First comes the whine, then the observation. Just saying….
A long time ago in my world, US football ended around New Years. There were two leagues and the top team from each played each other for the obnoxiously named “Super Bowl.” Which, on reflection probably was an OK name considering that most other countries have more sense than to play American style football preferring the more sensible soccer. I like soccer, it takes brains, speed, agility, and stamina. The players have to run the game, not the coach directing everything from the sidelines. You don’t have to weigh 120+kg to be on the field. I am pretty sure that butting the ball with your head isn’t all that wise, but compared to slamming into the ground on each and every play?
So here we are on a Sunday – there are now Wild Card games. I am sure someone reading this cares about how the teams were chosen to be Wild Cards. I certainly don’t. Apparently there are a total of four games, which means eight teams. -Should I go look up how many total teams there are? It seems that just about everyone was in the playoffs. Nah, I really don’t care. Anyway – there are three games today and one tomorrow night. I saw part of two games. The only thing wild about the whole day was the first quarter of the last game where there were enough mistakes to make it interesting.
The observations: The Dallas Cowboys commit the most offenses of any team in the leagues and essentially lost today’s game on penalties. Few of the fans were wearing masks. Yes, they are outdoors, but hello? 65-72k fans packed in and screaming? I would like to see the comparison stats over the next three weeks, allowing for immunization rates, of the major cities whose teams played today.,
The obvious reason that the playoffs – which now don’t end for at least another week or two – extend into February is money. The league, the owners, want to make money. Unlike US Baseball which has a 160 game schedule, there are only 8-10 regular season games. This may explain both the ticket prices if you want to go in person (astronomical) and the desire to extend the season to generate revenue. And then there are all the advertising to be had and made a profit from. The main advertisements were beer, cars, insurance, and phones/internet. Additionally, there were home sales app, drug company pitches, job hunting apps, and a rare public service announcement. Oh yes, and Pfizer has joined the splash.
Otherwise, I spent the day stitching, put in my hour of organizing, and served the raw edges of a bunch of yard goods destined for backings. I like my life boring!
