RECORD: 1-0

For the first time since I joined it in 2013, I won my fantasy football league. With the trophy came a pretty nice chunk of change, and I wound up buying a new piece of furniture for my living room. Christened as “the couch Saquon Barkley built,” it should be arriving at my Northern California residence next weekend.

That I’m truly excited about all of this scares the bejesus out of me. Nobody ever warns you about the true perils of getting old. It’s not the physical infirmities or the mind tending to wander just a bit more. It’s feeling giddy over buying things in such a way that the 21-year-old version of yourself would scream bloody murder if he/she suddenly materialized.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULT: As a Michigan fan, it sickened me to bet against the Wolverines in the Citrus Bowl. However, Alabama proved to be too much and the Crimson Tide easily covered as 8.5-point favorites, which means I got off to a good start.

THURSDAY’S PLAY: I’ll stick with college football and focus on the Birmingham Bowl. Cincinnati’s only problem this year was an inability to beat Memphis, a good team that put up a fight against Penn State earlier this bowl season. Meanwhile, Boston College fired its coach after a 6-6 season, one where the Eagles went 3-5 in the team’s last eight games. I think Cincinnati wins comfortably, and I’ll take the Bearcats giving 7.5 points.