Boise State 28, Oklahoma 10, with 8:05 left in the third quarter.

I love it!!

UPDATE: Dammit. Just when I was starting to dream of a Boise blowout… a crucial, flukey turnover, and it’s 28-17.

UPDATE 2: Calm down, Broncos, calm down. Don’t lose your composure now. Yikes.

UPDATE 3: Dear Samsung: Your HDTV girl is really, really creepy. I’m going to have nightmares about her saying “it’s the mirrors.” The person who came up with the concept for those ads was clearly on drugs. Seriously. Creepy!!

Anyway, a crucial stand there, holding the Sooners to a field goal. So it’s 28-20. Now Boise needs some offense.

UPDATE 4: Absolute craziness, and it’s tied 28-28 with 1:26 to go.

C’mon Boise… don’t panic… you have time left… drive for the winning field goal! GO BRONCOS!

UPDATE 5: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Oklahoma intercepts it, runs it in for a touchdown, and will apparently win in the most absolutely heartbreaking fashion imaginable for Boise State and its fans…

Sooners lead, 35-28 with 1:02 left. Boise State ball, two timeouts left.

UPDATE 6: YEESSSSS SSS S S SS sdnfgfkls[dhagpidfwkshtoiashjgdfjshgklajdfsbhgvkljasdHfaks OWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE 7: Forgive me, dear readers, and excuse my French, but:

HOLY SHIT!!!!

Boise State ties the game with 7 seconds left with a touchdown on 4th and 19, featuring a LATERAL that kept the game alive! We’re going to overtime, baby!!!

UPDATE 8: Oklahoma scores a touchdown immediately, on a 25-yard run by Peterson. So it’s Boise ball. They need a touchdown to keep it going.

[breathe… must remember to breathe…]

I love you.

Sincerely,
    the Irish Trojan

(more…)

USC alum Mike Wiser and Ohio State alum Brad Miller took the lead in the 2nd annual Irish Trojan bowl pick ‘em contest when USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, dropping previous leader Esteban Coca (a.k.a. alphadog) into a tie for eighth place.

Wiser, now a Ph.D. student at Michigan State, and Miller, more recently a graduate of Capital University Law School, have 40 points out of a maximum possible 50. Jeff Freeze, Colin Pedicini, Kay Torg and Ed (SFV) have 39 apiece. Bill Reising has 38. Kevin Hauschulz and alphadog have 37. Defending champion Brian Dupuis (DUP), who led the contest earlier today, is now one of five contestants tied for tenth place with 36 points. (The others are David Plewes, Harold Adkins, Patrick Cooper and Chris B.)

Complete standings after the jump.

If Boise State wins the Fiesta Bowl — and they lead Oklahoma 14-0 early — Pedicini, who was the contest’s early leader as he started 11-0, will take back the lead. If Oklahoma wins, Wiser and Miller will stay in first place.

(more…)

The wreckage of an Indonesian jetliner that went missing with more than 100 on board is spotted in a mountainous region but no word on survivors, Indonesian media reports. Visit CNN for the latest.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

USC 32, Michigan 18, final!

Beat the Vandals!!!

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Beat the Wolverines!

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UPDATE: I saw a guy in the crowd at the Rose Bowl wearing a Notre Dame hat. I wonder who he’s rooting for? To give you an idea, there’s a Facebook group that’s popular among ND students called “I hope a meteor falls on the Rose Bowl, killing both teams.” Heh.

UPDATE 2: It’s a defensive battle at halftime: USC 3, Michigan 3. What is this, an SEC game? ;)

UPDATE 3: Incidentally, Esteban Coca (a.k.a. alphadog) leads the Irish Trojan bowl pick ‘em contest at the moment. He got all four of today’s non-BCS bowls right, and took the lead over Brian Dupuis (a.k.a. DUP) when Wisconsin beat Arkansas. He’ll keep the lead if Michigan beats USC; if the Trojans win, Mike Wiser and Brad Miller will be tied for first place. Coca also needs Boise State to beat Oklahoma later tonight.

