Licking the Bowl and Giving Out Awards.

Double Post!

That's right, kids. Two doses of the Nate Dogg today because I'm in a good mood! It starts with football stuff and I'll end with some Best of 2005 awards. All aboard!!!

Tough one for Michigan the other night. Not much else to say. They got beat by a pretty average team. I talked a little U of M football with former backup placekicker Luke Perl who happened to spot me wearing my Tom Brady 2000 Orange Bowl replica jersey over the weekend. Cool guy. Can't recall if he ever played in any games, but... The TB jersey was a great Christmas gift from my girlfriend.

Without further ado, the conclusion of my bowl picks:

Capital One Bowl, Jan. 2- Orlando, FL
Wisconsin v. Auburn
After seeing Bucky play a lot more than I cared for this year (except for the game at Camp Randall, that was awesome.), I've been frustrated by this team. The squeak by both U of M's (Wolverines and Gophers), lose to Northwestern in a shootout and then in typical Badger style, limp to the finish. I guess I'll pull for Bucky to pull this one out, but I'm afraid the smart money's on Auburn.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 2- Tempe, AZ
Notre Dame v. Ohio St.
Quote of the bowl season from super Michigan fan, Grant Murray:

"Notre Dame is playing Ohio St in the Fiesta Bowl. Good god, can I root for a scoreless tie?"

In a related note, I don't care what Mel Kiper says, Brady Quinn is not going to be a better NFL quarterback than Matt Leinart. It just isn't going to happen. Can we stop with this talk now?

Nokia Sugar Bowl, Jan. 2- Atlanta, GA
Georgia v. West Virginia
How long has it taken us to pine for the days that Miami and Virginia Tech were in the Big East? Yep, this is your answer. I want to watch West Virginia about as much as I'd want to go watch somebody's garage band play five sets of Bob Dylan. UGA by a lot.

FedEx Orange Bowl, Jan. 3- Miami, FL
Florida St. v. Penn St.
Intrigue abounds in this matchup of coaches with about 800 wins and 250 years between them in Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. I still cannot believe this is the same Penn St. football team that Grant and I saw scrambling to come back against Northwestern in September. I'll have to take them here. Hail the Lions of the Nittany Valley.

The Rose Bowl presented by Citi, Jan. 4- Pasadena, CA
Southern California v. Texas
I like USC in this one, but it's not because Reggie Bush is supposedly the greatest running back on the planet right now, it's more because they are the defending champs and I think they are just plain better than Texas. The Longhorns are by no means bad, but I think the jubilation of finally getting over the Oklahoma hump may have been their season. Texas doesn't seem to have the swagger right now to beat the champs, but there is always 2007.

Finally, I'm very dismayed by all the talk about Reggie Bush's impending NFL stardom. If the NFL draft has taught us anything, it is that nothing is for sure. Plus, I think a lot of folks forget things like: "The linebackers hit harder in the NFL." "They play a longer season." "NFL defenses are very smart." My point is, Reggie Bush had a huge college season and was the best player in the nation this year. Barring a Willis McGahee type injury next Wednesday he will most likely be cashing a huge check later in the year from the Saints or the 49ers. Then in August we will see what he can do on the next level. What I don't need right now in December of 2005 is people saying Reggie Bush is the best running back on any level. Just stop it.

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First Annual Hossie Awards for 2005

Best TV Show- "Commander in chief." Turned out to be a lot more than I expected. It made me like Geena Davis. That was a small miracle after "A League of Their Own." A close second is Boston Legal.
Worst TV Show- "Britney & Kevin: Chaotic." True story. We watched this show for 2 minutes and then I set forth a decree that we never turn it on again. Under any circumstances.
Best Song- "Beverly Hills- Weezer" Close call between that and "The Geeks Get The Girl- American Hi-Fi," "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)- Bowling for Soup," and "Sugar- Trick Daddy and Lil Kim."
Worst Song- Mike Jones! Mike Jones! Mike Jones! Mike Jones! Mike Jones! SHUT THE HELL UP, MIKE JONES! Seriously, this year for hip-hop music may have been the single worst year for any genre in the history of time.
Best Movie- "Star Wars Episode III" Finally, one of the prequels lived up to expectations and hype. To be fair, I am bestowing this award and have not seen King Kong yet. The runners up in this category were "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and "Batman Begins."
Worst Movie- "The Perfect Man" My old nemesis Roger Ebert actually summed this movie up best: "The Perfect Man" takes its idiotic plot and uses it as the excuse for scenes of awesome stupidity." Runner up? "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Best Story- "Nick and Jessica Break Up." Remember when Jessica was the wholesome country girl that had tamed the heart of a hugely successful playboy? It's like someone flipped the "She becomes a skank overnight and he has nothing to do while she's filming Dukes of Hazzard, so he decides to bone every stripper he sees" switch this year. Pure entertainment.
Worst Story- Katrina.
Most Intriguing Person- Felicity Huffman. I have a feeling she'll be carrying her own TV shows long after Teri Hatcher is having her second bout of Used-to-be-on-a-popular-show-and-now-is-forgotten-itis and even after we are saying, "Remember that actress everyone thought was hot until they took a second look and realized it just wasn't true? It was Eva... Eva Long... something."
Worst Pain in The Butt Who People Couldn't Stop Discussing- Terrell Owens. Just go away. You are voted off the island.
Thing That Made Me Most Happy- Patriots. Tom Brady for President.
Thing That Makes The Least Sense- It's a toss up between Tom & Katie and the Tyra Banks talk show.

Things I hope for in 2006: No more reality TV (unless it's Cops), No more pissing off countries that have big militaries, No more huge hurricanes, More good Ryan Reynolds movies, Less marginally talented good looking people being talked about constantly, Less scandals from Republicans (you know, the whole throwing stones and glass houses thing), Less people from the Salvation Army going on TV news pissed off because people gave too much money to disaster relief and not to them, Less people from the Salvation Army on the news at all, Less millionare athletes claiming they need more money to "feed their families" or that they need a stipend to buy dress clothes, More hockey, Cheaper gas, The ability to fly.

Happy New Year, my friends!

I'm finished,
Nate