Looking Forward to 2008

From watching all these bowl games, all I can say is WOW! Next year's gonna be one for the record books.

Let's look at some of my preseason favorites for next year:
USC Trojans
They have arguably one of the tougher schedules, opening at Virginia and home to Ohio State.
Key personnel losses: OT Sam Baker, QB John David Booty, TE Fred Davis, DT Sedrick Ellis, DE Lawrence Jackson, LB Keith Rivers and I suspect LB Rey Maualuga will leave for the NFL.

Georgia Bulldogs
They get Bama and the other UT at home, but most of their tough games are one the road.
Key personnel losses: WR Sean Bailey, K Brandon Coutu, WR Mikey Henderson, DE Marcus Howard and could lose LB Dannell Ellerbe to NFL.

Oklahoma Sooners
While not too shabby, there aren't really any games that stick out. They start the season at home against a tough Bearcats D before heading to Washington to face Jake Locker. And depending on which Josh Freeman shows up, they might have a tough test against KSU in the Little Apple.
Key personnel losses: DE Alonzo Dotson, K Garrett Hartley, RB Allen Patrick, DB D.J. Wolfe, FB Dane Zaslaw, LB Demarrio Pleasant and maybe WR Malcom Kelly to NFL.

None of these three teams play each other. One wildcard team could be the Buckeyes. If they get past USC in week three, they might not lose a game.


Now let's look at some interesting teams, some with changes and other with something to prove:
Michigan Wolverines
They lose the Henne-Hart-Long trio and welcome Rich Rodriguez and the spread to Ann Arbor. And they play OSU in the Horseshoe.

Missouri Tigers
They lose RB Tony Temple and TE Martin Rucker, but don't face OU until the Big XII Championship game. Can they repeat the success they had this year?

Kansas Jayhawks
They lose a lot at the skill positions, including their punter and place-kicker, top WR, top TE, top RB, not to mention CB Aqib Talib most likely bolting to the NFL. Their offense won't be as potent. They have a very friendly sked, with only 4 road games, two of with are USF and OU.

Va Tech Hokies
While they lose their top 3 receivers & LB Xavier Adibi, they have a creampuff schedule to break in some new wideouts before things get tough.

BYU Cougars
Can they repeat the success they had this year? Fourteen of their 18 seniors are on defense, which gave up only 18.8 points per game. They won't play too many high-octane offenses, but I don't think they can have as good a year next year.

Holiday Bowl

Wow. What a thorough dismantling of a pretty solid ASU team. Thanks to ESPN360.com I was able to watch the game even without cable.

It should've been a higher score, but the officials said that a Texas coach touched the ball, even though he didn't. I think Chris Jesse, Mack Brown's stepson, will be in a Southwest TV ad in the next few weeks. Not the way to get your name in the papers and splashed across the internet.

I must say that I am still very worried about Colt McCoy next year. He had two total TDs, but had 4 fumbles. Thankfully only one of them was lost.

The D-line was very impressive against the run. But the men responsible for that are graduating: Lokey & Okam. The much-maligned secondary did a fairly respectable job against ASU, intercepting three passes and forcing a fumble. That one was sweet. Little Brandon Foster in there with the big fellas just ripping the ball away.

Here is a list of important seniors we'll lose to graduation this year:

33

Scott Derry

LB

28

Brandon Foster

CB

67	Dallas Griffin	C
26	Marcus Griffin	S
79	Tony Hills	T

9	Nate Jones	WR
4	Drew Kelson	S
40	Robert Killebrew	LB
96	Derek Lokey	DT

97	Frank Okam	DT
5	Billy Pittman	WR
4	Limas Sweed	WR

And today Jamaal Charles announced he's declaring for the draft. Three more from the secondary gone, two starting O-linemen, and three top receivers. Yikes!

Next year will be a difficult one to keep the streak of 10+ wins alive past seven. Losing Charles might not hurt as much with the emergence of Vondrell McGee to keep defenses honest and allow Colt to hurt 'em with his wheels. We'll still have Jermichael Finley as Colt's security blanket.

