Live the dream is the line used by pretty much everybody, the press, the (local) media, the official Longhorns football website, and what not. So live the dream it is. But I paused a second and thought about what "dream" are we living in? The dream of going to the Rose Bowl? Then it's not much of a dream since we have been there last year and won magically. The dream of going to the national championship? So the dream is about going there, emphasize on going, and not winning. These two concepts can both take place on January 4 but it seems like going is taking the center stage. I know this is the first time we are in the BCS national championship game. I know our last national championship was in 1970. This is a dream we have all been waiting for. But wait a minute, don't we have the expectation of winning the national championship every year, and shouldn't national championship happen in reality?

This is not a dream, my friends. This is reality. I'm living the reality. We are a great team and well  deserve a ticket to the national championship. We won the Rose Bowl last year. This year the mother of fate put the national championship back to the exact same place we truly lived our dream win over Michigan. Vince Young said his team is going back and he did carry the team back. For not winning the stinking Heisman Trophy, Vince has one more reason to prove himself and motivate himself to win the game. All sound so perfect. I'm trying to avoid using the word destiny. Sure it fits well with everything.

The closer it gets to the actual showdown with USC at the Rose Bowl, the more I hear that Texas can't win this game. USC is too good. Their offense is too explosive. Reggis Bush is too much for Texas defense. And USC has two Heisman, Texas has only one Heisman candidate. Oh, and Rose Bowl happens to be in Los Angeles. USC shares the same neighborhood. This is where the reality sets in. USC is playing in their backyard. They now practice in their home facilities. Longhorns fans have been waiting for so long only to have to face a history making USC team in Southern California. It's not fair.

Rather, the reality is that we have a good enough team to play with USC. I can't understand why all the so call experts and every college football fan not associated with the two programs involved are writing the Longhorns off. The media is starting to worship this USC team. Even ESPN sportscenter is doing a series to compare this year's USC team with the best ten teams in college football history. Give me a break. I'm not saying this because I'm a Longhorn fan. The Longhorns are as athletic, as talented, and as motivated (if not more motivated) as the Trojans. For some reason I sense that the line "live the dream" means enjoy the trip 'coz we are not winning it. I have issue with it. It's like everybody is so overwhelmed by the USC and Reggie Bush hype.

People somehow started to favor heavily on the Trojans side when the Horns struggled as A&M. In a long football season, there are blowouts and there are close games. The winning margin is the worst indicator to how good a team is. Look at the 2002 national champion Ohio State. (7 out of their 14 games were decided by a touchdown or less, including the national championship game against Miami) So nobody should buy into the hype. This is why we play the game. 12.28.05