Our apologies for forgetting to tell you this, but the Designated Writers’ offices have been closed for the last few days. We could give you all sorts of all good reasons, but basically it was because we had presents to buy, bowl games to attend and the usual year-end revelry for which we have bene known for lo these many … well, never mind.

But anyway, in the words of George Constanza, “We’re back, babyyyyy!”

We’ve got a lot of catch up on. Teddy left the Mainland for Hawaii as Louisiana Tech got all up in the homestanding University of Hawaii. It’s one thing to go look at Christmas lights or Grandma’s house during the holiday season, but getting to represent in The 808 is a whole different animal. (There is that matter of the eight-hour flight, to and fro, but it helps if you’ve got a decent set of headphones and one of those goofy neck pillows.)

Meanwhile, thanks to the generosity of others, I was able to attend a College Football Playoff semifinal game (the Cotton Bowl) for the first time. As a Notre Dame fan, it wasn’t the result I was looking for, but the bigger point to me was the experience.

The pre-game excitement quickly reminds you that this isn’t the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl. I’ve been to three Cotton Bowls before, but those were in the pre-historic era when championships were decided by the polls. The atmosphere by the Clemson and Notre Dame fans was more than even a big regular season game. It didn’t take long to realize that this was something special.

It reminds you why big events are so special. There is a difference between the Masters and the Doral Classic. There’s a difference in the Final Four and even Duke vs. North Carolina.

Anyway, we are headed into 2019 and the Designated Writers are fired up for it. (We’ve already notified the nerds in the DW Accounting Dept. to make sure to remember the “19” on all the check we write … if we ever write one.)

Not only will we keep up with the big events, but also the little ones. Some of those might even have something to do with sports.

Thanks for turning the calendar with us. Let’s go!

Didn’t think it was possible, but I have a new appreciation for my spousal unit.

In another life, she put together a band made of Shreveport/Bossier City talent, and their job was to be the house band at the Hyatt Regency (I think) Waikiki, the hotel right across the street from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.

I have heard her and her friends play many times back in Louisiana. They are very good. I never  heard them play here, but I’ve heard other musicians perform here — I’m in Honolulu for the Hawaii Bowl, Louisiana Tech vs. Hawaii at 9:30 CST Saturday — and now have a gauge to go by.

In our hotel, down the street a bit from the one they were employed by, different guitar players/singers are performing each afternoon and night at about three different spots downstairs. My room is 10 floors above one of the little outdoor grill/bar/restaurants, so there is no way of escaping the music. The thing is, day after day and night after night, each artist or group had been very, very good. Like, exceptional. I might not “like” the songs they play and sing all the time but I can recognize how talented they are. So my friends who played here those couple of years had serious game.

The majority of the present generation, I think, seems to believe that if they don’t “make it big” and/or make it big overnight, they’ve failed. They want to start out as bank president or lead salesman and whatnot, without paying dues or understanding the fates and the thrill of the chase.

But some of this “hitting it big” stuff is luck and timing. I work with people every day and even live with people who are as talented as anyone I’ve ever heard on the radio or seen on screen. Every day I witness a new example of how talented people are, how filled with surprises they are. They’re everywhere. I’m grateful they are willing to share their talents with everyone or with their circle. They make a positive difference for the rest of us.

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