Random

OK, it's Super Bowl time and everyone's gearing up for the game... Well, not everyone. There is sentiment that many viewers look forward to the commercials more than the game. I'm not sure that's really true, but Madison Avenue certainly pushes that idea.

For sure, the companies advertising during Super Bowl put out some great spots.. They better, commercial time is expensive.

So in the spirit of funny Super Bowl commercials, I've included a link to a spot that you won't see this Sunday... Its very funny.

I loved the picture of Coach Bruce Pearl in today's Knoxville News Sentinel. It was a perfect expression of total, absolute disbelief, surrounded by his players, who were in absolute, total joy.

In living rooms across East Tennessee and the Vol Nation, shock was followed cheers and high fives. I watched the bracket show with my dog Fred. Even he was surprised at the high seed. How in the world did Tennessee get a number two seed in the NCAA basketball tournament? Wow!

Tennessee basketball has come a long way in a short time.

I'm taking a few days off. I'm traveling with three friends to St Simons Island, Georgia. One of the guys in the group has a condo there so the stay is free. We spend four days playing golf in mornings and watching the Masters in the afternoon on tv. It's a great time to decompress, play my favorite sport and eat seafood. I look forward to the trip each year.

You might wonder why we would spend our afternoons watching a golf tournament on tv? Many people consider watching golf akin to watching paint dry. Lots of tournaments are exactly that, but the Masters is special.

So how do you produce a bestseller? Well it helps if you're physically attractive, not afraid of controversy and completely and totally insensitive.

And it appears bestselling author Ann Coulter has all that down to a science (ok, maybe not the attractive part, but she is striking in that tall blonde kind of way).

Well, I'm back from a week at the beach. It was a great time to unwind and enjoy the sunshine and seafood of the Carolina coast.

On our vacations, my wife and I usually spend a lot of time golfing, playing tennis, bicycling and being generally pretty active. But not this year, at least not for me.

On Monday, two days into our trip, I stepped on a tennis ball and badly sprained my ankle. It was the most excruciating pain I've felt in a long time. It hurt so bad, I almost passed out.

An article in the perspective section of the Knoxville News Sentinel Sunday suggests that we all have latent racist attitudes.
The article by Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, points to a Harvard test as proof. Shermer describes it this way:
"The insidiousness of racism is because of the fact that it arises out of the deep recesses of our unconscious. We may be unaware of it, yet it lurks there."

Valentine's Day is a big deal at the Patterson home, probably yours too. One reason it's
so important is that - a number of years ago - my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to get married on February 14.

And so we did.

A number of my male friends now give me grief over the decision. It does seem a bit overly romantic. Especially for someone like me, who's not exactly Mr. Hearts and Flowers.

Still, while I might question the date, after 15 years, I'm very happy Mrs. Patterson is still Mrs.

A friend asked me recently if I ever felt bad about the depressing news I read, especially these days.

It seems the news has been very depressing lately. Rising gas and food prices, plant closings and layoffs, natural disasters, the War. Nothing seems particularly positive.

Usually, I'm detached from much of what I report on our newscasts. If you get too invested, you lose objectivity. Not to mention, it could drive you crazy.

But now the bad news has hit home.

My wife was recently laid off from her job. It came as quite a surprise. She thought she was doing a good job.

I must admit I'm missing the Olympics.