I never liked Friends, but I did see a lot of it over the years. If you’re not familiar with the show, it was like Seinfeld, except not funny. I thought this was pretty good. They’re almost as annoying as the real cast.

 
Unrelated, but I thought this one was pretty cool. Check out Tony vs Paul.

Conservatives attack Happy Feet. These people just have way too much time on their hands.

As the SEC championship game rapidly approaches, one of the things that caught my attention is something that actually happened last week. I heard about Urban Meyer’s comments from last week in passing a couple of times, either on TV or radio (or both), but hadn’t yet looked them up to see exactly what all he said. Basically, he was already lobbying last week for Florida to be in the national championship game if they win out, at least ahead of Michigan. He was objecting to the idea of a OSU-Michigan rematch primarily, but inserted his own team along with USC as the only valid considerations were they to remain one-loss teams.

There’s one major problem with Meyer’s comments - timing. At the time he was saying this, Florida had 2 games remaining. First, at Florida State, which - despite how bad of a season FSU has had by their usual standards - was an in-state “rivalry” game on the road. You can’t assume. Okay, Florida did win the game this past Saturday, although they did so only by a touchdown and they have not been particularly impressive in the last month or so. They also, as Dennis Dodd points out in this article (and I have as well), lost to an Auburn team that didn’t even score an offensive touchdown in the game but still managed 27 points against the Gators. Taking care of business at Auburn, where Arkansas and Georgia both embarrassed the Tigers, would’ve been a good start to a national title run.

The other remaining game is, of course, the SEC championship game, in which they’ll face Arkansas, a team that has continued to improve for the last two months. Despite a close loss to LSU (who didn’t give them 5 turnovers like they did Florida), it’s obvious that Arkansas is playing the better football of the two teams. That means little coming into the game - games aren’t won by who’s playing best coming in, but by who plays best on that day. And that’s the point - Florida, beginning with the coach, should be concentrating on playing the next game, not on who’s going to be playing in a game over a month from now, a game they definitely won’t be playing in if they lose.

I didn’t hear Mike & Mike’s “Just Shut Up” award this week, but I have to assume Meyer’s comments were at least nominated, even if he didn’t win it. He certainly would have been a worthy winner, and I know I would have voted for him.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume USC loses to UCLA, which is the only way Florida and Michigan can remain in the discussion. If Florida beats Arkansas, then Meyer can talk all he wants and people might be inclined to listen to him. He can go on and on about the SEC and how the champion deserves a shot over a Michigan team that didn’t win their conference (even if they may be the second best team, which, of course, is debatable.) He can sound off to his heart’s desire about Florida’s schedule and why they deserve a date with Ohio State. But until he and his team finish the season with no more losses, he needs to shut the hell up and start preparing his team.

Often when you see people out there lobbying for themselves, especially prematurely, it comes back to bite them. Even if I wasn’t an Arkansas fan, I’d be pulling for the Hogs this weekend. I’d love nothing more (well, except the win) than to see Urban have to answer questions about whether or not he was too focused on the BCS title game instead of the SEC title game. I’d look forward to his explanation as to why he failed to have his team ready to play, lost the game, and now has to play in a non-BCS bowl. Hey, Urban, just shut up!

I was trying to decide if I was even going to write anything about the game last night. I was so disgusted by the horrible play on the offensive end, I just wanted to forget it and move on. But just a few things.

Duke did beat Indiana, and that’s what matters, I suppose. But their offense was, well, offensive! I was actually surprised to see the boxscore and find that they only had 15 turnovers, because it seemed like a lot more. Maybe shooting less than 32% from the field made it seem like more. That kind of percentage was rare last year with Shelden Williams, who shot a high percentage.

