Jim Vallet and Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
Although it was over in a matter of minutes and was not like the freedom of Halloween, it was still worth (kinda) trying to be good all year. Because of the efforts of my parents who gave all the credit to a fat, old stranger, I don’t ever remember the reality being short of the anticipation. And the anticipation started early, when Santa first arrived on the last float of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. It continued during the traditional holiday Christmas TV specials that we got to stay up a little later to watch, including “The Wizard of Oz”, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, the animated “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “The Little Drummer Boy” and “The Sound of Music”. Then we were “helping” my dad put up the outdoor Christmas lights and piling into our Chevy station wagon to drive around our city and view all the light displays, which I remember almost everyone putting up. The last day of school before vacation when all of us comics would conclude with, “See ya next year.” Practicing for, and then presenting the school Christmas play, which always included me as a shepherd, a wise man, an angel, or just a member of the choir. Finally, Midnight Mass that included all of us altar boys in a long pre-mass processional before (what a waste of time) going to bed and trying to fall asleep.
When I was a kid, our neighbor would dress up as Santa and go knock on all the kids’ bedroom windows in the neighborhood and chide them for still being awake. (I shudder to think what would happen if some adult male did that today.) I lost a huge piece of my childhood innocence when, as a 12 year old, I saw that “Santa” was really Mr. Byrum. And how could I not notice, with all the Santa laps that I sat on, that some Santas had blue eyes and others brown? Not only that, but our fireplace was a fake gas one with no roof access. It doesn't snow every year, how can a sleigh slide? And since Santa had the whole world to deliver to, with the milk and cookies and all, if he took one minute on each house and if there’s a billion houses to deliver to, that’s…whoa, months, not 24 hours. How crowded could the sleigh be, with all those presents?
I thought my oldest boy, now an engineer, was a bright kid. So, when he was about 10 or 11, I asked him how Santa can fly a sleigh all over the world, deliver to every good boy and girl, get up and down a chimney that we didn’t even have, eat all those cookies and drink all that milk, and do it all in one night. After figuring out how much time he would have to spend at each house (around 1/1000 of a second) and all the rest, my son came to the only logical 10 year old conclusion, “It’s magic”.
It still is.
And then I remember what Christmas is really all about, no matter what church you go to.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos (+3 ½) at Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals’ season ends here, a perfect example of too little, too late.
Las Vegas Raiders
Detroit Lions (-3 ½) at San Francisco 49ers: I’ve had no luck predicting the 49ers this year. So, I’m not betting against the 49ers, just for the Lions.
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants (+8) vs Indianapolis Colts: A perfect spot for the Giants to blow their chance at the #1 overall pick.
Last week 4-2
Season 45-50-2
Robert’s picks
Navy (+3) over Oklahoma: With their quarterback leaving in the transfer portal and their top six receivers all either injured or in the transfer portal, do you suppose the Oklahoma coaches have spent the past two weeks learning how to stop a triple option that they never see, or trying to replenish their roster for next season?
East Carolina (+6) over NC State: East Carolina fans relish nothing more than playing the in-state ACC schools. They have won more than their share of those matchups, which is one reason they don’t happen more often. Now they not only get a shot at one, they get it in a bowl game after last year’s 2-10 debacle. Vibes are good around the Pirates program and now they have a chance to go into the offseason off one of the highest highs a program at their level can achieve.
La Tech/Army over 44: Looking back through the resumes of the La Tech coaches, none of them have coached against a triple option team in college. Now they have to do it in a bowl game where they will be missing three starters on defense. Like Oklahoma, their coaches would be wise to spend more time mining the transfer portal in the two weeks leading up to this game that taking a crash course on defending the option. But instead of betting Army at -17, I’ll expect them to do most of the heavy lifting to get this number over the total.
Seahawks (-3 ½) at Bears: I ordinarily wouldn’t be looking to beat a road favorite on Thursday night, but the Seahawks come in badly in need of a win after two consecutive losses, and the Bears haven’t won a game since that Hail Mary in Washington before Halloween. The Bears were 4-2 going into that game by winning on smoke and mirrors, and that loss shattered the mirror.
Broncos (+3) at Bengals: The Bengals have found ways to lose games all season, but they’ve won three straight. I think that comes to an end here against a better defense.
Vikings (-1) over Packers: Green Bay is playing very well right now, looking like the team that should have beaten the 49ers in the playoffs last year. But right now I’d bet the Vikings -1 at home over every other team in the league.
Last week
College: 0-2
NFL: 1-2
Season
College: 32-31
NFL: 29-17-1
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