"Play Like A Champion Today"

The famous sign posted high above the Notre Dame football locker room - "Play Like A Champion Today". A simple statement that can inspire and motivate an entire team of young men. If you never played football or never played any type of team sport, you probably can't relate to that statement. However, with all that emotional man love pride aside, let's be real, 4 bowl games is all anyone REALLY cares about, right? The big 4 are the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta. Then there are about a dozen other bowl games thrown in there to keep your finger well exercised on the TV remote while you flip. If you aren't a college football fan, well you better become one because that is just about all that is going on after the boozing of New Year's Eve has come to an end. New Year's Day and even the days following is all about football, football and more football.

So break out the jersey, the foam finger and face paint from your college days. It's time to cheer on your alma mater. As an alumni, you gotta represent your school! I will be cheering on my Penn State Nittany Lions tonight as they take on the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl, during a prime time showdown. I'm expecting a victory from PSU so they better not let me down. For those of you interested in how the other bowl games turned out, I'm posing the final scores of the games below. Tomorrow night will be the final college bowl game - the Rose Bowl. Think it will rain? Hah.

If college ball isn't to your liking, there is plenty of pro football games going on as well. This weekend brought an end to the regular NFL season as some teams battled it out to secure a playoff spot in order to keep their Super Bowl dream alive. One such team who just squeezed their way into the playoff bracket is of course my Pittsburgh Steelers. They clinched a win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday so they can now go on to play the Cincinnati Bengals this coming weekend in a wildcard match-up. I would be lying if I said the Steelers chances of making it deep into the playoffs worry me. They have just been an inconsistent team as of late, but despite that, I will remain loyal to my black and gold. I will cheer them on whether they are getting their ass kicked or doing the ass kicking themselves.

In a way I was kind of glad I didn't watch Sunday's game. I heard it wasn't that impressive of a win, but I did make a new friend while snowboarding who kept me updated on the big plays during the Steeler's victory. He was one of the ski lift operators. I called him "Skippy". Of course I doubt that was his real name, but he was a scrawny kid who looked like the name Skippy would fit him. Anyway, he was a nice kid to keep me posted on the game. I would of offered to buy him a beer as a thank you gesture, but I was thinking he has about 5 more years before he is of legal age. So I bought the kid a hot chocolate instead. His thanks... "dude, you rule!" You're welcome and Skippy you rule too.

AT&T Cotton Bowl - Jan. 2, 11:00 AM
Alabama 13
Texas Tech 10

Outback Bowl - Jan. 2, 11:00 AM
Florida 31
Iowa 24

Toyota Gator Bowl - Jan. 2, 12:30 PM
Virginia Tech 35
Louisville 24

Capital One Bowl - Jan. 2, 1:00 PM
Wisconsin 24
Auburn 10

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Jan. 2, 4:30 PM
Ohio State 34
Notre Dame 20

Nokia Sugar Bowl - Jan. 2, 8:30 PM
West Virginia 38
Georgia 35

FedEx Orange Bowl - Jan. 3, 8:00 PM
Penn State (10-1) vs. Florida State (8-4)

The Rose Bowl - Jan. 4, 8:00 PM
USC (12-0) vs. Texas (12-0)