In less than one hour, the Tigers will be taking on Duke. Wait...rewind. Play. In less than one hour, the Tigers will be taking on Duke. Yeah, I thought I heard that correctly. The Tigers were victorious over UCLA Wednesday night, and Duke defeated their opponent, Drexel, earlier that night, which puts the Memphis Tigers, currently ranked 11th in the nation, against the Duke Blue Devils, ranked NUMERO UNO. Some may say we have a tiny chance of beating Duke? I say we have a GREAT chance of beating Duke. But as some fans are putting it, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I couldn't have said it better myself. I mean, it's early in the season, we're not really EXPECTED to win that game, so it wouldn't really hurt us too bad. I mean, HELLO, it's DUKE. They are in a class of their own, right? Here's some interesting stats. Memphis & Duke have NEVER played each other in their schools' histories. The Tigers are 0-6 against #1 ranked teams, but Coach Cal is 3-0 against #1 ranked teams. The last time we met up with a #1 ranked opponent was when we played Cincinatti in 1999. The time before that, ironically, was against No. 1-ranked UMass, coached by none other than John Calipari. I can remember way back before this tournament began, back before the season began, when me & Michael were talking about which games we wanted to buy tickets for, Michael had told me there was a CHANCE we could meet up with Alabama in the Pre-Season NIT, then if we were to beat them, we'd play UCLA, and then...now a very small, tiny chance...Duke. And that is exactly how it has played out. Every year that the Tigers have made it into the NCAA Tournament, we would study the bracket to see if there was a way we could possibly meet up with Duke, lol, and now the chance to take them on is finally here. No matter how you look at it, this is such an exciting game for all Tiger fans, young and old. Tip off's in 35 minutes! GOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!

"Progress" is bulldozing the only childhood home I ever had and replacing it with a monstrous structure 100 times its size, which leaves behind no evidence of what stood there before it was demolished. There is a so-called "rumor" flying around my parents' neighborhood that some big-wig commercial real estate guy is wanting to buy out all the properties North of Greenbrook Elementary school, clearing out all the land, all to erect some huge, ugly warehouses, turning my old neighborhood, my HOME, my one and only home for the first 20 years of my life, into an industrial park. Upon first hearing this, I felt a little nervous...I was thinking somewhere to the tune of maybe 10 years from now, if that. Then I talked to my Mom last night, and she said the current rumor is that this is going to come to fruition within the next 2 years. Gone was the feeling of nervousness, and in came the feeling of SICK! Sure, it's been talked about for several years now that my parents want to move, possibly in the country, build their "dreamhouse", afterall, my old neighborhood's NOT what it once was. Many houses are up for sale, and more becoming rentals, surrounding my parents with God-knows-who. But you know, I could handle my parents moving away from there, knowing I could at least still drive past there, knowing that's where I grew up & show the kids, ya know? So when I was awoken a few moments ago at 3:55 a.m. with a bathroom call, tears came to my eyes as I started to remember things. That house is where I was brought home from the hospital, not that I remember that, but my Mom surely does. That's been her house since she was 21 (the same age I was when me & Michael bought our first house), and I know she has a million & one memories there, too. I celebrated every single Christmas, every single birthday there. I had the same bedroom for 20 years...every supper in the same kitchen, at the same table...so many memories of playing with my sister in our bedrooms, whether it was Barbies, a game (or two or three) of Uno, playing in the makeup, or listening to the radio and just talking...playing outside, the swimming pool, even the next door neighbors that had too many dogs that barked all night...playing with our pets, playing on the backporch, swinging on the porch swing for hours upon hours, playing school in my Dad's shop, my niece was even brought home from the hospital there, our beloved pets are buried back behind my Dad's shop. I had my first REAL meaningful kiss on that front porch, and countless others in the driveway. Every happy time, every fun time, every heartbreak, every fight, it all happened there. How can I even fathom the day when I have to say goodbye to that house for the last time? I know things change...nothing can ever stay the same forever, but this one cuts like a knife. How could I ever even drive past there again after that house is gone? I couldn't...I just couldn't. I just have to keep telling myself this...real estate people can get filthy rich...demolition workers can tear down my home and construction workers can build something massive in its place, but they can NEVER, EVER bulldoze my memories.

Why didn't I ever think about it before? Lullaby tapes work GREAT to put little ones to sleep. (DUH!) I had bought a tape called "Wee Sing Baby" on Ebay, and it came in the mail yesterday. Travis, Jacob and myself laid down on Travis' bed and popped the tape in the tape player. The first half was a bunch of cutsie, silly baby songs with finger & hand motions and cute little dances. The boys laughed and had a fun time, and then we flipped it over onto side B...the lullaby side. Almost instantly the boys began to yawn and rub their eyes, and by the 3rd or 4th song, they were sound asleep. They looked so precious cuddled up together in Travis' bed, that I had to take pictures of them. I rushed Michael into the room to show him how sweet they looked, and then all I could say was, "Do they REALLY have to grow up??!?!?!" :::sigh:::

Totally off that subject, did you know that this week could be THE biggest week in Tiger sports history? First of all, the basketball Tigers have advanced to the semi-finals of the Pre-Season NIT, and will take on UCLA this Wednesday night at none other than Madison Square Garden. If the Tigers win that game, they will go on to meet the winner of the other Wednesday night game, Duke v. Drexel, which in essence probably means that the Tigers will meet up with DUKE this Friday night. IF by some miracle we should beat Duke, (which let's face it, with this team, I believe anything's possible), we should definitely be in the Top 5!!! Then on Saturday, the FOOTBALL Tigers will play their last game of the season against Marshall, which SHOULD be a fairly easy win, and will also be our 6TH win, which will be the win that makes us BOWL ELIGIBLE for the 3rd straight year!!! This is also Deangelo's very last game. I STILL think I dreamed that we beat Southern Miss last Saturday night...at THEIR place. (That hasn't happened since 1984!) All in all, I am very excited about the things that could possibly happen for the Tigers this week! GOOOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!!