Bowl games require a finger bowl, or two

Published 10:22 pm Friday, December 28, 2012

It’s the week from Christmas to New Year’s Day that I find enjoyable during the holiday season.
There are plenty of football games because there are bowl games scattered across the nation. We know No. 1 Notre Dame is playing No. 2 Alabama for the national championship. And what was Duke doing playing in a bowl game the other day? I remember when one could count the number of bowl games on one hand. These days, it appears there are enough bowl games so every college team with six wins gets to travel, play a game and pick up some cash for the athletics department.
Bowl games provide me with opportunities to enjoy one of my favorite activities — snacking. From cheese and crackers to nachos to sausage balls, I indulge myself during bowl season. I love those summer sausages, cheese spreads, smoked ham and beef jerky from places like Swiss Colony. I must have at least one miniature loaf of rye bread with lots of cold cuts that have been sized like those found in those Lunchables some children take to school. I must have several spicy mustards as condiments for those miniature sandwiches.
For a beverage, I prefer a punch made with equal parts ginger ale, Cheerwine and pineapple juice. Since I am watching bowl games when I consume these goodies, I, of course, have a finger bowl out to help keep my fingers clean.  Although, my fingers often get licked instead.
Mike Voss covers the city of Washington for the Washington Daily News.

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

email author More by Mike