OK, OK. Hands up - I've been criminally (or mercifully, depending on your point of view) silent lately. Marna was in Florida with Kieran, and work has been heating up (including a lot of meetings and a trip to Pittsburgh). All poor excuses, but I promise to be more active now that the holiday season is coming.
We were at my father's place last weekend to say goodbye to my brother Sean, who has, by now, reported to Fort Shelby in Mississippi for pre-deployment training. Sean is a Specialist in the 3rd Battalion of the 172nd (Mountain) Infantry. If all goes as planned, he'll be off to somewhere in the Middle East in early 2005 to begin a yet-to-be-determined security mission. We won't be seeing Sean at Christmas this year, but he will most certainly be in our thoughts and we'll be inundating him with packages and letters as soon as we are able. We're proud of you, Sean.
Saturday was the 121st Harvard-Yale game and Dad had four tickets. He asked me if I was interested in going, and I said sure. There was an added incentive this season, as Harvard went into the game undefeated, at 9-0. They had already secured a share of the Ivy League title by beating perennial powerhouse Penn the previous weekend (their first victory in Philly since 1980). There usually isn't much riding on the outcome of The Game, other than preppy bragging rights. But since Harvard hired a new coach, Tim Murphy, in the mid-nineties, the program has improved by leaps and bounds. Harvard's quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, has been scouted by a number of pro teams and will be participating in this year's Hula Bowl for college seniors.
This year's edition of The Game was played at Harvard Stadium, which is actually in Allston, next to the Business School and just across the river from Cambridge. It's a beautiful horseshoe-style facility with a single tier and classical columns. We had seats right above the tunnel in the end zone. When I was a student at Harvard, I would attend a few home games each season. I only made the trek down to New Haven once, in 1987, when I nearly froze to death in the bitter cold of the Yale Bowl.
Harvard dominated Saturday's game from start to finish. The offense didn't particularly shine in the first half, but a long punt return for touchdown and a beautiful 100-yard interception return made it 21-3 Harvard at the half. Fitzpatrick and the offense clicked in in the second half, and the game finished 35-3. To be sure, the team looked a lot more professional and crisp than it did at any time while I was an undergrad. Fitzpatrick looks like a real prospect - good scrambling ability, a strong and accurate arm, the ability to run for yardage. Unfortunately, Ivy League rules prohibit Harvard from competing in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. So they'll have to be content with their best season in ages. Bob Ryan summarizes it nicely in his Boston Globe column.
I'm sort of dreading Christmas shopping. I always find myself bereft of ideas. The only two names I've scratched off my list so far are Marna and my sister Jen. I know what's I'll be doing this coming weekend.
For your listening pleasure - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' latest, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus is his best in ages. The first part, Abattoir Blues, is high-voltage mystical blues with a gospel choir. The second part, The Lyre of Orpheus, shows off Nick's more acoustic, ballady side. Both blow the socks off most of the other drivel being produced these days. Quite possibly the best thing I've heard this year.
11:20:03 AM 
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