No silver medal for second place

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Monday night’s College Football Playoff finale didn’t exactly work out as I had hoped, though I suppose it sort of did work out exactly as I’d suspected. Over the past 35 years I’ve gotten used to Notre Dame’s football team being pretty good, not a champion however.

I could say the same thing for my beloved New York Yankees the past 15 years: pretty good, not a champion. And with them it’s even more embarrassing because they spend so much more money.

Actually I’m not sure whether the Yankees or the University of Notre Dame spends more money on their near misses; I just know I’ve seen two silver medals in a row.

Thanks for great seasons, guys, but if the Commanders lose in the Super Bowl I’m launching an investigation.

Gonna keep these good vibes goin’

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At the beginning of this NFL season I probably could have told you three of the four teams competing in this coming weekend’s conference championships. Chiefs, Bills, Eagles… the usual suspects.

The team I never would have guessed is my local team (that would be the Washington Commanders), who’ve managed to surprise everyone inside the DMV and out, now sitting one game away from the Super Bowl.

And still that’s number three among things to gloat about this morning.

You may have heard about a college football game and a presidential inauguration today, and unlike last fall I plan for today to be a sweep. One of them’s pretty much a guarantee (that’s Trump), and the other I’m thinking we can make happen… with a little luck of the Irish.

No town’s perfect

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With a 3-0 shutout win yesterday my hometown NHL team (that would be the Washington Capitals) now sit half a dozen points against the next best team in the Eastern Conference. (That would be the New Jersey Devils, who’ve played two more games than the Caps.)

I’m feeling a bit spoiled these days, with football and hockey success, the recent four snow days in a row, and only a handful of days left in the Biden administration.

If the Wizards didn’t have the worst record in the NBA I’d actually be a little worried.

Calendar says winter but this is still football season

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Doink.

It was the most beautiful sound I’ve heard in quite some time, the pleasant clang of a football careening off a goalpost, just right, to bring happiness to the nation’s capital.

My hometown NFL team (that would be the Washington Commanders) survived an incredible back-and-forth game last night in Tampa Bay, Washington’s first playoff win in 19 years.

We’ll call this one the luck of the uprights, following the luck of the Irish I witnessed last Thursday night as the college football team of my youth and beyond (that would be the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame) secured a spot in the finals of this year’s College Football Playoff.

Everything’s comin’ up Mikey!

New Year’s Day is an underrated holiday

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When I was a kid, New Year’s Day was one of my favorite days of the year. I wasn’t hung over or hurt up in the way that ruins January 1st for many folks; I just wanted to watch college football. When I was a kid New Year’s Day meant college football.

Over the past couple of decades, with the vast shifting sands of bowl games and championship series, New Year’s Day re: college football hasn’t been the New Year’s Day of my youth. This year, though, sort of by happenstance or some such thing, New Year’s Day is once again a beautiful day, to mix a U2 metaphor.

Highlighting it all for me is, of course, Notre Dame versus Georgia, the game that will finally show that Notre Dame belongs in the top tier that has eluded it most of this century. I’ll admit the Georgias and Alabamas of the world have been a notch above the Irish most of my life. But that ends today.

Let’s call it a New Year’s resolution.

[Editor’s note: Shortly after this column was posted tragedy struck New Orleans resulting in loss of life and postponement of football. I suppose January 2 can be a good day as well.]