Here’s the thing I’m most concerned about - the sophmores, and McRoberts in particular. He must start playing like a man on offense. He was 2-8 last night with only 7 points. He did pull 7 rebounds, but he must score more, I believe. I think even Vitale made that statement last night. Having him score in single digits is not going to work. They need two players in double figures every night - Nelson and McRoberts, and they’ll need at least a third, or several in the 7-9 point range. Their offense was horrible last night. Paulus, I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt, but the “coming off an injury” excuse only works for so long, and time is almost up on that one. In another couple of weeks, he needs to be playing better, too. All I can say is thank God for DeMarcus Nelson.

Perhaps concerned is not really the right word. Disappointed may actually be closer. I’m not going into panic mode or anything. It’s just been several years since they had such a young team, and it’s hard to get used to again. I think this freshmen class has a lot of potential. In 1999, after losing 6 of the top 9 players, they had Jason Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy come in and pick up where the other guys left off (although they were helped by a weak ACC.) In 2002, after losing those three to the NBA, they had a class with Williams, Redick and Dockery, who were still pretty successful alongside upperclassmen Chris Duhon and Daniel Ewing.

I think these freshmen still need some time to adjust as they begin playing stronger competition. They’ll get there, most likely. I don’t recall exactly what these other guys looked like early (although I do recall that the 1999-2000 team started 0-2 in November.) Scheyer has been relatively consistent, but didn’t shoot well last night (2-10 FG) and missed several easy shots. Thomas, Henderson and Zoubek I’m still not sure about, and I suspect the staff is still trying to find the right mix and rotations with so many people playing (which hasn’t been the case the last couple of years.) David McClure, a red-shirt sophomore, is looking better and I hope for more solid play from him. It’s important, though, that the three guys who played last year - Nelson, McRoberts and Paulus - be more consistent. Nelson is the only one doing that so far, in my opinion.

The bright spot was that the defense was pretty good last night, especially in the first half. Although I felt like Indiana was a little shaky in the first half. I knew they’d play better in the second half. I actually expected it before then. The last 30 seconds of the first half, when Duke (up 14) failed to score and then allowed IU to score and cut it to 12 at the buzzer didn’t help. I think IU got just a small shot of momentum going in and they came out playing hard to start the second. Duke’s defense was not bad in the second half. Their defense didn’t let IU back in the game, their offense did. They were horrible, shooting only 22% in the second half. That is unacceptable.

So, next up is Georgetown. Without a significantly better offensive performance, I can’t see them winning that game, even at home. Last year, Duke came off of shaky wins against Virginia Tech (Dockery’s half court shot at the buzzer) and Penn, and I had little hope going up against Texas. They proceeded to wipe the floor with them. I can only hope they come back like that this week. But without Redick’s 41 points, that may be more difficult. The way I see it, McRoberts is going to have to have a huge game or they lose.

This game, of course, was part of the yearly “ACC-Big 10 Challenge”, which the ACC has won all 7 years. After last night’s games, the ACC is up 4-2, with NC State, Maryland and Georgia Tech also posting wins thus far. The remaining 5 games will be played tonight, including Ohio State vs North Carolina. Duke improved to 8-0, the only team from either conference that has remained undefeated in the challenge.

Slices

A couple items from the Slices section over at Relevant Magazine:

The cost of the items mentioned in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” has gone up 3.1% since last year. Evidently rising labor costs are to blame, particularly for days nine through twelve. The cost for maids-a-milking, however, remained constant.

TV Land has selected the 100 Greatest TV Catchphrases. You can follow the link to see the list, although only in alphabetical order. Starting December 11th, TV Land will begin airing countdowns of the list in order over several days. I was disappointed to find that Phil Stubb’s “Shave My Poodle” did not make the list.

Other stuff I’ve read

I don’t intend in any way to defend Michael Richards’ outburst from a couple of weeks ago. What he said during his standup act was horrible, offensive and clearly wrong. But, I just don’t see this doing much good. Jesse Jackson (not surprisingly) is calling for a boycott of the recently released Seinfeld Season 7 DVD set. It seems to me that most of the people who listen to Jackson wouldn’t be buying this anyway. Seinfeld was never very popular among minorities. And, I would think that most of the people who would buy this - mostly white Americans - aren’t paying a lot of attention to Jackson. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I tend to believe that the DVD sales will be impacted very little.

