Alliteration's always awesome, eh?

Okay, enough of that.

After a pair of conference games for the Bears and Sugar Bears, a college football national championship, the airing of the UCA basketball coaches shows, and some NCAA 06 action on the PS2, it's long past time for another update in here. Since today is the ninth day of the month, let's keep it simple and hit on nine points ... a baseball/softball-like lineup of discussion today.

Here's the lineup card:
1. Rose Bowl
2. High school hoops
3. Sugar Bears
4. Bears
5. Coaches shows
6. Mitch Mustain
7. Sports Information Directors
8. NCAA 06
9. Clint Conque gone?

1. Let's lead off with the Rose Bowl, since you need speed at the top of the lineup and the Rose Bowl gives you plenty with Vince Young, Reggie Bush, and the contents of Matthew McConaughey's glove compartment.

I think McConaughey started his Jack Daniels drip in preparation for the game sometime around Halloween. Excellent little package with he and Will Ferrell before the game, highlighted by the fact that McConaughey could hardly stand and his speech was already good and slurred. I fully expected to see him on the field at a clutch moment, but then I realized he had passed out sometime in the second quarter. I think he was woken just prior to the post-game celebration by the raucous Texas crowd, and the wailing of Chris Simms — waiting for somebody to come change his diaper.

Anyway, as for the game itself I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The first half was sloppy, but it turned into an epic game and one of the best college football games I've ever seen and probably the second-best championship game I've seen — trailing only the Miami-THE Ohio State University game from 2003.

I think Reggie Bush is an amazing talent, but I was sold on Vince Young as the nation's best player in last year's Rose Bowl. I watched that game at a Texas fan's house, and went in a blue and maize shirt and was prepared to root the Wolverines on all night. But, somewhere along the way I found myself totally in awe of Mr. Young, and oddly enough, wanting Texas to win. All this season, I was hoping for a Young-Bush clash, since everybody else was anointing him the Best College Football Player Ever. Some even likened him to some sort of freak hybrid of Herschel Walker and Barry Sanders or something.

Bush may be the better NFL player, but I thought Young was the best in college football this year and – while I knew it was coming – was not one bit pleased when Reggie won the Heisman. But, I think Vince did a fine job of getting his during the Rose Bowl. To put up 476 yards in a national championship game, and with 200 of it coming on the ground, is simply phenomenal. It'll be awhile before we see another performance that good.

The thing about Vince is that he's fast (not freakish fast, but fast), patient in the pocket, for the most part makes smart throws (although not always terribly impressive throws) and follows his blockers well and has good vision not only in the pocket but on scrambles.

He doesn't have a great arm, which may limit his effectiveness somewhat in the NFL. But, I think he'll be a good, solid NFL QB. I had some discussions with some friends about how lethal Matt Jones could have been with that Texas team. Matt was faster, stronger, and more elusive than Vince. But what separates Vince from Matt is decision-making. Where Jones would flip the ball up into a heap of nine guys, Young is more likely to throw it away or get what little he can. Of course, it helps that he actually has supreme talent surrounding him.

That being said, I'm glad that Young had his moment of glory and one-upped misters Bush and Leinart. I'm also glad that he's leaving for the NFL so I no longer have to feel compelled to root for the Whorns.
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2. After Thursday's trip to Memphis, instead of rolling back to Conway, Kai Caddy and I went to Hoxie for an overnight stay and to see some high school basketball. The night's main event was the Pocahontas Lady [Nickname removed by NCAA for being abusive and hostile to Native Americans] taking on the Hoxie Lady Mustangs. My sister scored 37 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and dished out 12 assists. Okay, I made that part up. But she did dribble with her left hand, make a couple nice passes, and take an elbow to the face. In all, a solid night.

In all, it was a bad experience. Not only did Hoxie lose, but it was by a sleep-inducing score of 40-32. Thanks to the magnificent, archaic rule set that high school basketball is played under, Pocahontas (with an 11-point lead) went to the ol' 4-corners offense with more than three minutes left in the third quarter. High school basketball needs a shot clock. There's no reason a 45-second clock wouldn't work. 95 percent of the time possessions don't last near that long anyway, so what's the sticking point? It keeps retarded crap like the 3-minute possession from taking place.

Speaking of idiocy ... with Pocahontas holding the ball near halfcourt for the better part of a week, Hoxie's coach decides that staying in a 2-3 zone the entire time is a magnificent idea. And nevermind extending it out. Stay inside the three-point line. We're only down 11, so we can afford to just sit back and let three minutes tick off, right? At least they're not scoring!! The best defense is a stall offense! I would've choked myself out with the Pocahontas coach's tie, but it wasn't long enough.

Anyway, watching this game really made me appreciate college basketball.
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3. So, moving on to good girls'/women's basketball, the Sugar Bears are 2-0 in GSC play and will most likely make it 3-0 tonight (Note: if Tech wins, it's not my fault. It's not like there's a Josh Goff/Echo/Getoffus.com curse. It's because assistant coach Jeremy Carson accidentally scouted Arkansas Baptist).

They looked like world beaters for part of Thursday's tilt with Christian Brothers, then went on auto-pilot the last several minutes and made the final score a lot closer than the game really was. Saturday against OBU was a different story, with the Lady Tigers actually having a lot of success and pushing UCA to the limit. But, as good teams always do, the Sugar Bears got the clutch play, hit the late free throws, and had the guard play to come out victorious.

