The sun will soon set on my favorite neighborhood bar of the last eight years, better known as the Buena Vista Lounge. The tearing down of my beloved watering hole to make room for a new apartment complex now seems inevitable, and I have begun my own process of healing from the grief. I'm at the point in that process where every time I leave to go home from the Buena, I think, "Screw this place, maaan. I don't need it." But I know that isn't true. More than likely, I'll be back there for every Dollar Beer Monday until they lock the doors one last time. The place has a lot of good memories, a few sad ones, and more than a handful of foggy ones.

This may sound strange, but my favorite memory of the Buena Vista was in February of 2003 when I sat at the bar, did my all my taxes (long form), read On The Razor's Edge (cover to cover), and knocked down about a dozen screwdrivers in a matter of about six hours on a Saturday while keeping track of college basketball scores. That might be the only day in my life when I reached my full potential as a man. I thank the Buena for that brief moment of perfection. No one bothered me and as soon as one glass sat empty, another one, full of rail vodka, orange juice, and ice would appear. I need to live that efficient on daily basis.

Also, I've never vomited there. I can't say that about every bar. But I have my favorite vomiting moment while sitting at the Buena. Once, a guy at the table behind me took one too many shots of tequila, immediately stood up and puked onto the floor. The impressive part was that just as quickly as the man spewed, he darted for the janitor closet, filled the mop bucket up and cleaned up his mess. And like all great endings, ordered himself another round. The drinker did this task with such great efficiency that the only people to see him do it were the bartender and me. Once again, I thank the unique atmosphere of the Buena Vista for that. You make a mess, you clean it up, and you sit back down like nothing ever happened.

Once it's gone, I'll miss those long rectangular windows over looking Lake Superior from the top of the Central Hillside the most. Countless numbers of my columns began as drunken scribblings on bar napkins while sitting next to those windows. Degas had his ballerinas, Hemmingway had his bulls, and I had those windows. Well, that sounds overtly pretentious. Let's say instead that Jessica Simpson had her large print coloring books, and I had my Buena Vista windows (which means "grand view" in Italian, in case your were wondering).

And, for a little while anyway, I still have my Buena Vista Lounge. Part of the healing process for me will be filling the next few installments of Working Blue with stories about my time there; a solitary drinker and his neighborhood bar soon to be torn down. Two weeks from now: A Brief History of the Buena Vista Lounge.

© Mark Lindquist

Someone once said that pro football is the season that never sleeps. The Super Bowl ends and suddenly you have combine workouts, mock drafts, seventy-two straight hours of live draft coverage, mini camps, contract negotiations, Hall of Fame Game; this is all before the end of July. Not to mention the arrests, failed drug tests, motorcycle accidents, gambling accusations, ticket scalping charges, DWI's. And that's just my offseason activities. I love it. Football. 2005 Preview in da' hizzhouse!

AFC East: Look for the end of the Patriots' dynasty but not until the playoffs. Jets and Bills will improve from last year. Miami is a weird team like a weird cousin that you don't want around. The Fins will beat some people.

AFC North: If the Steelers' passing attack doesn't lose games for them; this could be the year. Baltimore: always lurking like a Morgan Park pedophile. Cleveland, Cinci: always suck.

AFC South: The Colts will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs mainly because the rest of this division stinks.

AFC West: This is the toughest division in football. Any of these teams could win the West. Look for the Chargers to stay on top with their running game.

NFC East: Philly remains on top despite T.O. controversy. T.O. will be back and give them the edge over Cowboys and Giants.

NFC North: On paper the Vikes should win big games. However, Mike Tice still is your coach and special teams continue to be an issue. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Look for Detroit to get possible wild card. Bears and Pack can go play with each other in the cold. The light is fading for Number Four.

NFC South: It's Michael Vick's planet, but Atlanta needs some lucky bounces to overtake Philly. Panthers will act as a spoiler and Wild Card.

NFC West: All four of these teams look like one big question mark. My one crazy pick, for no real reason at all, is Arizona sneaks into first place. I miss Denny Green's kookiness. Like taking acid at a keg party, St. Louis and Seattle just don't excite me anymore. I'm actually hoping to see a few Niner games this season because this could be the year that a team goes 0 and 16.

Super Bowl: The AFC has four teams (Pats, Steelers, Colts, Chargers) that could all get hot and win out. But I think Payton Manning's sheer will-power gets the Colts to the Big Show. I also think that Philly will use T.O.'s contract bullshit to keep them hungry. Same pick I made last year: Philly 34, Colts 31.

© Mark Lindquist