Holiday Bowl memories

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Chris Jackson

I was only there for a few days to cover the Holiday Bowl, but a fair amount of odd and silly moments stood out.

Here's my sporadic recounting of some of those moments:

Arizona's largest fan lives in San Diego. He emerged during the football team's visit to Sea World prior to the game.

Senior fullback Jim Wendler said that when asked, one of the park's killer whales gave a big nod to Arizona winning. But when it came time for the whale's trainer to ask whether or not Nebraska could win, it shook its head "no" and then spat out the fish it had been fed.

The whale has since been signed to join the cast of ESPN's GameDay, and Tomey has promised it tickets to the next San Diego State game...

Wendler said there were plenty of jokes flying about the larger members of the Arizona team while they visited Sea World and the San Diego Zoo...

Kelvin Eafon caused a bit of a stir when he veered from the bland comments players and coaches had been making at the Kickoff Luncheon before the game, promising that "it's going to be a war." At least he had the presence of mind to score the touchdown to win the war...

Lou Holtz's cheesiest joke, of many, that he gave during his speech at the Kickoff Luncheon:

"A waiter came up to me in Florida before the Sugar Bowl one year when I was on vacation and asked me 'Do you know the difference between Notre Dame and Cheerios?' I shook my head, and he said 'Cheerios belong in a bowl.'"

Holtz's reply- "'What's the difference between me and a golf pro? Golf pros give tips.'"

After reading that, you, too, should be glad he's going back to coaching. Then he can stay off the motivational speaker circuit...

A big thumbs up to all the UA fans at the game. Despite being outnumbered 2-to-1 by the Nebraska faithful, they still made a lot of noise and stayed after the game to cheer the victorious Wildcats.

If they were like that all the time, then I would have nothing to gripe about anymore. Hmm, wait, there's still the NBA...

A friend took me to a tailgating party before the game. When one of the people there found out I was sports reporter, he remarked, "but aren't all sports reporters fat?"

A career change may be in order...

The moods among the different players after the game marked the differences in their personalities.

Keith Smith was exuberant, calling the win "sweet," while senior Chris McAlister was a lot more subdued. That's the difference between someone imagining doing this again next year and someone who knows he's headed elsewhere in the very near future.

But personally, I wouldn't mind trading places with Chris when he's picked in the top 10 of April's NFL Draft...

Best moment of the game- when McAlister batted down Crouch's desperation pass to seal the win.

Worst moment- when Nebraska went up at the half 13-9.

That had never happened before. Thankfully, the Wildcats didn't get scared, they came out and overpowered the Huskers. And who says Dick Tomey can't fire a team up?...

And one last thanks from humble little me to all the guys on the team. Thanks for a great season, a free trip to a bowl game and all the bragging I got to do all season long for seeing all your games for free.

Then again, a career change may not be in order...

Chris Jackson is the Wildcat sports editor and a senior majoring in journalism, and will gladly accept all hate-mail at Chris.Jackson@wildcat.arizona.edu regarding himself or any member of his staff.