A Few Sugar Bowl Thoughts

A few thoughts a few hours before the Sugar Bowl and the must-see matchup between Notre Dame and LSU:

1) Bourbon Street is a very unique place, and by that I mean it is not necessarily for those with young children, unless you want them exposed to things far beyond their years. Newspaper decorum makes it difficult to go into details, but let’s just say I saw a guy arrested outside an establishment that would break about 1,000 city ordinances in Fort Wayne.

No, I did not go inside.

However, there also were some great blues bands performing, including one 70-something guy named Rooster who put on a heck of a show.

2) Notre Dame remains an eight-point underdog, which should give coach Charlie Weis his last bit of motivation. It doesn’t hurt that ESPN is reporting that four Tigers will be suspended for at least the first quarter for blowing curfew last night. Unfortunately for the Irish, none of them was quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Still, it could have an impact considering they include starting safety Jessie Daniels and kick returner Trindon Holliday. Holliday averages 32.4 yards a kickoff return and also has rushed for 161 yards. Daniels will be replaced by Craig Stoltz, who has a team-leading four interceptions in yet another example of LSU’s talent pool.

3) Watch out for the Fox announcing team of Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long. They've never done a college game before. Bradshaw has never announced a game before, although he did some practice games in preparation. So who knows what you'll hear.

3) New Orleans has a Harrahs Casino a few blocks from the media hotel. I am not a gambler. I don’t like to lose and I especially don’t like to lose money. Still, for a few seconds, I was tempted. My 13-year-old son, Vince, called and, during the conversation, warned me not to bet anything.

The last time he offered advice during a bowl trip was last year’s Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. Next to the media hotel was a very large building that looked like a museum. We’re talking a cost of millions and millions of dollars.

My son and I walked over to investigate. As we got closer, he insisted that we turn around, that this was somebody’s house. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that it was NOT somebody’s house, that I was his father and his elder and knew what I was talking about and, by gum, we were going to investigate.

A man came out of the building. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Sure. I was just wondering what this building was.”

“It’s my house,” he said.

“Your house!” I said. “Well, it’s very nice.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“I’ll be leaving now,” I said.

“That’s fine,” he said.

Yes, I soon got a stern I-told-you-so lecture from my son.

“You should have listened to me,” he said.

I agreed. I bring that up because, in the casino issue, I decided not to listen to him again. So I played $5 dollars in a 25 cent slot machine and lost it all in about 3 minutes. Yes, it’s not a checking account wrecking total (although you should see my checking account), but I have learned my lesson. I will listen to my son’s advice.

Oh, by the way, he thinks Notre Dame will win tonight.