FEBRUARY FOLLIES

THE NEFF ZONE -- BY JIM NEFF

CADILLAC NEWS -- FEBRUARY 8, 2025

February is an odd month. Winter lovers can frolic in the snow. Warm weather lovers can glimpse snippets of spring. There seems to be something for everyone. Making everything even weirder, we turn to rodents for weather predictions. 

 

In this regard, comes news from the Howell Nature Center. “This year, despite the snow, Michigan’s official groundhog predicts an early spring. Woody the Woodchuck began forecasting the weather in 1999 and has since forecasted accurately sixty-five percent of the time.” 

 

Compare that record to another more famous prognosticator. “Punxsutawney Phil, on average, has only gotten his prediction right thirty percent of the time in the past ten years.” (https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2025/02/bye-bye-winter-blues-michigans-official-groundhog-predicts-an-early-spring.html)

 

Other than weather guesses, the big event in February is this Sunday's Super Bowl. According to PredictHQ, 116.8 million viewers will tune in on game day. “Since 2021, PredictHQ has accurately predicted the Super Bowl's viewership with an average accuracy of 97.5 percent.” (https://www.predicthq.com/blog/2025-super-bowl-lix)

 

I went to that interweb thingy and came up with a bold prediction. See, the actual game only lasts sixty minutes. Now add in things like a bloated halftime, commercials, time outs, penalties, play reviews, and a potential overtime. The “game” could last four or five hours. The bottom line? I predict you will need snacks!

 

In this realm, there is good news. “Economists with the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute have pegged the price for a Super Bowl party menu for ten people at around $139 this year, just ten cents more than last year.” 

 

Some menu items will help keep the price down. A review of data from NielsenIQ shows that celery, cauliflower  and broccoli are the best veggies for dipping this year. Salsa and nacho cheese prices are holding steady. On the beverage front, beer and wine have seen only two percent increases.” (https://www.mlive.com/sports/2025/02/the-average-super-bowl-party-costs-139-but-the-guac-might-blow-your-budget.html)

 

As for take-out food, as luck would have it, this Sunday's Super Bowl is on the same date as National Pizza Day. Data tells us that around 12.5 million pizzas will be delivered. The peak time for ordering is one hour before kickoff. (https://www.americanpizzacommunity.com/)

 

If you have bowls of nuts at your party, it might be a perfect time to add a  superfood to the mix. “Walnuts are a nutrient-rich snack. They fight heart disease and ward off cancer. As it turns out, they are a nutritional powerhouse that supports healthy aging more than any other nut.” 

 

Anti aging? “"Walnuts contain multiple components such as fatty acids, fiber and essential vitamins and minerals that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the body. Multiple studies that show walnut consumption can reduce risk of diseases including cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes and improve cognitive function, all "while protecting against age-related cognitive decline." (https://www.delish.com/food-news/a63015074/walnuts-anti-aging-health-benefits/)

 

While you're preparing all those snacks, an odd tip from Yahoo Life may be helpful. Wear shoes when you cook. “There is one time when you may want to consider a supportive, cushioned shoe indoors — and that’s when you’re doing a task that involves a lot of standing around, like cooking. Standing for long periods of time while barefoot can add excessive load to one area of the foot, so slip on some shoes before you whip up that risotto.” (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/sip-elderberry-juice-drink-coffee-100009766.html)

 

In addition to snacks, you'll need some conversation topics to fill the void during lulls in the game. Having some non-football talking points will probably work the best. 

 

When it comes to talking, a new study offers some interesting insights. The study was reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Researchers found that women between the ages of 25 and 65 spoke on average about 3,000 more words per day than their male counterparts.” 

 

Even so, both females and males are talking less these days. “Researchers also found that the average number of words spoken per day appears to have decreased over the years. Between 2005 and 2018, the average number of words spoken per day fell from about 16,000 to about 13,000.” (https://phys.org/news/2025-02-women-words-daily-men-midlife.html)

 

One use of those allotted words could educate the whippersnappers in the group. To wit, what was the precursor of online shopping? An argument can be made that giant catalogs were the equivalent back in the day. When your household received one of these (Sears, JC Penny, Montgomery Ward), it was a big deal. 

 

You could order anything. Skeptical? “A 1902 edition of the Sears catalog advertised dynamite as a tool for removing tree stumps. Sears sold dynamite for as little as thirteen cents a pound — less than five dollars today — along with all of the electric fuses, connecting wires, and blasting machines required for operation.”

 

Who could buy this? “There were no prerequisites for purchasing dynamite.  Sears promised to mail a booklet giving full information to those who are not familiar with handling dynamite.” In fact, dynamite was listed in the sporting good section with products such as baseball uniforms and hammocks. (https://interestingfacts.com/fact/sears-catalog-sold-dynamite/)

 

Finally, skiers in the throng may have hit the slopes prior to the game. They might like to know that their compatriots in Denmark were doing the same, overcoming a unique challenge. “What the country doesn’t have is elevation. In other words, it’s totally flat.” 

 

So how do you ski? On the roof of a power plant. “Located in Copenhagen is the Amager Resource Center, a waste-to-energy plant that provides heat and electricity to tens of thousands of households. And atop the building is CopenHill, an artificial mountain with a nearly 1,500-foot ski slope, four ski lifts, a hiking trail, restaurant, kids area, and more. If that weren’t mind-boggling enough, die-hard adventurers can scale the side of the peak via the world’s highest climbing wall, a towering 278 feet.” (https://nicenews.com/environment/ski-slope-roof-power-plant-denmark-copenhill/) 

 

The kicker is that you don't ski on snow. “The firm stopped short of carting in real snow for the slope, instead using Neveplast, a green plastic surface that provides a somewhat similar feel.” See this at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdw62f0pcbo&t=100s. This is a case of “yahoo” and “yikes” at the same time. 

 

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Read Neff Zone columns online at CadillacNews.com and NeffZone.com/cadillacnews.