A few thoughts about GI Joe and Lillie

So, happy Super Bowl Sunday… Again? So soon? Where did this year go? It does seem like it was just yesterday I was yelling “WHO DAT say gonna beat dem SAINTS!”

AND… nobody did!

Today we await the kickoff of Super Bowl Forty Five, which will take place in snowy Dallas, Texas, deep within the confines of a new football planet called Jerry World, between the Cheeseheads and the Steelheads.

SUPER BOWL VLV111XMZ! Oh well I was never was good at the Roman Numerals thing. But FORTY FIVE? Really? I hate to admit it, but I remember Super Bowl ONE! Lombardi’s Packers and Hank Stram's Chiefs!

I really remember THREE, when the Namath-led upstart Jets beat the Baltimore Colts. I was singing with the Keystones at a church in Pleasantville, NJ, and we watched it at a preacher’s house with most of the youth group in attendance. I am not sure how much food was consumed that afternoon, but I am certain we sent the parsonage budget well into the red as Joe Willie marched off the field and into the tunnel waving the number one sign.

Big sporting events do indeed mark the passing of time like no other. I feel sorry for people who do not enjoy sports. How do they mark time? Where were they when Bird played Magic, or Borg took on Connors, or Ali fought Foreman at the Thrilla in Manila? Does the Ice Bowl or Fenway Game Six between the BoSox and The Big Red Machine ever even cross their mind? How can you not think about Gibson’s hobbling homer or Shillings bloody sock, or Michael Jordan’s buzzer beater or The Immaculate Reception at least every once in awhile?

I am being a bit silly, of course, but for the sports fan we do seem to mark our years with fleeting memories of certain games and players and events and such, or least I do…

But back to Super Sunday’s past… I can shut my eyes and easily see a scrambling Fran Tarkenton… Vince Lombardi, the No Name Defense, the Purple People Eaters, the Steel Curtain, the Super Bowl Shuffle, Jerry Rice running underneath a perfect throw by Joe Montana for Six. A Giant receiver catching the football with his head, Manning in the rain, Brady in the sun, the Buffalo Bills missing a field goal, my Titans coming up one yard short against the Greatest Show on Turf, and even Janet Jackson… Just what DID we see there? To this day I am not certain, but I will tell you what I thought was the coolest ever halftime musical moment, and that was Prince in Miami singing Purple Rain IN the purple rain. The skies opened up at just the right moment, and with the purple lights all around him lighting up the rain I really thought the special FX guy outdid himself.

But seriously, who can forget U2 singing, while all the names of the fallen from 9/11 rolled by upon a large black scroll behind them. That was the only time a halftime show ever made me cry. I also remember a good laugh when the Boss went into a Springsteen slide and couldn’t stop a few years ago. If the cameraman hadn’t been there he would have slid on into the locker room.

Commercials? Not even going there… Most years there are a few memorable moments, but they appear to grow few and far between (and more lame each year). Never has so much money been spent on so little! Besides… they have NEVER topped Mean Joe Green giving up his Jersey to a kid for a cold Coke, although the Clydesdales playing football has been good for a chuckle or two, especially when the Zebras showed up to referee.

But back to today. What a classic matchup. The PACKERS and STEELERS! It is hard for a football fan to ask for much more. Two gritty, blue collar teams with a ton of history between them. Will Mister Rogers bring the Lombardi trophy back home to Green Bay, or will Big Ben bring yet a seventh ring to the Burg? I have no dog in this fight. I am just ready for some football.

Making more memories as my grandson Luke would say. Marking more time and space, and hey… at halftime today we have the Black Eyed Peas. Fergie will be the first girl to sing at halftime since Janet Jackson… so we have that. : )

Just where IS Mean Joe Green today?

KICK IT OFF!!!!