Let the Holidays Begin

Hello everyone, and a happy Monday to you all. A quick weekend recap:

Friday night was lots of fun, TheGirl and I tried out the Capital Grille for dinner and liked it, so I guess our rehearsal dinner is going to be held at the Las Vegas location. Good stuff. The steak is good, the decor classic, the service excellent, and the wine list extensive. Sounds like a winner. We then headed to the outdoor Christkindlmarket, an outdoor German holiday festival at the Daley Center. I joined Tito, Gate, Sarah and our new Dutch friends Miriam and Arnica, who will be helping us out with upcoming bachelor party festivities in the Spring in their hometown of Amsterdam. I had my first ever glass of Gluhwein, a hot spiced red wine beverage. Mmmm.
We retired to Gate's place for drinks afterward, where once again we did damage to his carpet/furniture/nice new condo. I bet they're tired of guests.

Saturday saw the two best teams in the land destroyed their last opponents of the year and punched their tickets to Pasadena. I am looking forward to matchup, the star power and the head-and-shoulders-above-every-other-team factor that should make this one a classic.

Saturday night was a perfect storm for troublemaking. Tito, KRock, LongMan, and I had a few beers during the football games and then headed out to Big Bar for drinks preceding a holiday charity party at the Hard Drive. It was good times and more importantly, 48 oz. beers followed by an open bar. Props to A-Ha for hosting us at the event, which was a rollicking success. We then headed to Elm St. to hit a club that had a very long line, so we went next door to a much smaller club whose name I never caught. Bottles of Grey Goose and silver trays crowded with Red Bull and shots of Jagermeister followed, and nobody was really seeing straight when the lights came on at 4:00 AM. Joined by a number of rowdy Hawkettes, we drank well into the early morning hours. The revelry was punctuated by one of our more enthusiastic partygoers who may have taken the concept of the awesomedose a little too far, thus banishing me to my couch for the evening. But nothing could have put a damper on what was expected to be, and was, a great kick-off to the holiday party season. Next up: Office holiday party and aftermath, this Friday. It's sure to be a big winner.

Now on to important things: THE HAWKS ARE GOING TO TAMPA! Against all odds, the Hawks pulled into a four-way tie for third in the Big Ten and got selected over Michigan for the Outback Bowl on January 2, 2006 in Tampa, which will be a rematch of the 2004 Outback Bowl against the University of Florida. I was at the 2004 Outback Bowl, and we really gave Florida a taste. I doubt they will be sleeping on us again, so I hope we're ready to play.

This is just a great, great thing for our program. It allows us to play a team ranked higher than we are (as opposed to going to the Alamo Bowl, which would have us pitted against unranked Nebraska), it is a great rematch and back story, it helps our recruiting down south, it allows us national recognition, it has a much bigger cash payout, we're on prime time national TV, and we become one of only a couple teams in the nation to play in January bowl games four years in a row. As all Iowa fans, I am ecstatic that we pulled off a miracle Outback Bowl berth. We had what most people (me included) consider to be a bad year, but a huge win on January 2 could really change how people remember this year and allow us to move forward as a program. I'm very pleased.

And the Bears finally beat Brett Favre at home too, extending the win streak to 8 and setting up a huge road match against the stumbling Steelers next week. Game ball goes to the defensive backs, not just for their speed and big-play abilities, but for the physicality that they are playing with every Sunday. They love contact, they aren't afraid to make hits, and a physically imposing set of defensive backs is a thing of beauty to watch. If you get a chance, check out the hits that Mike Brown and Charles Tillman put on Brett Favre in this game, both of which caused fumbles. They were both just bone-jarring. Add to that the fact that Peanut and Vasher made game-changing interceptions and you have to say that this unit is playing as well as any set of DBs in the league.

The US got failing grades in terrorism preparations, but at least we're now allowed to bring more stuff on planes (via LongMan).

...and finally, it's time Tuesday for one of my favorite TV events of the year, the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Not only will all the usual suspects be there, but we'll also be saying goodbye to a legend. Thank you, Tyra Banks.

More soon.
T