Super anxious

My Super Bowl anxiety is increasing by the minute.

Those who know me know that when I'm wounded, I bleed Philadelphia Eagles midnight green. It's been that way ever since I can remember. I am a child of Allentown, PA, which is just a drop kick away from the Philadelphia city limits. I've grown up with the Eagles. The team's imprimatur is in my DNA. I just can't help it.

I've got four Eagles shirts, an Eagles hoodie and an Eagles bandana to prove it. I might wear all of them at the same time today.

This might also explain why my anxiety levels are higher than my LDL numbers just hours before kickoff against the Kansas City Chiefs this evening.

Don't get me wrong. I'm pulling for the Birds from the get-go. That's a no-brainer right there.

But I see signs. I hear voices. I have visions.

The Chiefs are going for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory. No NFL team has ever done that before. If that should happen – if the Chiefs should beat the Eagles – it will mean the Eagles will have lost two of those three games to KC in that stretch. Kansas City beat Philly 38-35 two years ago.

If I'm reading my Facebook pages correctly, there's a sense of nationwide ennui for this game. You can check this map for proof:

 I couldn't quite put my finger on why there appeared to be so much disinterest in the game, but then I started thinking:

• There seems to a certain amount of fan exhaustion from having the Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the third straight year. I can understand that. After all, we lived with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots dominating the scene with six Super Bowl victories and nine SB appearances in 11 years. Not to mention his Super Bowl victory with Tampa Bay in 2021, defeating the Chiefs 31-9.

The Chiefs have won nine straight postseason games, including three of the last four Super Bowls.

As if that's not aggravating enough for non-Kansas City fans, the Chiefs have won a startling NFL-record 17 straight games decided by one possession. That's the stuff of which dynasties are made.

I think many fans outside of Kansas City and Philadelphia were hoping for a Detroit Lions-Buffalo Bills matchup, just to have two completely different teams in the Super Bowl.

• It doesn't help that this game is actually a repeat of the Super Bowl from two years ago.

• There's also the Taylor Swift factor. If you're watching the Chiefs, then you're seeing superstar singer Taylor Swift yet again. She's dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, whom we seem to know more about than we do of our own family members, thanks to the 90 seconds or so of air time she gets each game that drives you absolutely crazy.

This actually doesn't bother me. Swift is a native of West Reading, PA, and outside of Kelce, she's an Eagles fan. At least, she's been spotted in the past wearing almost as much Eagles paraphernalia as I do.

•  Referee-gate. There seems to be this feeling among many NFL fans that the Chiefs are getting the benefit of all the referees' calls, and have been for years. Which might account for all those 17 straight one-possession victories.

One of the latest head scratchers came in the AFC title game two weeks ago when Buffalo went for a 1-yard first down attempt on fourth down. Quarterback Josh Allen did something of a tush push, and when the whistle blew, one sideline judge came running in suggesting that Allen succeeded in getting the first down to keep the drive alive. The other sideline judge, whose view was partially blocked, came running in indicating that Allen was short of the first down marker. It was his call that stood, favoring the Chiefs.

If there are any suspicious calls in today's game – and there will be – the NFL will have questions to answer, warranted or not. Fans are already questioning the quality of officiating across the league more than ever, it seems.

• Is there a conspiracy? Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is only 29 years old and has already won three Super Bowl rings. That puts him on a pace to match or even surpass Brady, just when you thought Brady was a once-in-a-generational quarterback. Sometimes you can't help but feel there is a script being followed here. Plus, there is that three-peat thing out there. Maybe the NFL wants to see it happen.

• There doesn't seem to be much appeal for rapper Kendrick Lamar headlining the halftime show. I've seen people complain they won't even watch the game because of him. I'm still trying to connect the dots on that one.

I don't know. I think a true NFL fan isn't bothered too much by all the background noise going on here. As an Eagles fan, I see our team coming into the game with the best defense in the league. With running back Saquon Barkley (who grew up in Allentown), we have an exciting 2,000-yard breakaway rusher who might be reminiscent of Barry Sanders. Coach Nick Sirianni has a 48-20 record for a winning percentage of .706, fifth highest in NFL history over 50 games.

This is a chance for the Eagles – who won the Super Bowl in 2017 by beating Brady and the Patriots 34-28 – to gain some retribution from two years ago. So there's motivation.

Kim and I have been invited to a Super Bowl party or two, but I'm staying home. My anxiety is overwhelming me. I want to be able to get up and walk away from the TV if things are going badly. I might even channel surf because I might feel like I'm jinxing the Eagles just by watching them. I want to drop F-bombs on the officials without reproach. I want to scream and shout like an unsupervised teenager when things go right. I want to watch the game on my terms, which includes a bowl or two of Kim's fantastic five-bean chili and a good German craft beer.

We're hours away now – and just over a month away from Opening Day in case all else fails – from kickoff.

Here it is: Eagles 31, Chiefs 21.

 

Oh, good grief

Unless something happens in the next 24 hours, we're going to be in a war with Canada.

A trade war, actually. Don't worry, no blood will be spilled, eh?

Thanks to convicted felon Donald Trump, who is pretending to be an actual president of the United States, Trump has slapped a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports as well as a 10 percent tariff on imports from China.

The tariff on Canada is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m on Tuesday. So there's still time to wiggle out of this mess.

It's difficult to know what Trump is thinking. A tariff is pretty much akin to a tax on the people of the country who are imposing the tariff. Because it's a tariff on IMPORTS! That means the duty is paid on those goods by the importers. Consequently, the cost of those duties is passed on to the consumer.

That consumer would be us.

That's how tariffs work.

Trump, who apparently has no clue how tariffs work even though he is a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School of Business, claims the tariffs will stop the flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants from entering the US. It's difficult to see how that happens unless he's counting on the actual THREAT of tariffs to do this.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau have both promised counter-measures to oppose Trump's tariffs. If they really want to do damage, they ought to ask Trump to actually increase the percentage of the tariffs that he is imposing against them because it's the United States that will have to pay. As it stands, Trump has threatened to raise tariffs if any opposing action is taken. Buckle up.

According to research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, it's likely that American consumers will be paying more for practically everything from sneakers to oil to lumber to avocados (food) to toys.

Expect supply chains to be disrupted. Expect inflation to rise. An extended tariff trade war could also result in a recession. Maybe even world-wide recession. When you voted for Trump, did you know this is what you were voting for?

Yikes. And you thought the price of eggs was too high. I fear we ain't seen nuthin' yet.

•   •   •

Diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) have dominated the news cycle lately, especially coming after the horrific mid-air collision of an U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Trump, without offering any proof whatsoever and while the bodies of the deceased were still being pulled from the frigid river waters, told us that his common sense indicated DEI hiring practices by the military and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were responsible for the tragedy.

Sweet Jesus...

Here is the more likely scenario: if the helicopter is at fault, responsibility falls on the Department of Defense under newly-installed secretary Pete Hegseth. If, however, investigations show the crash to be the fault of air traffic control, then responsibility falls on the FAA and the Department of Transportation under newly-confirmed DOT secretary Sean Duffy.

Both the DOD and the DOT fall under Trump's purview. No wonder he's trying to point blame elsewhere.

One of the best summations of this disaster that I've seen comes from a commentator on Quora: "What the investigation will not show is that the crash was due to undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ, Greenland, DEI, California water policies or Bishop Budde's sermon. Trump tries desperately to pass the blame when bad things happen because he's a terrible leader. But when a military helicopter takes down a commercial aircraft full of passengers, we the people need to hold Secretary of Defense Hegseth and president Trump accountable."

Amen.