Fight on!

Loyette and I are watching the Rose Bowl in the hospital (well, she's asleep, but she's sitting on my lap while I watch it, anyway), and so far, we like what we see: the Trojans lead 21-3 at halftime.

UPDATE: USC 49, Illinois 17, final. w00t!

Meanwhile, Georgia and Hawaii are underway in the Sugar Bowl. Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis -- the same announcing team that called last year's Boise State win in the Fiesta Bowl and this year's Appalachian State upset of Michigan -- are calling the game. I sense an upset!

UPDATE 2: Or not. Georgia 24, Hawaii 3 at halftime.

UPDATE 3: Nope, definitely not. Georgia 41, Hawaii 10, final.

Remember how everyone wanted to see USC vs. Georgia instead of putting them in separate bowls? Tonight pretty well demonstrated why, no? It's not the Rose Bowl's fault that a Trojans-Bulldogs matchup didn't happen, but man, it would have been pretty awesome. The BCS sucks.

Comments

[nadine]

En ce jour si doux
Tous au rendez-vous,
Nouvel an, sois fêté par nous;
Des plaisirs, des chansons,
Des cadeaux, des bonbons,
Accourez filles

L'amitié, le tendre amour tour à tour,
Fêteront de ce beau jour le retour
Aux repas joyeux,
Jeunes coeurs, vins vieux,
N'est-ce pas le bonheur des cieux et garçons.

Oui, le bonheur il est là
En ce jour si doux
Le bonheur des cieux ?\
Compagnons, sans façons,
Arrachons les bouchons,
À nos amis buvons, trinquons,
Epuisons les flacons,
Festoyons et trinquons :
Au Loyette, buvons, trinquons

==English Translation:==>

On this day so sweet
Everyone at the party,
New year, be celebrated by us;
Delights, songs,
Gifts, candy,
Hurry

Friendship, tender love in turn,
Will celebrate this beautiful day the return
To joyful meals
Young hearts, old wines
Isn't this heavenly happiness?
girls and boys.

Yes, happiness is there
On this day so sweet
Heavenly happiness?
Companions, quickly,
Pop the corks,
To our friends let's drink, let's toast,
Let's empty the bottles,
Let's feast and toast:
To Loyette, let's drink, let's toast.

[Scientizzle]

Fight On Trojans! Rose Bowl Champs!

[gahrie]

Let's say that Ohio State plays tough, and LSU wins a close game in an ugly fashion.

The AP voters vote USC #1 for another LSU/USC split championship.

How many heads do you think will explode in Louisiana?

[texasyank]

Congrats Irish Trojan!

And may your daughter fight on.

[a.j.]

Is it me or was this the most boring Rose Bowl ever! USC basically won the game after the first quarter.

[a.j.]

Is it me or was this the most boring Rose Bowl ever! USC basically won the game after the first quarter.

[sandy underpants]

It was just you. That was one of the best Bowl games so far during the totally worthless and meaningless bowl season. USC is still the best program in all of sports.

The Sugar Bowl, on the other hand, is THE WORST bowl game ever. Hawaii, Kansas and Illinois had no business ruining the BCS bowls. Hawaii was awful all year long, you just didn't know it because they only play high school teams. I suggest adding standards for next seasons BCS mess, that will cut out some of the dreck, and give teams that don't suck a chance to perform.

[Jim Hu]

Ever?

The first one in 1902 was Michigan 49, Stanford 0, and that was before the forward pass was used as a significant part of the offense. ;)

Michigan also shut out USC 40-0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl.
The last time Illinois went to the granddaddy in 1984, they lost 45-9 to UCLA.

Miami's 37-14 2002 beatdown of Nebraska in the BCS championship wasn't much of a thriller either (the Canes led 34-0 at half), but I guess it had the cachet of being the MNC game.

[Jim Hu]

p.s. A measure of how dull this Sugar Bowl is - that it's more entertaining to Google old Rose Bowl records than to pay attention to Hawaii getting crushed.

[David K.]

Regardless of how poorly Hawaii is playing against Georgia, the fans who started chanting over-rated should never be banned from watching a Georgia game for an entire year. What a classless and pointless act of poor sportsmanship.

[C. Bassett]

It's quite an ugly game, worst for Hawaii since going down 69-3 to Boise State in 2004. And of course Hawaii opens next year at Florida, which right now just sounds like the second part of their SEC nightmare.

At this point I have to wonder if all the BCS bowls will be one sided. Everyone and their dog is certainly expecting it of LSU and Ohio State.

[David K.]

What kind of coach challanges the spot when there is basically 1 quarter left and you have a 35 point lead?!? My opinion of Georgia is a program is lowering as this game progresses.

[David K.]

Going for it on those 4th downs was pretty weak too...

[David K.]

Actually without the BCS we'd be getting the even better match up of Ohio State and USC

[jc]

For a while there in the third quarter, I was getting Texas style shivers. But the turnovers were key. The defense stepped up and shut down Illinois there, they did a great job.

[sandy underpants]

The Sugar Bowl was so bad, the only excitement that could be found was the commentator railing against Coach Richt for continuing to play the game. Unless they create an option where the losing team can just concede (and they should do that for us fans), what the hell else can a coach do, tell his QB to down it out every series of the 2nd half?

[David K.]

