We’re closing in on that day. It’s the day that pitchers and catchers report to training camp for the upcoming baseball season, and I can’t wait. February 26th is another important day. That is when they run the Daytona 500. Why are these important dates? It signifys that spring and summer are approaching. I know it’s been a pretty mild winter so far, and I shouldn’t complain, but I just can’t wait for spring and summer. Everyone keeps saying that we are going to get hammered with snow in February…I hope everyone is wrong!

It’s a good thing I enjoy basketball. Both of my kids play, I coach, and I announce all of the high school basketball games at a local high school. It’s a very busy time of the year. It seems like all I get done when I’m not at work is either running kids to and from practice or announcing basketball games. There are so many parents that do this too! Some parents have multiple kids playing at differnt sites on the same day…I don’t know how they get too all of them, but they do! I do enjoy announcing games though. I get one of the best seats in the house and I get to listen to the coaches break things down during time-outs. I also enjoy coaching…most of the time I coach little kids, the 7-10 year olds. The best is when you teach them something and they realize what you’re talking about. The light goes on and they’ve got it. And sometimes I just enjoy being a Dad in the stands. I don’t have to announce or coach…I just get to watch them perform. That’s always fun too. If you get a chance to be involved in what your kids are doing, take advantage of it. Your kids will remember it as well. Time goes really fast!

As I am writing this in early January, we are experiencing a pretty mild winter. So far. And I, for one, am enjoying it. No snow would be ok with me. But it’s Ohio and we’re due. I realize that we ALWAYS get all four seasons here in full force. I’m sure that the snow here is just a matter of time. I saw last week where parts of Alaska received 15 feet of snow! Crawford County would be immobile for several weeks with that much snow. Even half that much and I would living here at the station for a few days. I’m sure the kids are waiting for a some snow days though. I know my kids are waiting for some snow. I think the older I get, the more I just don’t like snow. It’s like cold weather in general…that’s why a lot of older American migrate south for the winter. Just remember that if we do get any snow, I’ll be here at the station with delays and cancellations.

Did you survive the holidays ok? Did you get a chance to spend it with friends and family? My holiday felt like a blur. Because the holidays fell on Saturday and Sunday, I had to work on those Mondays where most everyone else took the extra day off. Then I took a couple of days off through the week to make up for it. That’s never good. Then you’re two days behind on regular work things. It’s almost not worth it taking the two days off (although I did sleep til noon one of those days!). Christmas and New Years seem to fly by every year; we spent a couple of days putting up the tree and one afternoon taking it down. My wife and I seem to put out fewer and fewer Christmas decorations every year. Because then you have to go around and clean them all up after the holiday is done. I know people that keep up lights and decorations through February. I say this all the time…but take some time, slow down and enjoy what is really important to you during the holidays.

Here and gone before you know it. Isn’t that how life is in general anyway? There is this HUGE build-up for the holidays. I spent last weekend driving in Columbus with my wife…what a mess! Everybody trying to get their last minute gifts for their loved ones. The parking lot that we were in took me 20 minutes to get across. I can only imagine what this weekend will be like. It’s a good thing we’re done shopping for the holidays. What bothers me is that their are some businesses that are open on Christmas Day. I can remember when I was a little kid the only store that was open was Lawson’s! It was a little convenience store. And if you had to go to Lawson’s on Christmas Day, you were going to be waiting in line for a while!! Now everybody is open. I guess there are more people in our country that do not celebrate Christmas these days for whatever reason. So while we are all trying to find the best deals, or the perfect gift, or just enjoying an extended weekend, remember the TRUE reason why we celebrate to holiday. It’s kind of simple, but Linus from Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special explains it pretty good. Have a good holiday!

I remember when I was a kid that all of my favorite Christmas shows would come on TV and you only had one time a year to watch them. Rudolph was ALWAYS on two or three days before Christmas. Now you can watch them whenever you want. Put in the CD and you’re good to go. Just this week I’ve seen Frosty and The Santa Clause. Now EVERYBODY has a holiday show. It just seems like the anticipation is gone. You knew that when Rudolph was on that Christmas was really close. By the way, who has time to sit and watch all of these Christmas programs? Like I said…there are SO many!! The old ones are still the best though. Did you know that Charlie Brown’s Christmas is 46 years old? My kids still love that one. Although it’s kind of new, “Elf”, is pretty good, and of course “Christmas Vacation”, is a favorite. You can watch “A Christmas Story”, anytime on Christmas Day. I think it’s on the TNT network for 24 hours. It’s more convenient than when I was a kid, and that’s how our life is nowadays. Convenience is huge in our country now, but that’s another entire discussion. Try to catch up on your favorite Christmas show when you can and have a great holiday!

