That Conspiracy Theory is Crazy....or is it?

Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce and friend

It sounds like such an outlandish conspiracy theory that one may well suspect that it's a "false flag" planted by Democrats posing as Republicans to make the latter look ridiculous.

The theory, as stated by Scott Ostler of the Chronicle:

Thanks to a host of right-wing news sources with a wide collective audience, everyone with half a brain (but no more) is convinced that the Democratic Party and the NFL have joined in a conspiracy to assure that the Chiefs beat the 49ers.

Major right-wing media influencers, and even a one-time presidential hopeful, are uniting to spread the word of this devious plot, the purpose of which is to provide Swift an even greater platform from which to rock the 2024 vote in favor of Joe Biden.

Even the Wall Street Journal editorial page saw fit to make some remarks:

The story is that the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 will be rigged so that the Chiefs win in a dramatic fashion. Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce will get engaged. That way they’ll be at peak influence to cut a joint October ad for Mr. Biden.

This is either lunacy or it’s theater. Our guess is the latter. Many of its purveyors well know they’re putting on an act, but there’s fame and notoriety and money to be had from spinning conspiracy theories, the crazier the better.

Yet the paranoia on the right about a romance between the most popular singer in the world and an NFL player does make Republicans seem, frankly, weird.

Frankly, these analysts should look deeper. This could really be a plot by the San Francisco 49ers to get the conservative half of the country to root for them. San Francisco's homelessness, drugs, crime, and filth have threatened to taint the 49ers by their association with the City.

Come aboard the 49ers bandwagon, MAGAns. Don't give Kelce-Swift or Swift-Kelce a platform at the Super Bowl! (Hey, that sounds like a ticket that has greater appeal than the choice this year, and, get this, both will turn 35 by the end of this year.)

"Did We Win?"

Three days after he suffered a cardiac arrest on national television Damar Hamlin regained consciousness:

“Did we win?” he asked his bedside nurse.

Hamlin is now awake and appears to be neurologically intact, his physicians said, as they detailed his condition at a news conference for the first time after Hamlin collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest during Monday’s game. The doctors from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center spoke cautiously, noting that he remains critically ill, and is on a ventilator as his lungs continue to heal...

Hamlin continues to undergo intensive care and receive assistance for breathing. “We would like to see him continue to improve, to be completely breathing on his own, and then to be ready to be discharged from the hospital,” [Dr. Timothy] Pritts said. “We really want to get him home.”

Players, coaches, the thousands affiliated with NFL teams, and millions of fans had their priorities upended when the Buffalo Bills safety collapsed on the field. Everyone familiar with the game had seen on-field injuries, some severe, but never had anyone witnessed a player on the edge of losing his life.

The minds of the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals were no longer on playing football Monday night, and the game was suspended. The news, both print and electronic, have since been filled with discussions about the rewards and health risks of football, whether the Bills and Bengals should continue their contest, and the implications for the locations of playoff games leading to the Super Bowl under either scenario.

Regardless of their position on these topics, all have stated that the most important consideration was the health and well-being of Damar Hamlin and his family.

His first comment was therefore both amusing and poignant. When someone undergoes a life-altering experience, one usually resets priorities while the rest of society goes on as usual. "Did we win?" reminded us how Damar changed everyone's perspective about football, while the catalyst himself remained in the world that existed the second before he went down.

The Best Post-Season Ever

The four-game divisional round three weeks ago ("The Best Weekend of Football Ever") was followed by two closely contested Conference championship games: Rams 20, 49ers 17; Bengals 27, Chiefs 24.

The Super Bowl is often a letdown, but not this one:

The Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the 56th Super Bowl.

Los Angeles led 13-3 before falling behind 20-13. They survived a pair of interceptions thrown by Matthew Stafford, an injury to Odell Beckham Jr. and long stretches when the offense struggled to move the ball.

Yet with the game on the line, the Rams turned it around. That’s because they went for it.

