All right, I can tell on myself. This column and the ones our reporters periodically provide for this page are due on the Friday before the next Wednesday’s paper. Typically, a 5 p.m. Friday deadline, though I have been known to let people email them to me on a Saturday as long as I know it’s coming and can still get it proofread in time for the page to be built. But it has been an extremely busy time for me so I gave myself a break and put the deadline off until – yikes! – Monday. Besides, I AM the proofreader so that is one less step that is necessary.

I gave myself the extension because the Super Bowl was on Sunday, it was a hectic Friday and Saturday leading up to it and somehow, there just wasn’t time for me to get it written. So here we are, Monday morning as I write this, doing a ‘last minute’ column.

For the first time since I can remember, this year’s Super Bowl was something I didn’t even need to watch. It was more fun to pay attention to the commercials and enjoy the halftime Bruno Mars performance, not to mention the ‘spread’ at a friend’s house for the festivities. Truth be told, I was rooting for Peyton Manning and the Broncos – not for that Seattle team that defeated my 49ers.

Oh well, life doesn’t always work out the way you plan but it’s almost like somebody forgot to tell Denver that this was the real deal because I think they left their game behind in Colorado. They certainly didn’t bring it to NY.

But we are done with that. Seattle gets the Lombardi, congratulations to them and all, now let’s move on.

Hoping to get some time to watch the Olympics and praying all the athletes and spectators will be kept safe. I love the hockey, get caught up in the ice skating and marvel at the ski jumping – some folks also tune in for the Opening Ceremonies but for me it will probably conflict with some sporting event I have to cover.

Speaking of sports, it has been a flurry of a winter season, as circumstances have required me to fill in writing some Oakdale and Riverbank sports stories in addition to my own Escalon material. Which has been tricky; trying to keep the Cougars and Bruins in the TVL, the Mustangs in the VOL and making sure I don’t put the wrong mascot with the wrong team. If that has happened, please accept this apology and I will try not to let it happen again. Coaches have all been understanding and very cooperative; and our goal is the same, making sure the kids and their accomplishments on the basketball court and wrestling mats get duly noted.

So with the hectic pace, I might not get to sit too much for the 2014 Games, although now that my television watching habits have caught up to this century, I could actually tape it (technically, DVR it) and save it for later. That’s something I am still getting used to, being able to push the ‘stop’ button to pause the TV show to answer the phone or the door; rewind it if I miss something (or just want to see the San Jose Sharks score the same goal multiple times) or skim through a recording to get to the good part. It’s all very new but quickly grows on you. I even thought in my head the other day, when the Sharks were on the radio, that I could ‘rewind’ it to listen to a play over again … no such luck with that medium, but maybe someday that will come too.

Makes me think back to my days growing up, before they brought cable out to the country (I know, sounds like the Dark Ages) and we only got two or three channels with our big antenna attached to the side of the house. Two was the norm; we could pull in a third channel if the weather conditions were just right. At that time for us, there was also really only the ‘big three’ networks of NBC, ABC and CBS. Most of the shows we watched were on NBC, because that came in the best. ABC had pretty decent reception, while CBS was the ‘good weather’ channel, our on again/off again station. So you watched what there was available and if nothing interested you, there was always a book to read, a puzzle to do, a game to play or a bike ride to take. We made due.

Now my parents have satellite and could watch a new station every day for a year if they wanted. Of course, they have their favorite two or three channels locked in … guess some things never change.

Marg Jackson is editor of The Escalon Times, The Oakdale Leader and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.