Canthook

"If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead."
- Erma Bombeck

I won't say I never watch football. I watched ten minutes of a game in the '90s. And decades ago, I participated in a semi-pro football game. I was on the sidelines, taking pictures for my paper, when an end sweep came my way, and I got a really exciting and dramatic picture. About half a second before about 83 football players ran into me, landed on me, and knocked the wind out of me. And popped open my camera, not only ruining it, but costing me that great photo.

The First Quarter

I watched the first quarter today. I would have left earlier, but the Cardinals protested a play, the refs looked at it again, and decided that the Steelers didn't score a touchdown after all. They played it again, and scored a field goal. I just heard a yell from downstairs; the Cardinals have now scored, so it's no longer 10-0, Pittsburgh.

I've always liked the Cardinals. Rogers Hornsby used to play for them. He won the NL Triple Crown twice, only player in history to do that, but he couldn't tackle worth a darn.

Blondie's Almost A Main Line Girl

Blondie, of course, being a Philadelphia girl, thought the "Stillers" got robbed. In Philadelphia, the two pro football teams of the state are the "Iggles" and the "Stillers". And the fans are so brutal that they boo kids who do poorly at an Easter Egg hunt.

So I didn't dare leave with that hanging. Once the Stillers had scored another touchdown, it was safe to exit. But only because Blondie doesn't like football and never watches it. If it was Michael Jordan playing, or Tiger Woods, I wouldn't dare leave for weeks after the refs make an unfavorable call.

Honoring Sully

Everybody seems to like the guy. They honored the five member flight crew. And they had a fly-over by some military planes, and they sang the national anthem, and they had General Petraeus flip the coin. Matt Lauer interviewed Barack O'Bama, our fine Irish president, in the Map Room. A student of history, he didn't pull a Nixon by sending in a play.

I've never understood why athletics and the military are so intertwined. Do you sing the national anthem before the cashier rings up the order at the supermarket? Do you pledge allegiance to the flag before you carry the trash to the curb? Why do that before athletic events?

And if you're going to honor a commercial pilot, wouldn't it make more sense to honor someone who got his plane to its destination, on time, with a smooth landing and no lost luggage, instead of a guy who landed in the river seconds after takeoff, failing to arrive where he was supposed to go, and drowning everyone's luggage in the process? I mean, the guy did well, considering the circumstances, but as Mark Twain said of being tarred and feathered, and run out of town on a rail, if it weren't for the honor of the thing, I'd have druther walked.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Erma Bombeck - football - SuperBowl