The BCS is a joke so we'll move straight to the AP title. That's the one that crowned the real national champion back when the BCS went with Saban's LSU Tigers. This year there have been 5 different teams ranked number 1 in the AP poll. Every one of those teams was undefeated until Florida took over the spot in the last week of the season. The only reason there weren't 7 different number 1 teams is that Penn State and Texas Tech both lost before Alabama (both teams were ranked above all one loss teams at one point in the season).
There is no doubt that if Alabama or Penn State were left as the only undefeated teams in FBS they would be national champions. The argument goes something like Alabama and Penn State deserve it if they can make it through their grueling schedules, yet both teams have a worse Strength of Schedule than the Utes.
The Utes beat 6 bowl teams this year. They went 3-0 against BCS ranked teams. When looking at the big schools it's rarely a one year deal, we look at how dominant said team has been for the past few years and that factors into the equation. The Utes have now gone undefeated twice in 4 years. They have won 8 straight bowl games and own the nations longest winning streak at 14 games. When talking about the national title there is an argument against every team in the nation except the Utes.
As if you need any more support for the Utes they also beat Oregon State and from the look of things this bowl season it appears that the SEC and Big 12 may not have a stranglehold on the best BCS conference.
In the end they are undefeated and they finished the season by spanking the team that held the top spot in the AP poll and the BCS for 5 weeks this season. That's a recipe for a national title if I've ever seen one.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
National Champions!!!
My rant for a playoff will come next week, but tonight we watched the national champions beat Alabama. Utah finished off a perfect season by beating a top 5 team. There remains one undefeated team in the nation. Now I could understand the Utes getting left out of the championship conversation (as they will) if they squeaked by the Tide. Maybe if they won on some trick plays like Boise did a couple years ago people could say they got lucky, but Utah beat Alabama and they beat them good. The Tide averaged 160 yards a game rushing in the "powerful" SEC and they mustered 31 yards against the Utes. Even the two touchdowns Bama scored showed how good the Utes played. One came on a punt return and the other after a fumble gave the Tide a short field. The Utes stifled every drive the Tide attempted. This was nothing short of a beat down and the Utes deserve the AP national championship. There is no longer an argument against the Utes this year.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Bring on the Ravens
Some of you may remember my jubilation back in October when the Dolphins beat the Patriots. If you have forgotten you can read about it here. Today my joy is full.
I am nothing if not a Dolphin fan. I also possess a deep disdain for the Jets only surpassed by my absolute hatred for the Patriots. Today we reached the peak of the mountain that we started climbing after the AFC championship game last year. The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl leaving them with one loss in a season where the aforementioned Dolphins won one game. That same Patriots team lost their overrated quarterback and struggled to an 11-5 finish this year. Any other year 11-5 gets you into the playoffs, but not this year. You see the Patriots needed the Dolphins to lose today to get into the playoffs. This brings us to my fullness of joy. The Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and in the last game of the season they not only beat the Jets to make the playoffs, but they also ensured that the Patriots would be left out of the party this year. Victory and Vengeance all in one afternoon.
I can now turn all my attention to the Utes game on Friday. With all due respect to Florida and Oklahoma, if Utah can beat Alabama in New Orleans they deserve to be ranked number 1. That won't happen, but it should. It is inconceivable that a team can finish the season ranked in the top 6 in the nation and beat a top 5 team in a BCS bowl game to finish the season as the only undefeated team in college football and yet be an afterthought in the national title picture. What makes it even worse is that if the Utes win, the team they will have beaten was the consensus number one team in the nation just one month ago heading into the SEC championship game.
Go Utes!
I am nothing if not a Dolphin fan. I also possess a deep disdain for the Jets only surpassed by my absolute hatred for the Patriots. Today we reached the peak of the mountain that we started climbing after the AFC championship game last year. The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl leaving them with one loss in a season where the aforementioned Dolphins won one game. That same Patriots team lost their overrated quarterback and struggled to an 11-5 finish this year. Any other year 11-5 gets you into the playoffs, but not this year. You see the Patriots needed the Dolphins to lose today to get into the playoffs. This brings us to my fullness of joy. The Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and in the last game of the season they not only beat the Jets to make the playoffs, but they also ensured that the Patriots would be left out of the party this year. Victory and Vengeance all in one afternoon.
