I’ll admit it, I did not watch the Super Bowl; didn’t care, had no interest, and instead went to watch the Ruth Bader-Ginsburg movie, On The Basis of Sex, which was very good and worth the three hours I dedicated to it (This, sadly, includes us going to the wrong theater and then racing to the right one!).
This is important because prior to last year-I didn’t watch then either for the same reasons I didn’t watch this year-I had religiously watched every Super Bowl from the time I remember, as a child, sitting with my grandfather as the Kansas City Chiefs upset the Minnesota Vikings in SBIV, missing in that time only 2, in the early 80’s, because I was underwater on a submarine while serving in the Navy.
Some of this is Patriots fatigue, a thing most everyone outside of New England is subject to. Throw in what turned out to be a lethargic low scoring snoozefest, that included a boring halftime show, and my decision was commendable.
Still, it nags at me because I want football to succeed and lately it just stinks; I’m going to say it again, it stinks. Between the inability to tackle, to the idiotic penalties, and the incessant need to knock each other into CTE hell, nevermind the perverse lack of competitiveness in the AFC East that allows New England to continually win the division and first round byes, it’s unwatchable. If it weren’t for NFL Redzone, I probably wouldn’t watch during the season due to the games becoming endless, listless, and largely pointless considering the Patriots are always in the championship game!
Of course, there are good Americans who have no interest in the NFL and enjoy a pleasant Sunday afternoon doing other things, but that’s because a billionaire bastard didn’t sell their basketball team to a carpetbagger from Oklahoma (deep cleansing breath, deep cleansing breath).
On the plus side, as I was whining about this to my wife between the endless trailers at the movies-this actually allowed us to see the entire movie even though we were 15 minutes late, I kid you not-she did note that I still love baseball and apple pie, which is true. I’m not happy the Mariners have already gutted their roster prior to Spring Training, but… you know.
And as this is a whine about football, I won’t interject politics because that’s already been interjected into football. Thank you, Mr. President.
Fortunately, I have the past to wallow in and can decamp to a land where all is good and people can tackle and I can fast forward through the boring parts.
God bless technology and America.
©2019 David William Pearce
David William Pearce, Writer 