Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

The San Francisco 49ers, the #1 seed in the National Football Conference playoffs, had a little bit of a challenge taking on the #7 seed, the Green Bay packers.

I don't have television and was busy with Other Things when this game was going on, so I was able to watch the game highlights spoiler free.

( Spoiler Cut Just In Case You Care )

Meanwhile, my replaced crowns still hurt, but not as bad as they did when they were installed last Tuesday.

Somewhat to my surprise, and despite what the FAQ said, I was in fact able to watch the Super Bowl^® online despite not having a cable subscription. To my surprise, it was an entertaining game. I had no dog in the fight so I could watch it relatively dispassionately. I did enjoy the trick plays, particularly the direct snap-reverse-pass-to-the-QB that the Eagles pulled.

During the second half, some relatively urgent requests came in for the Worldcon 76 web site Hugo Awards^® page. As you may have heard, the nominating period for the 2018 Hugo Awards (and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the inaugural Award for Best Young Adult Book) and the 1943 Retrospective Hugo Awards is now open. This weekend, e-mails have been going out to the thousands of eligible members of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Worldcons giving them instructions for voting.

During the fourth quarter of The Game, I was writing web site requests and trading e-mails with other members of the Hugo Administration team at Worldcon 76. I hope that I haven't make any glaring mistakes with the material I provided the web team. I'm also relieved that I went no farther from home this weekend than the Frontier Fun Center to bowl a few games after breakfast this morning, and therefore could stay here monitoring my e-mail while watching the football.

BASFA generally always ends its weekly festivities by adopting a "Rumor of the Week." We didn't adopt the one I preferred, but I liked it so much that I thought I'd share it with those of you who follow gridiron:

( New Motto for Denver )

No, you won't understand it if you don't know American Football. Don't worry about it.

This morning we hitched up the utility trailer to my minivan and drove over to Big R in Fallon to buy another ton of fence posts Douglas fir firewood, and also a splitting maul. Some of the other firewood we have is a little too large to fit into our smallmouth fireplace, and we needed something to split it down to size. Most of the mauls we saw on sale were relatively low quality, but the one from Stihl (german steel, American handle) looked right. The utility trailer tows much better with a load in it.

After lunch, it was time to settle in for the Super Bowl. We don't have either an antenna or cable TV here, but CBS Sports was indeed carrying the game online, so I fired up the computers and was able to watch the game. I was surprised that, based on Twitter comments, the online ads were not the US broadcast feed ads. But again, based on some of the comments, that's possibly for the best. Lisa wasn't interested at all, but she sent travelswithkuma to watch the game with me. "Not enough fishes," he said.

As for the game, well, that was of course a disappointment for a 49ers fan like me. And I had a stake in that game, having placed a (legal; it is Nevada) bet on the 'Niners at +4, so they had to win by at least five for me to collect. Believe it or not, I had a brief ray of hope when the Ravens took an intentional safety at the end of the game, because there was at least a possibility of a push on the bet (had the 'Niners won by exactly four points, the bet would have been a push), but I then realized that even if the free kick had been run back for a touchdown, the clock would have run out and therefore it would have been only a three point game. But I still would have been happier than how it actually turned out.

Oh, well, how long before pitchers and catchers report?

Yes, I spent most of today sat on (or in front) of the sofa watching the Super Bowl. That's when I wasn't sleeping, which I did a lot of. I even managed to get out for a walk after breakfast, which I had about Noon.

I enjoyed the game a lot, but let me add my voice to those who thought that halftime show was painful. I guess they figured there couldn't be an embarrassing "wardrobe malfunction" with the Who. It's funny-but-tragic that they would be considered a safe, conservative choice. I wasn't the only person I saw who said they sounded like a bad cover band of themselves. Sad.

The advertisements were not very good, I think. I was particularly annoyed that at least two ads had the underlying message that being a good husband/boyfriend made you into a wimp and that you should stand up and be a Real Man.

Anyway, I reckon they'll be partying all night long in the French Quarter, and maybe for days to come. Mardi Gras has come early!

Alas, now I need to get back to work, because there are things that need to be done tonight before the folks back east come to work tomorrow morning.

I should very much like the Arizona Cardinals' score to end in 0 and the Pittsburgh Steelers' score to end in 1 at the end of the first quarter of the Super Bowl and for the score to stay just like that for the rest of the game. But given that I won $200 (off the final score) of one of the playoff games, I think it's probably asking too much for lightning to strike again.

Note that said score preference has nothing to do with who wins. Arizona 30-Steelers 21 wins me just as much as Arizona 10-Steelers 21 does.