This is an exercise in impossibility. I, Bradford Doolittle, am attempting a multi-layered plunge into the abyss of multi-tasking, armed only with a head full of herbal tea and anti-anxiety medication. What follows is a "live" blog of the Missouri-Northwestern Alamo Bowl. The quotes are necessary on "live" because I will not actually be posting anything until after the game is over. That is because while composing the text for this raw reaction to Tiger postseason bliss, I will also be designing four pages of tomorrow's sports section, following tonight's NBA action on LeaguePass Broadband, updating my NBA stats database, accepting calls from my wife wondering if tomorrow will finally be the day that I shave and get a haircut and, of course, watching the Alamo Bowl itself. Under the guidlines set forth in the Unholy Decree of Multi-tasking by the International Brotherhood of Sports Bloggers, I hereby absolve myself of all eccentricities, inaccuracies, and any other -cies contained herein. There will be typos, which I will try to fix later.

6:50 p.m.: Some of you have read my "advance" on the bowl game. Most have chosen to remain silent and slowly back away. A couple of you have chosen to respond. The gist of this feedback is this: What the $*&! was that? I can't answer that for you. I just sat down, decided I needed write something teasing the Alamo Bowl, and that's what came out. I can't explain it and, besides, does there have to be a reason for everything? Anyway, I had to refer back and forth to the Mike DeArmond piece that I linked to for Mizzou's bowl history. The Hemingway stuff was all off the top of my head, though. Impressed? MU athletics and Ernest Hemingway are two of my favorite subjects in the world. In my frazzled mental state, isn't only natural that the two would intermingle in an occasional mash-up post? On second thought, don't answer that.

6:59 p.m.: I listen to experts like Mark May and Lou Holtz with relish throughout the season, thinking that I learn about the college game everytime I tune in. Then I hear them talk about a team that I know well and I think, "I know more than they do." Any fan that follows any team closely can probably say the same thing, just not with the same degree of objectivity.

7:11 p.m.: Already behind. I'm tapped into my DVR at home and had the game paused for five minutes. Finally, here is kickoff. Northwestern shies away from Jeremy Maclin with a little pooch kick and he then gets swarmed. I'm really hoping to see J-Mac break one, last big one in his last Tiger game. Then I'm hoping he ends up in Denver next season.

7:13 p.m.: I've seen Northwestern play a couple of times this year. Mizzou cannot forget about the run in this game. This is a contest where they can easily rack up 200 yards+ on the ground. Coffman takes in a third-down pass for MU's initial first down. There's another guy I'd like to see in a Broncos uniform.

7:17 p.m.: Interception. Ugh. Here we go. Let's see what the defense can do. MU had two receivers in the same place. How does that result in an interception? Come on.

7:19 p.m.: As Northwestern marches, this is good time for me to complain about how loose MU's defensive backs play, giving too much cushion to opposing receivers. Yeah, I know they don't have great talent in the secondary and Al Eberflus is trying to avoid giving up a big play. But the coverages get jumbled up so consistently, they might as well jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage and do more blitzing.

7:21 p.m.: As I type that previous log entry, Northwestern takes advantage of an MU defensive back that slipped for an easy score. Wildcats, 7-0.

7:27 p.m.: The Tigers offense responds to the Wildcat touchdown with a quick three-and-out. For all of the rhetoric about how this game is important for MU's legacy, etc., this does not look like an inspired football team. Let's hope they shake the rust off pretty soon, or they could find themselves in a South Carolina (2005, Independence Bowl) situation. Of course, that one turned out pretty well. Establish the run, guys.

7:32 p.m.: Mizzou's defense gives up 44 yards on a third-down screen pass, but William Moore knocks the ball loose from Northwestern's Tyrell Sutton. MU ball. That makes up for Chase Daniel's lost fumble after a 59-yard run in the KU game. Well, not quite. What's this? A flag and a review. Isn't football exciting? ... Offsides. OK. It's going to be one of THOSE nights. Ah, geez, what a meltdown by Moore. I wanted them to line up tighter on the receivers but, you know, on their own side of the line of scrimmage. Northwestern gets the first down, another flag, another offside call. Time for another Xanax.