Down 20-16 with five minutes left on their own 30-yard-line, the Rams faced fourth-and-1. In lieu of punting, Stafford handed the ball off to Cooper Kupp, the NFL’s most productive receiver this season, who ran seven yards for the first down. It was the pivotal play on a drive that ended with a barrage of penalties—before Stafford hit Kupp for a one-yard score.

The Bengals got the ball back with 1:25 to go, and when Joe Burrow is the opposing quarterback anything is possible. He began the drive with back-to-back completions that totaled 26 yards. But after Burrow helplessly threw the ball into nowhere as he was getting dragged down on fourth down, the Rams players stormed onto the field. The Lombardi Trophy was about to be theirs.

Not only were they all close, the final and winning score was made in the last few minutes, sometimes seconds, of each game.

The ancient Romans stupefied the masses with bread and circuses, but they were pikers compared to the NFL.

The half-time show wasn't bad either

Enjoy the Moment

In two days it will be Super Bowl Sunday, and many couples will not be in the same moment together.

Some will gravitate toward watching the game, and others will revel in the social gathering. Perhaps everyone will intersect at the food table.

For the record last year's Super Bowl on February 7, 2021 in Tampa was not a super-spreader event. Hillsborough County chief epidemiologist Michael Wiese:

"While we didn’t really have a lot [55 cases] that was associated directly with the Super Bowl, we do know that the community kind of celebrated and got together in response to the events, which did show some increase in the transmission during the weeks afterward."

The transmission rate was low a year ago, and that was before vaccines were available.

Stay out of nursing homes, pop that Vitamin D, and enjoy the game.

Age is Only a Number

Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to
victory in Super Bowl LVII (CBS Sports)

Today is 2-2-22, which would be trivial, except that mark on the calendar made me think how I'll need some luck to make it to 3-3-33 and a lot of good fortune to be here when 4-4-44 rolls around. Age makes one more reflective.

Speaking of reflection, Tom Brady mused on life, family, and football after the Bucs lost in the playoffs last week. To little surprise he retired from professional football yesterday. It seems like he's been around forever, but his entire NFL career took place in the 21st century.

The span of his career is outrageous. There are plenty of Brady fans—plenty of recent teammates, too—who don’t remember the Michigan platoons, his flabby combine, the draft day demotion, the Drew Bledsoe injury succession, or the iffy Tuck Rule versus the Raiders in the snow. Lots of fans hopped aboard the Brady Experience along the way. Just as there are older Brady fans from New England who can recall the grisly, pre-Brady, pre-Belichick, pre-Bledsoe wilderness, there are young Bucs fans who will remember Brady strictly in pirate flags and pewter.

With his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen, three handsome kids (the first with actress Bridget Moynahan), hundreds of $millions earned from football, retirement relatively uninjured at the top of his game, universally admired and recognized, Tom Brady embodies the American dream: a man from humble beginnings, continually underestimated, who worked harder than anyone else and achieved unmatched greatness in his chosen profession.

Athletes are never as famous or accomplished after retirement, but don't bet against Tom Brady. The good news for me is that, if I do make it to 4-4-44, I get to watch him do it.

The Best Weekend of Football Ever

Tetraptych of the four winning quarterbacks: Burrow, Bengals;
Mahomes, Chiefs; Garoppolo, 49ers; Stafford, Rams (WSJ photo)

Fans of professional football for over 50 years, we've always made a point of tuning into the Divisional Playoffs, four weekend games which pit the eight teams left in the Super Bowl tournament. We hope for one, maybe two exciting games; usually there are a number of stinkers that are decided by halftime.

Last weekend each game was exciting enough to have been the highlight of the weekend in past years.

the 2022 version of the divisional round may be the best ever.

Two No. 1 seeds were taken out in the divisional round, the first time that's happened since 2010. All four teams that won earned the victory in walk-off fashion.

Evan McPherson hit a game-winning 52-yard field goal to give the No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals a 19-16 win over the top-seeded Tennessee Titans.

Robbie Gould hit a game-winning 45-yard field goal to give the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers a 13-10 win over the top-seeded Green Bay Packers.

