Super Sunday

Well, here it is... the thing you have all been waiting for -- my first post on this glorious new blog my wife created!! I've been told by the blog master that I have to stay focused on one topic and keep it brief. I know right now that I'm going to struggle mightily with both, but I'm going to try my darnedest! Topics could range widely, but will most likely gravitate back to my wife, our future child, sports, racing, or a giant blend of all said topics. Since I have to try to keep it dialed into one topic, you can imagine my frustration!

I don't think I have to remind anybody what is going on this Sunday at 5:35 CST. It is kind of a bittersweet moment for all sports fans, and especially fans of the sport where grown men get paid good money to beat the crap of each other. It is the biggest game of the year, and it also the last game of the year. For hardcore sprint car racing fans, the day after the final night of the Knoxville Nationals in mid-August is one of the most depressing days of the year. The best 10 days of racing the year usually has to offer is over, and reality bites. I don't have the exact same feeling after the Super Bowl ends, but I'm sure someone, somewhere is feeling empty and alone. Maybe that is why plenty of grown adults find a babysitter to watch the kids and pick that one night as a night to cut loose, indulge in a few, and probably call in sick the next day (because they can drink like they did when they were 24, but can't recover!).

There is an added twist this year as well thanks to the agonizing uncertainty over whether or not there will even be a season next year. The owners think the players make too much... the players think the owners make too much... blah blah blah. The TV execs that make gazillions off the game are the ones that won't be sleeping tonight, tomorrow night, or the next night... until the collective bargaining agreement is signed. Somebody will have to cave, just not sure which side will. The owners are asking for the already too-long season to be extended to 18 games... so I think they'll probably lose. Although as a fan I'd never complain about 2 more games to watch, even a super-freak body isn't meant to take the punishment doled out on a weekly basis to these guys. So I don't know. All I know is that I was like 6 years old the last time there was a labor dispute in pro football. I have a little more invested now, and am not sure if I am as equipped to take it in stride this time around! MLB had a strike, and popularity fell off the cliff... the NBA had a strike, and LeBron and others are just now starting to slowly resurrect the popularity (more on this in a future blog) ... the NHL had a strike, but nobody cares about hockey - ok, I don't anyways... but the point is, strikes are bad. Anyways, back to the game.

Most of the time it is a letdown. Wait, what? The biggest game of the year should have the two best teams playing for the title - so the game should be incredible. But it's not. We've actually been blessed with some great games lately (Giants over Patriots, Steelers over Cardinals, and last year's Saints over Colts was pretty good). But most of the 80's and 90's were a mess. For this one game though, it really doesn't matter. Friends gather, drink beer, eat incredible chili cheese dip that a friend's girlfriend will bring, and watch the best commercials that $3 mil and change can buy. It's fun, it's interesting, it's Super. My wife just asked me how long this was, which is probably my cue to stop typing. Have fun with your friends, family, cat, dog, or whoever else you may be enjoying Super Sunday with... and since the Packers knocked out my Bears, Go Steelers!!