Jacksons Day Off

"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

--Ferris Bueller

The high school is closed tomorrow, so Kent has the day off. I decided to join him and take a day off work myself. I haven't had a day off since Christmas, so I'm pretty excited to get outside during the afternoon, have lunch with my husband, and spend the day relaxed and having fun. Lately, my job has been pretty intense and very busy. Friday will be a nice break. Hope you have a great Friday too :)

Another post?!

We're posting again?! What's gotten into us? This isn't the once a month pace we've had. Three posts in 6 days. Holy crap!

This one will be quick though, not really. In the words of Marty McFly, "Try and keep up."

-The Tone Deafs are sitting on a 7 point lead, 22-15. How, you ask? Katie Stevens edged Andrew Garcia for the number 8 overall spot and got 10 points for me. Add that with the predictions part of the game and...well...you don't care about the system, just the score. So there it is.

Let's rank the contestants from a like-ability standpoint in reverse order just for fun. This is not based on talent, but instead how easy it is to root for the contestant.

7. Mike Lynch --there is something decidedly fake about this guy. He's got a good voice. For the most part, he picks songs that work for him. But I always feel like he's only playing the part of the big teddy bear for the cameras and then he's different when the "record" light is off. He seemed mad when he found out he didn't get the votes, and then he seemed unappreciative when the judges saved him. Also, this character that he's invented - "likable guy" - is sort of annoying to me anyway. Not a fan.

6. Aaron Kelly -- the reason he beat Mike out is because he is at least genuine. He can't dance but tries to, he seems nervous all the time, he has one trick and has ridden it all the way out. But in case you didn't know (and don't worry because Seacrest will remind you), he's only 16. So, it's at least understandable that he has all of those things working against him. And he is what he is. As Frank Costanza would say, "This guy...he's not my kind of guy."

5. Lee Dewyze -- also a seemingly one-trick pony. No stage presence, should never dance, screams a lot. But he seems like a pretty nice guy. He is humble, and the others seem to like him. His taste in music is absurd, but he at least sings those songs in a less annoying way than the original (of course with the GLARING exception of Hey Jude in which he knew he was outclassed by the song and decided to divert all of our attention from that fact by marching out a bagpiper. Wha?!). He's at least a little more like-able than he used to be.

4. Crystal Bowersox -- by far the favorite. She is humble about being in another league than everyone else on the show. She can be a little boring (personality-wise), but that's ok if the alternative is Adam Lambert. Give me boring every time.

3. Tim Urban -- I've see-sawed on Tim every week. His temperament while the judges were killing him was all an act, but what can you do? If you get mad, America votes you off. He handled it well. And he's learned a valuable lesson in life: good looking people can get away with anything...ANYTHING. Remember the slide across the stage?

2. Casey James -- one dimensional, headed for an earlier exit than originally projected (he was my number 1 pick), may be a robot. At least he's a like-able robot. He seems like he's having fun, he can legitimately play the guitar, and he's easy to root for. And I'm glad that the whole "Kara has a crush" angle is over with.

1. Siobhan Magnus -- So strange. The way she talks, the stuff she wears, the glasses, her theatrical reactions to criticisms...why is she number 1? Because she's easily the most entertaining person on the show (aside from Simon). She does have a good voice, but not the best on the show. She's scrapped the scream in every song thing. She is the like-able version of Adam Lambert because this is REALLY who she is. She's not playing a part, she is just this strange. I look forward to her more than anyone each time. Is that like-ability? Maybe so. And among this group, any entertainment is valuable.

How can she not be your favorite?

Now, for the NBA playoffs thoughts as they start today.

-Once again, my rooting interest is this: Celtics, anyone but the Lakers.

-I know the Celtics top out in the second round. So, I really just don't want to see Kobe win again.

-Looking forward to watching Kevin Durant. This seems to be the only way that OKC gets to be on national tv even though Durant is emerging as a must-see talent.

-I would love for LeBron to win this year. It would not only cement him above Kobe in the discussion, but also throw a new element into the free-agency thing this summer.

-I think Kevin Garnett needs to retire after this year. He's not going to win another title unless he pulls a Mitch Richmond and joins an NBA favorite to sit on their bench. He's what I always feared for him -- an NBA version of the guy in the YMCA pick-up games who used to be good, plays "old man" defense, and is too competitive to relinquish any of his role to players who can actually get it done. I love Garnett. He's one of my favorites of all time. But this is getting sad quick. He needs to stop now while he can still hear the cheers of 2008.

Nice and tight LeBron, nice and tight.

-My prediction is that the Cavs will win the NBA title over the Lakers in 5 games and LeBron will de-pants Kobe in the discussion of who is the better player. And yes, this is also my hope for what happens.

Other scattered thoughts:

-Even though we turned in our tax documents in early March, our accountant had to file an extension. This did not sit well with us.

