Not so Super Bowl
30/01/19 04:22
One of the advantages to being an elder is that I get to tell “I remember when” stories. “I remember when” stories have been my stock and trade the last couple of days as a cold wave has swept over the midwest. Sure, it’s cold, but I remember when Reeder, North Dakota was the coldest location in the nation on Christmas Eve with -34. Sure, it’s cold outside, but not -40. I can remember -40 when I was a kid, before they started reporting wind chill. I remember when it was so cold that running the furnace full bore for 18 hours wouldn’t get the church above 56 degrees. It’s a wonder we didn’t freeze the pipes. I remember when I had to climb up on the roof and break he ice out of the sewer vent at -25. Live long enough and you’ll collect a few “I remember when” stories.
So, I remember when baseball was America’s pastime. The game that isn’t played against a clock, that can last into the wee hours of the morning, that can go inning after inning was our national sport. I remember sneaking radios into the school to listen to the World Series when every game was a day game and the grand stadiums like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field didn’t have lights. I remember when the series was the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Yankees and if there was a Yankee fan in our little town, I had no idea who that was. We listened to the end of the winning game in my dad’s ’53 dodge because the reception was better on the hill than it was at our house.
Then there is football. I remember when the Super Bowl was a big deal. We’d pay attention to the playoff games and choose our teams. The kids in our church today are amazed that I can remember the first Super Bowl. For a dozen years or so, I would write little commentaries for game day with a few biblical references and a lay member of our congregation would read them to the congregation at the beginning of worship on Super Bowl Sunday. In those days the Souper Bowl of Caring was a bigger fund raiser than these days. The youth used to haul the donated canned goods to Church Response in a pickup truck.
It doesn’t seem the same these days.
I have to admit that I don’t care who wins this year. The new England Patriots used to be interesting before they had been to so many Super Bowls that it seems like it is a requirement of the sport these days, even if it requires them to cheat by adjusting the air in the footballs, or spy on the other team’s plays or just have the dumb luck of incredibly poor officiating which was the reason they beat the Kansas City Chiefs this year.
And speaking of lousy officiating, how could the referees have missed such a glaring case of pass interference in the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Rams. But then again, no one can remember which city the Rams represent. There are probably people in Los Angeles who are saying, “Oh, do we have a football team? I thought they left us.”
And if you believe that the NFL is serious about preventing head injuries of its players, you probably believe that the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale, that the Grand Canyon is man made and that the President won the most recent standoff with congress.
OK, I didn’t have to bring politics into today’s journal entry, but I suspect that the state of politics in the United States has affected how we feel about sports and a lot of other things. Despite last year’s protests and condemnations of the NFL over players who thought that taking a knee during the singing of the National Anthem was a sign of respect while bringing attention their cause and the fans who boycotted the games because they thought it was a sign of anti-patriotism, we don’t seem to really care about the game in the way that once was the case.
Two years after our Presidential election that was colored by if not corrupted by unfair advantages, undue meddling, disrespected rules, and a host of lies and false claims, we seem to be getting ready for a weekend of football that is colored by if not corrupted by unfair advantages, undue meddling, disrespected rules, and a host of lies and false claims.
Maybe football has become America’s sport. If so, it is a sad day. We used to talk about good and bad luck. Luck was always a factor in all of our sports games. The luck of a home team crowd, the angle of the sunlight, the distance to the center field fence were always factors in the game. The luck of what the referee did and did not see used to be factors before instant replay forced us to examine every call over and over and over again. I know i don’t need to see that helmet to helmet crash again.
I’m not convinced that a bad call in a football game is the cause for a lawsuit. Yes one has been filed claiming New Orleans fans are entitled compensation because they have suffered “mental anguish,” and “loss of the enjoyment of life.” I’m not convinced that it is a reason for a congressional hearing, though one of Louisiana’s senators has called for one.
I know I have no enthusiasm for investing three hours of my Sunday sitting on couch, eating too much unhealthy food and arguing with my friends about whether or not what I saw on the television was what really happened. If I wanted to argue about that is and what is not real, I could always talk to them about politics and the claims of television news programs.
