8 Mile

When I passed under the sign for the 8 Mile Rd. exit, I couldn't help but start rapping Lose Yourself. I'm surprised there wasn't some sign indicating Eminem's trailer is now a tourist attraction. I'm in Farmington Hills for the night, about 30 minutes outside of downtown. 11am is my moment and I will be on the attack. My cold has gotten better and I feel ready to go. The drive up was surprisingly easy, considering the amount of ice we got last night. Driving home from the game, I couldn't go more than 20mph. I couldn't even get the car up our driveway, it went right back down into the street. But it was all gone and I got up here without a hitch. After a good workout, a little hot tub, and a good meal at Ruby Tuesday's (the colossal burger is just that), I'm just waiting on tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your good luck wishes and your support, hopefully I can get er done this time.

We won our first game by 13 last night. The guys got off to a slow start and trailed by 2 at the half, our opponents were hitting from the outside and forcing turnovers, making the game ugly. But in the 2nd half, we played Northmont basketball, disciplined, but up-tempo, forcing our opponents to do nothing but shoot 30-footers, and they weren't even close. The varsity also won, making for a splendid evening at one of the coaches' houses after the game. The people at Northmont have been great, all supportive. They are genuinely excited to have me back for however long I'm there, which is awesome.

Today is my brother's 20th birthday. My little bro is 20, it's hard to fathom.

8 in a row for Da Bears, who are now 2 up with 4 to play over the Vikings. And yes, I will be rooting for Da Bears to beat Big Ben and the Steelers next week.

Random: I'm watching Miss Congeniality since I have no interest in the Sunday Night NFL game and the hotel only gets 7 other channels. The TV version of the movie cut out one of my favorite parts: Sandra Bullock's look during the opening number of the beauty pageant. The way she looks at the camera is just, well, it's something I look forward to when I watch the movie and to have it cut out is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!

Miami basketball improved to 3-1 with a league win up at Central Michigan. Nathan Peavy has become a man, the 6'8 junior had 22 points and 10 boards. And of course, I don't go to the Miami hockey game, and they sweep Michigan to take a commanding lead in the CCHA.

Mark it down: USC will BLOW OUT Texas. The only way to beat USC is to outscore them with a precision passing game (see Fresno St., Notre Dame, Arizona St.) with some type of running game. Vince Young is not a good enough of a passer to throw the ball with precision. He relies on opposing defenses coming up to play the run, going for the play action fake, which allows him to throw over the top. USC's secondary is athletic enough to play Texas's receivers 1-on-1, so Young will have to be very accurate and precise as to where he places the ball on his throws. He's improved his throwing, but I don't think he's precise enough. The Texas defense, highly touted, gave up 29 points to Texas A&M with the Aggies forced to use their backup quarterback. Uh oh.

USC 48, Texas 17.

Other bowl predictions will follow as it's time to get ready to enter the pools.

Tomorrow's another moment for me, will it be mine? We'll find out I guess.