While there isn't much to talk about in the way I saw 2005 out and 2006 in, I went back and looked at past years, and I have to say that entering 2006 was very similar to 2004 - an abundance of football and the accidental re-discovery of Sci-Fi's Twilight Zone marathon (much of which I was able to record into a DVR that we spent a goodly portion of New Year's Eve emptying).

From that comment you can guess as to how we rung out 2005. The wife wasn't feeling too hot, so we passed on seeing family or participating in Beverly's First Night activities (we did watch the parade that went by the house, which I suppose counts for something). I find it interesting that the number of New Year's Eve shows seems to be growing at a time when my interest in watching them is at an all-time low. I almost tuned in to see what Fox News Channel was going to present, but couldn't bring myself to do so.

Reading Laura's recent entry on the typical New Year's Eve she married into was entertaining, as I've participated in 2 or 3 of those. Note that what she tries to pass off as tradition is totally indoctrination. They will have no problem finding some grand-nephew to drive them to the casino.

The football cavalcade that is January 1 (or 2) was probably the closest thing we had to a New Year's tradition when I was growing up. It always started in the morning by watching the Cotton Bowl parade. My dad would then point out all the various landmarks he remembered from growing up in Dallas. He was also oddly proud of the Kilgore Rangerettes, the result of crossing the Rockettes with ranch hands. I'm not discounting the appeal of attractive young women performing a kick line in short denim skirts and cowboy boots, but I don't think I was getting the group's wider cultural appeal (assuming there is one).

I've never been much for televised parades, but do miss the days when you got more than 30 channels covering the Tournament of Roses parade. I did see about 20 seconds of ABC's coverage this year, all focused on Teri Hatcher (apparently having borrowed some of Paula Abdul's meds) trying to get on a designer rain poncho. None of the other people in the booth were wearing rain clothing. She must be a hoot on the set as long as the Xanax holds out.

Not surprisingly, the Cotton Bowl got more attention than average in our household. It's kind of sad to see it outside of the BCS system, as when I was a kid the top bowls were Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton. Then those interlopers from Arizona came along and got the Fiesta Bowl top tier status, and the Cotton Bowl got kicked to New Year's morning. Ugh.

Even so, I did spend most of my morning and early afternoon watching Texas Tech and Alabama battle, at least partly in homage to years gone by.