Hook 'em

I'm sure you are all aware of the momentous event taking place this evening (7pm CST). Shops are closing early here, Jessica's basketball game has been brought forward an hour, school meetings have been cancelled. Everyone wants to be sitting in front of a television set, somewhere, to watch the University of Texas Longhorns play the University of Alabama Crimson Tide for the BCS National Championship. Here is what I know about the whole business:

* we are ranked no. 2. They are no. 1

* there is a lot of controversy about the ranking system (popular vote vs statistics)

* our quarterback Colt McCoy (could you have made up a better name?) Did Not win the Heiseman trophy, which is a kind of All Star of the Year award, which of course is a dreadful injustice. Their running back, Mark Ingram, did.

* there is some kind of jinx about winning the Heisman and then losing the championship game; at least, it happened once before.

*Mark Ingram's father, who is an ex-NFL player, missed his parole meeting in order to see his son play in some major game, and is going to have to spend more years in jail as a result. The crime is some kind of money laundering or extortion. This was held up by some in the media as a great example of fatherly love....

*umm, that's it.

But the best story of all, is about Bevo, the 2000-pound UT mascot mentioned in previous blog entries. This week Bevo has traveled from Austin to Los Angeles in an air-conditioned trailer to attend the game. Here he is, having arrived safely in a paddock in the suburbs.

And you can read about his eventful journey here. We all love Bevo, having met him in person at the Houston Rodeo, last spring. Bevo has his own wikipedia entry, which you can read here. It mentions, among other things that Bevo XIV attended George W Bush's second inauguration in 2005, and those horns measure 73 inches (183cm) tip to tip.

Go 'Horns!