While Super Bowl hype threatens to tear a hole in the universe, four little words have made my week: “Pitchers and catchers report.”

I am an unreconstructed, why-do-we-have-the-desiganted-hitter, unabashed fan of baseball. Yeah, I know all the arguments against— it’s slow, it has Barry Bonds, it’s slow, they play too many games, it’s slow, steroids, it’s slow.
You’re right on all counts except the numbers of games, but the best thing about baseball is also its weakness for fans not quite as obsessive as me.
Baseball is no respected of time. If you don’t make an out, you can bat forever. Hope — and winning — is based on what you do, not some outside force like a clock.
That’s why some people love.
And why others run screaming into the night at the prospect of sitting through nine innings.
But like professional football, fantasy leagues keep millions of fans glued not so much to their televisions, but to places they can find numbers: box scores, Web sites, “Baseball Tonight.”
My rotisserie league is starting its 17th year, the usual whining and complaining about to take up the better part of a Sunday afternoon next week at our Winter Meetings.
Now if I can just figure out if Jose Reyes is worth the money.

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While the Bears and Colts prepare for Miami and the big game, NFL talk has centered on the Dallas Cowboys and the departure of Bill Parcells. Much of the chatter is whether Parcells took a flier because owner Jerry Jones is doing an Al Davis impression: i.e. a meddling, micromanager. When the ‘Boys hire a new coach will he be a Jones yes man or have the latitude a coach needs? That seems to be the question. As soon as the Cowboys get that answered I’m sure TO will be back in the news. They may be the self-proclaimed America’s Team, but off the field (and a few times on it) they bore me.

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Doc Sadler’s boys work against Texas was impressive. I’m anxious to see the good doctor put five kids on the floor he has recruited, five kids designed to play in his system. He has shaped the Huskers into a good team (their Big 12 record won’t show it) with players Barry Collier thought would work in his slower, half court scheme. On the women’s side, Connie Yori continues to get plenty out of her team as well. The A&M loss may hurt in the rankings (21 vs. 25) but look for Big Red women to right there when bids come out in March.