Ramblings

• Happy Holidays to you and yours. Peppermint bark...ain't nothing wrong with that!

• I really, really like lists, and even I am sick of every website making dozens of "best of the decade" lists. So, as badly as I want to, I will refrain from listing my top 10 movies, albums, athletes, commercials, books, and bad UVa football coaches of the decade.

• In my opinion, Texas is the best college basketball team in the nation right now. It is crazy that Kevin Durant AND D.J. Augustin could still be there now. If they had stayed in school, both of them would be seniors. Similarly, Ohio State is a borderline top 25 team and they could still have Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, Kosta Koufos, and B.J. Mullens. I am glad that the NBA at least imposed an age requirement, but I am such a college basketball purist that I wish more guys would stay four years.

• I don't know if I'm more scared or excited about what technology will come out in the next decade. In 1999, words and phrases like Blackberry, HDTV, DVR, Blu-ray, tweet, GPS, and Wii meant nothing to me. For all we know, we might be driving flying cars (like in "Back to the Future II") in 2019. More likely, we'll have a gadget (like a Blackberry) that is our phone, computer, TV, mp3 player, and several others things that I can't even fathom. Our kids will think the current iPods and laptops are complete jokes.

• I think the Tiger Woods story is far from over. There is more to this story. When the report first came out about the accident, my first reaction was shock immediately followed by concern about his health (news stations irresponsibly reported that he was in serious condition). Once I realized that it was a one-car accident outside his driveway, it seemed odd but it was a relief that he was not seriously injured. I thought some logical explanation would surface and that would be the end of it. Then I found out the accident was at 2:30 a.m. and I knew something bad had happened -- the only reasons a married man leaves his house at 2:30 a.m. are 1) he's drunk, 2) he's been in a domestic dispute, 3) he's meeting another woman, or 4) he's buying drugs. None of the above seemed to fit Tiger. His wife breaking the rear window with a golf club to help get him out just doesn't sit well with me -- he's in the front seat and he weighs about 200 pounds. I think she hit the back windshield before the wreck. But I digress. Obviously, even after all this came out, I was still shocked that Tiger had 10-15 women on the side. I would've been less shocked to learn that Tiger was taking performance-enhancing drugs. Now, I wouldn't be shocked at all if that comes to light as well.

• As this decade comes to an end, it made me realize that this decade has produced the worst music since the 1950s. Sure, there have been some good things to come out this decade (mostly in the alty rock genre), but even the 80s had more good music than the 2000s. If I had to rank the last 5 decades in terms of the music that came out in each respective decade, the list would be as follows: 1) 70s, 2) 90s, 3) 60s, 4) 80s, 5) 2000s. Yes, the early rock and doo wop groups of the 60s and the hair bands of the 80s have more staying power than the collection of music produced in the last ten years. On the positive side, John Mayer has gotten less douchy as the decade has gone by. I think the less he tried to get laid, the better his guitar skills got and the better his songs got. Having said that, he is still a douche (and still getting laid a lot more than he should).

• The BCS system worked about as well as it could possibly work this year, but it still sucks. I think the two best teams (Alabama and Texas) are playing for the title and I am glad to see undefeated Cincinnati play Florida, but there are five undefeated teams. Why have Boise and TCU play each other? I'd rather see, for example, Georgia Tech vs. TCU and Penn St. (not Iowa) vs. Boise St. The we could see how good Boise and TCU really are. Of course, it would be possible to end up with four undefeated teams if we did that, but we could also end up with just one. With the current matchups, we will end up with at least two undefeated teams. This year would be perfect for an 8-team playoff. There would be some controversy about who would get the last two spots, but that's better than having controversy about the BCS title game. We could still have the other meaningless bowls so schools and conferences would still make the same amount of money -- we would just add 3 games (semifinals and final). We would play the quaterfinals before Christmas, the semifinals around New Year's Day, and the title game around January 7 or 8 (as it is now). Thus, looking at the teams in my hypothetical playoff, the matchups would be as follows: 1) Alabama vs. 8) Oregon, 2) Texas vs. 7) Ohio State, 3) Cincinnati vs. 6) Florida, 4) TCU vs. 5) Boise St. Georgia Tech gets "screwed" in my hypothetical - but when you lose to a mediocre Georgia team in the season finale, you should fall to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. I realize that TCU and Boise would still be playing each other, but then the winner would earn the right to play Alabama in the semifinals. Thus, if we play it all out, the semifinals would likely be 1) Alabama vs. 4) TCU and 2) Texas vs. 6) Florida. We would likely get the same Texas-Alabama title game that we already have, but it would be more interesting and less controversial. Again, I'm not saying it is that controversial this year, but the BCS just got lucky this year.

• If you've never seen the TV show "Damages," do yourself a favor and rent (or check out from the public library) seasons 1 and 2 as soon as possible. Season 3 begins January 25 on fX so you have time to catch up. It is easily one of the five best legal dramas of my lifetime -- I'd argue it's the best. Unlike most law dramas, a murder case doesn't get set for trial the same episode as the murder itself. If the pilot episode doesn't suck you in, then the show probably isn't for you.

• Check out this funny song from Jason Segal of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" fame.