My back pages

The inch-thick sheet of ice that caked the entire sidewalk block of my apartment melted today, thanks to the 66-degree weather this afternoon. That's right, 66. It will go from 66 to below zero in a matter of days. I used to think that Michigan had messed-up weather, but now I know Missouri takes the cake.

I guess it doesn't matter how cold it is, though, since it's winter sports season and I'm inside all the damn time. This week, I went to three different sporting events at Waynesville High School. I have pep-band renditions of popular music permanently stuck in my head. Mostly classic rock fare - the band's rendition of "Carry On, Wayward Son" is the main offender here, along with the team's fight song, which I'm pretty sure really is "Eye of the Tiger," seeing as how they play it every timeout. The third-most-played song, though? Green Day. "Holiday." Damn if it isn't really catchy when played by a pep band...now that I think about it, brass makes it a better song.

Anyway, enough horseplay: tomorrow marks my very first sports "section." I got one-and-a-half pages instead of one because there's never anything for the "outdoors" page and no one actually wants to write anything. So I was able to write two long features. Both are about wrestling. Go to the SadBear blog for more info on the Minnesota wrestler, it's a weird story...) No electronic link yet, but you can see the layout. Here you are: