NaBloPoMo 2010 Day 21 -- UF's Rudy ... sort of

Yesterday was the last regular season home game for the Florida Gators. So it was senior day. All of the fourth- and fifth-year seniors were honored before the game started with a short ceremony as they ran out of the tunnel. This happened at a number of schools this weekend and more will happen next weekend as well. It's another one of those things that makes college football better than NFL football.

Many of you have seen the movie Rudy -- the story of the walk-on and undersized defensive tackle who sold his soul to dress for one football game at Notre Dame. The movie exaggerates the story, but he did actually get in the game and did record of sack. It's a great scene -- even if you hate anything Notre Dame.

During yesterday's win over Appalachian State, a four-year walk-on defensive tackle -- not particularly undersized -- but not the most gifted athletically -- lived his own scene from Rudy. Gary Beemer is a senior at UF. He's been a glorified tackling dummy for four years on the football team. But he gives 100% and has become a favorite of UF coach Urban Meyer. That must be the case or what happened yesterday would never have happened.

With UF winning by a healthy margin, Meyer approached Beemer on the sidelines and asked if he'd be interested in running the ball in a goal-line situation if UF was able to get the ball down that close. Stunned, Beemer told the coach that he was ready and willing.

Then late in the fourth quarter, the Gators did actually get the ball close -- inside the 10 yard line. And Beemer was told to run out to the huddle for the first down play. Here's what happened:

If that doesn't give you chills, you may be reading this from six feet under.

You can hear the fans cheering for Beemer as he runs out, and they yell louder when he actually gets the ball on first down. You can see his teammates -- many of them starters -- screaming for him and waving towels. That's a kid who's left an impression on his team.

But when he doesn't score on first down, Meyer doesn't abandon him. He calls the play for him a second time. He gets stopped short of the end zone again. But he gets a third shot, and he buries himself into the line and emerges on the other side of the end line clutching the ball all the way back to the sidelines.

But he's not just clutching a football. He's holding tightly to four years of blood, sweat and tears. And pain. And laughs. And shared meals. And a memory that will never leave the front of his mind. Oh, that more of us had opportunities to make moments we would hold so dearly.

NaBloPoMo 2010 Day 13 -- Season Review

I know the season isn't over, but for all intents and purposes, it is. I watched tonight as my Gators had a chance to redeem this season with a win over South Carolina and UF's former coach, Steve Spurrier. The game was at home in the Swamp, but it didn't matter. Tonight was a microcosm of the season, and tonight ended with a loss.

In no particular order, here are my thoughts about the season (well, I guess there is an "order" because the thoughts are numbered):

1) Urban Meyer made a mistake by not revamping the offense for the skill set of John Brantley. In 2005, when Meyer came to UF, he attempted to run his Utah offense with Chris Leak, a traditional drop-back passer. It didn't work. During the bye week before the game against Georgia, Meyer and his offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen (now the head coach at Mississippi State), retooled the offense to take advantage of Leak's skills. And the remainder of that season was saved, and it paved the way for the national title the following season. I expected Meyer to follow that template with Brantley this season. For whatever reason, he did not. The team has suffered because of it. Perhaps Meyer's health issues last off-season affected his memory.

2) The play-calling for the last two years has been questionable at best. After winning the national title game again at the end of the 2008 season, Dan Mullen was hired away by Mississippi State. Meyer had two options in selecting a new offensive coordinator: Steve Addazio, the offensive line coach with a couple decades of coaching experience, or Billy Gonzales, the younger wide receivers coach. Meyer went with Addazio. And Gonzales was not a happy camper. He stayed for last season, but he took a job with LSU at the end of the year. Last season, Addazio had Tim Tebow to bail him out of a lot of bad calls, but the offense did not run as smoothly as the year before when Mullen was calling plays and Addazio was just coaching the offensive line. This year, without Tebow, the offense has looked anemic. Meyer and UF are in a tough spot with Addazio, because he stepped in to run the program when Meyer resigned and then returned but took considerable time off last spring. He was a great O-line coach, so I don't necessarily want to lose him, but he needs to yield the play-calling responsibilities.

