Some photos from my neck of the woods

Create your very own pep talk from Peyton Manning

It is the end of an era. The University of Miami will play its final game in the Orange Bowl tomorrow.

The OB was home to Miami’s five national championship teams. The most memorable of the five for me was the 31-30 victory over Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl game, which gave Miami its first national championship. (My second most memorable Orange Bowl experience was attending the 1988 OB game against Oklahoma, which brought UM its second national championship.) And it was in the OB that Miami set an NCAA-record 58 game home winning streak from 1985 to 1994. My Least favorite memory is the “Hail Flutie” pass that gave Boston College a 47-45 win over the Hurricanes in 1984. Watching replays of that pass still leave me with a sick feeling.

The Dolphins also played in the OB. It was home to the perfect season, and Dan Marino’s 48 touchdown season record in 1984.

A few more football games will take place before pieces of the stadium are sold to pave the way for the demolition of the historic structure.

Former Vol standout Jason Witten is a man among men.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel is doing some great things with blogs and the internet. I am especially glad to see the registration/subscription wall on the newspaper’s websites go down earlier this year.