Imagine this – a true national championship playoff, and four teams remaining: Oklahoma State versus Alabama, and LSU versus Kansas State. Such is life in the final two weeks of the 2011-2012 December Delirium.

Yes, it is all my imagination. I keep dreaming that maybe someday it will actually happen. The proposed “plus one” format for the BCS is a step in the right direction, but please, stop teasing us with a sorta-kinda National Championship and give it to us for real!

At this point, we’ve seen all of the key teams play in various bowl games. Most of these games have had little to no relevance to anyone other than, well, maybe an athletic director or school president or two. There have been plenty of intriguing match-ups, but that is about the only way to describe them: intriguing at best.

Onwards to the semifinals and finals of this year’s December Delirium!

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You’ve survived the holiday season – regardless of which holiday(s) you were celebrating. You might have put forth some resolutions for the upcoming year. You are feeling rejuvenated by the first few days of the new year. If you are in Austin, you have even been celebrating 70 degree weather in January – a treat, to say the least.

One thing never changes though – the growth of fresh rhubarb. There will always be news which reminds us that truth is stranger than fiction. The first new rhubarb for 2012 is upon us. Imagine this – it is chock full of politics and yummy vitamins. Enjoy Episode 31, the first episode of 2012!

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Runners, it's time to put this craziness to rest. I hear it repeated, over and over again: runners seeking treatment from clinicians that relate the running injury to a leg length discrepancy. Worse yet, they then wonder why they aren't getting better.

It is highly unlikely - I repeat, highly unlikely - that your leg length discrepancy has any relevance to your running injury. Period.

It is time for clinicians to get over this "diagnosis of irrelevance" for the vast majority of clinical scenarios. It is utter crap. It does a disservice to both the current sport sciences related to running and the clinical reasoning process. But it pays - handsomely.

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The temperature in Austin dropped below freezing last night. Pretty chilly, indeed.

It’s funny saying that, having grown up in Canada with my share of Canadian winters. Having now lived in Austin for over 20 years, it always amazes me what now constitutes “chilly”. The natives here tell me that your blood thins out when you live here a while. I don’t know if my blood is any thinner, but I know my feet get cold faster than ever.

A Canadian winter is something I will never forget. Winters in Eastern Ontario are a far cry from those experienced in Lotusland (aka Vancouver, British Columbia – otherwise known as Hollywood North). Living along the St. Lawrence River, you are just a stone’s throw from the snow belt – when a trip due south in perfectly clear conditions becomes a white out in a heartbeat.

Winter sounds enchanting, doesn’t it? You can go downhill skiing, or cross country skiing, or snowboarding, or sledding, or ice skating, or go curling or even play some hockey. It always sounds delightful - until you are faced with its icy grip for, oh, about 6 or 7 solid months, if not longer.

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