The Road to The Championship

The crew has landed on Bourbon St.! The above photo, sent by Josh just minutes ago, proves that our roving reporters were indeed headed to the promised land and not Daytona Beach for a weekend of fun in the sun as some of you speculated.

The fellow left of center in the red shirt is clearly an LSU fan, staring at our friends as if to engage them in a battle of wits, or possible a dance-off, which Paul is famous for in the Southern region. Easy fellas!

You can bet fans from both teams are out on the town tonight, shaking off those pre-game jitters. No word as to what Paul, Josh and JR will get into now that they are safe in New Orleans. From what I hear, the place isn't really a party town.

Stay tuned...

The Weekend Read

Crystal Ballin'

Twenty-four hours from now the first half of BCS Championship Game will be well underway. This we know.

The next couple hours are all speculation but as soon as the game ends we can pretty much predict how things will play out, regardless of the winner:

• 15 minutes after the game: Hoards of fans from the winning team (lets say, Ohio St.) descend upon Bourbon St. to celebrate the win in high fashion, all looking ridiculous to various degrees, depending on their age. Locals are completely un-fazed by the sight of grown men crying, showering each other in domestic beer.
• 20 minutes after the game: FOX Sports analysts run out of things to say, keep "sending in back to Urban Meyer" who, at this point, is convincing a recruit who committed to the loosing team to come play for his Gators.
  
• 45 minutes after the game: Mark May and Lou Holtz disagree over who was the game's "X-factor." Reece Davis giggles and, just for the sport of it, asks Lou Holtz to do a Sylvester the Cat impersonation.
  
• 1 hour after the game: An ESPN.com columnist publishes the first retrospective of the game and either claims that A.) The Big Ten is years behind everyone else in terms of speed and offensive schemes or B.) A plus-one format or play-off is only fair because of the demanding SEC schedule that didn't allow Georgia, the real #1 team in the country, to meet LSU in the title game.
• 2 hours after the game: The Skybus flight from New Orleans to Columbus departs at an obscure hour, leaving almost everyone behind. Subsequently, these stragglers learn that the hospitality and amenities at the local 24- hour convenience store are more generous than those on their scheduled flight.
• 12 hours after the game: Les Miles announces he is leaving LSU to pursue his life-long dream of becoming the head coach of his alma mater, Michigan.
• 16 hours after the game: At a press conference Jim Tressel is vocally "very proud of our young people" and feels that both teams "played some of the best football he's ever seen." It is unclear whether Coach Tressel is presently aware of the game's outcome.
• 24 hours after the game: 2008 pre-season predictions from at least 50 experts are published along with 10,000 reactions to those predictions that insist Ohio St. is ranked too high.
  

The Road to The Championship

Paul, Josh and JR taking a breather and waxing philosophical outside of one of those kooky southern emporiums.

The smell continues to worsen as we cruise towards the Mississippi delta but nothing can stop these brave reporters from reaching our destination.

We are currently making good time traveling south down I-65 as Paul Germain is bobbing and weaving through the plentiful highway of pick up trucks. Josh Miller as taken over the role of navigator while JR Thompson heads up our security detail. The glares have become more threatening the further south that we have traveled. It doesn't help that Paul and Josh bellowed out a series of "OH""IO" chants disrupting the game of pool that was taking place at the Truck Stop / McDonald's / Nail Salon / Laundry mat / Tire Center.

As far as the upcoming show down is concerned, our sources in New Orleans indicate that the team is upbeat and so are we as we continue to head in hostile territory. The 2002 National Championship game is on loop in the rear entertainment system while we eat up white lines heading to the "Big Easy". This team of roving reporters is confident that Tressel and his silver bullets are not doomed to make the same mistakes of a year ago.

Over the next 72 hours sleep will take a back seat as we honor our commitment to the readers of Old Columbus Town to provide the best coverage possible that three cars sales people can provide. You won't be getting the cream puff predictions like you hear from Corso and Herbie. We will scour Bourbon Street, the Superdome and everything in between to be your eyes and ears in the Bayou.

Big thanks to Dave for putting together a great place for Buckeye fans to call home. Sorry for dumbing it up!

Paul, Josh, and JR, 3:38PM EST

Well done boys! Deep into enemy territory and still not afraid to wear your colors. I'm not in the least bit embarrassed to say that I've been living vicariously through you and wish these sore eyes could see what awaits you on Bourbon St, or should I say "South High St."

Stay tuned...

'Eye Candy

Film Study

For anyone who feels so inclined to brush up on his/her SportsCenter...














I agree, Mark Schlabach has all the personality of a used napkin.

More to come...