oh, to be in Phoenix!

It would be pathetically predictable for me to go on and on about this Minnesota winter -- how it is the worst in years; how it was 17 degrees below zero (not counting windchill) as I was walking to work this morning; how we are currently having days when the temp doesn't even go above zero all day long; how it seems to snow every other day; etc., etc.

So I won't. You know how I hate being predictable.

But this evening I was thinking about Phoenix, Arizona, where the temperatures today were about 75 degrees (above zero). Tom and I were at the Minnesota Wild/Phoenix Coyotes hockey game in St. Paul this evening. The first thing I always think is, how did Phoenix, a city out there in the middle of the desert, get a team that plays hockey, a winter sport? And then I'm thinking, what about those Coyote players, flying north to play in Minnesota, where the temps are 90 degrees cooler than where they left. Gosh, it must have been a shock to their systems. They were awful tonight, even with Wayne Gretsky coaching, losing to the Wild 6-3.

And I do have to say that I'm sure that a winter in Minneapolis is not as bad as a summer in Phoenix!

.... but I do admit, as I go out there to scrape ice off my car windows, that a couple days in Phoenix might feel good right about now....

Maybe this coming weekend, for instance, when the Arizona Cardinals are hosting my Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday for the NFC championship, the winner going on to the Super Bowl (Sorry, I just switched from hockey to football).. ! I could hang out with the Eagles fans that you know will be interspersed in those home-team stands .. (And how did Arizona ever get a football team, anyway??) Go, Eagles!!
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It's been a while since I've blogged, and I've been meaning to have some profound thoughts looking back at 2008, and here it is the 13th of January already.. Is it too late? I'd hate to be like one of those people still wishing people Happy New Year in March!

a late-autumn sports update

A few days ago, Jerry's business partner Clark said he'd like to play some racquetball with him... Now Jerry has never played racquetball in his life, and with his back and neck problems, a game of racquetball would put him in traction for a week at least... So I said, tell Clark I'll play some racquetball with him... That offer threw my sister Joan into a tailspin... "You're not going to play racquetball!", meaning, I guess, that she thinks some intense exercise would give me a coronary. Hey, I used to play tons of racquetball, who cares if it was 20-some years ago?!.. I still have my racquetball trophies, who cares that they're dusty and falling apart?! so we'll see if Clark, 20+ years younger than myself, gets desperate for a game and if I survive it.

So to my sister, I guess my involvement in sports can only be as a spectator. I was thinking about that night before last at the Vikings-Bears game. There was actually a lot of exercise involved, lots of jumping up and down and high-fiving people around us... What a great game... Vikings 31, Bears 14. What made it even sweeter was that we had a lot of glum Bears fans sitting not far away (Have you ever noticed how Chicago Bears fans never have necks?). Plus there was a dopey looking guy sitting behind us wearing a "Palin 2012" shirt. It doesn't take a lot of brainpower to be a spectator, obviously.

Anyway, I had to hurry and blog something about the Vikings because at least briefly they are in first place in their division (even though they are only 7-5). A typical Vikings reaction to winning a big game like the Chicago game would be for them to lose next week to the lowly Detroit Lions (The Lions are 0-12).

Other local sports teams at the moment: NHL Hockey: the Wild are 14-8-1. Typical Wild season. NBA Basketball: the Timberwolves are 4-12. Not unusual for the Wolves. Guess we're going to go for the draft pick again.

That's it for sports talk, fans.
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A later note, 12.7.08. Fortunately, I was wrong, and the Vikings managed to beat Detroit (just barely). So, for the moment, they are still in first place, and the Lions are 0-13.