So I'm extremely happy to be going to Tokyo for TGS and then on to Barcelona for X06. I'm even happier to be staying in Barcelona a few days with my wife for a short post-TGS/X06 vacation. But before I go, there's a few things I have to take care of. And I don't just mean the insane amount of packing, charging-of-accessories, and other related prep-effluvia. I'm talking important stuff. Sports stuff. Game stuff. Stuff that matters.

1) Auburn/LSU - On a day featuring seven big-time college football games, there's none bigger than this one. Lots of people have been saying Auburn/LSU series has become the premier rivalry in the SEC and I can't really disagree with that. There are major implications for this game, especially for Auburn. Should Auburn beat LSU at home, and Michigan pull out an upset over Notre Dame, my Tigers will be solidly in the #2 or #3 spot in the rankings and poised to make a run for the BCS trophy.

As for the NFL, well I'll be on a plane bound Narita on Sunday so I'll need to...

2) Set the Tivo. I'm going to miss the next two weeks of college and NFL games and, when I get back, I plan on spending an entire weekend catching with the Bears games I missed. Of course, missing two weeks of NFL games means I'll also be utterly clueless when it comes to...

3) Setting my fantasy football lineups. I've got two fantasy teams going right now, the first being an internal GameSpot league (in which I lost my first game to that degenerate Raiders fan Tim Surette, and the second being run over at The Huddle, where I managed to win my first game). All I'll say is this: If Carson Palmer doesn't play better than he did last weekend against the Chiefs, then I'm going to straight up beat someone down. Which brings me to...

4) Fight Night Round 3 - I just got this in the mail via GameFly. I played the heck out of this before it came out but haven't played the game since. I'll try to bang out a few achievements tonight and tomorrow before I leave but it's going to be tough mainly because I also received...

5) Project Gotham Racing 3, which arrived in the mail today. Circuit City had the game for $20 and I simply couldn't pass this one up, as it's one of my favorite racing games of recent memory. Having just bought an HDTV, I can't wait to get back to playing this game the way it was meant to be played - in glorious high def.

With this much to do in two days, it'll be a wonder if I make it to Tokyo with more than two pair of underwear.

See you cats on the flip-flop!