Christmas 2011: A New Beginning

"It is, after all, the most important moment in human history, the birth of Jesus Christ, son of Mary, son of God, in a shelter for animals, a cave in the hills outside of Bethlehem. This is the heart of it all, the point." -Brother Matthew Kelty, a monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani

First Baptist Rome on Christmas Day

Once again the Christmas and Advent seasons have come and gone, as well as the concerts and themed parties. The Christ candle has been lit. My old man sang "Ten Thousand Joys" at the Christmas Eve service. Our church congregation has raised their candles during an a capella verse of 'Silent Night.' A family picture was taken, and the Christ Child has been born.

We look forward to Christmas Day traditions every year: running into the den to see what Santa brought, opening the rest of our gifts, stuffing ourselves with food, a 9-hour drive to Arkansas (or a Christmas light tour through Rome) and playing with our new gadgets, assuming our parents already had batteries. Oh the misery of having to wait another 24 hours if they did not.

We put up the decorations, throw out the tree, take down the wreath outside on the chimney and start on a list of New Years resolutions. Some of us are not quite ready for the celebration to be over so we wait until the Wise Men have come from the East and Epiphany is over to start these processes. The wait for the next Christmas inevitably ensues. Back to normal, right? Not hardly.

Christmas is the celebration of a birth, the beginning of our Savior's life and a reminder of the sacrifice God gave to the world when He sent His begotten son. In itself Christmas is the remembrance of a start, something anew.

Now that the season of Christmas has passed and we return to the real world, let us try and do as Ebenezer Scrooge said he would in Charles Dickens' famed A Christmas Carol, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year long."

First Baptist Rome on Christmas Eve

Top Ten College Foot'Bowl' Games

Throw together Christmas, New Years, family and college foot'bowl' games and you have a potent combination for am enjoyable holiday season. So unless you are Oklahoma State, Kansas State or Boise State fans, let's get ready for an wild bowl season.

And to you who favor a playoff season, did the BCS system not to what it was created to do? We have the nation's best two teams playing for the national championship. (Oklahoma State fans... be serious... we have seen the spread offense versus SEC defensive speed more than once and know the outcome.) Sure there are teams that were snubbed of the chance to play in a bigger bowl game, but this is the system we have. So can we all get along while we wait Prince of Peace's arrival? (No doubt He would have a better system...)

In the meantime, here is a list of the ten bowl games I am looking forward to the most this college foot'bowl' season:

1. BCS National Championship Game- Alabama vs. LSU- If the first game was "The Game of the Century" what does that make this one? The most anticipated rematch of all time will decide the national champion, no matter the outcome. When the country's top two defenses were not playing one another they averaged almost 40 points a game. In good news for every other conference, at the end of the night the SEC will finally have a loss in the BCS Championship Game.

2.Fiesta Bowl- Oklahoma State vs. Stanford- Two of the country's top five offenses, and best quarterbacks in Andrew Luck and Dan Weeden, will take the field . The Pokes are a little disappointed they are not in the championship game, but they must be careful of not falling to the same fate the a Alabama squad did when the Tide were crushed by Utah in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.

3. Vizio Rose Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Oregon- Here are two teams, in the "Grandaddy of them all," who get it done offensively by different means. In one corner is Oregon, who uses speed and a spread offense to keep the scorekeepers busy. In the other corner are the Badgers, who line up in the I-formation and use power to wear down opponents. Watch two of the country's top running backs -- UO's LaMichael James and UW's Montee Ball-- go head-to-head.

4. AT&T Cotton Bowl- Arkansas vs. Kansas State- In what amounts to the sixth BCS game, Kansas State is a little disappointed they do not represent the Big 12 in an actual BCS game. Arkansas' two losses this season came at the hands of the two teams in the national championship. The Wildcats defense will be charged in slowing down a Razorback passing attack which averages 307 yards per game, while the Hogs defense has to stop KSU quarterback Collin Klein, who tallied 1,745 yards and 12 scores through the air and 1,099 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns.

5. Outback Bowl- Michigan State vs. Georgia- Both schools are coming off of conference championship losses and looking to end great seasons on a positive note. The Dawgs have won 10 of their last 11 games, while the Spartans won at least 10 games for the second year in a row. MSU needs to redeem itself after their last game against an SEC opponent, a 49-7 drubbing from Alabama last year in the Capital One Bowl. Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio is 0-4 in bowl games.

6. Orange Bowl- Clemson vs. West Virginia- The Orange Bowl is usually the weakest of all the BCS bowls, but the hosts got lucky when the Moutaineers were able to win the Big East so that America was not forced to watch Cincinatti or Louisville in this game. At least WVU has been down this road before and had success. Clemson has been one of the hottest and coldest teams at times this season but handled Virginia Tech for the second time this season and won the Tigers' first ACC Championship in 20 years.