Are large numbers of men getting pregnant? No, no, just kidding. However, it looks like we will have the pill for men in a few years. It would requre a man to wait several hours after taking it for it to be effective, and would last 24 hours. The pill has one major drawback, according to Dr. David Katz, ABC News medical contributor:

If you forget to take it, then obviously it can’t work.

And that’s why it never will. When women were asked about it, one responded, “If my partner was using it, I would probably continue to use birth control as well.” Good call.

Deer hunting season started here in Arkansas a few weeks ago, and probably in many other states as well. If any of you out there are hunters, a word of caution: be careful out there…

Q: Does Notre Dame belong in a BCS bowl?
A: What this guy said.

Christmas

No doubt we’ll hear more and more about the “war on Christmas” as the day approaches. I responded to this last year, and here’s a post by Diana Butler Bass over at God’s Politics blog about this year’s war on Christmas, although it’s from a different angle than usual.

Speaking of Christmas, Shaun Groves answers the age-old question of what to get the person who has everything. Good answer.

Also, Greg Taylor offers 10 tips for a simpler more meaningful Christmas.

Why God invented highlighters

I’m currently reading Shane Claiborne’s book The Irresistable Revolution. I hope to post about it soon, but I wanted to share a quote he included from Rich Mullins. I love Rich’s work and the example he left us. He came up with some great quotes from time to time and here’s one worth repeating:

You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you just have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too…[And he paused in the awkward silence.] But I guess that’s why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest.

I suspect that’s often true. I was reminded of a recent post by Scott Freeman in his series on non-violence, where he listed numerous passages from the gospels where Jesus speaks to non-violence. Some who commented (either on that post or others in the series) seemed to easily dismiss them, citing examples where violence was clearly (in their eyes) the only way to resolve the situation (i.e., the popular “intruder breaks into your home and attacks your family” argument.) Many others would feel the same way. I think we do this in many areas, non-violence and wealth being just two examples. “Yes, Jesus meant what he said…but only up to a point.” It makes for an easier Christianty if we can highlight the things that are easier to live out while ignoring the hard stuff. It’s easier to talk about the cross than to pick up our own. And I know because I want to use the highlighter, too.

Not-So-Wide World of Sports

Many things in the last week. First, obviously, was a disappointing loss by the Hogs to LSU. I thought they would pull that one out, but fell a little short. Too many big plays given up by the defense, and a lack of accurate passing seemed to be too much to overcome. Arkansas did score more points on LSU’s top-rated defense than anyone else has, plus they had 2 backs (McFadden and Jones, of course) with 100+ yards. No back this season had run for 100 yards on LSU. Now two have. In the end, the game was meaningless, except that it would’ve been great to be undefeated in the SEC. Next up is the game that really matters - Florida in the SEC championship. I think the Hogs are better than Florida. We’ll find out Saturday, though.

I watched the roundball Hogs three times during the holiday weekend. They had a shaky game with Southern Illinois, but pulled out an OT win and then a win over Marist, both in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. Last night, they looked much better in the finals against West Virginia, eventually winning the game and the tournament. Sonny Weems appears to have the most potential on this team. I see him being a star in another month or so. Upcoming games with Missouri, Texas Tech and Texas should provide some good experience for a team that lost several key players from last season.

Duke lost it’s first game this season in the finals of the CBE Classic against Marquette last Tuesday. It was called an upset by ESPN, but that’s only due to the rankings at the time. Marquette is probably a better team right now than Duke. I complained about Notre Dame last week, but Duke is also gets the benefit of the doubt, too. They are not a top 10 team right now, but could very well be by season’s end. That remains to be seen. Nevertheless, it was a loss they’ll likely learn from, and with upcoming games against Indiana, Georgetown and Gonzaga, they too will be tested and get some good experience heading into conference play. And they’ll need it - the ACC will be very good this year.

