Slap Shot

 

 

First, I must apologize for being the zillioneth person to discuss the Will Smith-Chris Rock thing.  I know just about everybody is sick of it, but you got to admit it is not every day you see one millionaire smack another millionaire and then have a total and complete meltdown on live TV.

 

However, since I am a member of the Amalgamated Bloggers Union Local 77, I am compelled to comment even though:

1. It didn't involve me.
2. It doesn't affect me.
3. Nothing I say will change anyone's opinion about the event.
   

To give a quick recap, Will Smith was a nominee for best actor and had a primo seat at the front of the theatre.  Chris Rock was a presenter for the Best Documentary category.

Chris Rock was doing his Chris Rock bit and pointed out that Jada Pickett Smith (Will's wife) will star in "G.I Jane II".

Oh no, he didn't.

Pickett-Smith keeps her hair cut short because she has a condition called Alopecia which causes people to lose their hair.  Up until last Sunday night, I didn't know she had Alopecia.  I didn't know she had short hair.

Will Smith laughed. Moments later, however, he got up out of his seat, walked onto the stage, slapped Chris Rock, turned around and walked in a huff back to his seat. When Rock protested that it was just a "G.I. Jane" joke, the full psychosis exploded and Smith screamed, "Keep my wife's name out of your (word used only on premium cable and "Yellowstone") mouth".

My opinion.

It amazes me how thin-skinned some people can be. Do I think people with Alopecia should be made fun of?  It depends on your definition of "making fun."   There is something known as good-natured joshing or teasing.  Rock was smiling and laughing as he told the joke and prefaced it by saying, "You know I love you". 

 

There are some women that can rock the bald look.  Beautiful people tend to be beautiful no matter their hair style. 

If Pickett-Smith had cancer and lost her hair due to chemotherapy, I would agree with the people who thought Rock's joke was mean.  But she doesn't have cancer and people treat Alopecia by different methods.  Some wear wigs. Some cut their hair short. 

I don't tease anybody for any condition if I know about it.  We really don't know if Rock knew about Pickett-Smith's Alopecia. You can't expect a comedian to know the medical conditions of his audience.

I've read a lot of articles about "what all this meant".  There's been a lot of sociology, psychology, and political science added to this event. Unfortunately, a lot of it was hogwash.

 

I don't know if it has anything to do with the Smith's (cough) unconventional marriage.  I don't know if it has to do with race, religion, or the fact Smith is seen as a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STAR, while Rock is still seen as a stand-up comedian, which is just one step up in the entertainment business ladder from  a radio morning zoo-crew host.

 

What is bad about all of this is that it destroys the carefully constructed image of Will Smith.  He was an actor that appealed to everyone of all ages.  While I wouldn't consider myself a fan, I've enjoyed every movie I've seen of his, and really that's all you can ask of an actor. 

But, looking back on it, I never entirely bought the whole Will Smith package. He was hip, and he was a nice guy. He was the street, and he was the boardroom.  It seemed that he was playing on both sides of the street.

As far as The Oscars are concerned, it was just freaky that they didn't escort Smith out of the auditorium.   Just like Smith, they doubled down on their error after Smith gave his speech apologizing to everyone but Rock for his behavior by giving Smith a standing ovation.

 

The person that should have received a standing ovation was Rock, who carried on with his job after the slap.  I would have curled up in a ball.

 

Smith is a person that needs to control his emotions. (Duh)  He needs to seek professional help and not a publicist. 

 

On the bright side, it is not the worst thing an actor has ever done during a show. That distinction is held by John Wilkes Booth and you know how that turned out. 

The Flim-Flam Gals

 

 I have come to this conclusion. People aren't very smart.

My kin would say people have a lot of "book smarts" but they lack common sense. Or as my dad would say, "Horse sense".

I say this based upon watching a couple of TV shows.  You can't say I haven't done my research.

We've been watching the Hulu series "The Dropout," which is about this smarty pants blonde that whoo-dooed a bunch of corporations along with some wealthy and powerful men.

Her pitch: she has a vision. The vision: give her a  bunch of money.  Her plan:  become very rich and appear on magazine covers.  How:  you see here, we have this machine that will diagnose all sorts of maladies with, now watch closely, with one drop of blood.

That sounds sort of far-fetched, even if we live in the days of miracles and wonder.  But hey, twenty-five years ago, we were still taking photographs with a camera and schlepping the film to the drug store for development like a loser.

