My wife and I dearly love Halloween, and we recently discovered it is vastly more enjoyable when it involves the two cutest sock monkeys in the history of the known universe.

Something else we learned: Sock monkeys cannot be trusted with frosted cupcakes, even for a minute. I think a solid 10 square feet of our kitchen took on an orange-and-green hue.

Since the boys obviously couldn't be trusted with Halloween candy either, I took it upon myself to finish off what was left. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole fatherhood thing -- it's all about sacrifice.

Believe it or not, I actually finished a couple of books in the last couple of weeks. Don't tell my wife -- she might start adding to the neverending honey-do list.

Whenever I need a break from the subject matter that usually eats up my severely limited personal time, such as true crime, politics and dirty diapers (a lot of overlap there), I tend to break out a sports book to recalibrate the non-work part of my brain.

This time around, I started with "The Breaks of the Game", the classic David Halberstam chronicle of a post-championship Portland Trail Blazers team that loses Bill Walton.

"Classic" doesn't really do justice to a groundbreaking work that not only follows an NBA team through an ultimately disappointing season with no holds barred, but also explores the overwhelming impact of race relations on the troubled but growing league. I love basketball, and I can't believe I didn't read this book sooner.

After finishing "Breaks", I decided to get really out of character for myself and read "The Last Season: A Team in Search of its Soul" by Phil Jackson. A bit of background: I hate Phil Jackson. I hate the Lakers. I hate most of their players.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Jackson is an engaging writer (although still no less grating and egomaniacal as a coach), and if you have ever had a negative thought toward Kobe Bryant, this book confirms your suspicions. No, his painfully undeserved championship last year doesn't change his fundamental nature, but thanks for asking.

Movie Brief

"The [Darned] United": Yes, it's true that I saw a movie in a theater for the first time in several months, breaking a personal record-long drought in the process (Think Ryan Howard going without a home run for 3.5 seasons, or Kobe Bryant not trashing a teammate behind his back for a full 45 seconds). This film, about manager Brian Clough's disastrous 44-day stint leading English soccer power Leeds United in the 1970s, is superb.

My father, who has less interest in soccer than Barry Switzer did in the NCAA rulebook, raved about it.

Michael Sheen is fantastic as Clough, while Timothy Spall (Wormtail in the Harry Potter films) steals the show as assistant manager Peter Taylor.

Texas whipped Oklahoma State on Saturday, setting up a solid month for Longhorn fans to sit back and try to guess which week will end in a loss due to team apathy.

"You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures."

Charles C. Noble

Jeremy A. Corley is the managing editor of the Anna-Melissa Tribune and the Van Alstyne Leader.