Although audioposting, alas, did not occur, BrendanLoy.com did have three frequent visitors and commenters at the Rose Bowl: Chris, Adrienne, and Andrew. Chris, on his blog, says it was “AWESOME.” Adrienne, on her new blog, says it was “f*cking awesome.” Andrew doesn’t have an active blog, but I think we already have a statistically valid sample allowing us to conclude that the Rose Bowl was, in fact, awesome. :)

Meanwhile, thanks to my dad for this update on how the poll voters are leaning — early returns, if you will. USC won the tiny town of Dixville Notch, so the Trojans are in the driver’s seat… no, no, but seriously, it seems the Trojans’ AP lead is already insurmountable, and there’s at least one rebel coach who has declared his intention to vote for USC if Oklahoma wins tomorrow!

#1 UConn plays #4 Duke (this is women’s basketball… it can be confusing, with two #1 UConn basketball teams) today at the Hartford Civic Center. The Huskies will be looking to break the NCAA record for consecutive home wins.

UConn currently has won 69 straight, tying the old Tennessee streak that the Huskies themselves ended in 1996. A win tonight would give this UConn an unequaled 70 in a row. UConn last lost at home on Feb. 2, 2000, to… you guessed it, Tennessee.

In other Connecticut news, my dad is providing updates on the fate of Connecticut’s corrupt soon-to-be-ex-Governor John Rowland, just as I asked him to, yet I have been lackadasical in not linking to them. So here goes: post #1, #2, #3, #4. Check ‘em out. And Impeach Rowland!

I’ve been remiss, I suppose, in not posting anything about the British Airways London to Washington, D.C. flights that have been in the news recently… especially considering that, like, I’m here, in D.C.

We first heard about this on the local news New Year’s Eve, when the plane was being held on the runway and passengers were being checked and questioned. (There’s a hell of a way to start the new year — waiting at customs to be cleared by the Department of Homeland Security.) Then it turned out they had cancelled the next day’s flight, and the following day’s as well. But now it seems today’s flight has been given the all clear.

According to the Command Post (which is a great source for breaking news of this sort), there may have been a plot to blow up the plane in the skies over D.C.… or possibly to crash it into the Capitol building… or both (on different days)??? Ah, the fog of war.

Meanwhile, the Command Post is also reporting on a report about a reported plot (am I implying that this is rather second-hand and iffy-sounding? yes) to nuke New York on… February 2. (How’s that for specificity?) “Grain of Salt Alert,” indeed.

Jay Leno’s Tonight Show just aired a hilarious segment in which the Michigan and USC football teams squared off in a talent competition (singing, dancing, etc.). Alas, the Wolverines won, 4-2 — and there was no disputing the refereeing in this case. They won fair and square.

At least USC’s Schwarzenegger impressionist defeated Michigan’s Schwarzenegger impressionist head-to-head. But the highlight for me was the Michigan player singing the intro from The Lion King’s “Circle of Life,” which was, once upon a time, a middle-school solo for me. :)

Since USC’s winter break began, three — count ‘em, three — Trojan teams have won national championships: men’s water polo, women’s volleyball, and now, football. And yet the Daily Trojan homepage reads:

“While USC observes its winter recess, the Daily Trojan is not published. The Daily Trojan will resume regular publication January 13, 2004.”

This is a travesty. Granted, there are many other college newspapers that similarly go into complete hibernation over winter break, regardless of how big the story. But not all. And if the Daily Trojan aspires to be a truly great college paper, as its editors so often say, surely it should aspire to be in the select few here.

According to my understanding, there is no technical reason why the DT can’t do online updates, and there is certainly no shortage of sports writers who would be willing to do the work. (Arash Markazi, anyone?)

No, the problem isn’t technical or logistical — the problem is that the DT has a faculty adviser who clings obsessively to some sort of outdated, ridiculous rule that a newspaper should not publish anything on its website that has not appeared in the paper. (That’s so 1997.)

I believe that this, like many other absurdly timid DT policies, is grounded on said adviser’s crippling fear of lawsuits (though I’m not sure what the legal issue is in this case, and I could be wrong on this point).

