Let's go Bowling...

With the year coming to an end and me being quite the lackluster in not updating my blog to give all of my bowl picks, I decided New Year's Eve would be a good time for that update. With BCS bowls, the Chick-Fil-A bowl, and the end of Bobby Bowden happening in the next two days, it's nice to have great sports on for three straight days that don't involve players doing extra dances in the end zone just to get attention. For the next three fun filled days, players will do whatever it takes to win, coaches will take crazy chances(like Idaho going for two and winning), and careers end for great some of the greatest college football players ever(Tebow). Amidst all the allegations of coaches putting their players in sheds, things seem to be looking up for us college football fans. For me, Georgia has already blown out a Big 12 foe, UNC gave a great Pittsburgh team a scare which in my world gained respect for us heels, and the best game of the bowl season was last night when Idaho took 30 seconds to drive down the field, score a touchdown, go for two, and win their first bowl game since 1998. Enjoy your New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the day after as college football will be filling my screen for the next 72 hours! I am so excited!

Houston vs Air Force-Houston
Oklahoma vs Stanford-Oklahoma
Navy vs Missouri-Mizzou
Minnesota vs Iowa State- Minn
Va Tech vs Tenn-Va Tech
Northwestern vs Auburn-Auburn
Penn St vs LSU-LSU
West Va vs FSU-FSU-for Bobby's sake
Ohio St vs Oregon-Oregon
Cincy vs UF-Go GATORS
South Fla vs Northern Illinois- N Ill
Okla St vs Ole Miss-Ole Miss
South Carolina vs UCONN- So Carolina
Ark vs ECU- Ark
Mich St vs Texas Tech
Boise St vs TCU- TCU
Iowa vs GT- GT
Central Mich vs Troy- C Mich
Texas vs Bama- BAMA

Give to the SPCA and SAVE lives!!

Athletes for hope is doing a competition amongst athletes to help raise money for different charities. Please help the SPCA of Wake County in North Carolina as this is the charity that I wanted to help this holiday season. Pets affect our lives as much as we affect theirs!

Ode to Tebow

It was Robert's turn last week to send out one of the greatest football coaches, so it is my turn this week to send out one of the best college football players. I don't think there has ever been another athlete that has inspired me more...and he's five years younger than me!

I have been asked on numerous occasions during my soccer career as to who is my favorite athlete. I have always had a tough time trying to figure out who that may be because in all the athletes I have watched and aspired to be, in my opinion, there is always one piece missing in their career that I would want to have in mine. Whether it is a male athlete who outruns all records in football, basketball, or baseball, yet lacks passion and faith. Or a female athlete who withstood the tests of time to create a path for players like me to keep playing the game we love, yet lacks leadership and skill. I just never seemed to find that one athlete that inspires me to run on all cylinders. That is until Tim Tebow declared to come to Florida over Alabama. (Yes that's right, I have to put some jab into Alabama as they beat him last week).

When I heard that he was coming to Florida, I was obviously excited as I knew he was a great player, but I also took it with a grain of salt as so many big time recruits never seen to pan out-especially at the quarterback position. But when all the hype began to swirl around Florida and whether or not Tebow and Urban Meyer would be a perfect match, I also heard all about his family and their faith. I heard that the basis of Tebow is not just his athleticism, but it is his faith and love in Jesus. His mom even helped my mom love Jesus! How cool is that! And now that his career is over(and his numbers and heisman trophy speak for themselves), what he has done and who he has become are what inspires me.

To find a man like Tebow who is a great athlete, an incredible leader, extremely passionate about so many things(even enough to cry), and a man of great faith is rare. He has the whole package. His passion inspired me when I had a torn ACL to keep going. His leadership made me review my own and try to get better. His faith in Jesus just made my faith grow stronger because I saw how God can transform a great man into an even greater one. If there is a more well rounded athlete out there, I would like for someone to show me. His inspiration to me, and I know so many other fans, will forever be implanted in my memories and I want to be an inspiration to someone one day like he was to me. Because let's face it...athletes are role models whether you like it or not and to see a man like Tebow take that responsibility and inspire more than just Gator nation is impressive.

