The Great Debates, a dream match-up

Here's my dreamy, puny and never going to happen idea for reducing the country's $15 trillion debt:

Pay-per-view for a series of debates between President Barack Obama and the current leading Republican challenger former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Seriously? And who would watch it? Hopefully, citizens of the United States and the nationals abroad who are even remotely concerned about the future of the USA. It's not hyperbole to say that the political decisions made in 2012 will be a watershed year for our future of this country. There is a helluva lot at stake come November. We better be interested in the candidates.

So, what's the plan? The Congressional Budget Office, CBO, acting as the promoter, signs a deal with HBO in the same manner as Bob Arum with Top Rank Boxing would promote a Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao v Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr., championship fight.

The details of the Obama v Gingrich debate deal are as follows: $55 for each debate or $400 package deal for a number of seven scheduled debates; estimate 3 million people subscribe of which 50% opt for the package while the other 50% watch three debates; HBO sells commercial time (which is a radical departure for HBO) to advertisers of which 50% goes to the CBO budget relief fund; HBO's fee for the debates is 25% of gross pay-per-view proceeds and the remainder goes towards relieving debt balance in the hands of the CBO. Monies collected by the CBO would then be applied to the debtors accounts, namely, China.

The payout for the great debates could contribute about $600million to debt relief. Which is equivalent to about a week of interest payments on Chinese-owned US debt or 4 days of our troops in Afghanistan. Mind you, I said my budget relief idea was puny earlier. A drop in the debt bucket for sure but what great clarity we would be getting in return as citizens, the electorate and as viewers. Obama v. Newt. Nice ring to it, right? Surely, viewers would get their money's worth...for better or for worse.

The idea of a great debate between the two polar opposites has great appeal. Obama, the quintessential liberal tax and spend big government ideologue who has not had one original thought on what to do to fix this broken country in three years, who truly believes that "America has been a bit lazy over the last couple of decades" versus Gingrich, the disputatious conservative anti-tax, anti-big government, anti-union wonk who has ten new ideas per minute, who stated recently that "it is time to get rid of unionized janitors and have one master janitor and pay the local students to take care of the school." Remember, all ideas are not necessarily good. You could not create two more diametrically-opposed politicians from Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory than these two.

The voluble Gingrich relishes the idea of a series of Lincoln-Douglas style debates with the President. The confident Newt smells a massacre against the disengaged sitting President. The unctuous Obama has no comment or interest on any type of debate with the former Speaker until it's time to do so. And when and if that event happens, it will be on his terms.

In any event, the Lincoln-Douglas debate style is fashioned after an old tried and true high school/college debate format on critical issues of the day. Face to face. Mano to mano. No panel questioners. Only a moderator present to police the time element.

Both would open with a 30 minute statement regarding a certain debate topic affirming and/or attacking a certain position. It would follow with a 30 minute "rejoinder" from each party. The incumbent would be first up followed by the challenger.

After two hours including time for commercials breaks, the debate concludes and the viewer is left with solid intelligence on what each man's logical, ethical, philosophical values are and what approaches and solutions would be employed by both parties on real world problems. No spin. No "got you" questions from biased reporters. Just the facts of who you are and what do you believe in.

These are very troubled and highly flammable times, we the American people deserve the truth for once from our President and from those who wish to be President. A debate of this type would flush out the truth and those who are not fit to govern. Talk about transparency. There would be no place to hide in front of the American people. This format would help all of us immeasurably as we look towards November's election.

One small detail in the fine print of the HBO deal which both parties would be signatory to, no teleprompters are allowed. Due to the seriousness of the times, it is duly expected that their firm grasp of the issues should render a teleprompter or any other artificial device unnecessary.

But, if the President did not agree on this detail, Speaker Gingrich said of Obama, "if he wants to use a teleprompter, it would be OK with me. It has to be fair. If you were to defend ObamaCare wouldn't you want a teleprompter."

This type of debate on the issues is just what this country needs amidst all the background noise. Will it happen? 100:1 odds against. It has about as much chance as a Pacquiao v Mayweather fight.

But...sometimes dreams do come true.

La Altaithe shona dhuit 2011

To spice things up a little bit this fine holiday morning, "La Altaithe shona dhuit" is Gaelic for Happy Thanksgiving. It seems our national holiday of thanksgiving knows no geographic boundaries.

