Anatomy of a Bad Sports Weekend

On Saturday night, at about 11 p.m., as Peyton Manning was sacked on a 3rd and 2 deep in Colts' territory, the fog began to lift ... it was not looking good for Indy. Hunter Smith had struggled punting all night, and even with a decent punt, the Chargers were probably going to be just yards from the game-tying field goal.

8,000 Indy defensive penalties later, the Colts lost in OT, 23-17, to San Diego. They bowed out to a team that somehow overcame Ed Hochuli's early-season hatchet-job and managed to claw its way into the playoffs as a division winner at 8-8.

Just like that, the nine-game winning streak and Manning's MVP season was done.

I should have seen it coming. Like a freight train. But I didn't.

Instead, as the Chargers celebrated their victory, I muttered the 10 words I would come to regret just 24 hours later...

"At least we have a Carolina basketball game tomorrow night."

You all know what happened next. Boston College handed the top-ranked, undefeated Heels their first loss of the season and did so in convincing fashion. The Eagles whooped us on our home court, and it was never really in doubt. They deserved the victory.

Before Carolina lost to BC, I had already sworn off the NFL Network, which is a staple in our house. I just couldn't bear to watch any more highlights of that Sproules guy running all over the Indy D.

Now, with UNC losing, I couldn't even turn on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN News... they were running highlights and news flashes of the game every few minutes.

I was in sports television purgatory. And then everyone else chimed in ...

... text messages to my iPhone "alerting" me that mighty UNC had lost to lowly BC
... red-lettered headlines on all the local news Web sites and ESPN.com
... headlines and feature after feature about the game in the N&O

And then, the ultimate insult piled on to the already painful injury.

I received no less than 4 "condolences" on my team's demise at work today. Mind you, they were all from N.C. State and Duke fans.

I am starting to get over it now -- both losses. At least I can watch the pointless Fiesta Bowl and not have to see looping footage of the Indy and UNC games.

Besides... there's always Carolina women's soccer.

Welcome to My Blog

For years I have made the same New Year's resolution: I will do a better job of scrapbooking and chronicling the lives of my children. I am the first to admit that I have done a less than admirable job of keeping track of milestones, cute sayings, and precious moments. In fact, I stopped trying about three years ago. Pathetic, I know.

I have come to realize (and begrudgingly accept) that no amount of money spent at the neighborhood "Creative Memories" parties is going to help me get it done. Those consultants make it look SOOOOO easy with their fancy punchers and pretty stickers.

But what they don't tell you is that, after getting up at 6:30 a.m., making two lunches, two snacks, feeding one hungry dog, driving six miles in 30 minutes to school, working from 8-5, going to art class, basketball practice, driving six miles home in 30 minutes, having dinner, finishing homework, bathing two kids, reading two bedtime stories, checking for monsters under the bed and in the shower, hugging that smelly old bear three times ... you really just don't have the energy to even get the scrapbooking stuff out of the closet -- much less cut photos into hearts and glue them to a page.

So... I'm blogging. I'm not sure how often I'll do this, but I know that, without a doubt, it will be more often than I scrapbook.

I'll try to post pictures and give some semi-regular updates on Jack, LJ, Julianna, Viking and our latest exploits.

I'm hoping this is one New Year's resolution I can keep!