Matt Gay hit the winning 30-yard field as the Los Angeles Rams knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Patrick Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce on an eight-yard touchdown pass to give the Kansas City Chiefs an overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills.

The National Football League couldn't have written the script any better. The first game, Cincinnati's upset win over Tennessee that was decided by a last-second field goal, was exciting, but each succeeding game was even more thrilling as the stars elevated their play. IMHO, the games were "won," not "lost."

a football weekend like this past one, a four-contest, do-or-die playoff buffet in which the first game was totally wild, the second game was utterly wilder, the third game was straight-up bonkersville, and I really don’t have the term to describe the fourth game, because the English language has yet to come up with a sufficient word to precisely describe its final minutes of madness...

It was some 24 hours, starting with Cincinnati winning a football game they really had no business winning, to San Francisco winning a wintry game they had no business winning, to the Los Angeles Rams winning a game they did their best to gift wrap and leave on the doorstep for Tampa Bay, to a relentless jaw-dropper between Kansas City and Buffalo in which the lead flipped back and forth in the closing seconds of regulation.

Another reason this was a great weekend for football: for the first time in 5-7 years the focus has been on the games and not on fundamental threats to its popularity. Rule changes and improvements to safety equipment have halted, at least temporarily, the furor over CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). A combination of acceding to some of the players' demands and a general lowering of the political temperature has pushed the flag-kneeling controversy to the background. Vaccinations and greater knowledge of the disease have made COVID protocols less disruptive.

Go Niners!

The Brady Bunch (of Super Bowl Rings)

Tom Brady and the Lombardi Trophy
are old friends (WSJ photo)

Like most football fans, I rooted against the New England Patriots because they dominated the NFL like the Yankees used to in baseball and because for a while they were competing with the 49ers (and Steelers and Cowboys) for the unofficial title of best franchise.

By the mid-teens it was clear that the Patriots, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady were the front-runners for, respectively, greatest franchise, greatest coach, and greatest quarterback of all time.

In 2016, believing that Tom Brady's career was coming to an end, I set aside my rooting interest in the 49ers and appreciated what we have been seeing since 2000 when he started his NFL career.

In 2018 the Patriots, Belichick, and Brady sealed their historical stature by playing in their ninth Super Bowl and winning their sixth. That was it, I thought, Tom Brady had all the accolades and money that he could ever want, and he will likely retire at the top. Of course, what we mortals would choose for ourselves wasn't for him. When New England did not renew his contract, instead of retiring he went to Tampa Bay for the 2020 season.

What Tom Brady did yesterday at the Super Bowl (Bucs 31, Chiefs 9)--winning his 7th ring in 10 appearances--was mind-boggling. For perspective a quarterback who wins two championships is normally a lock for the Hall of Fame. Even those who "only" win one, such as Aaron Rodgers of the Packers and Drew Brees of the Saints, will probably make the HOF.

Rather than debase ourselves as fan-boys in the face of unparalleled greatness, we can just make lame jokes about Tom Brady, e.g.:

Seriously, you think Tom Brady isn’t subject to the laws of mortality? Not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but let’s be real — when Brady is 60, he’s going to be an ordinary quarterback...

Tell you this, kids: Brady isn’t training on crap food and chemical sugar swill. In the postgame locker room, Brady’s teammates probably poured kombucha over his head.

"Buc"-ing Father Time

Tom Brady celebrates (AP/Chronicle)

In the battle of Northern California quarterbacks the San Mateo native defeated the Chico Kid to go to the Super Bowl. (Translation: Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defeated Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers, 31-26.)

The quarterback play wasn't stellar--Tom Brady threw three interceptions and Aaron Rodgers one--but both played well at the finish. In fact an excellent argument can be made that the Green Bay loss wasn't due to the quarterback but the coach, who chose to rely on his defense to get the ball back rather than count on Aaron Rodgers to tie the game:

They were helped by a strange decision by Packers coach Matt LaFleur with just over two minutes remaining and down by eight points. On fourth-and-goal, he elected to kick a field goal to get within five. Tampa Bay then ran out the clock on the Packers (14-4).

