Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday, as he apparently often does. According to legend, of course, this augurs six more weeks of winter, and much of the country did not react positively to this forecast. But in the last two places I’ve called home, a prediction of winter lasting through the middle of March would be seen as good news indeed.

Here in Jacksonville, winter is usually a pleasant time of year. While it can get a bit nippy (36° this morning on my drive into work), it’s usually comfortable during the day, and the humidity is low, which is a welcome blessing. It wouldn’t be so bad for this weather to continue for another six weeks, although, to be honest, March and April are about perfect months here weather-wise, so the onset of spring is a good thing. All in all, though, it’s not that big a deal whether winter lasts another month and a half or not.

In Syracuse, however, winter is a whole different story. Friends in the place we used to live have just suffered through a very cold and very snowy January, even by Syracuse standards (Syracuse is the snowiest major city in the US, averaging over 120 inches per year; we were there for the record-setting winter of 1992-93, when the total was 192.1 inches, starting with 8 inches on Halloween, and not ending until we received a dusting on Mothers’ Day!). For Syracusans, then, a forecast of six more weeks of winter is a RELIEF, since it would be considered a short winter if it ended by the Ides of March. For the sake of our friends there, I hope Punxsutawney Phil is right!

I can’t finish without a few comments about the Super Bowl. Many commentators have deemed it one of the best ever, and while I think the fourth quarter was certainly riveting, the earlier parts of the game felt like it just wouldn’t be competitive. Sure, the end to the first half was amazing, apparently turning around the game on one big play (or horrible mistake, depending on your point of view). I found myself rooting for Arizona to pull the upset, but, in the end, I was OK with Pittsburgh scoring the winning TD with 35 seconds left - for two reasons. First, while they were surely disappointed, Arizona players and fans can celebrate the fact that they got there, while for Pittsburgh, losing in the Super Bowl would have been much more significant. And second, the 27-23 final score won me $25 in a Super Bowl pool. Show me the money!

As for the commercials, I found them overall to be disappointing. There was not the amount of creativity and humor that we’ve seen in the past, although there were a few that I did really like. My personal favorite, which also finished at the top of the USA Today Ad Meter, was the Doritos ad with the crystal ball. Their other ad, featuring the chip with magical qualities, also was excellent. Others that I liked included the Bridgestone ad with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, the E-trade spot with the talking and singing babies (love that series), and the Coke Zero take-off on the classic Mean Joe Greene commercial, although some consider that to be blasphemy. I didn’t care for the Budweiser ads - they’re trying too hard with the Clydesdales, I think. And all the movie spots were boring, just reinforcing my preference for the small screen over the big one.

OK, so we’ve covered the weather, sports, and entertainment. Stay tuned for your late local news, followed by the Late Show with David Letterman (and his superbly-named announcer).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Al. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.