Madison Beer Rang In The New Year Rocking A Minidress, Sommer Ray's Ready For 2026 & Ole Miss Took Out Georgia
There's still meat on the grill.
Ole Miss and Georgia saved the College Football Playoff quarterfinals
Unfortunately, Texas Tech and Alabama followed in Ohio State's footsteps on Thursday afternoon and didn’t show up for their quarterfinal games. It was an ugly end to their seasons as the two teams combined to score just three points.
Thankfully, Ole Miss and Georgia both showed up to play in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night. The game, which ended in a 39-34 Ole Miss win, had it all.
There were big hits, there were blown calls, there were clutch plays and one of the most bizarre endings to a football game that you'll ever see.
Georgia, down 37-34, decided to return the kickoff with just seconds left in the game. They got too cute with it and ended up with a safety on the play.
The clock hit zero and Ole Miss started to celebrate their Sugar Bowl win. Not so fast, it was determined that there was one second left in the game.
Players had to clear the field and make it back to their respective sidelines. The stage which had already made its way onto the field had to be removed for the first of two times.
It was ridiculous, but it was only going to get more ridiculous. Georgia, following the safety, did an onside kick on the free kick that followed and recovered it.
Once again, Ole Miss started their celebration believing that the clock had expired on the onside kick and that the game was over. It wasn’t. Because Georgia recovered it, the time on the clock remained.
One circus-style play finally put the game to an end to the best game of the second round. Ole Miss had punched their ticket to the semifinals.
They will play Miami on Thursday, January 8 at the Fiesta Bowl. Indiana and Oregon will play on Friday, January 9 at the Peach Bowl. What are your predictions for who moves on?
Trading places…
- Spike writes:
One of the best comedies ever. No chance they would make that movie now - would be considered so politically incorrect. But I watch it every year. So good. I suggest you make the time to rewatch it.
It actually can be considered a holiday movie as it takes place from Thanksgiving through New Years Day, touching on all 3 major holidays. A classic for the whole family! (Okay, not really family friendly). But my mom did take 14 year old me to see it in the theater I 1983.
SeanJo
Hey Spike, thanks for reaching out. You say you watch it every year. What time of year to you typically watch it? Is it in your holiday rotation?
Die Hard 2
- Beer Guy Thomas V in NC writes:
There is a very solid reason people don't mention Die Hard 2, it was a terrible movie. Arguably the worst of the franchise. It bumped me out of the movie in the first 15 minutes, they are at Dulles and they can't divert planes to other airports? There are no less than 4 in 10 minutes of flight and I knew that as I watched in the theater. It was a stupid premise.
Keep up the Bigfoot Hunt.
Re Die Hard being a Christmas movie
- Robert from SoCal writes:
A little late to the discussion - blame it on the holidays.
Regarding the argument of Die Hard not being a Christmas movie because it was not released at Christmas time, consider these "Christmas Movies":
Holiday Inn - released September 4, 1942
It’s a Wonderful Life - released January 7, 1947
Miracle on 34th Street - released July 4, 1947
The Bishop’s Wife - released February 16, 1948
So aside from the fact that the 40’s were a great decade for classic Christmas movies, a movie’s release date is apparently arbitrary.
By the way, Die Hard is totally a Christmas movie.
Have a Happy New Year,
Robert
SoCal reader
SeanJo
The release date isn't the only factor and, obviously, Christmas movies have been released at various times. Typically speaking, however, Christmas movies aren't summer blockbusters.
Movie debate
- Paul writes:
Dear Sean,
I suppose if you are going to insist Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie, next thing you know you'll be telling us Terminator isn't a love story.
Best regards,
Paul
SeanJo
Paul, I have no problem playing it fast and loose with whether a movie is a Christmas movie or not. I would never take that sort of irresponsible approach with a love story.
Of course, The Terminator is a love story.
Die Hard is a Christmas movie
- Jon writes:
Ok, I was staying out of this debate. But do you not realize you proved your point that Die Hard is a Christmas movie by referencing Die Hard 2? Christmas is really an irrelevant part of Die Hard 2 but is integral to Die Hard. What's the difference?
