Don't be pedantic when telling someone what pedantic means

One of the advantages of being my age is getting to sit up and watch college football games that last until almost one in the yawning.

The other is seeing some of life's eternal truths coming true, and therefore I can share some wisdom that must have fallen into my brain when I bent over to pick up a string bean or something.

Here is a truth that comes true time after time, and the sooner young people learn it, the better they are.  

Be prepared for the next step up, because you never know when the chance will come to take that step.

Viewers of the "Sunday Today" show on NBC saw an interesting turn this past week: Unctuous host Willie Geist showed up at the beginning of the show, but said he had a cold and sore throat and "no one wants to hear this voice for an hour."  So he called NBC Correspondent Morgan Radford, who apparently lives near 30 Rock, and asked her to get down to the studio and pinch hit.  She did, and she filled in just perfectly! If you look at her wiki page, you see that she is studded with degrees like cloves on a ham, as Max Shulman once said, and so she is smart and capable  - and she was ready when the time came to step up.  

She might not turn out to be the next "Today" host, and Geist might not be this year's Wally Pipp, but it cannot hurt her professionally to have been seen doing so well at sitting in on the anchor desk - and so good for her!

The same can be said for someone who got their chance to fly the next day. Monday evening brought Tua Tagovailoa, the second string Alabama quarterback, the chance to step up when starter Jalen Hurts couldn't get his team moving in the championship game. Ask anyone how that turned out! (Hint: that is he holding the championship trophy after the game.)

Another piece of wisdom is:

Be a mature team player, even when things don't go your way.

Because, you might ask, what of Hurts, the sophomore star quarterback who led the Crimson Tide to a 12-1 record this season? How did he react to being told at halftime that he was being taken out of the game in favor of Tagovailoa? Did he pout, throw a clipboard or a fit, refuse to leave the locker room?

He did not. He was on the sideline cheering, encouraging, exhorting his backup to go out and win the game, and when the game was won, Hurts was the first guy out there for a hug 'n' shake.

That sort of thing gets noticed too.