3) Meyer and co. need to decide what kind of team this is going to be ... and what kind of program he is going to run. It's OK if this is going to be a spread program. That means UF will never get a pro-style drop-back QB prospect, but so what?!?! If that type of QB can't run your offense, why recruit them at all? It's worse to recruit a pro-style QB and say that you can adjust to his talents, when in fact, you don't really want to. The Chris Leak situation tells me that Meyer can adjust his offense to the talents of his QB, but this season with Brantley tells me that he doesn't really want to. Fine. Tom Osborne ran his running offense through the '90s for multiple national titles because that was his offense. He still got players who could run it and run it successfully. Meyer just needs to own that the spread, read-option offense is what he prefers.

4) This three-headed QB system can't work long-term (or against teams not named "Vanderbilt"). Because Meyer won't commit to one offensive approach, he has now gone to 3 QBs -- none of whom can get enough reps in practice to do more than one thing. That means that defenses know exactly how to play against each of them. Brantley gets blitzed snap after snap because they know he's the passer. Trey Burton gets 8 in the box because they know he's not going to throw. Jordan Reed can throw the ball, but he doesn't get enough reps to run more than a minor portion of the playbook to be effective yet. This goes back to #3 above, but Meyer has to commit to one way of doing things and pick the best guy to run that offense and give him the most reps.

5) The offensive line has struggled throughout the year, and I think it's directly related to Addazio's offensive play-calling responsibilities. There is a reason for position coaches. There is a reason that some guys are great position coaches and not good coordinators. I think Addazio is one of those guys. He could be a good head coach, but he's not a coordinator. And those responsibilities are making him a poor position coach this year as well.

6) Meyer's top priority in the off-season needs to be to find Addazio a new job somewhere else. The program probably owes Addazio at least that given his willingness to step in for Meyer when he was away from the team. Once he handles that, he can then find a new play-caller. I would not be opposed to Meyer bringing Gonzales back if that relationship can be patched.

7) There is a considerable amount of youth on the team this season. But after the 10th game, I would expect to see more maturity and/or development.

8) Hopefully, this down year follows Meyer's pattern at UF. Each down year has been followed by a solid and/or championship year. I wouldn't mind that pattern repeating itself.

NaBloPoMo 2009 Day 28 -- Rivalry Weekend

The weekends on either side of Thanksgiving are riddled with football games between in-state rivals. Thursday through Saturday this week especially saw matches that often pit family members against each other. Combining family dysfunction, holidays and football is a dangerous mix.

There were a few upsets this weekend too. South Carolina got the best of Clemson in Columbia. NC State pulled the upset over North Carolina. As I am writing, Georgia is leading #7 ranked Georgia Tech, but Tech is driving for the winning score. Tech failed to get the winning score. Poor play-calling on Tech's part on that final possession. All of a sudden, Tech tried to win the game through the air before it had to. There was time on the clock for Tech to try to win with their option attack and shorter, surer passing routes.

In Gainesville, Tim Tebow left The Swamp with his fourth win in a row over arch-rival Florida State (Florida's sixth win in a row over FSU). Tebow threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 others. His play keeps him in the Heisman discussion, but he has to have a 400+ total yards performance next weekend in the SEC Championship game to have any hope of winning the award for a second time.

Colt McCoy kept Texas' championship hopes alive defeating Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night. But he also edged ahead in the Heisman race with an incredible offensive performance against another swiss-cheese Big 12 defense. Texas faces Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game in Dallas next weekend. That Nebraska defense could be the antidote to the Texas offense and ruin the lives of many Longhorn fans. But if McCoy can perform well against that defense, he likely would cap off the Heisman race and book a slot in the BCS championship game.

It's been another great regular season of college football. Hard to believe that it's almost over. I'm not quite ready to watch college basketball yet. But don't worry; I will be.

NaBloPoMo 2009 Day 23 -- Final Home Game

This is the end of an era. Saturday, the Florida Gators host their in-state rival, the Florida State Seminoles. In any given season, this game is huge for both schools. Like Auburn-Alabama or Georgia-Georgia Tech or Oregon-Oregon State or USC-UCLA. It's rivalry weekend all across the nation.

But in Gainesville, this week is the last home game for Tim Tebow. The Heisman-winning quarterback that many Gator fans like to call Superman will run out of the tunnel at The Swamp one last time. All season, Tebow has run out last in an effort to soak in his final season in a Florida uniform. It is senior day this weekend, but the crowd will be there to watch the guy who will go down as the greatest Gator of all time and perhaps, the greatest football player in college football history -- at least the greatest to this point.

