The Best Time of Year

I love turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes and cranberry relish and pumpkin pie. I love making and sending Christmas cards. I love putting on Handel's Messiah and playing Christmas carols on the piano. I love going into the forest to find the perfect Christmas tree and decorating it. But, the real reason this is the best time of the year is different from these reasons. The real reason is that at the moment we can watch BOTH college football and college basketball.

If you have been watching the latter, than you know that Notre Dame is 11-0 and ranked #1 in the land. I have not missed a game all season. What fascinates me is not just the fact that Notre Dame is dominant mostly because of their extraordinary defense, or that the face of the school at the moment is a Mormon from Hawaii. What fascinates is that NBC, which broadcasts the games, always shows the athletes at the end of the game, going to the student section of the stadium, everybody looks arms, and they sing the alma mater. It is almost liturgical. I have never, ever seen a sports network show anything similar at any other stadium. Is this part of the contract? I hope so. Go Irish! Of course, when it comes to basketball, it is Go Huskies, as I cheer for the University of Connecticut. But, either way, after months of having to switch cable channels to see what Fox and MSNBC and CNN were saying about the election, it is great to be able to watch college ball everfy night.