If all goes as planned, the Space Shuttle Discovery should launch and Troy Smith should win the Heisman Trophy at roughly the same moment. :) I’ll be flipping madly between CNN Fox and ESPN, trying to watch both. My parents, meanwhile, are headed to someplace in Newington with a clear southern horizon, in hopes of seeing the Shuttle on its way up. (Thanks for the tip, Sean!)

Also liveblogging the Heisman: HeismanPundit and College Football Resource.

Also liveblogging the Shuttle: Spaceflight Now and Florida Today. [UPDATE: And NASA!]

UPDATE, 8:44 PM: Three minutes to launch, the Shuttle is still a “go.”

And they’re profiling Troy Smith on ESPN.

UPDATE, 8:46 PM: 90 seconds to launch! Troy Smith being interviewed about his life struggles!

UPDATE, 8:47:45 PM: Liftoff!

UPDATE, 8:48 PM: And the Heisman ceremony is in a commercial.

UPDATE, 8:49 PM: Shuttle now 18 miles up, speed 3,000 mph. Heisman still in commercial.

UPDATE, 8:50 PM: Fox News briefly put up an incorrect graphic for the “Space Shuttle Atlantis.” Heh.

UPDATE, 8:51 PM: Heisman back from commerical.

UPDATE 8:52 PM: Introducing the former Heisman winners.

UPDATE, 8:53 PM: Some old guy with thick glasses — Professor Robert Rodes? — about to announce who won the Heisman. Stuttering and mumbling a lot. Barely intelligible.

UPDATE, 8:54 PM: I just noticed he’s in a wheelchair. I hope his disability isn’t the reason for the stuttering and the mumbling; if so, I’ll feel bad for making fun of him. But hey, I was flipping channels, I didn’t know!

UPDATE, 8:55 PM: Um, is he actually going to announce the winner before 9:00 PM?

UPDATE, 8:55:49 PM: Troy Smith wins the Heisman!

Hugs Brady Quinn first, then his family, then Jim Tressel.

UPDATE, 8:56 PM: Shuttle now separating from main engine. If my parents were going to see the Shuttle, they would have by now. Dunno if they did.

UPDATE, 8:57 PM: Troy Smith thanking his dad, mom, sister, teammates. Also thanks Brady Quinn and Darren McFadden.

UPDATE, 8:59:30 PM: Troy Smith reminiscing; his dad taking a digital picture. Will ESPN cut Troy off?

UPDATE, 9:00:20 PM: Apparently not. I guess Ali Rap will just have to wait a few extra minutes.

UPDATE, 9:01:24 PM: Smith picks up the trophy.

MCFADDEN SECOND! Quinn third! Shock! Awe!

UPDATE, 9:02 PM: Troy Smith breaks Reggie Bush’s record for highest percentage of first-place votes!

UPDATE, 9:06 PM: My parents didn’t see the Shuttle. Oh, well.

UPDATE, 9:10 PM: Shuttle launch images here.

Don’t forget about those planets at dawn!

UPDATE, 10:35 PM: Here’s a photo of my dad, binoculars around his neck, talking on the phone to me while looking toward the southern horizon in hopes of seeing the Shuttle:

The space shuttle Discovery may actually fly this evening. The weather forecast had been unfavorable, due to a forecast for low clouds and gusty winds. But the area is reported to be clear enough for launch, the winds are staying below the limits, and the weather forecast is now 70% in favor of flight. Launch time is 8:47 pm EST. Up-to-the-minute information on the countdown is available from Spaceflight Now and Florida Today. Also, here’s an article from space.com about viewing the launch from the entire Eastern coastline - night shuttle launches can be seen from as far north as Maine, and as far inland as Pennsylvania.

In a game that is, alas, not nationally televised (unless you have ESPNU 360 Full Court HD or whatever), unranked Buffalo leads #2-ranked Pitt, 53-45 with 12:15 left. (Hat tip: domer.) The Bulls are 6-3, with lopsided losses to South Florida, Evansville and Tulane. Those games were all on the road, though; UB is 4-0 at home, and this is a home game. Still, a win over the Panthers would be a huge shocker. LET’S GO, BUFF-A-LO!

You can listen live here.

P.S. Meanwhile, there’s a USC game on channel 19 (WGN), the Trojans against George Washington in the Wooden Classic. USC trails early, 13-12.

Later tonight, frustratingly not televised locally, is #8 Washington at #18 Gonzaga.