If I were Mack Brown, with what I have returning, I would go to a 3-4 defense and use the LBs to shoot the gaps on rushes. On offense, I'd play ball control with only 2-3 receivers, Finley and McGee. I'd also find a better punter that can hit the coffin corner. From looking at our roster, those are the strengths I could find. We only lose 18 seniors, but as you can see 12 of them were key components this year.

September can't get here fast enough!

Merry Christmas?

It's been a strange 24 hours.

Last night about this time, Papa came to deliver some presents. The thing is, we haven't seen Papa in a really long time. We were watching a movie and heard the leaves rustling in our doorway. I looked out the peep-hole to investigate and saw a man. I flicked on the lights and saw him run. I opened the door and saw him jump into his car and speed away. He's a guerilla grampa. So, after the adrenaline rush of fear, there came the sadness of longing for Papa to repent and be restored to the family. We love you Papa and are praying for you.

Then, at about 11:15, M woke up crying and said that she was hot and she was hurting. I'd be hot and hurting too if I was running a 101.5° fever. She was up until a quarter-till and S woke up at 6:15 with a low-grade fever as well. Ho Ho Ho.

C made some yummy cinnamon rolls and sticks for breakfast. I wouldn't mind that being a family Christmas tradition.

Since the girls were feverish, we didn't want to risk getting Mamá and Pop-Pop sick, so Nana came over for a little bit. We exchanged gifts with her and she went on her merry way.

We spent half the day making phone calls to family and friends wishing them well.

Then, this afternoon, we heard some bad news. A Christmas morning gone awry. Two girls went to wake up their parents for Christmas, but their daddy never woke up. Tragedy can't even begin to describe what they're going through. He is no longer in his broken body, but home with his Creator. Pray for the T family.

That helped put our Christmas in perspective. It also reminds me what a precious gift this breath of life I receive each second of every day is. I'm thankful that Christ died for my sins. For C's sins. And for M & S. I'm thankful that when He calls me home, I'll get to see BC. Be, therefore, watchmen. You never know when the Master will return home. Be a good steward of the talents He's given you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

R

Mack Brown

So, I've never been a huge fan of Mack Brown and Greg Davis.

Here is a great quote from Pat Forde, taken from his bowl predictions:
"With Vince Young, Mack Brown is a BCS-level coach. Without Vince Young, Mack Brown is a Holiday Bowl-level coach."

You can't really say it any better than that.

Keep It In Your Pants

There have been a couple of people in our household's sphere of friends that have gotten pregnant out of wedlock recently.

And apparently Jamie Lynn Spears (age 16) is taking one for the team to get big sis Britney out of the headlines. She says, and I quote: "It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected," she says. "I was in complete and total shock and so was he." YOU SHOULDN'T BE SHOCKED WHEN YOU'RE HAVING SEX!!

This is what happens when our government decides that schools should teach safe sex and not abstinence. You have parents who shirk their responsibilities because the school is teaching this mularkey. And the schools are caught because they have a curriculum to follow that can only be changed through legislation and elections.

But hey, when you have an older sibling like Britney to emulate, what can you expect? The saddest part is that these young girls (I will not use the term lady or woman) are somehow role models to millions of little girls.

I have enough to worry about when thinking ahead to what my kids will have to face as they grow up, I don't need this kind of stuff to add onto that already long list.

So kids, whether you're in middle school or out of school, make the right choice for abstinence. The Bible talks in Genesis 2 about how Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed. If you're naked, partially or fully, and you feel ashamed, stop what you're doing, because that is not God's design.

And parents, help your kids out by talking to them about the consequences they face, both emotionally and physically. Don't go out and buy them condoms because "They're just gonna do it anyway; they might as well be safe." That's a lie and you know it. What it is is neglect.

Biggest Loser Finale

The twins took home all the cash, but the eliminated brother gets bragging rights since he lost more percentage of weight, with over 51.5%. He lost 186 pounds, or me plus a few. Can you imagine someone carrying me around on their back and knees and heart for 20 years?

Congrats again to all those contestants who made being a loser a good thing.

One thing that is pretty icky is the fact they're calling the next one 'Couples'. This connotes a romantic relationship, whereas it should be 'Pairs' since the competing teams are couples, parent-child and lifelong friends.