This young lady was Elizabeth Holmes, a college dropout who discovered the way to get powerful corporations with bright, well-credentialed executives to give her money was to wear tight black turtlenecks, which helped to emphasize her considerable bosoms.  (The actress who plays Holmes has considerable bosoms, but I don't know if Holmes does in real life. I also saw "Considerable Bosoms"  open for the Talking Heads)

She wears the turtlenecks when she is talking to her board, which has the likes of Henry Kissinger,  Jim Mattis, and George Schultz on it. I can guarantee you this thought was running through the minds of these august and distinguish men as she was going "blah, blah blah, one drop of blood":  She sure is built.

Goals vanish. Promises are broken. Deadlines were missed. But all Elizabeth has to do is put on her magic turtleneck and the men that stared down the Soviet Union were putty in her hands.

Her machine that was supposed to revolutionize health care never came close to working.  So she did the next best thing: obtain a device from another company and taped her company's name (Theranos) on it.

George Schultz's grandson got hired in, and soon he turns on Elizabeth because even though he almost flunked out of college, he could tell nothing worked at the company.

The Wall Street Journal gets involved and exposes Elizabeth as a fraud and (SPOILER ALERT) causes Theranos to shut down. In January of 2022, Holmes was convicted of fraud and is awaiting sentencing while living in a mansion with her Uber-rich husband.

All of the people involved were highly educated, and most of the board graduated from Ivy League Schools. So how could they fall for such a stupid scheme that is just one step above "I can tell you where you got them shoes"?

FOMO? (Fear of missing out)  Old men taken in by a pretty girl that sort of sounded like she knew what she was talking about. (Most likely)

Or is it my new theory: maybe people aren't as smart or as they (we) think they are.

Not that younger people are exempt from flim-flam artists. The other show in my research was "Inventing Anna," which is about this trailer trash girl from the Ozarks laundering drug money for an amoral couple from Chicago.

Check that. "Inventing Anna" stars Julia Garner, the aforementioned trailer trash girl from the show "Ozark," she plays a Russian who somehow convinces all of the New York party kids that she is a wealthy German heiress.  Garner does this by talking loud and shouting obscenities as she does in "Ozark," except this time she does it with a Russian accent.  Think Eva Gabor with Tourette Syndrome.

She tries to obtain loans for a fake foundation and basically sponges off her friends. Then, she gives a seminar on how to "gaslight" your friends for fame and fortune.  Even the movie falls under her spell because the reporter that exposes her feels sorry for her at the end of the series. This has something to do with the Subprime Loan Crisis of 2008. Whatever.

But again, the people she fleeced are people that should have been skeptical of a con. They went to all of the best day schools and colleges. On top of that, they were NEW YORKERS.  

They were also YOUNG and lived in THE DIGITAL AGE.  How could they fall for something like, "MAH FARTER HADDN'T WHYARED ME THUH MUNNEY YET.  WHA ARE YOU SO STOOPID?"

Maybe they think women can't be con artists.  Maybe they was so busy looking down their nose at the fly over people who fall prey to everything they didn't know they were vulnerable to the con too.

Maybe they didn't realize there's a sucker born every minute.

 

 

Freddie's Gone

I know there's a war in the Ukraine. I know gas prices are so high you have to take out a home equity line of credit. Or, if you're my age, a reverse mortgage. That's not to mention all of the other ills that plague our society.  I wish to address the most important news story in Atlanta this week.

Freddie Freeman has left The Atlanta Braves.

Not only has he left The Braves, but he also signed with The Los Angeles Dodgers, who need Freddie Freeman like Tom Brady needs another Super Bowl ring.

The saga of "Will Freddie Be Back" started after he caught the last out in the World Series when the Lord, in his great wisdom, blessed Atlanta with a championship because, let's face it, we were owed a couple.

All of his teammates said, "Pay The Man", meaning Freeman because Freeman was such a good player and such a positive example in the clubhouse. Of course, a good clubhouse is essential in baseball, but I remember the Oakland A's winning three straight World Series, and they spent all their time in the clubhouse shooting birds at each other. 

Frankly, the Braves lolly-gaged in their contract negotiations with Freeman through last season. The owners decided to lockout the players in December, which meant the Braves and Freeman could not negotiate a new contract in the off-season.