The reality that this is the last home game for Tebow hit his coach today at Urban Meyer's Monday press conference. Below are the highlights of the press conference, but at about the 2:10 mark, he comments about the impact that Tebow has had -- not only on the football team, but also on him as a person. Coaches build strong ties with their players in all sports, but rarely does a player have an impact on a coach off the field. In Tebow's case, his consistent, unselfish, God-centered lifestyle impacted Meyer so much that he took his family on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Those things don't happen every day.

We can debate Tebow's abilities as a quarterback and whether he can succeed at the next level, but you can't debate the young man's ability to inspire his teammates, coaches, fans, friends, and even complete strangers.

NaBloPoMo 2009 Day 14 -- Saturday Sports

Another Saturday, another stilted performance from the Gators. This has been such a hard season to watch the Gators which is somewhat difficult to believe because they are 10-0 after winning today on the road at South Carolina. The game started well with a long pass play from Tim Tebow to Riley Cooper, but as has happened in most games this season, things bogged down after the first quarter. In the end, they remain undefeated. They finished the SEC schedule undefeated and await Alabama on December 5th for the SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome. I try not to complain when the Gators have won 20 games in a row, but these close games are giving me (more) gray hair than I want.

Ole Miss took Tennessee to the wood shed today. I saw many a pundit calling for UT to win this one on the road. Given all the distractions in Knoxville this week, I had a hard time seeing it. Dexter McCluster ran all over Monte Kiffin's defense. Good win for Ole Miss. I'd like to see Snead stick around for another season at Ole Miss to see if he can lead that team farther next season. I suspect Sam Bradford's experience at Oklahoma this year will weigh heavily at the end of the year when he contemplates his decision.

My Saturdays in the fall usually start with English Premier League matches. Most Saturdays, there is a "lunch time" match that starts at 7:45 a.m. eastern, followed by a handful of matches at 10:00 a.m. But this weekend, there is a break in the Premier League schedule to accommodate the last small group of matches for World Cup qualifying. There were also a number of international "friendlies" for the nations whose World Cup fates were already decided. So there were some matches on this morning, but I wasn't interested in watching a friendly that didn't matter.

I was glad to see the University of Kentucky become bowl-eligible today with a win on the road at Vanderbilt. That makes four consecutive seasons that UK will head to a bowl. They've won the last 3 bowl games. Here's to a fourth consecutive result in their favor.

Hats off to Georgia Tech. With their win at Duke University today, the Yellow Jackets are 10-1 and will play in the ACC Champhionship Game on December 5th. Paul Johnson has a talented group that has bought into his option system, and they wear down teams over four quarters. Lately, they are also getting some big pass plays from Josh Nesbitt at quarterback when on the few occasions they let him throw the ball.

Stanford scored 55 points against Southern Cal today -- the most points EVER given up by USC. EVER. Jim Harbaugh has done a great job at Stanford in his short tenure there. This year, he has 2 huge wins against Oregon and USC. I suspect some major programs are going to be knocking on his door very soon. Notre Dame anyone? I wonder if the Michigan man will get a call from some wealthy boosters about coming back to Ann Arbor to restore the Big Blue tradition given Rich Rodriguez's struggles with installing his spread system.

I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I can't ignore how well the Atlanta Hawks have started the season. They are winning again tonight and will move to 8-2 for the first eighth of the season. Last night, they earned a huge road win in Boston against the Celtics. I applaud the Hawks ownership for sticking with the coaching staff over several years as the team was rebuilt through the draft and the occasional free agent pick-up. The addition this season of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith seem to be the final pieces that could propel the team into the conference finals if everyone stays healthy and continues to build on the quick start.

How did your favorite teams do this weekend?

Happy Birthday to my sister Anita today. She's enjoying a birthday weekend in Athens.

NaBloPoMo 2009 Day 1

So here we are again with another attempt at posting every day for the month of November as part of National Blog Posting Month (i.e., NaBloPoMo) 2009. It's been about 4 months since I last posted, and I apologize to any reader who may still remain out there. Life sometimes gets in the way of this blog thing. It's funny because when I first thought about starting a blog, I think I did it because I was looking for a distraction from the life I had at my old job. Over the last 10 months of working for myself (and/or trying to find work for myself to do), I haven't had as much interest in making time to post here. Perhaps you're thankful for that.

