Justin's Weekly Brain Seepage: The National Championship Edition

“Party in the city where the heat is on...”

Al Pacino told me in Any Given Sunday that life is this game of inches. I usually get sick every year in November or December, but this year I didn’t. I thought it was because I was taking better care of myself with having a new baby around, not wanting to pass on a bug to the lil' one. Constantly washing my hands or bathing them in Purel and avoiding sick people like they had the plague, so to speak.

And you know what, I managed to not get sick...well, until Friday. But a quick call to the doctor for some five-day antibiotics, and hopefully I’m on the mend for Wednesday. Why Wednesday, you ask?

Because that’s the day B/R sends me to Miami for the National Championship. I don’t feel so hot now, but I will get better. I have to.

“Because on this team we fight for that inch.”

“We CLAW with our FINGERNAILS for that inch...”

My Pacino impression is probably not translating to the computer, is it? Damn, cuz it’s good.

Before I go on, I want to thank all the guys at the Bleacher Report for putting on a remarkable contest. Secondly, I want to thank all that voted for me, as well as all the other writers in the contest who put great articles out there for the college football community. It was also great to get to know Gray Ghost as a result of the contest—he is a awesome guy and a great writer.

Lastly, I am humbled and honored to be a representative for B/R at this great sporting event.

So let’s get this thing rolling, shall we...

What does (insert your most hated team of choice here) and marijuana have in common? Or is it Cheerios?

Ah, Bowl humor. I found out this year that having a newborn and the lack of social life that coincides with having a newborn made for plenty of time for me to sit with my daughter and watch some college bowl games. I didn’t see them all, but I saw most.

Teams that made me look smart: Colorado State, Ole Miss, TCU, Cal, West Virginia, and Vanderbilt.

Teams that made me look stupid: Navy, Utah, Florida Atlantic, Virginia Tech, Pac-10 teams not named USC and Cal, and LSU (but I’ll take it).

My daughter was especially alert for the Holiday Bowl for some reason when I took the time to explain to her the sport of football and that not all college football teams have uniforms as scary as Oregon.

We also learned that if you’re going to complain about being left out of the title game or the BCS bowls, you better take care of business in your bowl game (looking at Bama and Texas Tech). Mizzou was robbed last year, and they responded by blowing up Arkansas.

Texas can do their part tonight and take down Ohio State if they want to be in the argument. But you have to bring it in bowl season. One of the few (and I mean few) good reasons to keep the bowls around is that so many teams get to end their season on a high note. I think teams overlook this opportunity sometimes, even if they end up in a supposed “disappointing bowl.”

LSU morale was at an all-time (well, recently anyway) low the weekend after Thanksgiving. Fast forward a month or so, fire the co-DCs (errrrrr, they found jobs elsewhere), hire a new DC, and blow out a bowl opponent that was supposed to roll over you, and LSU fans have the “wait 'til next year-itis” going on.

Whooo-hooo, when’s signing day!!!??

Lastly, we learned that bowl attendance this year pretty much sucked. I could see my daughter staring at the screen during many of the bowl games mesmerized by the solid colors of entire empty sections.

Who do we blame? The economy? The fact that there are maybe too many bowls? The lack of intrigue? Is this the fans' way of saying it's time for a playoff? Who knows? But I have no problem being enthralled in a game on a random Tuesday night in December for some reason—even if only 25,000 people show up.

Not following ya...

I went to high school with a guy and a gal who ended up getting married. She went to Oklahoma, he went to Florida. I smell drama!

But I made the comment that I was going to the game and wondered if this LSU fan should be worried being surrounded by Oklahoma and Florida fans. The Oklahoma fan said, “As long as you don’t wear your LSU gear.”

You know, I never thought about that. Not even for a second.

I don't even consider it an option not to wear my gear. That's just crazy. Plus, about 90 percent of my T-shirts are LSU, and about 80 percent of my wardrobe is T-shirts. Naw, I'm gonna represent like Congress and just hope for the best. Anyone know the number for Chico's Bail Bonds?

Plus I figure I'll be surrounded by many fans wearing their own gear, so I won't stick out that much. Sure, I'll get the occasional, "Hey you're at the wrong bowl," or "I think you're a year late, dude" comments or other brilliant attempts of humor at my expense, but I can take it.

I kinda want to pull a Herbstreit and not make a prediction on the game. I'm aware I already have picked Florida to win a squeaker, but let's face it, that's probably just because I'm an SEC homer and more familiar with the Gators. And No. 2 has a pretty good record in these games the last few years, as well as the Heisman jinx on top of that. 

I also have no rooting agenda. Even though I said I'm an SEC homer, it doesn't mean I pull for SEC teams. I especially have a hard time pulling for the Gators. I've actually softened up on the Gators a bit. I've met so many great UF fans on this site that I now realize that not all Florida fans are like the orcs in Lord of the Rings. I've come a long way.

So not really caring who's going to win has made me even more excited, if that makes any sense. Basically because my stomach won't turn on every play and I'll actually enjoy the ride.

I'm thinking the crowd will be about 70-30 Gators since it's in Miami, but I could be wrong. The Buckeyes flooded the streets of New Orleans last year in impressive fashion.

I'll be able to check my B/R profile while in the MIA, so feel free to send me a question or comment, and I'll do my best to answer your question right on the spot or maybe in a mailbag format after I return. I'll also give you a taste of Miami when I get there and let you know the vibe—and of course, when I get back, give you my best account of what happened. The portions I can remember anyway.

Go Gators!

Boomer Sooner!

(Oh also, those of you who are familiar with Miami, I'm all ears on what to do.)