From A Bird's Eye View

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

April 6, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:2 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

There are two camps of people rejoicing this week. No, not because of the upcoming Passover and Easter holidays. I’m referring to baseball fans and those of us who live in Spring Training cities. The month of March is typically known for the “madness” around college basketball. While the NCAA tournament has been exciting so far, it doesn’t rise to the level of watching Spring Training tourists drive. In the past month I have witnessed more sudden lane changes onto exit ramps than I care to think about. All I can say is I’m glad I have a good braking system in my car. March also brings the baseball fans whose indicator light bears no resemblance to the direction the person actually turns, and the ones who fail to move forward when the light turns green because they’re hopelessly lost and consulting Google Maps.

So, I welcome April this week not only because the crowds will thin out and it’s safer to drive, but also because I enjoy the beginning of baseball season. I stress – the beginning – because after April I lose complete interest until the World Series. But at the beginning of the season I enjoy the beautiful green grass, the hopefulness that imbues each team, and the music. Yes, I love baseball music. My dad and his mother were huge Giants fans. Right up until her death, my grandmother would listen to the games on the radio with a team cap perched on her head and a box of See’s Candy on her end table. I don’t have to wonder where I got my sweet tooth. All summer long my dad had his transistor radio tuned to the Giants games. And much to my mother’s chagrin, during one World Series run he hid the radio in his jacket pocket and used a wired earpiece to listen to a game during a church service!

So unsurprisingly, the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was one of the first songs I learned. Written in 1908 by songwriter Jack Norworth and composer Albert Von Tilzer, the tune was one of many popular baseball songs that made waves at the time. But unlike the others, their composition went on to become a cultural fixture, still played today in many stadiums during the game’s seventh-inning stretch. You would think this legendary tribute to America’s pastime would be written by a diehard baseball fan, but the truth is that neither Norworth nor Von Tilzer had ever seen a baseball game when they penned the song! Norworth wrote the lyrics when he saw a poster for a NY Giants game while riding a NYC subway. Von Tilzer wrote the music, and they registered the copyright for the tune in 1908. Although it was a popular song, it was not played at a professional baseball game until 1934. Even then, it didn’t really gain any traction. But in 1971 Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck caught legendary announcer Harry Caray singing the song to the entire stadium. From that point forward it became an essential singalong tradition in almost every ballpark.

Today, many teams have adopted other anthems to play during games. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond is played at Redsox games, the Giants play Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin“, and the Pirates’ fans sing along to Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family”. It’s fun to hear these songs played during games and is a lovely way to bring a large, diverse crowd together. God knows we can use more of that. So I say, “Play Ball!”

P.S. Jack Norworth finally attended his first baseball game – in 1940!!

Posted in Family • travel

Wining & Dinning on the Central Coast

March 30, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:16 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

We had the opportunity last Thursday to drive through the world of the movie, Sideways, on the Central Coast to visit my brother and his wife, Jack & Sharon in Santa Maria. We decided that we would leave Orange County during the middle of the day to avoid commuter traffic. How many years will it take living in Southern California to know that there is always commute traffic going through L.A.? At least we had good music on the radio; well I did, Linda was listening to her book through her ‘Meta Glasses’.

We had planned to meet them at our favorite restaurant up there, The Brother’s Red Barn in Santa Ynez, for a 6:00 o’clock dinner reservation. After we got through L.A., we had several hours to kill, so we stopped in Solvang, the quaint Scandinavian tourist town along the way and walked up and down the main street, grabbed a quick bite to eat and decided we’d seen enough. Truth be told, there was slot machine money burning a hole in Linda’s pocket, so we headed to the Chumash Indian Casino. We were proud to donate to the welfare of our indigenous people!

We met up with Jack & Sharon at the Red Barn; the reason it’s my favorite restaurant on the Central Coast is the petrale sole – it is the best fish I have ever tasted!

Friday after breakfast at Jack & Sharon’s we headed for the Fess Parker Winery, where Jack has worked in tasting room for 22 years! We had not been to the winery in several years and we observed lots of renovation as we sat on the patio and got the ‘free employee tasting’ of several very good wines. Yes, wine isn’t just for breakfast anymore! After the winery we headed back to the Chumash Indian Casino to get our money back! You can probably imagine the outcome. Actually, I did recoup some of my earlier losses as I stopped playing slots and only played blackjack. On our way home, it was hard not to be awed by the pastoral countryside with its beautiful rolling hills, plenty of large, sturdy oak trees and an occasional horse or cow grazing in the open fields. Beautiful!