-My little weight-loss resolution is off to a decent start. I'm down 2 lbs. Homewood High had a benefit for cancer research in which the students donated money for faculty and staff to sit and ride stationary bikes all day at the school on Friday. I was all about it. What I did not know was how hard this was on your, um, haunches. Those bike seats take a giant toll on your back side, and round about hour 3 I heard these kinds of comments from some of the students: "Mr. Jackson, are you ok?" "Mr. Jackson, why are you sitting like that?" "Mr. Jackson, can I get you some ice or something?"

If only I'd had something like this...

-I've been listening to Timothy Keller podcasts lately and getting a lot out of them. He's a Presbyterian minister up in New York and an author of several books. I just like the way he thinks about things and then expresses them. It's very rooted in the scriptures and helpful in keeping a good and positive outlook. Give him a try sometime when you have a 20-30 minute drive and you won't be disappointed.

Wonderful Weekend

Oh Monday, you are not as fun as Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Thus, more weekend highlights:

Mini BLTs

Kent and I attended a friend's wedding this weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony, rocking reception, and general good time with lots of friends. One of the most memorable features of the wedding though....mini BLTs, or for the non-obsessive (bite-size bacon, lettuce, and tomato). This is more than just reception food. While planning our wedding, almost 2 years ago, Kent and I tried the mini BLTs at a tasting and fell in love instantly. They were at our wedding, but as most married couples know, we hardly ate anything at our reception. We talk about those mini BLTs all the time and wish we'd had them when we had the chance.

Flash to this weekend: because I know way too much about weddings, I knew that our friend was using the same caterer we used. Imagine our excitement at the prospect of our favorite wedding snack. Imagine our joy at finding trays filled with the tiny treats. Imagine our shame at eating far more than our allotment by the end of the night. Amazing.

Prom-tastic Friday

All week, I'd been dying to go out to dinner. In the interest of saving money, we held out until the weekend, and by that point I was so excited for our dinner date. We decided on a place called Michael's, one of our new favorites because they make those awesome skinny french fries. It has good atmosphere and is perfect for sophisticated adults like ourselves. Who knew that Friday night was prom night for one of the area high schools? EVERY table in the restaurant was filled with tuxedos of ALL colors, sparkly dresses, and lots of self-portrait picture taking. I immediately felt 100 years old. Kent and I ended up eating at the only viable seat...the bar, with a bird's eye view of all the adolescent adrenaline. We made a few jokes, reminisced about high school memories, wished we'd been together back then, watched a weird man talk to random strangers at the bar, and yes, feasted on skinny fries.

It was great :)

If only we'd seen this....

Homemaking

As described in the previous post, we're all about our yard lately. The warm weather has done something to our brains. I'm obsessed with watering our plants every day when I get home (with my nifty new watering can that Kent got me). Kent is masterful at digging up ugly plants and replacing them with our little seedlings. It's been so much fun, and we love checking on them every day to see if anything has grown. Progress is slow, but our yard already looks SO much better. And the neighbors are probably relieved that the pile of leaves on our curb is finally gone after months. Aren't those supposed to just disintegrate into the ground after a few weeks? All of this yard work has gotten us thinking about other house projects, and while we may not be able to do them all at once, it's fun to dream and get to work at making our house more homey....more "us."

So, there is my random weekend recap. This may be a record-sized post for me! A new start, hmm? I'm trying to make peace with the blog.

Blah Blah Blog

not the welcome walk we need

Time to update, but there's not much going on that is big and exciting with the Jacksons. But the title of the blog is "Interesting to Us," so you will read every minute detail no matter how irrelevant you find it to be.

Dana and I have done some more gardening. No, we learned nothing from the hydrangea bush we tortured to death by planting in scorching Alabama sun and watering once a week almost two years ago. Instead we've decided to not only try our hand at flowers on the front walk, but also some camellia bushes. Why would we do this, you ask? Well because our front walk was in a sad state, and the only greenery was a hideous vine plant left behind by the last owner of our house. The vine, in addition to being displeasing to the eye, carried the added bonus of giving ants and spiders a gateway into the crevices of the house. So, a few weeks ago I pulled that up and we've since replaced it with what will surely be the envy of all the neighbors on Cottage Lane (especially old man Sapperstein who has been in a positive snit lately. He used to speak to us when he was out watering his rose bushes, then he began just nodding. But now, he just pretends he doesn't hear us at all. Well, he can kiss borrowing our snip shears goodbye, that'll show him).

Before...

and...

after...we'll keep you posted.

Now that I've painted the picture of a fully domesticated male, how bout updating you on some manly stuff...like our American Idol Challenge. Yeah! Manly! That Aaron Kelly exudes the same masculinity as all the Old Spice guys put together (Of course, I'm not exactly John Wayne leading with gardening and Idol). The Tone-Deafs - my team - got on the board two weeks ago by correctly predicting Didi was headed home. The score stands at 6-3 in favor of The Ripe Bananas. Dana was more than a little upset that Didi got the boot. I have become more and more detached with every viewing. There is no one on the show that I like that much. Bowersox is the best of the bunch, but really that is like being the best smelling sock in the UT locker room. It was nice to see Mike Lynch in the same room as Ruben Studdard so that it is proven once and for all that they are not the same person.