When the lockout ended, everybody (and by everybody, I mean people in the Atlanta area on Twitter) thought the first thing that would happen would be Atlanta signing Freeman.  

Wrong.  As we say down South, you see, what had happened was, was this:  the Braves signed free agent Matt Olson to an eight-year year contract for 168 million dollars, signaling the end of Freddie Freeman's time in Atlanta.

Matt Olson is a local boy from Gwinnett County and played first base for the Oakland A's.  If you can't have Freeman, Olson is as close to Freddie as you are going to get, plus he's younger.

Freeman was a little shocked, to be sure. Then, however, he turned around and signed a six-year 162 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Adding Freeman to the Dodgers batting lineup is like adding Paul McCartney to Crosby, Stills, Nash, And Young.  The Dodgers are definitely the team to beat.

Braves fans were a little shocked, too. We thought Freddie would be like Chipper and stay a Brave forever, which is a little unrealistic.  Aaron didn't stay a Brave forever. Neither did Niekro. Neither did Murphy.  Neither did Warren Spahn. 

The Braves offered Freeman 135 million for five years.  That's not chopped liver.  Freeman wanted six years.  The Braves said bye.

It is rich that people are lamenting the loss of Freeman like they are sitting by the rivers of Babylon. The Braves will be OK. Last year, they won the World Series without a starting pitching staff and their best player.

Freeman will be fine too. After all, the Dodgers are going to win a lot, and Freeman lives in Southern California. 

It is a win-win for both sides.

It is interesting how people bring their politics into a story like this.  Liberty Media owns the Braves, and they make gobs of money (I don't know what standard of measurement a gob is, I know it is a lot).  Some people, like Jeff Schultz, think all a player needs to do is state a dollar amount, and Liberty Media will just come up with it like a magical corporate genie.

Even nameless, faceless corporations with gobs of money have budgets and hold their executives accountable to bring in a balanced budget.  That's where Alex Anthopoulos comes in at. 

On the other side, the baseball player has an opportunity to make as much money as he can while he can.  There's a small supply of people that can play major league baseball and a high demand for them.  Freeman was trying to get as much as he could from the Braves.  That didn't work out, so he went to the Dodgers.  Don't cry from him, Argentina. 

I'm with Jerry Seinfeld on this. 

"Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city. You're actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it. You know what I mean? You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player, but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt; they hate him now. Boo! Different shirt! Boo!"

 

Freddie's wearing a different shirt, so Boo Freddie!  Look, I don't make up the rules.

 

P.J.

 

A few weeks ago, out of nowhere, came the news that P. J. O'Rourke died.

It is hard to describe the hole this has left because O'Rourke was not only a talented writer, he was funny, as we used to say, as all get out.

He came up through the ranks of National Lampoon magazine. It was The Onion on steroids. Everybody was fair game for that magazine. Republicans, Democrats, hippies, straights, the religious, the non-religious, everybody was goofed on and made fun of.

He kept that spirit of the fair game throughout his career, calling Jimmy Carter "goofy tooth" and likening Trump to a toddler at the top of the stairs.

He noted the most dire environmental predictions are always 15 years in the future- far enough out that it is hard to remember when the predictions don't come true.

He noted that when famous people talk about being reincarnated, they were always a prince or princess in their former life. They were never just a regular old person because these people are always special.

But P.J. was mainly about writing in an honest, humorous way. He took a big hit when he announced he would vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He said,  "I am endorsing Hillary, and all her lies and all her empty promises. It's the second-worst thing that can happen to this country, but she's way behind in second place. She's wrong about absolutely everything, but she's wrong within normal parameters."

Who is out there that can replace P.J. O'Rourke? 

Nobody.

The best way to remember P.J. O'Rourke is to read his books.  If you can't read his books, the following are a few quotes I've cobbled together.

 "Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them."

 "Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power."

 "The principal feature of contemporary American liberalism is sanctimoniousness. By loudly denouncing all bad things — war and hunger and date rape — liberals testify to their own terrific goodness. More important, they promote themselves to membership in a self-selecting elite of those who care deeply about such things. People who care a lot are naturally superior to we who don’t care any more than we have to. By virtue of this superiority, the caring have a moral right to lead the nation. It’s a kind of natural aristocracy, and the wonderful thing about this aristocracy is that you don’t have to be brave, smart, strong or even lucky to join it, you just have to be liberal."

