Well, OK. Everybody knows that between San Fran, Seattle, Denver, and New England -- two of them are going to meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 2. But the thing is -- it will be played in New Jersey. It seems the NFL has this nasty habit in recent years of rewarding billionaire owners with a Super Bowl every time they manage to find a reason to blow up their old perfectly functional stadium, and replace it with a shiny new palace, usually at local taxpayers' expense. And along the way, a few hundred more people get booted out of their houses by that "eminent domain" thing, so they can have the pleasure of watching their former homes get bull-dozed while paying for it with their OWN tax dollars. Talk about adding insult to injury. Something is very wrong with this picture, but that's a story for another day.
At any rate, the Super Bowl is going to happen in the Meadowlands. That name itself is laughable. Jersey's got a few things going on, but the town of East Rutherford (where the stadium is) isn't exactly known for it's abundance of peaceful pastures with moo cows grazing about -- ya know? Who's kidding who here?
Regardless, one is left to wonder who the Jerseyites could possibly root for when the Big Dance descends on their town.
San Fran? Jersey doesn't give a rat's behind about Fisherman's wharf, Lombard street, or Alcatraz.
Nor would they give a hoot about Seattle. The home of Starbucks, Microsoft, and the Space Needle is not likely to impress anybody from Jersey.
Denver and some dude named Peyton with a chicken neck, that squawks and flaps his wings like one before every play? Get outta here. Ain't got time for none of that wimpy Coors beer either.
The Patriots are the only team that are within two time zones of New Jersey. But how much love do you think Jersey would have for pretty boy Tom Brady married to some supermodel? Chances are -- not much.
Nope, Jerseyites have more important things to concern themselves with. Like still hating on Archie Bunker when All In The Family reruns come on. Or worse yet, wondering how in the hell their beloved governor got caught up in such a mess over a stupid bridge -- that was named for a guy that's been dead for over 200 years. And besides, he (George Washington) had seriously weird hair, wooden teeth, and how did some dude from Virginia get his name on a bridge that connects New Jersey and New York in the first place?
These are genuine causes for concern. The Super Bowl's just another football game with a bunch of foreigners coming to town to party and tear more stuff up.
To Jerseyites, yeah, those foreigners will spend a lot of money while they're in town. That's a good thing. But a lot of their season ticket holders at the aformentioned Meadowlands will get booted out of their seats for the Super Bowl to make room for various celebrities and politicians that are only there for a few photo-ops. Once the cameras go away -- so will they. And the very same people that ponied up umpteen thousands of dollars to finally get such prime seats over the years will likely start to think just like the people who's houses got bull-dozed a few years before. What kind of system allows this to happen? That's a bad thing. And they will both have a very good point. What kind of system indeed?
Let's get real. Even setting aside the quid pro quo for some billionaire getting a Super Bowl for building a new stadium -- it's ludicrous to stage a mega-event such as the Super Bowl in a northern city, at the beginning of February, in an open venue (no dome). Sure, it might be a balmy 30 degrees with fair skies, and I hope it is.
But it might also be 10 below with high winds and a blizzard passing through dropping a couple feet of snow on the ground.
I dare say the two teams that finally make it to the ultimate game this year have gone through a lot to reach that point. I also dare say the millions of fans around the world want to see them display their talents, and may the best team win.
But that might not happen if Mother Nature is in a bad mood leading up to and including Feb. 2, and decides to dump on East Rutherford. It could happen.
And who knows? Maybe once upon a time Mother Nature couldn't catch her breath in Denver -- or got a bad cup of half-caf latte in Seattle -- or a slimy bowl of chowder in New England. Maybe she even had to do a stretch in Alcatraz under an alias back in the day.
Hmm. She has to be from somewhere. Might even be Jersey.
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