All things in SoCal were primo...save for the result of the BCS Championship Game

Just got back from Southern California, where -- in a matter of five very busy days (two that were essentially all travel) -- I played 72 holes of golf, enjoyed an afternoon of horse racing and covered the biggest college football game of the season.

By now you all know that Alabama beat Texas 37-21 in the BCS Championship game, contested at the Rose Bowl Stadium (above) Jan. 7 before a crowd of nearly 95,000 people. The game -- which had all the makings of a real classic -- was robbed of a bit of its luster when Longhorns' quarterback Colt McCoy (a Heisman Trophy finalist the past two season) hurt his throwing shoulder on a freak injury early on and was forced to watch from the sidelines. The Horns still put up quite a fight and -- behind the stellar second-half play of true freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert -- cut a huge Alabama lead to just three points with 3:17 to play but could not withstand the vaunted Tide defense at the end (below).

After covering the game I ventured north some 35 miles to the Comfort Suites in Stevenson Ranch, a hamlet just outside the town of Santa Clarita. In the morning I headed out to the nearby Robinson Ranch Golf Club (below), where I teed it up for 36 holes -- on two separate courses (the Valley and the Mountain) designed by Ted Robinson (who fashioned such tracks as Indian Wells Country Club in Southern California, Salhalee Country Club in Washington, the Experience at Koele on Lanai in Hawaii and Lakewood Oiso in Japan) and his son Ted Robinson, Jr. Great golf on a gorgeous track made for a memorable day; look for my travel feature about the courses this summer on the Cybergolf.com website.

On Jan. 9 I flew back to San Antonio and was struck dead in the face by the cold weather that has its clutch on the rest of the country. I am glad to be home but still dreaming of SoCal and remembering the great trip I had to the West Coast.