Sports thoughts

The Super Bowl is over and so is football for the year. I heard some complaining that the game was boring and not enough scoring. Well, maybe you are right, but let’s look at a few facts.

Every rule change over the last five years has been made to increase scoring. Don’t touch any receiver after five yards. Offensive linemen can just about do anything they want to a defensive player except headlocks and takedowns. Quarterbacks are so protected they have to be tackled, touched and brought down to the ground in a loving manner.

With all these rules, we saw a defensive genius on Sunday last. Coach Bill Belichick is the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time). How he could stop a team that averaged 35 points a game is beyond belief. The Rams did a great job on another G.O.A.T, Tom Brady. But Brady was Brady and there may not be anybody like him in many generations to come.

I know many fans like to see 35, 40, 45 points put up on the scoreboard each week. But the truth is, teams that allow that many points each week really stink.

The third New England G.O.A.T. is owner Robert Kraft. A great businessman, who has a quiet demeanor and cares for his players, and lets his coaches coach and his players play.

I’m not a Patriots fan, but when you see greatness, enjoy it.

Now let’s look at a few Super Bowl facts that you might have laughed at while watching a “boring game.”

Fifty-two percent of the American public feels the Super Bowl should be a national holiday. That’s a higher percentage than either one of the presidential candidates got two years ago.

Talk about inflation, the first Super Bowl held in Los Angeles in 1967 was not a big deal. Few thought the event would take off. The most expensive ticket that day was $12. Sunday, tickets were going for $2,300.

The Super Bowl parties have become the highlight of Super Bowl weekend. Americans consume more food on this day than any other day in the year, with the exception of Thanksgiving.

There are 28 million pounds of pizza, one and a quarter billion (no typo) chicken wings, and eight million pounds of guacamole eaten by Americans on this Sunday.

Anyone that doesn’t think football fans don’t like beer is sadly mistaken. Last Sunday, 325 million gallons of beer were sent down the throats of people yelling at a T.V. screen. To put this number in perspective, that’s one gallon of beer for every man, woman and child in the United States.

Does it surprise you that over 10% of the work force in the country called in sick on Monday?

I don’t have this year’s figures on legal gambling on the Super Bowl, but it’s in excess of 125 million. No, that doesn’t cover the giant squares for points that are found at most parties.

The Super Bowl is now a staple in American life. People get together, eat, drink and bet. Sounds like a good time. No wonder the majority wants to make it a national holiday.