Monday, February 12, 2024

The sporting life

  I've reached that age where the pop stars are a mystery to me. When I heard they were going to have Usher at halftime I thought, couldn't they get anyone else? Then I thought, wonder how they chose which usher gets to perform. Maybe they should just have an organist at the football games, like they do with baseball. At least the organist could entertain the crowd while the usher brings them drinks. I did tune in and some woman was singing with a bunch of backup singers. I didn't know what she was singing until later I found out that was what has been called the Black National Anthem. That explains why I didn't know what it was, I don't live in a black nation. It didn't get me upset because I didn't know what that was all about. Whatever. 
 I did watch the ballgame because I wanted to see the commercials. Once again, I was disappointed as I didn't see any I thought particularly funny. The babies playing pickle ball was mildy entertaining. The majority of those ads I didn't know what they were selling. Not very good advertising when that happens. A home rental company? I think there were some ads for that. Considering the price for an ad to air during the game I'm guessing their fees must be significant. Even the Budweiser Clydesdales weren't that good. C'mon a wagon load of beer and a dog kissing the horses nose? Not sure what that was supposed to be. Guessing some kind of woke awareness or something. 
 They did have a few Jesus commercials. Not sure you can sell Jesus in an advertisement, but worth a try anyway. I did read where there is 100 million dollars behind this commercial campaign. Jesus gets us. The underlying message is a bit disturbing, however. The message is you can do anything you want, be anything, engage in any and all activities and Jesus will support that. I don't think Jesus would be washing anyone's feet outside an abortion facility and saying, I get you. Remember Jesus upset the money changers in the temple. Remember Jesus telling that woman, go and sin no more. He wasn't saying I get you, keep on sinning and I'll keep on forgiving. Yes, Jesus gets that we all fall short, and his message is to do better. Jesus was a teacher, which means to instruct. It doesn't mean I get you and will go along with whatever answer you provide. That's not how that works. 
 I do think Reba did a fine job singing the national anthem. I always enjoy it when singers just sing the song without doing vocal acrobatics. The game itself was entertaining. I like it when it is a close one and everything seems to be fair and balanced. I'm amused when the announcers make a big deal out of something like Kelce yelling at the coach or a player drops the ball. Yeah, they are young guys playing a game and emotions get high. It's amazing to me the amount of money involved in all of this. I think they said Mahomes gets a two-million-dollar bonus for winning the Superbowl. So, you get a bonus if you actually do the job, they hired you to do. Gotta love that. They call it an incentive. Strange my incentive was always I got to keep my job. Well, congratulations to everyone. Oh, and Gronk missed that kick! Fan Duel was expecting to take in millions in bets, I'm certain that they did. And Taylor Swift was there too. I've heard about her. I'm not completely out of touch. And to the 49er's all I can say is, shake it off. 
 The Superbowl. It's an amusement nothing more. I feel that way about all sports. Players come and go but mostly they just get old. Some become analysts and broadcasters. Some retire with millions of dollars and others not so much. Some will be selling those rings they fought so hard to earn in a few years. Most will be in their thirties when they retire from playing, at forty or so they are old. It's an amazing thing when you think about it. The average salary for an NFL player is 2.8 million. A basketball player earns about 9.4 million and a baseball guy, 4.9 million. I wonder how so many wind up having so little after they retire. Interesting is that the average pension for an NFL player is 42,000. Not much when you think about it. Hard to live a sporting life on 42,000. 

No comments:

Post a Comment