Back to Jack & Sharons for Jack’s delicious barbequed rack of lamb and Ceasar salad and watching some March Madness basketball.

On Saturday we went to Presqu’ile Winery in Santa Maria Valley to meet up with Sharon’s daughter, Debbie and her husband, Steve, who are members of this winery. It is located high atop a hill with breathtaking views of sprawling vineyards and the Pacific Ocean. We tasted various wines as well as had a spread of scrumptious food. Later that afternoon, we were invited over to Debbie and Steve’s for some pizza and more wine tasting. Steve has been making wine for many years now and I tried one of his Syrahs – delicious!!! He also made me a delicious smoked Old Fashion. Diet starts Monday!

Home on Sunday full of food, wine and joy – always a great time seeing Jack and Sharon.

Posted in Historical

Has Betting Reached a New Low?

March 23, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:3 Comments

Caveat: Before you read this blog, I need to go on record stating that I go out to Las Vegas 2-3 times a year usually for golfing but also to see good live shows. While there I will play craps, blackjack and/or slots, but I’m not a big gambler, I’ve never won big and I’ve never lost big – and that’s the way I’d like to keep it (OK, maybe I could handle winning big one time!). It just seems that lately gambling is everywhere, so I decided to look a little deeper.

What I found was . . .

New Orleasn Gambling River Boat owned by Willie Nelson

Gambling in the U.S. was established early on, like in the colonial days, where the upper class bet primarily in lotteries or on horses, with New Orleans emerging as the national leading gambling center with gambling taking place in the city and on river boats. Later, the increased population of California brought on by the gold rush in 1849, moved the gambling capitol from New Orleans to San Francisco. Sports betting in the U.S. spread to other western cities that were the end of cattle trails like Deadwood, South Dakota and Dodge City, Kansas or major railway hubs like Kansas City and Denver. By the turn of the century, cities like New York and Chicago got heavily into the now-illegal gambling scene by paying off the police.

Then, in an effort to overcome the effects of The Depression, Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. While gambling was still going on in much of the U.S. illegally, stricter law inforcement drove people, particularly ‘the mob’ to Las Vegas – which, through the 50s and 60s became the ‘Gambling Capitol of the U.S.’

All was pretty normal until May 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and thus allowed 40 states to offer gambling to the public. Then gambling as a business surged from a $7 billion business in 2018 to $167 billion last year. The dramatic growth was not only attributed to the fact that now 40 states allow gambling, but rather that betting became something you could do on your phone. It’s now handier than ever to lose money.

Issues with gambling: Debt, health, relationships, stress

Anyone that’s paying attention can see that gambling has increased its awareness significantly over the last few years. Ads on television constantly promote it and television commentators often quote odds of something happening during the game. The Super Bowl is known for it’s ‘prop bets’ that range from everything from, will a field goal kicker hit the crossbar with the ball – commonly known as a ‘doink’, to what color Gatorade will the winning coach be drenched with. It seems light and fun and in fact, it can be an enjoyable social event among friends. But the ‘serious’ gambler can expect some of the following downsides:

Severe financial ruin (debt, bankruptcy, loss of assets)
Mental health crises (depression, anxiety, suicide)
Strained relationships due to lying or theft
Significant stress (insomnia, hypertension)

So, gambling has got that going for it!

For me, gambling reached a new low last week when I saw that companies like Polymarket and Kalshi, boasting trades of $500 million, offer bets on the war in Iran – like, how many U.S. casualties, timing of a ceasefire, when the regime will change, when the Strait of Hormuz will open, etc. Disgusting!

FYI: I’ll be in Vegas in a couple of weeks looking for that ONE BIG WIN!

Posted in opinion

SIBLINGS, SONGS, AND SAGEWOOD

March 16, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:8 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Some weeks are better than others. Last week was not only a “better” week, but a great week because brother Bob came for a visit. I know a fair number of people who would roll their eyes at the prospect of their sibling paying a visit. But Bob and I (and our older brother, Jack) are lucky enough to not only be siblings, but friends. Bob lives a six-hour drive away, which means we don’t get to visit as often as we’d like. So, I was excited when his car pulled into my driveway last Tuesday, only to be outdone by Dooley, who sprang from the front door and raced out to greet him. So much for the “wait” command. Luckily, Bob is a dog lover, so the affection was reciprocated with lots of scratches and hugs. And, oh yeah, he gave me a hug too.