7:42 p.m.: It does seem like MU's defense usually reacts pretty well to the bubble screen. They should -- they have to see plenty of them in practice. On third down, Brock Christopher just misses an interception, but at least it's a stop. Still 7-0.

7:44 p.m.: 57 scripted plays! Remember after the Big 12 title game when I said it seems like Missouri is too married to their system and doesn't do a good job of reacting to matchups? It's no wonder.

7:53 p.m.: Mizzou is on the march. A Chase Daniel tuck & run. A Jeremy Maclin slant. The old bread & butter. The Tigers will find productive receivers for the spread in the seasons to come. But no matter who they bring in, I'm going to miss watching Maclin run with the football. It's a thing of beauty. First quarter is over with NU up 7-0 but the Tigers are knocking on

7:54 p.m.: Daniel overthrows Denario Alexander on third down. Jeff Wolfert on for the consolation field goal. It's good. 7-3 Northwestern. A bit of a letdown, but the Northwestern momentum as been ebbed a little bit.

7:58 p.m.: Just got a photo on my cell phone from my uncle, who lives in San Antonio. He's at the game. Looks like he's sitting in the lower bowl, behind one of the end zones. Bastard.

8:00 p.m.: My gawd. Has any team in the history of football ever had a worse third-down defense? One missed tackle turns into 25 yards. Wildcats are on the march again. That is, until Brian Coulter levels Peterman on the flea flicker. Great play.

8:01 p.m.: 19 yards on screen pass. Horrible. Just horrible.

8:05 p.m.: A nice goalline stand is ruined by yet another offside call. It's Coulter again, lined up in the neutral zone. This is just brutal. It's like watching an episode of "Cheaters". Not that I would ever do that. They get the stop and hold Northwestern to a field goal anyway. 10-3 NU with 9:11 to go before the half. Let's get that offense rolling!

8:13 p.m.: Another pooch kickoff. These puny-ass Wildcats. Kick the ball deep. Be men. This is football. We're men! We're 40!. Actually, not even Northwestern's coach is that old. Pat Fizgerals is only like 33 years old. My gosh. I am a total failure.

8:28 p.m (DVR time): After a painful review, Daniel gets tagged with an interception. MU remains stuck on 3 points. Northwestern is a defensive team, holding opponents to 20 points or less in nine of 12 games. They are not having trouble defensing Dave Christensen's canned version of the spread. Maybe they can get it going when the script runs out -- if they get to 57 plays.

(At this point, as Northwestern was lined up for a long field goal, my SlingBox started behaving like Gary Busey on "Celebrity Rehab". Just bonkers. Frozen images. Audio that doesn't match the video. A brain-damaged nightmare. I reconnect at a lower bandwith and everything is fixed. I see that Northwestern did not make the field goal. Slingbox usually performs better than this and I suspect my wife is at home downloading music for the iPod I gave her for Christmas. Damned unintentional consequences.)

8:43 p.m.: Another third-down pickup for Northwestern and you'd have to say that, so far, third down execution is the difference in the game. Stryker Shulock comes back a couple of plays later with a big sack, so maybe the Tigers can get the ball back before half.

8:46 p.m.: Yeeessssssssssssssss!!!! One more time, J-Mac for old time's sake. After Pat Fitzgerald avoided Maclin like the plague for the entire first half, he kicks to him on a punt and, 75 yrds later, we're all even. The worm has turned. That's Jeremy Maclin, ladies and gentlemen. Let's do a little dance ...

OK, I'm sure Fitzgerald's punter meant to do one of those squibby, rugby punts that have become all the rage in college football. His punter just screwed it up. Thank you. Game tied 10-10. It's halftime and I can now bring my DVR up to real time. We'll see how long that lasts.