UPDATE 4: Touchdown Trojans! It’s 10-3 with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

UPDATE 5: Another touchdown Trojans! Woohoo! But Danelo missed the extra point…dammit. So, it’s 16-3.

UPDATE 6: 19-3 Trojans, start of the fourth quarter.

UPDATE 7: Now 19-11 after a Michigan touchdown and two-point conversion. Stupid missed extra point on USC’s first TD makes it a one-possession game. Gah. Early fourth quarter still.

…here’s a look at the ball dropping in Times Square:

I chose the NBC coverage because Carson Daly & co. had the good sense to shut up, and let the pictures speak for themselves, during the countdown and celebration — as opposed to, say, Fox News, where one of the anchors was clearly drunk (”they’re clountin’ down”) and the other offered such insightful commentary as “28 seconds, folks, until the year 2007, and what a year it has been.”

Also via YouTube, some views from people on the street: here, here and here.

UPDATE: Here’s the Dick Clark version. Dick sounds rather inebriated, himself.

Brian Dupuis (DUP), champion of the 1st annual Irish Trojan bowl pick ‘em contest, moved ahead of thebeef in the 2nd annual contest when Penn State beat Tennessee in the Outback Bowl, then maintained his one-point edge when Auburn beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl. (Patrick Cooper would have jumped from tenth place to first place if the Cornhuskers had won.)

Dupuis’s lead may be short-lived, though. He picked West Virginia in the Gator Bowl and Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl, and both teams are trailing by double-digit margins early in the third quarter. If Georgia Tech and Wisconsin win, seth will take the lead. If it’s West Virginia and Wisconsin, alphadog would take over first place. Otherwise, Dupuis will still be in first heading into the BCS bowls.

Dupuis currently has 33 out of a maximum possible 39 points. Thebeef is second with 32, alphadog is third with 31, David Plewes is fourth with 30, and seven players are tied for fifth with 29 points: Joe McDade (Texasyank), seth, James McGinnis, Mark Gardner, Mike Wiser, Brad Miller and Courtney Tawresey.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

(more…)

First came the “brilliant” decision to keep running the ball against USC back in September — because who needs a pass offense when you’re down by multiple touchdowns in the second half?

And now, against Auburn, the most awesome play call in a game-deciding fourth-down situation I’ve ever seen: instead of going for the potential tying field goal, have the quarterback throw the ball away!

I’m not even a Nebraska fan, and I’m totally on the fire Callahan bandwagon.

In the most shocking development since the sun rose this morning, the Arizona Cardinals fired Dennis Green this morning.

In other news, sources say coachless Alabama will offer Nick Saban the job later today.

Oh, about that Irish Trojan bowl pick ‘em contest… thebeef still leads after Miami’s win over Nevada yesterday. He’s two points ahead of David Plewes and defending champion Brian Dupuis (DUP), and three points ahead of seth, James McGinnis and Joe McDade (Texasyank). But with four bowls worth three points apiece now underway, and none of them even close to being decided yet (in fact, three of the four are tied right now), the leaderboard in the pick ‘em contest is bound to change drastically in the next few hours. Thebeef picked Tennessee, Auburn, West Virginia and Arkansas. Plewes differs only on the Arkansas-Wisconsin pick; Dupuis differs only on the Tennessee-Penn State pick.

Here is Dave Barry’s review of 2006. It’s very funny. (Hat tip: InstaPundit.)

Also via Insty, today is the blogosphere’s fifth anniversary.

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Wooooooo!!

WARNING: Profanity! :)

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Happy New Year from Arizona!!!

Er, and from Utah, where the BrendanLoy.com server is located. :)

With apologies to the Pacific Time Zone and points west, this will be my last automated “Happy New Year” post of the evening. Have a great year, everybody!!! Good luck with your resolutions, to say nothing of your hangovers!

Also, go Boise State, shock the world!!! And of course, Fight on Trojans, Beat the Wolverines!!!