I want him to go out with a win. I wanted him to go out with a national championship, but that won't happen. A couple of tears fell with Tebow(yes I'm strange) after the national championship because I wanted him to let his light shine even more to the entire nation. Soon after those tears fell, I did find myself smiling as I realized that his light is shining even greater as the nation got to see his class and faith even in a loss. For those people who wanted to see him lose, they saw a real man cry on tv because he is so confident in himself and his faith. He was able to show people what Jesus can really do in your life just by playing the game he loves and playing it for the right reasons.

Dadgum, Bobby is gone

I asked Robert to be a guest writer for my blog this week because of the retiring of Bobby Bowden. You may think that Robert should be the main writer of my blog after you read this, but I don't think there could be a better definition of what a great coach and MAN that Bobby Bowden has shown us throughout the years. Enjoy! Well done, Robert!

The day was January 1, 1994. As an 11 year-old I was glued to the television with my family as FSU took the field against Nebraska for what would soon be Bobby Bowden's first national title. Truthfully, I was partially excited just to be staying up this late since it was well past my bedtime. The atmosphere was electric and I knew if they were to win then all the 'Canes and Gators in my classes at Lakeland Highlands Middle School in Lakeland, FL would be quieted until next year. Only a few hours later, the FSU sideline emptied and Bobby was soaked in Gatorade when the 'Noles won, believe it or not, on a missed field goal by the other team. I remember vividly leaping around the room and then being hoisted on my dad's shoulders doing my best Broadway Joe imitation while wagging my index finger high in the air. The moment was captured by my mother on camera as my dad and I took a victory lap around the living room. To this day the picture remains one of my favorites and the memory one that I will forever cherish.

"Your reputation is what people say about you, your character is what God knows about you."

As Bobby Bowden steps down from his post after 34 seasons, we will continue to hear how much he meant to FSU and college football. We will hear how FSU was a women's school without a win when he arrived and how he constructed one of the most successful runs by any program in all of college sports. People will comment on what a good interview he was, how he always said what he meant and how great of an ambassador he was for the sport. Of course there will be some that bring up the discipline problems that plagued his program, the cheating scandal and the losses that became too much to stomach for the FSU powers that be. For now, however, I will selfishly ignore all of those voices and indulge in what Bobby meant to me as epitomized by the photo of a young Seminole fan celebrating in the living room with his dad. The time shared over football extended beyond Saturdays in our family. Whether over dinner the following week or on Sunday afternoons for "The Bobby Bowden Show" on the Sunshine Network sponsored by Golden Flake. The victories continued in droves through the years. No doubt about it Bobby was a winner. Yet over time the wins became harder and harder to come by. Eventually my family left Florida for North Carolina and I enrolled at UNC where my fervor for a different school and different sport quickly kindled. Yet that photo from the first night of 1994 forever represents the joy of victory and the bond between father and son that was created by the slow-talking charmer of a coach from FSU.

"I would want the boys that played for me to think they were better persons for having played for me."

The mystique of Bobby's career extends well beyond the playing field, a cliche that we too often use in our society to describe athletes and coaches. The quote above was taken from a recent interview with ESPN as his career was winding down which shows that finding meaning beyond football was his purpose. He represented all that was good about sport and always used the game as a means to change lives and share his faith. For such a role model, I'm sure my father and many other parents are thankful to him. If his measure for success was having his players think they were better people for having played under him, then in that too he far exceeded expectations. Not only the players, but the young fans who grew up listening to a man who was at the top of the sports world talk about what was really important in life are better for having watched him. I wish that I could have another season to say goodbye and listen to his unintentionally engaging halftime interviews. Instead one more bowl game will have to suffice. If they are to win one more for Bobby, I will probably not jump on my father's shoulders or jump around the living room. Inside, however, I am sure that my memory will take me back to that feeling when united by the Florida State Seminoles, my family and I shared a joyful moment in time that we owe to ol' Coach Bowden. Dadgum Bobby, you will be missed.

And...here are my picks:

Cincy vs Pitt-Cincy
Houston vs ECU-Houston
West Va vs Rutgers-Rutgers
Arizona vs USC-USC
FLORIDA vs bama -GO GATORS
Texas vs Nebraska-Texas
Georgia Tech vs Clemson-Georgia Tech