That night we had a low-key evening with my friend Marge and her husband, Bob. I cooked chili and didn’t kill anyone, so I consider the night a success. Marge is like a sister to me. In fact, I think the entirety of my family would like to make her an official member of our tribe, so she is included in all family gatherings, large and small. The next day Bob and I set out for a fun and purposeful day. One of the reasons for his visit was for him to tour the continuing care communities I’ve been considering and to confirm that I have zeroed in on the one that is the best fit for me. But first…we needed some fun. I have long wanted to take him to the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) because he is such a great musician and has an appreciation for all types of music. The MIM is the largest museum of its type in the world, with a collection of over 15,000 musical instruments and associated objects from nearly 200 countries and territories. It is truly fascinating to see how people from continents thousands of miles apart invented similar drums and string instruments at roughly the same time. My fatal mistake was not allowing enough time for our visit. We were there for a bit over two hours and could have spent all day.

We had briefly toured one of my “retirement home” options earlier in the day but spent more time, and ate lunch, at the one I am favoring, Sagewood. I tried not to influence his impression, as I wanted to hear his honest opinion, and luckily, he confirmed that I had made the right choice. I won’t be moving for a while because I want to wait for their new addition, but it’s nice to have that major decision behind me. We finished the day with dinner at my club, once again with Marge and Bob, and my good friend Bonnie, who always makes for a fun evening.

The next day we were able to meet our niece Shelley and her husband, Colin, for lunch down in Casa Grande. CG, as we call it, is not exactly a garden spot, nor is it known for its great restaurants, but it does have the distinction of being exactly half-way between Shelley’s house in Tucson and mine in Scottsdale. And in reality, we could have been eating tuna sandwiches on a park bench and still had a good time. They are delightful to be with, and we always leave feeling we haven’t had enough time together. Of course, being the Boomer that I am, I forgot to take a photo.

That night Marge wanted to see Bob again before his visit ended so she and her Bob had us over for dinner. The dinner was delicious, but the best part was the music. Marge played some beautiful songs on the piano while we sang along, her Bob played the banjo, and then my Bob played the banjo while Marge sang and danced. It was truly one of those magical evenings that you don’t plan but remember forever. The next morning Bob headed for home and both Dooley and I were sad to see him drive off. But what a wonderful visit! Usually we have a lot of people around when we see each other, so it was special to have some one-on-one time. I’m convinced there is nothing better than when your sibling is also your friend. I’m a lucky sister.

Posted in travel

A Desert Dive Bar Adventure

March 9, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

The Lunch Spot: You meet the strangest people. It’s 100 degrees and this guy in line is in a long, dark trench coat, long pants and a hat!!

Linda and I just spent the last three days of our timeshare in the desert a weekend ago; it was the fifth or sixth time we visited the desert in the last two months – it’s like we’ve become ‘snow birds’. We’ve spent time out there this year with both golfing and non-golfing friends, but apparently, we ran out of both as we spent our last weekend with just the two of us. It predictably meant that we were going to have to talk to each other.

We did talk and decided that we’d make the weekend a pursuit of previously unvisited by us, hole-in-the-wall, places to dine and drink. Typically when we check in at the Marriott Desert Springs around noon, they tell us our room isn’t ready so we usually go to Cactus Jack’s for lunch and wait for our room, but this time we were switching it up, so I Googled hole-in-the-wall lunch places and found The Lunch Spot, tucked amongst several industrial buildings, where we both had a pretty good sandwich and although the place seemed hidden from the public, it was packed!

Linda getting ready to be disappointed by Cocina de Mama Margarita for not having Margaritas!

But they served no alcohol, so after we finished our sandwiches, we decided we’d find a place to get a margarita; we were told to go to the Cocina de Mama Margarita, which was not too far away. We found it, walked in and ordered two margaritas and the bar tender said they didn’t have margaritas!! “But your name is Cocina de Mama MARGARITA!!!” He started speaking Spanish, and we realized we weren’t going to get a margarita, so we left.

Our quest for a margarita, which we now wanted more than ever, brought us to Fresh Agave on Highway 111, we walked in and asked, “Do you have margaritas?” “Si” We sat down.

