I woke up again this morning with a sore throat, probably an indication that my Covid test results will come back positive. However, my run this morning was the best my body has felt in some time, so maybe I’m already on the path to recovery. There was little back pain and no trouble breathing. It was day #4,752 of “The Streak” to kick-off the New Year. I’ll continue to take it easy the rest of the day – more Bowl games to watch, as the National Championship has come down to a SEC showdown. IU also has a basketball game against Penn State tomorrow afternoon if it isn’t cancelled. It’s hard to anticipate and get excited about anything these days with the dreaded virus looming. Purdue ended their football season on a positive “note” in the Music City Bowl against Tennessee. 

A college fraternity buddy sent me a New Years greeting this morning, reminding me of a hometown party I supposedly took him to when we were Freshmen. At least I think it was New Years Eve 1969 but could have been 1970, more than 50-years ago. It was before drugs were ever a factor in my life, and a friend of mine’s Italian mom would let us drink alcohol if we were confined to her home. There were no girls at any of these basement parties that I can ever remember, except Eleanor. We were still of course underage but with her supervision things never got out of hand. Probably the most exciting part of the evening was a game of RISK, seeking World domination. Either year, Notre Dame would have played Texas in the Cotton Bowl, so we probably stayed the next day to watch it. I hated ND back then, but any good Catholic family like this one would have supported the Irish. It was in a time when a Bowl invitation actually meant something. 

IU did not earn a bowl invitation this year after a disastrous season that had high expectations. Purdue certainly added a exclamation mark by reclaiming the Bucket. I haven’t been to a Bowl game since New Year’s Eve of 1993, 28-years ago. The Hoosiers lost to the Hokies in Shreveport, but we salvaged the occasion by making it to the streets of New Orleans for a midnight kiss from strangers plus a reward of beads, a memorable New Years Eve. Last night was not so memorable with both of us a bit under the weather. A bottle of bubbly and a tasty pasta put us both to sleep early. I woke up near midnight but just before the ball completed dropping the TV timer shut off automatically. Welcome 2022!