Halftime (8:53 p.m.): First half stats review: Maclin is MU's leading rusher, receiver and, of course, had the biggest play of the first half. Northwestern has a yardage advantage -- 202-135 -- and has run 50 plays to MU's 34. The Tigers have just 39 yards rushing on 10 attempts. Northwestern has a 2-1 edge in forcing turnovers. Here's one Gary Pinkel will love: MU has 4 penalties, Northwestern 0. Also, addressing my pet peeve, Northwestern is 8-of-12 converting third down.

9:09 p.m.: Second half underway, with Northwestern methodically moving down the field on the arm of C.J. Bacher. Once again, the coverage seems to loose. I guess you have to do that when your guys can't figure out where the line of scrimmage is.

9:21 p.m.: This is the hour that things really start to pick in the sport department, so the blogging is getting tough. Don't worry though, I am resolute. I've been paused for a few minutes to, of all things, fetch a photo of suspended KU player Justin Thornton. Where I'm at right now, Northwestern has a second & 1, just shy of midfield, coming out of timeout.

9:23 p.m.: Criminy. Carl Gettis gets burned on a fly route for a touchdown. Deja freaking vu. The extra point clangs off the upright, so it's 16-10 Northwestern. Man, Gettis made Rasheed Ward look like Jeremy Maclin. And, what do you know, it was a screwed up coverage. Deja freaking vu.

9:30 p.m.: MU responds with a drive. It's now 4th & a 1/2-yard. And they're going for it ... Sneak up the middle. Good recognition of where the defense was deploying its resources. Easy play.

9:31 p.m.: Derrick Washington continues to get stifled, but MU can't give up on him. Run some kind of counter, instead of one of those easy-to-read dives or stretch plays. Next play: Daniel is late on the delivery, should have had Perry for six points. Big third down coming up: Touchdown! Denario Alexander on the slant. MU goes up top 17-16 midway through the third quarter. Buckle up, folks. It's on.

9:39 p.m.: INT: Brock Christopher. Ironic, too, as the announcers were slobbering over themselves praising C.J. Boucher. Brock read Boucher like a 'See Jane Run' book. This is Mizzou's chance to seize control of this thing.

9:44 p.m.: These ESPN dudes are ready to anoint Jeff Wolfert as the new George Blanda. He's good, but come on. Anyway, Wolfy puts Mizzou up 20-16. Northwestern's QB is banged up. Their backup is named Kafka -- the best literary name for a QB this side of Ryan Fitzgerald. Looks like Northwestern is going to test the secondary deep consistently, so Eberflus better get those deep coverage packages straight.

Another sack! Ziggy Hood. On third down, no less. As Anthony Michael Hall's Farmer Ted said in "Sixteen Candles" -- This ... is getting good.

9:57 p.m.: Geez, another penalty, this one erasing Maclin's 16-yard end around. This is killing me.

9:58 p.m.: Daniel's third pick. What was Daniel looking at there? That was horrible. Wildcats inside the 30, but lose seven yards on a screen. Sean Witherspoon is a beast.

10:00 p.m.: Northwestern goes up on a 32-yard lob into the end zone, but we're getting a review. Well, whatever happens -- and it's going to be a touchdown for Ross Lane -- this is another example of how poor the MU secondary has played this season. The player was right there -- good coverage. Instead of making the smart play, which would have been to tip the ball away, he tried to make the great play, an interception. The end zone is not the place to make such gambles. It costs Missouri seven points.

10:04 p.m.: End of the third quarter. So much for that 12.5 point spread. Good game, though.

10:10 p.m.: The offense does nothing but a good punt backs up Northwestern inside its own 15. The defense needs to step here. First down: Ziggy Hood gets nice pressure and forces an incomplete dumpoff. Damn near a safety. Second down: Sutton up the gut for about seven. Big third down: First down to a receiver running an unfettered slant. Ugh.

10:16 p.m.: You know it's coming, but you still can't stop it. Coffman with a first down ove rthe middle. Northwestern is really coming hard after Daniel right now. A screen? A draw? Just a regular old run? Oh man. That was a terrible play call on that reversed. Just a poor design. You could see it coming all the way from the River Walk. That's the result of way too many of Mizzou's "trick" plays. Daniel is laying a major egg in this game but, still, you can't boo the guy. As Mark Jackson would say, "You're better than that, Missouri fans." Great punt, though. It's back in the defenses court. Let's see some pressure. Get after 'em.