We tuned in to watch the first-ever playoff matchup between these two Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterbacks. With their combined age of 80 years, the odds are against their meeting again to play for a chance at a title. Any way, now that 43-year-old Tom Brady is in the Super Bowl, we in the senior demographic will have to cheer him on.

Winning by Losing

QB's Mahomes and Garoppolo after the game (Chron photo)

When the 49ers lost the Super Bowl to the Chiefs on February 2nd, Bay Area fans were, of course, disappointed.

But not too badly.

The 49ers had far outperformed expectations for the season.

It was a terrific game that wasn't decided until the final minutes.

The 49ers have a good, young team that should make them contenders for years.

2017 Warriors parade, Oakland (WSJ photo)

Now comes the report that many lives were possibly saved because the 49ers did not have a victory parade:

It’s impossible to know precisely how many people would have packed the streets to fete quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, coach Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers. But it’s possible to offer a rough estimate: a lot of people.

When the Golden State Warriors won their three recent championships, the parades in Oakland attracted reported crowds of between 500,000 to 1.5 million fans.

But wasn't San Francisco's gain Kansas City's loss? Not this time.

...the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl turned out to be a public health savior. Kansas City happened to be one of the last NFL cities to report its first case of the virus, and the hundreds of thousands of long-suffering fans who celebrated on Feb. 5 were about six weeks behind San Francisco. Not until March 18 did Kansas City report its first case. Bay Area residents had been ordered to shelter-in-place by then.

San Francisco fans lamented that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was perhaps the only player in the league who could have overcome a 10-point lead against the 49er defense in the fourth quarter.

Thank God he was there, as both cities won.

Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs 31, 49ers 20

QB's Mahomes and Garoppolo after the game (Chron photo)

The local team didn't win, but it was a pretty good Super Bowl. The lead changed hands several times, and the game wasn't resolved until the 49ers had to give up the ball on downs on a must-score drive in the 4th quarter. (I suppose a "great" Super Bowl is one that features spectacular plays and a game-winning TD in the final minute.)

Also making it good: there were no questionable calls, and the losers, who were the better team for the first 54 minutes, have no one to blame but themselves for allowing the Chiefs to score the last 21 points in the game.

Also, I was happy to see good-guy Andy Reid, 61, win a Super Bowl after 22 years of being a head coach in the NFL.

The 49ers have a young team, with only a few at risk for leaving next year, and a brilliant young head coach in Kyle Shanahan. They should be contenders for years.

Wait till next year....

Sunday Worship

Out (for over 200 years): unification of Church and State.

In (for this Sunday): unification of Church and football.

Politics will be forgotten this afternoon as a dozen church members gather in the Parish Hall to root for the 49ers. I will have to remember to be careful about the words I use when the local team makes a mistake.

Tête d’homme au béret,
1971, oil on canvas,

One lady who disdains football will see the Picasso exhibition at the Pace Museum in Palo Alto.

With a sizable section of the population watching the game, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best times to play golf, shop, dine at popular restaurants (without TV screens), or drive.

It's an unofficial holiday where everyone wins, except for fans of the losing team.

Super Bowl LIII: Confounding Expectations

The GCOAT and GQOAT (si.com image)

NFL rules changes intended to limit injuries have resulted in an explosion in offensive football. Last year's Super Bowl--Eagles 41, Patriots 33--was the second-highest-scoring Super Bowl in history, one point shy of 1995's contest (49ers 49, Chargers 26).

In this year's championship the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots were both among the top-five offenses in the league--while being in the bottom half in defense--so more fireworks were expected.

Super Bowl LIII--Patriots 13, Rams 3--confounded expectations. It was the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history and many people called it boring. Not me.

