Feb 01 2009
Reasons other than the Super Bowl to celebrate today
While a great number of Americans celebrate today for the crowning game of the manliest of U.S. sports (rugby and hurling players are tougher), let us not forget that there are many other reasons to celebrate this today, February 1st , and for much better reasons than an excuse to eat the most chicken wings you can without throwing up.
First of all, there are many Happy Birthdays to celebrate:
1898 - creator of really fast cars, Enzo Ferrari
1938 - comic genius Mr. Jefferson a.k.a. Sherman Hemsley (really, who knew he had his own website? do yourself a favor and visit.)
1942 - Monty Python member Terry Jones
1954 - the original choice for Eddie Munster, Billy Mumy
Or you could celebrate important events in history -
1861 - For you southerners still fighting the civil war, Texas seceded today
1920 - For you Canadians, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began operating
1960 - Something actually worth celebrating - four brave black students staged a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC
And today is worth celebrating for anyone who has enjoyed “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” - Mr. Wonka’s unprecedented tour of his factory was on February 1st.
Yet with all this worth celebrating, we are still met today with headlines such as “700 pounds of meat dumped at national monument”
Yes, that’s right. Vandals in Colorado dumped 700 pounds of elk, deer and cow carcasses at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. They could face a year in jail and $100,000 if caught. It is thought the animal parts could be from a meat processing plant.
Happy February 1st!
Rugby may be a more physically challenging game, but I wouldn’t discount the toughness of football. There’s a reason they have to wear more pads and protection than just about anyone else in sports - getting hit by a strong safety (I really wish I remembered where I read this - think it was in Sports Illustrated) in the NFL is the equivalent to having a bowling ball dropped on your chest from 12 stories up. Yikes!
I’m back in business - silly ice storm power blackouts lol…
not to discount football players (I certainly don’t want a bowling ball dropped on me from any height), but there is something about the mental preparation of just throwing your body out there vs. putting on a great number of pads, helmet, etc.
To me it’s like when you’re little and you just want to skateboard or bike and your mom tells you you have to put pads on or your father will take away your mode of transport. Sure, it’s smarter to be protected, but in a sport that does its best to promote all things “manly” (well, except for the bright spandex and ass-slapping) it seems tougher to me to just throw yourself out there.