Is the Holiday Bowl over yet? What a way to close out the season for the Horns. 4 1/2 Hours after the game kicked off Texas walked off Qualcomm Stadium field with a 52-34 win. As Mack said, “My family wanted this win so badly.” He was talking about his son Chris who was called for that bizarre penalty when UT had a 21-0 lead and thought they had forced an ASU penalty. Fortunately for Texas, that was a crazy footnote to their 52-34 win.

The culture around UT football will certainly be a lot better heading into the off season than if they had lost this one and finished with 2 straight losses.

Decision time for Jamaal Charles and Jermichael Finley. Both have indicated they would stay at UT, but that can change in a hurry. When asked after the game if he was coming back, Jamaal said “I’m glad I helped my team win.” No big surprise that he will took a long look at where he stands in the draft.

How about the ASU fans, they outnumbered UT fans, but bailed with nearly 13 minutes to go in the game, thats a football lifetime and then some at this game.

As for ASU, one UT player told me after the game that they talked more trash than any team he’s played against. Thats from a guy who just finished his 57th college game.

It’s been fun in the Southern California sun, but I’m looking forward to coming home. Hard to complain about this assignment, but it’s never easy leaving the family on Christmas Day.

Game day here in San Diego, believe it or not a chilly San Diego. One of the highlights of the Holiday Bowl is their game day parade. If someone does rate parades, this one probably goes as one of the most underrated. They claim it’s the largest balloon parade in the world, bigger than Macy’s. It is quite a site as they go down Harbor Drive with thousands packing the streets. Should be ineresting tonight.

Horns are saying all the right things, but I think Colt McCoy may have said it best when he got here. Colt said “We’ve improved as much as a team can improve in a couple of weeks of practice.” Question is, will that be enough against a pretty good ASU team. I’ve always said that for Texas, it’s more important not to lose a bowl game like this than to win it. In other words, if Texas wins, that’s nice, but it doesn’t change their season, still some would call it disappointing. But, if you lose this game, that means back to back losses will be the lasting memory of the season. Considering the opener against Florida Atlantic is more than 8 months away, that’s a long time to live with that memory. So long from S.D.

If teams aren’t playing in a BCS Bowl Game, this is not a bad alternative. Horns were greeted with a number of gifts upon their arrival including the nearly impossible to get (thats experience talking) Nintendo Wii. On Sunday they went aboard the USS Ronald Reagan for a little perspective. Having lunch next to Sailors their own age makes them realize what the Horns do on Saturday afternoons is hardly “War” or “Battle”.

Monday it was off to the San Diego Zoo and they spent part of Christmas day at Sea World. Now it starts to get a little more interesting. The fun and games are over for both teams. We’ll see soon enough which team really wants this one more than the other. That is a sports cliche that probably fits more in Bowl than any other games. With a month off since their last game, it is certainly possible to see some players check out mentally. Horns want that 10th win and DON’T want to go through the off season with 2 straight losses as the lasting memory before they take the field next September.