The holiday came and went. Our trees are back in those spots where they spend around 330 days a year. That’s right, I said trees. Our daughter Alexis moved back home for a while and she wanted her tree up too. KM agreed, so I never stood a chance. I added to Alexis’ ornament collection with one that I’m sure will be a favorite for years to come. It’s Daryl Dixon from “The Walking Dead,” holding his crossbow. It’s one of Alexis and my favorite shows. KM isn’t a fan though.
Speaking of KM, she got into takedown mode a little earlier this year than she normally does. I blame this on those blowouts in most of the bowl games; she just lost interest.
And when she gets going on something, you either participate or get the heck out of her way. So I chose the latter and found a TV upstairs where there was a Twilight Zone that was competing against the Iowa – Stanford mismatch.
I heard the vacuum from downstairs as KM continued her sudden and violent cleanliness obsession. I shut the door to our bedroom, just as that dervish from Stanford was running back a punt for a TD.
Alexis headed to Cleveland to visit a friend over New Year’s. KM and I were home alone again. We saw a couple of movies, ‘Concussion,” which wasn’t bad, and “Star Wars” which I was pretty disappointed in.
Back in 1977, we were blown away by, “Star Wars.” KM and I saw it at McCain Mall. It took in $307 million at the box office. Coming in a distant second was “Smokey and the Bandit,” which grossed $127 million.
But back to the present, I was pretty pumped on New Years Day to see “Star Wars” but it never came close to being magical for me like the one George Lucas unveiled back in 1977. Almost everyone is back in the new one, except those who couldn’t be like Darth Vader and Obi Wan. Yoda is missing as well. Or did he die in one of those three bad prequels?
As for ‘Concussion,” it grabs your attention fast and hard, like a free safety; but finishes more like a placekicker. I did not remember the sad story about Mike Webster, the NFL Hall of Fame center for the great Pittsburg Steelers’ teams of the 70’s. After his death in 2002, at age 50, it was determined he had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the first former NFL player with the diagnosis. The trauma to his head and brain, caused by playing football, was likened to having been in 25,000 car wrecks. The movie is about the doctor who discovers the disease and the NFL refusing to acknowledge it.
In 1997, Webster concluded his Hall of Fame speech with, “You’re going to fail -- I did -- but that’s O.K. because in your life no one is keeping score. Just finish the game.’’
Jay Edwards is editor-in-chief of the Hamilton County Herald and an award-winning columnist. Contact him at jedwards@dailydata.com.