Yes!

Yes!!!!

Congratulations to everybody.

Sorry, Santa, Sir

The Danish air force compensated Santa for the death of one of his reindeer caused by an F-16 flying low over his farm.

Which reindeer do you think died? Comet? Blitzen? And what do you think he'll name the new one?

Roberts confirmed as Chief Justice

And so begins another Supreme Court era.

Okay, so it actually begins once he is sworn in, but I'm not waiting around for it to be official and posting again.

I am so tired

And sore.

Irish back on track?

Notre Dame managed to bounce back from losing to then-unranked Michigan State in the Battle for the Megaphone by beating unranked Washington and former coach Ty Willingham on the road.

Huh. They won a game they were supposed to win. That has been pretty rare the last few years.
I watched part of the game, and the offense looked good. They threw the ball more than you expect to see from Notre Dame, but it's not the 3 yards in a cloud of dust Four Horsemen days anymore. I also wore my green jersey on Saturday and it felt pretty good. I think I need to get a navy one though.

Next up, the shilleglah games: at Purdue next week and USC in South Bend after a bye week. Well, at least the get Purdue on the road, where Notre Dame is undefeated so far this year, and welcome the Trojans. It would be better of course if they hadn't lost their only home game so far.

Even if they drop both these games, I would still be happy if they ran the table for the rest of the season and finished 8-3. On the other hand, if they win out including these two (and get some help in the form of losses by major teams at the top of the polls), there's hope of a Bowl Championship Series berth. Not that I think that's very likely.

And robin, of course I have hope; I was just trying to fool the football gods into thinking they can't possibly disappoint me.

Notre Dame 17, Michigan 10

Okay, they held on to win it. Yes, it is their second straight upset win.

But I still refuse to have any hope for a good season.

You heard me, no hope. Why? First, this way there is no disappointment. Second, they still have 9 games they can completely blow.

But at least they beat Michigan. Woo hoo!!

536

Griffey hit his 35th homer of the year in Atlanta before he left the game with a sprained ankle. The homerun ties Junior with Mickey Mantle.

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies

And so ends another Supreme Court era.

ND 42, Pitt 21

How wrong does that look?

I saw the game on tv, and I even watched for a few minutes. I didn't find the game until the score was already 14-10 Notre Dame, but I still couldn't bring myself to watch.

This is a good win, of course, knocking off the #23 team in the nation, but it doesn't really mean much for the rest of the season. The Irish have started off strong a few times in the last several years and still haven't done much. Plus there's the recent history of pulling off the upset, only to later lose the games they're supposed to win easily.

Next up is Michigan in the Big House. I think they were #4 last week. It will be a tough test for Notre Dame, but not impossible. They beat the Wolverines in South Bend last year, and you never know how a rivalry game will go.

The Gulf

Twenty years ago, "the Gulf" in news reports, or more often weather reports, referred almost exclusively to the Gulf of Mexico. Operations Desert Sheild and Desert Storm introduced a new use for "the Gulf," to refer to the Arabian Peninsula. After fifteen years of the Persian Gulf being the Gulf, I've found a few headlines and news teasers a bit confusing this week as the media have often referred to the Gulf coast area as simply the Gulf. I had to look at one headline about troops heading to "the Gulf" several times before I realized it was about the hurricane instead of the war.

Not exactly frozen tundra, but it'll do

I was flipping through the channels last night and came across a football game. I stopped to watch for a few seconds and then thought, Wait a minute, it's not time for college football yet. Oh, wait, yeah it is.

There's no chill in the air and the cold drizzly rains are still a few weeks away, but it is time for football. Time for marching bands, fight songs, manic crowds, mascots and painted bodies. Time for long bombs, battles in the trenches, reverses, runs up the gut, and the option. Time for polls and second guessing.

Yeah, I love this time of the year. There's just one problem. Notre Dame opens up at Pitt and then at Michigan. That does not inspire a lot of confidence. Yes, I know. New year, new coach. All I hear is "Rebuilding . . . few years. . ." It's going to be a long season. Maybe I can get back to watching the teams I really don't care about, because those games are always more fun to watch. The problem is, I hate so many of the teams that are usually on TV.