Unexpected Consequence

You know life will change in a lot of ways when you have kids.

Tonight C and I were making a grocery list and I mentioned I needed some cereal. I mentioned that I'm really craving some Count Chocula. But then I remembered the ordeal when I had the generic Fruity Pebbles and sighed at the loss of another fine treat that I will no longer be able to enjoy because M would most assuredly be covetous of them.

Not that I need to be eating them anyways. But it's the principle.

Tiny Tots Update

The previous post notwithstanding, M has given us some real gems lately.

Tonight I was reading a card sent to us from the H family in New York. M asked me who it was from and I said mommy and daddy's friends. She said "My friend is Uncle N!" Even though she spent so much time with Tío & Tía lately, they still get trumped by Uncle N and his doggies.

Earlier tonight when we were on our walk in the older neighborhood nearby, she saw some reindeer and inflatable Santas. But they weren't moving. Apparently this is a bad thing. I guess she has higher standards than we do.

Tonight, after the walk and before the card, M and S were playing with the food toys from M's kitchen. Well, S had her eye on this lemon and was quite persistent about it. After she dropped it, M would scoop it up quickly and try to hide it between her legs. S would tire of whatever she had in her hand and would look for the lemon. Then she would seize it from M. I asked her if she was just holding it so S couldn't play with it and she agreed. After a few back and forths telling her she had one minute to play with it before it was S's turn, she, by herself, counted to 10 and gave it to her little sis. Praise the Lord! It's sinking in.

Eating has always been a battle with her. Typically, C would prepare a nice meal and M would take one look at it and say in her whiny voice "I don't liiike iiit." So, the last couple of weeks we've been telling her that she needs to eat 2 bites of several things on her plate since she's 2 years old. If she initially balks at the idea, we set a timer for 2 minutes to give her an audible signal that it's time to take a bite or else there will be consequences. After following through if she doesn't eat it at first, she will usually get back in the saddle again and obey. So that's been a great sense of victory for us. It's been hard, though, not to compare her to S, who eats pretty much everything we set before her.

S has been using her hippo walker lately to get around. She still crawls a majority of the time since she's faster. I thought for sure she'd be walking by Christmas, but, given her history of doing things later than M, it'll probably be well after the New Year. Don't you just love how, when they crawl, their little hineys shoomp back and forth. (As an aside, I wasn't sure how to spell hiney, so I checked on dictionary.com. It didn't have an entry, but suggested this link. Start with the Connotations section. I couldn't stop laughing for a good while. Beware of some vulgar uses.)

Her favorite thing to do lately is to bonk heads, especially with mommy. She slowly leans her head down and says khuh. After repeated bonks, she starts giggling and laughing. It's a lot of fun to watch. The only unfortunate thing is that she turns 1 next week. I can't believe she's already that old.

Chipmunks

Okay, so they're coming out with this new animated Alvin & The Chipmunks movie. I'm interested in it because I was a big fan back in the day. Notice how so many of the movies and toys coming out are themed around things when we were kids 20 years ago: Transformers, Care Bears, etc.

If you ever read or watched the stories about Alvin, Simon & Theodore, you know that half of the story is only one word long: AAAAAAAAAllllllllviiiiiinnnnn!!!! That's how I've been feeling with M the past week or so. Part of it is lack of good sleep. S has been waking up multiple times each night; we think she's teething. Part of it is our fault for not getting to bed early enough. And part of it is that she's 2.75 years old right now. She uses her whiny voice about 80% of the time and this drives me up the wall.

Have you ever had an extended period of time where, afterwards, you're just glad everyone survived. That's what we're going through right now. I had to go in to work last night and it was a good thing. C had a wedding shower to go to and I stayed home with the girls. S took a good long nap, which was great since she didn't take one at church. However, even after several yawns and I'm tireds, M would not take a nap. More importantly, she wouldn't be quiet in her room. And I told God when I was making my sammiches that I needed a nap and that I wouldn't be a good dad if I didn't get one. Now, was it a self-fulfilling prophecy or was it just knowing my weakness? M did good for an hour or so while I watched football to relax, but she turned to her whiny voice for the next two hours. I called C and told her I needed a break. When she got home she asked why M was in her room. It was so I didn't explode.

