the rix mix

In 1997, I attended a Tupperware party on Super Sunday so I could write about bowls in my newspaper column. Ever since then it's been my tradition to go shopping during the Superbowl. Today I went to the Super Market. I was so annoyed at being overcharged for a box of wheat crackers that I took both the box & the erroneous shelf tag to customer service & went home with free crackers. Just in time to watch The Stones, with Mick prancing through three rough numbers, 500 shills corraled in the tongue-shaped pit, jumping around to Gramps & the Geezers. I was rooting for the Geezers. I turned off the set as soon as the meathead commentators came back on, summing up what must have been a dreadfully dull first half.

I'm already mulling over possible NCAA basketball cinderellas, men's & women's tournaments. How good is Bucknell? Pitchers & catchers report soon. I barely notice the NHL but I can tell you the Rangers are a good team & so are the Flyers. The Nets are lucky to be in a weak NBA conference this season. NASCAR? Sure, I'll watch a few laps. I still miss Jerry Gerard on WPIX, a local sportscaster who used to end every report with a horse race, even if all he had were trotters. There's something about pro football. It's big. It's a smart game that acts stupid. It has very little fluidity in time. When play stops, which it does on every down, the entire game halts, & without replaying every single one there would not be much of it all. Baseball is paced for conversation, I understand why many people don't enjoy it. Basketball is poetry when the refs stay out of the way. But pro football action is what's left over after the SUV & beer commercial time is sold. It doesn't get me. Never did.

Check out Detroit Blog for some excellent writing on that city's preparations for the game, including the razing of the Motown Building. (thanx to The Opinion Mill)