I'm back.

Over the holidays I took a step back, and of course, when you create a space, something always comes along to fill it. In this case, it was Associated Press and a series of assignments to go along with an increasing number of regular projects destined for print.

But more than that, I found myself feeling more and more cynical. It's hard to escape cynicism these days. Just read the headlines. Listen to CNN for five minutes.

For that matter, watch the sports report. The hometown Cougars of Washington State were blindsided two weeks before the Rose Bowl and wound up sleepwalking through their date with Oklahoma. It's tough to play when the coach pops his parachute before the plane ever leaves the ground.

So I've been in a funk lately, with the only thing left to pry my mood out of the mud has been plenty of Division I college basketball.

Now, I'll share a little secret with you. When you cover sports for a living, it tends to lose its escapist capabilities. When you work at something else, you can home, pop the top on a cold beer, grab the bag of chips and watch the game. It has restorative properties.

I mean, if you're an accountant, do you come home and balance the checkbook to relax? No.

In my case, though, I get a chance to see beyond the game and find some interesting angles that you wouldn't normally see.

Over the holidays I worked on a story about a local wrestling team that has six sets of brothers competing. Two more wrestlers have a sister working as team manager. Interestingly enough, all six of the sets of brothers are sons of former wrestlers.

Personally, I never got into wrestling. Having someone suck my face into their stinky armpit and turn my torso into a gigantic pretzel isn't my idea of fun. But as a competition, it's exciting and primal all at the same time. The sport dates back thousands of years B.C., and Olympic champions have been recorded as far back as 708 B.C.

What I found restorative in writing this story is the link these brothers all have in common. They had fathers who were intensely interested in what they do. They show up at all their matches, they talk about what worked and what didn't afterward, and they take a hands-on approach to parenting.

From what I can see, these kids benefit greatly from that kind of attention. Fathers and sons need that physical bonding time together to be healthy and happy and well-adjusted as adults. From what I could see, these kids have a big leg up on the rest of their lives.

Finally. Something to not be cynical about.

More soon.