Every year the Super Bowl and all the hype that surrounds the game, just grows bigger and bigger. Personally, every year I marvel at how things have gotten out of control. Maybe "marvel" isn't the best word. "Flinch" might be better. I know the all-mighty dollar is behind everything but I believe the game itself has become too secondary. It seems we've lost track of what this really is. The NFL Championship game. The party's, concerts and pre-game festivities have overwhelmed the event itself. It's not only the Super Bowl. If you watch the NFL during the regular season, ESPN makes any given match-up a "Super Bowl" type game. There is too much analysis, too much coverage, too much hype. It dilutes the game, especially the Super Bowl.

Do we really need to draw attention to the fact that any celebrity or so-called celebrity is hosting a Super Bowl party? Do we really need a 45-minute halftime show? Do we really need concerts before and after the game? Do we really need 2 weeks to gear up for the game? As a former sportscaster, I know that there's only so much hype you can report on. After that, it gets to be almost comical.

Here's an idea.........treat the Super Bowl like a really big football game that has its share of surrounding excitement. Give the event a good solid pre-game show and halftime show with a big musical name and lets cap it right there. Let's not treat it like the biggest and greatest spectacle we've ever seen as a human race.

Just a thought.

We got a lot of rain here in the valley on Monday, and the high country got a bunch of snow, in fact many schools were closed in Flagstaff and other places up north.
Since Monday would've been the first day back to school from the holiday break, those lucky boys and girls got an extended vacation. I say "lucky" because I remember that feeling when I was a kid. Anybody who grew up in a cold climate would have to agree with me. "Snow Days" were one of the best things about winter!!!

Usually you find out about school closures by radio or TV reports. Where I grew up in New York, we usually found out by an early morning phone call. I remember those nights when the snow was really coming down, I used to lie in bed wishing and hoping the phone would ring when I got up. Sure enough, many times it did and let me tell you....when you're a kid, there's not much that matches that feeling. I mean think about it....no school and in its place, you sleigh ride and have snowball fights all day. Who wouldn't take that trade?!?!?!

Since my kids are growing up in the valley, they'll never have that feeling so I feel the need to rub that in to them as much as possible (especially my 11-year old son). After all, he almost never gets his little league games rained out, and I'm still scarred from all the rain-outs I had to endure when I was his age.

By the way, my son is very competitive.......I wonder where he learned that???

Since David Letterman is back on the air with his writers, I've been thinking about some of my favorite shows through the years. Letterman certainly belongs in that category, however for this blog, I'm going to focus on sitcoms, because they in themselves, are my favorite.

This conversation has to begin with "Seinfeld" because it is, without a doubt, the best television show ever, as far as I'm concerned. I knew I'd love the show because Jerry Seinfeld was always my favorite comedian, but I had no idea how much I would love it and how much the country would as well. My 2nd favorite all time situation comedy is "The Odd Couple". How I loved that show when I was a kid. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were terrific together and though I haven't seen an episode in quite some time, I often still think about scenes and laugh. "All in the Family" is another one that I loved as a child. My parents and grandparents loved that show and even though I didn't get a lot of the jokes as a kid, it was funny to me nonetheless. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was another great one. I remember the writing on that program was so clever, I even recognized that as a youngster.

As you can tell, I like many "old" shows...I can't describe all of them but I can list a bunch.......
"Barney Miller"
"Family Ties"
"The Dick Van Dyke Show"
"The Jeffersons"
"Welcome Back Kotter"
"Happy Days"
"Coach"
"Sanford and Son"
"Cheers"
"MASH"
"Taxi"
"Get Smart"

There are more but this blog is getting too long as it is.

My new favorite show is "Curb Your Enthusiasm". (What a shock....it's Larry David's program and he's the co-creator of "Seinfeld")......so it all comes full circle for me.........."not that there's anything wrong with that!!!"