For those who regard discussions of football akin to Spanish-language television, feel free to skip this one. (Let's say goodbye to my wife.) We are going to deviate from the real estate theme for a day and devolve into sportswriter mode following last night's Fiesta Bowl.

I had watched the first half and then slowly faded as the cold medicine kicked in. A late call awakened me and I started working on the computer, where I saw Boise State was holding on by eight. I made it back to the television seconds after Oklahoma scored the second of their two touchdowns 20-odd seconds apart. It turns out, I made it back just in time.

That Boise State came back to tie the game wasn't as remarkable as they way in which they did it. Finally, there was a football coach who realized that with a minute to go and two timeouts, low-percentage deep passes weren't necessary. Instead, succession of medium routes helped the Broncos move down the field. And that left them in position for the hook and lateral play which tied the game.

Usually the play is run with a pair of wide receivers in the same general vicinity, essentially both running hook routes, one deeper than the other. The deep receiver makes the catch and pitches to the short receiver, where he has to evade not only his own man but whomever was covering the deep receiver. This is what makes this so-called misdirection played rarely successful (unless you're the Miami Dolphins.) But Boise State added what turned out to be the perfect wrinkle - throwing the pass to a receiver just shy of the first-down marker (still hard to believe that part was intentional, then having him turn in to seemingly stretch for the first down.)

Except he didn't stretch. As he curled to his right, he pitched the ball to a second receiver running right to left for a lateral and a remarkable easy score. Oklahoma's defense converged on the original receiver to try and prevent the first down and never had a chance to adjust.

It only got better in overtime. Let's skip past the first few gadget plays, even including the touchdown where the a receiver took a direct snap and threw to a wide open tight end on the right side of the end zone as the quarterback ran in motion to the left. We'll just go straight to the two-point conversion - the only choice possible, given the ease with which Oklahoma had scored on Adrian Peterson's 25-yard dash to open overtime.

I've watched the replay two dozen times. I know what's coming. And I still don't see the ball sitting in the quarterback's left hand until just before he hands the ball to Ian Johnson for the winning two-point conversion. It's enough to make me want to have my eyes checked. I KNOW IT'S COMING AND I STILL CAN'T SEE IT.

Unbelievable doesn't begin to describe it. And for those of us in the Valley, we get to do things all over again in six days when Ohio State plays Florida in the BCS Championship Game. Maybe Boise State should hang around and we can try and arrange an OSU-BSU meeting over at Cactus High School next Tuesday.

(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton\'s Arizona Homes

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In about eight hours, the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma will kick off at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale - all of about nine miles from my house. I'm working on carving out some serious television time today, the second of my planned two-day hiatus from real estate (and my first days off since Thanksgiving), though work has seemed to interfere a couple of times already.

Today's game has been an afterthought for anyone outside of Boise and Oklahoma, which is an odd feeling for a Fiesta Bowl. As a one-time independent bowl - it had no conference tie-ins from the late 1970s until the invention of the BCS - the Fiesta Bowl was able to put together matchups other bowls only could dream of - #1 Miami vs. #2 Penn State in 1987, #1 Notre Dame vs. #2 West Virginia in 1988 to name two.

And the Fiesta was the first bowl to play host to the old Bowl Alliance championship game (Nebraska vs. Florida) and the first BCS title game (Tennessee vs. Florida State.) I can count one on hand the number of times the Fiesta had been thoroughly uncared about - 1984, when tickets were available until kickoff for UCLA vs. Miami and 1991, when boycotts from a number of colleges over Arizona's decision at the time not to pass an MLK holiday left us with Alabama vs. Louisville.

This year, the focus has been less on Oklahoma and Boise State than next Monday's game, also at University of Phoenix Stadium - the BCS Championship Game between #1 Ohio State and #2 Florida. But no matter ... though local and national press attention may be elsewhere, the fans have made their presence known, arriving in droves over the past week from the cold of Idaho.

As long as you don't need a seat at the Yardhouse or Gordon Biersch, it's a wonderful thing.

Who Will Win Today's Fiesta Bowl

Select an option:
Oklahoma Boise State

(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton's Arizona Homes

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For many years, the Fiesta Bowl block party in Tempe had been the place to be on New Years' Eve. With live entertainment in multiple venues and restaurants galore along Mill Avenue, there was no better place to be as the clock ticked toward midnight.

But with the Fiesta Bowl moving to Glendale, the Valley's best New Years' party has shifted west as well - to the Westgate City Center, near Glendale Avenue and Loop 101. Westgate not only includes both Jobing.com Arena, home of the Phoenix Coyotes and Arizona Sting, but also University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals and host in the next 10 days of both the Fiesta Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Boise State - both of which have fans by the busload already here) and the BCS Championship Game between Ohio State and Florida.

(Fun sidelight of life with the Ohio State crowd. When the Buckeyes were here to play Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl for the BCS championship, Ohio State fans took over the balconies of Gordon Biersch on the northwest corner of 5th Avenue and Mill and Hooters on the southeast corner. They then spent most of an evening before the game shouting at each other ... OH ... IO! ... OH ... IO! Maureen should have been here.)

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers will headline the celebration that also features a Fireworks Display at midnight, 40’ Video Jumbotron, DJ’s, Dance Clubs, and a $250,000 Arizona Lottery give away during the evening. Westgate City Center will be one of the hottest New Years Eve destinations and will feature various levels of partying; including partying like a rock star in either of our clubs, overlooking the $5 million dollar Bellagio style “WaterDance” Fountain, stage and the events plaza.

Tickets range in price, depending on where you want to be. One interesting sidelight is the dance clubs will be inside the shells for the under-construction residential lofts at Westgate - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dance the night away, unless the new owners invite you over for New Years' next year.

Westgate's first phase essentially is done but more is to come ... including a Margaritaville cafe, where I surely will be wasting away on more than one occasion. All I want is for Jimmy to come open this one as he has his others and I'll be happy.

(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton's Arizona Homes

"Daddy, can we do something together?" Let history show this may become the most expensive sentence since "No, honey, it wasn't me."

I took my daughter to Arrowhead Towne Center today and outside of a chocolate chip cookie (for her) and a thoroughly unnecessary cookie sandwich for me (which I blame on my co-workers who dragged me kicking and screaming to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch) I was doing quite well financially.

Until we found the Build-A-Bear workshop, where I spent the GNP of Bolivia on a WWF-sponsored snow leopard. But that was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the hell that is coming behind the large plywood advertisement.

Sephora is coming to Glendale. The same Sephora at whose altar in Scottsdale my wife worships. The same Sephora I was forced to visit in Barcelona - halfway around the globe. (In reality, I pointed it out in a blatant and futile effort to score some brownie points.)

Sephora, home of the $1,833,938,923,928,194 lipstick tube, is coming to the Arrowhead Towne Center next spring. And so, my marketing has devolved into outright pleading ...

Please buy a home, one of my listings or otherwise ... I guarantee 99 percent of the proceeds will be donated to Sephora come April.

(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton's Arizona Homes