Holidays Versus HOLIDAYS

There are “holidays”; and then, there are “HOLIDAYS”.  Yesterday was the day after Valentine’s Day and other than a small area of a store where chocolates were on sale for 40% off, it was almost as if Valentine’s Day was six months ago.  It is a “holiday”.

Christmas, however, is a “HOLIDAY”.  Christmas was 53 days ago and within a three-mile radius of our house, there are about two dozen homes that still have their Christmas lights up and turned on every night.  Moreover, there are two homes that still have Christmas trees up and decorated and lit at night such that they can be seen from the road.  In my Pollyanna moments, I like to think that those are live trees that are going to find a nice home in the back yard of those houses come Springtime.

Compounding the “holiday”/”HOLIDAY” issue is an online ad I saw yesterday for Cadbury Cream Easter Eggs.  Easter is still more than 6 weeks hence; by the time it arrives there may be a tsunami of jelly beans.  Oh well, I guess I can take solace in the fact that the online ad was not for a Black Friday Doorbuster Sale.

The key question for me is this:

• Will those Christmas house decorations still be up and lit every night at Easter?

There was a report yesterday on CBSSports.com that may have slipped by you.  It involves the Pittsburgh Steelers and their “bumblebee” throwback jerseys.  Evidently, someone in the management structure of the team has come to the realization that those things are butt-ugly, and the Steelers will no longer wear them once a year.  In times of minor travail, my grandfather used to say:

“Thank God for small favors.”

In this case, I guess I need to give thanks that someone in authority in the Steelers’ organization decided not to assault the eyeballs of fans and casual viewers on an annual basis any more.

In Cincy, AJ McCarron won a grievance against the Bengals making him an unrestricted free agent this year.  The situation is confusing to me, but it seems that the Bengals put him on the “wrong list” back in his rookie season and putting him on that “wrong list” affected the date of his free agency.  In any event, he becomes another available QB for teams to consider in this offseason.

Recall that McCarron was supposedly dealt to the Browns at the trade deadline last season, but the deal never closed because the Browns failed to send the notification of the trade to the league HQS in time.  Given that set of circumstances,

• Will McCarron be eager to talk to the Browns about a deal since they wanted him there last season?  Or …
• Will McCarron be very leery of talking to the Browns about a deal since the organization could not handle the task of sending a fax/email on time?

The Seattle Seahawks appear to be going through the organizational equivalent of a juice cleanse.  Pete Carroll remains as the head coach, but eight of the assistant coaches are gone.  By my count:

1. Michael Barrow – Linebackers coach – gone
2. Darrell Bevell – Offensive coordinator – gone
3. Dwaine Board – Assistant defensive line coach – gone
4. Tom Cable – Offensive line coach – gone
5. Heath Farwell – Assistant special teams coach – gone
6. Travis Jones – Senior defensive assistant coach – gone
7. Ricky Manning Jr. – defensive backs coach – gone
8. Kris Richard – Defensive coordinator – gone

And that is just the coaching side of things…  Russell Wilson is still the QB, but consider the circumstances surrounding these five important players on the Seahawks’ roster:

1. Cliff Averil – suffered a neck injury that might be career ending
2. Michael Bennett – told a Tacoma paper in January that he does not expect to be back because he sees the Seahawks going with younger players.
3. Kam Chancellor – suffered a neck injury that might be career ending (although Chancellor does say he is going to play next season)
4. Richard Sherman – suffered an Achilles tendon injury last year and was supposedly on the trading block before the injury.
5. Earl Thomas – openly announced that he would want to play for the Cowboys

Switching sports, do you remember when Pitt was a college basketball force majeure?  From about 2000 until 2014 under coaches Ben Holland and Jamie Dixon, the Panthers were always involved in post-season play.  That changed last year when Pitt had a sub-.500 record for the season and went 4-14 in ACC games – and that may not have been an aberration.  This year, Pitt is 8-19 overall but they are 0-14 in ACC games as of this morning.  What has happened there?

Finally, Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle reported this tidbit recently:

“Charles Barkley was once asked to name his favorite white wine. He said, ‘Danny Ainge’.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………