Yesterday was Halloween. K-Man went as Buzz Light Year from the Toy Story movies. The kid loves those movies, but he hates wearing costumes. He wore it for about 5 minutes last week at his school's Fall party and barely lasted 8 houses last night on our street. He was much more interested in handing out candy to the kids that came to the house. He's a giver. Jen has some pictures that she's going to upload so I can put a couple on here for my reader to see.

My law practice remains a challenging venture. I have a meeting tomorrow about a new project for a company. I've had a number of positive networking meetings over the last few weeks. There seems to be some momentum building. Throughout the whole process Jen and I have tried very hard to trust God for how this venture is playing out. Sure, we'd prefer to have a steady flow of work and payments coming in, but He appears to be embracing an approach that requires our steadfast reliance on His provision. Surprisingly, I'm not completely gray or bald from this faithfully variable schedule.

I couldn't write without mentioning the 8-0 Florida Gators and their victory over Georgia over the weekend. It has not been the smoothest of rides for the Gators this year. As defending BCS champs, every team is gunning for them every week. Plus, they have to deal with the expectations of repeating as champs. I speak for all Gators when I thank Georgia coach, Mark Richt, for retaining the services of defensive coordinator Willie Martinez. It was nice to watch the Gators break out of their offensive slump yesterday, and Willie had a hand in that. Thanks again Coach Richt!

Over the next few days, I'll give an update on our Scotland trip from the summer, including a video from our trip. (That's a tease to get you to come back here!)

Laundry night

This is one of those stream of consciousness posts. Sorry.

I did a couple of loads of laundry tonight. A load of whites and a load of dark clothes. Why do white clothes get so dingy looking? We use bleach, so I don't get it.

There's a metaphor there, but I'm too tired to unwrap that one.

I have a team in a fantasy football league. Had a running back in tonight's Jets-Patriots game. He didn't do squat. Why tonight does Matt Cassell decide to throw for 400+ yards and do the Patriots give up on their running game? Why?!

The Atlanta Hawks are playing some very nice basketball. They are young, but they are playing very well as a team. They actually make me want to watch an NBA game ... and that never happens.

It's still college football season, but the Gators hoops team gets the season started tomorrow night in Gainesville. Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. EST. ESPNU is providing coverage of that one. Check your local listings.

Speaking of the Gators. The Swamp welcomes back the Head Ball Coach and his South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gators have been on a roll. I expect to see Spurrier drawing up some ball plays from deep in his playbook. But I think the Gators will prevail. One game at a time. I can tell you that the Gators are not looking ahead to next week's game just yet. There will be time to get ready for The Citadel on Monday.

Will the St. Louis Cardinals regret not pulling the trigger on Matt Holliday and letting him get away to Oakland? Holliday would've been nice protection for Pujols.

I have a dentist appointment on Monday.

All right, my consciousness has been reduced to a trickle. And I need to fold the dark load before hitting the hay.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Halloween weekend highlights

The Halloween weekend started with, uh, Halloween (hence the name). Keegan got things started with a party at school where he enjoyed pizza and Capri Sun. In case you're wondering, K-Man went as a penguin.






Then he got ready for the real Halloween festivities in the neighborhood.







Posed for a picture with his Aunt Nicole and Uncle Jonathan.




On Saturday, we had some friends over (all of whom were dog fans) to watch the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville (a/k/a the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party). I expected the game to be a Big 12 shootout with the winner being the last team with the ball. Fortunately, it didn't matter who had the ball at the end of the game ... or all of the fourth quarter for that matter. UF took advantage of some "timely" penalties by Georgia and Matthew Stafford auditioning for the Detroit Lions by throwing 3 interceptions. The final score was 49-10.

By the fourth quarter, John Mark, one of our UGA friends, had capitulated.



And decided to get a new tatoo.



On his forehead. See.

November to remember

Well, my November got off on the right foot today. After a fun night of trick-or-treating last night with K-Man and his penguin costume, we had some friends over today to watch UF dismantle the Georgia Bulldogs and the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Florida. The final score was 49-10, with Georgia scoring its lone touchdown very late in the 4th on a pass from the back-up QB.

November also means it's National Blog Posting Month. I participated last year, and I've felt the blog hangover all year. But I'm a glutton for punishment, so I am back at it again for 2008. So I will be making an effort to post every day this month. That's at least 30 posts this month. Chances are one or two of them will be worth reading. Maybe, it'll be a November to remember.

