Shot in the Dark

So it turns out we'll probably wind up finding out the sex/gender of our baby after all. We were thinking about keeping ourselves in the dark until the little guy/gal came along, but I'd say it's a safe bet now that we'll just go ahead and find out. I've got a poll up where you can give your predictions (NOTE: if you're reading this on Facebook or an RSS, you'll want to visit http://christianjolly.blogspot.com to do the poll).

Wow, what a crazy college football season we're having here. Seriously, nobody is safe. "Traditional Powerhouse" means absolutely nothing this year, you know? The usual cupcakes are causing a real stir, and I think that's probably a good thing. My favorite conference (and your's as well, I'm sure) is looking like it will have 11 of the 12 teams in the conference as bowl eligible (6 wins or more) by the end of the year. That's unprecedented. Vanderbilt might make it to a bowl game for the first time in 25 years. Of course, bowl eligible doesn't mean that some bowl has to pick you (in fact, I bet there are lots of bowl organizers that would pass on the opportunity to have a best of the bottom kind of bowl). Overall though, yeah, it's a good thing. Keeps the good teams on their toes, makes even the seemingly meaningless games full of speculation and excitement. FUN!!

Who would have thought that after being beaten by South Carolina and walked all over by Tennessee that UGA could be 1) in first place in the SEC East division and 2) ranked in the top 10 in November? I'm very surprised. Of course, if Tennessee wins out their SEC schedule (3 more teams - Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky) and UGA drops even one more SEC game (2 left - Auburn and Kentucky) then it's a tie and Tennessee wins the division. Nonetheless, there is so much speculation out there and possibility that if things REALLY get screwed up down the stretch here, even Vanderbilt could win the division. Honestly....I think I'd rather see Vanderbilt or Kentucky win that out rather than see Florida, Tennessee or South Carolina in the championship game. It'd be different, and kind of interesting. Mainly, I just really don't like Florida or Tennessee, and though I have no real issue with South Carolina's teams over the years, I REALLY REALLY don't like Steve Spurrier.

I was at the UGA/FL game this past weekend and wow, it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. This is the second time I've seen a Georgia team win out over Florida (in person). The last time in '04 was nice - in fact, very nice - but somehow it just didn't compare to the win this weekend. It had everything you want in a college football game...tricky plays, long-bomb passes, controversy, skin-of-your-teeth touchdowns and a LOT of noise. For the record, I think Mark Richt made the right call in getting the team to pull the celebration penalty. I believe him when he says he intended only for the 11 guys on the field to celebrate, but I still have no problem with the rest of the team joining them on the field. People say it was dangerous, that it could have incited punches and fights breaking out on the field. Look, I know it sucked for the Florida team to witness that, and I wouldn't have liked it as a Georgia fan if Florida had pulled that on us, but it was a legitimate strategy and seemed to work. It was by no means the first time a college team pulled a penalty to gain advantage (pass interference penalties of 15 yards on those looong pass plays are generally preferred rather than the yardage that would otherwise be gained, and all teams know that). If the Florida team decides to start swinging on our players for celebrating and taunting, that's their problem to deal with. Georgia was doing what worked best for Georgia and didn't cause anything but mental damage to the other team, so I say people quit saying what a hypocrite Mark Richt is and get over it.

We had quite a few kids to the house on Halloween, and not that many of the usual teenage+ crowd. You know, the ones that show up with a pillowcase and no costume, staring at you and getting angry when they see 1 or fewer candies dropped into their bag? It was a good group. Jingles would go absolutely bonkers every time the doorbell rang, as if by the 30th ring she wasn't expecting visitors. Nobody showed up until after 7pm or maybe even 7:15pm, and we started thinking "wow, we're gonna be eating a LOT of candy." Sure enough, though, when people started showing up it was all at once and pretty consistent until an hour or so later. It dropped off then and only a few kids showed up here an there until we shut the light off at 9pm (generally, anyone that shows up after 9pm falls into the previously mentioned group of non-costumed teenagers, and they can go buy their own candy).

Back to it...