Christmas??  OK, sure.  Or -- if you're a sports junkie Scrooge like myself -- you think of the middle of December as the "most wonderful time of the year" for sports!

Right now, we fools for sports, both college and pro, have a little bit of everything:  football heading to its climax, basketballers jockeying for position out of the gate (if I may mix metaphors), and enough behind-the-scenes soap-opera wheeling and dealing keep us all riveted to "As The MLB Turns".  Where to start?  What to blog?  As the old adage says, "write what you know."  Being saddled here in Texas, I 'reckon' the best idea is to start there --  and one thing I know at this moment is that the race for the Heisman Trophy should be a lot closer than it's currently made out to be. 

First, let me put my Longhorn bias aside and say that Reggie Bush should probably win.  The guy is insanely quick, strong, and has breakaway speed.  He has uncanny vison for a young player, and he's a threat to cause permanent emotional damage to defenders every time he touches the ball.  But the "best player in the last 20 years"?  A bit of a stretch.  I may be wrong, but don't they say that about top Heisman candidates at least once every 3 years?  Heck, they're even calling the race for last place in the NFL this year (and thus next year's #1 draft pick) the "Reggie Bush Sweepstakes".  But does the name "Clinton Portis" ring a bell here?  Yes, I know he didn't win the Heisman.  But Clinton Portis is a perfect example of what a Reggie Bush-type player (one who relies on speed to the hole and elusiveness in the open field) will do in the NFL.  In the right system (Denver), he can be a superstar. In another system (Washington), or a plain bad team (O-line-less Houston or decrepit San Francisco), that type of player will be a top 10 RB at best (Portis in Washington), and most likely only mediocre; which is what Reggie Bush will be next year.  And, also true, Vince Young's arm motion alone would keep him from being an NFL starter next year, if he decides to go.  But all that is neither here nor there; the Heisman goes to the best player in college football that year, period. 

With that criterion, the race between Vince Young and Reggie Bush should be neck-and-neck.  And here's why:  Vince Young can do things both Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart cannot.  He's a QB who can run the ball almost as well as Reggie Bush, but Bush obviously can't throw it like Young.  Young can throw it as well as Matt Leinart (Young has a higher QB rating & completion %), but Leinart has limited mobility.  OK, maybe he can run one yard if Reggie Bush gives him a good hard shove.  But the argument can easily be made that Vince Young is the most complete, versatile, and therefore most dangerous player in college football this year, and is deserving of the 2005 Heisman Trophy.

Again, I reassert that Reggie Bush probably should and will win the Heisman.  And it will be deserved -- the guy's a flat-out RB freak.  But it shouldn't be a "hands down" race, as the SoCal spin doctors keep hammering at us, and there should be much more balanced arguments for Vince Young.  If Reggie Bush wins it, I'll be happy.  He deserves it.  If Vince Young wins, he deserves it also.  And I'll be ecstatic.