I don’t want to think this way, but it seems that in a post-truth America, we’ve found a post-truth game.
I’ll be meeting with The Well at kickoff time. I’ll probably get home around halftime. I’m pretty sure we can achieve national unity over the cheesy nature of the half time show. After that I think I’ll find a good book to read during the rest of the game.
So, I remember when baseball was America’s pastime. The game that isn’t played against a clock, that can last into the wee hours of the morning, that can go inning after inning was our national sport. I remember sneaking radios into the school to listen to the World Series when every game was a day game and the grand stadiums like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field didn’t have lights. I remember when the series was the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Yankees and if there was a Yankee fan in our little town, I had no idea who that was. We listened to the end of the winning game in my dad’s ’53 dodge because the reception was better on the hill than it was at our house.
Then there is football. I remember when the Super Bowl was a big deal. We’d pay attention to the playoff games and choose our teams. The kids in our church today are amazed that I can remember the first Super Bowl. For a dozen years or so, I would write little commentaries for game day with a few biblical references and a lay member of our congregation would read them to the congregation at the beginning of worship on Super Bowl Sunday. In those days the Souper Bowl of Caring was a bigger fund raiser than these days. The youth used to haul the donated canned goods to Church Response in a pickup truck.
It doesn’t seem the same these days.
I have to admit that I don’t care who wins this year. The new England Patriots used to be interesting before they had been to so many Super Bowls that it seems like it is a requirement of the sport these days, even if it requires them to cheat by adjusting the air in the footballs, or spy on the other team’s plays or just have the dumb luck of incredibly poor officiating which was the reason they beat the Kansas City Chiefs this year.
And speaking of lousy officiating, how could the referees have missed such a glaring case of pass interference in the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Rams. But then again, no one can remember which city the Rams represent. There are probably people in Los Angeles who are saying, “Oh, do we have a football team? I thought they left us.”
And if you believe that the NFL is serious about preventing head injuries of its players, you probably believe that the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale, that the Grand Canyon is man made and that the President won the most recent standoff with congress.
OK, I didn’t have to bring politics into today’s journal entry, but I suspect that the state of politics in the United States has affected how we feel about sports and a lot of other things. Despite last year’s protests and condemnations of the NFL over players who thought that taking a knee during the singing of the National Anthem was a sign of respect while bringing attention their cause and the fans who boycotted the games because they thought it was a sign of anti-patriotism, we don’t seem to really care about the game in the way that once was the case.
Two years after our Presidential election that was colored by if not corrupted by unfair advantages, undue meddling, disrespected rules, and a host of lies and false claims, we seem to be getting ready for a weekend of football that is colored by if not corrupted by unfair advantages, undue meddling, disrespected rules, and a host of lies and false claims.
Maybe football has become America’s sport. If so, it is a sad day. We used to talk about good and bad luck. Luck was always a factor in all of our sports games. The luck of a home team crowd, the angle of the sunlight, the distance to the center field fence were always factors in the game. The luck of what the referee did and did not see used to be factors before instant replay forced us to examine every call over and over and over again. I know i don’t need to see that helmet to helmet crash again.
I’m not convinced that a bad call in a football game is the cause for a lawsuit. Yes one has been filed claiming New Orleans fans are entitled compensation because they have suffered “mental anguish,” and “loss of the enjoyment of life.” I’m not convinced that it is a reason for a congressional hearing, though one of Louisiana’s senators has called for one.
I know I have no enthusiasm for investing three hours of my Sunday sitting on couch, eating too much unhealthy food and arguing with my friends about whether or not what I saw on the television was what really happened. If I wanted to argue about that is and what is not real, I could always talk to them about politics and the claims of television news programs.
I don’t want to think this way, but it seems that in a post-truth America, we’ve found a post-truth game.
I’ll be meeting with The Well at kickoff time. I’ll probably get home around halftime. I’m pretty sure we can achieve national unity over the cheesy nature of the half time show. After that I think I’ll find a good book to read during the rest of the game.