Why Do We Love March Madness So Much?

by Kevin Burton   In the bad old days, being without a girlfriend, or a date, or even a prayer, on Valentine’s Day was a sharp searing pain to the psyche.    Now by comparison, being without a basketball team for the big dance, or even the little dance, is a dull ache. March Madness is …

Note To Bengals And Self: Don’t Lose Stupid

by Kevin Burton    Two takeaways from Sunday’s Chiefs-Bengals AFC Championship game, one a smirking aside, the other more lasting.    To set up the first one, I remember when the late great John Madden had just left his brilliant career as Oakland Raiders coach and just begun what would prove to be a brilliant …

Bengals Roar, Bills Snore, Cowboys Lose

   My father used to say that NFL games were fixed.  Then and now I scoff at that, but sometimes I wonder.    Like Sunday, when Buffalo was so passive and so awful in a blowout 27-10 loss to Cincinnati.  Maybe this is just me needing to adjust my expectations for teams as they coalesce …

When Thumbs Up Doesn’t Come, Then What?

by Kevin Burton    When I was a sort of young beep baseball player, I had a team mate who always talked about heart guards.     Beep baseball is baseball for blind players. The ball is slightly bigger than a softball and depending on who made the ball, it can be quite hard.     When …

A Language That Goes Beyond Words

by Kevin Burton    Surely you’ve heard this old joke:    What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who speaks only one language?    American.     A wicked, sweeping generalization that. Not entirely fair. But …

The Fickle Bounce Of The Fantasy Football

by Kevin Burton    The morning orange juice is sweeter, the song of the birds outside more melodious, even the cats’ litter box is less odoriferous, when all four of your fantasy teams have won.     This is silliness, even profound silliness, but it’s a thing, I promise you.    Winning at fantasy football is …

Remote Adventures In South Dakota

by Kevin Burton    Checked into the Hampton Inn in Sioux Falls on a Monday, settled into our room. One thing was missing.    We were two days into a much-needed vacation and having a great time, ready to watch the Chiefs-Raiders game on Monday Night Football.    The room was nice, lots of space …

Visiting Johnny Carson’s Boyhood Home Town

by Kevin Burton    There was a time when one man captured this nation’s attention, made us laugh and in a way, held us together.    And that national smile began with the first five notes of that song, The Tonight Show theme.     “Daaaaa dum dum daaaa daaaa….”     You heard those notes and …

The Bible Is What’s Happening Now

by Kevin Burton    The late comedian Flip Wilson had an ongoing gag featuring a hip, fast-talking preacher who strayed for comedic effect, far from a right interpretation of the Bible.    His Flip Wilson Show aired Thursday nights on NBC from 1970 to 1974.  The recurring preacher segment came from what he called “The …

Bills, AFL And I Get Good Start To Season

by Kevin Burton    Super Thursday anyone?    Yeah, you’re used to Super Sunday. Big meals, commercials as big deals and oh yeah, a football game, the Super Bowl.    Did you ever want to skip the five months of preliminaries and cut straight to the chase?  Ever want to skip all the insurance commercials …