 “We acknowledge the Bible as the word of God.  And -- the one attribute that we absolutely share with our Creator -- we have a sense of humor.  Right off the bat there's Genesis 1:27: ‘God created man in his own image.’ And then I look in the mirror.”

 "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

" This brings us to a more drastic method of getting an audience: be one. Listen patiently while other people tell you about themselves. Maybe they’ll return the favor. This is risky, however. By the time they get done talking about themselves and are ready to reciprocate, you may be dead from old age. Another danger is that that if you listen long enough you may start attending to what’s being said. You may start thinking about other people, even sympathizing with them. You may develop a true empathy for others, and this will turn you into such a human oddity that you will become a social outcast."

 "We had a choice between Democrats who couldn’t learn from the past and Republicans who couldn’t stop living in it, between Democrats who wanted to tax us to death and Republicans who preferred to have us die in a foreign war. The Democrats planned to fiddle while Rome burned. The Republicans were going to burn Rome, then fiddle."

 "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

 "It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money."

"Politicians are interested in people. Not that it is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs."

 

 

The Gas Station With Nukes

 

 Like everyone else, I am perturbed about the whole Russia invading Ukraine mess.

However, unlike everyone else, I have not suddenly become an expert in what we used to call "Geo-Politics".  But I did manage to graduate with a degree in History from Kennesaw State University, and I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. 

Even with all of that, I'm just a guy with some opinions which may be wrong.  Here are my thoughts.

1) There's enough blame to go around.  From W's "I looked into his soul", the Obama-Clinton reset button, Trump's kissy-face, and whatever Biden is doing seems to have missed the mark and gave Putin the confidence to invade another country without suffering any consequences. 

2) The invasion was the end of the "Post Cold War" era.  Putin has said the collapse of The Soviet Union was the worst thing that happened in the Twentieth Century.  That is either the stupidest thing ever said or one of the evilest.

3) Russia is not the power it was during The Cold War. Instead, it has become a gas station with nukes.  People need energy and Russia has it.

4) It was a big mistake to shut down the Keystone pipeline. 

5) President Obama said this to then-candidate Gov. Mitt Romney in their second Presidential debate. "Gov. Romney, I'm glad you recognize al-Qaida is a threat, because a few months ago when you were asked what is the biggest geopolitical group facing America, you said Russia, not al-Qaida, you said Russia. And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back. Because the Cold War has been over for 20 years."   I remember watching this thinking Kelso from "That's 70's Show" was going to pop up and say, "Ooooo, burn". Well, it looks like Romney was right.

 6) Putin is who he is-a KGB man.   He's not a guy that gained power by kissing babies at state fairs. He is brutal and ruthless.

7) Now is not the time to point out "good" qualities Putin may or may not have like Trump did the other day.  "So, Putin is now saying, “It’s independent,” a large section of Ukraine. I said, “How smart is that?” And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy… I know him very well. Very, very well."  It's like saying, "Charles Mason, a pretty good folk singer, took in runaways and gave them jobs".

8) We all thought Putin was going to stop in Eastern Ukraine. Why? I don't know. All of the smarty-pants people on radio and TV said it. Do you know who didn't say it?  Putin.

9) What now?  Sanctions. That's about it.  Americans are flat out tired of "endless wars".  On top of that, America is so divided now even a President with good rhetorical skills like Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama could not rally Americans into a war. If you haven't noticed, Biden does not have good rhetorical skills.

10) Liberals always make fun of conservatives saying "thoughts and prayers," but that's all we have.  We can pray that the tough Ukrainian people can somehow hold out and give Putin a "what for," as we say in the South.  Yet, the size of the Russian army argues against this.  

11) This is what happens when you become distracted with politics and our general lovable silliness. Reality has a way of coming up and slapping you in the face.  

12) This time, reality bites. 

 

Reacher Review

 

Several years ago, this blog used to run weekly "24" recap.  Well, "24" is long gone and most of television has gone to the streaming services. This means  you can watch a series in a day or two if you want. As you might expect, this makes recapping difficult.  However, this blog does not know the meaning of the word "difficult" or many other words. 

Anyway (the word Southerners used to indicate a new paragraph) I am reviewing "Reacher". There will be no "spoilers" unless I forget and put them in anyway.

 

How do you describe the Amazon Prime series "Reacher"?

