A quiet Christmas can be a wonderful one

This was my 59th Christmas on this soil. As has been said many times (and years)before, it was the best Christmas ever. It certainly was adifferent one -- one that reminded me that the holidays are about memories ... and priorities. When you are a kid, the priorities are simple -- get fun gifts. My memory of kiddom is that, for several years running, we got a game or a toy that my three brothers and myself could use. One year, it was an erector set -- a complicated thing that we spent hours contructing ... and de-constructing. Another year, it was a table hockey game -- a wonderful game at which two or four could play. It had an automatic puck dropper. When you scored a goal, there was a little crowd noise. Another year, it was Foto-Electric Football. This would seem tame by today's vodeo standards. But we were enthralld by it. This got topped the next year by a GTO car set -- complete with tracks that seem to fill up the living room. We melded that one with the erector set for a truly complicated operation. As you get older, the priorities changed and you appreciated getting a check or cash from a favorite relative. As an adult, the priorities changed again. You wanted to be invited to the house of that cute girl in the third row. You had a gift for her ... and hoped to get one back in turn (even if it was just a kiss). (But you didn't necessarily want to give to her in front of her parents.) As an older adult, the holiday priorities have changed again. I just want Christmas Eve and Day to be one with a good meal and friendship with people you want to be around (and, hopefully, vice versa). That was the case this year. Christmas Eve was a quiet night at a local tavern with friends. We played games, listened to holiday music and ate and drank together for a couple of hours. It wasn't formal and it was very relaxed. We laughed a lot. What better night could you have? On Christmas Day, Lynne's sister and a brother-in-law came over. There was a great meal, a lively discussion and the day ended watching Barbra Streisand being interviewed on CNN. It was lowkey all the way. We left the dishes for the next day and didn't worry too much about how the kitchen looked. When I was 10 years old, I would never have imagine a holiday like this one would ever be considered "fun." Looking back at it after the fact, it would b hard to imagine a better way to spend the last two days. Priorities indeed.

Good news today

The Happy Dog has had a rough year, suffering some seizures and going on medication. But just got a report from the vet. Levels are great. His weight is up. So are his spirits. And ours, too.

Let's hope there are folks more like Tom Hansen out there

We hear this all the time when a nice person dies. "There will never be another guy like him (her)." Tom Hansen, a truly nice man, passed away the other day. I'm headed to his wake tonight. I will tell his wife how much I appreciated Tom from his days as the AD at St. Bernard's and the various sectional sporting events I worked for him. I will console his son the same way. What I won't say to them but am happy to do so here is this: Let's hope there are more Tom Hansens in the wings. We need more guys like Tom. He was an excellent administrator. He was fair to his students. He understood his school ... and the kids in it ... very well. He knew that the kids he had at St. Bernard's had their faults. hen they screwed up, he doled out the punishment necessary. But he never did in a vindictive manner. No, it was always meant as a teaching moment. He understood the school's athletic teams would have some very good moments (they won a couple of state softball titles) but they would often be overmatched. And, while he was as competitive as the next AD, he wanted his teams and ... his coaches to win and lose the right way. Play hard. Play tough. Play fair. And let the chips fall where they may. He understood that when the Bulldogs had the horses, they would win their share of games. But he also knew that when they played football against, say, DeLaSalle, they were likelt to be outmanned in size and talent. He could live with that. But he could not accept being outclassed. When one of his teams did that, he stepped in and corrected the problem immediately. We need more guys like Tom Hansen, not less, in athletics -- and in life -- these days. We need more guys who see the value in playing games and, yes, understand that lessons can get learned even when your football team loses 56-0. So I will mourn Tom's loss because, well, he was a helluva good guy. But I am also hoping that there are others like him ready to take over and run athletic programs. That is a legacy worth hoping for.