i thought i had interesting things to write, but i don't. i bought the hold steady's separation sunday for the boy for christmas, and i've been playing it to death. it's dumb fun, but it's quite catchy. i don't give a damn about your little hoodrat friends.

epic-level conversation with jenny sunday night. we'll see her soon, i swear.

gurs for irish-bucks and half of the west virginia game today. more to come in the near future, it would seem.

holidays are over, and now we're returning to normality at home. i think i'm helping pull down decorations tuesday. how will it go? i have no idea, but i'm fringe-excited to find out.

i think i'm also making rud wings, probably mostly for myself, for the national championship game wednesday. the game should be fantastic; the wings the same.

i just saw jason mraz perform on conan. god, he sucks. i hope that's not the concert nemo decides to go to.

- - - - - - -

reaction from the sun bowl, four days late, and, really, interesting to nobody [and the reaction hasn't changed since friday]:

the most frustrating thing is that a school like northwestern should be able to recruit a kicker. there are high school kickers out there, and most of them are probably smart. [the logic: kickers aren't big, and they're not athletic, so they should be smart, right?] and there have got to be better kickers out there than the people that northwestern has been running out there. because the kicking game left five points on the field [missed field goal, two missed pat's], plus three more points from the decision to not kick at the end of the first half, and also lost 45 yards in the punting game. and that's inexcusable. [as is the lame justification from randy: "i was switching kickers, and i didn't know if villareal was warm yet." check the tape. howells didn't know the change was being made...he was trotting out for an attempt to end the half.]

related, somewhat. with six or seven minutes left, down 11, facing fourth down at the 23, baz was intercepted. wasn't that ripe for the "speedball" play [they've got two versions, used one against wisconsin and one against illinois in 2003]? or, perhaps, just a 40 yard field goal? or, you know, anything but an interception?

not related to the kicking game, really, are the late-game kick returns. "live by the sword, die by the sword," basically. [i think r-dub said that, actually.] those are fluky, and the UCLA kid made two great plays. he didn't let the ball come to him, he attacked it, and he reaped the benefits. [although, on both plays, he shouldn't have scored; better to flop inside the ten and run down the clock, although two return TD's, 88 yards, makes an impressive stat line.]

baz made some bad throws. he wasn't actually on his game. he gets a funny, confused look when a receiver drops a not-very-good throw.

the running game generated 168 yards, 149 from the backs. but every time sutton touched the ball, it seems, i or my viewing partners said, "man. he is tough to tackle." this means that the line didn't do a particularly good job.

70 pass attempts is far too many. obviously, a lot of this came from fourth quarter comeback mode, when the run was all-but abandoned. but there were 28 first-half passes, and much of these, of course, came with the lead. [this could be related to the run, but it's also related to a tendency shown in mid-season and beyond, except for the illinois game, i think.]

defensively...
36 points in a lot. 310 rushing yards is a whole lot. ugh.

i don't know enough about football, except in extreme [i.e. john shoop] cases, to ever say "fire the coordinator!" however, i think that greg colby's defensive schemes must be seriously flawed.

cofield's a fantastic talent. mcgarigle, roach, as well. herschel [the safety] also, i think. even before making the INT, mims had become a presence of sort. i think cole might be pretty good, actually. i don't think the performance of the defense is commensurate with the skill, effort or athleticism of the defense, and i think that reflects on the scheme. for that reason, i think colby should be canned.

so, yes, a frustrating game. but not an anger-inducing game. although i don't think i've ever been angry by a game. frustrated, sad, but not angry. [closest would be that 49-0 game against penn state in 2002, or perhaps the 60-6 game against iowa that season. 2002 was miserable, but it's the reason baz was good enough for this season.]

best part of the game: dig the game report. page one. dig the name of the line judge, if you're an nfl fan. combust due to joy. [other nugget: "time of game: 4:15"]

it was, on the whole, a fantastically exciting season. they were, for about four weeks in october, the most exciting offensive team in the country. baz and/or sutton received major national coverage for about three weeks running. somebody, i swear, picked NU to be ohio state. more, i think, picked them to beat michigan. they spent a few weeks in the top 25. they were on TV for all but one game. [all but two?] seven big ten games were nationally televised.

randy walker continued to be a fantastic salesman for the program, accepting every halftime and postgame interview with a friendly smile and a positive attitude. tyrell sutton proved to be the nation's best freshman. peterman and lane show great growth potential. bacher, seems to me, will be able to hold his own next year. rees may be back to anchor the center position, and strief is the only lineman lost. outside cofield, the d-line is back. roach and kadela are great, and, somebody, simpson maybe, can partially fill in for mcgarigle. [or kadela could move inside...i think he'd be great, and arrington could be a stud on the outside. didja see arrington's hit on kick/punt coverage? woof!] cole-battle [if back]-dious should be okay on the corners, and brendan smith was fantastic this season.

point is, despite the loss of two four-year starters at the most crucial position on the offense and the most crucial position on the defense, i think the outlook for 2006 is better than it was for 2005. [think i'm crazy? check: iowa, 2004.

a brief glance at the 2006 schedule shows four winnable non-conference games, and i only wish two were against bcs-conference teams. [it should be noted that all four are lose-able.] nevada was a bowl team this year, and miami (oh) could have been. there's nothing (except a win) to gain by playing new hampshire. EMU is dangerous, although they'll categorize the NU game as a "loss," not a "maybe." as always, the conference schedule is unforgiving, as NU misses only indiana and minnesota.

i do love being a northwestern fan, and i look forward to another fun-filled season starting next august. three bowls in six years! no wins, but still, three bowls! neat, isn't it?