MILLIANS: Too much? Not enough?

Published 10:00 am Friday, January 24, 2025

Well, 2024’s over and already I can tell we might have more of the same in 2025.

I mean, some things do change, but there is always room for more. 

For instance, my friends who do the weather reports for WMAZ-Channel 13 told me that Dooly County in deep South Georgia had 9 inches of snow on Tuesday. That’s not to be confused with (Vince) Dooley Field in Athens, which had only a dusting of snow. 

I think they call this weather pattern Upside Down. 

Geez, who knew? Maybe we should have spent the winter in Buffalo, N.Y.

Anyway, here’s my “Too Much” and “Not Enough” report, looking back to 2024 and ahead to 2025. 

TOO MUCH: Kelce Family (and Taylor Swift — guilt by association). There’s Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end who dates Swift. (Are they engaged yet? I don’t know.) And brother Jason Kelce, the retired Philadelphia Eagles center turned TV broadcaster. His wife, Kylie, is up there in the podcasting stratosphere with Joe Rogan. And, of course, there is the proud mom and dad, Donna and Ed Kelce. All of them make so many commercials — Campbell’s Soup, Old El Paso Tacos — I have to turn the channel when one comes on.

NOT ENOUGH: The Manning Brothers. Now, Peyton and Eli have a bunch of TV commercials, too, including Nationwide, Papa John’s and King’s Hawaiian Soft Pretzels. But they long ago hit on the perfect formula: humor. They know how to make fun of themselves and the products they are endorsing.

TOO MUCH: Carson Beck, ex-Georgia quarterback. His Lamborghini. His $3 million NIL contract. How he first said he was going to the NFL before changing his mind and bolting for the University of Miami. But mostly, I’ve had too much of Beck’s girlfriend, Hanna Cavinder. Please go away.

NOT ENOUGH: Gunner Stockton, current Georgia quarterback. He tends to his cows while driving his 1984 Ford truck.

TOO MUCH: Conference expansion. Remember the Atlantic Coast Conference? Now, it’s got members such as California and Stanford, which are located close to the Pacific coast. The Big Ten is even worse, with four teams from the west coast. I’ve always wanted to see that titanic matchup: UCLA vs. Rutgers.

NOT ENOUGH: Common sense in college football. It’s all about chasing a dollar — for players and administrators.

TOO MUCH: Los Angeles Dodgers. The defending world champions have spent another half a billion dollars to win again.

NOT ENOUGH: Atlanta Braves. The Braves’ offseason has been a bust. Max Fried is gone. Charlie Morton is gone. The Braves have basically added table scraps. Good luck!

TOO MUCH: This is hard because there are so many uninformed, sports talking blowhards on TV. Stephen A. Smith, Pat McAfee and Joel Klatt immediately come to mind. 

NOT ENOUGH: Paul Finebaum. He’s there every day, four hours a day, defending life, liberty and the Southeastern Conference. And that has not been an easy task this year. Big Ten Conference fans are constantly nipping at his heels, but Paul’s not giving an inch. 

TOO MUCH: Websites. You can find a website that you agree with all its content, whether it’s politics, sports or whatever. But what good does that do? You already think a certain way, so why not listen to opposing views that might give you something else to think about? My caution: Know where your news is coming from.

NOT ENOUGH: Newspapers. Seven-day-a-week, delivered to your door everyday newspapers with enough heft to cover a big range of news and opinion. I miss those days.

TOO MUCH: Restaurants specializing in chicken fingers. I once called Milledgeville “The Chicken Finger Capital of the World,” and a lot of people agreed with me. We’ve got Zaxby’s, Huey Mcgoo’s, Bojangles, KFC, Chick-fil-A, Shane’s and Pickel Barel. There are many other places that serve chicken fingers

NOT ENOUGH: Cheddar Bay biscuits, which are staples at Red Lobster. We need a good, fresh seafood restaurant – a chain or locally owned.  

So that’s it for today. I hope in 2025 we’ll all know when too much is too much, and not enough is not enough.

Rick Millians, a 1970 Baldwin High graduate, is retired after working at newspapers in Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina. Reach him at rdmilians@aol.com.