Mind you, the DT is an independent, student-run newspaper, so under no circumstances should the faculty adviser have editorial control over what goes into the paper or onto the website. But editor-in-chief after editor-in-chief refuses to stand up for her, and the Reign of Institutional Timidity goes on.

Oh, well. Not my paper anymore, not my problem anymore, I suppose. But it’s too bad we, as USC fans and alumni, can’t read the USC take on one of the greatest winter breaks in USC history until it’s extremely old news.

(By the way, this post is solely my opinion, not necessarily Arash’s or anyone else’s.)

Ohio State is creaming the controversy-saddled Kansas State Wildcats at the moment, 35-14, late in the third quarter. This brings up an interesting question: if the Buckeyes win, will they leapfrog Michigan in the final rankings, even though the Wolverines soundly beat OSU in the final, conference-deciding, national-championship-berth-possibly-on-the-line game of the regular season?

Here were the final rankings of the regular season from the AP poll (you know, the voters who actually get to vote) and what that team has done in its bowl game:

1. USC (beat Michigan, 28-14)
2. LSU (plays Oklahoma Sunday)
3. Oklahoma (plays LSU Sunday)
4. Michigan (lost to USC, 28-14)
5. Texas (lost to Wash. St., 28-20)
6. Tennessee (lost to Clemson, 27-14)
7. Ohio State (easily beating Kansas State)
8. Kansas State (losing badly to Ohio State)
9. Florida State (lost to Miami, 16-14)
10. Miami (beat Florida State, 16-14)

Okay, so let’s review. USC is #1. The Sugar Bowl winner is #2. After that, our winners and still two-loss teams are… Ohio State and Miami. Plus, whoever loses the Sugar Bowl will also be a two-loss team. So what do we do with those presumptive #3-5 teams? Following the normal “win and you gain ground, lose and you lose ground” logic, it would go:

1. USC
2. LSU/Oklahoma winner
3. Ohio State
4. Miami
5. LSU/Oklahoma loser
6. Michigan

But of course, this has several flaws. One is, I’m not sure if the sportswriters really respect OSU enough to put them at #3. I suspect Miami might leapfrog them instead. Then again, Kansas State was a media darling after beating Oklahoma, and now OSU is creaming them, so who knows… but the bigger issue is, what the hell, how can OSU be 2-3 spots ahead of Michigan after beating them 35-21 on Nov. 22?

(Hey, wait a minute, Kansas State just scored, now it’s 35-21 — familiar score! — early in the fourth quarter. It ain’t over yet.)

Assuming OSU does win in the end, a more accurate final poll — based on the totality of the season rather than the old “bump up, bump down” logic — might look something like this:

1. USC
2. LSU/Oklahoma winner
3. LSU/Oklahoma loser (c’mon, give ‘em a break, they lost to the #2 team in the country)
4. Michigan (c’mon, give ‘em a break, they lost to the #1 team in the country)
5. Ohio State (good win, boys, but #5 is as high as we go — blame Michigan, again)
6. Miami (of Florida, though I’d love to see Miami of Ohio, which only has one loss after all, here or higher)

Of course, that places three-loss Michigan ahead of two-loss OSU and two-loss Miami, which, come to think of it, isn’t exactly in line with “totality of the season” logic. But head-to-head matchups should not be ignored… so as you can see, this is a dilemma.

Boifromtroy, a gay Republican sports fan in West Hollywood, CA (that’s his official description) and a blogger who had not previously appeared on my radar screen (his URL: tommytrojan.blogspot.com), has some good commentary on the Rose Bowl, particularly with regard to this apt question:

Amid all the National Championship versus BCS Championship debate, one “tiebreaker” may still exist…which team will President Bush invite to the White House?!?

Read the whole thing, as they say… and pay no attention to the fact that Mr. Boifromtroy has “Brenadan Loy” (the URL is correct, though) listed on his blogroll under the category… drumroll, please… “OTHER GAY LINKS.”

I believe a Seinfeld quote is in order here… either that, or a “Straight But Not Narrow” button… :)