Toward the end of a tight, low-scoring game each play's importance is heightened. If the defense makes a mistake, that could well be the decider because the offense is unlikely to come back with a score. That sort of game is suspenseful and thrilling, where just making a first down is an achievement or even grinding out field position in a punting duel is sound strategy. (Your humble blogger also enjoys 1-0 pitching duels where sacrifice bunts, stolen bases, and aiming a ground ball to advance the runner are paramount, but I'm a sports fossil.)

I also appreciated watching Tom Brady and Bill Belichick seal their reputations as the greatest quarterback and coach, respectively, of all time. It was another chance to watch them at work, for in my lifetime I'll never see their like again.

Ready to Go

Nick Foles after a Super Bowl TD (Washington Post)

In July, 2016 quarterback Nick Foles had been cut by the St. Louis Rams and decided to retire from football. Sports Illustrated:

He planned to become a high school pastor and join his father, Larry, as a full-time restaurateur.

Kansas City Coach Andy Reid contacted the 27-year-old and signed him as the backup quarterback for the Chiefs ("You have a lot of great football left in you").

Confidence restored, he became the backup QB for the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2017-2018 season. Taking over when starting quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a season-ending injury in December, Nick Foles was so lightly regarded that the Eagles were the underdog in each of their three playoff games.

On Sunday the Eagles were Super Bowl champions, and Nick Foles was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

He's at the mountain top now, but he doesn't seem to be caught up in the moment.

"I think in our society today, Instagram, Twitter, it's a highlight reel. It's all the good things. And then when you look at it, when you think like, wow, when you have a rough day, 'My life's not as good as that,' (you think) you're failing.

"Failure is a part of life. It's a part of building character and growing. Without failure, who would you be? I wouldn't be up here if I hadn't fallen thousands of times. Made mistakes.

"We all are human, we all have weaknesses, and I think throughout this, (it's been important) to be able to share that and be transparent. I know when I listen to people speak and they share their weaknesses, I'm listening. Because (it) resonates.

"So I'm not perfect. I'm not Superman. I might be in the NFL, I might have just won a Super Bowl, but, hey, we still have daily struggles, I still have daily struggles. And that's where my faith comes in, that's where my family comes in.

"I think when you look at a struggle in your life, just know that's just an opportunity for your character to grow. And that's just been the message. Simple. If something's going on in your life and you're struggling? Embrace it. Because you're growing."

Andy Reid understated how much great football he had left, but when Nick Foles eventually hangs up his cleats, it looks like he's already well-prepared for his second career.

[Update - 2/7: Nick Foles wasn't channeling Friedrich Nietzsche ("what does not kill me makes me stronger") Giving thanks for one's own suffering is a very old Christian concept.

we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. --Romans 5]

The Advantage of Cosmopolitanism

Like last year, 2016's Chinese New Year is very close to Lent. As noted yesterday a quirk of the calendar has given us the excuse to indulge in three days of continuous gluttony. Happy New Year!

Fat Super Sunday

The Tuesday before Lent once commanded a decent turnout for the traditional pancake supper, but attendance has been dwindling for some time.

And so it is that many churches now celebrate mardi gras after the Sunday service. Liz and Brian, our recent arrivals from Louisiana by way of Texas, showed that pancakes were a poor substitute for the real thing. Homemade shrimp etouffée, chicken gumbo, and king's cake made it difficult to pace oneself in anticipation of the furious gluttony that would occur later that afternoon.

At 5:30 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday
I had the weight room to myself.

We have an extra day in 2016, but the calendar seems compressed with the Super Bowl and "dimanche gras" occurring today and the Lunar New Year tomorrow.

Easter will come early this year--March 27th--as will Lent, six weeks of fasting and prayer that in my case are sorely needed.

Super Bowl City

We hied over to San Francisco to see what all the fuss was about. Apparently a tent city had sprung up in Justin Herman Plaza, overflowing onto Market Street and the Embarcadero.

It was in the same place held by Occupy SF four years ago, but these "occupiers" came from different circumstances.

Super Bowl City was built to celebrate Super Bowl 50, which is going to be held this Sunday, 45 miles south in Santa Clara.

