This football stuff is certainly helping to fill the void left by the lack of baseball. Last year at this time, Red Sox Nation had so much to look forward to. Or so we thought. The Hot Stove season — or should I say the Lukewarm Stove season — does not promise to get any better here in Boston. So, I turn my attention to the Big Bad Bruins, watch the Celtics age before my eyes, and take in all the hype about the upcoming Patriots vs. Broncos matchup. Don’t get me wrong — I like all the major sports and love being a Boston native but this winter is like being on vacation. So relaxing! I guess that means I’m not a Patriots/Bruins/Celtics die-hard but just a casual fan and that’s okay. I would love to see my Boston teams do well, and I love the excitement in the city when good things are happening; but I will not lose sleep over it. It’s kind of soothing — Like yoga for the baseball fanatic. Yes, I want the Patriots to win, of course, and go on to the Super Bowl; but it will not keep me up at night one way or another. Now, the Red Sox….on the other hand….they have been known to keep me up at night. That happened a lot last September. But I will not worry about that now. This winter I will just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show while sports talk radio has apoplectic fits over Tim Tebow and the lack of Patriots defense. I can wryly smile to myself and think that Tebow can’t be all that bad since his team is hanging in there; and the Patriots defense can’t be all that bad because, here they are, in the playoffs again. It may be my football ignorance talking, but I’m okay with that. If the Patriots win on Saturday, I will be happy for all of my football-minded friends and family. If they lose, I will be happy for Tim Tebow who may finally get a little bit of respect. Whether you believe in his views or not, you have to respect a young guy that tries to live his life with grace and dignity while being surrounded by so many men in his line of work who behave badly. That’s all I have to say on that subject. I’m not here to debate the Brady vs. God and Tebow thing. I’m all zen about that. For now, I will sleep peacefully. It’s my time to hibernate and build up my stamina because spring training starts in 51 days. But who’s counting?

Go Patriots. Or not. OHMMMMMMMMMMMM….