Sterling Griggs

Wake Forest bounced back from a less than stellar first half to trounce the Connecticut Huskies at the Meineke Car Care bowl in Charlotte 24-10. Down 10-0 at the half, the defense stiffened to shut out UConn in the second and the offense found it's stride to score 24 unanswered points. With over 35,000 Wake Forest fans in attendance, it was black and gold heaven and a trip well worth it. Read all about it here . The ride home was even fun. My dad and I stopped at a rest stop outside of Charlotte and it was filled with nothing but Wake Forest fans. We almost had some cheers going at the urinals. Go Deacs!

Both of my daughters - especially my 6-year-old - really like Hannah Montana. So you know that a lot of her stuff was coming their way this Christmas. But I've got a beef with this Hannah Montana girl. First, about the only way to see her in concert was to spend hundreds of dollars to buy them from glorified scalpers. I know this can't be legal, but these guys were buying them somehow from the ticket outlets by the hundreds and then selling them for whatever they felt like. Then, once you were at the concert a t-shirt would cost you a cool $50. There was no way I was going to drop that much coin for a pre-teen concert. But then, out of the kindness of their hearts, the "Hannah Montana People" decided to show the taped version of these sold-out concerts in local movie theaters. Oh, and it only costs $15 to see it. Now, I don't know exactly how much of the above the actual Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is responsible for or even if she's able to control any ...

Just the other day a phone call came in to our church from a single mother of 2 teenage boys. Although she has a job, it's just not enough for her to be able to provide some things that her boys need and want for Christmas. Her call is just one of many that we receive and it's not just at Christmas; it's all year. There is another family in our community that is in a deep state of crisis. Neither parent has a job right now and they have 3 small children, the oldest being in 1st grade. Kellie and I do what we can to help them out, yet our hearts break when we hear their story. It seems that they are very good at blaming others for their problems and personal responsibility never seems to come into play. I hurt for their kids. Why is there so much need in our world? Kids need the latest toy or game system (Wii, anyone?) at Christmas. The businessman needs a better paying job. A wife needs her husband to be more responsible around the home. A man needs to find a job ...

The Wake Forest Men's Soccer team brought home it's first soccer national title (aka, College Cup) when they defeated Ohio State University on Sunday December 16. Down 1-0 at the half, the Deacs rallied strongly and relentlessly, eventually netting two goals late in the half to take home the title. The game was hard fought and rougher than it should have been ( read the article ) but the finesse play of the Deacons was enough to overcome the goonish play of the Buckeyes! Go Deacs!

Most mornings I attempt to wake up a little early and have some time alone with God before the kids wake up. I say "most" because there are just some mornings where it doesn't happen and that quiet time has to happen sometime later in the day. After I get dressed I put on a pot of delicious Five Sided Coffee and step outside to grab the paper. That usually gives me anywhere from 20-30 minutes before the house gets crazy. Today started much the same way but my quiet time ended up much differently. I had barely gotten moving this morning when both the girls were up. Instead of going to turn on cartoons they wanted to cuddle a little bit on the couch in the playroom. As I sat with them they were chattering away about their upcoming day, their dreams, and what they wanted to eat when they got in from school. As I sat there with them I started to worry a little bit; I wasn't going to be able to get in that special time in the morning that I usually do. Then it hit ...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's time for college football bowl season to begin and Wake Forest is back in a bowl for the second straight year. Those of you who are fans of larger schools where going to a bowl every year elicits little less than a yawn from you probably can't appreciate back-to-back bowls like Wake Forest fans can. But this is just one of the signs that Demon Deacon football is an up and coming phenomenon that needs to be reckoned with. With the game being in Charlotte, surely the place will be packed with Wake Forest fans who don't have to travel as far to see their beloved Deacons play. And with Connecticut as our opponent, this is certainly a winnable game for the Deacs. I'm going to do my best to be there (just look for the bald guy on TV)!