Parking lots along the Embarcadero had doubled their all-day parking fees to $40 (we found a $20 garage a block inland). We passed through security and strolled by large corporate booths (Verizon, Chevron, Levi's) and many smaller ones serving food and drink.

There were also sizable media tents (CBS and ESPN). We had poor views, and loudspeakers piped out what was going on inside. One had to wait for night time to catch a glimpse of celebrity athletes and media personalities, not to mention hear the live music.

After a couple of hours of wandering around, we treated ourselves to dinner at a restaurant along the Embarcadero. Nothing like seafood and sourdough to dispel the disappointments of the day.

[Update - 2/5: The Streets of San Francisco: Super Bowl City Meets Tent City]

1 Th 5:18

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson is well known for his Christian faith and regularly gives thanks to God after every game. Because the Seahawks are among the elite football teams, he has been mocked for having a fair-weather theology. Even people of the cloth, who should know better, have joined in the criticism.

I spoke with a Seahawks-hater who reveled in their last-minute loss to the Patriots in an exciting 28-24 Super Bowl. "Let's see Russell Wilson give thanks now."

Okay, here---from Russell Wilson's Twitter page:

What's sad about this exchange is how little non- or casual Christians understand about the faith of serious believers, who have long wrestled with why Bad Things Happen to Good People, things much worse than losing a Super Bowl.

I will always root for the 49ers when they play the Seahawks, but I won't root against Russell Wilson.

Why I Have TiVo

The TiVo DVR began recording before the kickoff. Leaving the house to run errands, I planned to return for what everyone said was going to be an exciting second half.

At halftime the score was Seattle 22, Denver 0. Early in the 3rd quarter Seattle's lead rose to 29-0. There was no point in rushing home. The final score of 43-8 was the third largest margin of victory in Super Bowl history.

It became a pleasant, productive Sunday afternoon, as the stores, restaurants, and roads were uncrowded. Despite its one-sidedness, over 100 million Americans watched the contest. (Hey, the Roman Colosseum had good turnouts, too, though the Lions were pretty unbeatable.)

Well, this is why I got TiVo: to fast-forward through the program to watch the commercials.

Shirtsleeves and Shorts Won't Be Enough

2013 Fan Fest photo by Generik11

In 2010 the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. On a gorgeous Saturday the following February, AT&T Park was packed with enthusiastic fans while the Northeast was buried in snow.

In 2012 the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. On a gorgeous Saturday the following February, AT&T Park was packed with enthusiastic fans while the Northeast was buried in snow.

In 2013 we're hoping for another baseball title, but not a repeat of the East Coast blizzard. Our worries concern another sport. In February, 2014 the Super Bowl will be held outdoors at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and we trust that the 49ers will be playing. The team will probably do fine in the cold; the delicate California fans may have a tough time.

It won't be a walk in the park.

Ravens 34, 49ers 31

Gut reactions to Super Bowl XLVII:

1) After falling behind 22 points in the 3rd quarter, the 49ers showed character by coming within five yards of taking the lead, with under two minutes to go.

2) However, the Niners once again spotted a powerful opponent (just as they did with Green Bay and Atlanta) a big lead. To win three of those games in the postseason is asking a lot of the football gods.

3) What a contrast with Bill Walsh, who would script his first 20-25 offensive plays and usually seize the advantage at the beginning of the game.

4) Were it not for having the local team in the game, I would have rooted for the Ravens' John Harbaugh, the nicer and classier brother.

5) The young, speedy 49ers look like they'll have more chances at a ring, but one never knows. Just ask Dan Marino, who was the losing quarterback in his second season and never returned to the big game.

6) The power failure delay should make a lot of people forget about the night the lights went out in Candlestick.

7) Near game's end, the Ravens ran off time by running around in the end zone and conceding a safety (two points). The Ravens held the 49ers defenders, a penalty that normally results in a safety, but in this case the penalty was meaningless. Additional seconds were burned off. Perhaps multiple end zone infractions should result in a penalty on the kick-off.

8) The 49ers had better individual players, but the Ravens played better team football. They deserved to win.