Mark’s Musings – Dec. 9, 2015

Mark Fortune

All of the political fervor is now focused on the terrorism threat and for good reason it would seem. With an attack now in our own country we have joined the likes of France, England and Yemen with attacks by ISIS or ISIS connected terrorists.

It is a somewhat daunting task – I think – for us Americans to wrap our heads around how a person could work with people – including those that held a baby shower – one moment and mercilessly gun them down the next moment all in the name of an ideology.

Yes, we have dealt with threats, shootings and incidents of this nature in the past. To use a poor phrase and certainly not to make a connection with the innocent victims but workplace violence and people “going postal” is not anything new to our nation. But this new danger lurks of something even darker than a fellow worker taking out their frustrations over a job loss or the like. We are being asked to “be vigilant” which makes sense in light of all that has happened in the past few weeks.

Okay, the Buckeyes are headed to the Fiesta Bowl – in a matchup for the ages against the Fighting Irish. The ages? Well, sure. Here’s why. Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer’s alma mater – Cincinnati. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly spent three years there. Successfully. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says there are two special places in his heart – Ohio State and, you guessed it, South Bend. And Meyer is a practicing Catholic. Oh, and if that isn’t enough intrigue for you – he was the receivers coach for the Irish from 1996 to 2000 before moving on to a head coaching job. Yep, this one promises to be good. Of course, Buckeye fans expected more. We always do. Goes to show how challenging that 12 week grind can be in major college football.

So you can plan for your pre-game, during game and of course, post-game snacks now, the game is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN – on Friday, Jan. 1. Good times.

Other bowl games of interest? Well, they start on Saturday, Dec. 19 with the New Mexico Bowl – featuring none other than Arizona versus; you guessed it – New Mexico.

There are 39 grueling bowl game contests that conclude on Jan. 11 with the National Championship game. Stay tuned if you haven’t gouged out your eyes by then.

Keeping an eye on Buckeye men’s basketball – they are 4-4 as of this writing. Let’s hope a turnaround is in the cards. Those early season games are supposed to be a warmup for the Big Ten season. I would not put Memphis, Virginia or Louisiana Tech in that category, however. The losses have come against some pretty good opponents.

And if you, like me, were a bit disappointed to know that you have to wait until next Christmas to find out how Karen Kingsbury’s “The Bridge” – story ends, GET THE BOOK! And let me know what happens. No, not really, I can wait. Patience is a virtue they tell me. Now, what’s for dinner?

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion