I find myself in a position where I suddenly have some down time, and for lack of better things to do, I kind of feel like I should feel like writing. Meetings are still consuming the vast majority of my work days, but for some reason, my afternoon meeting(s) have been pushed back to a later time, so kind of out the blue, I’ve got this patch of time, and I’ve already exhausted my usual rounds of internet surfing during my morning meeting(s), so I guess I’ll try to help the time pass by writing about some things that I don’t necessarily want to spend an entire post writing about, but aren’t so bad consolidated into a singular post.
So, earlier in the week, the City of Atlanta for the most part, shut down. On Monday, the news was that an unavoidable snow storm was converging onto the southeast, including Georgia, and that by Tuesday morning, snow was all but guaranteed. Mind you, all of Monday was around the high 50’s, and by the time I left the office, had topped out at 60F degrees. It was such a beautiful day, I went home and threw the ball for big dog, since if the weather were to come true, there wouldn’t be another chance any time soon for ball time to occur.
As night rolled in, the temperature did start to drop, and I could feel that thickness in the air that typically seems to come with snow, but I couldn’t help but think in my mind how funny it would be if Snowpocalypse was some massive false call, and that nothing was to occur. I had already taken contingency plans as far as work was concerned, and made sure to collect numbers from my employees, just in case I had to let them know that the office was closed in the morning. The news kept pushing back the arrival of the impending snow from 11 pm to 3 am, and by the time I went to sleep, it was around 5 am. I went to bed, expecting to see snow on the ground by the time I woke up.
And naturally, there was none. I’m glad I didn’t alter my routine and stay up late because snow was all but guaranteed, and fuck myself from waking up. I texted all my employees and made the day optional on account of the updated news that by 10-11 am, SNOW WAS GOING TO COME, but otherwise went into the office myself. Went ot the gym, ran cardio, showered, and then went upstairs to my desk, where I had a pretty routine day; and since I’m seated next to the window, I had a front row seat to the small amount of misting that occurred, but no snow actually fell.
The picture above is a pretty accurate representation of what Snowpocalypse 2019 looked like in Atlanta.
But honestly, I don’t blame the state for doing what they did. After being the laughing stock of the world for how Snowpocalypse 2014 crippled the entire city of Atlanta with merely an inch of snow, the city never wants to be in that position again, even if it means overreacting and shutting everything down. Ultimately, people are happier getting free days off instead of being in danger, over being ridiculed by the rest of the world for its inability to handle the smallest amounts of snow. And nobody is hurt, so in the end, what’s the bother, other than the ability to laugh about it?
Because imagine the fallout if the city did get blanketed, right before Super Bowl Leee, and it actually affected the whole weekend and the game itself? Like, people who mortgaged their homes or dumped boatloads of money for tickets to a football game, suddenly can’t make it, their hotels are full of refugees, businesses are shut down, etc. Or worse off, players and personnel can’t physically get to the venue, and suddenly the biggest game of the year is postponed, solely based on the fact that Atlanta lacks in the infrastructure to handle snow?
Ultimately, who really cares, because the NFL is such trash anyway, which brings us to the topic of Super Bowl Leee, featuring the New England Patriots versus the St. Louis Rams of Los Angeles.
Frankly, I don’t give two shits of who wins. There’s a part of me that is rooting for the Rams, because as a team that was mostly unfairly displaced from St. Louis to LA, and played the vast majority of their new LA existence with no fans at all, it’ll be fun to see the Rams win and then see the entire city of Los Angeles suddenly act like they were the biggest Rams fans on the planet.
Plus, they’re the Rams. Sure, they won in 2000 with Kurt Warner, but they’re still basically the equivalent of a fly-over state in the grand spectrum of the NFL’s vaunted popular teams. They’re not the Bears, Broncos, Cowboys, Dolphins or Packers; they’re the Rams. And when a nobody team like the Rams break the narrative and actually ascend all the way to the top, who can’t find enjoyment in that?
But then there’s the other part of me that is completely ambivalent if the Patriots won yet another Super Bowl. I’ve not hidden the fact that I have no qualm or beef with the Patriots, and although I understand that the vast majority of sports fans really, really dislike the Patriots, I don’t. I admire their ability to constantly win, and there’s something to be said about the fact that they’ve made it into the playoffs regularly in a scheduling system that’s designed to make sure such doesn’t happen. But they keep winning, and I like the fact that Tom Brady is so universally reviled, that I can’t help but root for the guy.
Brady’s basically like the human embodiment of a living, breathing middle finger, and whenever he succeeds, it’s much to the dismay and disgust of everyone, and there’s fewer things I appreciate than the few sticking it to the masses.
Like I said, when the day is over, I don’t really care. I can’t even guarantee that I’ll watch the whole thing, that’s how little I care about it. Commercials are stupid, and I don’t care about them anymore either, but I am intrigued about the WWE running a Halftime Heat special like it was 1999 all over again, featuring an NXT match, between six of the most competent wrestlers on the brand.
But as far as the game itself is concerned, I have no horse in this race. I think I lean more towards the Rams over the Patriots, but if Brady wins yet another Super Bowl, it would be so appropriate to bank it and then retire, so that he could open his championship career against the Rams, but then be able to say that he closed out his last championship against the Rams, and there little in sports I respect more than the guys that retire as champions. And a guy like Brady doing it would be that much more satisfying, knowing that he’ll be pissing off millions, being able to retire on top.
