Well, it looks like I made it back. After some 3,000 miles our car rolled back into town late Sunday night and while I’m suffering a bit of the post-vacation melancholy that so often follows two weeks without working, I am here, at my post and ready to work.

I wish the Cincinnati Bengals would have actually tried to beat the New York Jets on Sunday night. As soon as I got home I turned on the game, hoping against all odds to see the Bengals had the lead. Instead I saw J.T. O’Sullivan stinking up the joint. Boy that guy is bad. The Jets were already up by 30 points so I guess a comeback was a bit of a pipe dream, but I really wonder how O’Sullivan has a job much less a job as a second-string quarterback on a playoff team. I sure feel sorry for the Bengals if Carson Palmer goes down.

As I’m sure you know, the Jets went on to win the game and clinch the final AFC playoff spot. This meant my beloved Houston Texans’ season ended. I was certainly proud of the way the guys played the last month or so of the season. They won games when they had to win them and they came darn close to getting into the playoffs for the first time in team history. They also finished the year 9-7 which is the first time ever the team has had a winning record. Still, I think to myself that maybe if they’d played the entire year the way they played in December (and January) maybe they wouldn’t have needed the Bengals help and maybe they would still be playing this weekend. Yeah, that’s a lot of maybe’s. One thing’s for sure though, there’s always next year and hopefully that will be the year they finally break through and continue playing well into January.

Have you ever noticed how ugly TCU’s pants are? They appear to be made of that gray fabric they used to make those old cotton sweat pants out of (you know the ones, Rocky wore them in the first Rocky movie). I just wonder who thought that was a good idea (or the matching helmet for that matter)? Maybe they should get in touch with Oregon’s uniform guy. He certainly seems to have plenty of ideas.

There sure was plenty of craziness going on in Lubbock while I was gone. I have no real insight into what went on there, but I do wonder why Mike Leach would be dumb enough to mistreat the son of college football commentator. I saw plenty of pirate Tech T-shirts at the Dairy Queen in Ozona on Sunday as folks were streaming back from the game. Seems like if the people had a choice then Leach wouldn’t be going anywhere. At the same time it seems like if the Red Raider players had their way then Leach would be exactly where he is right now. Former Connally Cougar Steven Sheffield, who rallied the Red Raiders to the win in the game, had some words for the Leach fans after the game. Like I said, the whole thing seems like a giant mess to me.

I missed having a plethora of bowl games on New Years day. I actually spent a good portion of the afternoon watching the hockey game played at Fenway Park. I suppose we’ll never know the days of old again where there are two or three games to choose from every hour of the day. And I suppose someone will tell me that is progress. I reserve the right to vehemently disagree with them.

 I guess that’s it. District basketball will be heating up this week and should carry us through a very exciting six to eight weeks to come. It looks like every PISD team is a playoff candidate and I for one am looking forward to seeing how many of them can fight their way in. It seems like a sure way to relieve that melancholy and help me get back into the swing of things.