7. Sugar Bowl- Virginia Tech vs. Michigan- Of the two controversial BCS matchups in The Big Easy this year, Alabama vs. LSU is the other, the Sugar Bowl one is the most puzzling. The teams were selected solely because their fans travel better than other, more deserving, teams. The game still has the possibility to be quite entertaining, even if it is the first Sugar Bowl without an AP Top 10 team since 1945. Michigan quarterback Denard "Shoelace" Robinson work is magic is worth your time.

8. Capital One Bowl- South Carolina vs. Nebraska- The Gamecocks have won 10 games in a season for the second time in school history, and the Huskers are coming of a nine-win season in its first year in the Big 10. USC head coach Steve Spurrier may run up the score if he gets the chance. For you history buffs, the Cornhuskers gave Spurrier his most embarrassing loss, a 62-24 affair in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl when "The Ole Ball Coach" was at Florida.

9. Alamo Bowl- Baylor vs. Washington- So you like offense and you want to see the Heisman Trophy winner all in the same game? Sounds like a fun way to spend your New Years Eve Eve Eve. Two of the more explosive quarterbacks in U Dubs' Kevin Polk and the Bears' Robert Griffin III will go head-to-head in this shootout.

10. Gator Bowl- Ohio State vs. Florida- Go ahead and put the over under at 35 on the number of times Urban Meyer's name is thrown around. The former Gator coach is headed to coach the Buckeyes next year after two championship runs in Florida. Meyer has already made his presence known on the recruiting trail. If current head coach, and OSU's next defensive coordinator, Lou Fickell can pull out a win over the SEC the Buckeye bandwagon should fill back up quickly.

*For you college foot'bowl' junkies like myself, here are a few more nuggets that should be fun to watch:

-Kraft  Fight Hunger Bowl- UCLA vs. Illinois- Here is one of those games that opponents of the bowl system have to cringe when they see this matchup. Both schools suffered poor endings (UCLA has a 6-7 record.)  and neither school will have their head coach, as both Rick Neuheisel and Ron Zook have been fired. Try to hold your enthusiasm when watching interim coaches going at it.

-Champs Sports Bowl- Florida State vs. Notre Dame- Both schools entered this season with BCS aspirations but had points during the season they lost games they should not have. The winner of this game will have a leg-up in the polls heading into the 2012 season. If the Seminoles pull out the 'W,' do not be surprised if they are preseason top five next year.

The Weekend That Will Be: Championship Saturday

Georgia vs. LSU- People here in Georgia are trying so hard to convince themselves that Georgia stands a chance. As much as I would love for my sister and her friends to be able to celebrate on Broad Street in Athens until the wee hours of the morning after a Bulldog win, it is just not happening. The only way UGA comes away with a win is if LSU is looking forward to their date with Alabama in the national championship. The Bayou Bengals are too good and wear down opponents.  With their larger-than-NFL-lines offensive line that Georgia will look like they have a chance until halftime, but the depth of the LSU running backs and strength of their defense will be too much for the Dawgs.

 Wisconsin vs. Michigan State- The inaugural Big Ten Championship will feature a rematch of a game that was decided by a controversial Hail Mary pass from the Spartans as time expired. This loss was the first of two losses of the Badgers have suffered by way of the last-drive variety. The second loss came on the road against Ohio State. If not for these two passes Wisconsin would be looking at a possible trip to the BCS National Championship. There is plenty of fire in the belly of the Badgers this week and they will take care of MSU easily at a neutral site and the Badgers rein as B1G Champions for the second straight year. How about that Rose Bowl coming on the First of January? Oregon vs. Wisconsin. Also of note, Badger running back Montee Ball is now 5 touchdowns short of former Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders' record of 39 scores in a season. Ball has is playing in his 13th game. Sanders did it in 11.

Virginia Tech vs. Clemson- Here is another rematch in a conference championship game as the Tigers try to execute the same plan to perfection they did earlier this season in a 23-3 win over the Hokies in Blacksburg. The difference in this game and the previous matchup will be the play of Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas. In his last seven games he has thrown for 14 touchdowns and only two picks. Add his 10 rushing scores, and the Hokies have a new weapon to unleash against the Clemson defense. Also watch the VT defense, who held the electric Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins to 38 yards in their previous meeting. The Tiger offense has cooled down tremendously, scoring 17 points per game in their last four games of which Clemson has lost three. The Tigers are pulling a Clemson down the stretch and lose to a driven Hokie squad. No worries Tiger fans. Your team is young and has a bright future.

Other picks (winners in bold)
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State- The de facto Big 12 Championship game will the Cowboys take advantage of their one chance every eight to ten years to beat their big brother Sooners. Do not be surprised if they Pokes rack up as many points as they can against their hated rival.

Southern Mississippi at Houston- Coach Kevin Sumlin, quarterback Case Keenum and their Cougar team get the W and head to a BCS bowl game for the first time in school history. Hey coach Sumlin... it will never be this good again. Take your money (reportedly $3 million at possible new schools) and a new job where ever that may be.

Texas at Baylor- When was the last time the Bears were favorites over the Longhorns? Enjoy it while you can Baylor. P.s. How can you not love Robert Griffin III? Give him the Heisman and Go Bears!