I can now turn all my attention to the Utes game on Friday. With all due respect to Florida and Oklahoma, if Utah can beat Alabama in New Orleans they deserve to be ranked number 1. That won't happen, but it should. It is inconceivable that a team can finish the season ranked in the top 6 in the nation and beat a top 5 team in a BCS bowl game to finish the season as the only undefeated team in college football and yet be an afterthought in the national title picture. What makes it even worse is that if the Utes win, the team they will have beaten was the consensus number one team in the nation just one month ago heading into the SEC championship game.
Go Utes!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
One Down, One to Go
Jessi had surgery yesterday morning to remove her tubes. She had developed a tumor next to one so it had to be removed and the other one once cleaned off pretty much was falling out on its own so it was removed as well. The ENT doesn't think she needs new ones due to her ear growth so we are hopeful that her ears won't cause her any more problems and she can have fun in the pool with her brothers this summer. She did a great job and charmed every nurse that she saw earning herself a stash of stickers. She was a bit upset after surgery as the anesthesia wore off but calmed down rather quickly in her daddy's lap and was ready to go home by 9:00. On a funny note, before they took her back for surgery they gave her a drug to help calm her. Within 5 minutes she was swaying in circle while holding on to the bars of the bed and watching her hands sway back and forth in the air. It was hilarious. She was so out of it she doesn't remember them rolling her down the hall and mommy and daddy leaving. Ah the miracle of drugs.
Yesterday afternoon we also had an appointment for Spencer with the Urologist. He has been having pain when he urinates and it is getting rather bothersome to him. With one look at Spencer the doctor was sure that he needs to have surgery. They need to widen his "pee pee hole" (Spencer's term) as the doctor says it currently barely exists. So it looks like in late January we will be back in the hospital again for another round of surgery. Just like Jessi, they won't need an IV as it is so short they can just use a mask. Once Spencer heard there were no shots and it wouldn't hurt him anymore to urinate he got rather excited at the prospect of minor surgery. He is also hoping to round up some stickers. Well see how his charms work on the nurses.
Thank you to all of our friends who have watched of our children during all of our doctor's appointments this month. It has been a little crazy keeping up with them all but knowing there was always someone willing to watch the kids really relieved a whole ton of my stress. Thanks again, and let me know when we can repay the favor.
Yesterday afternoon we also had an appointment for Spencer with the Urologist. He has been having pain when he urinates and it is getting rather bothersome to him. With one look at Spencer the doctor was sure that he needs to have surgery. They need to widen his "pee pee hole" (Spencer's term) as the doctor says it currently barely exists. So it looks like in late January we will be back in the hospital again for another round of surgery. Just like Jessi, they won't need an IV as it is so short they can just use a mask. Once Spencer heard there were no shots and it wouldn't hurt him anymore to urinate he got rather excited at the prospect of minor surgery. He is also hoping to round up some stickers. Well see how his charms work on the nurses.
Thank you to all of our friends who have watched of our children during all of our doctor's appointments this month. It has been a little crazy keeping up with them all but knowing there was always someone willing to watch the kids really relieved a whole ton of my stress. Thanks again, and let me know when we can repay the favor.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Electronic Christmas Letter
Here is a copy of our Christmas letter this year. If you received a copy in the mail feel free to skip down to the pictures but for those that didn't Jacob wrote the letter this year. You know that means a fantastically witty annual Christmas letter. Sorry to those that did not receive a copy of this in the mail. We love and think of you all but unfortunately I don't have the time, and/or energy to repeat my wedding invitation process ever again.
Dear Family and Friends,
“Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” -Gordon B Hinckley
This year began in Cedar City, Utah for us. I finished my 4th year of medical school at Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. As I have often been asked if my medical school education was online I will inform you that the 4th year of medical school is almost entirely filled with elective rotations (elective in that you choose which rotations to do not elective in choosing whether or not to do them). I chose to move my family back to Cedar City and finish out my schooling with the doctors I plan to work alongside in the future.
In the spring we received news that we would be moving to South Bend, Indiana to start a 3 year residency in Family Practice. Following graduation in June we bought a house, loaded up the Penske and anxiously began our next adventure in life.
Let me share with you some of the beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
Spencer will be 6 in January. He started Kindergarten this year and seems to enjoy each and every day. At a recent parent-teacher conference we were informed that Spencer is a joy to have in class because he approaches each day with such enthusiasm. According to his teacher Spencer is genuinely excited and almost surprised to see his friends each morning in class. It’s almost as if he is expecting them, or us, to move….