The bevy of beautiful blondes we sat with at the bar at Tommy Bahama’s. I particularly liked the one on the left!

It was now getting near ‘Happy Hour’ and while we wanted to keep this as hole-in-the-wall only, just weeks ago when we were here, we had a slider and a Mai Tai at Tommy Bahama’s that was to die for, so instead of going into the ‘Hideout’, which was right next to Tommy’s and seemed like a perfect place for this adventure, we walked right by and found a seat at the bar at Tommy’s. “Sliders and Mai Tais, please.”

Saturday, we played golf, which thankfully kept us out of the bars for 4-5 hours, but after golf we continued our quest and hit the Little Bar, and it was indeed a little bar, so we spent little time – one drink and out. “What a hole-in-the-wall!” Oh yeah, that’s what we were looking for!!

To end the evening we decided that we had had enough ‘adventure’ for the day, so decided to hit an old favorite, Cactus Jacks. We had dinner and a cocktail and headed home, well, our ‘home in the desert’!

For Sunday morning breakfast we had been told by friends to try the Palms Café, a place we’d never been, so we plugged it into our GPS and ended up at Rancho Las Palmas Hotel in Rancho Mirage. We walked throughout the hotel lobby looking for the restaurant which we found out back by the pool. But it was only a grab and go sandwich place. We were sure this wasn’t the place that was recommended by our friends, but across the patio was a breakfast place where we could sit with views of the pool and golf course. As we were having breakfast there, I plugged Palm’s Café into my GPS again and found 4-5 different Palm Cafes in the area. Maybe we’ll try to hit the right one next time!

Beautiful view of golf course and pool, but wrong Palms Cafe!

Since the temperatures were around 100, we decided we’d cool off in Agua Caliente Casino – we got, and remained cold, as we made a nice donation to our native American friends.

Finished a great round of bar-hopping at The 19th Hole

By talking to strangers we met in these random bars and restaurants, we’d always ask them about their favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant/bar and several people mentioned The 19^th Hole in Palm Desert, which advertises itself as ‘hidden gem dive bar’. Perfect! So we headed there for dinner. Good fish and chips, cold beer and fun ‘people watching’.

Bottom line on the ‘desert dive bar tour’: Great fun, good change of pace, met and talked to various, interesting people from across the U.S. and Canada and found a few places we’d go back to.

Posted in opinion

COMFORT AND JOY WITH A TERRORIST

March 2, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:18 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

One year ago today I brought my new puppy home. I named him Dashing Doolin, which was a nod to my former dog, Dash, and Doolin, one of my favorite towns in Ireland. I nicknamed him Dooley, which I thought sounded very playful and cute. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are known as the “comfort spaniels”, bred to sit quietly and lovingly by their owner. So, I envisioned a similar experience to that which I had with Dash the Wonder Dog – mellow, lots of naps (him), endless amounts of time to live a normal life (me). I was wrong. Very wrong. I swear Dooley is part Jack Rusell Terrier. Right from the jump he required lots of activity and almost all of my attention. My idea of keeping him occupied was to throw a ball. His was to nip my arms, toes and ear lobes. Or chew on the throw pillows. Or scratch the front window, begging to go chase birds, bunnies and every errant leaf that blew by. Although he had some of the same lineage as Dash, it soon became apparent that Dooley is a very different dog.

I’d like to say that the last year has been one of happiness and fun. But I’d be lying. What was I thinking getting a puppy in my mid-70’s? I have been frustrated, tearful and ready to give up more times that I can count. I jokingly referred to him as “the terrorist” because my life was dictated by him. In truth, it wasn’t such a joke. At least once a week I gave serious consideration as to whether he might be better placed with a young family with a very large backyard. For six months I enrolled him in training classes, in which he excelled. He was the perfect student and his instructors remarked about how quickly he caught on to commands. But turns out I had a little Eddie Haskell on my hands – a kiss-up around other adults and a complete menace at home. For Halloween last year I dressed him up as a convict for our community’s pet costume contest and several people mentioned how appropriate his outfit was. In other words, he had a “rep”. His saving grace was that he loves to “smoosh”, an activity where he jumps up and practically smothers me while laying his head on my head. It’s his version of a hug and although he doesn’t know it, that gesture kept him in my good graces.

