They are the storied tradition and we're the new kid on the block. I think they've only lost like three home games in 15 years, so we're a huge underdog. People may think I'm a lunatic, but I believe my kids have a great shot. We don't go into any game to lose.

[The Philadelphia Stock Exchange is close to that -- its entire mission-critical trading system is based on either Sparc or x86-based Sun servers, all of which run Solaris. The exchange in July went live with a new options-trading platform running on x86-based Sun servers, and CIO Bill Morgan plans to evaluate the Galaxy systems as well as new Sparc systems next year.] I'm in a business where we handle 120,000 messages a second now, and it's going to be over 200,000 next year, ... Whenever I hear a vendor is striving to upgrade capacity, that's music to my ears.

The philosophy hasn't changed. The NCAA is just trying to hook up the rules to the technology.

There will be a lot of emotions, but the biggest thing I'll be thinking about is, 'Did we do all that we could to get the kids ready for this game?' ... There will probably be a few stones left unturned, but those will be things we can build on.

The sprinters have been developing nicely and are ready to compete on this level.

He was very energetic. He wore himself out (Thursday) talking to friends and writing poems.