Blame it on the zebras

Another week, another soulcrushing Denver Broncos loss. I am at a loss. Always searching for someone to blame for my team's failings, this time I turn to the referees. The play that led directly to Philly's game winning field goal was a sideline "catch." I believe that the ball was bobbled when the player fell out of bounds=no catch. The refs called it incomplete, reviewed it, and reversed the call. Not cool. Oh well, at least my amazing (and forgiving) neighbors were there to host us with delicious taco dip and all sorts of other goodies. Thanks for not kicking me out when I spilled punch all over the floor.

Heartbreak aside, I am pleased to say that Syracuse is asserting itself as one of the best teams in college basketball. A guy on the other team is shooting 3's from out of state and drops 38 on us. Every loose ball was apparently repeled by the color orange (makes sense, the ball is orange-ish too). Syracuse was hypnotized into thinking that their teammates were at least 5 feet away from where they actually were and ended up throwing the majority of their passes to Seton Hall. Andy Rautins could've possibly been playing drunk or at the very least on 72 hours of no sleep. But we won. And I'll tell you why. Wes Johnson is the greatest basketball player in the country. Case closed. He literally willed Syracuse to victory. The rest of the team played their worst games of the year. Johnson crashed the boards and cleaned up missed layup after missed layup. He grabbed every rebound, blocked shots after the defense fell apart. Basketball's a team sport, but this is one of the greatest individual efforts I've seen in watching college basketball. PS- my man Kris Joseph scored 16 and had some sicknasty dunks. Check them out on Sportscenter top plays.

I just got back from my church's Kwanzaa celebration. Gotta say it was pretty cool. Lot's of good music and dancing. So I think I should go ahead and talk a bit about it because not too many people know what it's about. It's got multiple days like Hannukah (7 days for 7 principles). There's gift giving like Christmas. And it was invented out of the blue like Festivus (in 1966 by Ron Kerenga). So it has the pieces of all of the winter holidays and is a whole boatload of fun. Plus, you get to learn some Swahili along the way. And if the Lion King is a good indicator, Swahili is and awesome language. These are the 7 principles the celebration is based on:

• Umoja (unity)
• Kujichagulia (self-determination)
• Ujima (collective work and responsibility)
• Ujamaa (cooperative economics)
• Nia (purpose)
• Kuumba (creativity)
• Imani (faith)

Just say those words. I know. Good stuff, much more fun than English.

It's getting late and I'm going to see Wicked tomorrow (so excited!). So I'll leave with one simple request. Cross your fingers for the Broncos. They need a couple big breaks to get into the playoffs and they can use all the help you can give them. Merry Late Christmas and a Happy New Year!