Super Bowl Sunday?

To tell you the truth I do not even know who is playing this year, nor do I care.

To me this is the biggest waste of a weekend in the U.S. and the time would be better spent playing a game with the family or flopped out in the recliner reading Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward.

Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-sports. I am just very anti-professional sports with what they have become today. Now I am sure there is a player or two on the gridiron who still plays for the love of the game, but the rest? They are there for the money. Let's face it, we have a long time ahead of us before we see another Pat Tillman. Perhaps one of the finest models of a true American in my humble opinion. He played because he loved the sport, not the money. He proved it when he turned down a large salary to play for the team that gave him his shot. And when his country needed him, he answered the call.

This coming weekend is just nothing more then a lame excuse for people to gather and then see who can become the drunkest moron in the room. I saw this every year that I worked in the pub. A crowd would show up at opening and then drink until the game started. Then they would drink some more, offering up high fives and slaps on the back for each touchdown scored. And when the game was over they would drag themselves to the car and drive home.

That's right. Super Bowl Sunday ranks in the top five days of the year for drunk driving fatalities. The only holiday period with a higher rate is the New Years period.

Like I said above, I do not dislike sports just the professional ones. I grew up running track and cross country, playing soccer as well as lacrosse. I earned letters every year during high school for playing and when I joined the Army I organized my battalions soccer teams.

I just do not think teaching our kids to see sports figures as hero's is the proper way to raise them. You can admire an athlete for his ability to play his or her particular sport but a hero?

If you are looking to teach your kids about heroes then teach them about people like Patrick Miller, who when his convoy came under attack fought off the attack until help could arrive. While he was captured and some teammates did die, many more were able to escape thanks to his actions. Men like Ernie Pyle, Benjamin O. Davis and so on. A hero should be someone who has placed others before themselves. Not someone who collects a fat paycheck because they have some athletic ability.

Super Bowl Sunday has turned pretty much in to a national holiday, that we have to invent reasons to gather together is sad. Sadder is that some people put more effort in to their Super Bowl party then they do their own kids birthday's or their anniversary. This just shows us what I would consider the declining moral values of today's society. We put professional athletes and events ahead of the true heroes and more worthy celebrations.