Imagine if Magilla Gorilla was an action hero, that's "Reacher," except he wears tight t-shirts instead of a bow tie.

It is pretty apparent that this guy spends a lot of time in the gym. He has muscles on top of muscles. Whatever the name is for multiple six-packs is, he has that too. The series seems to find reasons for Reacher strip off his shirt.

A word of warning:  your wife may faint from the vapers during the t-shirt changing scenes.  At least, that's what I've heard.

Me and Reacher are practically doppelgangers.  I just need to grow another twelve inches, somehow acquire muscles, get a six-pack (Hey! I already have a keg!  Thank you, you've been fantastic and remember to tip the wait staff) and to somehow become an expert on how to punch people where they stay punched. 

Reacher walks into Margrave, Georgia, which is somewhere between Tallahassee, Florida and Nashville, Tennessee.  Seriously, it sounds like it is around LaGrange, Georgia because, in one episode, Reacher says they are an hour away from Atlanta. 

As he walks into town, he stops in at The Margrave Greasy Spoon which serves the "baist pa-cheeh pie in Jawja", gets a cup of coffee and is immediately arrested for being a big baboon and making the rest of the menfolk in town look bad.

He is taken to jail, where he meets the sheriff (an older middle aged white man), the city's lead (and only) detective (an African-American from the North) and the town's female cop ( a young woman with small bosoms, not that I noticed.)

It turns out that two people were murdered that same morning that Reacher came to town.  That's enough reason to hold Reacher in jail and it even made sense to the Head Detective. 

The detective wants to know why Reacher came to town. Turns out Reacher is a big fan of the blues; you know blues musicians like Nearsighted Johnson, Shorty Pickles, Blind Orange Jello, Barkin' Bob McGee, and Itch Barnes.

They set Reacher free, he takes off his shirt, flex his pecs, puts his shirt back on and walks over to the town's only barbershop for a shave and a good discussion of the Blues. 

The barber tells Reacher about the man who owns the town.  Reacher immediately suspects that this man is behind the murders despite having no evidence and just hearing that the man is rich.

Reacher notices two poop-heads looking at him in the typical small town Southern "Who's Your Daddy" way and it turns out to be the rich guy's son and nephew.  Reacher knows he is going to have to punch these two several times

Reacher and the Head Detective become fast friends despite the fact they hate each other and have nothing in common.

Reacher and the Female Cop become lovers even though Reacher's chest is more prominent than hers.

A lot more people are killed. The Sheriff is "crucified" naked and they cut his you-know-what off.  Reacher says this was a message.  The message I got:  leave Margrave.

It turns out the rich guy has developed such a diabolical scheme to make money, the only person who can figure it out is a gorilla that wears tight shirts. 

I cannot go further without ruining the show for those who have not seen it. However, here some things you need to know about the show

Language:  It is not PG, but it is not Saturday with The Sopranos either. 

Violence:  Lots and lots of violence. Reacher doesn't fool around with his punching. He just goes in for a full pounding. Lots of pow-pow with the guns. Most of the bad guys are killed with shots to the head.

 

Sex and/or Nudity:   Ladies, you get to see Reacher's backside and you would have seen "little Reacher" if it wasn't for a strategically placed towel. The female cop takes a shower with Reacher and makes what we called in the '70s "sweet love". A female former Army buddy of Reacher changes clothes in front of Reacher, but he doesn't seem all that interested even though she has a better body than the female cop.

 

 

Southern stuff:  The geography stuff is the thing that bothered me the most. Margrave is supposedly near the Alabama border and only two hours from Augusta, which is next to the border of South Carolina. Even without adding in Atlanta traffic, there is no way Augusta, Georgia, is two hours away from Margrave.

Most of the characters have the comical Southern accents we have come to expect. The female cop has an accent that comes and goes. 

One good thing is that the fine people of Margrave don't make a big deal about the Head Detective's race. However, they do call him a Yankee a lot. Baby steps, people, baby steps.

Other Stuff:   There are a couple of good one-liners. I liked the Head Detective calling Reacher a gorilla. I also liked that the Head Detective was a classic rock fan and not a neo-intellectual blues fan like Reacher. The Head Detective called the opening of "Carry On My Wayward Son" the best in the history of rock music. He ain't lying. 