Where did September go?

Seems like I just wrote about the start of the college football season, and now we're 4 games into the season already. Tough week for my Gators and all the dog fans in the area. The Gators fumbled away a chance to stay in the top 5. Instead, another loss to a mid-table team from the SEC West. At least we never fell behind 31-0 during the game. Ouch. Credit to the dog fans for not racing out of Sanford Stadium at half time -- like the Volunteer fans did in Knoxville the week before.

We took Keegan to the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History on Saturday. The kid is obsessed with trains at the moment -- especially Thomas the Train. We wound our way through the museum waiting to get to the ultimate prize -- The General. Fully restored and resting in its own room in the museum. Trains are large pieces of machinery when viewed outside. When resting in a building, their size is enhanced by the surrounding walls. It sure freaked out K-Man when he turned the corner to see the imposing General staring back at him. Never felt the kid squeeze my hand so hard as we slowly walked around the train. Eventually, he got comfortable with the size of the train and realized that it wasn't going to take off through the building. He even asked to see it again before we left the museum store. The morning was topped off with several passes through the Thomas the Train jump ride set up outside the museum. The train stamp on his hand was a bonus.

Yesterday, Keegan and I endured Jen singing "Hail to the Redskins" from about 4:00 to 7:30 as she watched her beloved Skins get a win on the road in Dallas against their biggest rival. Jen was teaching Kee to yell "Go Redskins" and I was teaching him to yell "No Singing!!" every time Jen started with the fight song. (Not quite as annoying as "Rocky Top" ... but close.)

I have declared the official start to fall. Fall officially begins when I grow the goatee back. Shaved the goatee in last night.

College Football Is Finally Here!!!

The 2008 season officially kicked off on Thursday night, but the season really launches in earnest on Saturday. Saturdays in the fall are college football. Many things to look forward to. First, of course, are my Gators. The Gators feature the reigning Heisman Trophy winner -- and apparently off-season circumcisor -- in Tim Tebow. Tebow is the first sophomore ever to win the award that goes to the best player in Division I. Tebow is also the first college quarterback to rush for 20 TDs and throw for 20 TDs. The thing about that stat is that it really understates Tebow's year, because Tebow really is the first QB to rush for 20 TDs and throw for 30 TDs. I do not expect Tebow to have the same statistical success this season. Mainly because I think the team has better RBs behind him this year who will take some of those carries and TDs from him. Look for RB Emmanuel Moody -- the Texas high school prospect and transfer from USC -- to leave his mark this season. (By the way, Moody wants to be a pastor too. Tebow and Moody would make a heckuva flag football tandem for Campus Crusade, no?)

The real key to UF's season is improved play on defense. Based on preseason -- which means virtually nothing -- the UF secondary has been making plays instead of trying not to make mistakes. The result has been much improved play in scrimmages. Hopefully that translates on the field when the games count. I think the D-line will be improved too. Another season older. And bigger. And stronger. Some new ideas from a new D-line coach may help inject some life as well. So Tebow's stats are down, but the Gators win 10 or 11 in the regular season.

I have several UGA fans who read and/or stalk this blog, so I would be remiss if I didn't say something about their beloved pups. First, thank you for taking the #1 preseason spot -- and the pressure that comes with it. Next, I'm still not convinced that Stafford is the guy. Yes, he played very well in Jax last year. But Moreno controlled that game as much as anyone. He needs to improve his completion percentage and lower the INTs to take that team where the voters think it should be at the end of the season. I'm also not listening to the ... stuff ... about the tough schedule either. In 2006, the Gators ran a similar gauntlet of teams on the way to the SEC title and BCS championship. If you win 'em, you'll deserve the title. If not, well then I suspect you'll whine about the really hard schedule and all its unfairness. Woe is you.