Other stuff… USC hammered Notre Dame as expected. They’ll still end up in a BCS bowl despite not having beaten any decent teams this year. Best football games I saw this weekend (besides Arkansas-LSU, despite the loss) were Clemson-South Carolina and Georgia-Georgia Tech. Great games with a great finishes. Florida and Kansas played what apparently was a great game on Saturday night, although I didn’t see it. Last year, Florida played nobody until conference play, when they finally lost. They do have decent non-conference teams on their schedule this year, which could provide additional experience for an already great team. UNC also lost this week, to Gonzaga in the NIT in New York. Tyler Hansbrough was invisible during the game, which was highly unusual. I still believe they’ll be the best team when March rolls around, but sometimes having too much talent is a detriment, so I guess we’ll see.

Finally, a little humor from The Onion, focusing on Ohio State-Michigan, the Indianapolis Colts, and John Madden.

Evidently the president-elect of the Christian Coalition has resigned before officially taking office. Joel Hunter, set to begin his tenure as president in the new year, resigned Tuesday. Here’s a few quotes:

The Rev. Joel Hunter, of Longwood’s Northland, A Church Distributed, said he quit as president-elect of the group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson because he realized he would be unable to broaden the organization’s agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

He hoped to include issues such as easing poverty and saving the environment.

“These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about,” Hunter said.

“They pretty much said, ‘These issues are fine, but they’re not our issues; that’s not our base,’ ” Hunter said of his conversation with the group’s leadership.

The coalition’s rejection of Hunter’s approach means it is unwilling to part with its partisan, Republican roots, Hunter said.

I thought this was pretty sad. It’s sad that many - like the Christian Coalition, along with men like Falwell, Dobson, etc. - see these as the two most important issues (and at times it appears they believe they’re the only two issues.) It’s also sad that many likely believe that Christians in general feel the same way, and that they will only see us for what we are against instead of what we are for. Part of this lies at our own feet - we must make certain that people know more than what they see in the likes of the CC. But it’s a shame organizations and men such as these choose such a narrow agenda and often show so little of the light of Christ.

I’m also glad there are people out there like Joel Hunter who recognize that there are many more moral issues besides “the big two” and want to make a difference, even if the CC isn’t willing to go along with it. Perhaps, had he stayed with them, he could have made a difference. But it would seem the discouragement was so great initially that he could see no hope for change. I hope that won’t always be the case.

h/t Craig Borlase

I posted some of this on Mike’s blog in a comment, but figured I’d go ahead and post my BCS thoughts here as well. After the weekend games and the release of the lastest BCS poll, I see only two possible scenarios for the BCS title game:

• Ohio State vs USC
• Ohio State vs Michigan

Considering the type of game that was played in Columbus, a lot of the people who may have been on the fence about a rematch may be swayed to lean that direction now. It was a fun game to watch and exciting to the end. It was close, a 3-point game, at Ohio State. A neutral field game should be just as good, right? Well, I’m not so sure about that. Often rematches in the same season are not as good as the original.

Regardless, Michigan remained #2 in the BCS poll, and I don’t see anyone except USC with a shot at jumping them. Here’s the way I see the “contenders”:

