After nearly three weeks away from Los Angeles, my holiday sabbatical is over and I'm back on the west coast—but not for long. January's a busy multi-sports month. Next Wednesday, I head to Miami for the BCS title game. (My co-workers have informed me that, along with no cheering in the press box, there is a new Alyssa Rule that includes a ban on handsprings and orange-and-blue socks.) Then it's off to Park City for snowboarding and the Sundance film festival. And finally, the month wraps up in Aspen for the Winter X Games. February had better start working out. It's going to have a tough time following the first month of 2009.

In the weeks I've been incommunicado, I've experienced enough to fill 100 blogs. But I'll spare you all and keep it to three short entries, and a few photos. Okay, shortish.

ENTRY ONE: CRUISIN' CUZZINS
First off was the family cruise to the Bahamas. For those of you who have never spent time on one of these floating malls, let me share a few things I learned on my first cruise:
1. As promised, there is a sports bar on the ship. It serves food until 5 a.m. and makes it possible for you to steer clear of the Denny's buffet at all times. However, the sports bar does not get Direct TV, cable or NFL Network. It shows Fox News and ESPN2. This is not helpful on a Sunday during NFL wildcard week.
2. As promised, there is morning yoga. However, if you show up for the 8 a.m. class, you will be the only cruiser who does so. This means you get your own personal yoga class ... taught by a kid from Canada who signed up for the gig online while drunk. Fortunately, the boat had a fantastic private climbing wall. Much, much more fun.
3. Blackberries and cell phones that work on remote fishing villages in Peru and while underground in the Beijing subway do not work on a cruise ship a few hours off the coast of south Florida.
4. **You should never, ever go on a family cruise to the Bahamas expecting to watch sports, exercise or check your e-mail. Once I figured out this most important lesson, I had a much better time. In fact, best cruise ever.

THE FAM ...

ENTRY TWO: GUEST BLOG ... LINDSAY LACES UP AT WRIGLEY

On Dec. 30, Lindsay took part in the media skate at the NHL's Outdoor Classic at Wrigley FIeld in Chicago. She was one of the first group of folks to tour and skate on the temporary rink constructed at Wrigley Field. Pretty cool. Even her Grandpa Yogi's never done that!

To read Lindsay's official ESPN The Magazine blog, click here.

To read her (way cooler!) AR.com blog, click here.

ENTRY THREE: NEW YEAR'S NO LIMITS. NO KIDDING.

While Lindsay was in Chi Town, I was in Vegas for Red Bull's New Year, No Limits. At about 11:30 ET (8:30 for me), live on ESPN, Rhys Millen became the first driver to backflip a truck. Unfortunately, he did not become the first driver to successfully land a backflip in a truck. During the practice sessions leading up to Vegas, he landed in boxes, so New Year's Eve was the first time he attempted the ramp-to-dirt flip. The flip was great, he had perfect rotation, but he got a little off-axis and the truck bounced off kilter on the landing, then rolled and came to a stop on its side at the bottom of the dirt pile. Rhys was definitely disappointed he didn't drive out of the flip. But, unlike last year, he walked away in one piece. I consider that a success.

Robbie's jump took place at about 12:15 ET, and was just freaking cool. I rarely get nervous at these stunts, but I was incredibly nervous as he took off. I wasn't alone. Everyone agreed that this was the most nervous they'd been at a moto event. And not because of the jump to the top of the arch, but because of the much sketchier jump back down. Kevin Robinson's wife Robin was in tears. "I wasn't nervous at all at Kevin's jump," she said. "But I'm a wreck right now. I had no idea I would be this emotional." Ditto that. But fortunately, Maddo's jump was a total success.

He didn't walk away without injury, though. On the jump down, the impact was so intense that Maddo's brake lever split his left hand to the bone. There was no time for stitches with the media waiting, so the on-site medics taped his hand together, wrapped it in gauze and gave him a few pain killers. Then he did interviews for a couple hours before hitting the ER for stitches. Then it was time to celebrate 2009!

MADDO RIDES TO THE START ...

MADDO JUMPS BACK TO THE RAMP (AND THE FANS) WAITING BELOW. (PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTIAN PONDELLA-RED BULL. YOU DIDN'T THINK I HAD PHOTO SKILLS LIKE THIS, DID YOU?) ...

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE ARCH DE TRIOMPHE. I COULDN'T LET MADDO HAVE ALL THE FUN. ONCE WE GOT UP THERE, JENNI WAS GLAD SHE TOUGHED OUT THE CLIMB ...

WATCHING JUMPS WITH THE JUMP MASTER. (BRINGING IT FULL CIRCLE ... GUESS WHO ELSE WAS IN THE BAHAMAS AT SENOR FROGS ON THE SATURDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS?! TOO FUNNY) ...

Dear Alyssa’s Blog:

I skated at Wrigley today!

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, the NHL is having its third Winter Classic on New Year’s Day. It’s an outdoor hockey game, this year between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field. E.J. Hradek – my fellow ESPN Mag hockey scribe – and I arrived in the Windy City this morning, checked in to our respective hotels and took the Red Line out to Addison Street. We ducked into Gate K, took the first tunnel up to take a look and, well, wow. They’ve parked a sheet of ice right on top of Ernie Banks’ office, stretched across the middle infield with Wrigley’s ivy-covered walls and big green scoreboard in the background. The NHL has even covered the outside dasher boards with aesthetically pleasing faux-Wrigley brick.

WRIGLEY UNDER ICE ...