Well, it happened this week. The first snowfall in Bucyrus. If you know me at all, I am not a fan of winter weather at all. I would much rather have it 85 or 90 degrees. I ask that questions often…Which would you rather have: Extreme hot or extreme cold? Most people say “75 degrees is best”. That wasn’t an option. Everybody would like it to be 75, all the time! If you HAD to chosse between extreme hot or extreme cold,which would you choose? I would take the hot, only because for me its easier to cool off than warm up. I will say that a little snow does make the holiday nicer. I try to remember that some people have NEVER seen snow. If you grew up in southern California, what do you know about snow? I guess it all goes with living on Ohio. You really do get all four seasons here, and sometimes more than what we want. I guess it could be worse. I guess I need to learn to enjoy the snow a bit more.

Do you feel like the Ohio State-Michigan game went over-shadowed by the whole Urban Meyer thing? It was, without a doubt, the worst kept secret in all of sports. Rumblings of all of this started 3 weeks ago and just got worse as the days went on. I don’t even think Buckeyes fans care that Michigan won a game in the series. Buck-nuts are instantly looking at next year, and many years to come. I think that Luke Fickell did a GREAT job as the Buckeye head coach given the situation that he was dealt with. He remained professional throughout the entire season and a positive influence for a bunch of kids that needed some guidance. I read where some people were wanting him fired. That’s unfair. I know life’s not fair, but come on!! Let Fickell have a decent situation to work with without all of the scandal, his own coaching staff, and maybe things would be a bit different. I don’t think it would have mattered if Ohio State beat Michigan this year or not…Urban was coming! Imagine the pressure Meyer has about building a winner RIGHT NOW…that’s what Buck-nuts expect EVERY year!! I guess for all the money he’ll be earning, he should be pretty good.

As we head into the last home game of the year for the Buckeye football team, is this season everything you thought it would be? Or expected? Did anyone think that Ohio State would have 4 losses by now? Other than the departures of Tressel and Pryor, all of these student-athletes kept their promise and remained at Ohio State for their senior seasons. And from everything that I’ve heard, they have also been a positive influence on their teammates that have had to battle through all of this adversity. I wonder what the remaining players that weren’t part of the scandal think of their final year at Ohio State? I’m sure that some of them feel robbed of a bowl game win last year against Arkansas, not too mention all of the regular season victories including the victory over Michigan last year. Last season…wiped out. What a tough situation for Luke Fickell to come into. I think he’s handled everything very well despite the cards that have been dealt to him. Will he be done at the end of the season? What will you remember from this year’s Buckeye team?

One of the biggest stories in the news this week has revolved around the events at Penn State University. The sports world has been rocked by the events that have happened in a place called “Happy Valley”. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people that have had their world permanently changed because they innocently trusted someone that betrayed them. It’s terrible that this happens anywhere. I’m more frustrated with the people that covered it up for 10+ years. They just brushed it under the rug like it was no big deal. Do they not have children of their own? Do they not understand how wrong this type of behavior is from adults? Mentoring adults? People that need help and we treat them that way? Getting rid of Joe Paterno as head coach of Penn State doesn’t change the fact that people higher up than him knew this was going on and did nothing. No one person should be bigger than an entire University. But when you think of Penn State, you think of Joe Paterno. Do I think he should be allowed to finish out the season as head coach? No. But my thoughts also go out to the kids that signed up to play football for a legendary coach 1 -4 years ago and had no idea that their season and their life would change because of these events. It will be interesting to see how they deal with things that didn’t and never did involve them; yet they will be affected. ESPN college football anaylst Matt Millen, who played for Coach Paterno, said it best…”It’s not about sports or football anymore. It’s about people, and if we can’t protect our own kids, what does that say about us as a human race?”