Can't talk about the start of the season without acknowledging the strong possibility that Ohio State will end up in the BCS game for the third season in a row. They return almost the whole team from last year and have more than 40 fourth- and fifth-year players. That's a lot of leadership. (Or a lot of guys who know how to choke away title games -- depending on your point of view.) But let's face it, OSU has one tough game at USC that they could win if for no other reason than USC's starting QB is in his first year as the guy and is returning from a knee injury in preseason practice. Plus this may be the first year in this run of Pete Carroll teams where the offensive stars are not there. The stars on that team are on defense. OSU has guys on both sides of the ball. OSU's RB, Wells, is probably better than Knowshon Moreno because he's got one more year of experience and is bigger than Knowshon. Wells could pass 2000 yards this season if he stays healthy. After USC, I guess OSU has "tough" games with Wisconsin and Illinois. Some would argue Michigan too (well, Brent Musburger would), but this is a year when Michigan should not be an issue because RichRod is completely revamping how the Wolverines play offense.

There are many more things to touch on. Can Bo Pellini bring back the Black Shirts in Lincoln? Can Paul Johnson win in the ACC with that triple-read Wing-T offense of his? How will Tommy Bowden find a way to squander Clemson's chance to win the ACC this year? Will ESPN ever put us out of our misery and retire Lou Holtz? PLEASE!!! Feel free to discuss these or raise a few more in the comments.

(I am watching the SMU game as I type this. Really enjoying June Jones getting waxed by the Owls of Rice. Too bad he won't be on the visiting sideline tomorrow in the Swamp when Hawaii faces the Gators. Really wish he could see UF's "system quarterback" shred his alma mater.)

Tag

I've been tagged by h. and tasked with telling you ten random things about me. So here goes.

1) I skipped second grade.

2) But I failed calculus in high school. Not like just barely failed. I got a 47 in fall semester calc. Those concepts just didn't register with me at all . . . not ever really studying for the class didn't help either.

3) In fifth grade, I was offered the chance to audition for The Atlanta Boy Choir. I didn't go. I played baseball instead. (Not sure I chose wisely there.)

4) My senior year of high school, I had a problem with No Doz. One really shouldn't take 6 of those things before a first-period physics class. (That might also explain my inability to focus in Ms. Cole's calculus class.)

5) For my first semester of my freshman year at UF, I lived in a dorm (Murphree Hall) that was not air-conditioned. The school offered this option at a lower cost for people who wanted to reduce their expenses. I think I just signed up for housing late. I was in a triple. We had a system of box fans in the windows to try and deal with the heat. Two fans blew air out of the room and two drew air in. [The electrical system in that old dorm couldn't handle everyone having window AC units, so no one was allowed to.] August and September were brutal months in that room. I showered at least twice a day just to try and cool off (not because I was OCD). But it was right next to the north end zone of The Swamp, so it was very convenient to roll out of bed and into the stadium on game days to watch Emmitt during his sophomore year. Second semester, I moved over to the old Hume Hall which had AC.

6) Grammar-related pet peeves:

(a) "Irregardless" is not a word.

(b) There is no need for the word "prideful." The noun is "pride." To be full of pride is to be "proud."

(c) At least 90% of the time, you do not need to use "or not" when you use the word "whether." The "whether" alone is sufficient. Trust me.

7) I've only broken one bone on my body. The pinky toe on my right foot. When I was 17 or 18, I woke up one morning and stepped out of bed. In my post-slumber stupor, I did not appreciate that my foot was asleep. I put my weight on it, and the toe went right while the rest of my body fell in a heap. Luckily, my foot was asleep, so I didn't really feel the pain of the break. No real need to go to the doctor to confirm that break though. The 90-degree angle the toe was making with the neighboring toe was all the evidence I needed. I just taped the toe to the adjacent ring-finger toe and went about my day. Along with some Advil for pain management.

8) If I could do anything, I would coach soccer full-time. If I had to do something else in order to coach soccer, I would try to teach -- preferably on a college campus. This law firm life doesn't allow the freedom necessary to coach.

9) I like to cuss. And I cuss a lot when I play sports (or watch sports for that matter). I blame it on my Irish blood. Jen just says I'm a freak.

10) I get annoyed by all the talk about closing off our borders and stemming the tide of immigrants (even the "illegal" ones). And not just because my son is Hispanic. This is a country founded by immigrants. There was only one "native" people group here when the pilgrims discovered the "new world" in their brass-buckled clogs. If we took some time to get to know these immigrants, we'd see that most of them are here because they believe in the same American Dream that the rest of us do. Many of them are making far greater sacrifices to realize it too. Frankly, I'm not sure what everyone is so afraid of.

I tag STK, JM and Anita. Tell us some random tidbits about yourselves. Give us a glimpse into who you are.

