The leaves are changing, there’s a nip in the air, and the Blues are getting almost 20% of the sports coverage in town. That’s when you know winter is coming my friend. But it’s not winter that we should all be dreading. One of the absolute worst days of the year is about to happen next Sunday (11/4), when we are forced to update our microwave clocks by moving them back an hour. This practice, which was probably invented by those losers from that rival school/country/religion/sexual orientation that you hate so much, really just makes life a lot less exciting.

I know with winter on the way that it’s going to get colder and the days are going to get shorter. The sun won’t be gracing us with its presence nearly as often. It’s finna snow like the LA club scene. But the real culprit of misfortune in my opinion is the fact that we have to change our clocks around so that stupid American drivers can have sunlight on the way to work, and whatever other reasons you need sunlight at 6:30 am and not 6 pm. It’s ludicrous!

For anyone with one of them jibs, even those with cool ones, you aren’t going to be getting off of work until at least 5 pm. Guess what time the sun goes down starting next week? About 5 pm. Sweet isn’t it. Pretty hard to go get a run in or feel like your life isn’t a state of perpetual darkness when every hour of sunlight is spent at work. Like I said, I’m not picking on winter, and I’m not picking on work. I’m looking at you old CDT. You are the bane of our existence.

Because even if you are a cold weather hater there are still things about the winter season that are welcome in our lives. Someone cue Jock Jams Vol. 1:

Sporting Scene: Me, I’m most excited about hockey being in full swing. Les Blues are skating well and the NHL Center Ice package finds me in front of a TV during the night hours (after I run on a god damn treadmill - thanks CDT). Attending hockey games is a nice pastime too. There are other sports of course . . . if you aren’t some hippie, left-wing, canuck loving fruity boy like me you probably are glad about the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl taking place in winter. That’s a man’s sport. Give me some fusion bag of Doritos and tell the wife and kids to shut up, this the man’s time. Sunday bitch. But yea, the NFL, a lot of It’s in winter. College basketball is tight too, and that has most of its season in winter. The MU vs Illini game is always a fav of mine.

Skiing, Snowboarding: Fun fun fun. Heading up to the mountains is one of the best activities a man can undertake. Gliding down a mountain is like owning a suburban house - it makes you feel free, like you’re on top of the world. The culture around snow sports is a nice one as well. It’s a lot like surfing, but more open to outsiders.

Bash for the Stache: December 23rd. Grow a mustache. Party.

Jesus’ Birthday: Parties with the fam, parties with the work. Only in winter.

Hoodies, Jackets, Sleeping Pants: The style of winter is a lot more fun than the summer. One can accessorize with jackets and sweaters, hats and gloves, and sport a wider variety of shoes. This I like. Hoodies are probably the best clothing item in the world today (close 2nd - thong), and they make me wish it was winter all year. Sleeping pants are pretty nice to throw on as well. In summer, it’s too damn hot to be lounging the house in plaid cotton pants. Not now baby.

Hot Liquids: Hot chocolate, coffee and tea taste better when it’s cold outside. When my friend Jay is feeling down about it being dark at 5:04 pm, I just grab him a chai tea latte and tell him, “Drink this man. Do you want me to reinact the final out in ‘82? It’s going to be okay.”

Appreciation: Winter also teaches us all to appreciate a lot of different things about nature and life. There is change. There are times when it’s cold and barren, but new life is waiting to spring free in April. Nature is powerful and we can’t do anything about it. Without all the great things about the Spring and Summer being held back from us for a few months, they just wouldn’t seem as enjoyable. At least that’s a popular rationalization, and I can dig.

- Other mentionables: Sledding, Skating at Steinberg, Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve with Ryan Seacrest (does he host it yet?), MLK day, Las Vegas PubCon, cold walks in Champaign, and making snow angels.

With all that excitement you can’t blame the winter blues on winter itself. Blame the dick that invented daylight savings time, because without him, you’d have at least an extra hour to enjoy all those things above in the light of day.

Time to go dig the hoodies out of storage and smile. Nooks.