77. torn.

Earlier today, we talked about how I’m planning on starting New Year’s Day. What I’m having some trouble with is what happens later.

The last two years, we’ve come home from the post-swim mean and parked on the couch. There is food, sure, but the big deal? January 1 is college football’s holy day and I like to make sure I don’t miss a thing.

The NHL threw me  curve ball a few years ago, when it started the Winter Classic games. The year the Penguins played in Buffalo, I watched the game, even though missing the bowl games that were on at the same time made me a little twitchy. I’ve watched bits and pieces of subsequent Classics, but if I’m being honest, I’ve paid more attention to the football. Last year, that plan served me well; watching Penn State’s mud bowl win against LSU, the insane game between Auburn and Northwestern — and yeah, that Rose Bowl game was pretty important to me as well.

In 2011, of course, I have another Penguins game to contend with. There’s no conflict with Ohio State, fortunately — the Sugar Bowl against Hooo Pig Soooey isn’t until Jan. 4. But I’m already getting pretty pumped about the Pens and Caps.

And that’s kind of a problem.

I have strict rules about this stuff. I don’t allow a whole lot of distractions during football season, which runs from early August — when Ohio State’s camp begins — through the bowl game. I’m not a raving, superstitious lunatic, but I don’t like mixing mojo when it comes to sports — I think it tends to dilute whatever I have to offer, to either team.

But I can’t help it. I’ve been watching the first episode of the HBO 24/7 series over and over and over. I find myself reaching for Pens gear when I’m getting dressed on weekends or when I get home from work. I’ve been looking at those Winter Classic jerseys and thinking that I might need one of those.

For me, this is wrong. For me, hockey season starts the minute the final gun sounds at the Buckeyes’ bowl game — and not before. I’m a mess already, and it’s probably likely that I’m going to be a babbling wreck by the time the game rolls around.

Which game? AAAUUUUGGHHH!