WE DID IT!!!!!

Folks, it just don't get no better than that!!! Not only did I get the outcome I wanted, but it was an incredible game! It was close the whole game, proving that the two teams that were playing this year were properly matched (no controversy this year over who *should* have been playing or whether either team belonged there), with amazing plays on both sides. The coaches were both aggressive with their play calling, and the star players were all making star plays, and it was just *incredible*!!!

I've been getting emails from friends of mine from all over the country - one of whom told me that some USC fans were whining on the chat boards about the refs, but I'm not even going to hear that. There *were* questionable and bad calls all night, but they went both ways. There were times you could see we'd gotten a play that could've been called back (like that awesome lateral from Vince that we scored on where the tv replay showed Vince's knee was down a split-second before the ball was out of his hands), and there were times you could see that we were denied something we should've gotten (like the interception we made that was called an incomplete on the field, but the replay showed our guy had control of the ball when he hit the ground and was down). It went BOTH ways, and BOTH teams scored on drives that included those bad calls, so don't even go there.

The teams were both awesome, and they both played well with all their stars and starters healthy and ready to go, and they both made mistakes the other side capitalized on, and they both made amazing plays you couldn't even believe you were seeing, and both got calls and lost calls, and the game was all it should've been. Had it gone into overtime, who knows how it would've turned out? But it didn't. We won, and it's just INCREDIBLE!

A few thoughts:

Sandra Day O'Connor tossing the game coin? As my friend Jason says, "Because nothing says 'college football' like Sandra Day O'Connor."

They had to use helicopters hovering over the field to dry it from all the recent rains. Cool and Hollywood-ish. But a little 20th century, doncha think? We've had a field for years that draws water down out of the turf from below.

You'd have thought that USC was the only team playing with any celebrities rooting for them or families present. I saw one shot of Matthew McConaughey in the pre-game, and the rest of the game all we saw were glimpses of Will Ferrell, that guy from Desperate Housewives, and Matt Leinart's dad, rooting for USC. Lance Armstrong was there rooting for UT - didn't see that didja? I don't know who else was there of note for UT, because ABC didn't show it. Not that it matters, really. Those are just people who had a ticket that I should've had. They also didn't show OJ Simpson somewhere in the stands for USC. Probably they just couldn't find him in the crowd - I'm sure that was it. (Can you imagine the horror of showing up with your $1,000 ticket, wandering around til you find your section, picking your way to your row, carefully looking at each seat number on your row while juggling your $10 coke and $6 pretzel, counting down to your seat, smiling when you find it, then looking up and finding that you're sitting next to OJ? What in all that is holy do you do with that?)

After all the insanity dies down around campus, I'll go get me a shirt and anything else that strikes my fancy to commemorate this amazing event! I have a glass from our 1970 national championship that my parents owned and gave me several years ago. I'll see if I can find it a mate. But I'm not even heading to the Drag until the euphoria wears off. It's a madhouse down there! I drove near campus last night about 12:30, and it was craaaaazy! Cars everywhere, horns honking, flags waving, people yelling - it was GREAT! And today the stores are mobbed. I can't shop under those conditions. I'll walk out with God knows what.

"Oh. Look. I bought a $50 sleep shirt that no one will see. And a stuffed Bevo with a rose in his teeth. And...I don't even know what this is. And what am I going to do with a 2006 Rose Bowl commemorative plate?"