in your life unless they run.
o If they do not run they cannot spend the night so you don't feel guilty getting up early heading out for a nice beach run.
o You continually look at the odometer reading in your car to calculate a new route.
o You continue running despite the distance covered and never think .. Gee I might have to run BACK at some point.
o All your friends are runners too.
o You eat huge desserts with no feelings of guilt.
o Your partner/wife/husband asks if you "want to get an early night?" and your reaction is "great, I'll be more rested for my long run in the morning".
o You have more running shoes than work shoes.
o You have a harder time deciding which running clothes to wear than you do deciding what to wear to go out for dinner.
o You never go out for dinner anyway because you "have to get up early to run".
o You do LESS laundry since you had kids.
o You've run more miles than you've driven so far this year.
o You wish work was closer, even though it would take longer to get there.
o You can calculate splits and finish time predictions in your head but you can't calculate change at the store.
o The customer support people at RRS recognize your voice.
o You think ultra runners are only slightly crazy.
o At 5kms, the race is shorter than the warm up.
o You miss the award ceremony because you were on a 3 mile cool down.
o The only paper in your office desk draw is the wrappers on the dozen energy bars in there.
o Your cookie jars are full of medals.
o You've never seen the 10 o'clock news.
o You always get asked directions in cities you're visiting for the first time.
o You ask for directions to the nearest running trail BEFORE checking into the hotel.
o Your work desk is cluttered with running photos, trophies and water bottles.
o You don't have running web sites bookmarked - you know the URLs by heart.
o The biggest file on your PC is your running log spreadsheet.
o A pre-requisite for a new job is showers at the office and a nearby trail.
o Next up - training, training and more training.
o You moved 6,000 miles to get a better training environment.
o Your knowledge of geography is limited to places you've raced. i.e. as you meet people
o You instantly connect with "yeah, i once did a race there..."
o House hunting is further complicated because you MUST live near trails/track.
o Your friends realize they can't threaten you with "I'll kick you out of the car right here" because they know you can make it home, and you might actually enjoy the challenge.
o You can throw around words like "Fartlek" without thinking twice about it.
o You go somewhere with your S.O. and you bring your running gear thinking you can get in a good LSD running home.
o Your password is PR time in a marathon.
o When someone say the word WALL and you have memories of your worse marathon.
o When all your marathon finisher T shirts are the most expensive clothing you have.
o Little kids say "he's in a hurry" when you run by.
o You're convinced, dog owner or not, that retractable leashes are the worst idea that people have come up with.
o It's okay to have a mistake and run an extra mile, but if you realize you shorted yourself .2 miles on any run, you freak out.
o Your list of favorite restaurants sounds something like Noodles & Co., Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Einstein Bagels, (stick your other pasta/bagel/high carb restaurant here).
o You only learned to use Excel or a database so you could make a log and geek out over your running numbers.
o All your non-running co-workers avoid asking you "how was your weekend"?
o 2 litres (quarts) of ice cream isn't dessert for 6, it's a meal replacement.
o You think running shoes are business attire.
o You work out the difference in distance between running in lane 1 and running in lane 4.
o You have a permanent rash on your upper ribcage from wearing your heart rate monitor.
o You know who Pheidippides is.
o You know the story of why the marathon is precisely 26 miles 385 yards (42,195 metres).
o Even if you love cycling, you really do it as cross training for marathons.
o You are on the banned list at every all you eat restaurant in your home town.
o Your colleagues at work rush to the exercise room as soon as the bell goes, because they know they'll NEVER get the treadmill if they don't.
o Your colleagues at work complain/make jokes about getting to the exercise room too late.
o Your colleagues at work are glad when the second treadmill is fixed.
o but, when they run at your cadence, next to you, they keep asking if theirs is still broken, because yours shows 4 miles when theirs shows 3
o Before going to someone's house for dinner who doesn't know you run, you have a plate of rice, salad, two baked potatoes, and bring some energy bars for carbo short-change emergency.
o You've heard the following phrases after describing a long run to an outsider:
o I don't even like to DRIVE that far."
o "Was anyone chasing you?"
o "Did you do it all at once?"
o You feel a little insulted when you tell someone you've just run a marathon and they ask, "Did you finish?"
o NASA calls you regularly for orders of 'Space Blankets'.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

