Sunday Morning Coffee — January 25, 2026 — Sunday Morning Scramble

By Roy Berger, Las Vegas, NV.

Jan 25, 2026

Good morning. Heading to South Florida tomorrow for a 10-day Southern Caribbean ‘Sea Cruise’ as Frankie Ford called it on his 1959 rock hit with the same name. Traveling with some long-time friends from Birmingham on a highly recommended line, Silversea, which we haven’t tried till now. But before getting around to pulling out the suitcase and watching Sunday football, it’s time to empty the Scramble folder:

First things first. As a Miami alum/fan, if you would have asked any of us before the college football season started if the playoffs came down to the ‘Canes having possession of the football for the last drive of the game to win, we would have jumped at the thought. Then after bad midseason losses to Louisville and SMU, if you would have asked us the same question, we would have told you to pour us a tall one of whatever you were drinking. Bottom line is it did happen but the ‘Canes didn’t get the job done. That by no means mitigates what turned out to be a surprisingly great and exciting season. As I’ve written previously, in lieu of a national championship, would we be satisfied with a season that produced wins over Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Ohio State? The answer would be obvious. Thanks ‘Canes for a great run. Now for Indiana. Just incredible. Miami outplayed them in the second half, but the Hoosiers did everything they needed to do to win. Bravo. The last time such an overwhelming underdog won a championship was 10 years ago when Leicester City, a perennial also-ran, won the English Premier League soccer title. Back then a pundit could have said, ‘“The next wacky thing that’ll happen is Indiana will win the college football championship one day.” Congrats to all Indiana supporters. The last four wins were over Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon and Miami. You left no doubt.

And a final note to the college football season is most experts talked about the decline of the SEC and the rise of the Big Ten on the playing field. Actually, according to the Wall Street Journal, television ratings showed just the opposite. The SEC’s average television audience increased by 49% this season compared to 2024 while the Big Ten dropped 11%. The SEC with one team, Ole Miss in the final four, averaged 4.9 million viewers per game in the regular season while the Big Ten, with two semifinalists Indiana and Oregon, fell to an average of 2.8 million watchers a game.

Is that seat open? Tuesday is a big day in American aviation history. It’s when Southwest Airlines, who since 1971 has been the industry leader in discount fares, peanuts and cattle-car boarding, officially ceases its signature and goes to reserved seating. True, over the last few years Southwest hasn’t really been discount at all since bags no longer fly free, its fares aren’t a value relative to other carriers and its liberal ticket changing policy has gone away. With reserved seating and now also having to pay for premium seats if you don’t have status, Southwest has just become another legacy carrier ala American, Delta and United. Strategy is to induce business travelers who didn’t like the open seating policy. It’ll be interesting to watch how this plays out— if SWA does increase the coveted business share but in the process can retain the bundle of leisure travelers that became its staple.

This would have been tough to get on a Vegas Strip hotel marquee back in the day: Now appearing — Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza. Instead, they just shortened it to Charo.

I’m not sure I understand this but a couple of weeks ago an inmate in the Clark County (Nevada) Detention Center was accused of murdering his cellmate and taken into custody. Wasn’t he already there?

People I’ve never met: a Sacramento Kings basketball fan; a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey fan.

Back in the mid-1960s into the 70s, Muhammad Ali mesmerized the sports world not only with his boxing skills but his uncanny ability to predict what round he would stop his opponents. He also once joked “I should be a postage stamp because that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.” Well, just short of a decade after his death another Ali predication came true when the US Postal Service on January 15th unveiled the new Forever stamp of the champ.

I’m no New England Patriots lover by any means but so much for all the gambling naysayers who cited that the Pats played the easiest NFL regular season schedule in the last 46 years and would be an easy playoff out. Their road to the Super Bowl today goes through Denver where New England is a road favorite with the Broncos playing with their back-up quarterback.

Putting some mustard on that ‘dog: in 1916 Nathan Handwerker and his wife Ida borrowed money, $300 in total from friends including Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante, to open a hot dog stand on Coney Island. They promoted high-quality beef and freshness of their product. Their hot dog wasn’t kosher, not rabbinically blessed, but promoted it with a new, innovative marketing scheme called ‘kosher style.’ They undercut the competition by selling their ‘dogs for a nickel, instead of ten cents that other nearby boardwalk vendors were asking. It worked. Some 110 years later, last Wednesday, Nathan’s was sold to Smithfield Foods for $450 million.

I feel so much better now. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a correction on page two that the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo does not have 602 rooms as it published. Instead, there are only 596. Thank you for that.

Sixty-two years ago this week, in 1964, Bobby Vinton’s There! I Said It Again hit number one on the rock ‘n roll countdown. It was the last number one hit before the British Invasion dominated the weekly charts with The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand securing the top spot.

