This is the time when I really feel sorry for my Goodboys buds back in New England. The Pats got smoked – and I do mean smoked, as the final score didn’t really indicate just how much the Jets dominated throughout the game almost from its start. But even worse, look at the calendar – we’re barely halfway through January, and pitchers and catchers aren’t due in Fort Myers for another month. Oh sure, the Celtics and Bruins are still playing, but games this time of year in the NBA and NHL mean absolutely nothing. Who cares?

So what have you got? Just another long month with piles of snow stacked up on the street and more miserable weather on the way. That’s rough.

Fortunately there are a couple of Goodboys who can look forward to our weekend in Vegas in a little less than a month (me, I can’t wait!), but otherwise what else can you do except suck it up and let the winter crush you like a bug on windshield? All I can do is offer up Arizona as a potential respite option for those who can’t deal with it any more, and we’re ready: today I washed down the tiki bar and made the whole back yard just a little more inviting with the help of my friends at Hi’s Silk Flowers (yes, with a little Krylon Clear and WD40 you can decorate your back yard with silk flowers all year round here in the Valley of the Sun).

I lived this experience one time, and the mid-January blues are only made worse when the Patriots get crushed by a bunch of loud-mouth clowns from New York. What the heck happened – isn’t Belichick supposed to be a genius? If so, why is he consistently getting outcoached in the playoffs lately? Wasn’t Tom Brady supposed to be having the best season of his career? How can a team with a dominating 14-2 record come out so flat against their arch-rivals with everything at stake?

Me, I just don’t understand it. But at least I don’t have to now worry about the mid-January blahs – not when the weather is just starting to get nice here.