and then there were two.

The Gators are going to the BCS National Championship in Miami on January 8th. They essentially clinched their spot by defeating undefeated Alabama on Saturday, 31-20, in what was a classic game– back and forth, great offensive plays for both teams, great defensive plays for both teams, all in all, great football in general. Of course, what more could you expect from a Heisman-winning quarterback, an undefeated team, and the best conference in college football?

So I drove down University Avenue right after the game let out, coming back from a friend’s apartment. Well, I didn’t drive… I kind of took my foot off the brake and my car rolled down University Ave. This was because one of the side streets running away from campus was completely blocked off by police. People were hanging from the rafters, from trees, from anything else they could grab onto… except the traffic lights. People simply ran across the street, with no regard for the cars coming, with no regard for human life. I drove onto campus (it was much quieter there) and went to a volleyball game. But the party didn’t end there. You could hear the mob outside the O-Dome as they stormed Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and went onto the field. 2,000 people on The Swamp’s grass, taking a victory lap.

We found out later on Sunday night that we would be playing Oklahoma for the BCS-NC. And I am now hoping to God that I can watch my team play the best team from the other best conference in college football, hoping to spend $175 for a student ticket to Miami.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of other bowl games… which is why I’m putting up here that I am running, for my ninth year, my bowl prediction system. I’m teaming up with Frontier Markets this year to put this on a prediction market, and make running things a little bit different and a whole lot more interesting. I ask that you join, and invite any of your sports-minded friends to join as well. I’ll be putting up prediction markets for the bowls, first and foremost. I plan to follow this up, if this is successful, with college basketball, NFL, and MLB markets. Join the Facebook group, and post your e-mail, here to register: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=53411367596

Thanks, and good luck!

–jl–

i can see a light that is coming.

The end of the semester is near. Thank goodness– it’s been a long and tough winding road, and I’ve learned a lot (more on that to come in another posting). Russian test Friday, SEC championship Saturday, choral Christmas concert Sunday, Abstract Algebra test Monday. Then I get about a week off, which should be nice… I’ll go home, see a couple of concerts (high school’s chorus and band, and Matt Maher in Orlando) then head back up to Gainesville on Monday for two finals on Wednesday and Thursday. Then I’m done! For almost 3 weeks!

Like I said above, it’s been a very tough semester… Lots of stress within my classes, continually trying to get my grades up. Lots of stress within some of the organizations in which I am involved, doing a lot more work than I expected. And lots of stress from relationships, friends, people. It’ll be so good to get home and get to relaxing for a couple of weeks. That’s the light of the end of the tunnel, though… until the 18th, there is so much to do.

The stakes are high. I know what I need to do. Time to get my hands dirty and dig in to the last push for the semester.

–jl–