It's Our Anniversary

January 25, 2005
Spending some down time between class in the computer lab, in a combination of boredom and inspiration from Greer, I launch said blog and provide the interweb with entertaining quips from my ordinary life. Observational humor some may call it, or just commenting on everyday situations I find myself in...I've attracted a strong (um...10-20?) following consisting of friends, family members, and spammers. I hope you've enjoyed our time together so far and I look forward to spending more quality time together in the future. As a present to you, my dear readers, on the 1st anniversary of MoL, I was going to give to you some of the more enjoyable posts from the past year to enjoy....but as I was going through them, the only one that really struck me as particularly insightful (and that is a stretch) was this classic gem from August. But if you want to waste some time, feel free to surf through the annals and rediscover your friend/family member/random internet guy.

Since the internet is all about poaching from each other (I'm pretty convinced monkeys make the majority of stuff here) here are some things:
Blagg Blogg has a nice satirical Coachella-esque poster for a music fest featuring every crappy band you've ever heard of. In addition he has a link to the live action Punch Out (you gotta see this!).

Pandora. Check it out, its my new internet-based-listening-pleasure.

Did anyone see Lost tonight? I settled in to watch it but for dumb reason the local ABC channel preempted Lost for the MSU/UM basketball game, which MSU lost btw. This pissed me off, especially since the game could be found 4 channels up. *sigh* Will someone let me know what happened? I'll end up checking Flight815 and other sites, but I'd like to hear it from someone I know and may love.

Last comment for the night. During winter break I gave the OFOMOL some shorts and tshirts to sleep in as a way to stay close to me despite being an ocean and more apart. Anyway I was in her room the other day and commented "hey, I was wondering where that shirt went" as I forgot which shirts I had given her. I commented that it is one of my favorite swimming shirts and the oldest one I have in my collection. She looks at the year (it is from 1999, my sophomore year in college) and she promptly replies, "I was in 9th grade then." I'm like "great, thats exactly what I wanted to hear."

Friday, January 20, 2006

Bang Bang, On the Door Baby

So in my current living situation I am in a college dorm. Yes, here I am a 27-year old male and still living in a dorm. You have all the rights to make fun of me. The setup is where each pair of rooms shares a bathroom. Most of the time this is not a problem. You go in, turn on the light, do your business, and be gone. There is a gap between the bottom of the door and the floor so seeing the light on is a dead giveaway that someone is in there. Even if, a slight knock is polite just to check. Well apparantely my suitemates don't think like this. There have been several times in the recent past that I am sitting there, taking care of business while enjoying an article in SI that the one of the suitemates (there are 2 brothers next door) fails to knock and just opens the door. I really don't get this. I mean, how hard is it to 1) look for the light and 2) knock. After the most recent episode, I decided to take longer then necessary just to spite them. I have also gotten to turning on the faucet and letting it run so there is an audio cue that someone is in there. At this point, who is it more embarassing for -- me who is just sitting there or the neighbor who continually makes this mistake? Then this morning I was brushing my teeth. I like to multi-taks and walk around when I brush. I was in my room and I heard them open the door. Geez! Can't you wait until you see the light off? And speaking of lights, the neighbors, for whatever reason, like to leave the light on in the bathroom even when they are not in there so I knock regardless to make sure the facilities are empty.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Death or Glory?

R.I.P. Erik Namesnik
I apologize for not getting this up yesterday, but for those of us in the swimming community, it has been a sad past couple of days. Erik Namesnik made his name at the University of Michigan and won two silver medals in the 400 IM at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Like many former swimmers he moved into the coaching ranks and was establishing himself. The weather this past in Michigan was scary to say the least. Ice pretty much covered everything and this made driving extremely difficult. Namesnik was involved in a crash, was put on life support, and died yesterday. It's a tragic thing...