So enjoy this wonderful day of gratitude for all we have and pray in earnest for what we don't have at the moment.

And as the 14th Century German theologian/mystic, Meister Eckhart, said, "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you', that would suffice." And to whom and for what you give thanks, that is entirely up to you.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011.

"TTT" Denver's Triple Threat

I can't believe what I just witnessed.

After watching 55 minutes of the most inept offense in the National Football League, the last five minutes became "TTT" Tim Tebow Time in Denver.

The Tebow-led Denver Broncos did nothing for most of the night and then when it mattered the most, the Broncos marched 95 yards down the field for an improbable winning touchdown against the visiting favored New York Jets in Mile High Stadium. Tebow led the way; not with his arm but with his feet and, frankly, his soul. It was the greatest display of a sheer "will to win" that I have ever witnessed in sports.

With a minute left in the game and the Broncos trailing the Jets by three, Tebow took the ball from the Jet twenty yard and scampered into the end zone for another incredible WIN. Tebow did it again. Al Davis, bless his soul, would love this kid because he "just wins baby". He's not pretty but boy is he effective!

After being there and feeling the energy this kid gives off I can only surmise that Jesus is truly the Denver Broncos 12th man. And Tebow is His motor. How else do you explain the inexplicable?

While Mile High continues to buzz from what just happened, what's Tebow doing now? Giving an interview while praising the Lord.

Unbelievable in Denver tonight.

I'm spent.

Goodnight.

"Who's got it better than us? Nooooo-body."

Before and after every game that the resurgent San Francisco 49ers play, their first year head football coach, Jim Harbaugh, huddles up his players and leads them into a unified frenzy with a question from Harbaugh, "Who's got it better than us?" The lathered-up Niners reply thunderously, "Nooooooo-body." Kinda like the choir master using the pitch pipe in front of the chorus before the first note is sung.

In week one, asking the question "who's got it better than us?" to a dispirited team going on 8 straight losing seasons was a stretch for the Niners. The players in toto didn't believe in Harbaugh's perceived collegiate naivete. However, miraculously, after week ten, the answer to the question "Noooooo-body" (except for maybe the Green Bay Packers) is not only gaining more traction in the 8-1 49ers locker room but the rest of the National Football League is quickly taking notice.

The 49er pasties of the past are long gone and there is a new tone in the City by the Bay. Lots of bass and less treble. More drums. Less violins. Thanks to their hard-core coach and unique maestro, Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers are winning again and replacing the iconic City love song I Left My Heart In San Francisco with an updated heavy metal ear-blaster for all NFL teams to considerWe Kicked Your Ass in San Francisco.

And just who is this new national NFL figure Jim Harbaugh? Jim is the son of a career football coach, Jack Harbaugh, and Jackie, his mother. Jim was the star quarterback and scholastic All-American at the University of Michigan under Coach Bo Schembechler in the mid-'80s, first round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1987, 14 year pro in the NFL, assistant coach for Western Kentucky University and the Oakland Raiders, head coach at University of San Diego and Stanford University, a father of five kids and now the head football coach for the San Francisco 49ers.

Professionally, Jim Harbaugh has transformed somnolent football programs into winners in short order wherever he plied his trade. His upbringing in a football-oriented family culture, his Dad, and, his brother, John, head football coach of the Baltimore Ravens, has prepared him well for success in his chosen field. He believes mightily in himself and of the lessons he's learned along the way to the point of obnoxious self-assuredness. But in this harsh sports world measured only by wins and losses, he wins more than he loses and his sins and shortcomings are easily ameliorated by his employer to the delight of his growing legion of fans.

While Jim was a young boy, he and his family moved around the country alot for his Dad's work. In a span of 20 years, Coach Jack Harbaugh labored at seven different geographic posts in the football world. Moving a family hither thither and yon for work is part of the coach's job description. You either embrace that or you find another calling. For family Harbaugh there was no other calling. Football was the lifeblood for the family. They embraced football, therefore, they embraced moving.

Everytime the Harbaugh's would leave one post and head to the next, paterfamilias Jack stationed behind the wheel of his roomy Oldsmobile, would scream at his enraptured three kids in the back seat, "Who's got it better than us?" On cue, the adoring kids would scream back, "Nooooo-body", to the glee of the father, mother Harbaugh. Little did young Jimmy know that this routine "q and a" from his revered Dad would become the battle cry for every stop along the way in his own coaching journey. Or, just maybe he knew all the while...and filed this priceless memory of his youth in his playbook for what lay ahead.