So, if you think of us, pray for patience and that M will stop using her whiny voice and use her sweet voice instead. Also pray for S to sleep through the night. That would be a big help. It just sets a bad tone for the next day.

Biggest Loser

Tonight was the final weigh-in before the Final Four went home to see if they can keep it off and lose more.

Neil is 25, and 14 TV weeks ago weighed 421 pounds. On this week's show, he lost an additional 10 pounds to put his weight lost at around 156 pounds. To put that in perspective, he lost an entire adult human in three-and-a-half months. It's almost as if you took him at his current weight and he ate Michael J Fox. Can you imagine?!

Good luck to all the contestants.

Thanks For Coming. Now Git!

We went to Macaroni Grill tonight for dinner so that the gals could get out of the house. All that estrogen pent up in the house all day is not a good thing.

By the way, I have to brag on our girls. With very few exceptions, whenever we go out to a restaurant, they are very well behaved. M didn't take a nap again today, but was extremely well-behaved. She even ate a good portion of her chicken strips. I greased the wheels a bit by telling her they were BIIIIIGGGGG chicken nuggets. S just munched down on whatever C put in front of her and only toward the very end did she start to get a little fussy, but not much considering there was another tot making quite a bit of noise.

So, we've paid the tab and we head out to the car. I notice I forgot to grab the leftovers. Literally not even 30 seconds had passed during this time and they had already cleared our table and put a fresh slab of paper down. Our waiter had already tossed our bag of extras. C came out and gave me the bad news. Having been in the food service industry before, I knew I could be recompensed. I had half a Penne Rustica left for crying out loud! I spoke to a manager and he asked me if I wanted them to prep a new one. I said no, that a $5-$10 giftcard would do fine and he obliged.

As an efficiency nut, I applaud their expediency with which they operated, but just not on this occasion. It looks like we'll be making a return trip soon. Maybe I'll get to eat my whole dish next time.

Just Curious

So, there are things in the Bible which are debatable, but, ultimately, will not determine our place in Heaven or Hell.

I just came across this one tonight.

Matt 19:28--Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Fast forward to Acts 1:26--Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Don't forget the Apostle Paul.

So the question, then, is even though Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to fulfill the prophecy, does he still get to sit on one of twelve thrones judging one of the tribes? Or does that fall to Matthias? Or Paul?

Because Jesus said it, it must be true. So at first glance, you'd think it must be Judas. But in the context of His entire ministry, His disciples numbered in the hundreds. This passage calls out the disciples and not the Twelve, so it vary well could be Matthias. I think Paul is out of the question since he was not with Christ throughout His ministry.

The answer of Judas would be a very uncomfortable one, but God has never been One to call us to a life of comfort. And Luke's account of the betrayal says that Satan entered into him, and if a man is possessed by a demon, isn't it the demon acting and not the person? When Judas actually comes with the lynch mob, Jesus calls him 'Friend', but in the Greek, it's a lot more of fellow than actual friend. The American colloquial equivalent would probably be 'dude'.

I know you were probably coming to my blog to see what witty thing I'd say next. But this is my ramblings, and they are here and there, all around the square, saying catch me if you can.

Have a great rest of the week.

R

Random Thoughts

A lot of people in our neighborhood must've read my last post, because lots of Christmas lights were put up this weekend. Thanks folks. M is happy with your work.

C and I were watching The Amazing Race tonight. It's one of our favs, but we haven't caught it as consistently this season. There's this team of fairy goths (they wear pink) and the dude looks like Julia Roberts in the face. Sorry Julia. No offense.

The UT men's basketball team is 9-0 so far this year with two marquee victories over UCLA and the other UT (Tennessee). I'm excited to see how deep of a tourney run they'll make. Seth Davis has them in his final four. I think it's good for the kids to not have The Kevin Durant Show every few days. That must've been a circus last year. It looks like we have a serviceable big man and a bench deep enough to absorb fouls. I'm a little concerned that they're only attempting 15 free throws a game, which will hurt them in March if they're not as aggressive.