"I like to wear little hats. They do NOT make me look like a giant."

Speaking of Mike, I don't think I would have been all that upset if he'd been sent home even though it would have been a crushing blow for the Tone-Deafs. He annoys me with all his antics. Someone should let him know that just because a camera is pointed in your direction, you don't have to assault the person sitting next to you or try to contort your face in as many ways as possible.

My favorite moment of last week's viewing came when we had been watching for 10 minutes and Dana commented on how she had actually been liking Kara this episode, that she was the best judge. Kara then immediately rewarded that by singing during Simon's critique of Katie. There's only so many ways I can say this, but I wish I could hire someone to turn a fire hose on Kara every time she began to speak. Nothing good ever happens...ever. At least with the hose, we could look forward to her turn each time.

Going forward, this week I have a rec league game on Tuesday and will miss American Idol, so the Bananas have an advantage in the picking who gets tossed. It's still early though. The main thing is final placements because the top 8 finishers earn the bigger points for our game. Oh yeah, and I heard Adam Lambert was going to be on the show this week. I'm really going to hate to miss his advice to the contestants. "Have you thought about screaming during that part of the song? What about a sitar? Can you work that in? If you follow my instructions, maybe you can finish second like I did."

In other news, Dana won our family's NCAA bracket this year and a grand prize of $1 and some bragging rights. After losing one of her Final Four teams in the first 3 hours of the tournament (Vanderbilt Commodores -- YEEEEEP Yeep yeep pppphhhtt), she was written off. But she hung around and came back and beat her brother out for first. I finished 7th. Dana wins the sports stuff, and I win the Oscar picks and American Idol stuff.

Speaking of the tournament, I have never liked Duke, but was particularly put off by this year's team. Scheyer, Singler, and Zoubek make up the worst threesome in college basketball that I can ever remember.

The Jon Scheyer face...second only to the John Mayer face

They had an easy road to the championship and then fittingly beat a team that everyone else liked. Butler was a tough team that was fun to watch (although not because of their style of play which can be described as Wisconsin-esque), and I was pulling as hard for them as anyone I've ever watched in the tournament. So, it stunk when they came up just short (and even though the refs blew that charging call near the end, they gave Butler almost every break up til then, so we can't fully blame them). Something else I was disappointed in: they had Jennifer Hudson sing One Shining Moment instead of sticking with Luther. Wha?!?! That virtually assures the fact that they're going to 96 teams as they spat in the face of tradition and quality for new and "improved."

With bathing suit season looming and my "fondness" for sun and fun, I've been thinking of ways to try and lose a little weight (I've begun by stopping myself from eating Cadbury Eggs by the handful).

Milk chocolatey goodness leads to buying bigger pants

There's a blogger who posts his weight every few days online in an effort to shame himself into losing a few lbs. I think I may employ this strategy if things get any worse. I think it is important to hit this head-on instead of ignoring it the way Phil Mickelson seems to and just wearing tighter shirts.

Until next time, this is the Jacksons, signing off.

Miley Cyrus? Really?

So what if I almost always catch myself singing along to "Party in the USA." I don't think that qualifies Miley Cyrus to be this week's "mentor." I (and especially Kent) could go on about that for awhile, but I'll get to the actual singing potion of the show.

Kent and I entered Tuesday night's competition with predictions: I chose Paige Miles and was almost immediately satisfied with my choice. Kent chose Andrew Garcia....always a good guess, but somehow he slips through every week. Time will tell. In the meantime, here are some quotes from our living room during last night's broadcast:

"Are we stupid?" -Dana

That's the worst American Idol performance I've heard." -Dana, in reference to Paige Miles

"I just have to hope that Andrew Garcia sucks worse than that." -Kent

"No." -Dana

"UGGGGHHHHHHH" -Dana after witnessing the Tim Urban knee slide. What?

"My team doesn't deserve to win because he's on it." -Kent, in reference to Aaron Kelly

"That rug really ties the room together . . ." -Dana

There weren't many good moments for the show. I thought Didi was good, but the judges proceeded to kill her for being too theatrical. Where was that criticism last season for Adam Lambert??

Sigh....I miss Bo Bice....

And David Cook....

Basketball!!!

"Beware the ides of March..."

Thought I'd post a little something before the Big Dance begins in a couple of minutes. I'll start with entertainment before shifting into basketball.

I think Dana captured our feelings on American Idol perfectly the other day with her post. I don't particularly look forward to anyone singing anything. The strange girl with the strange name is about the only one close. Quite a scream she had the other night and further proof of the old saying "the singer matters more than the song." I'm pretty sure that if Lambert had done that last year, I would have broken the TV with my face. This year? Not so bad (although it was pretty bad).

