Fly Iggles, Fly!

Look who has Super Bowl Fever...



Or... y'know... not.

Today at work, there was a big to-do on the Super Bowl. (For the sports-impaired, Philadelphia's own Eagles--locally pronounced 'Iggles'--are going up against the New England Patriots this Sunday in the Super Bowl.) There was much wearin' o' the Eagles jerseys, much paintin' o' the faces, much spontaneous cheers. And, the Powers That Be bought us all lunch in a kind of 'tailgate party' thing. Luckily, they didn't make us eat it outside.

Prizes were given out for the 'Best Costume' and the 'Best Decorated Vehicle.'

So I ran out and plopped down my hard-earned cash for the green and white fright wig, right?

Are you out of your mind?

No. What happened was... Well, let's just say that when the man who signs your paychecks asks you to wear a fright wig, you wear the fright wig. Capesce?

But, I have to say that I think the fright wig doesn't look half bad on me. A guy I work with made a reference to Pam Grier, and I knew that it had to become Mine. So I left work wearing it.

Now that must be odd, tooling around Doylestown in a green and white fright wig, huh?

Not a bit. I didn't even stand out in the crowd. Or rather, the sea of green and white. People complemented me on my 'Spirit' and said things like, 'things like that is why we're gonna win!'

What's the big deal? I mean, it's not like the Cubs are in the World Series or something? I mean, this is football, not baseball.

I get football in theory, but it doesn't do a lot for me to watch a game. For one thing, there's all that padding. You can't see what the players look like, until they flash the stills. And then I'm trying to match up the face I just saw with the number... And I can't follow the plays. It just looks like a hive of bees to me. And it used to be a great working class sport, but then it got all kindsa corporate. Like basketball, I just get the idea that those guys are out there for the money. Not the love of the game. Watch a minor league baseball team play sometime. Guys who are making ten thousand or so a year, most of whom have realized that they're probably not going to be called up into the majors any time soon. But they just love the game. So they're giving up career and families and getting out there. That's sweet. That's baseball.

And, the Pats are the odds on favorite to win. New England is something of a football dynasty. They have this innovative, sort of Microsoft-like approach to the game. And it works for them. If the Eagles manage to pull it out, it will be (yet another) nail in the coffin of Rush Limbaugh's credibility, as he was fired as a host of Monday Night Football when he opined that Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb got his job only through affirmative action or something. McNabb is one of the only African-American quarterbacks in the NFL, but contrary to Rush's bloviating, he's proven himself to also be one of the best, if not the best.

(Because of the whole uniforms and padding thing, I have no idea what Donovan McNabb looks like, or if he's woofy.)

But anyway, it's Super Bowl weekend here in the Delaware Valley. I probably won't be tuning in, but I will want to know the final score.

And that could only mean that baseball season is weeks away!

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