Solid like Ba"rock"

I can't begin to express the emotions myself, my friends and certainly many other people have experienced this week. I will never forget running out of bed Wednesday morning to my computer to check if Tuesday night was real.

The feeling was one I haven't felt since I was a child running to open presents on Christmas morning. Thinking that maybe it all was a dream; maybe the headlines, the celebration and raw emotion we all experienced was a dream.

Fortunately, it was not. I think Mikey Mike put it best when he said that he had a complete new sense of optimism about our country and it's future and thought it was unfounded despite the event. However, it is founded; our nation and the worlds perspective of us has changed forever.

Well, the day didn't quite start there. It started off rainy and cold as many remember. One of the benefits of living in Sugarhood apparently is everyone waiting in line for hours for early voting so I could merely stroll to the front of the normal voting line. Thanks guys.

Once I voted I stayed at home and watched CNN while I worked from home. I couldn't believe what I saw in the afternoon when a CNN reporter carved up Joe the Plumber like a well glazed ham.



I think Bill Mahr put it best (and rather smugly) in that Obama was campaigning with Al Gore, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Climate Science and McCain was campaining with a guy who could get a fork out of your garbage disposal. Harsh but true.

So, the polls began to close and as the east cost results came in the Election Party anticipation became more of a reality and game of how much would Obama win by and when would McCain conceed. Also, DirectTV was nice enough to combine the best part of NFL Sunday Ticket in all eight games on one channel with my political coverage. To some it is too much political pundints...for me it was the best of both worlds.

We had two pools going. The first was the Electoral Number pool. Paul, Justin and Carter were all in a dead heat and if the latest reports are accurate; Paul will win with 364 for Obama. Justin was off by one state in Missouri and Carter was off on one state as well. Well done guys.

The second was on when McCain would conceed. I was the "maverick" and went with 8:45pm. On the basis that he had no chance after the exit polls in California were drastically against McCain. Carter had to be the bitch of the group and go with 9:01pm. McCain conceeded at 9:16pm.

Below is a slide show of the festivities. Lots of wine, cheese and cake. But the item that stole the show was Jenn's Obama Cookies. They were historically tasty. The best was taking the cake into work the next day and calling it Freedom Cake.


The full screen view is here

Oh, and we popped champagne to usher in our new President-Elect Obama. One last thing on the election. The last thing I remember before I voted was the lady in front of me who lifted her kid up to vote with her. It reminded me the history we were making on that day was just as much for them as it was for us.

Utah vs. TCU

Okay, now I had such an election/emotional hangover from the magnitude of what happened that I had to pass on the Jazz vs. Trailblazers game on Wednesday in order to recharge the batteries for the Utah vs. TCU game.

Even though I wasn't there; I watched the forth quarter and they made it way too close for my liking given how drained I was. Which brings us to the Utah/TCU game. This is the biggest game in Utah Utes football history not to include the team down south.

The Utes are ranked 8th in the BCS and the TCU Horned Frogs were ranked 12 coming into this game. Two great teams that were eerily alike in their defense and offensive abilities. To add more hype to a game that did not need any hype; Utah wore their new all-black uniforms and asked the crowd for a "blackout". Essentially wear all black to the game. Everyone for the most part complied and this game was for the first 4 1/2 games an absolute defensive struggle.

But TCU drove the ball down Utah's throat on an exhausted defense and looked to extend their 10-6 lead with a 26 yard field goal. Well, I told Justin that rumor has it this guy was horrible inside 30 yards. So, the kick clanks off of the goal post.

The Utah offense struggles yet again and TCU rams the ball down the throat of worn down Utah defense. Now, the field goal attempt is 35 yards and only 2:35 left in the game. This could essentially guarantee at least overtime. CLANK

Now, this should in no way allow Utah any comfort as they are down 10-6 in the fourth quarter and haven't moved the ball well at all. Brian Johnson was throwing darts and his receivers were either dropping the ball or getting de-cleated by the defenders and not getting a pass interference call. The crowd was pumped beyond belief and low and behold Brian Johnson leads the Utes down the field for a 80 yard drive that ends in a touchdown.

This is the second time he did this. From the depths of dispair against Oregon State he leads us to a game winning drive. He does it again when we were going against a much more talented defense. So, we did what we do best; rush the field and take lots of pictures. Below are some pictures from the game. Enjoy!!!


The full screen view is here

I think I've written enough. No quick hits this time. But either way; it's been a crazy week. We saw history happen in politics and from the Utes on Thursday. Crazy week.