TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Super Bowl Sunday usually is a time of super excitement for me, as it is for countless others. But because it is the cumulative end this year of a NFL season that swerved around a pandemic that has resulted in over two million deaths globally and close to half-million in the United States it has not been a fun time living with a creeping virus that is kicking our butt and costing millions employment and businesses to shutter for good. As a result of that, or maybe just because I have gotten old and been here many times before, there isn’t the thrill, the excitement of waiting for the kickoff that this year will be between Kansas City and Tampa Bay. Both of these teams are being led by super quarterbacks – Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady – that are destined to be Hall of Fame guys. Still, I’m not excited about this matchup as I once would have been. I will watch, of course, and will dissect it play by play as I usually do. But there is something missing. It’s not as important as it should be. People are dying, a new President is trying to solve numerous problems all at once and one political party is not playing along. Then there is a second impeachment trial coming up for 45 on Tuesday that has all the excitement of a match-up between Notre Dame and the Sisters of the Poor. You know the outcome before the kickoff. Don’t take the points and Sisters of the Poor. You will lose. So it goes. I’d like to get excited about watching Husky basketball. But that isn’t working out very well this year either. Both the men and women hoopsters are struggling, and that’s putting it mildly. I don’t have the answers for either program, other than the head coaches need to be booted…. The Los Angeles Rams pick up Matt Stafford in exchange for Jared Goff and I’m excited to see what happens. No. I’m not really excited. Stafford isn’t going to make the Rams much better and Goff is not going to turn around a Detroit Lions franchise that has been in the tank so long that mildew has set in. It’s a desperation move by both teams. … What is there about good post players in the Big Ten? Iowa has 6-11 senior Luke Garza, who is averaging almost 28 points and nine rebounds a game and Illinois, maybe the most underrated team this year, has 7-0 foot, 285-pound Kofi Cockburn, who leads the conference with just over 10 rebounds a game and around 17 points on just 10 shots on average. He is also shooting nearly 70 percent from the field. I like both Garza and Cockburn, who is a sophomore, but I like Cockburn better because he is a punishing guy to defend. When he wants the ball, he gets the ball. … The Seahawks switch offensive coordinators and that is supposed to make them a Super Bowl contender? Nah, no way. I agree with coach Pete Carroll that defense wins championships, but the Hawks need more than a super defense. They need some more top receivers. And, please, start throwing to the tight ends. And they need a running back that can run away from people. Chris Carson is not that guy. … Okay, enough for today. I got to post this before the Super Bowl game begins. Oh, by the way, Brady and Tampa Bay will win the game. I don’t want him to win. But I think the Bucs were playing the best at the end of the season and the Chiefs were not. So I will go with a 42-21 victory for Brady to win his seventh Super Bowl. If that doesn’t make him the best of all time I don’t know what will. Be safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.