Uh Sandy, did you completely and utterly miss the part where they went for it on 4th down twice in the 4th quarter, or the part where he actually challenged a play despite the fact that he had at that point a 35 point lead? He deserved to get railed against for those type of decisions. Yes you keep calling plays, but you don't curb stomp the other team, oh well i mean unless you are an SEC team of course...

[Mike's brother Matt]

Of course the Georgia fans showed no class. These are the same fans who taunted LSU about Katrina during the 2005 SEC championship game. I did love seeing them fail utterly on the possession starting around Hawaii's 7 yard line in the 4th though.

[Leanna Loomer]

De la part d'une bonne-maman, merci bien, Nadine, pour ce joli poeme. Comme tu es gentille d'offrir un tel cadeau pour la petite.

From a grandmother, thank you so much, Nadine, for the lovely poem. How nice you are to offer such a gift for the little one.

Leanna

[kg2v]

OK - I'm in a strange mood today...

I just looked at the picture, did a double take, and started laughing - (Hint, read the shirt)

Anyway - Brendan - You will spend a LOT of time staring into her eyes - Amazing isn't it - no matter how ready you are, when they hand you your child. Life changes at that instant, doesn't it?

[yea]

yea georgia fans are the first ones to ever chant over-rated at another team. the fact is hawaii was horribly overated, and after all of the dirty hits hawaii put on georgia, i dont blame the fans for being fired up. "over-rated" is fair game to chant at almost any game, especially a bcs bowl game. this is football, grow thicker skin.

[yea]

of course georgia is going to run up the score. they are trying to make a case to get some number 1 votes in a final poll. dont blame georgia, blame the system.

its also not georgia's fault hawaii got placed in a game it had no business being in. beating 12 high school teams doesnt make you a bcs team.

[Sandy Underpants]

Running up the score on a team nobody respects isn't going to impress anyone.

I saw Richt going for it on 4th down when the game was won, but he was using his 2nd and 3rd stringers and they didn't convert their attempts, nor were they playing at full-speed. It would've been 89-3 if UGA truly wanted to curb-stomp Hawaii. I'd say they just kneed them in the groin and then gave them a wedgie, followed by a surprise wet-willy at worst.

[Andrew]

Running up the score on a team nobody respects isn't going to impress anyone.

Well Sandy and yea, Georgia wasn't the only team looking to run up the score on a vastly inferior opponent.

In retrospect, the bowl lineups should've been as follows:

Rose: USC vs. Georgia
Sugar: West Virginia vs. ASU
Fiesta: Kansas/Missouri vs. Hawaii
Orange: Oklahoma vs. Virginia Tech

[Jay Johnson]

I'd suspect that even beyond the Rose Bowl's own idiosyncrasies re: having a Pac-10/Big Ten matchup, that the BCS folks really wouldn't have wanted a USC-UGA matchup.

Either team that won that game would have likely had some legitimate claim to a piece of a national title, which is what the ole BCS didn't really want.

[David K.]

ASU? Why ASU, they got thumped by Texas. Also i think there is a difference between having a high score and running up the score. As I said Georgia on atleast two occasions went for it on 4th down in the 4th quarter and they challanged a close call on a catch/no catch with a 35 point lead.

[Brian Foster]

As I said Georgia on atleast two occasions went for it on 4th down in the 4th quarter

I didn't see the game, so maybe this possibility is foreclosed by the circumstances, but I raise it anyway and would respectfully ask to be corrected if it is not credible:

I have often seen a team with a substantial lead in the fourth quarter elect to "go for it" on 4th down rather than punt, especially when they are anywhere other than deep in their own territory, presumably because they think it more sporting to give the other team the ball at or near midfield rather than punt and pin them deep.

Of course, if a team is so far ahead that they are considering doing this, it may well be the case that they'll actually manage to pick up the first down rather than turn the ball over. So what may appear to be greedy unsportsmanlike play-calling may actually be an attempt to be charitable to the thoroughly defeated team, but that team is so inferior that it can't even properly accept the gift.

Again, I didn't see the plays in question so I have no idea whether it's plausible to argue that this was the case here. But might it be?

[Brian Foster]

presumably because they think it more sporting to give the other team the ball at or near midfield rather than punt and pin them deep

Just to further amplify the point -- the same thing applies, and I have seen it done, when the superior team is in field goal range late in the game, but instead of kicking the field goal, they run a play on fourth down, which they presumably expect will be stopped before picking up the first -- but again, often the inferior team is so inferior that they can't even manage that. Either way, the attempt was to avoid running up the score and return the ball to the inferior team, but the effect is that the superior team keeps the ball, and in all likelihood ends up scoring again, because you can't realistically ask your players to stop playing the game before it's over. I mean, I guess the QB could start taking a knee with 12 minutes to go, but outside of The Waterboy, I've never seen that done.

[Andrew]

Who would you take instead of ASU? Illinois again? You can't take Florida, and you can't take both Kansas and Missouri. Boston College? Clemson?

ASU didn't match up well against Texas, but they'd match up just fine against West Virginia or Hawaii.

[David K.]

Ah I see what your saying Andrew, point taken.

[gahrie]

Re running up the score:

It was clear that had they wanted to, USC could have scored at the end of the Rose Bowl yesterday. This would have rewarded Dennis again and also given USC the scoring record outright.