I am really kicking myself for going home from work on time.
Four minutes left, Texas Tech leads Houston 28-23. A few of my co-workers are glued to the TV, and most of us have logged off our computers for the night.
Don’t get me wrong – I was very interested in how the final minutes would turn out. But it was midnight, and I had gotten up at 7 a.m. and was SO ready to go home.
Came home, drag racing had come on ESPN2. So, I caught the replays on SportsCenter later. Still, it’s not the same as watching it live.
Anyway, like WHAT!? I totally called this one. Mike Leach, if you are out there, listen to me next time. 
(Sorry, I have to celebrate the little victories… I’m not usually right about things like this.)
I feel a little bad for calling out West Texas’ favorite pirate. I read a quote from him earlier this week about how he said it is reckless to overlook a team with less prestige, and he sounded pretty serious. So I give Houston the credit.
I always root for the Big 12, but I have to say Houston is a fun dark horse team. Aren’t we all tired of the Boise States, the Utahs, the TCUs of the mid-major world? All they do is play weak schedules then whine about how they don’t get respect because they’re not BCS.
Well, Houston’s schedule is no gauntlet, but at least they haven’t whined yet.
Anyway, it’s high time Conference USA crashed the party. While I have really come to like Tulsa as a team, they kind of just have this mental block when it comes to big games. They melt like cream cheese on a scalding hot bagel.
Case Keenum and the Cougars have beaten TWO big-time Big 12 South teams this year. That’s phenomenal. I can’t hazard a guess as to where Houston will end up in the polls though, for two reasons:
1. Saturday was CRAZY. Like, upset city. (Mostly) everybody’s moving.
2. At this point in the year, you get into this “I need to move A up, but I can’t move them past B because B beat A, but B lost to C who beat A,” etc. etc.
Every Saturday, my boss (who has a vote in the Associated Press poll) goes through this routine at the end of the night. I shudder to think of what time he must leave the office. But I admire his dedication to always voting fairly and logically, not based on name recognition. Even if it takes hours.
I suppose I could mention why a night-timer like me was up so early this morning. Jonathan rode in a 30-mile bike race with a friend, and I went as moral support. Basically, I sat in the car for two hours and read a book. I was on standby in case he got ill or hurt, but he actually did an amazing job in his first bike race.
They didn’t keep official times for the ride, which was kind of a bummer, since I am pretty sure he was one of the first to finish. (It was hard to tell because rides of other lengths were also going on and there was no distinction between who was doing what length.)
He and Ryan took off in the green hills between Tulsa and Owasso at 8 a.m. Jonathan expected to be back around 10:30 and Ryan 11:30 (he did the 50), but Jonathan made great time.
I sat in the car with the windows down (it was a gorgeously crisp, sunny 60 degrees) and read for a while. I was actually at a really tense point in my book when he rolled up to the window and nearly scared the life out of me.
Anyway, I’m really proud of him. Not sure if he needs me to come to any more races, because he seemed to do just fine. Next time, I’d like to get a little more sleep though. 