In addition to the points previously mentioned in the columns (e.g., the only reason for him being there was Christmas, heist happened during a Christmas Eve party, etc.), Die Hard has the Santa hat on the dead terrorist with Ho-Ho-Ho written on the sweatshirt. Christmas is mentioned over and over again. The only reason Sgt. Al is on the streets is because it's Christmas Eve and they were shorthanded. And at the end, McClane attaches the gun to his back using Christmas wrapping tape. Plus there are other winks at it being a Christmas movie. John's wife is named Holly. After the building blows up, paper floats down like snow. In the initial limo ride, McClane asks Argyle to play Christmas music while Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC is playing (and Argyle says, "This is Christmas music."). I believe the last line of dialogue in the movie is, "If this is their idea of Christmas, I've gotta be here for New Year's."
Finally, and contrary to Bruce Willis's point of view, the screenplay writer (Steven DeSouza) says it is a Christmas movie.
It's definitely a Christmas movie.
SeanJo
Thanks for weighing in, Jon. I will freely play both sides of an argument and provide contradictory arguments all I want. I would appreciate it if you ignored that.
Also, I'm going to rewatch Die Hard this weekend. It's possible I'm incorrectly remembering it as an action movie.
Die Hard and girls' sports?
- Jim T in San Diego writes:
Greg in Nebraska makes quite the leap from whether "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie - a question of observed tradition - to allowing males in female sports, a matter of safety and science.
Whether this or that movie is considered a "Christmas" movie is a matter of practice - if lots and lots of people consider a movie a Christmas movie and enjoy watching it as part of their holiday observation, then it is, by definition, "a Christmas movie."
Now, it's okay to say it SHOULDN'T be a Christmas movie.
But that's like saying because your family eats ham at Thanksgiving, that turkey is not a Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is a Thanksgiving tradition because (in this case) an overwhelming number of people believe it to be so.
Not sure where the leap from how we define holiday practices to allowing men in women's sports came in. Greg argues that because some people believed it was okay it was allowed to fester.
That's not tradition, though - that was lawfare waged by political and cultural extremists attempting to force an unsafe, unfair legal framework on an unwilling majority.
When and if Bruce Willis fans start convincing state legislatures and school districts to force people to watch "Die Hard" every December, then we may have a solid comparison to make between "Die Hard" and girls' sports.
Meat
- Chris B from Johnson City writes:
Hey SeanJo
I had an email all teed up on December 6th (my birthday) but the Buckeyes lost the B1G championship and I deleted it. My plan was to use my new grill light and cook a feast, then enjoy a championship. Things have changed a lot and here we are.
As you know, I grill year round. I was tired of squinting in the patio light and using my phone, so I told the family that I wanted a grill light. They came through and it’s awesome. I don’t know why I waited so long. I’ve done New York strips, burgers on the shortest day of the year and filets for New Years Eve.
Congrats to Penn State-I can’t stand Clemson. It’s going to be a few years before Ohio State can repeat.
SeanJo
Hey Chris B, I'm happy to see your dedication to hitting the grill all year hasn’t wavered. A grill light is a perfect gift. So is watching Ohio State lose, which was gifted to us twice in the biggest games of the season.
If it makes you feel any better, the Buckeyes weren't the only team that failed to show up in the College Football Playoff.
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That's it. The final call to the bullpen is in the books for me. There are a few bowl games on Friday and a couple of big NFL games on Saturday.
I took a last-minute trip down to the beach to welcome the New Year with my parents, who have been here for the entire week.
While we caught most of the first two games on Thursday and discussed the mechanics in great detail behind why the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift relationship works during the Ole Miss-Georgia game, I don’t know how much football I'll be watching today.
I will be locked in on Saturday afternoon for the Panthers game as they play for the NFC South. I'll also set aside a couple of hours over the next couple of days for Die Hard.
See everyone on Sunday. Keep sending your emails my way. The inbox is open for anything and everything at sean.joseph@outkick.com. Go follow me on Twitter and over on Instagram.