Sunday, September 30, 2007

Best of times, worst of times...

Blogging is a habit. And like all habits - the trick is to keep doing it - even when life is too mundane or too hectic. I tend to stop scribbling in either of these two scenarios - which makes me lose whatever regular readers I have - and then it is doubly difficult to get their attention back.

Borrowing Dickens classic quote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" around here. A colleague of ours killed himself and a stranger I barely knew died . Let me not go into details of any of these - at least not yet. May be with time the it will be be easier for me to come in terms of those.

And then this couple I know here had their first child. He looks incredibly small, and he mostly sleeps, frowns, cries and sleeps again. It is amazing the range of emotions he expresses with one single action, crying.

Now we lose to unranked Auburn at home. What a stunning upset. That is one loss too many - as for the repeat national championship aspirations. I hope we can salvage the season, which in all probabilty would be my last one here in Florida.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The mandatory "Football" post!

The best thing about fall is undoubtedly football. And for a school like ours, the defending national champions, the expectations are immense. On a day which saw that historic upset loss of Michigan, our offence looked mostly sharp, Tebow showed that he can throw, and pretty accurately too. The young defense needs more work to be ready for the gruelling SEC schedule, but after losing almost all the starters, we always knew that would be the area of concern.

This would probably my last football season as a Gator. Amazing how fast time flies.

And still staying with football, for those who does not appreciate how big its down here. Quoting one of the ESPN (or was it SI) columnist - I loved these lines.

The quality of life in the South is dependent upon good college football. Local economies, race relations and collective psychological health all would suffer without it. Sweet tea would not be as sweet. Fried chicken would not be as crispy. Country songs would be even sadder. If SEC football were mediocre, the South might as well be back in Reconstruction.