Football, basketball, figure skating, golf, car racing, or public television?

The magazine that gives all the offerings on television for the month of December has arrived. I glanced through the complex printing and decided it was easier to wait until the day and then scan the different stations to take my pick. If you are a sports fan there are many possibilities.

I like to watch the games of Mizzou, the Chiefs, and that's about it. I did watch the Royals all the way through the playoffs and to the end, but I don't usually watch baseball. It wasn't boring this year. I need to care which team wins to really get into any game.

I'm not sure if figure skating is considered a sport or an art. I can enjoy it even if I don't care who wins, but I find that after I have watched a few minutes of any skater's performance I soon do care who wins. I'll have to admit I can't judge on the height of the jump, or the straightness of the legs, I judge on whether I like their personality. Some of it has to do with their clothing. I like the women who don't try to make their body proportions so obvious that the judges will see that instead of their abilities. A sporty outfit that's cute pleases me more than a skimpy, flowing skirt, but then what do I know? I have never understood why, if it shows the human body more beautifully to save money on the amount of material, why doesn't the same thing work for the men.

Some will have their shirt unbuttoned to the waist, but that looks more tacky than flattering. If women skate better without long skirts around their legs, why don't men do better in shorts than long pants?

Several weeks ago I commented on the baseball players' uniforms so I will not go into that again, but soon the main sport will be basketball. I still remember with fondness when basketball players had rather close fitting short shorts, not the ones down to their knees flapping around. Football is still with us for a while, and I have no problem with their uniforms except I wish their team/school would be spelled out more clearly so that from the top decks or across the room television I can see who made the touchdown. I thought I had the teams figured out the other night until I found that both teams had a player with lots of black hair hanging down out of his helmet in the back. I could remember when you could tell by looking at the boys in the school halls who was on the football team. They all had haircuts like they were going into the Army. I suppose some high school coaches could insist on trim cuts today, but he wouldn't be too popular.

I have never enjoyed car racing, but some of my extended family now are into the sport so I need to learn a little more about it. I keep thinking about the little boy who lived next door to us in Washington, D.C. He enjoyed running his tricycle into our porch steps over and over again. He died in an automobile accident in his upper teens.

Now, what does that leave on the choices for this season, this year? There are many good things on public television. I even love the fundraisers where they feature old-time musical stars and we get to hear their music in between appeals for donations. I don't have to listen to them because I know how much I am going to donate each year, so I can go to the bathroom, fill up my Dr. Pepper glass or read another chapter in my book until they get back to the music. I also like some of the British dramas and comedies.

I won't watch the Christmas specials until after Thanksgiving, but I like the Thanksgiving Parade. Then for the rest of the year I can watch the Hallmark shows. I know they will all come out fine and if I miss some part of them I can look in my big magazine and find out when that particular one is going to be on again.

I'm already sick of "You'd Better Watch Out. Santa Claus is Coming to Town." How creepy is that? Talk about Big Brother, Santa even starts with the little ones. "He knows when you've been sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake."

I don't really want anything for Christmas anyway, so quit watching me, Santa.