Which team would you prefer to win the College Football National Championship?(Not who do you THINK will win, but who do you WANT to win?) — Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) January 1, 2017 My working theory is that most people are getting tired of Alabama and would like to see the dynasty fall. Let’s see if this poll bears that out. Y’all know who I’m pulling for in this one. If I had an orange shirt, I might even wear it. Geaux, Tigers!

My Bulldogs got it done last night in a nail-biter against Navy. Read about it here: “Louisiana Tech’s terrific trio too much for Navy.” This is the third bowl win in three years for my alma mater. How ’bout them Dawgs!

I am a fan of Les Miles. I admire Les Miles. I think Baton Rouge and LSU owe so much to Les Miles. He’s the winningest coach in the school’s storied history. He gave us some great teams and, no question, some great players. He was the Mad Hatter with more tricks than you could shake a stick at (one of my favorite bits of mad-hattery above and another below). He brought the school two SEC championships (2007 and 2011), two national championship appearances (2007 and 2011), and one national championship win (2007). In addition to that, he has meant so much to the community in Baton Rouge. He showed…

Commentators (and even some of us uncommon ‘taters) have been anticipating the first week of college football to be the biggest and bestest ever. Whether it lived up to expectations remains to be seen. In any case, here are my random fan reflections on the whole shebang.

2nd LT Sam Kendricks stops mid-run to stand at attention when he hears the national anthem???????? https://t.co/9yoosVTGNC https://t.co/aNohNvGWxN — NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 21, 2016 Look at what Second Lieutenant Sam Kendricks does in the middle of his Olympic pole vault run when he hears the national anthem. I think this may be my new favorite moment of the 2016 Olympics. Kendricks went on to win the Bronze medal in the event.

The title of the post is a bit of a head-fake. What you are about to read is not about what all us fans will do now that football has wrapped-up until next Fall. No. “After football, now what?” is about the question that every pro-player has to face after retiring from the game. Yes, there is a big payday for many star players—one that leaves them financially set for life. But there can also be a tremendous physical cost. USA Today published two stories talking about what life is like after football for some of the greats. All of them seem to have life-altering physical problems caused by years…

Here is an excerpt from the sad report in The New York Times: The day after Stabler died on July 8, a victim of colon cancer at age 69, his brain was removed during an autopsy and ferried to scientists in Massachusetts. It weighed 1,318 grams, or just under three pounds. Over several months, it was dissected for clues, as Stabler had wished, to help those left behind understand why his mind seemed to slip so precipitously in his final years. On a scale of 1 to 4, Stabler had high Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to…

In the Steelers’s win over the Bengals last night, Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant made one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever witnessed (watch above or below). In the endzone, Bryant goes up for the ball and brings it in around his legs, does a front flip, and keeps control the whole time for a touchdown. Last night I tweeted that I think this catch may be the best I’ve ever seen. I have never seen anything like it. It definitely eclipses Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous one-handed catch. Unbelievable.

If you missed the ending of the Miami vs. Duke game, you need to see this. With only six seconds left in the game and with only a three point lead, Duke kicks off to Miami. Miami does about eight Rugby laterals before running the ball in for a touchdown after time had expired. There are a lot of folks saying that the officials blew it on this play. They may be right. Still, this is one for the ages. The unlikely play is above. Miami’s interim head coach’s shocked response is below. The player who made the touchdown–Corn Elder–comments below that. Wow.