Busy day

It doesn’t always happen, but now and then there is a day that becomes more than just another day. That will be the case on Monday, January 20th. On that particular day we will be inaugurating the 47th President of the United States; remembering the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and then watching the NCAA Division 1 football championship game.

For a lot of people they will take time out to recognize each event as each is historical. For some people, of course, each event has more value to them and that is their prerogative. But to put it into perspective each event is important. It doesn’t matter which side of the political aisle in which you feel comfortable this Presidential election was historic since former President Trump will become the second president in U.S. history to be elected to a nonconsecutive term in office. Grover Cleveland was the only other president elected to nonconsecutive terms. So whatever your thoughts on the outcome of the election this is a historic event that will most likely never happen again in yours or my lifetime. So take the time to watch a bit of live history.

The life of Martin Luther King, Jr. is momentous and important. I was a bit young when his rise as a civil rights leader took place. Those were tumultuous time to say the least. I was 15 when MLK was assassinated in Memphis in April of 1968. It was a very sad time in U.S. history. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to visit Washington D.C. and see the impressive Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. It was a very moving experience especially bringing back those memories of that fateful day. If you weren’t around when King was around take the time to learn about this powerful leader and orator.

Monday night will be the final game of the 2024 college football season. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the Ohio State Buckeyes for the NCAA National Championship. These two teams survived the season and are the final two teams standing in the first ever 12 team playoff format.

Because of the schedule, I was only able to watch parts of five of those playoff games. I was interested but there are a few things that I need to do so I saw what I could. Now some people would say that the team seedings were all wrong and that a couple of teams were snubbed along the way which is the same thing they said when there was a two team playoff or the four team playoff. Heck, let’s go back to when the sportswriters and the coaches voted at the end of the season on which team was best. There were split National Champions on a few occasions. Yes, there were a few teams snubbed then too.

Of all the teams that were seeded I have to say that OSU at number 8 was a bit baffling. They lost on the road to Oregon by one point and then to bitter rival Michigan at home by three. But they beat Penn State during the season and Penn State was ranked higher than the Buckeyes. The first round games were held at the better seeds home field and OSU manhandled Tennessee. Penn State overran the SMU Mustangs. In the Rose Bowl Oregon and Ohio State matched up again and this time the Buckeyes overwhelmed the Ducks. Former Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly is the offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes and he dialed in a winning game plan that dominated the Ducks. Notre Dame edged Penn State with a last second field goal to set up the championship game.

The last time the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish played each other was in September, 2023 when the Buckeyes scored a last second touchdown to defeat Notre Dame 17-14. Let’s hope this game can be every bit as fun as that one was.

January 20th will be filled with hope, remembrance and an exciting football game to top things off. It will be memorable as it should be. Let’s hope for the best for this country in this New Year and remember the citizens of California affected by the horrific fires in the Los Angeles area. Their nightmare will continue for years.

— Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].