10:22 p.m.: Peterman picks up 13 for the first down to get Northwestern out of trouble. No. Pass. Defense.

10:23 p.m.: A big holding call pushes Northwestern back. Weatherspoon almost had a pick six on that play but it was another gamble that wouldn't have paid off. 2&17. Oh -- he just barely go that ball away. Holding .. in the end zone? Nope. But it pushes 'em back even more. Hood just barely missed a safety sack there. Keep coming, guys.

10:25 p.m.: Sutton right up the gut for a big gain. Third down coming up. Clock is running down. This is getting a little nerve-wracking. Here's the play: Great job. A stop & a punt. Almost a disaster on the punt, but Maclin jumps on the ball. Just under six minutes to go. Great field position for Mizzou.

10:30 p.m.: Maclin with another first down, followed by another overthrow from Daniel. He's just not getting it done. Third and 10: Coffman with another big grab. That's a great player when you can get that big of a play on an erratic throw when everyone know it was coming.

10:32 p.m.: Big 3&7: Ummm. A five-run run on the sweep to Washington. Fourth down. Lining up for the field goal. Hate this. Nailed it! Wolfert is money. All tied at 23, less than three minutes to go. It's back on the defense, but first we need kick coverage.

10:34 p.m.: Wolfert kicks it into the end zone. That helps. 2:49 to go. Butterflies in stomach. Too nervous to type ...

10:36 p.m.: Third and four for Northwestern. Watch Sutton ... overthrow! Tigers will get the ball for a chance at a game-winning drive. Wooooo!

10:38 p.m.: Missouri starts at own 33. Everything is coming on line. Three timeouts. No reason to rush. Daniel scrambles for nine. Good decision. Hits Coffman. Mizzou is at the Northwestern 44. Under a minue to go. Tommy Saunders for five yards. Timeout. Forty-seven second to go.

10:40 p.m.: Nothing high risk. TAKE THE SAFE PLAY! MU is only a few yards away from getting into Wolfert's range. (Flashed Daniels numbers. Ugly.) Complete to Alexander .. flag ... facemask. Oh. My. That's huge. Now there is nothing to do but run the clock down for the final field goal. Backfield is empty fo course. Daniel loses a yard. That's fine. Clock running. Yep, it's a timeout with 14 seconds to go. Our man Wolfy has a chance for his moment in the sun. Another play, actually. Three seconds to go. Here we go: Timeout to freeze him. Argh. Really dragging this thing out. I am putting myself in Wolfert's shoes right now. I couldn't kick the ball five yards in this situation. Here's the real play, this time: Just wide right.

So that means overtime. Which is not only nerve-wracking, but it's a nightmare for us at the paper.

10:50 p.m.: I used to think it was silly that the referees would offer these exhaustive lectures on the rules of overtime. That was before Donovan McNabb incident. You can't take anything for granted, I guess. Northwestern goes on defense first.

10:51 p.m.: It's all Maclin, baby. A big run, then a nice catch over the middle. Excellent play by Daniel, as well, recovering from a bobble slant.

10:55 p.m.: Defense to win it: Good gain on a sneak. 2&4 for 'Cats. Peterman again. He's the Kerry Meier of Northwestern and I'm really getting to dislike him.

10:56 p.m.: Incomplete on first down, good pressure from Weatherspoon and Hood. Second down, I'd lay off the pressure one play and look for the slant or the draw. The play: A draw, nothing doing. Third & goal from the eight: Pressure and a sack, all the way back to the 32! It's all happening. Fourth and goal and Northwestern needs thirty yards. A review? That's a freaking fumble. The ball flew out before his arm came forward. See what the zebras come up with: Upheld.

11:00 p.m.: The final play? A heave ... knocked down, by William Moore. Mizzou wins! Well, I have to get this damn paper out. I'm going to throw this up on the blog. I'll add a coda later on. Thanks for tuning in.