Next week on Thanksgiving Day, football history will be made. On Thursday, Jim's 49ers play big brother John's Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore. In the NFL's storied 90 year history, two brothers have never faced each other in an a game as opposing head coaches. It will be a historic game for us to witness as fans, for them to experience as brothers and for Jack and Jackie to fret and anguish over.

It certainly appears that the little 'h'arbaugh apples do not fall far from the aging 'H'arbaugh tree. Simply, they continue to answer their own repetitive generational family question, "who's got it better than us? Noooooo-body."

Revenge of the Jerks

"Can we all just get along?" Rodney King

Sorry, Rodney, in the case of Tiger Woods and his ex-caddie of 12 years, Stevie Williams, I assure you these two tortured souls will never "get along" any time soon. The two pictures above tell the cover story: the bottom picture was taken in the happy past between the two W's and the top picture is the unhappy present. If looks could kill right? What happened to these two brothers who were so close and now who hold such enmity for one another?

For 12 years, the team of Woods and Williams dominated professional golf. With Stevie on Tiger's bag, Tiger won 13 of his 14 Majors, 64 worldwide tournaments, was the #1 golfer in the world most of the time, was the PGA top money winner for 8 of 12 years and earned over $90million on the golf course alone. Stevie's take for these bountiful years together is reported to be in the $12million range. Not bad dough for a professional caddy. Off the course, their relationship was even tighter. Best friends. Attended each others weddings. Traveled the world together for business and for fun. They had each others backs. Simply, they loved each other.

Suddenly, their friendship imploded. Tiger's early morning escapade with a fire hydrant outside his home in Florida changed not only Tiger's world but all who worked for him and were closest to him. Due to Tiger's public dalliances with blonde big-boobed brainless cocktail waitresses while married to a gorgeous Swede and mother of his two children, he lost the three closest people in his life: his wife Elin of seven years, his swing coach Hank Haney and Stevie Williams. The first two left Tiger voluntarily. In Stevie's case, Tiger dumped him unceremoniously without cause by phone. Predictably, his enabling agent, Mark Steinberg, remained with Tiger...one of the few who did. Tiger was king one day, the next day he was still a king...of jerkdom.

Since Tiger fired Stevie earlier this year, Stevie has taken to the public stage to tell the world how much a true ass Tiger is and in doing so crudely revealed how much of an ass he himself is. Maybe these two were made for each other. The best golfer in the world. The best caddy in the world. A perfect marriage. Setting aside their unique golf talents, what quickly appears is that they are both jerks at their basic core. One is a career philanderer. The other is a career ungrateful schmoe.

Recently, Stevie fortified his lofty position as king fool for the moment by saying of Tiger in front of a large audience that "it is my aim to shove it up his black arsehole." Exactly what he wants to shove did not make much sense but supposedly the "in their cups" audience howled. Tells you what kind of audience that was. Nice, Stevie. You're not only a jerk but a racist. A two for oner.

So, this week the biennial President's Cup takes place in Melbourne, Australia. Americans versus the world (not including Europe). And guess who was reunited on the first tee? As fate would have it, the first day of competition pitted Tiger and Aussie Adam Scott, Stevie's new employer, in the same pairing. Not surprisingly, tension filled the tee and the subsequent holes that first day. To make matters even worse, Scott and his partner thumped Woods and his partner in match play 7 and 6. It was Tiger's worst beat down in his match play career. The elephant on the course, Stevie Williams, glowed at the result. Tiger steamed.

It's fair to speculate that Tiger and Stevie are no longer exchanging Christmas cards. What they are exchanging these days is seen in the above picture taken after Thursday's round. And that doesn't look nice.

Why can't they just get along? Because both of them are jerks. And jerks don't know how to be nice.

Veterans Day 11-11-11

"They may take away our lives, but they'll never take away our freedom." William Wallace

May God bless the 2.3 million living veterans of the United States of America on this Veterans Day who have defended this country in war and in peace and preserved the freedom we all share and enjoy this moment.

Without their courageous service to our beloved country, we would have no freedom.

