Cotton Bowl observations

Longhorn Chris Simms lived down to his reputation and didn’t choke at a big game, closing out his collegiate career with a win. I can’t wait to see Simms and Major Applewhite in the NFL. UT had a solid game, but not what I would call a great or spectacular game. It seemed that to beat LSU, they had to resort to the big play time and time again to get the scores, while the Tigers put together drive after drive after drive. What can you say? The strategy worked for the Longhorns and failed for the Tigers.
To me, the Tigers gave the game to UT, which wasn’t really playing, especially in the first half, like they truly wanted the win. Turnovers and the secondary on both sides were the major factors in this game. UT’s only score of the first quarter was on a recovered fumble run back for a touchdown; their offense contributed nothing. That would change by halftime, when the Tigers were down 21-17, from which they’d never recover. The Texas secondary was fantastic in its coverage, able to fall back against the run very quickly when needed. LSU’s secondary pretty much sucked at covering Roy Williams, who scored one touchdown for the Longhorns. To be honest, with such a high-powered Texas offense, I’m amazed the final score wasn’t more along the lines of 42-20, 49-20, or 56-20.

Neither team really capitalized well on turnovers and penalties on the opposition. Speaking of penalties, what conference did these lame officials come from? We had a couple of pretty nice Texas fans sitting behind us, and we all agreed that there was some major holding and blocking from the back going on on both sides of the ball that wasn’t getting called. And can someone please explain to me why LSU’s Marcus Randall was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct while Texas escaped with no penalties on the play? The play in question was this: LSU hikes the ball, but the play is whistled dead for a false start. Yet the Longhorns continue the attack, Randall getting hit three separate times. Randall is just trying to back away, knowing the play is dead, but keeps getting hit. He throws down the ball in frustration, and takes the penalty. Why didn’t UT get hit with unsportsmanlike conduct or personal fouls? Randall obviously heard the whistle; why couldn’t they? LSU did answer with a 44-yard run by Domanick Davis for a first down. 🙂

All in all, the Tigers have no one but themselves to blame for the snapping of their five-game bowl-winning streak (an NCAA record, tied with Miami and North Carolina). Hopefully, coach Nick Saban will stick around to shape the Tigers up for another run at the SEC championship and a shot at a national title (rumors of NFL courtship abound). The weather was fantastic, and we had great seats on the LSU 40 (thanks Terry and Wells Fargo!). The Texas fans weren’t overly obnoxious, and the ones around us were pleasant to talk football with. The Tiger band kicked the Longhorn band’s collective butt both in the stands and on the field at halftime. It was the first time we had been to a college bowl of any kind, and it was made all the sweeter by watching our alma mater play, even if they did lose. Photos are forthcoming. We had a great time.

Cotton Bowl bound

Yeah, I know the blog’s been quiet the past few days. Since I was unable to get any time off on the days before or after Christmas Day, we had to do the Christmas thing with our families this weekend. Once again, I’m reminded how much dial-up sucks and how thankful I am to have broadband. Dial-up browsers are one of the reasons I try to keep this site on the low-bandwidth side.

As stated previously, we’re going to the Cotton Bowl tomorrow morning (11 am EST/8 am PST on Fox). I think the Longhorns are primed for an upset, as no one seems to be taking LSU seriously, especially Longhorn fans. LSU sold out of its allotment of tickets the day they were put on sale. The Cotton Bowl sold a considerable amount of its tix allotment to Tiger fans even before LSU was confirmed as one of the teams playing! The Cotton Bowl even took some of the Texas allotment back, because the Longhorn faithful just weren’t buying, and gave them to LSU to sell, which they did, all on the day they went on sale. There’s going to be a hell of a lot of purple and gold in Dallas tomorrow. Geaux Tigers!

Preloaded

Blog Entry of the Day has to go to Panic’s Steven Frank. Steven’s commentary is just as funny as the item being commented on.

LSU vs Ole Miss, 11/23/02

Thanks to a generous neighbor, Kelly & I, along with our friends and fellow alumni, Drew & Melanie, got to go to the last LSU home game of 2002. The Tigers played the Ole Miss Rebels, and had something of a tough time until about midway through the second half, when the defense finally figured out Eli Manning and the Rebel offense. Of course, I took some pictures.
We have tickets to the Cotton Bowl on January 1 to see the Tigers upset the Texas Longhorns! Geaux Tigers!!

Happy Belated Birthday, bro

Dan turned 30 yesterday. Welcome to the ranks of the thirtysomethings, amigo. 🙂

Is this covered by my insurance?

“Watch for falling meteorites.”

Nice, but it doesn’t do windows…

For your enjoyment, the iRobot Intelligent FloorVac from Roomba. (Flash required.)

Barney Cam

No, not the purple dinosaur parents love to hate, but Barney, one of the Bush dogs. Go here and look for the Barney Cam link to see Barney terrorize White House Christmas trees and discover a new rawhide bone. Pretty entertaining for dog lovers. (Thanks, Kel!)

Not Carlin’s Paradox

If you are one of many who receives “The Paradox of Our Time” email this holiday season, and it’s attributed to George Carlin after 9/11/01, or a Columbine High student, it was written by Jeff Dickson in May 1998. Just so you don’t embarrass yourself.
It is a fabulous piece of writing, however.

I have to try this!

Ever been shopping and when you check out they ask you for your zip code? That make you feel even the least bit uncomfortable? Well, here’s an idea for the next time that happens, courtesy of the latest Dilbert newsletter (and yes, the spelling of Induhvidual is correct—if you get it):

“A store clerk asked for my zip code, apparently as part of their market research. Rather than just saying, ‘No,’ I told the young Induhvidual at the cash register that it was unlisted. The Induhvidual looked at me with obvious confusion and said, ‘I didn’t know that you could do that.’

“I replied, ‘Of course, but like telephone numbers, it costs extra.’ I looked back as I was leaving, and observed the Induhvidual still lost in thought, and the next customer impatiently waiting for service.”