The impressive thing about the OBU game (well, aside from Caronica Randle's halftime buzzer beater that proved to be the difference in the game) was that it was two bench players – Renita Dobbins and Allyson Sample – that played the key roles in the win. When you've got girls coming off the bench to lead you in scoring and playing lockdown D and hitting clutch shots, you're probably going to be okay.

And it wasn't like the starters were just playing awful. Caronica did her thing, Shannon Oden and Victoria Richards contributed plenty, and Mariesha Piggee – who didn't have much offensive output – was everywhere on defense ... as usual. Either she's in really bad shape and gets worn out easily (which I doubt), or she just absolutely wears herself out on defense. She looked like each breath might be her last at Christian Brothers, and she was getting after it again pretty good against OBU.

What kind of went unnoticed was the play of Lauren Williams, particularly in the first half. Six rebounds, six points, and seven assists to only a single turnover will help win you a lot of games.
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4. The Bears are also 2-0 in conference play, and they dodged a bullet in barely getting by OBU. The Bears were down much of the game, but got good and riled up late and took over. I don't think I could be more impressed with LeMar Phillips. Sometimes I think the guy is certifiably insane and might snap somebody in half after he dunks on them, but that energy is obviously a big boost to the team and the fans, who really came alive when he started going nuts. The guy is intense, and lets you know it with each and every rebound. I thought former Bear Lee Reliford was intense and animated, but I don't think he has anything on LeMar. I wonder if those two have met? I bet they'd be great friends. And, if you had them both on the floor at the same time, you wouldn't lose a rebound.

As for tonight's game against Tech, I think a big key to this game will be UCA's ability to stop forwards Rone Smith and Ike Ohanson inside. Smith is listed at 6-foot-7 and Ohanson at 6-6, but both weigh in at a solid 240 pounds. The Bears don't have that kind of mass. Well ... they do, but 6-9 Fernando Johnson (245 lbs.) and 7-0 Alexei Korolev (245 lbs.) are only playing a combined 21.5 minutes per game. Alexei sees the court for 3.9 mpg, and Fernando is in there 17.6. Fernando is tall and has good leaping ability, but most of his weight is distributed in his upper body. It might allow the shorter, stockier ATU guys the ability to establish position on the block. From there, Fernando is going to have to rely on his hops to alter some shots. Will Korolev get more minutes tonight? I guess we'll see. He gives you more size, but considerably less speed.

Stephin Booth is listed at 6-7 and 215 pounds, but I don't know if I see 30 pounds of difference between he and Fernando. Either Stephin is closer to 245, Fernando is closer to 215, or there's been some change in mass since the weights were listed. Or, I'm stupid. Either way, Booth will have to mix it up down there against the burly 'Boys, but I expect him to be okay. He leads the team with 12 blocks and is second with 5.6 rebounds per game, so he's been the Bears' best inside player on the year (except maybe Phillips, but he's 6-3 ... so does he count? It's like a Division II Charles Barkley. How do you classify him?).

Should be a heck of a game, but the battle inside is what has caught my eye.
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5. Watched Rand's show a little while ago, and I like it. The virtual set is much improved over Conque's show, with the logo on a court stamped back there real big. It looks a lot better than the logo on ... whatever that stuff was for Conque's show. I also enjoyed the intro graphic and the reader email segments. The questions seemed a little weak, but maybe that'll get better as the season wears on.

As a longtime listener of The Zone on 103.7 The Buzz, I'm a Nathan Christian fan. I can get behind a show with him on it. He had the highlight of the show when he reached to the ground seemingly to tie his shoe or something ... only to throw us a curve and reach for what may have been stats. Excellent work all around. Either the production crew can axe that piece out, or Nate can take a lesson from his buddy Justin Acri and hold the stats in his hand. Or, you could go nuts and write them up real big on a dry erase board or two, and have them off-camera ... like a cue card.

I didn't get to see Checola's Show (Yeah, I capitalized Show. I think that should be the name) since somebody decided it'd be a good idea to air it a time completely different than that listed on UCAsports.com. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see it before the season's over. I think next Sunday I'll just leave the TV on PAX all day and not move from my bed or recliner until that thing comes on.
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6. Nice job in that Army All-Star game, Mitch. After that performance, can we turn the hype down just a bit? Even if he turns out to be the next Montana (Joe, not Tony), can't we wait until he throws a college pass? Is that asking too much? Also, after that performance ... isn't he a lock for Arkansas now? Even if Notre Dame had any interest prior, that's all gone now, right?

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7. Sports Information Directors don't get enough credit for what they do. They put in long hours, do a ridiculous amount of work (and printing), and have to deal with a lot of Grade A Jackasses. And, they stay on the grind nearly regardless of circumstance. Prime example: Saturday night, UCA SID Steve East is nearly on his deathbed and can say about four words before his voice is gone again, and there he is putting in work through two games – keeping, printing, and delivering stats. And, with the administration all out of town, overseeing everything.

Then, on the other side, you've got OBU super-SID Chris Babb battling his way through two radio broadcasts despite a bladder so active it needs its own Ritalin prescription. I swear he made more bathroom trips than the teams made field goals. But, he never once missed the action or wet himself. That's how good he is, folks.

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8. If you're playing NCAA Football 06 anytime soon, just get Georgia and throw to Pope, the TE. He can't be stopped. If that doesn't work, get Oklahoma and hand off to Peterson. If that doesn't do it for you, get LSU and give it to Broussard. If none of that is to your liking, enjoy your loss while your buddy is utilizing one of those guys.

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9. So, there's no rumor that Conque is going anywhere. I just used that as a tease to hopefully keep you reading to this point – banking on the fact none of you are smart enough to just scroll down to the bottom to read the big speculation.