LET'S JUST LAUGH AND ENJOY THE GOOD STUFF

** Auburn made a statement against Missouri on Saturday, rushing for 545 yards, led by Tre Martin's 304 yards. He was within 3 yards of tying the all-time collegiate record, but on the last play of the game. Auburn elected to just take a knee and wait out the last 12 seconds. A great display of sportsmanship since the Missouri rush defense was so bad, the record never would have been in doubt.

** The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to pull one of those last-second, multi-lateral plays to snatch a victory with no time on the clock. It worked, too, except the last ball carrier barely stepped out of bounds avoiding the last defender.

** Florida State will play Auburn for the National Title this year. Auburn has that "high school" offense that 1st year head coach Gus Malzahn brought with him from Hughes High School. No one has caught up with his "Hurry-Up-No-Huddle Offense" yet. FSU, however, led the nation with 689 total points, an average of 53 ppg. This could be a fun game to watch.

** MLB's Winter Meetings start today. A lot of major moves have already taken place, which is unusual, but there are still some interesting rumors floating around.
#Jonathon Papelbon is on the block, but the Phillies GM thinks he'll have a tough time moving him.
#San Francisco may be interested in Ichiro Suzuki, who may be willing to move because of his projected limited playing time in NY.
#The Mariners are waving a couple of blank checks around, ready to back up their Robbie Cano deal.

Speaking of that, most teams are shying away from long-term, big-money deals. Then you see the Yanks throw seven years and $150+ M at Ellsbury and then the Cano deal, and you have think, Yeah, right!

**I was going to list the Bowl line-up, but I'll have to research the names again, since I can't separate the Bowls from the commercial products that now designate them.

** Here is an excerpt from Brad Dickson's final Bottom Ten of the Year.
1. Miami (Ohio) 0-12: The Redhawks win the mythical Bottom 10 national championship. I’d call for a trophy presentation, but nobody would show up.
3. Georgia State (0-12): Aside from the offense, defense, special teams, coaching, halftime-band performances and the pregame meals, it was actually a pretty good season.
 9. Western Michigan (1-11): The season highlight film will be shown Tuesday from 7 to 7:01 p.m.

It's okay to start celebrating the Christmas Holiday now, starting with ESPN's version of Jingle Bells.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYEHUOpwNvE

***THEY SAID IT***
"Mark Cuban said the NBA should discuss allowing players to use human growth hormone. It’s about time someone addressed the shortage of 9-foot centers."  -- Brad Dickson
"Sports Illustrated asked if we should consider Alabama star and cover boy AJ McCarron "the best ever." McCarron best ever? Possibly.  His girlfriend Katherine Webb,definitely."  -- RJ Currie
"The 35 bowl matchups are out. But it’s just not the same without the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl."  -- Janice Hough
"Bowl bids went out Sunday. This is the traditional day that athletic directors see “Famous Idaho Potato Bowl” on the caller ID and let the call go to voicemail."  -- Brad Dickson
"David Ortiz says the Yankees lost “the face” of their ballclub when Cano signed with the Mariners. Leaving aside the insult to Jeter I would think the “face” of the Yankees would be more likely to be a George Washington or Ben Franklin, or someone else whose face is on money."  -- Janice Hough

CP-