There are many things on many people’s minds that have been there for a long time, but some more recent since the beginning of the new year of 2025. On January 1st, shortly after many had rung in the new year, another senseless act of violent destruction, and loss of life occurred with the tragedy that resulted in 14 deaths in the City of New Orleans. Shortly after that tragedy, on January 29th, a Military Black Hawk Helicopter and a passenger jet collided over the Potomac River in our Nation’s Capital, taking the lives of 67 people, and that was followed two days later by a medical jet that crashed in the Castor Gardens neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., taking the lives of seven people and injuring 24 others.

These incidents, and the worries of many people nationwide who may possibly soon face unemployment in the near future, and the possibility of our educational system going through a major change affecting many children’s lives, have put a strain on many, many people’s minds, all of this happening in just a six-week period of time.

During times like these, people need something to shine any kind of light over their sad and dark times, or any kind of activity that might allow them to escape the worry and sadness for just a short time, to just catch their breath for a bit. In many instances, people turn to music, often in the solitude of their earbuds listening to Spotify, Sirius XM, YouTube Music, and/or more, or they may attend a concert locally, or at a nearby city’s theater. They may also visit those theaters to take in a stage play or musical, or they may turn to gymnasiums, arenas, and/or stadiums to enjoy their favorite sports, on a variety of levels.

One such sporting event was recently held which, ironically, had connections to the three of the tragedies which occurred in the first month of the new year. As the end of the Regular NFL Season was approaching during the first week of the new year, and the beginning of their Post-Season was lining up, starting, and it continued throughout the month of January and into the beginning of February, culminating in the recent Super Bowl. The National Football Conference Championship, played to earn the right to play in the Super Bowl, took place on January 26th and was played by the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles, (the two cities where tragic air accidents occurred). In the time of sadness and tears involving those two cities and their residents, people may have been able to find respite and a little short-term mind resting in cheering for their favorite NFL teams vying for the Championship of the NFL. As anyone interested already knows, the Philadelphia Eagles were victorious and did, not only make the Super Bowl, they won the Lombardi Trophy and claimed the Championship of the NFL’s 59th Super Bowl. Where was the big game played? It was played in the Superdome, located in New Orleans, the city where the January 1st terrorist act occurred. Though those three cities will mourn for a long time, hopefully some (hopefully a lot) of the people close to those tragedies could feel a little of the weight put on them by those occurrences, lifted from their minds and hearts for a little while.

There was/is another group who got to feel a little better from this cold winter and the cabin fever feeling many of us have felt since the beginning of Christmas week until now, and though many in this group have felt , and continue to feel sorrow and compassion for those closer to those tragedies, this group is experiencing enormous feelings of pride and elation for another local who not only reached the Big Show in Sports, he can now join the ranks of Champion, along with our area’s Hugh Bedient, Jim McKusker, David Hinson, Marv Hubbard, Don Reinhoudt, and Jenn Suhr. We send all our pride and congratulations to Coach Nick Sirianni, of the Philadelphia Eagles, for leading his team to the NFL Super Bowl LIX Championship, last Sunday. Many of us who have lived here for a long time, have spoken of, and heard, the name Sirianni in many sports discussions, not just referring to Nick, but his brothers, Mike and Jay, and their successes, his father, Fran, and his successes, and the amazing woman behind the Sirianni men, Nick’s mother, Amy, as well. Many of us have tracked Nick’s journey since he began his NFL coaching career as the offensive quality control coach of, ironically, the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009, and many of us were smiling, and grateful, for Nick and his accomplishments on February 9, 2025. Congratulations to Nick Sirianni, his family, his players, and his coaches for sending a little (a lot!) of sunshine our way to warm us up a little bit, in these cold days of our lives this winter.