Well, that was, technically, a football game. I recognize the trappings. New England had no business being there. They ended up with fourteen points but not until Seattle was done. Once the game was secured, Seattle started the celebration. The fact that the “game” hadn’t ended yet wasn’t really relevant.

The Patriots ended up in this Stupor Bowl because of the benefit they gained from an easy schedule. A couple of things fell their way in the playoffs. I think if Bo Nix hadn’t gone down, the Broncos would have represented the AFC in the big game. But he did, so they didn’t. It might have been a better game, though.

It might not have been. Seattle played very well. Seattle came to play. Seattle earned their victory. No weird calls, no controversies, just good, clean, bad-ass football. I think the Niners have the potential for the same kind of defense, if they can just get their defense out of the infirmary and onto the field. It seems that being able to play your players is a real advantage.

Now seems a good time to point out that Seattle’s Quarterback, Sam Darnold, spent some time in the Niners Red and Gold under head coach Kyle Shanahan. Even Darnold credits his time with the Niners as having revived his career. He says he learned tons from Shanahan and Niner Quarterback Brock Purdy. Maybe Seattle should send Shanahan a ring – or at the very least, a thank-you card.

I noticed we all survived Bad Bunny. I’m not the person to comment on the halftime shows. I rarely watch them. When I sit down to watch football, I’m not really in a concert mindset. I DID think it was smart. The NFL has been trying to cultivate a following among the Spanish-speaking crowd. I suspect Bad Bunny’s performance went a LONG way to helping that goal.

As a sidebar, and just for fun, it should be remembered that the NFL and President Pedo have a history. 47 once tried to disrupt the NFL by investing in a rival football league, the USFL. The USFL wasn’t supposed to be a rival to the NFL. They scheduled their games in the off-season of the NFL, trying to avoid conflict. They played for three years like that. They ran into conflicts anyway.

Rejecting the competition, the NFL pressured venues not to sign USFL teams under threat of losing the NFL team. The USFL started drafting top talent into it’s league robbing the NFL of said talent for their league. The USFL was badly managed, financially. They were in trouble nearly from the beginning. So they conceived a plan. The “they” in that sentence? That was the owner of the New Jersey Generals, one Donald J. Trump.

The USFL moved their schedule to compete directly against the NFL, then sued the NFL for violating anti-trust laws. The idea was to try to force a merger. This next bit never really made sense, to me, and I presume that’s because there was some backroom crap. The USFL won their suit. They won. But they were awarded one dollar. One whole dollar. According to anti-trust laws, that amount was automatically tripled. They came away with three dollars.

The USFL folded and never played their next season, scheduled to go directly head-to-head with the NFL. Like everything else trump is associated with, the league lost money. Over $163 million dollars in 1986 money. More importantly, the NFL has never forgotten. In 2014, the owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, passed away and trump tried to buy the team. The NFL rejected him soundly.

The Super Bowl can’t really live up to it’s hype these days. The NFL spends so much time and money telling us how great everything is going to be – and then it just… isn’t. The conference championships are almost always better games. The commercials were once a big deal but they’ve dropped off, too. The cost for those things shot straight through the roof.

Seattle Seahawks fans are happy. New England Patriots fans are not. Pretty much nobody else cares one way or the other. The season is over and a new season dawns. As of now, right this moment, the Niners are tied for first place in the NFC West with a 0-0 record…

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I’m going to stop with that. Yesterday’s game wasn’t very good but it DID offer a welcome break from the insanity that is the US today. I just had a nice time. I didn’t fret what the next crazy thing will be. I didn’t even think about him yesterday. He’s never far, though, and the specter of his return to my daily reality looms darkly in my windshield. So, just for today, nothing but football…