I am having a bit of a time figuring out what to do with myself as a sports fan now that the baseball is over, given the NHL lock-out. I listened to Syracuse lose to Houston in the AHL on WSYR 570 just now. Minor hockey by radio is maybe not going to fill the void, however. There is football but NFL only lasts until a few weeks after Christmas down there and we are into the last few weeks of the CFL already up here. Saskatchewan kicked Edmonton butt this afternoon during a snowfall this afternoon. That was good. I have never liked the Edmonton Eskimos and any team called the Roughriders is alright by me. For North American sports that leaves the NBA, NASCAR and the pro bowling tour on ABC. Zzzzz.

I now get Sports Illustrated. Maybe that will tell me something. But it looks like half of what I am going to learn about is the "lifestyle" - the special bond between the Jets coach and QB was a multi-page piece the other issue. Who cares about this special bond stuff? Why am I suppose to care that their wives are pals? It must be quite the thing to cash a regular cheque to write stuff like that:

SI reporter guy: so...ummm...how do the team's wives get along?
Jock guy: really good.
SI reporter guy: [thinks to self: gold! jackpot!].

The troubling thing for the NHL is that I do not miss it. I am the guy they want to miss it. I couldn't care less whether they are all in Finland, the Russian league or sitting in their folk's basements watching NASCAR. I don't know what would make me more disappointed with myself, getting into the NBA this winter or hooked on NASCAR. I suppose it would be worse if I was an NHL rookie kid, the lock-out ends and I show back for work listening to guys swapping stories about the Russian and Swiss leagues and all I wanted to talk about was watching NASCAR on the folk's basement sofa.

The worst thing is when I kick something around like this I usually find something good in it. Maybe I will end up getting one of those neat jackets. I will be laughed at by portland if I do. Maybe just a hat.