And keep voting for Modern Skirts (see below). Yesterday afternoon, the band had taken over the top spot, but this morning, they had slipped back to #2 again. Vote HERE. And vote as often as you like/can.

New License Plate!!

After months of waiting, I was treated this week to a welcome envelope from the state Motor Vehicles Division [how often does one say that?] . A perfect birthday present if I do say so myself. The greatest thing about this plate is not that I get to demonstrate my collegiate loyalty, but all of the opportunities to annoy all of the dog fans in the city as we all sit in traffic for hours each week.

The other interesting thing about the fact that these plates are available is the response from various members of the Legislature -- all up in arms about the fact that a UGA plate isn't available in Florida. Threatening to eliminate the UF plate unless there is reciprocity in the Sunshine State. The interesting thing about that is that the Auburn alumni have had an AU plate for more than a year, and there was no similar uproar. Shows you who the bigger rival is.

So anyway, get used to seeing these plates around town -- those of you who live in the state. For those of you out-of-towners, feel free to print this page so you don't feel left out.

Timmy HE15MAN

The last 48 hours have been fairly busy. We had a progressive holiday party in the neighborhood on Saturday night (where I may or may not have participated in a little Karaoke). And then decorated for Christmas all day yesterday (in the 70-degree weather!!).

We stayed behind at the appetizer house on Saturday night to catch the official announcement of Tim Tebow, Heisman Award Winner! The first sophomore ever to win it! Herschel didn't do it. Bo knows nothing like this. Pat Sullivan? Nope. Barry Sanders? Negatory.

The numbers speak for themselves. In his first year as a starter, Tebow threw for 3132 yards and 29 TDs (with only 6 INTs). He also ran for 838 yards and 22 TDs. For you Athens grads/fans, that's a total of 51 TDs. The first player in D1 to ever run and throw for 20 TDs in a season. I suspect he'll be a 30-20 guy after the bowl game against Michigan. He's thrown at least 1 TD and ran for at least 1 in every game this year. He played the 8th toughest schedule in the country (compared to Hawaii's 117th toughest schedule -- can't wait to see June Jones in Gainesville on August 30th so he can observe Tebow run Meyer's "system" all over his Rainbow Warrior Princesses!). His 22 TDs this season are the most ever by an SEC player. More than Herschel, Bo, Shaun Alexander, Billy Cannon or Lars Tate! More than anyone who's ever toted the rock in the SEC.

But beyond all the stats, Tebow is a great guy. He has a strong relationship with the Lord. He was born in the Philippines when his parents were missionaries. He regularly visits the Philippines in the summer to preach at his father's mission. When his family was planning the trip to NYC for Saturday night, they were not expecting one of his sisters to come. She and her husband are missionaries in Bangladesh. Tebow received a call on Thursday night while he was at another award show (Where he won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback and the Maxwell Award as the nation's top player. Ho hum.). It was his sister on the line. They were going to be able to fly from Bangladesh for the presentaton. Who cares about some trophy at that point? It would be the first time the whole family would be together since last Christmas. They planned to throw a party to celebrate that -- regardless what happened on the stage that night.

But of course, we all know how things worked out on Saturday night. It is rather amazing that a kid who came in with such hype has actually lived up to it -- if not surpassed it. Freshman year? National title. Sophomore year? Heisman. Junior year? SEC title? Another national title? At this point, can we really doubt that he won't deliver?

So UF now has three Heisman winners. Three QBs. Spurrier, Wuerffel, Tebow. All three have one thing in common. They are all PKs -- Preacher's Kids. But even there Tebow is a little different. He's also an MK -- a Missionary Kid.

Here is a video including all 51 of Tebow's TDs.

Almost foiled by network broadcasting

So I was watching the end of the UK-Tenn. game today -- torn between not wanting the Vowels to win and not wanting Georgia to go to the SEC championship game next week. I was really just waiting for the game to end, so I could watch the UF-FSU game which was kicking off at 5:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the players in the game in Lexington refused to end their game in a timely fashion. So CBS stayed on that game. Forever.

In Gainesville, they kicked off. In Lexington, Tenn. scored a touchdown and UK answered. Second OT. In Gainesville, the score was 14-6. In Atlanta, we're still watching the game in Lexington where Tenn. scored another TD and UK responded in kind. Oh joy, a third overtime. In Gainesville, the first quarter is over! I am now screaming into a throw pillow. Not because of a bad play by the Gators -- because I haven't seen play one in the game I truly care about -- but because I don't have the option of watching the game I want to see that is being broadcast by the same network.

