The Super Bowl is on Sunday and the Chiefs are playing, so I am kind of interested. I do not hate them as some Missourians do. I have no idea who Jon Batiste is–he will sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl–but I am looking forward to hearing Lauren Daigle sing “America the Beautiful”. And, by the way, there is only one national anthem and it is for everybody.
I will probably watch the kick off and then turn the channel. Then I will decide to watch an old movie instead. Can you think of a good football movie? I like The Best of Times (1985) but I have seen it recently. Maybe Friday Night Lights (2004) or The Blind Side (2009)?
And I do like this cold brew ad with Chan…
Well, this afternoon Mr. Smith is getting a shampoo, so that means happy hour afterwards.
How was your weekend? Mine was a quiet one. Daughter #1 was in Maryland visiting daughter #2. I picked her up at the airport on Saturday and we were both relieved that her flight back was uneventful and unaffected by the hurricane back east.
I watched a little SEC football–Alabama vs Ole Miss–so I would have a better grip on Matt Mitchell’s weekly SEC recap. He is so mean to Mizzou, but I love him anyway.
Can’t wait to see what he has to say this week!
We saw the boy and the twins at church and enjoyed an interesting adult ed class on AI (let us not forget that God is sovereign) as well as a good sermon by the seminary student who is our Youth Minister. It actually contained a little brimstone. I do like some brimstone in a sermon.
We went to the wee laddie’s soccer game later in the afternoon. His other grandparents were there, visiting from Florida–so he had quite the cheering section.
He is slowly but surely getting the idea of the game…
His team is still undefeated thanks to two players who look and play like fourth graders. God bless America.
So there is joy in our flyover state because the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. But we only watched Chris Stapleton sing the National Anthem because we love him and, I must say, he did a super job.
The only time I have ever cared about the NFL was when Kurt Warner played for the Rams back in the day. ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ offense was fabulous and I loved those guys: Isaac Bruce, Marshall Falk, Aeneas Williams, and, of course, Kurt Warner. Therefore, instead of the Super Bowl, we watched American Underdog (2021) which tells the story of Kurt and Brenda Warner and his road from stock boy at the Hy-Vee to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
It is an inspiring story and this film tells it well. I recommend this movie–I mean, who doesn’t love an inspiring sports story with a (spoiler alert) happy ending?
Fun fact: Considered the NFL’s greatest undrafted player, Warner is the only undrafted player to be named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, as well as the only undrafted quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. He is also the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl during his first season as the primary starter. Warner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and is the only player inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
In other news, did you see that lightening struck Brazil’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue over the weekend?
(Photo from The Daily Mail)
Well, it did, and once again I ask, Are these the End Times?
Anne wrote a good one about the flailing (and failing) Church of England. “The most essential thing we should notice about Jesus this morning is how different he is from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Justin Welby doesn’t have the power to heal all your diseases. But he has been given the gift of the Gospel which he could proclaim—it’s literally his main job—if he would trouble himself to discover what it is.”
And I enjoyed this article about the movie Ride the High Country (1962) and the Western genre in general. “The classic Western era was a distinct period in American film, establishing a genre with singular moral and artistic rules. These were stories about honor culture in the wilderness, a limbo space where rule of law was tenuous or nonexistent. Other critics have noted the difference in ethos between the old and new eras of Westerns, but Terry [Teachout] ‘s conservatism, and the erstwhile Christian faith of his childhood, gave him unique insight. The lawless world of Westerns, he noted, seemed to dramatize Dostoyevsky’s warning in The Brothers Karamazov that ‘If there is no God, then anything is permitted, even cannibalism.’”
Have a great Valentines day. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
My bon ami Dick posted on Facebook yesterday about going to a football game at West Point and I don’t think he will mind if I share what he said and some of his pictures from the event.
I had a great day yesterday. Ever since I was a youngster cheering on Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, I have wanted to see a game at West Point and I got my wish yesterday…I was not disappointed. It happened to be a game against the Air Force Academy with the Commander in Chief trophy at stake…Army prevailed in a thriller 17-14 which went down to the last minute or so of the game. Afterward, both teams joined one another in singing each academy’s alma mater with band accompaniment. The crowd’s energy was terrific and folks were very friendly. I got to thinking that this is the way college football used to be and should be. Those guys on the field may not have been 4 or 5 stars but they were good…and all are subject to the same academic rigors as all the other cadets, they are true “student athletes.” Anyway, it was a hell of a lot of fun!
Yes, indeed, well said*.
BTW, DN was interviewed as the man in the street regarding the “Sideline Scandal”/debacle at the University of Maryland.
🙄 Anyway, I’m glad to hear that they still play (and coach) football at West Point the old-fashioned way–like gentlemen/student-athletes.
P.S. As you know, our great-uncle Guy went to West Point, but having failed math, he retreated to the University of Vermont. He served his country in WWI and died in the Argonne Forest. We will think of him this week as Veterans Day approaches.
It rained all day Saturday, so I stayed home and puttered around the house. I would probably not have ventured out at all, but the old man and I had tickets to attend the “Elegant Italian Dinner” at our church.
Every year the youth of the parish (and their parents) put on this dinner to raise money for their annual spring mission trip. Frighteningly, this was the nineteenth such dinner. All three of my children participated in this dinner and so did I–usually in the kitchen, serving up the plates and washing dishes.
So now it is nice to go and sit at a table with friends and be on the receiving end.
Everyone comes to this party and by Everyone I mean even the Old Man.
It is always the same menu: salad and lasagna and Italian bread with some fancy desserts thrown in. “Elegant” means they use real china and hang up some strings of twinkly white lights in Albright Hall. There are checkered tableclothes and candles in chianti bottles. You get the picture. The teenage waiters wear white shirts, black pants and bow ties. Oh my.
Everyone goes home at 9 o’clock. And, thank you, I would rather attend this function than any society ball or self-aggrandizing academic ceremony you can name.
On Sunday we watched the Super Bowl with some other like-minded, football-indifferent friends. I rooted for Peyton Manning and his Broncos, but was uninvested really in the outcome. (Ever since the Rams lost that heart-breaker in Super Bowl XXXVI and Kurt Warner moved to Phoenix, I haven’t cared much about football.) It was a major bummer, nevertheless, that Peyton’s team lost and lost Big Time, but oh well. It is just football. We enjoyed seeing our hometown Clydesdales in the latest AB commercial. However, my favorite (besides the Oikos Full House reunion) was the Go Daddy commercial with the running bodybuilders.
Now our local weather wizards are saying we’ll have more snow this week. But Candlemas was dark and dreary, so I hope that means that we will NOT have two winters. However, I see that Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, much to the chagrin of everyone hoping for an early spring. Conflicting superstitions. C’est la vie.
I am not a big professional sports fan, and I certainly could not care less about the Super Bowl unless the home team is playing. Even the ads of late have been disappointing.
But who can’t root for the Ravens when they have fans like this:
My bon ami Dick posted on Facebook yesterday about going to a football game at West Point and I don’t think he will mind if I share what he said and some of his pictures from the event.
dual personalities 