I got to play again for church today, the first time in over a year I think. Man I enjoyed the heck out of it. It was great seeing the little things that some of the musicians were doing that put the icing on the cake. A little four-note diddy by the pianist gave one song that extra something. I'm of the less-is-more ilk, so I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks Mike for giving me the call. Let's do it again sometime soon.

Tim Tebow won the Heisman, becoming the first underclassman to win the Downtown Athletic Club's trophy, which goes all the way back to Jay Berwanger in '35. Congrats kid. So let's recap. He shows up to Florida as a folk hero and, in backup change-of-pace duty, helps UF to a national title as a freshman. This year, under ginormous expectations, he leads the Gators to a respectable 9-3 record and actually exceeded the expectations. Incredible. If you haven't seen his acceptance speech, it's worth youtubing. That unexpected, exuberant rant that makes you appreciate that he's still just a kid. Good luck in your bowl game and with the rest of your career.

Winter's back. The cold front blasted through this afternoon, a little earlier than expected. Hopefully there will be pockets of no rain this week so the girls can get outside. I'm not sure I can cope with the pent-up energy they'll have everyday if they're couped up in the house.

Y'all have a great week.

Merry Slacker Christmas

I know the weather was cold and rainy in the days following Thanksgiving, but it seems like most people haven't gotten things in gear when it comes to Christmas decorations. Now, C and I are rather minimalist in our approach to outside decorations. A simple outline of our house with white lights will do. No blow-up things or gawdy scenes. No candy canes or longhorns.

We were the only house on our block with lights for an entire week. Even the houses that usually do lights and junk for every, and I mean every, holiday hadn't made an attempt until this week. Today the "Motorcycle Santa Claus" finally showed up. We were on our way home from work and from her back seat M spotted the jolly biker and shouted "LOOK!!" with her face in amazed familiarity. Like her face was saying "SWEET!"

The dog-walker was even getting into the act tonight. But there are still so many houses that had opulent displays last year that haven't even started. To those folks I say "Get into gear." Our daughter expects more from you. She's waited a whole year for Christmas and you better not let her down.

Oh, and thanks for spending all your money on the inflatables and tons of lights. My wallet thanks you for not having your electric bill.

Experiment No Longer in Progress

Just for the heck of it, I let my facial hair grow and trimmed it into a mustache & goatee combo. This was made possible by not being able to go to church since I was sick. Since I didn't go to church, I felt no need to shave. Those of you who know me are probably thinking to yourself "R. Your facial hair grows at a snails pace." And you're right. While the connectors were filled in enough, the hair is too light in most places to actually show. That and during high school I used to pick at my hair, pulling it out by the root so that there are patches with no hair.

C gave me the go ahead to give it a shot for a couple of weeks, but I didn't really like it that much. After 1.5 weeks it had gotten nice and soft, but was still prickly enough that the ladies in my house didn't like my kisses as much as they normally do. The folks at work gave me mixed reviews. A couple of people gave me pretty snarky comments, but that wasn't completely unexpected. One in particular is usually quite hateful and demeaning in her comments, unlike mine which are normally in jest. I told her it must be because she has an inferiority complex. She responded with her typical "Don't mess with me" routine, which grows quite thin as time passes. Intimidation only works if people are afraid of you. I'm at the point where I feel sorry for her because she feels she needs to hide behind that attitude.

Anyhow, I'm back to my normal baby-faced shaven self.

RC Index Week 14

And the results are in...

