For Michigan St. & Some Others, 2014 Looking Good

January 2, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Well, 2014 certainly is off to a good start. Especially if you are a Michigan State or Nebraska football fan. Or a fan of various other teams that won bowl games on January 1 (which reliable reports say was also Wednesday, although some of us still are trying to figure out what day of the week it is). Michigan State defeated Stanford 24-20 in the Rose Bowl, and Nebraska edged Georgia 24-19 in the Gator Bowl.

Chelsea Ryan is the January Playmate in Playboy’s South African edition. We follow each other on Twitter. That pretty much makes my day.

Some of us are old enough to remember when the New Year’s Day game were the Cotton, Sugar, Orange and Rose — with the Rose Bowl the last of the four and a late-afternoon affair for those of us not living on the West Coast.

Times change. And not only for kickoffs.

Once upon a time, some of us would dash downstairs to take in a full day of January 1 football on television. That was not the case Wednesday. In fact, I may need to make a resolution for 2014 that includes not getting out of bed before noon. One-for-one so far for 2014.

Other parts of a good start to the new year include remaining in pajamas for most of the day. Feeling that exercise should be part of my daily regimen for 2014, I decided to shovel snow. Yeah, call me crazy (you certainly wouldn’t be the first — or last — to do so). Something says I will be able to shovel some more on Thursday. Unless the flakes that have fallen since my initially shoveling to obliterate my efforts miraculously melt.

Of course, offsetting the benefit of that exercise was pretty much singlehandedly finishing off a container of bacon-cheddar dip — with accompanying potato chips. Then again, I like to think of bacon and cheddar as two of the foundational building blocks for any good diet.

During the course of relaxing, I did discover former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith — who enjoyed a paid year off after the Bears fired him after the 2012 season — is going to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach. And former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo might end up there, too?

Maybe some or all of the Bears who lamented the loss of Lovie during the 2013 season will be able to find their way to Tampa Bay. If for no other reason than the offseason weather. Then again, Chicago in January is supposed to be cold and often has snow. Which may explain why you see so few Bears (capital “B” as in the non-hibernating variety) seeking warmer sites for their offseason homes.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what Smith can do at Tampa Bay. One thing is certain: He is scheduled to return to Soldier Field for a 2014 game when the Bucs come to Chicago. That storyline should simplify media efforts that week.

As if you haven’t gathered by now, today’s column is pretty much about not much.

That said (or at least typed), let me leave you with one final thought (assuming there have been some others, or at least one other, already in your reading here):

If anybody asks, 2014 does not officially begin until after the last airing of that Infiniti car commercial on television. Then we truly can celebrate (and the sooner the better).

***

This is the cover for the 2012 — not the 2013 — version of the JayTheJoke Holiday Cookbook. For some reason, the 2013 version looks nothing like this.

For those of you who did not receive the JayTheJoke Holiday Cookbook for Christmas or New Year’s or any other occasion, there is good news. It is still available. And still available at its original low, low price. Namely, free. Bill McCormick, the man who runs the jaythejoke.com web site and has been a positive force in making this site presentable, thinks that a pretty good deal. And I would have to agree.

There is an abundance of appetizing recipes — new ones for the 2013 edition as well as the old favorites — from an interesting array of contributors (yes, I am among those offering culinary concoctions but I don’t consider myself to be particularly interesting — especially among the fine folks Bill has assembled).

To obtain the cookbook, all you have to do is download it. You can do that by clicking here. Even if you don’t cook, it’s a fun read. Also, some of the recipes are so easy that even I can prepare them. Which means this book is capable of near-miracles.

***

Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the exemplary efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):