Ruts, Ben, and Kenny on the mountain last Friday. The Bagel is out of frame to the left for those of you looking for him.

Ruts, Ben, and Kenny on the mountain last Friday. The Bagel is out of frame to the left for those of you looking for him.

Sunday night was a bittersweet time in the Great Room of the Birch Ridge Inn.

The new widescreen TV was tuned to WCAX, the local CBS affiliate, to watch the late afternoon post season playoff game between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. A small crowd of mostly Patriots fans had gathered for beverages and appetizers. After the initial kick-off and the first set of Jet's downs, it looked like it was going to be a great afternoon to be a Patriots fan. And then...the unthinkable happened.... Tom Brady was intercepted, and the Jets nearly score a touchdown on the return. Tom Brady's feeble attempt to tackle Dave Harris as he ran back the pick was but a harbinger of a good afternoon going quickly bad.

While Patriots fans, myself included, would be disappointed by the results Sunday night, as an innkeeper at a ski resort in New England there is a bright side to the whole situation... Patriot fan skiers and riders can now plan weekend getaways in late January and early February without guilt. They are freed from any responsibilities to rush home from their trips to the mountains for the rest of the football playoff season. The ski resorts of New England should pay a commission to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady for the extra business they will receive from the New England states as a result of the one and done playoff performance (again) by the New England Patriots. So it goes....

Of course I jest, but with great snow at Killington, it does become eerily quiet on Sunday afternoons when a marquee game like the Jets/Patriots is being played. This Sunday was no exception as many visitors to the area either departed early, or hunkered down at one of the many Killington watering holes for a libation and some football.

Because of the Patriots loss, many Killington fans are now faced with an interesting dilemma next weekend.... Watch the Dew Tour from Killington Sunday afternoon on NBC, or see the Jets take on the Steelers on CBS; tough call for someone born and bred from Beantown. It will make for an interesting week of conversation at the bar.

.....Let it snow!