First things first:

It's been a long time. A really, really, really long time. And for that, dear readers, I am truly sorry. It hasn't been the easiest time for me since we last parted ways, but I am happy to report that things are looking up. With degree in hand and currently on the hunt for that thing we call a future, I'm back at the keyboard. My New Year's resolution is to get back to these columns and provide you more insight and commentary like I used to. After all, without you, I probably wouldn't be here.

Let's get started, shall we?

I've never been a big believer in New Year's resolutions, mostly because I'm making resolutions to do things the entire year. So, I don't get why we all wait until the beginning and then don't end up keeping them anyway. This year is different, however, because of all the things going on in my life. It made me think that sports might be better off if we had some sports resolutions. So, for your approval, I offer a few possibilities.

1. For all sports announcers everywhere... Stop talking over plays, whether your sentence is done or not.

This has become one of my pet peeves of recent, especially when it comes to the NFL. I understand that a commentator's job is to comment. But when you're talking about something that doesn't have much to do with anything, and then there's an actual play going on, that's what bugs me. You're supposed to be talking about the game. I'm here to care about the game, not about what you think about some other player on some other team that isn't even playing. If I wanted to know that, I'd watch one of the discussion shows or read your column or buy your book. There's a very finite amount of time between plays in sports and it's not time to deliver an Ibsen monologue.

This is closely related to another annoyance of mine, which is the ESPN 'picture-in-picture' SportsCenter updates on the half hour during live sporting events. Heaven knows I like my breaking sports news as much as anyone else; I check ESPNEWS every morning. My annoyance with it is that it shoves the game into a small box on one side of the screen, while taking up most of it for the breaking news that most of us probably already know, and we have to listen to Rece Davis talking about hockey, while we're trying to watch the football game. In my humble opinion, the focus should still be on the football game. If I can't see the play going on because Roger Clemens is taking up half my screen, I'm going to be annoyed, especially if I can't be told what's happening because we're talking about steroids.

2. You are not bigger than the event you are at, or in the case of the media, covering.

Let's get one thing straight: sports is about the game. We're there to watch a sport. Not to watch the fans and not to watch a big, long advertisement for something. If I have to hear a FOX Sports announcer call it the "Tostitos Fiesta Bowl" one more time, I'm going to scream. That sounds like something I ordered at Taco Bell, and the entire night they plugged it as many times as possible. As if the graphic in the corner and the giant one on the field didn't clue me in. I understand that they're probably contractually obligated to do some of these things, but sometimes it just gets ridiculous.

Unfortunately, this goes for the fans as well. I get that you love your teams and everything – I can be one of the most loudmouthed fans in the world when I'm in a mood – but no one is here to watch you. Really. I don't need to see you waving your arms like a madman behind the camera thinking you're cool, or seeing how else you can draw attention to yourself. I've only been on a Jumbotron once in 22 years and I'm okay with that. And I don't just mean on TV. I also mean in public. There's yelling at a ref, or an ump, or a player, and then there's just being annoying. I didn't come to a game to watch you flip the double bird to the horror of a bunch of sixth graders. Everyone is here to have fun, but there's a fine line between fun, and the circus.

3. Let's start talking about things when it's relevant to talk about them and not for the entire week before.

Did anyone else get sick of all the New England Patriots coverage, week in and week out? How about the lead-up to Ohio State and Michigan? I'll admit that I did. If a game's on a Saturday or Sunday, I don't need to hear about it every single day from Monday to Friday. This is not to take away from either of those two things, which are significant to their fan bases and regarded as important events. But there is such a thing as over-saturation. Especially when you're taking away from other games and other teams to talk about it. I remember in the lead-up to Ohio State and Michigan, that was all the college football analysts were talking about. I was more concerned with my University of Florida Gators. To say nothing of all the other college football teams that I'm sure have fans who wanted to hear about them, too.

Big events are cool to have happen. Yet I think it's important to remember that they're not all that's out there. Every sports team has fans and every set of fans wants to hear about their team, too. And besides? Talking about something for a whole week really sucks the fun out of it.

4. Be more positive.

I know especially in the last year, this isn't an easy one to do. Between Michael Vick and Spy Gate, steroids and the unfortunate loss of life, it's been a rough year in sports. Yet people wonder why everyone perceives the media as being so negative, and it might be because these are all the things that get paid attention to. There are a lot of positive stories out there, too, and I don't think it would kill us to devote some time to them as well.

Probably the best story of the year was the recovery of Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett. I was honestly moved by this story, and I am glad that it got the coverage that it deserved. There are other people who are good athletes and good people who could also get coverage, too. For an example (although I'm biased), it was great to see a piece on LaDanian Tomlinson on "60 Minutes." L.T. is a class act. I'm sure we can name plenty of them in all sports. Kevin Garnett is one who's finally getting the success he's been looking for with the Boston Celtics. Why don't we stop caring if Reggie Bush is engaged and start focusing on the positive?

There are always little things that can probably be fixed when it comes to sports. I'm sure we all have our little gripes. These are just a few of my personal suggestions. Regardless, it's another year in sports which will still be filled with the same excitement, energy and emotion that makes us all sports fans. That's what's great about it, isn't it?

Until next time.