Finally, when I was truly at my wit’s end, my friend Joan referred me to her trainer, Tammy Verhas. I took him for lessons twice and at the end of the second session she said, “You know, I think he might benefit from boot camp.” I think when a professional tells you your dog needs to go to military school it’s best to listen. So, the first week of November he went to “camp” for three weeks. I was able to get him home a couple of days before Thanksgiving and at first, I thought she’d switched out dogs on me. The dog she brought me was a perfectly behaved, obedient dog. Surely this couldn’t be Dooley?! Tammy and I had a long talk about his behavior. Turns out I was leading with affection, versus establishing some element of respect. I guess I had a “rep” too. In my defense, she told me he was the most intelligent and high-energy Cavalier she’d ever trained.

It’s been almost perfect since then. He is definitely smarter than me and knows when I’m in a weakened state and not up to being as strict as I should. That’s when he decides to pull on the leash or jump up on visitors. But generally, he is now a really good boy. And I have to say that at night, when he is snuggled up next to my pillow or curled up next to my stomach, there isn’t a better feeling in the world. Now, I don’t know what I’d do without him to keep me company. As Tammy told me, sometimes we get the dog we need, not the dog we want. As I’ve found out, it’s even better when we get both.

Posted in Sports

A Couch Potatoe’s Take on the Olympics Highlights

February 23, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

If I thought I was going to get off the couch because football had ended, I was sadly mistaken – the Olympics have kept me firmly planted in front of the boob tube. And for whatever reason I always seem to turn on the TV when curling is going on, which was quite often. Being raised in California, I never curled, never heard of curling until recently, and after watching it for hours, I’m still not sure of all the rules, although it’s somehow magnetizing. I don’t fully understand it, but it seems like shuffleboard on ice, but not exactly. Watching men and women from all over the world curl, I wondered how they first became interested in seeing how accurate they are at sliding a rock on a sheet of ice. And while they were inventing the game they said, “Hey, let’s add a person or two with a broom to sweep a path on the ice for the rock to follow.”

I’ve learned that Canada had a very strong curling team and in fact, won the men’s gold medal this year, beating Great Britian. Really? Great Britian?!! I would have thought that countries like Norway, Finland and Sweden, where there is lots of ice, would be in there somewhere, although the game was invented in Scotland.

Biathlon – the natural pairing of skiing and shooting

But curling isn’t the only ‘unusual’ sport in the Winter Olympics – it’s like a committee sat down and thought about all the things one could do in the snow and on the ice and said, “Hey, let’s create some games out of this stuff and call it the Winter Olympics.” One of the first games they thought of was the biathlon, which would combine two things that naturally go together, cross country skiing and shooting a rifle! This year’s Olympics added a new sport, Ski Mountaineering, or ‘Skimo’ as it’s called, where one climbs up a mountain, either on skis or on foot carrying skis and then skis down the mountain. A woman from Switzerland and a man from Spain won the gold this year. I was on the edge of my seat!

There was of course all kinds of sledding, including ‘skeleton’, which seems like a fairly scary name for a sledding event. Sledding events include one and two person sledders either headfirst or feetfirst – perhaps going down sideways may be added in years to come. Basically, all the sledding is just man or woman against gravity – gravity always wins.

Probably one of the most interesting ‘outdoor’ sports at the Olympics is on the ‘half pipe’ with lots of turns, spins and flips with an occasional interesting crash landing. Practicing to perfect those moves has to be very painful, but fun to watch!

Aside from speed skating, which, to me, is just people going around in circles, the indoor sports, like hockey and figure skating hold the most interest. The U.S. did win gold this year in hockey, with a dramatic overtime win over archrival Canada – but since players from both teams play in the NHL, for me, it loses a little something relative to the original amateur spirit of the Olympics. Although, being an amateur was eliminated from a lot of Olympic sports years ago.

France’s gold medal winners, Beaudry and Cizeron

I think the highest bar for performance in the Winter Olympics is in the pair ice dancing. France took the gold, U.S. took the silver and Canada took the bronze. The amount of time and skill required to coordinate all the jumps, spins and dance moves that make it look so graceful and effortless, is amazing.

But, now the Olympics are over and I guess I need to get into college basketball and wait for ‘March Madness’. Or, maybe turn off the TV and enjoy some of our great outdoor weather. Nah, March Madness is only about three weeks away – I think I can make it back on the couch by then!

