Skiing Football Weekends

I’m resting today.  I don’t do Weekends.  As a retired dowager once said, or maybe it was the Queen of England, ‘ what’s a weekend’.   Skiing is too crazy and crowded on the weekend now and we just can’t bear it.  Our relative perspective remembers how it was, when our Saturday Morning Confusion ski groups singularity was the isolated and empty norm as the tourists typically turned over their vacations on Saturday.  Sunday was a Church day for most of the local brethren and the resorts were empty, until noon at least.

We had a nice sunny powder day on the old Park West Mountain Friday with the old boys and it was classic. Except there were more people talking on phones than smoking joints waiting for the first lift to open. And it’s almost legal now Smoking pot that is.   Times have changed.   Talking on the phone used to be frowned upon too, as an intrusion on the ‘be in the moment’ ski vibe but it is almost cool now, as long as they keep it short and out of my face.  Don’t harsh my mellow, dude. 

But the resorts are off limit on Saturdays now, so today I read and write, do laundry, thaw out the hot tub again, and then go swimming or play pickle ball, work a little and watch some Football. The football thing is weird.  Last week’s billion dollar pro playoff games were decided on a bad no-call in OT and a targeting of the QB’s head early in the game. It’s all about the Quarterback and the Referees.  It all comes down to injuries and intimidation, penalties and turnovers, commercials and time outs. 

In between standing around a lot they do incredible violent and athletic things that eventually don’t count for much. I like to think that every play counted, like every move is a fake or a setup for the next, but its really just random.  Perhaps it is controlled by higher powers-that-be who refuse to let the billion dollar results depend on some highly athletic college dropouts.  These players are our gladiators, playing in the forum for our entertainment.  In ten years they will all be poor and drooling out of both sides of their mouths. Yet still we watch.  We can’t look away.

The Super Bowl was fun, with the reigning league darling and MVP having a bad game (playing nervous, afraid, hurt or concussed) but eventually winning the game and the MVP with class and courage.  We forget that the fear of getting hurt or the anxiety of high expectations can be an issue in these big games but so is experience and courage.  

The commercials were OK, with the best being about the Wicked Smart car that parks itself, but the halftime gyno show was a little much and confusing in the age of #metoo woman equality and respect.  The best part was watching the game with old friends and yelling at the TV together, eating and drinking and just being merry Americans.  Monday was just around the corner and we could not wait for our return to off-peak skiing normalcy.