It is easy to glorify Paula since she's not there and forget how annoying she could be at times, but really the judging this year is atrocious. Along with the usual array of things Kara is capable of, she is now beginning each pontification with at least 10 inconsequential words..."Here's the thing about you that is so you..." "Look, I've gotta be honest about this, you know how I feel..." she reminds me of Nicholas Fein, the political comedian on SNL.

Also, Randy. I noticed last night that his sentence sequences are similar to if you just randomly selected them from several conversations at once, while making sure to tell the audience that he likes music other than R&B. "Dawg, you know how I love you. and I like Rascal Flatts. That song was just not the right choice. You look great. There was just something...ahhhh. I don't know, but you have got some RANGE, dawg. I liked it, but for me it was just tough, you know? E?"

I would have tried to transcribe an actual Randy commentary, but it would be difficult to spell the words he uses sometimes. And as I copied it, it would have made me 4 % dumber.

I like that when Ellen is rough on someone, she always finishes with "I'm sorry." She means it, too.

Next week, Simon and Kara will just share a love seat instead of separate chairs. They might as well at this point.

After one week of the Idol Challenge, The Ripe Bananas and The Tone-Deafs are tied at 0 points. What can I say? we play down to our competition.

Speaking of competition...MARCH MADNESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, I sat through one of the greatest games of my life between Kentucky and Miss St. For the record, I have always despised Miss St and root heavily for them to tank in the SEC tourney if for no other reason than to not have to hear their fight song over and over. It is second only to Rocky Top on the list of songs that make me want to set fire to something.

-short digression while we're here: On Saturday, Kentucky played Tennessee. The place was 95% Kentucky fans during that game, and every time the band played Rocky Top, the Cats fans would launch into their "Go Big Blue" chant and completely drown out the UT band. It was phenomenal. Classy, clean way to obliterate that crime against music. digression over -

Miss St. was knowingly playing for their bid to the NCAAs whereas Kentucky (known to sleepwalk and lose focus this year) was playing for what their coach called a "meaningless tournament championship." It had the makings of an upset. Bullet point observations beginning now:

• Eric Bledsoe is the perfect complement to John Wall. He does all the little things, seems to have no ego about all the attention going to Wall and Cousins, hits big shots, and plays great defense. If I were a Kentucky fan, he may be my favorite on the team. Patterson is the big man version of him, and the right complement to Cousins too. Calipari has been dismissed as an all star team coach, but each player has a clearly defined role on this team.
• Miss St played with SO much heart. They had three guards whose names I've forgotten. But they all looked the exact same, had similar numbers, and banged home huge threes at big moments. Every time the crowd would get loud and Kentucky would have them on the ropes, here came a big shot from these nameless killers. As Raftery would say, "Onions!!!"
• Stansbury has been called the Gottfried counter part. I agree that they are very similar (dirty recruiting, not good with X and O, slimey), but I'll give him this over Gottfried: he is an active coach. Shouting instructions, animated, uses timeouts well...he at least has a pulse over there.
• John Wall in person is a different experience than on TV. I knew it going in, but it was strking how fast and athletic he is. He didn't shoot that well in either game I saw, but his slashing on fast breaks was incredible.
• DeMarcus Cousins - the Manny Ramirez of college basketball. You HAVE to put him in the game. Just when you want to write him off as a head case, he plays big. He is maddening. I want to hate him, then I want to like him. Whichever mindset I'm in, he does the opposite. George Costanza as a 6'10 black dude.
• As always, the UK fans do not disappoint. They are friendly, cheer at the right times, know the game very well as a whole, and are dedicated to affecting the game...which they do every time.
• Back to Bledsoe. He was somewhat brushed past on this, but he goes to the line down 3. He HAS to make the first one and swishes it under pressure. Then he pulls off the perfect miss. so many guys fling it 90 miles an hour at the rim and end up messing the whole thing up. Bledsoe went about it with smarts...arc it high, allow your rebounders time to push in, and it nicked the rim perfectly allowing UK one more chance. Everyone focused on Wall's rundown, and Cousins' putback. Bledsoe made just as big a play.
• Everyone asks me how loud it got when cousins made the shot. It wasn't as loud as you'd think because half the fans weren't sure he got it off. It was louder when Wall hit the three in OT. It was also loud the entire game against UT...which was nice.
• The reason I rank this as the best game I've ever been to is the quality of the play. It had everything: something on the line, great offensive plays, fast breaks, timely shooting, coaching moves that meant something. But I really think what I'll remember most was the feel of back and forth. Comebacks are great (and this one had a small one with UK down 5 really late), but when two teams trade baskets all game, it makes for better theatre.

I have filled out 4 brackets and don't feel good about any of them. I have Syracuse winning the whole thing. Kansas, Nova, and Kentucky in the Final Four. My Cinderella pick - UTEP. Because it is Spring Break for me, I am able to sit back with some buddies today and soak in the Madness...God bless it! Maybe next year, Alabama will actually make it in.

