By the time the Superbowl rolls around, I've usually watched enough football and seen and heard enough analysis of football that I often can't generate much more than a passing interest in the game itself. Also, my team last played a meaningful game more than 2 months ago.
Yesterday afternoon, I heard about 15 minutes of an interview Jim Gray did with Patriots owner Robert Kraft. He is beloved by his players, apparently, and, after hearing the interview, I think I understand a bit about why. He lost his wife last summer and he and the team dedicated the 2011 season to her memory. Until yesterday, I was just hoping for a close game (which we got) but when the game started, I was cheering for the Patriots.
Maybe Lee Evans and Wes Welker will commiserate this off-season about what it might have meant to just hold on to the ball at a critical time in a critical game. Evans could not hold on to a pass in the endzone near the end of the AFC Champioship Game but if he had, the Ravens would have played the Giants last night in the Superbowl. If the usually sure-handed Welker had closed his hands on a pass late in the Superbowl, the Patriots would probably have been able to run out the clock and win the game.
For various reasons, I cancelled my Rogers cable, efective this past Friday. I bought an HD TV antenna for which I had great expectations since I live on the 11th floor of my building with a clear south exposure. I do get as many as 20 channels at certain times of the day and in certain kinds of weather. The problem with digital signals is that if the signal strength does not meet a certain minimum level, it cuts out. You either get the signal in stunning 1080 HD or you get nothing. Gone are the days of adjusting the rabbit ears to get a "watchable" picture with minimum fuzziness. I had planned on watching the game on WGRZ, the Buffalo NBC affiliate, which would have allowed me to watch the US commercials during the game. The signal was good on Sunday afternoon, but when darkness and kick-off approached, it dissappeared. So, I watched the game on CFTO with the Canadian commercials like everyone else. I may invest in a more expensive antenna.
Amazingly enough, the City of Toronto and its outside workers in local 416 came to an agreement yesterday and there will be no work stoppage. This is obviously good news for our outdoor Thursday night hockey games. There is no question that the union felt that it had little room to resist some of the conditions which the City threatended to unilaterally impose, beginning this morning. Public sentiment and the memory of the strike of the summer of 2009 weighed heavily on the union as it feared a backlash if there had been a work stoppage. The contract negotiated over the weekend will form the basis for the next round of negotiations with local 79, which represents the City's 22,000 inside workers. Rob Ford looked like he was trying to take credit for the agreement yesterday. He needs all the positive press he can get as Karen Stintz seems to be circling her wagons for a showdown with him on the transit file.
The next event on the NFL calendar is the scramble to sign free agents which begins next month. Then the college draft comes in April. Training camps start in late July. I will probably receive my 2012 season ticket invoice this week. Ralph needs the money as early as possible, I guess.
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