This leads me to something I've been thinking about for awhile: Death.
Not a particularly fun topic, but one that I'm not very familiar with. Here I am 27 years old and I have not lost anyone near and dear to me. I've been to very few wakes in my life (um...2?). The two family members I have lost (my grandfathers) died when I was very young -- I don't remember when my paternal grandfather died and my maternal grandfather died when I was, 7? 8? Certainly not at the age where I could comprehend what was going on. Some say I am lucky. Yeah, I am lucky that I haven't lost anyone yet. But it also scares me. I afraid I'm going to have no idea how to respond when someone does die. One of the unevitable truths to life is that we will die -- this is about the only thing we are guaranteed of. And the way I see it is that death is just a natural progression of life. I can be a pretty unemotional guy. Bad things happen and I have a tendency to say "oh well, that's life, that is what happens." I am deftly scared that when one of my close family members does die I will go on living like nothing has happened. I really see myself as someone who doesn't mourn until sometime after the fact when I realize what has happened.

I think about my own death. I'm one of those people who think (however statistically slim) that I could die every day -- from some freak accident, to food poisoning, to whatever. and you know what? This doesn't bother me. Seriously. I am quite happy with the way my life has turned out and when I day I can honestly say that I led a full and successful life. I also like the idea of the living funeral. I got this from when I read Tuesdays with Morrie and he had a living funeral where, before he died, he invited all his friends over to celebrate his life. And since I'm on the topic of death, when I do die, I don't want people mourning and crying and wearing black. I beg you and implore you that when I go, wear colors. Hawaiian prints. R.E.M. shirts. Come in skimpy running shorts, or Speedos even! Seriously. And I want you to play R.E.M. songs such as "It's the End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine)"; not that sad stuff like Everybody Hurts, cause that song just sucks. Funerals should be about celebrating what that person was, what they embodied, and everything that person stood for. You may think I'm joking or being facetious here, but no. This is how I feel. Funerals should be about celebrations and not mourning.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Bernie Bernie Ohh Baby, Super Bowl!

For those that remember that classic song, here is a link.

Today is a Browns-centric post. First off, I was flipping through the channels last night with the Offical Female of MOL (or OFOMOL for short) and we (well I) happened to stop on ESPN2 and they were showing a classic football game. For any Cleveland Browns fan there is one game and one game that defines the futility of the franchise. Thats right, the 1987 AFC Championship game that featured John Elway's now infamous "The Drive." BTW curses to the person that did that Wikipedia entry. So anyway I had to explain to OFOMOL the heartache that we as Browns fans suffered that day and everyday when they show the clip of Elway's TD pass or any sportscaster references that. Ditto to MJ's shot over Ehlo in '89. I also explained the concept of the Dawgs and the Dawg Pound. This was back in the day of Municipal Stadium when the Dawg Pound was truly the Dawg Pound. They would throw dog biscuits and batteries at opponents. Sam Wyche hated our fans and we made sure to show it. The current Dawg Pound was purely fabricated with tax-money and has lost any resemblance to the Dawg Pound that existed at old Municipal Stadium.

So then I happen onto ESPN today and Page 2 has done a "Misery Index" for NFL teams and you know who tops off at #1? Yup, you guessed it, our beloved Cleveland Browns. Look at the comments for #31, the New England Patriots reference to Cleveland. There was not even a mention about how one of our worst coaches ever (Bill Belicheck) went on to become the current genius coach of the league. In conjunction with the Misery Index, they have the Top-25 Miserable Moments which, again, is topped by the Browns. These article only reinforce my opinion that Cleveland fans are by far the worst-suffering fans in all of sports -- to be detailed on here in the future. Here is to futility (and not being a Lions fan!) folks!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Won't You Follow Me Down to the Rose Parade?