There is no greater honor than to serve for something bigger than oneself.

We are eternally in your debt.

Thank you.

JoePa"thetic"

Jerry Sandusky, on the left in the above picture in happier times and in the below picture in handcuffs, and Joe Paterno, on the right in the above picture, have been inextricably linked together for over 48 years in the Penn State University Football program. That's almost half a century of knowing someone well, one would think. Sandusky, 67, was a player and defensive line coach under Paterno at "Linebacker U", the other, Paterno, 84, is the grandfatherly assistant then head coach of 61 years Penn State in the insular and isolated college football kingdom in Central Pennsylvania known affectionately as "Happy Valley".

In the last five days, sadly, they are now linked not by football but by scandal, cover-up and abject indifference. 48 years of good will and great success together have been ruined by the allegations of gross and deviant sexual abuse by Sandusky against young boys under Sandusky's control. This all happened under Paterno's watch. The Valley of Penn State is no longer happy. Welcome to Sad Valley.

First up Sandusky. He is a married man with 6 adopted kids. In addition, he had several foster children in his care. Presently, in a grand jury indictment, he is facing 40 known felony counts of sexual abuse against 8 minors spanning 15 years of sexual misconduct. That number may grow as this story develops. 20 of those alleged incidents occurred while he was employed by Penn State. It has been reported that "in 2002, Mike McQuery, Penn State graduate assistant walked in on Sandusky having anal intercourse with a ten year old boy in the Penn State shower room. The next day, McQuery reported this incident to Paterno who informed Penn State Athletic Director, Tim Curley of the incident." The reporting of the incident traveled as high as the President of the University, Graham Spanier. The ludicrous punishment meted out by President Spanier for such an offense: Sandusky was ordered not to bring any children from his charity, Second Mile, on campus in the future. Incredibly, the local police authorities were never informed of the incident at the time. The University criminally kept the incident, as the Italians say "nella famiglia" or "omerta" in the family under a cone of silence. If found guilty, he will serve several life sentences.

Next up Joe Paterno. He and his wife are parents of 5 kids. 17 grandchildren. He is a head college football coach. He is Penn State University. Really, what else is out there besides the Amish, their horse-drawn black carriages and Penn State Football. His program made millions of dollars for Penn State University. His program was the gift that kept giving year after year. The school's coffers brimmed from football revenues. Football income ran that university. And it was Joe's world to rule. He ruled this fiefdom with an iron fist, ultimate control, secrecy, and all with impunity and without scrutiny or question from anybody of authority...until now. It is alleged that after Joe received a first hand account of Sandusky's sodomizing a youngster in the shower room, he kicked the can down the road to the AD to deal with it. The defenseless kid was 10 years old. A caring responsible adult should have protected that boy from that monster. Joe abdicated his role as supreme leader right then and there. Why? Because he did not want his program to suffer and the University agreed...tacitly. Suddenly, because of his lack of moral leadership, the revered JoePa has morphed into a disgraced JoePa"thetic."

So as this story unfolds by the hour, the casualty list increases. The AD and the Vice President were fired. The President will be fired soon. The Board of Trustees is trying to figure out what to do with Joe. He made a teary self-serving statement that he will retire at the end of the season. The compliant Board may let him coach the final games of the season. Which begs the questions: one, why would the Board allow Paterno to coach another game ever, is it because he's still in charge or is is payback time, and two, who is in charge of that University? Moe, Larry and Curly. Very soon, it will be the plaintiff's lawyers who rules Penn State. (See Catholic Church and Boy Scouts of America for reference.)

In my estimation, the Board must do the right thing for once at that University, the Board must fire Joe Paterno and those in authority who failed to blow the whistle must fall now. Clean break! Clean house!! There I wrote it. He and they were complicit in this sordid affair and cover-up and should pay the price for their collective insouciance and callousness. But, Joe has other plans. You see, Joe mistakenly believes he's still in charge as the University melts down around him. He wants to coach his players on Saturday and astoundingly, the Board may let him. Not suprisingly, there are ex-football jocks and jock sniffers on that Board.

And what about the innocent and weak victims who were physically and emotionally traumatized forever by the sexual monster uber-perverted Sandusky? Joe said to a throng of adoring clueless students outside his home last night, "It's hard for me to tell how much this support means to me. Kids who are the victims...say a prayer for them." Say a prayer for them? How daffy is this guy? Outrageous.