Return of the Idol Challenge

"But we have to watch. It's the last season." -Dana

Welcome back everyone for 2010's installment of our Idol Challenge. As some of you may remember, Kent and his team, Gentle's Giants, came away victorious with Kris Allen being crowned the winner last season. But really, we were all winners because Adam Lambert was the loser.

We enter this season a bit disheartened by the loss of talent and mullets that occurred last week. RIP Alex, Lilly, and Katelyn....we'll even miss Todrick and his kind of ridiculous performances. At least he could dance. We thought this game was essential last year, until we saw what we're working with this year. Now the game is a matter of life or death for our Idol viewership.

But the show must go on, and we have selected our teams in anticipation of Tuesday night's episode. Theme: Rolling Stones....appropriate because we're short on "satisfaction" thus far.

This year's challengers: The Ripe Bananas, consisting of

• Crystal Bowersox....Mother and harmonica player extraordinaire
• Didi Benami....She had one really good performance, and that was enough for me.
• Siobhan Magnus...weird name, good voice
• Tim Urban....He's so nice; I have to root for him. I'll forgive him for his Week 1 performance.
• Andrew Garcia....girly pop song remaker, next to last pick
• Paige Miles....last pick

The Defending Champions: Formerly "Gentle's Giants" and this year, "The Tone-Deafs" (Kent is NOT enthusiastic about this year's group)

• Casey James...the one Kara is insufferable about (although that is not really specific)
• Mike Lynch...the big guy who is not as good as they act like
• Lee Dewyze...Gokey's voice, Grits' face
• Lacey Brown...I didn't want her
• Aaron Kelly...the reason Kent hates his team
• Katie Stevens...rated slightly ahead of Paige Miles

So, there you have it. Before you think we're hateful and cynical, and wonder why we would watch something that seems to annoy us so much, well....good question. I'll refer to the opening line of this post. Plus, the Idol Challenge is actually quite fun, even if it only averages 2 good performances and one coherent judging comment per week. Stay tuned!

(It's going to be a LONG season)

A Promotional Top 5

I feel like every time I post something it begins with "It's been too long..." Maybe that's true, but if you take the same amount of time between posts, then you're right on schedule - just a crappy schedule. So, "It's been a long time since my last post" may be the new opener.

Dana had some good news at work this week. Big promotion for her! Guess what her idiot husband said. "Hey hon, let's go out and have a nice dinner and then I'll take you to a movie." Sounds nice on the surface. Unfortunately, the movie portion was limited by selection since we have an unspoken Avatar boycott happening (the whole 'if enough people tell you you HAVE to do something, then you WON'T do it' thing...by the way, you HAVE to watch The Wire). Back to the story, I had read Shutter Island in the fall and thought it would make a great movie, although the book was only fair. Scorcese, DiCaprio making a thriller seemed like a can't miss. Of course, if you know Dana, this next part will not surprise you. The last thriller that she watched with me was The Silence of the Lambs...when we were dating...when we were both trying to impress the other one with how "cool" we were...she hates thrillers because they freak her out - too scary for her.

Why did I lose sight of this? I am not smart.

In short, Dana's celebration night now gives her nightmares - nice work, Kent. Dana leaned over to me as the end credits began to roll and said, "Ohhh, you are going to pay for this one."

The movie is good, by the way. It gets a bit graphic and unpleasant with regard to Leo's inner-demons, but I thought it was better than the book.

This situation got me thinking about a top 5 "little things that make Dana, Dana."

1. The first walk of the day On the weekends, I'm cursed by not being able to sleep past 8. So I always get up and go out and read or watch TV. About an hour or so later comes a sound that means Dana is awake. Imagine the sound of a guy at a hardware store dragging a bag of feed across the floor, but stopping and then restarting every few inches. This is the sound of Dana dragging her slippered feet down the hallway to the den. In looking at that, it sounds like I don't like it. I do. It cracks me up every time. After about ten paces, she comes around the hall corner into view with her eyes half open and says incredulously, "When did you get UP?"

2. The fear of getting caught We love movie candy. We sneak it into every movie we ever go to and over the years have saved somewhere between 10 and 15,000 dollars by doing that. Once, I got a little greedy and asked Dana to sneak a fountain drink for me in her purse(the top was firmly affixed to prevent any spillage). She reluctantly agreed. As we approached the gate where they tear your ticket, we both saw that in addition to the usual acne-ridden 16-year-old ticket taker, was a manager in jacket and tie looking on and evaluating the kid. The phrase "seized by fear" would be the best way to describe Dana's reaction to this. Her pace slowed, her face changed, her grip on my hand tightened, and she whispered to me in frightened sentences about how "they KNOW, they KNOW!" We walked right in, and I enjoyed an ice-cold Coca Cola classic to complement my Twizzlers. I'm pretty sure we went to see a drama that day, but I had several hearty laughs in the theater.

