"Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half." ~ Bum Phillips

Legendary coach Bum Phillips with his son Wade.

It is good to visit with everyone again on this Tuesday, February 9, 2016. The professional football addicts will now have to observe a time out until stuff gets going again. But there's March madness coming up for college basketball, the Stanley Cup for hockey, and the NBA championship, eventually. Spring training will start soon for major league baseball players. And, the Daytona 500 for NASCAR folks is right around the corner, scheduled for February 21. I find the older I get it is the less committed I am to sports in general. I did actually watch the entirety of this year's Super Bowl. I usually don't let much interfere with my scheduled bedtime but while the game was not spectacular to watch it was competitive enough to stay to the end. Plus, we were pulling for Peyton and the Broncos. The Broncos had several ex Houston Texans staff and players, (the total count I read was 12), who contributed to this great win including the head coach, Gary Kubiak, and the unbelievable showing of another ex Texan, the defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips, son of the famous Houston Oilers Head Coach, the late Bum Phillips. If Gary and Wade were run off from Houston back in 2013, and if Wade was unemployed for all of 2014, then just how is it they could lead a team to winning the Super Bowl in 2016? That will always be the question and if it wasn't Houston it would be another team left scratching their heads. My take is that it seems to happen way too often to our teams. I could probably prove that. If I have to.

One of the things I hate most is when I forget about my coffee and it gets cold. I'm not talking about lukewarm, I'm talking cold cold. I look at it. It's not enough to go into the break room and reheat it in the microwave. It is Community, therefore, I will not throw it out. That doesn't leave me with a lot of options so I take a deep breath and down it. You think that strong coffee gets your attention when it is good and hot, well, just try chug a lugging it down when it's ice cold. I used to see Paw Paw do that with any left over from the night before. I made a mental note not to ever find myself doing that same thing. In his case it had time to thicken up overnight. I can still see him in my mind's eye winching as he practiced his philosophy in life, "Never waste anything. Period." I do know this. If you haven't had that sensation we used to call a cat running over your grave, well, swigging down some left over cold Community might just give you that experience. It has the connotation of a sudden onset shiver, or a shudder in your spine, just in case you are not up to date on rural colloquialisms. I'm not necessarily recommending it but I know some may be curious. I know the "Shiver me timbers" may be a little off but that's somewhat of a description of what I am talking about.

Sometimes the news headlines do get your attention. Here's one from yesterday that caught my eye: Man dies while participating in a 5 mile charity run sponsored by Krispy Kreme. Part of the rules required each runner to eat a dozen donuts while they were competing in the race. The 58 year old man experienced chest pains before collapsing. That's probably not what the Krispy Kreme folks had in mind. Then I saw the photo of presidential candidate and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders' bus being towed by a wrecker. That photo was widely posted and re-posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I suppose the inscription on the bus in the photo was too much of a target. It said in huge lettering, "A Future To Believe In." Did I mention it was being towed? I know. You got it the first time. I realize my aim is ever so slightly off this morning. I at least have an excuse. I had one of those latent out of body rapid eye movement deep sleep hang overs to get my day started. That happens when I wake up too early, go back to sleep, and I forget to pass go, I don't collect $200, and I nose dive back into a deep sleep state. In other words, my wake up mechanism was temporarily stalled and I got up about 30 minutes later than I normally do. It happens. I looked at the clock and it was 3:50 a.m. The wife even commented about me 'sleeping over'. At any rate, I am thankful to be able to again offer a prayer that God will provide for each and everyone. See you next time. Lord willing. Amen. ....More later.