Speaking of AI, as we did in SMC last week, I had a tax professional tell me that with the IRS being understaffed and underfunded, expect in years to come AI playing a big role in examining tax returns to make sure everything is on the up and up.

The last episode of the second season of Landman on Paramount dropped last weekend. It was as good as advertised. And something I didn’t see coming was watching the first episode of Absentia on Netflix and being captured for all of its three seasons. It’s a psychological thriller starring an unknown to me, Stana Katic, which left me wanting more.

That wine aisle at Costco which looks like it keeps expanding is no mirage. With wine consumption down, and in some areas sharply, blamed on changing tastes, competition from legalized cannabis along with side effects for those taking Ozempic, wineries are now doing something they never envisioned— putting their products on Costco’s and other mass discounters’ shelves to enhance visibility.

Hold on to your hats. A hat trick in hockey is when a player scores three goals in one game. Actually, the term is from cricket when one bowler takes three wickets with three consecutive balls, earning a celebratory hat. The only thing we Americans understand about that is the player gets a hat for doing something we have no idea what it might be. Back to hockey— two weeks ago, Pavel Dorofeyev of the Vegas Golden Knights scored two goals against Toronto and then got the hat trick shortly into the third period. As usual for a home game, hundreds of hats were tossed onto the ice by jubilant fans. Not so fast, however. Because of the delay in clearing the hats off the ice, the Maple Leafs had plenty of time to review the goal before officially challenging it for being offsides. The officials concurred and ruled it ‘no goal.’ Oops. Now dozens of kids in Zambia are walking around with Golden Knights caps. So much for tossing your hat into the ring.

Sorry, we’re full. A week ago Tuesday, Knights rookie Braeden Bowman got a hole-in-one at Southern Highlands golf course. That in itself is probably not SMC worthy of mention. However, when Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy was asked at a press conference the next day if he played with the group he quipped, “No. I asked them but they told me, ‘That’s okay Coach, we already have three.’”

Hockey legend Glenn Hall playing in the pre-face mask days, then in retirement adding a coat of paint to his barn that got me verbally accosted.

One more hockey note. Longtime shinny fans will remember former goalie Glenn Hall who died on January 7 at age 94. Hall played in the NHL for 20 years, from 1951 until 1971, for three teams—Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis. Ten of those years were with the Blackhawks and winning a Stanley Cup in 1961 and the Vezina Trophy three times as the best goaltender in the NHL. He set a record for goalies that will never be broken—he played in 502 consecutive games from 1955-62, never missing one. Today a goalie is stretched to play three in a row. It rarely happens. Hall also played almost his entire career without a mask. He became the original Scarface. But that’s not this story. He also scared the shit out of me back on November 26, 1966, when the Blackhawks came to New York to play the Rangers. Hall hated the pre-season and was late to training camp or failed to report just about every year. Prior to the ‘66 season he stayed home at his farm up in Stony Point, Alberta. He told team brass he was staying home because he had to “paint his barn.” Well, of course he did show up in time for the regular season and when the Blackhawks came to New York that November Saturday afternoon, I was 14 and at the game with my running buddy of the day Phil Mark. Back then the former Madison Square Garden had little security and the visiting team’s locker room was down a corridor that was easily accessible to fans while the team marched to and from the ice. I figured I would be a wise guy. After the first period we hustled down to the Blackhawks locker room entrance and when Hall got there I yelled, “Hey Hall, why don’t you go paint your barn.” I can still see it like it happened fifteen minutes ago. He didn’t miss a beat. He was maskless. He looked me right in the eye and said, “Hey kid, why don’t you go fuck yourself.” Whoa! That shook the acne right off my face. There was some solace as the Rangers won 4-1 but afterwards I got back on the train heading home with a life lesson in tow courtesy of the late Glenn Hall.

And finally, before reporting to our cruise muster station, we’ve all misplaced our cell phone, haven’t we? Well, a 27-year-old Chinese climber had to be rescued from the top of Mount Fuji by a Japanese search and rescue team. Not learning his lesson and leaving well enough alone, the idiot, I mean climber, went back up top four days later looking for his cellphone. He had to be rescued again. I sure hope he had his car keys.

I’m proud that Medjet is sponsoring Sunday Morning Coffee. I spent 20 wonderful years with Medjet in Birmingham, Alabama, and can tell you unequivocally they are the standard-bearer for medical assistance membership programs. A talented staff, who cares about its members, is at the forefront of the company’s success. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, domestic or international, a Medjet membership should be an important part of your travel portfolio before you leave home. Check out the Medjet website at medjet.com or just tap on the Medjet logo and you’ll be able to get a look at Medjet’s services, rules and regulations, pricing, and an overview of the organization. And remember, any opinions expressed in Sunday Morning Coffee content or comments belong to the author and not the sponsor. Safe travels with your Medjet membership! — Roy Berger