ANTICIPATION

The Chicago Bears have a chance to go to the Super Bowl today, 21 years after they went to (and won) their first. I was a freshman in high school back then and a long-suffering Bears fan (many years of Walter Payton being the old good thing about the team). It was an exciting time. Since then I had the joys of the Bulls winning 3 NBA championships in a row - twice - in the 90s and my beloved White Sox finally getting a World Series victory in 2005. The game against the New Orleans Saints is going to be a tough one and the weather could definitely play a factor - it's cold and snowy out there. I will be glued to the set come 2:00.

The Indianapolis Colts also play for a chance to go the Super Bowl today. They are my second favorite team in the NFL; I adopted them once they moved to Indy from Baltimore back in 1984. It's easy to root for both teams, since they reside in different conferences and have only played each other a number of times over the years. I always want the Bears to win but if the Colts had a better shot at the playoffs, I would be just fine with them winning those games. I have a lot of respect for Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy and the rest of the Colts and I will be rooting hard for them to beat the New England Patriots starting at 5:30. And if both the Bears and Colts make it to the Super Bowl...well, I hope I have to deal with that.

And if that's not enough for one day, tonight is the return of "Battlestar Galactica!"

This week also is the first big music release day of the year, with new albums from The Shins, The Broken West, The Autumn Defense, and The Good, the Bad, & the Queen. I've been listening to Chutes Too Narrow quite a bit in preparation for Wincing the Night Away and I think I like it even more now than I did when it came out. Just a perfect pop album. The Broken West are releasing their debut full-length, I Can't Go On I'll Go On, on Merge. I picked up their EP The Dutchman's Gold from eMusic (listed under their original name, The Brokedown) a few months back and I've come to love it. The new release features only one track in common with the EP and has been getting great word of mouth around the music blog circuit. The new self-titled Autumn Defense album was originally listed for last week but seems to have been pushed back to this week; it's the side project of John Stirratt and Pat Sansone from Wilco and tends to feature sunny 70s-type pop. The Good, the Bad, & the Queen is the new sorta supergroup with Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (the Clash), the guitarist from the Verve, and production from Danger Mouse. I've heard a few tracks and will definitely pick it up.

And speaking of Wilco, word came out this week that the new album will be out May 15 and will be called Sky Blue Sky. Less than four months!

This week should also bring the 2007 Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly, always my favorite issue of the year. I read through the 2007 Preview issue of Wizard a few weeks ago, which filled me in on all the cool comics coming out...if only I could afford them all...or have the space to keep them.