Beating the Super Bowl blues
Ten things to live for after the Bears' heartbreaking loss
Suffering from the post-Super Bowl blues? Feel like you can't go on, kind of numb?
Nope, sorry, you can't call in sick to work again. The wound-licking window is officially closed. It's time to peel yourself off the couch, slither out from under the covers and put one foot in front of the other. And that numbness? It's not a symptom of a serious disorder. It's to be expected after the crushing disappointment of Sunday's game -- and this insane cold snap. But whose idea was it to tailgate, huh? The feeling will come back, promise. Even quicker if you get back in circulation.
So come on, now. It's time to get on with the rest of your life. Just look at all you have to live for:
(AP Photos)
Or if you prefer, the home opener is Monday, April 2 (vs. Cleveland).
For information on spring training or regular games, go to whitesox.mlb.com.
2. Cubs: Spring training in Mesa, Ariz., March 1-31. Home opener is Monday, April 9, 1:20 p.m. (vs. Houston). For more information, go to chicago.cubs.mlb.com.
3. Grammy Awards, next Monday night. It's going to be a really good show, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Justin Timberlake -- "and that's just the first hour," according to the commercial that aired repeatedly during the Super Bowl. Oops. Also, homegirl Jennifer Hudson will be one of the presenters. (Go to grammy.com for the full lineup.)
4. 79th Annual Academy Awards, Feb. 25. A Sunday night. Think of it as the late game. Grill some brats. It's part of the healing process. Want to be super-prepared for the Osctelecast, like football players who study game films? AMC Theaters will show the five movies nominated for best picture, back-to-back, for $30, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb 24. The lineup: "Babel," "The Queen," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine." That's 10½ hours of film, 15-minute breaks between each movie and a longer dinner break. Participating local theaters are: River East 21, 322 E. Illinois; Randhurst 16 in Mount Prospect; South Barrington 30; Crestwood 18; Cantera 30 in Warrenville. Go to amctheatres.com/promos/showcase.
5. Someone in your condition could benefit from the calming, mood-boosting power of music. Instead of sitting in front of a blank screen mindlessly clicking the remote, stimulate the areas of your brain at risk of atrophy due to football withdrawal. There are three events Sunday afternoon during what used to be game time: chamber music at the Art Institute of Chicago at 3 p.m.; an Andre Watts piano recital at Orchestra Hall at 3 p.m., and a free performance by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at the DuSable Museum of African-American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. Football fans may close their eyes during the music to visualize favorite plays from the past season in slow motion, like on "Inside the NFL."
6. The Joffrey Ballet presents "Destiny's Dances" Feb. 14-25 at the Auditorium Theatre. With so many buff guys in stretch pants running, jumping, twisting and leaping around, you may think you're back at Soldier Field. The program features three groundbreaking 20th century ballets: Leonide Massine's "Les Présages," the first ballet set to a complete symphony (Tchaikovsky's Fifth); George Balanchine's "Apollo," a pre-modernist work set to music by Igor Stravinsky about the Greek god, his birth and his muses, and Kurt Jooss' anti-war statement "The Green Table," set to a score by Frederick Cohen. For details, see auditoriumtheatre.org.
7. The musical "The Color Purple," produced by Oprah Winfrey, opens April 17 at Cadillac Palace Theatre. Based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and the film of the same name, the musical version employs gospel, jazz, ragtime and blues to tell this uplifting story of hope, healing, love and family. See broadwayinchicago.com.
8. The 28-20 Bulls don't play any more Sunday home games during the regular season, but the 19-26 Blackhawks play St. Louis at 2 p.m. Feb. 25. You can get a hot dog and a beer, be in the company of athletes wearing helmets and shoulder pads, and loud fans in oversize jerseys. It could be good therapy.
9. First day of spring is March 21, and the forecast calls for a break in the temperature. The mercury will actually creep into the upper teens -- even the 20s! -- Wednesday or Thursday, said Tim Halbach, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Romeoville. "I guess you don't want to hear that there are no above-freezing temps in the near future," he rightly guessed, "but one thing you could say is the days are getting longer. And we're past the normal coldest part of the season. Typically that's in January -- the first week through the middle of the month. And it's been colder in the past. In 1979 it was minus 17. I guess you don't want to tell anyone it could snow today. Unless they were going on a vacation ..."
10. College basketball. Let the countdown to March Madness begin.
