It's time for some man holidays,

and the time after Valentine's Day would be it. Whereby the weeks leading

up to Feb. 14 rest solidly at the top of the romance almanac, the days

after are reserved for half-priced candy, battered, passed-over love cards

and glaring, languid looks from wives and girlfriends towards their men

who simply "forgot." So let's just make Feb. 15 into a man's

holiday for the men who weren't romantic enough.

I tend to believe Ernest Lawrence

Thayer wrote "Casey at the Bat" on Feb. 15. And the story isn't

about baseball at all; consider the last stanza ...

"Oh, somewhere in this

favoured land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere,

and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere

children shout, But there is no joy in Mudville mighty Casey has struck

out."

Forget baseball, Casey forgot

Valentine's Day.

If I were to approach the National

Council of Holiday Pickers with a recommended new day of observance, none

would be better suited than Feb. 15, and I would call it "Never Too

Late Day."

This day would be used to inspire

and lift countless men to carry on, to rise from their considerable flaws

and failures, to overcome burned dinners, scorched dress shirts and dental

floss that suddenly, suspiciously tastes like underarm deodorant.

When is "Too Late"

anyway? Is there ever a way back? Is "Too Late" always a finality?

Like Death, or the cancelation of any sitcom staring a former Seinfeld

star? Can we put that olive back in the jar? And is the only answer always

begging, pleading and groveling?

In regards to a missed Valentine's

Day I admonish men to take an active path. On Feb. 15, bring home some

of that great, discounted Eckerd chocolate, and do it with a smile. When

your wife or girlfriend is non-receptive and says you are too late, simply

remind her, you are actually early 364 days early for next year's Valentine's

Day.

And tell her, if she had such

a great memory, she would recall that you gave her this year's Valentine's

present 364 days early last year, too.

We have all heard the motivational

stories, how it is never too late. Colonel Sanders founded Kentucky Fried

Chicken after age 65. Sam Walton financed his house at the age of 43 to

start the first Wal-Mart. "Chicken Soup for the Soul" was rejected

wore a size 5. The list goes on and on.

Yet, can a man come back from

missing Valentine's Day? Can we, the male species, reap forgiveness from

such a travesty? I can only offer a simple nursery rhyme:

"All the kings horses

and all the kings men, couldn't put Humpty