IF SNOWBIRDS ARE IN SEASON, WHY CAN'T WE SHOOT 'EM?

I'd like to take credit for that line, but I have to defer to the AZ Republic edition 1/19/08. I thought it humorous, keeping in mind we do reside in the Old West.

While traffic maybe snarled a little more, while lines at grocery stores, restaurants, and movies may be longer, we love the birds. Even if they take some prime tee times and cause the price for a round of golf to escalate. We like them because they help our economy greatly.

This weekend, not one but two huge car auctions have come to Scottsdale. Big auctions where some cars will sell for over $1 million. In two weeks the Phoenix area will host a football game. Tickets are estimated as being available at $5,000 per ticket. For one football game. Throw in a golf tourney the same weekend, and estimates rise to an additional 1 million visitors that week alone.

During that same time, the PGA will appear in a the most raucous golf tournament in the world. Born the Phoenix Open, it now is called the FBR for some bank, I think. But it's great theatre, especially at the 16th hole. Crowds for the week should near the 500,000 mark counting practice rounds and pro-ams. Last year's Saturday crowd surpassed 180,000 if I'm not mistaken.

Our plan: purchase a couple of $15 tickets for Sunday. By the time we arrive after church and traffic, many are heading to Super Bowl parties. We'll nestle in at number 14 or so and follow the last group till the end of the tourney. Last year we had a front row view of the winning putt on number 18, went home to arrive late first quarter for the Super Bowl. That's our plan again this year. Now that I've defeated the Super Bowl/FBR flu that I got for three years in a row during that weekend.

But I can't blame that on the snowbirds. Or can I? It could have been a cold germ(pun) from the great north. A flu bug carried southerly by a Packer fan who actually likes to shovel snow, but was dragged here by a cold blooded wife.

So I amend my premise. Snowbirds are welcomed here in AZ, but only if they're healthy.