Those who know me well know that I do not pay attention to footballl (or any sport) on TV or otherwise. But Boise State University went 12-0 this season, winning their conference championship and rated high enough in the national standings to be one of the teams play in the Fiesta Bowl. Why would I care? Well, Boise is my home town. My wife and I both did 2 years at Boise State University (she got an AA degree, I get the Alumni mail - go figure). And, my younger brother and his wife flew down to Arizona to catch the game.

We hoped Boise State would play well, hoping they would win — in the same way you hope you win the lottery — but not get shut down and being laughed at. Well, they are not being laughed at now. If every football game was as engaging as this one, I would be a football fan. This game had all the excitement of a scripted for the movies game. There were very few lulls in the action.

Anyway, I will not give a play by play, but just say that even though this may be the first and last game I watch this year, it was worth every minute.

The Wall Street Journal Daily Fix:

Last night’s Fiesta Bowl wasn’t college football’s best game ever, but it may have been the wildest — and its most significant.
Oklahoma came back from 18 points down to seize a seven-point lead with 62 seconds left, but then Boise State scored a tying touchdown on a hook-and-lateral play — a daring call suggested by a backup quarterback, and explained in a Wikipedia entry that already incorporates last night’s play — on fourth-and-18 with seven seconds left.
And that was just the game’s second most-spectacular play.
Together, the teams scored 22 points in the fourth quarter’s final two and a half minutes, and it could well have been 23. But after the tying touchdown, Boise State first-year coach Chris Petersen took the tie, saving his dynamite two-point conversion for overtime, after Boise State again scored a survival touchdown on fourth down. In the game’s winning play, similar to a Statue of Liberty play, Broncos quarterback Jared Zabransky faked a pass with his right hand while holding the ball behind his back with his left. Flawless blocking and confused defenders left Ian Johnson untouched as he scampered into the end zone…

I just ran across these Spanish Proficiency Exercises at the University of Texas web site. They look pretty interesting with 80+ different topics at 4 levels of proficiency. Here is their description of the material:

Spanish Proficiency Exercises is a compilation of brief video clips in which native speakers of Spanish from various locations throughout Latin America and Spain demonstrate various language tasks. The objective of the exercises is to provide students of Spanish with the necessary tools to be able to talk about the same topics in Spanish. In order to do, this Spanish Proficiency Exercises contains five major components. First, there is a simplified video clip. This simplified version is scripted, the native speakers talks slower, and he or she uses simpler words and less slang. Second, there are video clips of native speakers who also perform the proficiency tasks. These clips are not scripted. What the native speakers say is what they really said. Some may talk fast, others talk slow, and some have specific regional dialects.

Third, to help perform the same task, we provide a Spanish/English glossary of vocabulary words that students may need in order to talk about the topic. Fourth, we also provide sample sentences that one may want to use in order to talk about the topic. Finally, we offer a brief, mini-grammar explanation on some grammar principle that is related to the proficiency topic. After reviewing the simplified version, the vocabulary, the phrases, the grammar, and the video clips of the native speakers, we believe that students will be more prepared to perform the same proficiency tasks.

The gray menu bar at the top of each page contains proficiency topics, divided by level of difficulty: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior. Click on any of these levels to see a list of topics. Then click on any of the specific topics to see the video clips, vocabulary lists, phrases lists, and mini-grammar explanations.

Each page contains an option menu to the right, which is always visible. Additionally, you will see a thumbnail of the native speakers who respond to each exercise. Click on the subject’s name or thumbnail to open a new window with the video clip. This window allows users to view the QuickTime video clip with the Spanish transcript [S], or the English translation [E], or without any text at all [N].

A site index offers a comprehensive list of website components – including video podcasts and a topical grammar index.

This definitely looks like something I can use to sharpen my listening since it has audio and transcripts and various speakers from different areas.

Here is the artists conceptual drawing of our new building we are about to start. Mid-Columbia Insurance will occupy about one-third of the building at the far end and the remaining space will be available for lease as either one or two offices. The address is 8601 W Clearwater Ave, in Kennewick, on the west side of Columbia Center Blvd.

Not sure who owns the little yellow truck….

Went to the annual book sale at the local library today. Thousands of books and I almost walked away without buying anything! I say almost, because I went out to the car to get my camera and when I came back I did find 3 books (sorry Von).

I picked up Paul Johnson’s History of Christianity, G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird for $2.25 total.