But of course, it wouldn’t be an NHL event without rules: No skating unless you have your own skates. You must sign a waiver. You must provide an emergency contact. You must wear an orange bracelet proving you signed a waiver and provided an emergency contact. No sticks or pucks or cameras (riiiiight …) on the ice. No horseplay. No walking on the grass. No walking on the dirt. In fact, no walking on anything that isn’t Dura-Deck. Everyone skating must walk in a single-file line through the dugout. Everyone must enter the ice surface as a group. When the horn blows, everyone must immediately clear the ice surface.

Regulations aside, it was pretty cool, despite just skating in circles for the 45 minutes we were out there. NHL ice guru Dan Craig, who once said to me, “Hon, I can make ice in the desert,” did a great job with the sheet, and promises he’ll have the crunchy spots in the corners all smoothed over by Thursday afternoon. However, one thing even Dan can’t control is the sun glare, which will be pretty wicked for whichever goalie is playing on the third-base side. But it is, after all, a ballpark: Eye-black is permitted.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS SHOT IN THE 2009 SPORTSWRITER-OF-THE-MONTH CALENDAR.

Another perk from today was that I got to one-up Grandpa Yogi. He certainly can’t say he has ever skated on Wrigley Field. And I don’t even care that when I called to tell him about my experience, his response was, “Now, what the hell would I want to do that?”

I'm flying south for the winter (or at least a couple weeks of it), so the blog will be a bit bare until the new year. In the meantime, check out my latest ESPN.com Action Sports Report and a few pieces I did in preview of Robbie Maddison's big New Year's Eve jump. Cruise the jump site and check out my feature on Robbie and videos of my day with Maddo out at the practice facility and an interview with Rhys Millen.

While you're doing that, I'll be cruising to the Bahamas with my family. If that doesn't sound like blog material, I don't know what does.

My latest ESPNTHEMAG.com Action Sports Report, filed very, very late last night ...

Like baseball and Alyssa Milano, so too, art and action sports are inextricably tied. This week, we pay a visit to the Nike Lightning Bolts Art Exhibit at the Montalban Theater in Hollywood. The show has toured the world since opening in Beijing this summer and Wednesday night, Nike kicked off an auction to sell the one-of-a-kind BMX number plates. FMX legend Mike Metzger, who grew up riding BMX bikes and is a fantastic artist (and tattoo artist), painted a plate, as did Haro Bikes founder Bob Haro, his creative director Pete Demos, rider Taj Mihelich, Jackass creator Jeff Tremaine and about 40 other artists. The proceeds from this auction benefit the Athlete Recovery Fund, a foundation started by BMX pro Allan Cooke, that provides financial support, grants and scholarships to severely injured athletes.

METZGER'S A PIECE OF WORK ...

At the end of the evening, I finally stole a few minutes from Nike 6.0 rider Nigel Sylvester, 21, who spent the night shaking hands like a man running for office. Sylvester was born, raised and currently resides in Queens, NY, where he recently opened his own BMX clothing boutique called Format.

"It's awesome. It's the best way to give back to the community, to the kids," Sylvester said. Since opening in May, Sylvester has invited his buddies to Queens and held demos at the store, and hopes to sponsor his own team by next summer. "I've had kids come up to me and say they started riding because they came to one of our demos and saw us ride," Sylvester said. "Growing up in Queens, I never thought I could make it to this level. But here I am. And to have kids tell me I'm their idol and that they ride because of me, there is nothing better than having a positive influence on kids."

There are few places in the world I find more fun than the sideline of a college football game. Any college football game. But especially a college football game when Florida (my alma mater) is playing.

So, with that in mind, here are a few photos from the field during this weekend's SEC Championship game. What a game. And what fun. Or, in the words of my favorite Florida mic man Mick Hubert (Gator fans know who I'm talking about) ... Oh, my!

THE OTHER GATOR TEAM PREPARES FOR THE GAME ...

THE GATORS WIN! (A VIEW FROM ABOVE) ...

THE VIEW WAS MUCH BETTER FROM THE FIELD ...

THE MOST POPULAR GUY IN GAINESVILLE ...

THE PLAYER FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE MOST POPULAR GUY IN GAINESVILLE (WELL, MOST OF THE TIME) ...

Today, I am down in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. Or, if we're calling a spade a spade, the first National Championship game of the season. This game marks only the seventh time in college football history that No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll have met during the season—and were teams from the same conference.

There is a ton of excitement about this game, and as an SEC junkie and Florida grad, I'm pretty dang excited to be down here for this game. On Sunday, I'll be writing about one of these teams for our BCS preview issue. And obviously, I am totally impartial.

Also today, our "NEXT" issue hit newsstands with the winner of our online fan voting—Matt Ryan—on the cover. Check out the online version of my story on Matt here. But go out and get the magazine, too. It is one of the coolest-looking issues we've done in a long time.

COACHES SABAN AND MEYER ON STAGE AT THIS AFTERNOON'S COACHES LUNCHEON. THEY WILL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS NOW ...

Tuesday morning, I drove about an hour from Santa Monica (sorry, that's all the details I can provide at this time) to Red Bull's new moto training compound somewhere northeast of Los Angeles, just past the shooting range and below the cattle fields. The facility will be unveiled to the media in January, but I got a sneak peak and a chance to watch motocross rider Robbie Maddison practice the stunt he will attempt on New Year's Eve live from Las Vegas on ESPN.

My experience became this week's Action Sports Report blog entry, as well as a fun little video. Check it all out here.