Columns

A lot of you of both the red and blue heritage have been trying lately to put the University of Louisville’s stunning victory over Florida into some sort of perspective, to make sense of the sensational, to find order in a moment of chaos. I’m talking about the recent football game, not the Elite 8 encounter in basketball last spring.

With apologies to Clement Moore, we adapt our rhyme for the season and wish you a very Merry Christmas.

‘Twas the night before Christmas,

And up and down the street,

Joy and happiness ruled,

Not a frown did anyone greet.

The residents were nestled

All snug in their beds,

Only post-holiday bills

Put dread in their heads.

And me with my laptop

And the Mrs. with her iPad

Were checking the late news,

There was a quiet negotiation going on in the back seat. I caught the words slowly but the meaning very quickly.

 “So,” said the 5-year-old to her 11-year-old brother, “why don’t you ask for a basketball goal, and I’ll ask for crafts?”

Me to the 5-year-old: “You mean you want your brother to ask Santa for a basketball goal so you can have something else on your list?”

Her: “Yes, crafts.”

Me: “Crafts like material to create stuff, like at school?”

Election Day means the end of the debate for a couple of men I respect very much. Unfortunately, neither of them was on the ballot.

To be sure, though, their views are aligned generally with those of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, which is to say the bubbles they filled almost certainly weren’t on the same side of the ballot.

It’s understandable, really. One of them has worked in the auto industry, and the other is a Marine.