Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Happy New Year!

Thankfully, we won't be scraping frost off the windshield this morning (When did Kissimmee become the capital of Alaska, by the way?) but a few of us may be knocking down an aspirin or two before we make our way to the wide screens for today's New Year's bowlfest.

The New Year's Day bowl games aren't what they used to be 20 years ago when you saw all the bowl biggies: Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Orange.

Not anymore. The national championship game, Auburn and Oregon, is still nine days away. The Orange Bowl is Monday and the Sugar is Tuesday.

But today we do have the TicketCity Bowl, Northwestern against Texas Tech, at the Cotton Bowl. But that's not the Cotton Bowl game. The Cotton Bowl game, LSU and Texas A&M, is set for Friday at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Not that we need more confusion on a morning when navigating from the bedroom to the kitchen for an ice bag might require a paramedic with a rolling IV stand.

Meanwhile, for our first shout out for 2011, let's give it up for former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Rendell called the NFL out for postponing for two days last Sunday's Eagles-Vikings game because of a snowstorm.

Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, said moving the game was an indication that we are turning into a nation of "wussies."

I can't wait for the man to run for president.

In honor of Gov. Rendell, here is the Mighty News-Gazette New Year's Top 13:

No. 1: The Humanitarian Bowl (Does anything sound more wussy than this? And it's played on a blue field.). No. 2: The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (A close second in the bowl wuss derby). No. 3: The Dolphins (1-7 at home? That's wussy.). No. 4: Tom Brady (wussy hair). No. 5: Mike Ditka (The anti-wuss). No. 6: Seattle (The NFL's wussiest city). No. 7: Chicago (The anti-wuss NFL city). No. 8: Notre Dame (Wussiest mascot). No. 9: World Cup soccer players. No. 10: Vuvuzelas (The wussiest noisemakers ever). No. 11: Florida (The wussiest state. We can't take 35 degrees without four parkas and snow boots.). No. 12: Any boy band. No. 13: The Wuss Emeritus: Liberace.

A bowlin' we go:

Outback Bowl: Penn State vs. Florida (-5): Go ahead and call JoePa a wuss. He doesn't care. He can't hear you. Gators by 9.

Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Alabama (-7): If Orlando ever gets an NFL franchise, it dethrones Seattle for the wussy city title. C'mon, your primary employer specializes in pixie dust? Tide by 10.

Gator Bowl: Michigan vs. Mississippi St. (-5): Neither of these mascots are wussy, but let's guess that the Bulldogs are a lot happier to be here than the Wolverines. Dogs by 7.

Fiesta Bowl: Connecticut vs. Oklahoma (-17): Are Huskies the wussiest team ever in a BCS bowl? Oh, yeah. Sooners by 60.

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU (pick 'em): The Frogs make a statement before departing to the Big Wuss, er, Big East, in 2012. Frogs by 4.

Orange Bowl: Va. Tech vs. Stanford

(-3): All we can say for the Cardinal is, good Luck! Was that wussy? Maybe. Cards by 1.

Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs. Ohio State (-2.5): The NCAA suspends several Buckeyes for five games in 2011, but lets them play Tuesday? Wussy! Buckeyes by 3.

The paid professionals:

Tampa Bay at New Orleans (-8): No wussies in Tampa. Great season. Saints by 6.

Jacksonville (-2.5) at Houston: If the Colts lose, the Jags are in with a win. Good luck with that. Texans by 1.

Miami at New England (-3): Pats will probably yank all of their starters after the first half, and they’ll still win. Pats by 4.

St. Louis (-3) at Seattle: The NFC West title game - Wussy! Rams by 1.

Brian "Big Man" McBride's Super Sniffer Upset Special: Broncos over Chargers by 3 Tebows.

Petey "The Gators Are Going To Win" Covino says: Gators by 11.

Young Jackson says: Wisconsin by 1 in a Sorry Froggy Special and Arkansas by 4 (but don't tell my wife, the OSU fan).

Last week: The Philly Phreak (2-4, 91-62) had a whiteout against Phrozen Philistine (3-3, 87-66).