Sunday

Hello Winter! A scene out my front door this morning.

Fortunately, 1 and 1.1 took off for the TC before noon yesterday, and 3 departed for Boston on a 5:30 on-time flight last night. I really don't think that today's weather is all that serious, but with the number of folks on the road, today is a good day to be home.

Lots of positive reports on Thanksgiving. Good food. Great company. No unexpected surprises. (Including the massacre at The LA Coliseum last night.)

I'm liking the way that the Thanksgiving Day weekend fell this year compared to 2007. Remember, last year, the fourth Thursday of November was as early as it could be on the calendar, and there was a full week of November work days in the week following Thanksgiving Day. That made the Christmas shopping season go on forever. With tomorrow being December 1st, it just "feels" like this is how the holiday season is supposed to flow.

Anybody else get the sense that the early season college basketball tournament schedules are in new territory? The rules seem to have changed as the top teams have abandoned the Great Alaska Shootout. At one time that tournament was the premiere event, along with the Maui Invitational. This year, Alaska drew the likes of Hampton (Hampton?), Northern Illinois, Western Carolina and San Diego State. Maui is still strong (like, who doesn't want to go to Hawaii?), but a couple of other new tourneys seem to have bled off the other big name talent. Times change.

I just saw the Sony HDTV commercial that has the San Diego Chicken on a panel with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Payton Manning (along with a couple others). Has there been another mascot that has achieved such widespread recognition? Let's do a Top Ten List.

Most recognized mascot (or mascot-like) in sports with cross-cultural acceptance:

1. The San Diego Chicken. This guy appeared everywhere. And generated a highly publicized law-suit when he broke away (or was fired) from the Padres. We saw him years ago at John O'Donnell in Davenport at a minor league game.

2. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. No explanation required.

3. Uga, the Georgia Bulldog. They've been using a real dog at the U of Ga. (thus, the name) for 50-odd years. He is ugly.

4. Herky the Hawkeye. OK, a little provincial, but he does make a lot of appearances in Iowa. And 3 dated one several years ago.

5. Florida State's Seminole Indian. Around the Midwest, Chief Illiniwek from the U of Illinois is a little more well-known, but Max Osceola (news to me as well) has a national following, largely due to the civil rights arguments associated with the use of Native American culture in contemporary sports. Whatever.

6. The Oscar Meyer Weiner. Again, no explanation required. Well, it doesn't exactly represent a team, but it is a great mascot.

7. USC horse and rider. This is a little hard to take, but with the Trojans having been one of the most dominant football teams in recent years, this pic has seen a lot of air time.

8. Tie. The AFLAC duck,the Geico gecko and the Budweiser Clydesdale's. I'm not sure why/how/who came up with these two animals being the faces of a couple of insurance companies, but they definitely work. The horses have surely been in a parade in every town in the country.

9. The Coors Light twins. A little weak here, but I forgot to put these two in my comments on 4's list of sexy athletes. They were good for about one season before they became a little over-exposed. So to speak.

10. Donald Trump. Look, he's a caricature of a real estate mogul with diverse business and entertainment interests, sponsors various sporting events, and is generally considered as representing a variety of excesses. And for the right amount of cash, he'll speak at your meeting and share his wisdom. (See also, Bill Clinton.)

So obviously there are few rules with regard to the inclusion on this list. Actually, after the first two, everything else was a stretch. Feel free to add your submissions.

Hope everyone can get their lives in order for December. You're about outta time.

See you online.

BCOT