BCS Championship game: Texas 41 - USC 38
Wow, what a game! I guess I was a bit wrong predicting a USC victory, but I am quite happy with Texas winning. Vince Young was truly amazing. He pretty much put the team on his back on those last two drives and said "we're gonna win this thing." In the BCS-era, this game is right up there (but slightly behind) the 2003 Fiesta Bowl (OSU beating Miami in 2 OT). Any game that is decided in the final minutes is a classic. All in all, the 4 BCS games were probably the best 4 we've seen since the BCS's inception. All games were close (you could argue the Fiesta was closer then it should've been) at the end and each featured dramatic endings -- Pittman's TD run, the WV fake punt, the 3 OTs featuring multiple missed-kicks, then the Vince Young show. Kudos to the BCS this year. First time they got it completely right.

Some thoughts on the game itself -- I love teams deferring to the 2nd half. In the Fiesta Bowl OSU deferred...they scored towards the end of the 1st half and got the ball back to start the 2nd half -- this is one of my favorite "moral killers" in football. Same thing happened last night. Props to Mack Brown for having confidence in his defense to start the game. Reggie Bush -- what were you thinking on the option/lateral? I mean c'mon! This is the Championship game, no need to get fancy. Yes, Vince Young did the same thing shortly later, but he's a QB and his team was expecting it. After that Bush seemed to have mentally checked-out. I wonder if this might put some flags up on his draft status, or if it was just a one-time mistake? Speaking of the draft, Vince Young better come out for it. I doubt his stock will be higher next year then it is right now -- he could very well be the #1 pick over Reggie Bush. The Texans (sorry David Carr) or Saints would both be better off with him. I am one of the one's questioning Pete Carroll's going for it on 4th and 2. Being an OSU fan & having been drilled in the head with "field position and special teams wins games" philosophy of Tressel, a punt is the only thing to do in this situation. Although then I got thinking -- a punt would still be appropriate, but what Carroll should have really done is pull a page from WV and do the fake punt. That would have been exciting and sealed the game.

One more reason I liked Texas's win -- it put the whole kibosh on how the 2005 USC Trojans rank in football history and their run to a three-peat. First off, anyone who's watched ESPN in the past month knows they've been doing a series on how the 2005 incarceration of USC ranks among the all-time greats...finally coming in at #2. The problem was 1) USC hadn't won the title yet, and 2) they gave NOTHING to Texas. They pretty much assumed that USC would win and go on to their 3rd championship in a row. If they had won, the 3-peat would have only been in the AP poll. In the past 4 years USC has won the same number of BCS titles as Ohio State, LSU, and Texas -- ONE. 2 years ago there was a split title -- LSU won the BCS while USC was #1 on the AP poll. So even if USC had won, it would have been more like a 2.5-peat.

Anyway with Leinhart, Bush, and probably Lendale White going pro for USC and Vince Young for Texas, OSU could very well be #1 preseason next year. Of course that could be a curse (see 1998). We've got 7 months to wait and see. Now it's on to basketball season :) -- MSU at Illinois tonight. Should be a good game. Go Spartans.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Spiderman is Having Me for Dinner Tonight

It's been awhile. Here are some amusing links to keep you busy

Got 8 minutes to spare? From Russia, with love.

This one is for my mom but anyone who watches ABC's broadcast's of college football should appreciate it. (Thanks to SI for this). Be sure to read the comments down at the bottom.


Good thing you have your college education to fall back on
.

Watched the Fiesta Bowl last night. Gotta say I'm pleased. Since I'm up here a few days early, campus is pretty much dead. I traversed to B-dubs solo to watch the game. I grabbed a seat
at the bar in time to watch the end of the Capital One Bowl. OSU pretty much dominated ND. The crowd was about 60/40 in favor of OSU, but there were a few genuine Buckeye fans. Aside from Michigan, Notre Dame is the most vilified school in these parts so people were not necessarily cheering for OSU, just against ND. Things look good for the 'Bucks next year. Now if only John L. could get his players to play in big games like Tressel does...

The Orange Bowl tonight should be a snoozer as the combined age for the coaches is 154. Seriously, how did FSU get in this game? Penn State should win in a walk-over. As for tomorrow...I really want to go with Texas but I think USC has way too much fire power for UT to overcome.