3. The thermometer readings The thermometer in our house is not accurate. We need a new one. I've never seen a reading of 98.6 on it. It goes anywhere from 97.1 to 104.3, but it never seems to reflect anything that would be helpful or informative. I think Dana checks her temperature twice a week. She'll get a headache or stomach ache and check it. When the little thing beeps that it has a reading she takes it out, looks at it, and then silently puts it down. I'll ask what it said and she'll respond with some number that either means she passed away 30 minutes ago, or needs to immediately be thrown into a tub of ice water. But if I irritate her about it, she'll say "Stop, I have a feeee-ver!" It slays me.

By the way, as I read these, I feel like if Dana did one of these about me it would just be "Kent tries to irritate me" 5 different ways.

4. Her never-ending love for Kissyfur Whenever we see an animal of any kind, it is accompanied by Dana saying either "I love Kissyfur," or "I miss Kissyfur." She's asked me before if I think that when we die, do I think Kissyfur will be in Heaven.

Nothing will ever top Kissyfur. Pistol could come into the house and recite the preamble in a little dog voice, and Dana would turn to me after and say, "I miss Kissyfur." It is like clockwork: animal, a few beats while she reflects, "I miss Kissyfur."

5. The parking spot point-out Whenever we go somewhere that has a parking lot of more than 20 spots, it reveals Dana's and my divergent philosophies about parking. Luck usually determines whose philosophy is correct. Dana likes to find the closest spot and will patiently wait for it until it appears. I feel like the waiting negates the closeness. That if you just park in an average or even "bad" spot, it would take the same amount of time to walk in as it would to wait and then park. But it has become a joke now that when I do park, Dana waits until I'm halfway into the turn-in to point out another spot that would have been better. And of course, as we walk in, she takes great joy in pointing to the many spots that would have been closer/better/not as long a walk in this freezing temperature. It usually leads to a "sliding doors" speculation about how much better our trip to Target would have been if I'd listened to her, but instead, we are doomed to our spot in parking hell because of my impatience to wait for "that spot...that spot...that spot."

All of these are things that make her my wife. And I love them. Congratulations on the promotion! I am so proud of you!

Heart of a Champion

Today, like every other day this week, I woke up as a fan of a National Championship Team. Not the one from 17 years ago or the many times before that - the current National Championship Team. As the game and the season begins to fade into the rear view mirror (we're 1 of 52 weeks in), I realize that this is the best part. There are no more games to win, no more blowhards to silence, or pregame rituals to follow (at least until the fall). This is the best part because my team, our team is the best and proved it one week ago.

I'm not going to get into all the BS arguments over Colt McCoy's injury affected the outcome of the game (I'll always believe the outcome would remain the same), because - as discussed here before - sports plays, games, and seasons are very fragile. Look no further than our survival of the Tennessee game. One bounce, or gust of wind, or malfunctioning headset, or even a piece of dust in a referee's eye can turn a game, and by extension, a season into crap. I think of Jerry Seinfeld's bit about Olympic sprinters where he sticks his neck forward and says "greatest guy in the world," then pulls his neck back and follows, "never heard of him." The point is Texas called a run play and their QB was knocked out of the game. It's football and that stuff happens. For our UK basketball fan readers, I haven't ever heard them belly-ache over Keith Bogans' sprained ankle that cost them back in the 2003 NCAA tournament. It's sports, it's fragile. These opportunities come around very few times. And so in the words of Eminem, you have to "seize the moment, try to freeze it and hold it." Alabama did. Several times. Like when we hired our coach to make these moments more frequent. Or when our QB made the SEC championship game into his masterpiece of management and timely throws. Or when Mount Cody decided he wouldn't let the season end just because the team was worn out. Or when Marcel Dareus plucked a ball from the air and then ran down the halls of Alabama

immortality. This team is special. This is the greatest season we've ever had and it was led by a special group of guys. McClain, Ingram, Arenas, Cody, Peek, McElroy, and of course Saban. I'm guessing several forms of these names will start passing through preschools in Alabama within 4 years.

We're a state that gets dismissed and made fun of a lot. We have our problems for sure. I could write a whole different blog about that. But we have always taken football seriously (and not to our detriment). That's why when a special group of players and coaches give us a team that we can be proud of, it sets this place on fire. And not the way Knoxville lit up thanks to the mattresses on Tuesday night. (Sorry, couldn't help myself).

Roll Tide! We'll talk about next year next year (but it's looking good so far). For the next 51 weeks, we are going to enjoy being on top. Because you never know when that gust of wind will come along and blow away your chance for this feeling again.

P.S.

I don't know why UT fans were so upset about Kiffin leaving. This is a clean slate from a bad hire to begin with...and without having to pay his buyout. What is USC thinking?

