TWO landmark events have occurred over the past couple of weeks.
1: I tore up the dancefloor at the Bears Christmas party, and 2: An act we will struggle to remember a year from now has won the X Factor.
The festive shindig was, as ever, a lively affair. And even though in hindsight I may have been more Moobs Like Jabba than Moves Like Jagger, there were definitely some mean shapes being thrown.
X-Factor meanwhile once again almost sent Twitter and Facebook into meltdown as the affronted British public claimed it was clearly a fix and that Amelia Lily/Marcus/Johnny* (* insert your favourite’s name here) was undoubtedly the most worthy winner and that Simon Cowell was sitting in a Dr Evil-style control centre gerrymandering the votes.
But both events have now passed and that, for me, is momentous occasion.
Like the waft of exotic scents that fill your nostrils as you approach your favourite Indian restaurant on a Friday night, it’s a tantalising indication that something good lays ahead.
Because once the post-Christmas do has been ushered away by a couple of Ibuprofen and day in front of the telly, and the annual battle to get anything other than the X Factor winners’ song to No 1 in the pop charts is underway, an invisible corner has been turned.
For some it may be known as Christmas time, the season to be merry, the festive period or winter holiday.
But for me these two watershed events trigger a time known as Not Long Now ‘Til The Speedway Starts.
Yes it’s only December but, hey, we’ve only got until March to wait! Two lo-o-o-o-o-ng methanol-free months have already passed.
We’ve had time to recharge our batteries and we’ve finally got around to doing the jobs around the house that have been put off due to ‘Glasgow away’ or ‘Cardiff weekend’.
We’ve got over the disappointment of not winning the league (or even getting close) and we’ve realised there isn’t really all that much good telly to watch.
It’s true, isn’t it? We’re missing our speedway. We’ve already gone two months without it and the ceremonial passing of the Christmas do and the X Factor final has triggered a Pavlovian switch that automatically brings the start of next season into focus.
Some teams are complete and ours ain’t far off.
The next piece of the Bears’ 2012 jigsaw will be slotted into place at the next winter social on Friday (be there or be square).
It’s the last official Bears fans get-together of the year and the topic of conversation sure as hell won’t be about what we’re getting for Christmas.
We’ll all be talking about the season ahead and how well we’ll do. Bring it on!
inthepitsspeedway 