Posted in opinion

THE HEART OF COMPROMISE

February 16, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

As you read this post you may think that I’m trying to eke out one more story about football, but really, I consider this a public service announcement. When the hoopla of the Super Bowl died down last week, sports journalists who were not covering the Olympics began to focus on next year’s Super Bowl. While they speculated about next year’s favorites (the Rams, Seahawks, Bills and Eagles) they skipped the most salient fact: next year the Super Bowl will be played on Valentine’s Day. If you think that is unusual, you’re right. The Super Bowl has never been on Valentine’s Day. The closest the game has ever come to wrecking relationships around the world was in 2022, when Super Bowl LVI was played on Feb. 13. But next year, due to the expanded schedule, the season has been extended one week, which is going to cause a lot of problems in households where one member is a fanatic, and one only watches the broadcast to see the commercials.

After all, Valentine’s Day is considered to be one of the most romantic days of the year. It is the busiest day of the year for florists, while candy and card sales go through the roof. Many a spouse has been given the cold shoulder if the day is not commemorated. To illustrate just how romantic the day is viewed, in the United States alone an average of 220,000 people get engaged every year on Valentine’s Day. It is thought to be the perfect day on which to propose, and many young people go to great lengths to tie the Valentine’s theme into popping the question. Somehow, I think next year’s proposals may lose some of the romance usually associated with “popping the question”. It will have to occur between downs but not interfere with a commercial, while trying not to drop the ring in the guacamole dip. I’m not sure any young woman grows up thinking that she will be competing with a Budweiser commercial for the most heartfelt moment of her special day.

To further complicate the situation, there are approximately 15-20,000 weddings that take place each year on Valentine’s Day. Forget about the fact that forevermore those couples will have to fight for dinner reservations and will be subject to overpriced fixed-prix menus on their anniversaries. The specific problem next year lies not with the bride and groom, who let’s face it, would not have scheduled their wedding on Super Bowl Sunday if they were fans. The problem is the cascading one faced by the invitees, especially if their favorite team is playing. People will be scrambling for excuses as to why they can’t attend, or perhaps there will be a lot of married people who attend alone while their spouse is at home watching the game, hands clutching a beer, perplexed as to why anyone would schedule a wedding on such an important day. I foresee a lot of arguments about “priorities” in the offing.

The only silver lining in the Super Bowl being pushed back a week is that next year it also coincides with President’s Day weekend. The day after the Super Bowl has long been one of the least productive days in the workforce so the good news is that next year everyone will officially be able to take off work on Super Bowl Monday. Perhaps that will give them time to look up the name of a good marriage counselor. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to need one. Just don’t say I didn’t give you plenty of warning.

Posted in Sports

Lack of Gridiron in the Diet

February 9, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:6 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

I’m trying to make the transition . . . wait, NO I’m not ‘transitioning’, I’m simply trying to transition from watching football 4-5 days a week to watching football zero days a week FOR THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS!!!. This is not going to be easy! I thought the college football season ended in Cinderella-like fashion with the Curt Cignetti-led Indiana Hoosiers winning their first ever National Championship behind Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Fernando Mendosa. Great stuff!!

I’m writing this before the Super Bowl, so I’ll have no highlights of the game (hopefully there will be highlights), the commercials (they could be more entertaining than the game) or the half-time performance (which has already caused some controversy). I will write the end of the blog after the game – I’m sure I’ll have a pithy comment or two.

For me the Super Bowl is less Cinderella and more Ursula, the half-woman, half-octopus, from The Little Mermaid. I know, I’m bummed because the 49ers didn’t make it, nor did any of the other California teams, the Ram or the Chargers. I realize there was a West Coast team in the Super Bowl, and there was a West Coast player in quarterback, Sam Darnold, who is a San Clemente, Orange County guy; but my Pete Carroll hangover, and the fact that the Seahawks kicked the 49ers out of the playoffs this year, made it hard for me to root for them. But I’m not particularly a New England fan either. Haven’t we all been exposed to enough Patriot history this past year with 74-year-old, ex-coach, Bill Belichick canoodling with his 24-year-old girlfriend, plus having to listen to Tom Brady’s pedantic color-commentating? I digress. I do like Patriot quarterback Drake Maye and if the Patriots won, Mike Vrabel is the only person to win the Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach – but you probably heard all that if you watched the game.

The Super Bowl doesn’t just mark the end of football season, Super Bowl parties officially mark the end of my New Year’s Resolutions – way too much eating, drinking and weight gaining! As they say in sports . . . ‘Wait ’til next year’!