Joe, it's time for you to go. Working at 84, who does that other than Supreme Court Justices and a few loony Senators?

Lastly, as the sexual monster of Penn State hid in the shadows for years with young boys in tow, where was Sandusky's wife during all of his rapes of small children? Baking cookies?

Postscript:
What's really disturbing about this story is, just how insidious is this problem of sexual child abuse in our country? Reports are that 1 out of 6 boys are abused and 1 out of 3 girls are abused in some way. If those numbers are accurate or even half those numbers, what have we become as a society? and why??

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, survived the Oakland Raiders, their crude fans and the infamously rowdy Black Hole this past Sunday in Oakland. In fact, that crowd looked alot like the Oakland Occupy Wall Street Clockwork Orange street thugs who closed the Port of Oakland earlier in the week. Overall, it was a bad week for Oakland. Scoreboard: Broncos 38 Raiders 24. Old-fashioned decency won. Modern age crudeness lost. There is a God! Thankfully.

Tebow, media identified as "the over zealous Christian NFL quarterback in training", performed as follows against the big, bad Raiders and their brain dead fans who yelled in unison "Tebow sucks" for most of the game: 118 yards rushing and 10 of 21 for 124 yards passing with two TDs and no interceptions. 118 yards rushing as a quarterback. The fabled quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots doesn't rush those many yards in a season.

Tebow has been pilloried by the media and the sports talking heads more than anybody in the NFL in recent memory. At times this season, even his own coaches and some players on the Broncos questioned his ability to win. Why does seemingly everybody dump on Tebow in the NFL?

Tebow proved he was winner at Florida. Two national championships. Heisman trophy. Arguably, the best collegiate player of all time. Urban Meyer, his coach at Florida, called him the greatest player he has ever coached. When Tebow graduated from Florida, Meyer retired from coaching. There will never be another Tim Tebow. Why does Tebow suffer so much abuse from those who could not carry his jock strap?

Answer: people do not approve of his overt display of his faith. Makes them uncomfortable.

The unfaithful and those who do not possess the gift of faith just don't get it. Tebow gets it. So what if he wears his faith on his sleeve or on his face paint as he did in college? Bill Romanowski, ex-Raider and confessed steroid abuser said of Tebow, "I can't put him to sleep yet because he is the only virgin in the NFL." That's a confusingly unintelligent statement from a man who went to a Catholic Jesuit school, Boston College, who frankly should know better. But do those words affect Tebow? Excuse me, Tim, hell no.

In the Raider game, Tebow was beaten silly. Roughed up. Slammed to the ground head first. Hit in the chops. Sandwiched. Hi-lowed repeatedly. Blood flowed from his cut lips and mouth. That's he walking off the field after the game in the top picture. Repeatedly he got up and said to his adversaries, "God bless you." You see, Tebow is different and a cut above and it started early, in his mother's womb.

His parents were Baptist missionaries in the Philippines. When Tim was in utero, Tim's mother developed a life threatening pathogenic amoeba. She fell into a coma. Doctors awakened her and told her that the baby will be a still birth from a severe placenta abruption and that she may lose her life if the baby is delivered. The doctors advised aborting Tim. She wanted the baby. And Tim, the youngest of five, was born. Today, Tim's mother survived and living a normal life. Tim is 6'-3" and 240 pounds of pure muscle and a warrior for his God.

So, Tim almost did not even start his life. His mother had the courage and faith to give him the gift of life. That courage and faith given by his mother to her son is imbued in Tim. Football may be his public stage on Sundays but it's his daily stage of his understanding and acceptance of life, death and resurrection that is so much bigger and more important to him than football. Sadly, Tim's primary focus and perspective for most football fans is totally incomprehensible. Again that's what having faith is all about.

The day before the Raiders game, the omniscient media were piling on Tebow again, saying: "doesn't have the tools, will never be a NFL QB, won't win a game, this is his last chance, ad infinitum, ad nauseum". So what does he do? He proves all the naysayers wrong, his team wins. He wins.

I have been thinking about Tim Tebow today fresh off his team's victory and read a passage from the Book of Matthew 5:11:
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven..."

Tim Tebow has a special way of communicating to all of us. As you can see, he is inspiring me to read the Bible again. For that is worth more than any Sunday football game. Win, lose or draw.

