Kathy and I decided that we would spend Christmas week in Dallas so that we can participate in activities leading up to the Heart of Dallas Bowl where the Bulldogs will host the University of Illinois Fighting Illini in Cotton Bowl Stadium on December 26th. The team departed early today and will arrive in Dallas in time for lunch, team meetings and a practice. I will leave a little later and make a couple of stops in Bossier City to meet with our friends at the Cyber Innovation Center and Barksdale Air Force Base. We have quite a few projects underway with them and I have been taking every opportunity that I can to meet and plan activities. We hope to make some announcements on those activities before long. Tonight, Kathy and I will meet up the team to go to the American Airlines Center to see the Atlanta Hawks battle the Dallas Mavericks. I am really looking forward to that game as it will be my first opportunity to see Tech basketball great and NBA All-Star Paul Millsap play in person as a Hawk. There are quite a few other activities throughout the week in which Kathy and I are looking forward to participate. There will also be many opportunities to interact with our alumni, friends and staff. And later in the week, two of my sons and daughter-in-laws will arrive to celebrate Christmas and enjoy the ball game. They actually started planning their Christmas holidays around the football game as soon as we found out the Bulldogs were bowl eligible. I guess they take after their Mom and Dad in being loyal Bulldog fans. We were all pleased that the Dogs were invited to be in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The date of the bowl game conflicts with some of our fans schedules, but we expect a good turnout anyway, and many other fans will be watching the game on national TV. We also know that the game will bring a lot more visibility of Louisiana Tech to the DFW metroplex where many of our alumni, corporate partners, and prospective students live and work. I plan to post a daily update on activities surrounding our time in Dallas, so I hope that you will check back with us!