UPDATE: Pitt survives, 70-67. Darn it.

UPDATE 2: After trailing 38-18 early in the second half, USC made a remarkable comeback and ended up winning, 74-65. Way to go, Trojans!

Woohoo!

Mercury, Mars and Jupiter will be very close together in the sky tomorrow morning:

We have a suggestion for Dec. 10th. Begin your Sunday as follows: Wake up at dawn. Put on warm clothes. Go outside and look east: sky map.

There, amid the rosy glow of sunrise, you’ll see Mercury and Jupiter so close together, you could hide them behind the tip of your pinky finger held at arm’s length. (To be precise, they’ll be 0.25° apart.) Look through binoculars and you’ll see dim, red Mars, too. It’s a rare three-planet conjunction–don’t miss it!

It won’t happen again until 2053, according to the Associated Press. (Hat tip: A Nun Mouse.) Astronomer Jack Horkheimer (of “keep looking up” fame) told the AP, “This is the kind of an event that turns young children into Carl Sagans.”

P.S. You can watch Horkheimer’s five-minute Star Gazer episode about this planetary alignment here.

Last night I went to the preschool where Becky teaches, to watch their Christmas pageant. A few random observations:

• 3-year-olds are really, really cute.

• Watching a handful of teachers try to control a dozen 1-year-olds on stage is no-holds-barred hilarious.

• I overheard a pair of fathers standing in the back, each with his videocamera on pause during the break between performances, quietly chatting with one another. What were they talking about? Football, of course. And I thought to myself: this is America, right here. And God bless it.

• Observing the behavior of the kids — and their parents — for just a brief period of time, it immediately became clear just how right Becky is about the importance of good parenting, and specifically, the willingness to actually discipline one’s child and not reward bad behavior with extra attention. If your kid throws a tantrum, the proper response is not to cuddle and coo! That sends the kid the unmistakable message that tantrums work!

• Witnessing firsthand Becky’s interaction with “her” little tykes (she teaches a class of eight 3-year-olds) reinforced the impression I’d gotten, from listening to her talk about her job, that she’s really good with those kids. She had no experience in early-childhood education before taking this job, but she’s learned a lot in a very short period of time. She insists a lot of it is common sense, and I suppose that’s true, but it’s also clear that she has a knack for it. Anyway, this leads me down several distinct trains of thought. One, Becky is a quick learner; she could be good at a whole lot of different things if she decided to do them. Two, when (God willing) Becky and I have children, it will be an absolute godsend that she had this job. And three, watching Becky play with little kids makes me totally love her a lot.

For fellow 3Ls who want to reminisce about what law school was like at this time two years ago, I’ve got a pair of newly discovered NDLS 1L blogs for you: Bagel’s Blog and 1LG. Both are freaking about exams. (Of course, so am I, so perhaps that’s not so unique to 1Ls after all… but somehow, it’s cuter and more quaint when 1Ls do it. :)

Meanwhile, from the 2L realm, lots of good stuff at Frittering Away, including an extremely cute post about what studying for FedTax feels like. I concur (and I speak from experience).

Speaking of 2Ls, one (who shall remain anonymous unless and until choosing to identify him/herself) had this away message on IM the other night:

Heh. Funny stuff. (Not original, but funny nonetheless.)

Casey summarizes the Iraq Study Group report:

Their phraseology is all roses, but the strategy is pure pragmatism. Here’s my reading of it. If the sectarian groups won’t face up to the abyss so long as we’re in Iraq to hold them back from the precipice, then f*** it. Just push them off. Keep some boots and bullets in the country in case anything really bad starts to happen (IE, al-Qaeda gains traction). But otherwise, just stand back and let the place go off like the Wild West.

The language is far more diplomatic (of course), but this is the substance of the ISG’s recommendations.

The purely diplomatic component of the ISG report amounts to this: Tell all concerned countries that they haven’t been doing enough to help stabilize Iraq. Because of this, the Iraqis are all going into the sh**ter. We’re going to let it happen. You may have noticed that your own national fate is tied to that of Iraq. Hence you are about to go into the sh**ter as well. Have a nice day.

This is strategic bastardry at its finest. Reduce our committments, enlarge those of our regional allies (forcing them to ante up on our side of the conflict) and our enemies. Finally some intelligence has entered the Iraq debate.

Being Casey, he of course ends the post with an anarchically humorous conclusion, but you’ll have to click the link to read that. (Hint: C. Everett Koop is involved.)