The Bulldog Tooth Bonus Feature: The Sugar Bowl

Bowl season is right around the corner. This year Georgia is playing West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl, and now it’s time for me to make my prediction.

West Virginia has been dreadfully effective this year with its spread offense. Many are saying that the spread offense does not work well against SEC defensive speed, but I think that view is a little too simplistic. In the case of Boise State, the SEC team speed argument might be more convincing. But West Virginia is a lot closer to home than Boise State, so they have access to a lot of the same players that the SEC recruits. For this reason I would venture to say that West Virginia is probably very close to Georgia in terms of team speed.

Also, Florida’s spread offense failed this year only because Chris Leak was not the right quarterback for that offense. West Virginia, however, has the right quarterback, and has proven very effective in going to a 10-1 record this year. Granted, this was against Big East competition, which is not quite as strong as the SEC. Still, I think that West Virginia will prove to be a worthy opponent and that this will be a very interesting game, though Georgia should come out on top in the end.

PREDICTION: Georgia 35, West Virginia 28.

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

This movie is an excellent adaptation of the children’s book by C. S. Lewis. It does take some liberties with the story, but all in all it is faithful to the book.

Music Review: Neil Diamond, Reflections

This 2004 compilation is a 2-CD set featuring some of the best work from the early part of Neil Diamond’s career. Disc 1 is the 1973 cover album Rainbow, featuring covers of Mr. Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, Everybody’s Talkin’ by Fred Neil, Chelsea Morning and Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell, and He Ain’t Heavy…He’s My Brother by The Hollies. Disc 2 is none other than the 1968 album Velvet Gloves and Spit, which features the hits Brooklyn Roads, Shiloh, and Two-Bit Manchild.

Joe’s Deep Dark Secret

At this point I wish to make a confession. Not a confession of sin, mind you, but still it is something that I feel is very important. This is something which up to this point I have only discussed with my immediate family and a few close, well-trusted friends. One of these friends has encouraged me recently to write about this on my blog. At first I was reluctant, because I did not feel comfortable with sharing it outside the circle of my closest friends. Yet I have seen a great deal of personal honesty in the blogosphere–especially in the work of Michael Spencer, my all-time blogging hero, who has written several confessional posts dealing with his personal life. I am beginning to think that perhaps what I am about to share would be appropriate here after all.

So here goes…

Skipping Christmas–The Latest Seeker-Sensitive Rage

This year there is a very interesting phenomenon taking place–many churches are skipping Christmas. The list of churches that will not be having services on Christmas day reads like a who’s who of the most influential churches in all of evangelical Protestant-dom: Southland Christian Church of Lexington, Kentucky, Willow Creek Community Church of Chicago, Fellowship Church of Dallas, and our very own North Point/Buckhead Church.

Here is the Lexington Herald-Leader article about Southland Christian. Here is an article from the Louisville Courier-Journal, and here is a Chicago Tribune op-ed piece. Many articles of a similar nature are now appearing all over the country.

A lively discussion is popping up in the blogosphere as well. Get Religion has a good discussion here. Asbury Theological Seminary professor Ben Witherington shares his thoughts here. Catholic blogger Amy Welborn offers perspective from her side of the issue here. And Michael Spencer shares his thoughts here.

Officials of the churches that are closing for Christmas defend this as a family-friendly move which allows staff and volunteers to celebrate Christmas with their families. Those who oppose this move lament it as a caving-in to the secularism of American culture.

I am not yet sure where I stand on this one. This is a complicated issue with many facets to consider, and both sides have legitimate points. So let me sort out, in no particular order, all the relevant considerations that I can see, in hopes of arriving at some semblance of a conclusion on this issue.

ATM Procedures

This comes from my cousin Matthew. Recently a friend’s bank installed a new drive-through ATM, and they placed the following sign in the lobby: