It’s time to look forward

After winter gave me a good hard slap on the face this week, with the promise of more to come, I decided I’d find things to look forward to.

First of all, there’s football. This weekend the Iowa State Cyclones will face Arizona State in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship and the right to advance to the College Football Playoffs. The game is on ABC at 11 a.m.

The oddsmakers have Arizona State as two-point favorites, but if I had any money, I’d put it on Iowa State. Both teams have 10-2 records, but the Cyclones — who in preseason rankings were picked to finish in the bottom half of the conference — have spunk. Don’t count Coach Matt Campbell and his lads out. The Big 12 winner will likely play fifth-ranked Penn State in the opening round of the College Football Playoffs.

I’m also looking forward to fourth-ranked Notre Dame hosting #11 Alabama in the first round of the playoffs in South Bend, Ind., on Dec. 20. It will be fun to watch the southern boys of the Crimson Tide shiver on the frozen turf at Notre Dame Stadium in the middle of winter. Go Irish! (I should note that this is based on assumptions before the conference championships are played this Saturday. Upsets this weekend could upend these predictions.)

With Christmas nearing, I’m looking forward to getting together with our children. Our daughter lives in suburban Chicago and our son is in suburban Washington, D.C., so we don’t see them as much as we’d like, just a couple times a year. We’re in the same fix as many parents of grown children. Once they’ve been to the city you can’t keep ’em down on the farm.

And I’m looking forward to Jan. 20, when Donald Trump finally Makes America Great Again. He couldn’t do it his first time around but he says he’ll get it done this time. I look forward to bread back at 99 cents a loaf and gas at 99 cents a gallon. He also promises to end strife around the world. That would be good. And he says things will change on Day One as President. That’s a little ambitious. I’ll give him until Jan. 30 to lead us to the land of milk and honey.