	RC1						RC2						BCS
1	Ohio State	11	1	0.8947		1	LSU	11	2	0.9040		1	Ohio State	0.9588
2	LSU	11	2	0.8864		2	Ohio State	11	1	0.8941		2	LSU	0.9394
3	Missouri	11	2	0.8824		3	Missouri	11	2	0.8817		3	Va Tech	0.8703
4	Georgia	10	2	0.8805		4	Georgia	10	2	0.8789		4	Oklahoma	0.8572
5	Va Tech	11	2	0.8779		5	WVU	10	2	0.8772		5	Georgia	0.8392
6	Kansas	11	1	0.8667		6	Va Tech	11	2	0.8766		6	Missouri	0.7763
7	WVU	10	2	0.8604		7	Florida	9	3	0.8750		7	USC	0.7637
8	Oklahoma	11	2	0.8581		8	Oklahoma	11	2	0.8745		8	Kansas	0.7589
9	Florida	9	3	0.8567		9	Kansas	11	1	0.8669		9	WVU	0.6628
10	Hawaii	12	0	0.8475		10	Arizona St.	10	2	0.8484		10	Hawaii	0.6468
11	USF	9	3	0.8413		11	USF	9	3	0.8391		11	Arizona St.	0.6204
12	Illinois	9	3	0.8400		12	Illinois	9	3	0.8380		12	Florida	0.6133
13	BC	10	3	0.8330		13	Tennessee	9	4	0.8356		13	Illinois	0.4597
14	Arizona St.	10	2	0.8326		14	Hawaii	12	0	0.8340		14	BC	0.4586
15	BYU	10	2	0.8201		15	BC	10	3	0.8321		15	Clemson	0.3844
16	Cincinnati	9	3	0.8181		16	USC	10	2	0.8311		16	Tennessee	0.3251
17	Clemson	9	3	0.8181		17	Texas	9	3	0.8204		17	BYU	0.3027
18	Tennessee	9	4	0.8178		18	BYU	10	2	0.8183		18	Wisconsin	0.2915
19	UCONN	9	3	0.8171		19	Cincinnati	9	3	0.8170		19	Texas	0.2523
20	USC	10	2	0.8160		20	Clemson	9	3	0.8159		20	Virginia	0.2349
21	Wisconsin	9	3	0.8123		21	Wisconsin	9	3	0.8117		21	USF	0.2112
22	Auburn	8	4	0.8048		22	Virginia	9	3	0.8084		22	Cincinnati	0.1789
23	Texas	9	3	0.8042		23	Auburn	8	4	0.8029		23	Auburn	0.1566
24	Virginia	9	3	0.7926		24	Penn State	8	4	0.8016		24	Boise	0.1179
25	Michigan	8	4	0.7918		25	UCONN	9	3	0.7983		25	UCONN	0.0745
26	Boise State	10	2	0.7864		28	Boise State	10	2	0.7851

So, what to make of this beautiful disaster?
Both indeces left out Boise, but they weren't that far behind.
In RC2, the difference between Missouri at #3 and Oklahoma at #8 was only 0.0072. So basically, it was a pick 'em. Also, only 0.0080 separate numbers 11-16 and only 0.0087 between #17 to #21.
I'm surprised that #6 Mizzou got left out of the BCS entirely, especially since it beat #8 Kansas and it's only losses were to #4 Oklahoma. They got gypped.

Texas is in the Holiday bowl against Arizona State on December 27th. I definitely like our chances in the game since most of our injured players will have had time to heal.

Time for me to go play Daddy.

Have a great day.

The Sick House

Okay people. Let's review. What are the three acceptable places for you to go when you know you or your child is sick?

1. Your house
2. Your doctor
3. Your pharmacy

Notice that WORK and CHURCH are not on the list!!! Or any other place with healthy people.

Some cretin gave me strep throat this past week. I had a little sore throat on Thursday night but thought it was just allergies. Well, Friday night I had a splitting headache I couldn't get rid of. It came back on Saturday along with a little chill. That afternoon it was followed by a 100.3° fever. So I stayed home. That night I ate a pretty healthy dinner, so I rejoiced and told C that is wasn't the flu since I didn't lose my appetite.

Sunday afternoon C started having some aches and a sore throat, so she took a look at her throat and asked to see mine. I believe "Wow!" was her reaction. She's had strep enough times that she knew I had it and that I'd given it to her. So she called the ARC After-Hours Clinic, but they said they were booked solid for adults. However, the nurse mentioned that the CVS on Gattis School has a MinuteClinic and they could do the swabs and cultures for strep. She went in first and I stayed in the car with M who had fallen asleep in the car on the way over--she didn't bother to take her nap after she got home from church. Her swab wasn't positive. So it was my turn. The took a look and said that's the worst she's seen. She took a double swab--I didn't gag--and within a minute or two it was positive. So she ordered us up some prescriptions and we went on our way.

