The Times Dispatch Blogs

Well, I haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire with my first batch of bowl game predictions. At the moment, I’ve only picked two of the first eight correctly. I would have done better if I’d based my picks on which team had the coolest looking helmets.

Armed Forces Bowl – California vs. Air Force. Air Force has the cooler helmet, but I’ll go ahead and pick California.

Humanitarian Bowl – Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State. This game will be played on Boise State’s blue turf. Fresno is in the same conference as Boise, so they’ve played on the “smurf turf” before. That’s why I’m taking the Bulldogs.

Sun Bowl – South Florida vs. Oregon. Oregon lost their final three games of the regular season after quarterback Dennis Dixon went down with a knee injury. They won’t beat South Florida, either.

Music City Bowl – Kentucky vs. Florida State. This should have been one of the better games of the bowl season. That was before the academic cheating scandal rocked FSU, resulting in the suspension of over two dozen players, including some starters. Kentucky looks like the easy choice now.

Insight Bowl – Indiana vs. Oklahoma State. How can anyone pick against Indiana? The Hoosiers suffered a tragic blow in June, when coach Terry Hoeppner died from complications of a brain tumor. The team responded by going out and earning their first bowl berth in 14 years to become the year’s biggest “feel good” story in all of sports. I’m not picking against them.

Chick-fil-A Bowl – Clemson vs. Auburn. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and Clemson coach Tommy Bowden both reportedly turned down the Arkansas job earlier this month. That could make for one interesting post-game handshake. Auburn will win the game.

Outback Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Tennessee. Tennessee’s speed will be too much for the Badgers.

Cotton Bowl – Missouri vs. Arkansas. Arkansas’ Darren McFadden (the best player in college football) versus Missouri’s Chase Daniel (the best quarterback in college football). Picking with my heart and not my head, I’m taking Arkansas. Also, I love that helmet.

Gator Bowl – Texas Tech vs. Virginia. The Red Raiders will go over, through and around Virginia.

Capitol One Bowl – Michigan vs. Florida. I have to pick Florida to win the game, but I’ll be rooting for Michigan to stomp the Gators and the Heisman Thief.

Rose Bowl – Illinois vs. USC. Illinois is the most undeserving of all the BCS teams and Southern Cal will show why.

Sugar Bowl – Hawaii vs. Georgia. A very interesting match-up. Hawaii went undefeated against a very soft schedule. Now they get a chance to show what they’ve got against one of the big boys. Georgia may have been the best team in the SEC at the end of the season. I’ll pick Georgia, but I think it could be real close.

Fiesta Bowl – Oklahoma vs. West Virginia. The Sooners were embarrassed in last year’s Fiesta Bowl, losing to Boise State. They’ll get their revenge against West Virginia.

Orange Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. Kansas. Like Hawaii, Kansas put up a lot of wins against a soft schedule. They won’t be able to handle the Hokies.

International Bowl – Rutgers vs. Ball State. Ball State couldn’t even beat Nebraska. I’m taking Rutgers.

GMAC Bowl – Bowling Green vs. Tulsa. Bowling Green won’t stop Gus Malzahn’s high-flyin’ Tulsa offense.

BCS National Championship Game – LSU vs. Ohio State. Once again, the SEC will reign superior over the college football world.

Discuss post at LawCo Talk

If there is one thing I have learned about children it is that one should always expect the unexpected. Nevertheless, my boys still managed to surprise me this Christmas.

Conley is four and has a pretty clear concept of what happens when Christmas rolls around. Colter, on the other hand, at four months, is a complete beginner.

As we prepared for the holidays, I found myself purchasing more presents for Conley than for Colter. Mainly because Colter’s wants and desires are pretty much limited to a bottle, a jar of baby food, a clean diaper and a warm blanket. I was looking forward to Conley’s excitement on Christmas morning, but did not expect Colter to really even be interested in the presents.

Boy, did they pull a switcheroo on me. Conley opened his stocking and then was ready to go to his room and play. The other gifts and the pop-up tent under the tree seemed to have no attraction at all. I had to call him back into the room to open the rest of his gifts.

Colter on the other hand, loved opening the presents. At first I thought he just loved the paper, which he’d grab and tear off the gifts. I realized, though, that he really enjoyed seeing what was inside the packaging too. Each time we would hold up the opened toy or book, his face would light up.

I guess it just goes to show that one can never be prepared for life with children. I look forward to more of the “unexpected” in the new year.

Discuss this post at LawCo Talk