It’s Super Bowl Sunday! What an interesting day! And in honor of the quieter crowd who have minimal interest in professional football, allow me to avow that today’s post is prompted by the big game but really has little to do with the sport. Today we’re just making a few observations, ones that go beyond the game…
Isn’t it interesting that a man once deemed “Mr. Irrelevant” is a starting quarterback in this year’s Super Bowl?
Informally donned with the infamous moniker for being drafted last in the 2022 NFL draft — which yes, means 262nd out of 262 — and then thrust forward by a series of setbacks to all those ahead of him in the San Fran QB line — Brock Purdy is the starting quarterback for the 49ers today in Super Bowl LVIII. Given a choice to see his one-time circumstances either through the lens of bitterness or humility, Purdy has obviously chosen humility. One simple quote from him this week rang beautifully true: “The bottom line is, life isn’t about you.” Isn’t it interesting the correlation between humility and success?
Isn’t it interesting that the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers were the same teams in the final face off four years ago?
Here we go again. According to ESPN, the Chiefs started the 2020 game with a 65.5% chance of being victorious. Fresh into the second quarter, the Chiefs’ odds increased to 80.9%. Halfway through, no less, the odds narrowed to near 50/50, and with only seven minutes left in the contest, the 49ers had odds of winning at 96.1%! And yet they didn’t.
At no point during the contest, could any discern with certainty who was going to win. There were lots of twists and turns and things no one expected… cheers and jeers and moments of both agony and delight. There were also many who were hoping for a two-team matchup other than Kansas City and San Francisco.
And isn’t it interesting that in and around today’s game, we’ll see more of pop icon Taylor Swift than of current President Joe Biden?
What a week (what a year) for Taylor Swift! After accepting her record-breaking fourth “Album of the Year” at Sunday’s Grammy’s and then off to four concerts on her Tokyo tour, today she’s expected in Las Vegas in support of boyfriend Travis Kelce. Like it, love it, or want some more of it (or not), the cameras will be certain to zoom in on the country’s seemingly current favorite music artist, enthusiastically donning her noted Chiefs’ gear.
One person we are not expected to see is Biden. While the tradition of an interview with the sitting President began with CBS’s Jim Nantz and Pres. George W. Bush in 2004 and became an annual occurrence in 2009 with Pres. Barack Obama, Biden is skipping the interview, declining to speak to America’s largest live audience. A bit of my drink may or may not have burst from my mouth when his advisors said the move was an intentional attempt to honor the voters, noting how fatigued we already are with politics.
Wow. What a week Pres. Biden has had. After his mental faculties were seriously questioned for far more than his references to recent conversations with two deceased world leaders, let me respectfully agree that he and his advisors were indeed acting intentionally. It just didn’t have anything to do with honoring us.
Lest we digress for a mere moment, this was a bad week for Biden. And remember: I don’t say that as any fan of Pres. Trump; I say that as an honest observer and one who craves an elect of unquestionable ability and integrity. This week I found myself scratching my head (or spitting out my drink), and saying, “Really? You want me to believe that?”
A special counsel concluded that Biden should not be charged in an investigation regarding the mishandling of classified documents. But the most prominent, damaging conclusion was that Pres. Biden has significantly, mentally declined.
Like bad actors in an even worse play, we could have predicted what would happen next. Biden’s loyalists and PR team immediately offered emphatic denials and stern how-dare-they’s. Their challenge, though, is that the report only said what the far majority of us already know to be true; we’ve seen it with our own eyes. As CNN Sr. White House correspondent MJ Lee said in response to Biden this week, “For months, when you were asked about your age, you would respond with the words ‘watch me.’ Well, many American people have been watching and they have expressed concerns about your age.” We are concerned.
To be clear, we are concerned about both Biden and Trump. We are concerned about that again being our choice, knowing each prompts serious question about ability and integrity. We are concerned about them, their lies, and those who so easily lie for them.
Hence, in future weeks we will discuss our existing options for the year ahead. That, my friends, promises to be interesting.
Time for 2024. It’s clear the game has already begun.
Respectfully…
AR