My usual remedy for ‘Lackofgridiron’ in my diet or Couch Potato Syndrome, is trying to pretend that PGA golf is just as exciting . . . it isn’t! But this year we have a one-step program to help bridge the gap between football and . . . next year’s football – the Winter Olympics. This year’s Olympics are coming to us from Milan and picturesque Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is often called the ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ – part of the northern Italian Alps. Beautiful! So, forget about ‘Off Sides’, ‘Safety Blitz’ and ‘Roughing the Passer’ and start thinking of Double Axles, Moguls and “Gosh it looks cold over there.”

Much as we try to get away from politics, and one would think that the Olympics should be a good place to do that, this year we find that Russia is banned from competing due to their invasion of Ukraine. However, Russian athletes, who voice to the Olympic Committee that they do not support the war, can compete as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes’ – no Russian flag ceremony if they win, but back home they will face Russian roulette if they lose.

Post Super Bowl notes:

The Game: I can’t really comment on the game, it was so boring in the first half I fell asleep. The Commercials: For a cost of between $8 – $10 million dollars for 30 seconds, I was expecting more – pretty blah. The Prop bets: I had a tip that the Gatorade was going to be purple, so I bet it big . . . it was green. The Half Time Show: My Spanish is a little weak, so I’m still trying to translate Bad Bunny’s song. Nah, I was still sleeping.

Posted in opinion

WE CAN PUT A MAN ON THE MOON…

February 2, 2026By Sparrow/WatsonComments:4 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

…but we can’t find a cure for the common cold? How long have we been saying that? Probably since July 20,1969, when the Lunar Module Eagle first touched down on the Sea of Tranquility. After that monumental achievement every other goal seemed like it should be easily solved. Thus, the phrase, “we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t (fill in the blank)” began to be used for every frustrating problem we seemed incapable of conquering. You don’t hear that phrase so much anymore, most likely because we’ve conquered many of those problems. Or maybe we feel confident, or scared, that AI will soon do it for us. But this past week I harkened back to the “common cold” lament because, like so many others, I was brought down by the latest virus going around.

I haven’t felt like doing much and felt sick as a dog. Ironically, I was also dealing with a sick dog, which required me to dress up in something akin to a hazmat suit and take him to the vet. All the while, I wondered that with all the medical miracles that seem to happen on a daily basis, I’m laid low by the same malady that has plagued humankind for hundreds of years. I think there must be a lot of people down with the cold virus right now because last week The Washington Post published an article pondering the same question. Turns out, I guess not surprisingly, that finding a cure is just not that simple. There are more than 200 different viruses that can lead to cold symptoms, with rhinoviruses being the most common. That diversity makes it hard to develop a single vaccine or treatment that would effectively cover all strains.

According to the Post, last week the Yale School of Medicine published the results of a study in the journal Cell Press Blue (you subscribe, right?) about their research into the common cold. They cultivated miniature models of nasal airways to try to understand how upper respiratory viruses unfold, why they can be so variable, and how to make them less miserable. I’m all for that! The details of the study are a little gross, so I’ll forego that in case you’re eating breakfast. The upshot is that after examining thousands of individual cells, the researchers found that it’s not the virus, but the intricacies of the response in thousands of nasal airway cells, that determines whether a cold is quickly quelled or explodes into something more serious. The study showed that the quick production of a protein called interferon by the infected cells kept the rhinovirus in check, allowing it to infect fewer than 2 percent of the cells. When they suppressed interferon, about a third of cells became infected and the rhinovirus proliferated. A different immune sensor kicked in, and molecules related to inflammation increased, mucus production went into overdrive, and the nasal cilia slowed their pulsing. There’s a lot more technical stuff, but that’s the basic gist.

They concluded that there’s a reason that the cold is such a challenge to solve: disentangling immune responses to know which ones are beneficial, which ones help control an infection, and which ones contribute to severity of symptoms, is not straightforward. The lead researcher commented that if the common cold was an easy problem to solve, it would have been solved a long time ago. No kidding. Generations of people have been waiting. Maybe AI will finally be the key to the finding an answer. Clearly, it’s beyond the ken of we mere mortals. As skeptical as I am of AI, I will gladly hail its presence if it can keep me out of the Cold and Cough aisle at Walgreens. In the meantime, I’m going to fix more tea and get drunk on Nyquil.