Finally, Internet Access

"Remember the Rose Bowl, you'll win then. Roll on to victory, hit your stride. You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide"

-"Yea Alabama"

Some things have happened since last you really heard from us. The last two blog entries really can't be counted, now can they?

We'll go social first, and then get to the game commentary.

Awhile ago, so long it's not really news anymore, Dana and I sold the trusty red Jeep. It was an emotional sale for both of us because of the treasured memories we had with it. Whether it was road tripping together (there was no way we were taking the old 626 any place that was past 5 miles from the house) to weddings in the historic summer of 2007 - 38 weddings in 12 weekends - or the fun times Dana had in it BK (before Kent) on the familiar pathways of Samford U. Tears were shed on the selling day, not by me this time. We shall miss the Jeep and it's mostly trustworthy service. Good night, sweet prince.

(Dana's feelings on letting the Jeep go summed up perfectly)

One semester at Homewood High in the books and the job couldn't be going better. I love the kids, they seem to love me back (they compare me to Mr. Shuster on Glee, which once you get past the fact that he's a nancy-boy choir director is sort of a compliment), and it is a great school. UAB on the other hand...

The dogs are living with us now. Dana has begun to love them. They make her laugh a lot and she enjoys taking Pistol for the occasional walk. Before you ask why Grits doesn't go too, just know that I had to carry her home from the last extended walk because she quit. She's content to lie at the house all day suffering the occasional pains of listening to Pistol get excited about the latest passing UPS truck. Here;s a pic of the dogs in the car on their way to B'ham.

I signed up to help my friend Mike coach a youth league basketball team over in Mountain Brook (the under-privileged side of town). Not surprisingly, we named the team the Commodores (YEEEEEEP! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!). Surprisingly, when Mike was out of town, I took the reigns and the team to a 2-0 start. They are 3-1 at the break, and we have yet to unleash our killer Diamond and 1 press. The best story of the season so far is that we have the kids enjoying "calling the Commodores" and they want to break each huddle with a big "Yeep YEEEEP!" Down the stretch of one of the games, our de facto cheerleader - his name is Brother - began yeeping on the bench to rally the team and his mother leaned over his shoulder and asked him what he was doing. He looked back at her in matter-of-fact fashion and said "We're calling the Commodores...y'know yeep, yeep!" We're making a difference! It's all for the kids.

Dana's and my family rotation has us in Alabama for Christmas this year. Dana gets her first look at the Pearson Dirty Santa game which will most likely have at least a few adults acting like children and getting snippy over a gift card to Target. Good times ahead. It really is fun.

Quick Best of TV 2009 list for us:

Best Drama - Mad Men edges Friday Night Lights

Best Comedy - Modern Family with a bullet!

Best Reality - whatever Dana says it is...I say Wipeout

Best Trash - Jersey Shore has set new lows in every way.

And now onto the main event:

Alabama is playing for a national championship in Year 3 for Saban. This was a common prediction among fans when he took over in 2007, but the reality of it has been a crazy experience to say the least. To have been on the doorstep last year was unbelievable, and yet crushing when we lost in the SEC championship game. There was a feeling of "When you get this far, you have to cash in on it because it is so rare a thing." The press was talking about how a re-match was inevitable since the end of last year's game. That is a bit of revisionist history because more than half of those same writers and reporters on ESPN were picking Ole Miss and LSU ahead of us in the West pre-season. The media's B.S. is to be expected.

(Quick aside: these are the same guys who talked about how outrageous Saban's 4 million a year was, how he was a job-jumping, soul-less cretin who would burn out at Alabama and leave its unrealistic fans in the lurch...only to later refer to Saban's contract as a "bargain," to refer to other programs' need to make a "Saban-type hire," when looking for a new coach. There is not a greater paradox for me than 98% of sportswriters and reporters- I can't live without them, but I can't stand them.)

Where was I? So the re-match happened. In retrospect, we should have known that the gameplan for Florida was going to be air-tight. Saban's oft-maligned ego is the same thing that drove this maniacal preparation for the SEC championship game. No one knows Saban's mind, but I'm willing to bet that he bristled at hearing about how Urban Meyer was the undisputed genius of college football for the last year. He took this game very personally. He would tell anyone who wanted to listen that it was for the players, that they did the work to get back to this point and then delivered this time. All of that is true. The players had to play well to win the game. By all accounts they came into the walkthrough very focused and were foaming at the mouth when the game kicked off. Florida, on the other hand came in very loose (not a bad thing by the way), Tebow was running pass-routes, there was laughing and joking. There was a sense that the game would go the way it did last year. It did NOT. Alabama landed the first licks, then withstood the inevitable Florida comeback (lost in the final score was the heart that Florida showed, they BARELY had the ball and still passed for more yards than Alabama, it never looked like they gave up despite their offense being stranded on the sideline) in the second quarter, and then made the "hustle-plays" the rest of the way - think McEloy skipping down the sideline, Julio blocking downfield on runs, Ingram refusing to be tackled.

