Super Bowl set and a new read started

 Everyone is lying.

Super Bowl LIX is set and it is the Chiefs versus Eagles (again). Indeed, we saw this match up just two years ago and it is exactly what most of the country did not want to see. People are sick of the Chiefs' preferential treatment by the NFL and Eagles fans are universally hated by everyone (for good reason, by the way). As a result, fans near and far are claiming they are not going to watch the big game. "Might as well find something else to do, I'm not watching this game." 

Give me a break.

Of course you are going to watch the game! If you are a real football fan like me, you are going to watch the fricking Super Bowl. Full stop. 

Trust me, I hope both teams lose. But I'm still going to watch the game. So are you, Mr. "I Might As Well Find Something Else To Do." Stop lying.

But I do empathize with Bills fans this morning. Like my Vikings, it feels like Bills fans cheer for a cursed franchise. It is crazy how at critical moments, some teams always rise to the challenge and others crap themselves. Both the Vikings and the Bills have a history of incontinence.

Both teams are always pretty good. Each have a long history of winning. Each have even been dominant at times. But they are never good enough. At the same time, they are never bad enough to scrap everything and start over again. They are stuck in football purgatory together.

The Vikings have lost four Super Bowls, although many fans don't even remember the last Super Bowl the Vikings played in (9 January 1977); that includes myself. I was just seven years old. 

The Bills have also lost four Super Bowls, but they did so in spectacular fashion: they are the only team in NFL history to go to four consecutive Super Bowls... and they lost all four. Brutal.

Since 1998, the Vikings were one game away from the Super Bowl four different times... in fact, they were one play away in a couple of games. They are 0-6 in their last six conference championship appearances. If anyone can empathize with Bills fans this morning, it is Vikings fans. We know.

☆

Earlier this week I started reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. As crazy as it may sound, I am really enjoying it. I knew nothing about this novel before opening it up, but it has captured my attention.  The story (so far) delves into the disturbed thoughts of a psychopath... and I'd guess the novel was way ahead of its time (it was written in the 1860s).  It is translated from Russian, so the flow can be choppy at times, but the story is quite compelling. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it, but so far so good!

This particular novel is from the library of my wife's grandfather, Dr. H. R. Piltingsrud

We are enjoying a warming trend this week. It is gray and overcast, but it is actually above freezing(!). I took advantage of the warmer (relatively speaking, of course) weather and washed my truck this morning. I thought I would get ahead of the crowd, but there was already a line at 8:00 AM. A dash of patience paid off; the salt and grime is off my truck, so it was worth the wait.

Lastly, I did some deep purging this morning, removing something like 30 shirts from my closet that haven't seen the light of day in years. I found myself immediately saying, "Oh, I shouldn't get rid of this because... because...." 

Just get rid of it. 

My thought process is if I haven't worn it in the last 12 months, I don't need it. Anyway, I have way too much stuff. And now that I have cleaned things out, I feel 10 pounds lighter. It is weird how that works.