In the third overtime, nothing gets decided. Of course not. So we're onto the fourth extra period. And in Gainesville, Tebow throws for another TD and the Gators are up 21-9. In the fourth OT, the game in Lexington is finally decided -- ending in another escape act by Fat Phil and Co. And I finally get the privilege of watching the Gators last drive of the first half! Which ends in a field goal. With less than a minute before half-time, FSU did manage to get a field-goal attempt off. A 60-yarder. And somehow, the team that has brought us so many wide kicks manages to line-drive through a 60-yarder. Unbelievable.

But the Gators got the ball back to start the second half and promptly managed five first downs on consecutive plays. Game (essentially) over. The final was 45-12. The Gator seniors leave The Swamp victors one last time. And I think Tebow probably wrapped up his Heisman-winning campaign with another 3 TDs through the air and 2 more on the ground. And the missionary kid also managed a few verbal jabs towards the Criminole sideline too. Amen.

Happy Birthday to DA in Omaha! For his birthday, I am dialing up a little snow for later in the week. What's the last week in November in Nebraska without a reminder that winter is another month away but Mother Nature wants to get things started early! DA celebrated his birthday by having dinner with his parents. Such a nice boy.

Also Happy Birthday to Caroline who turns ???? tomorrow.

Four letter word!!!!

Four letter word!!! Four letter word!!! Four letter word!!!

Hats off to the team from Clarke County. That was the most fire I've seen in a Richt-coached team. Ever. Richt is a guy who exudes milktoast. While I liked the idea of taking the 15-yard team celebration after the first TD, I thought that it might create a situation that the players could not handle and all of the subsequent penalties seemed to confirm that. What I saw tonight was what I saw when I was in Gainesville in early September to watch the Troy game. UF's secondary can't cover. And UF's safeties can't tackle. I've seen 9-year-olds take better angles.

I'm not going to make excuses about injured Gators costing us this game because on offense, I still think we have enough weapons to win just about any game. And I think we had enough to win this game. I knew the game was lost after 2 plays. A drop by Cornelius Ingram in the second half (on the first ball thrown to him) and a catch by a Georgia TE on a key 4th quarter drive. Over the last 18 years -- especially in the 2000s -- this game has been epitomized by Georgia WRs and TEs dropping the easiest of passes. Not tonight. They even caught somewhat difficult passes.

And yet again, I witnessed UF's in ability to run a hurry up offense. In this game, I got the opportunity to watch it twice -- at the end of both halves. Lucky me! I don't like it when the check at the line occurs at the sideline. I cannot tell you how many times I have screamed at the TV or into a throw pillow when Tebow and Co. turn -- in unison -- to look at the sideline for the new play. You can't run a hurry up offense when the team looks to the sideline for the audible.
And what coach, not named Mumme, thinks an inside reverse is the best play for a 4th and 2 call late in the game? The answer to that question is Mullen -- Dan Mullen, UF's offensive coordinator. Brain fart is too kind.

15 of 18 is no relief on this evening -- even if it is true. If there is anything good that could come from this result -- and that's a big IF -- it's that it may quiet all the chatter from the Bulldogs about how this game shouldn't be played in Jacksonville. Fairly certain that's not the topic of conversation as the red and black fans celebrate at The Landing tonight.

Clips from the Original

Many have caught on to the NBC version of The Office. However, the original British series remains the standard by which Michael Scott and company will be measured. This first clip is a bit of practical joking between Tim and Gareth (counterparts to Jim and Dwight).



Later on the stapler saga continues.



And a little wisdom from David Brent, Regional Manager.



I am headed to Gainesville tomorrow to watch the Gators take on the Men of Troy. Uh, Troy, Alabama, that is. For you UGA fans, look out for the Ole Ball Coach. He'll be in Athens tomorrow with some of his ball plays.

There is no theory of evolution

There is no theory of evolution. There is only a list of species that Tim Tebow has allowed to live.





Go Gators!!

Haterade

Dear Annie,

This also goes out to JM, STK, Brad, Mark, my sister Anita, and any other dog fan who may or may not have a blog of their own.

Go Gators!!