But the real story was the gameplan. The first play after Alabama got the ball back with the score 12-10, was a screen pass right over a blitz: the perfect call that went for 70 yards. The defense made an effort to keep Tebow in front of them, never rushing past him and letting him get out of the pocket and run. The stat that was thrown around a lot is that Saban was 13-1 in rematches after a loss (the "1" was Florida under Spurrier). He is a machine, powered by competitiveness. The bottom line is that the players played well, but it was the coaching that was the difference. Alabama is not more talented than Florida (or Texas for that matter). Below is a highlight video, and you'll notice that when Saban is giving his locker room talk that he really screams at them to "EXECUTE THE PLAN" around the :25 mark. He knew the plan would win. And it did. Being there was fantastic.

As a fan I rate that game as the most important one I've ever been to for Alabama. And off the top of my head, it was probably the most enjoyable too. Ooh, quick top 5's:

Top 5 most enjoyable games I've been to:

1. Bama - Florida 2009 32-13

2. Bama - AU 2001 31-7

3. Bama - UT 2002 34-14

4. Bama - Florida 2005 31-3

5. Bama - UT 2007 41-17

Common theme - The game was decided early and we could celebrate for most or all of the 4th quarter as our team rode victorious into the sunset.

Top 5 least enjoyable I've been to:

1. Bama-AU 2000 9-0

2. Bama-UT 2003 (I've forgotten the score, but we went to 5 OT and blew a 4th and 19 in regulation on defense, and a 1st and 2 on offense)

3. Bama-LSU 2001 35-14 (it wasn't that close)

4. Bama-AU 2002 17-7

5. Bama-UT 2006 (again, I don't remember the score, but we blew a winnable game by folding in the 4th, goodbye Shula).

Common theme: there was a sense of impending doom, or we were embarrasingly dominated throughout. Also, each of these games had a lot riding on them and it felt I cared more than the players did.

Now onto the game in Pasadena (quick disclaimer: all predictions are based on Alabama at full roster with no suspensions).

The things that scare me about the game:

1. It cannot be ignored that Alabama made its entire season about getting back to Florida and then beating them in the 4th quarter. Now that we've done it, there HAS to be some sense of let down, exhale, whatever. It is human nature. If it is possible for a team to be a risk to come out flat in the national championship, we run that risk.

2. Since that Florida game, the team has heard through the media, students, fans, and award shows that they are the best. Ingram won the Heisman. McClain won the Butkus. We had 6 All-Americans. McElroy won the MVP of the SEC championship game and has heard all about how he outplayed Tebow. This is dangerous in terms of the psychology of sports. There are only so many times you can be told you are awesome before you start to believe it and forget what made you awesome in the first place - in our team's case it is hard work, then talent in that order.

3. Texas has talent, and 2 former Saban assistant coaches on staff. I'm not that worried about the coaches, but you never know. The talent part is important. LSU could have beaten us this year if their coach wasn't a buffoon. Why? Because they had more talent than us. Texas has been in the top recruiting classes every year for a long time. Their secondary is really good. Their QB is devastating at times. Their coach doesn't scare me until I look at his record in big bowl games.

4. Matchups I don't like for us:

McElroy/Julio - their DBs

McElwain - Muschamp

Things that make me feel better:

1. There is not a coach alive that is better equipped to handle #1 and #2 on the previous list. If you ever get to feeling cocky, you should close your eyes and picture Saban yelling all the things that you are not good at at you. He once made an NFL player cry.

2. Texas is not battle-tested the way Alabama is. They've played against one top-tier defense in Nebraska. We've played against 4 not counting AU (who played incredibly on D against us) or VaTech who faded, but was really good in the opener. They didn't look very clutch - aside from their kicker - down the stretch against a tough Nebraska team. We're tougher and scarier than ay team they've seen.

3. Their offensive line is a weak point for them. We feast on teams like that. Ask UGA of 2008 who had two top 10 draft picks on offense, but never had the time to let them make plays.

4. Matchups I like:

Saban-Brown

McClain-McCoy

Ingram/Richardson - UT front 7

Gun to my head prediction - Alabama wins 23-13. Look for Texas to get big plays out of special teams, and Alabama to hold onto the ball for long stretches of time like they did against Florida.

By the way, I'm as excited about football in Alabama as I've ever been and that is saying quite a lot. This is an incredible ride, and win or lose, it has been a season I'll always remember. No one will ever convince me that these are just games and they don't matter. Dana and I sat in the stands when Cody blocked the field goal against UT. It brought tears to my eyes, and my dad collapsed into his chair with relief. We felt sick for the entire Auburn game... physically sick. We cheered euphorically when Arenas intercepted the ball and sealed the win against Florida. I got to watch my dad take in an SEC championship win. We went back to the parking deck and popped open a bottle of champagne and re-hashed the game. These are memories. I'm choked up just thinking about it. Roll Tide!