I wrote this because I was drunk at Christmas.

I don't didn't intend to publish this. I'm I was writing for my own benefit. Sometimes you're alone with your thoughts because you stepped away from the table on Christmas Eve. It's healthy to get them out, I guess. Right now I'm writing along with the Eagles. Hotel California is one of those albums you should dedicate 40 minutes to listen to before you die. It's contiguous, not many albums today are. Don't get me wrong, there are timeless tracks that stand the test of time alone: Life in the Fast Lane, Try and Love Again and the title track, but together they're something else, in this case a classic.

I won't let go of the 2003 Miami game. If you've been hanging out here for a while you know I've written about it before. It's the most "Virginia Tech game" I've ever been to. It was a classic. Lane was bonkers, we ran the ball, we played defense, we forced turnovers, we stormed the field, we beat Miami. We should have won the national championship that year. We had the rep, we had the schedule, we had the team. If we played every game as hard, as tough, if we wanted every game that year as much as we wanted to beat Miami, fans and team alike, we would have been undefeated.

That game stands alone. As a reminder for you young-uns, or those of you who care to forget, we went 8-5 that year. EIGHT AND FIVE. Nowadays if VT went 8-5 there'd be riots on the streets of Blacksburg. It put an exclamation point at the of "We're gonna sit down now!" But still, that game was something special, it stood out. It was big enough, important enough, to blur an otherwise regrettable year.

We've won eleven games this year. We came back against Miami, slapped Georgia Tech around, and smoked Virginia. It was an impressive campaign, but will any of those W's stick to your soul?

I hate myself for answering no, but beating the Cavs, Jackets and Canes has become old hat. We had a chance to earn a defining win this season, like we did last year, in the ACC championship game, and failed.

We need to beat Michigan.

Six minutes just passed. I laid back in my Grandpa's wrinkly leather recliner watching Southern Miss score before the half of the Hawaii Bowl trying to think of something stronger to follow that statement up with. I couldn't. I miss Christmases when there was only room on the floor.

We need to beat Michigan. We need to shut Herbstreit the fuck up. We need to win a "big" game. The seniors need to go out on top. We need to define this season. We need to show the fuck up. The lot of us have spent the last four months ignoring our wives and loved ones, slacking at work, practicing our balls off, or doing whatever we're supposed to do for Virginia Tech football. On January 4th we'll either be the overrated 11-3 Hokies, or Sugar Bowl champions.