• Arkansas - The Hogs would need more help than they can get, in my opinion. Assuming everyone above them lost and they beat LSU and Florida, I just don’t see them moving ahead of Michigan. I just think the distance is too great. They are in a position not unlike Auburn two years ago. They started so far out of the race, they just can’t make up the distance. They could get close, but not close enough. At best, they could end up third.
• Notre Dame - I’m still trying to figure out why they’re even in the discussion (and ranked in the BCS top five.) They’ve only beaten one team that is ranked in the BCS top 25 (Penn State at #25), and the other top 25 team they played was Michigan, who embarressed them in South Bend. If they beat USC, they would have more of a legitimate argument, but that’s not going to happen. If they weren’t Notre Dame, they would not be in the top 10 right now.
• Florida - Florida may have the best shot, but I still don’t think it’s enough. Granted, Florida should be undefeated right now. A meltdown at Auburn is the only reason they’re not. Auburn didn’t score an offensive touchdown and score 27 points in the win. You don’t do that without some help, which Florida freely gave that night. If Florida beats FSU and Arkansas, they may come close, but I wouldn’t see them passing Michigan (and they’d still need USC to lose, too.)
• USC - The Trojans are the only team, as I’ve said, that I believe can move ahead of Michigan, and I believe they will if they beat Notre Dame and UCLA. They are currently #2 in both of the human polls involved (USA Today, Harris), and I think the wins over Notre Dame and UCLA might help them in the computer side of things.

I’ve been preaching for weeks that I don’t want to see a rematch. I said that again just a few days ago. However, after Saturday, I’m more willing to accept it. I think these two teams, along with USC, are the best three teams in the country. Florida, Arkansas and Notre Dame just aren’t as good, in my opinion. If USC loses, Michigan would, and probably should, be there. If USC wins out, I think they might jump Michigan and win the spot.

Either way, I say Ohio State wins it all. And either way, the BCS still sucks and we still need a playoff.

Arkansas vs LSU

Since I may not post again before the game (I’m leaving town tomorrow), I thought I’d go ahead and offer a few thoughts on this game. I’ve been on the fence about whether or not they would win this game. I’m leaning again today in the direction of them winning. Nutt has only lost once in Little Rock, and the Hogs always play well there. True, that one loss was to LSU two years ago, but that Arkansas team was a much lesser team than this one. I have a good feeling about it (at the moment, anyway) and I think they’ll get it done. My concern is that it will take a lot out of them prior to the SEC title game, or, worse, someone will end up injured. If I had to choose, I’d rather have the win over Florida and an SEC championship. But, they will get an extra day to rest with the LSU game being on Friday.

My prediction will sound familiar. Four years ago was “The Miracle on Markham” when Arkansas beat LSU in Little Rock (War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock being on Markham Street.) The Tigers kicked a field goal with 40 seconds remaining to take a 20-14 lead. With a field goal to tie no longer an option, Arkansas proceeded to score the winning touchdown on a 31-yard Matt Jones pass into the end zone with only 9 seconds remaining in the game, giving the Hogs a 21-20 win. This year will be another close, hard-fought win for the Hogs: Arkansas 21, LSU 20.

CBE Classic

I watched Duke’s fourth win of the season last night as they defeated Air Force 71-56 in Kansas City. With the win, Duke now has 1,800 victories, the fourth school to reach that mark (behind Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas.)

This was the first game away from home, and a good Air Force team was a great test for the young Blue Devils. DeMarcus Nelson has emerged as the “go to” guy early in the season. He had 23 points on 7-10 FG and 6-7 FT last night. They looked good on defense, and played very well on offense, including shooting 74% in the first half. Duke had five players with 8 points or more, with three of them in double figures (Nelson, Thomas, Scheyer). Paulus and McRoberts both had 5 assists. I am very encouraged thus far with the performance of this team. There will still be rough nights with such a young team - perhaps tonight against #16 Marquette - but the potential this team is showing is great. They’ve been playing a lot of players, although last night three players - the “veterans” - played 34 or more minutes each. I figure the rotation will settle down in the coming weeks and some of the guys will play fewer minutes as the competition gets better. Tonight’s game with Marquette will be their first ranked opponent, and certainly their toughest test in this young season. But, regardless of what happens tonight, they’re looking good and should only get better.

Nice TIME.com article from Sunday about worship leader Chris Tomlin.

Christianity Today has released it’s “Best Christian Albums for 2006“. (h/t Shaun Groves)