I’m not exactly a big sports fan. That doesn’t mean that I ignore sport entirely. I have some really good friends and loved ones who are really into backing their teams and following the game. They get to know the personalities of the coaches and players and find a lot of fun cheering their teams. For more than a decade we had a tradition at our church of a particular church leader serving as our lay liturgist on Super Bowl Sunday. I’d write a script that reflected on the teams and offered a mild bit of pseudo-religious commentary. It was all in fun and the congregation appreciated the creativity and laughed at the jokes. Those years required that I learn something about the teams and at least pay attention to the football playoffs.

And football is certainly in the news as we prepare for the big game this weekend. I just haven’t gotten into it this year. The teams of my friends and family members didn’t make it to the big game, though I do know a couple of Seahawks fans and Rapid City has a few residual Patriots fans left over from the days when Adam Vinatieri played for the team. But the Patriots eliminated the team Adam plays for this year. The graduate of Rapid City Central High School is a genuinely nice guy and a football legend. I met him on two occasions and he donated an autographed football to our Costa Rica project once. I could cheer for a team simply because Adam is playing on that team. But the Colts are out of the running, eliminated by Adam’s former team and number 4 won’t be kicking in the big game.

I haven’t even watched any of the commercials. Some years I had watched all of the commercials before the big game - even blogged about them. I guess that there isn’t that much I want to buy. Football commercials are pretty much about big money and not much about the brands that interest me. I’m not in the market for a car, and if I were, I’m not sure that Mercedes, Kia and Toyota are my brands. Am I missing something here? Wouldn’t you think that Chrysler, Ford and GM might want to advertise for America’s biggest game? Budweiser is back, of course, but Pepsi is surprisingly absent.

I may not be a big sports fan, but when it comes to advertising, I REALLY don’t know what I’m talking about.

I haven’t gotten into the hype about which team has cheated more often and which one has caused the most injuries among its opponents.

That is not to say that I haven’t made some big plans for game day. I think that we’ve got enough groceries in the house so that we don’t have to go to the madness that is our usual grocery store between now and the game. “Excuse me, sir, if you moved that cart one inch to the left, you’d have the aisle completely blocked so that no one could get through.” “That’s a cute sculpture you made out of cases of pop, but didn’t the fire inspector require aisles in your grocery store for some reason?” “Why, oh why did I think I wanted to pick up a couple of potatoes? There’s a whole aisle of potato chips between me and the produce section.”

I might even consider paying the extra $1.50 for a gallon of milk at the convenience store on the corner if we run out during the weekend.

Yes, I really have become as old and grumpy as my father used to be. Sigh . . .

I have been doing a limited amount of research about Kevlar cloth in preparation for the outfitting of the kayak I am building. The material is surprisingly strong and versatile. They make all sorts of things out of it. The use of Kevlar in football helmets promises to prevent some of the brain injuries that are possible with the game. Professional teams have followed the lead of college teams in providing Kevlar-fortified liners for their players’ helmets. I wonder if anyone has suggested to Kay Perry that she consult with a fashion designer to create a Kevlar costume for her half time show. I probably won’t be watching, but I’d sure hate to have to read about another “wardrobe malfunction” for months following the big game.

And while I’m on a rant, I could go on and on about the University of Phoenix. I understand that we live in a country where capitalism is the foundation of our economy, but after years and years of supporting the non-profit, church-related institutions of higher education from which I graduated, there is something that seems not quite right about a for-profit university. And the University of Phoenix is so full of online classes, certificate programs and other ways to squeeze tuition out of students that they set new records each year for the number of students who attend but don’t earn credits that transfer or degrees that are recognized.They will, however, get a lot of press attention because their Super-duper stadium with retractable field sides is the location of the big game. OK. I know it isn’t really “their” stadium. It isn’t as if students of the university get to play football in the giant home of the Arizona Cardinals (yea, the name still sounds funny to me, too.) The University of Phoenix paid $154 million to have their name put on the stadium for 20 years. I guess the business of for-profit education is a lucrative one. None of the universities and colleges I’m familiar with have $154 million sitting around for what is essentially advertising. Or maybe it is just a matter of priorities. The University did close 115 locations affecting 13,000 students after a 60% fourth-quarter loss for its parent company, Apollo Group, Inc. They weren’t exactly celebrated in the Senate report last summer that pointed out that their track record of students actually getting jobs is somewhat less than stellar - OK abysmal.

Fortunately, however, this is as close to a Super Bowl blog as I’m going to produce this year and if you’re reading this, you’ve probably endured it and are eager to get on to other topics.

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