FCS round two plus Christmas decorations

Another one of those" things that Chris should never discover" is the quadruple screen on ESPN3.  Thus, I got to watch at least parsts of several of the eight playoff games today.  The main one I paid attention to was the ODU-Georgia Southern shootout.  Back and forth into the third quarter, ODU had to play catchup late, and missed an onside kick by the margin of less than a yard in the air and fell 55-48.  That was one of my five correct picks against 3 misses.

At the top of the bracket, Sam Houston survived another shootout, coming from behind to top Stony Brook 38-31 (I got that one, too).  They'll get Montana State, who beat UNH 26-25 when the extra point to tie with 7 seconds left got blocked, costing me that one.  Northern Iowa won the last game to go final against Wofford 28-21 (another miss) on quite possibly the bonehead play of history.  After UNI had scored to go up 21-14, the kickoff went to Wofford return man Stephan Shelton, a very discouraged young man tonight.  He caught the ball inside the 5, but the momentum carried him into the end zone.  Not only does he not leave the end zone (since he must have thought he caught it in the end zone instead of outside), but he doesn't even kneel to down it- he just starts casually walking it to the referee.  The UNI players realize, unlike Shelton, that the whistle HAS NOT blown, and run up and knock the ball from his hands.  He continues toward the ref, asking WTF that was about- until the ref runs past him to watch UNI land on the ball for a TD.  Merry Christmas, UNI; happy holidays, Stephan.

UNI gets Montana, who disposed of Central Arkansas 38-7 (win for me) next round, to finish out the top of the bracket.  On the lower bracket, Ga So will get Maine who, as predicted, topped App State by an unpredicted 34-12 score.  North Dakota State, in a game I should have gotten right but went for the upset, topped JMU 26-14, and they will face my cautious but correct pick, Lehigh.  In a game with no fewer than 6 ties, the last one was snapped when Lehigh caught the Towson qb in the end zone for a safety in the last minute and change for a 40-38 win.

Next round, Martin the Magnificent takes Sam Houston to keep the undefeated season going against Montana St.; Montana to take out UNI (unless Stephen Shelton transfers over this week); I'll take GaSo over Maine in next week's battle of the century; and Lehigh over the Bison of  NDST.

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And now, after some technical difficulties, here are our Christmas decorations!

The angel in my bedroom window- I LOVE flashy lights!

Laurie's patented Christmas village

My "random lights" in the front window

The newest addition to the village, A second story glass-enclosed ballroom with music and dancing people.  Much better than dancing with the stars.

And the village people... so to speak.  The houses are a general store, a private home, and the village jail.  With three policemen patrolling a 4-foot village, we must have a lot of reprobates.



Laurie's display at her old house used to be a grand display, on a ten-by-three table that we had no room for when we moved on.  Though smaller, it more than makes up in greater quality as the years have gone on.  The new ballroom she got today is so neat- the little people sweep around the ballroom to Silent Night, and it has a volume control so they can look neat without being annoying.  My only question was how they would get in, as the door seems to be a bit smaller than they are.  But since it doesn't open, I suppose it doesn't matter.

The lights in the front window are from her dad's estate, older than Methusaleh and never been used.  The ones in my room have a controller that changes them from running lights through several flashing patterns to (Scrappy's favorite) gently fading on and off.  We sleep with the fade on all night (making Christmas not one of Scrappy's top times of year).