Bottom Line:  "Reacher" is a fast-paced show that doesn't ask a lot from the audience, like the distance from a fictional West Georgia town to a town on the eastern border of Georgia. If you like shows where muscle-bound men beat up bad guys, then this is the show for you. 

 

 

 

The Big Super Bowl Game

 

 "Football combines two of the worst things in American life.  It is violence punctuated by committee meetings"   -George Will

 

How old am I?  I am "I remember when people talked about The Super Bowl, they talked about the game and not the commercials or the Half Time Show" old.

Believe it or not, I remember the first Super Bowl, which saw The Kansas City Chiefs playing the Green Bay Packers.  The game was on two different networks, NBC (which only showed that Communist League, The AFL) and CBS (which broadcasted the only sanctified league, The NFL).

This is important.  The game was broadcasted "in color" because that was the latest in modern technology. It is important because we were one of the first homes in Beverly Hills (the subdivision in Marietta, Georgia-not the fancy city in California)to have a color TV set.   It was one of the few times (actually, it was the only time) when the Manis family was an early adopter of any new technology.

If memory serves me right, it was not called "The Super Bowl" back then.  It was called "Watch The Green Bay Packers Kick The Tail Ends Of The Other Stupid League" or something like that.  I was in the second grade, so give me a break. 

The first Super Bowl game was important because of this picture of Chief quarterback Len Dawson smoking a heater and drinking a Fresca at the end of the game.  Fresca was considered an energy drink in 1967.

Green Bay was in "The Big Game" again the following year, playing the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were led by a guy named Darryl Harmonica or Lamonica or something.  The Packers were led by Bart Starr, who I saw one time at Town Center Mall. I kept saying, "BART STARR! BART STARR!" like Scooby-Doo said when he met Don Knotts. (Trust me, this was a hilarious episode.)  I was an adult by this time, and my wife kept hiding her face for some reason. But, Bart looked at me and that's all that matters. 

The following season was the pivotal Super Bowl. The New York Jets, whose quarterback was a known hippie named Joe Namath, beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. There was only one person in my fourth-grade class who thought the Jets would win, and it was a boy named Craig, who reminded everyone in East Cobb about this for the next fifty years. 

One fact about the Big Game that gets lost in the commotion is that it used to occur in mid-January. After it was over,  you would have to watch either pro basketball or college basketball or (take this cup from me, Lord) hockey for your sports entertainment. Since I'm from the South, I've never really understood hockey until they began to fight. I'm too short to understand basketball.

The Super Bowl began to grow into the most important date on the calendar, right after Christmas.  I've always considered it the actual New Year's Day. 

The date of The Super Bowl began to push forwards in January.  I thought it was terrible that it happened on the first Sunday in February.  Now it is the second Sunday in February. Mark my words, the Super Bowl will be soon held on the first Sunday of March.  

Way back in the early Super Bowl days, the Half-Time shows were really lame. High School Bands.  There were several years in which a group called "Up With People" sang at the Half-Time Show, which was called "Half-Time."

Now it is known as THE PEPSI SUPER BOWL LVI HALFTIME SHOW BECAUSE COCA-COLA SUCKS FEATURING FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT LIKE SNOOP DOG AND EMINEM.

For some reason, I don't think the Halftime show became a big deal until Michael Jackson did it.  Then each Super Bowl tried to outdo the last Super Bowl, culminating with a cameo appearance of Janet Jackson's right bosom due to a wardrobe malfunction.

After that, The Super Bowl had a series of Dad rockers like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty. Their bosoms, thankfully, never made any appearances.

 When people forgot about the Janet incident, The Super Bowl began to update their half-time shows.  One year, they had the group Oasis because you think of Oasis when you think of football.

This year it is the first time it will be an all Rap artist half-time show.  I'm looking forward to it because I can review all of the commercials with my wife when it is going on.

I want to say it was 1984 when commercials became a big deal at The Super Bowl.  Now the ads are about as big as the game.     

Now get this:  some companies are running "trailers" (what we in the South call "previews" for their commercials to generate excitement over their Super Bowl commercials.  Pretty soon, they will run a trailers of the trailers, and the goobs on TV will talk about which company has the best trailer.

 I haven't read what the theme of the commercials will be this year.  I remember one year the theme was "men are bad," and another year it was "horses fart." 

I don't know if people are doing Super Bowl parties this year.  I heard Len Dawson is having one. He's serving Fresca.