Jessi, 3, is overjoyed to have her own room fit for a princess. Melissa outdid herself painting and decorating Jessi’s room with stripes of pink and green along with shelves to display her Cinderella collection (graciously bestowed upon her by her wonderful Aunt Corinne). I’m somewhat surprised Melissa didn’t splurge on a Cinderella Fathead to put on the wall (if you don’t know what that is you need to ask the football fan in your family).
Kristian is a true Corry. Growing up it seemed everybody in my family had a strange nickname. I had a brother named Luther, a sister named Pard, I was called Frank from time to time. There were others, but I can’t remember them right now. At any rate Kristian is our little Nader, sometimes Naderman (pronounced like skater as opposed to chatter). He turned 2 on the 5th of December and enjoyed every minute of his birthday. This year has seen him start to walk, and talk. He’s still growing like a weed and he gets stronger every day. I have visions of him being my star football player in a few years (not that I’m trying to relive my life through my children or anything like that).
Melissa is somewhere between the 3rd and 7th months of her 4th pregnancy. I do know she is due in March (though I’m not sure on the date). She had an ultrasound so I know she’s past 20 weeks. The baby was not at all cooperative so we don’t know the sex. I’ve thought about taking her into the clinic or the hospital and playing around with the ultrasound myself, but we both are pretty excited to be surprised this time around. Melissa loves South Bend! She has made some wonderful friends and is slowly but surely making this house into quite a home.
Through the year we’ve experienced tragedies and triumphs, sicknesses, and health. We’ve felt love and longing, and this year, like no other, we feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the journey.
We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and hope this finds you well.
Love,
The Corrys
“Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” -Gordon B Hinckley
This year began in Cedar City, Utah for us. I finished my 4th year of medical school at Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. As I have often been asked if my medical school education was online I will inform you that the 4th year of medical school is almost entirely filled with elective rotations (elective in that you choose which rotations to do not elective in choosing whether or not to do them). I chose to move my family back to Cedar City and finish out my schooling with the doctors I plan to work alongside in the future.
In the spring we received news that we would be moving to South Bend, Indiana to start a 3 year residency in Family Practice. Following graduation in June we bought a house, loaded up the Penske and anxiously began our next adventure in life.
Let me share with you some of the beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
Spencer will be 6 in January. He started Kindergarten this year and seems to enjoy each and every day. At a recent parent-teacher conference we were informed that Spencer is a joy to have in class because he approaches each day with such enthusiasm. According to his teacher Spencer is genuinely excited and almost surprised to see his friends each morning in class. It’s almost as if he is expecting them, or us, to move….
Jessi, 3, is overjoyed to have her own room fit for a princess. Melissa outdid herself painting and decorating Jessi’s room with stripes of pink and green along with shelves to display her Cinderella collection (graciously bestowed upon her by her wonderful Aunt Corinne). I’m somewhat surprised Melissa didn’t splurge on a Cinderella Fathead to put on the wall (if you don’t know what that is you need to ask the football fan in your family).
Kristian is a true Corry. Growing up it seemed everybody in my family had a strange nickname. I had a brother named Luther, a sister named Pard, I was called Frank from time to time. There were others, but I can’t remember them right now. At any rate Kristian is our little Nader, sometimes Naderman (pronounced like skater as opposed to chatter). He turned 2 on the 5th of December and enjoyed every minute of his birthday. This year has seen him start to walk, and talk. He’s still growing like a weed and he gets stronger every day. I have visions of him being my star football player in a few years (not that I’m trying to relive my life through my children or anything like that).
Melissa is somewhere between the 3rd and 7th months of her 4th pregnancy. I do know she is due in March (though I’m not sure on the date). She had an ultrasound so I know she’s past 20 weeks. The baby was not at all cooperative so we don’t know the sex. I’ve thought about taking her into the clinic or the hospital and playing around with the ultrasound myself, but we both are pretty excited to be surprised this time around. Melissa loves South Bend! She has made some wonderful friends and is slowly but surely making this house into quite a home.
Through the year we’ve experienced tragedies and triumphs, sicknesses, and health. We’ve felt love and longing, and this year, like no other, we feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the journey.
We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and hope this finds you well.
Love,
The Corrys
The first picture is what we sent out with the letter and then I added some additional pictures from the same photo session.
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