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I'm taking my son Jake to his first NFL game, the much-anticipated Bengals-Chiefs showdown, thanks to a good friend of mine who scored some free tickets. By the end of this classic, I might not be calling Rob a friend. And I suspect that about 40,000 other fans at Paul Brown Stadium will be there only because their ducats were Christmas gifts, or they found them on the sidewalk.

Battered Big Ten: It's that time of the year. Crowded malls, leftover ham and college football analysts poking fun at the Big Ten. Our conference's first final of the bowl season: Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13. I think Bobby Bowden got his Gatorade bath during pregame warmups.

It's too easy to bash the Big Ten. The Midwest guys are 14-23 in bowl games since 2003, and are a dismal 4-9 in BCS games since the 2000 season. This year, the Big Ten is favored in only one of seven bowls, and those guys in Vegas know their stuff.

The Big Ten's best bet to make some waves might be Penn State, which has won three straight bowl games. The Nittany Lions could catch USC napping in the Rose Bowl. Or should that be Joe Paterno could be caught napping in the Rose Bowl?

Cradle's new coach: Mike Haywood looks like a good hire for Miami. The 44-year-old has been around great football programs (LSU, Texas) and is a proven recruiter. It also helps that he's worked in the Mid-American Conference, so he won't be shocked during his first trip to Athens.

You can rip him for being a part of the staff at Notre Dame, but working in that pressure-cooker should help. And with no Charlie Weis to drag him down, who knows how far Haywood can go?

2009 promises: Some New Year's resolutions ... Michael Phelps resolves to never train again, just to make it interesting ... Carson Palmer resolves to throw his first pass next season as hard as he can at Chad Johnson's mid-section ... Willy Taveras resolves to get his butt on base 35 percent of the time ... Terrelle Pryor resolves to give his teammates all the credit ... Brian Gregory resolves to smile after victories.

Quick hits: Talked to Dann Stupp, our mixed martial arts writer, prior to UFC 92 in Las Vegas. I mentioned that it was 65 degrees in Dayton. He reported that it was 42 in Vegas. ... Xavier is supposed to be the cream of the Atlantic 10 crop, but recent losses to Duke (embarrassing blowout) and Butler have X looking very average. ... If you weren't reading this, could you spell Mark Teixeira? I can barely type it. Good trivia question for New Year's Eve.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or

bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.