Amen.

Rockin' and Rollin' n Oklahoma

We traveled to Norman, Oklahoma this past weekend for the Texas A&M v. OU college football game. After a dull first half, OU got its groove on and rolled over A&M 41-25. But the visiting Aggies weren't the only folks who got rocked that night.

Oklahoma endured the most violent earthquake in its barely relevant and negligible quake history on Saturday evening. Blame it on all the recent "fracking" going on under the great Dust Bowl landscape. A 5.6 shaker on the Richter scale. Earthquakes in Oklahoma? Are you kidding me? Not. What's next, heat waves in November on the North Pole??

Head scratching earthquakes in Oklahoma aside, we were delighted to be in Oklahoma, home of the Sooners and Cowboys of Oklahoma State University. As you may know, each fall we travel to one of the tradition-blessed college football states and universities in our country to attend a game. Last year, we were in Louisiana, year before Ohio and so on.

This year we chose Oklahoma because at the time of our choosing, OU was #1 in the country and A&M was in the top 10. The match-up appeared to be a great contest...on paper. However, when we arrived in Oklahoma on Friday the college football landscape had changed dramatically in the country in a matter of weeks. In fact, it had changed so much that OU would not only slip to #10 in the country but that OU was ranked lower than their neighbor to the north in Stillwater, Oklahoma State, ranked #3. We weren't even going to see the best collegiate team in the state of Oklahoma. Now tell me, what other state in the country has two teams within 100 plus miles of each other, ranked after Saturday's games, in the top 6 teams in the country? No other state has that distinction. Talk about Oklahoma rising from its dusty past. OK rules college football...and maybe high school football as well.

We got a taste of how crazy football is to Okies on Friday when we arrived. The first three pages of the sports pages were dedicated to football. High school football, that is. There was another main section of the paper on OU and OSU. I can imagine only Ohio, Texas and Louisiana even being in the same conversation to this kind of rabid fan following.

Game day in Norman was like a religious revival. Bands playing. Fans tailgating. Tents everywhere. "Boomer...Sooner" chants bouncing off the brick buildings. Crimson and cream coloring the landscape. Young, old, women, men representing OU pride with decency and respect. Speaking of pride, there was a special pregame ceremony honoring The King of Red, Coach Barry Switzer, winner of three national championships at OU in the '70s and '80s. They unveiled a statue of Coach Switzer to the glee of thousands of fans chanting his name. Little Sooners soon climbed up on the statue (see above) signaling to the world that the pipeline of Sooner Nation is full and ready to take on all comers, especially those Texans from the south.

What a tradition of excellence OU has enjoyed since WWII, the modern era of sports. In college football in the modern era, no team in the country has won more than OU. 567 victories. .763 winning percentage. 7 National Championships. 43 Conference Championships. 26 Bowl Championships. 5 Heisman Trophy winners. 152 All Americans. More than Penn State, Texas, Nebraska, Ohio State, USC, Michigan and Alabama. OU's football record of consistent winning spanning decades is truly remarkable.

And what about the future of this great college football powerhouse? Suffice it to say, OU is in good capable hands with Coach Bob Stoops, coach of the 2000 National Championship, at the helm. His pipeline of Oklahoma and Texas talent year after year is second to none. He is a winner just like those coaches who proceeded him, notably, Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Chuck Fairbanks and Coach Switzer. I suspect some day, 25 plus years from now, OU will be honoring Coach Stoops with his own statue in the plaza.

As we close the book on another sports adventure to a faraway land, we'll remember Oklahoma for many reasons: great football tradition, nicest people on earth, stiff winds, the boomer-sooner wagon circling every time the team scored, the 6 muskets firing throughout the game, funny hats, babe cheerleaders, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical tune "Oklahoma" echoing from the bell tower, Gaylord Family Stadium, Shiner Bock beer and, yes, that earthquake which made us Californians feel right at home.

So, it's on to Tuscaloosa or Eugene or Austin or Lincoln or Oxford or Starksville or Morgantown or Madison or Gainsville or...next year! So many places to see, people to meet and games to witness.

In closing, it's great to share these adventures with other fans of college football, namely, my family. There's nothing quite like it in sports or in life itself. Special moments are to be shared as this one was.

In the meantime, "BOOMER...SOONER!"