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I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard the question: "Who's gonna win?"

You hear it during Super Bowl week, maybe leading up to the World Series, or, back when boxing mattered, in the days leading up to a title fight.

This past week, that question has been targeted on the national championship game between Florida and Oklahoma.

"Who ya like?"

"Whaddaya think?"

I guess it's a natural reaction when you run into a guy whose job -- in theory -- involves having an idea of who's going to win a certain game.

My favorite natural reaction involves the weather. How many times have you witnessed a sudden downpour and heard some variation of the following phrase: "Well, we sure could use it."

I always feel like saying, "Geez, I just poured a concrete porch; I sure can't use it."

Honestly, except in the worst of monsoon seasons, have you ever come in out of rainstorm and not heard someone mention how much we needed it? Well, the past week, I don't think I've run into anyone who didn't want to know who's gonna win the Gators-Sooners game. As if anyone really knows. At least with rain, you have Ol' Man Doppler for guidance. Who's gonna help us with the football game -- Lee Corso?

So, unless you're totally out of conversational ideas, move on to another topic.

And, by the way, Florida by about 12.

Up until a few years ago, I would never read one of my columns once it appeared in the paper. I'd give it a quick once-over after it was written, but once it was transmitted in the general direction of the editors, I never saw it again.

I used to consider that a humble trait, given that I didn't like looking at my "finished product" once it landed in the driveway. Then I realized that while it might hint at some sort of humility, it was also stupid. When you read your final product, you almost always learn something. For instance, a sentence that made perfect sense when written, might be quite awkward upon reading. So next time, you presumably remember that and word things differently.

Then there are facts. Or the omission of them, on occasion.