Happy New Year! Now Get Writing... Oh and Football. Yay.

I think I had a case of blog burnout. For over six months, I've been unable to even so much as think about writing a blog post about sports. It used to be that all I wanted to talk about was sports, but after 365 days of all sports, I just couldn't. I needed to purge my mind. Plus, the fact that the Red Sox went from last to World Series champs back to last really took the wind out of my sails.

But then football season happened. I love football season. I love that every week is so crucial to a fan because there's only 17 of them in the regular season. And in the whole scheme of sports playoffs, football's is fleeting. NFL playoffs last less than a month and there are just 11 games so each one, for me, can't be missed. Even the teams I don't care about... which is most of them.

When the New England Patriots are in the mix, that's when it gets dicey. I have butterflies. I have anxiety. I have issues. You would think I was part of the team the way my insides turn to jelly. It's especially nerve wracking when they finish the regular season so weakly — barely beating the lowly Jets and then losing to the Bills in an unspectacular fashion. So basically, I'll be a mess come Saturday evening when the Ravens come to Foxboro!

But I digress... if I love football season so much, why couldn't I get back to writing about it? By the time I thought of it, it was too far into the season to risk jinxing the Patriots' amazing October run with Rah-Rah blog posts about how great they are and how Tom Brady isn't even close to retirement. Plus... I was still dealing with that whole burnout thing.

So it's a new year and new goals and resolutions and all that happy crap so back on the writing train I go. Plus, I'm convinced I'm getting stupider by the day by not writing. Especially after having the last 13 days off where I spent more time in my pajamas than out of them... watching endless hours of television and possibly drooling on myself a little bit.

Happy New Year to all... and I hope you'll visit Balls of All Sizes once in a while!

PS:  If the Patriots lose to the Ravens, I will completely blame this blog post. And myself.

Day 276: Happy New Year! And Balls' Resolutions...

Every New Years Day, I start listing things I can do to better myself. Most of them consist of exercising more and eating better. It never turns out that way. Sure, the exercising seems to go well... but I love to eat and the more horribly bad for me the food is, the more I love it! So this year I'm not even wasting time trying to change my diet. Maybe I'll just shoot for smaller portions... (I couldn't even type that with a straight face!)

My exercising goal will be the usual—elliptical (or is it spelled elliptikill?) at least five days a week, 30 minute per day. Maybe I'll crank up the tension knob a turn or two and add in the moving handles. Although when my arms are moving, it makes controlling the DVR a little more challenging. I might have to rethink that one. It's no secret that the key for me to actually staying on that ghastly contraption for the full 30 minutes is good television shows. This could be the reason why I fail at it so terribly between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That and the fact that it seriously cuts into my eating time.

Starting today, I'm also planning to take part in a 30 Day Plank Challenge... and no, I'm not talking about lumber. The Challenge is supposed to take me from a short, 20 second plank on day one to a five minute plank on day 30. I can honestly say I've never attempted a plank in my entire life so really, how hard could it be? If you've never done a plank, the answer is: very hard. Planks are pure evil. But I'm really hoping this will help my rapidly aging lower back.

The challenge starts with a 20 second plank on day one that I completed a couple of hours before writing this post. Doesn't sound very lengthy, right? Holy shit! That was by far the longest 20 seconds of my entire life. My abs are currently planning a revolt. WTF? I'm really not sure how I'm going to increase that to 30 seconds which is just two days from now, let alone make it five full freaking minutes. I'm doomed!

I'm also declaring this summer the Summer of Golf! I definitely need to play more golf (and get better golf outfits!). The end. I really don't think I'm ever going to get better if I can't play regularly. Maybe I'll even take a few lessons in the spring to get going on the right foot. There's nothing worse that stepping up to that first tee and wonder what the hell you did the last time you hit a pretty drive...six months ago. I don't remember what I did six hours ago!

I have high hopes for 2014... Here's wishing you all a happy, healthy and hopeful year too!