I had no dog in the fight, but I'm glad LA won for several reasons:

1. They had beaten Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC playoffs, so if Brady had to lose... I'm glad it was to the eventual Super Bowl champions.

2. You have to feel good for Matthew Stafford, the Rams' QB. He had labored for years in the pits of the NFL (the Detroit Lions) with little support, but always with enormous talent. He finally got a great team around him... and promptly led them to the Super Bowl.

3. Joe Burrow (Bengals' QB) is a generational talent. But he's only in his 2nd year in the NFL and he'll have plenty of other opportunities. Had he won, people would've unrealistically anointed him as the next Tom Brady. That can wait.


Still... the Bengals acquitted themselves well and have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. It kinda sucks because they're in the same division as my Pittsburgh Steelers... but you gotta feel good for their rags-to-riches story.

As usually happens, I watched less of the actual football game than I do throughout all the other playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl.

That's because the SB is an "event", and you invite people over for food and drinks... and some of those people aren't really there for the game, but for the halftime show and all the commercials.

So you end up talking most of the game.

Had a great time, though. Wife cooked up some air fried wings... son-in-law brought spicy crab on codfish fritters... and a brother-in-law made some terrific finger food with plenty of hot sauce involved.

Had a good beer stock, and plenty of vodka for mixed drinks. All-in-all a rousing success.