Thankfully we were able to get in and get the antibiotics, because C has a really bad time of it. Her achyness got worse by the hour. I went into work for an hour-and-a-half because there was some R&D work that needed to be done for our API group and I'm the only one trained to run it that is currently in the country.

Today we're feeling much better and looking forward to going to the Lamb of God concert at church tonight...after we've been on meds for 24+ hours.

Happenings

You'll have to pardon the Zapruder-esque quality of the video, but I had to catch little S at her sweetest. She's really been into making the machine gun sound lately, and it's especially funny when she changes octaves.



Can you believe today is December 1st? It's crazy isn't it? The Christmas season is upon us and M could not be more excited. Let's just say that last Christmas, I went around and took pictures of all the decorations in our subdivision so that when they got taken down she wouldn't go into depression.

Work has been fairly good lately. I had some down time this week so I was able to start updating a lot of our GC & GCMS methods to the current format. It's one of those things that needs to be done, but doesn't because it's busy work at best. Our Doc Control ladies love me!!

TINSTAAFW. There is no such things as a free weekend. I think we've been booked solid since September and there is no relief in sight. I don't mind all the things going on, but I don't have as much time to get things done around the house...not that I'm keen on housework. I need to put some weather stripping around our doors, but it's either been too cold or too moist to take care of that the past two weeks. I don't mind the cold. I wish it were winter more here in Central Texas.

Alas, the last weekend of college football on regular TV for three weeks. On Monday, as usual, I'll post my BCS Rankings as well as my thoughts on the Texas bowl matchup. Some time between now and the first bowl game I'll give my picks.

Have a great weekend.

R

Head On Straight

In a football landscape that sometimes seems like life-and-death, one man has kept his perspective on getting canned.

"Nobody likes to get fired," said Gailey, a former head coach with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. "But all they can take is your job. They can't take your faith. They can't take your family. They can't take your integrity."

Thank you, Chan, for remembering that there are far more important things than winning and losing. If your players became men while under your tutelage, then you excelled in your job, no matter what your record was.

Texas-A&M

What a debacle that was. I sent an email to my old college boys entitled "Fire Mack Brown". I did this partly because I was serious, partly to see what everybody else would say. An excerpt:

"Seriously, after being outcoached by a man who just finished four seasons of mediocrity at A&M, Mack oughta hang up his headseat and enjoy his retirement.

There is no excuse for losing to that school when we have significantly more talent. I know we've been ravaged by injuries on both sides of the ball, but they just wanted it more. Plain and simple.

That's another sad thing too, because we had a shot, if OU lost, to go to the Big XII Championship game and a BCS game if we won that. Now? San Antonio here we come.

Say Colt McCoy doesn't go all Rex Grossman on us, we don't have those special teams breakdowns against K-State and those momentum-killing turnovers against OU and played kinda like we had some cojones against A&M, then we'd be in the BCS title game picture! "

My buddy Tap chimed in with the following:

"What have you done for me lately....

Let's see, last 2 years, 19-6 (my guess is 19-7) with 11-5 in the Big XII
Start season in top 5, finish outside the top 12
1-3 vs OU/A&M in last 2 years
2-6 vs OU since 2000
Putting aside the National Title year....we have not beaten a top 10 team since 1999.
Lots of discipline issues

Doesn't look that great to me.... "

Knight Rider included this thought:

"I agree with both R and what Sgt. G told me on the phone after the game....Duane Akina is pretty bad. He is not a genius when it comes to defensive strategy. Mack Brown is way too loyal sometimes, and it appears that he will make no changes to his coaching staff. The only time change comes, is when they are offered head coaching jobs somewhere else and they leave."

Of course there were some dissenting opinions, but the season could've been so much more.

But hey, if that's the worst thing I had to deal with during the Thanksgiving holiday, it wasn't that bad.

I am very passionate about football and I'd like to try coaching at some point if I was financially set. I think I'd be fairly good at it. Anyhoo...

The Big XII Championship Game oughta be an awesome game.