Driving through the Arizona desert in the rain was the final disappointment  of the trip.  The visibility was low and what could be seen was mostly just a dark sillhouette against the fog, so there are no pictures from today.  It wasn't the best end to the road trip, but I did get to wrap up my In N Out trials with suggestions from some of you, and my focus is turning more and more to tomorrow's game.

We ate lunch at an In N Out somewhere in the desert, and per The Other Andrew's request, I tried the double-double animal style.  It was definitely much better than the regular version, and its uniqueness definitely gives it what it needs to be someone's favorite burger.  The fries were exactly the same, though, so I don't think I caught a bad batch the first time.  I'll back off calling In N Out average, but I still don't understand why people are so obsessed.  P-Terry's beats it in just about every category in my book, knock-off or not.  I don't have a moral food conscience that makes a P-Terry's burger taste worse just because they modelled their business after another company.  What I have is a tongue, and it tells me that P-Terry's tastes better than an In N Out burger.  Plus, P-Terry's tastes good without having to know the secret password.

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Day 2 didn't begin with nearly the same efficiency as Day 1.  Yesterday I woke up at 5:30, brushed the teeth, threw the girlfriend and her bags into the car, complained that no one had taken the back seats out before piling all of their crap on them, hit the ignition and we were almost to San Antonio by the time the girlfriend re-awoke.  That's efficiency.  Today began two and a half hours after the girlfriend turned off my alarm because I didn't notice it first.  We had a nice Mexican breakfast of huevos rancheros for me and chicken and bean nachos for her at about noon before finally crossing the border into New Mexico at light-speed.

Once we noticed that we had crossed the border (When the mile markers jumped to 160-something.  New Mexico had no welcome sign unless you count the "Speeding fines double, Safety Zone" signs that accompanied us all the way to Las Cruces.), light-speed immediately gave way to one mile an hour over the speed limit.  I figured cosine error would give me that one mph back and keep the taxmen police off my back.  Double speeding fines for what?  To keep people from careening off of the highway trying to avoid the swarms of police?  That was the straightest, smoothest piece of highway we'd seen since we left Houston.  The speed limit could have comfortably been 100, but New Mexico has decided that rather than an insincere "Welcome to New Mexico, Drive Fast and Keep Your Head Down!" sign, the best way to show their appreciation for our tourism is with a personal thank you card from one of New Mexico's finest.  I didn't get a ticket this time because of my cunning strategy of driving the speed limit, but I was still lucky to avoid one of the 75 to 35 with a cop waiting at the sign speed traps by staying mostly on I-10.  Anyone who has yet to get to NM, be careful.

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Halfway between Houston and San Antonio on the Road that Goes Forever, as I cursed myself for not having anything to write since Texas got the final BCS shaft, I decided that I would make good use of the plethora of hours I had at my disposal while my girlfriend took her turn at the wheel.  Since many of you aren't attending the game, and I'd imagine the vast majority of those who are attending will be traveling to Scottsdale at 36,000 feet, I feel like it's my duty to at least give you all an idea of what you're missing on the ground.  1,000 miles of I-10 to cover in the next three days, and you're riding shotgun with me.  Along the way, I'll talk about the bowl games from the previous day and any that happen to be coming in on my stunningly low-tech terrestrial radio that somehow slipped past my nerditude and countless Christmas and birthday wish-lists.  I'm also on a mission, and that mission is to see Brutus Buckeye cry a real tear through all that felt.  So I'll make sure to bring it all back to the game at hand by the time I pull into my hotel for the night and upload the day's diary.

Oh, and pictures of stuff.  There will be pictures of stuff, too.

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Email, to be exact.

And you're lucky, too.  In my nightmares, where I receive actual paper mail, this guy is always waiting for me at the mailbox to hand me my letters personally.  Yeesh to say the least.

Hi,
I got so mad about the BCS that I made a video about it (from the Longhorns perspective)...


It’s kind of funny.

-Bobby

Kind of funny?  More like my new anthem.  Oh, and if any of you are having a bit of writer's block trying to pen that perfect letter to the Big 12, may I suggest:

Dear Dan,

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.

Sincerely,

A couple more emails after the break...

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Well, we did get fooled.  We were tricked into thinking we had a shot to stay ahead of OU, when the computers had us doomed, doomed, doomed long before the Cowboys gave up that last touchdown run in garbage time.  Still, we came much, much closer than most of you realize.  We were behind OU by one rank in both the Sagarin and Wolfe systems.  Reverse those two and we'd be headed to KC.  Sigh.

Anyway, don't completely give up hope, because there's still a chance - and it's a heck of a lot better than a Lloyd's chance in Mary...

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Since the ilk of OU absolutely refuse to be persuaded by reason, I'll have to counter with an irresistible force - Trashy 80's music videos with lyrics that were written by Dr. Sbaitso and the MS Word Thesaurus.  To you, OU and punditry, this is Simply Irresistible.

How can it be permissible (1)
She(2) compromise my principle(3), yeah yeah
That kind of love is mythical(4)
She's anything but typical(5)

She's a craze(6) you'd endorse(7), shes a powerful force(8)
You're obliged to conform when there's no other course(9)
She used to look good to me(10), but now I find her

Simply irresistible(11)

(1) This is exactly what we've been saying this whole time.  (2) She = OU, in case you haven't figured that out yet.  (3) Regular season is a playoff, head to head on a neutral field, decide it on the field, etc.  (4) Mythical National Championship.  That's what "love" means in this weird thing I'm doing here.  (5) Becaues typically if one team beats another and each have similar resumes otherwise, you put the head-to-head winner on top.  (6) I'll give you that.  (7)  Bob Stoops would endorse, but not me, or even Mark Schlabach (FotB).  (8) This only applies for 2.5 quarters against teams with fast defensive linemen.  (9) Which is not to say there is no other course.  Look around, do you see a gun pointed at your head?  No?  Then vote for Texas, because it's illegal for OU to hire someone to kill you.  (10) "Playing the best football in the country" will do that for you, unless you lose to Texas when everyone is saying that about you.  (11) Except in BCS Bowls.

I'll actually say things that make sense after the break...

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