Tuesday, February 5, 2019

I Confess

(Source)
Okay, so Sunday evening I watched the championship of the National Football League. What is officially called the Super Bowl but the NFL gets angry if you use that name and haven't paid for it. Or something. Perhaps that's only for people selling stuff, as I'm not selling anything, I think I'm okay. But if I should disappear...

Anyhoo. The Patriots, who I follow, played the Rams, The Olde Vermonter's favorite team. "My" team won, (that's in quotes as I don't own the Patriots nor do I play for them) in what many have pronounced to be a "boring" game. By boring I assume most people mean low scoring. One of the reasons Americans don't really care for the version of football played by the rest of the world. Not enough scoring, I mean in Europe a good game might wind up as a 0 - 0 tie (which is what the aficionados call "nil - nil"). Personally I think those games are more of a "coach doesn't want to lose so don't take any chances" kind of thing. A very European way of doing things in my experience.

While I really enjoyed the game (yes, YMMV) for its defensive aspects (I enjoyed playing defense back when I played the sport, offense was too damned disciplined for my free wheeling nature, and no, I don't understand how I survived 24 years in the Air Force, many of my subordinates and superiors couldn't understand it either), there was stuff surrounding the game that I found, for want of a better word, unsettling.

CBS made a big deal just before the game about the "social justice" events in the week preceding the game. Apparently CBS has been infiltrated by progressive elements, why they made a big deal out of that, I have my opinions. Having one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's children (a grown up lady now) do the coin toss was kind of cool. I mean the game was in Atlanta. But having Congressman John Lewis out there as well (with his ever-present scowl) was puzzling, at least to me. His only true moment in the sun was when he marched with Dr. King, to me he's right up there with Joe Namath, who was on hand for the trophy presentation - based on his one, yes one, Super Bowl victory 6,000 years ago. Both are what I like to call has beens, basking in ancient glories that aren't really relevant any more. Not that I dislike those two men, I just failed to see their relevance.

Maybe that's just me.

While I am a huge believer in women being able to do whatever they set their minds too, without society judging them, I also believe that women who are capable of making it, are capable of making it on their own without some sort of "support" group behind them, other then their peers who have "been there, done that." Some of the feminista crap on display Sunday night really bugged me. Especially after thinking of the very accomplished naval aviator, who just so happened to be a woman, who was buried on Saturday after a life time of service to the country. She didn't need Super Bowl ads to encourage her.

But hey, if it makes one female believe she can overcome the odds to make it in her chosen field, then I guess it's all good. Perhaps I am getting to be something of a curmudgeon.

As to the game itself, beautiful defensive work by both teams. When Brady had the Patriots marching down the field on their first possession of the game, I was thinking "blow out." Bye bye Rams. But the Rams defensive coach, Wade Phillips, managed to confuse the Pats quarterback who threw an untimely interception. Yes, yes the ball was tipped by the receiver but Brady was throwing into coverage. You want to make sure that if your guy can't catch it, neither can the other guy. Too many Rams were right there. The look on Brady's face indicated (to me and others) that he knew he shouldn't have thrown that ball.

Both defenses played well but the Rams' defense was just on the field for too long, eventually you run out of gas, and they did. Their offense could have helped them with a couple of sustained drives, but the Rams always seemed to be punting.

Great game, to me at any rate. For those who get all puffed about the Patriots being cheaters, go read this, all teams "cheat." (In quotes because no matter what you do, you still have to pad up and take the field.) For God's sake people, you believe the media on "deflate-gate" but disbelieve them on everything else? Wake up, or grow up, your choice.

What is the problem Americans have these days with an extremely successful sports franchise? You'd think we have become a nation of whiners and losers.

Oh, wait...

Perhaps we have.

Anyhoo, that's my dos centavos, Sarge out.

(Feel free to abuse me in the comments, I can take it. I think...)





74 comments:

  1. Sat down and watched the entire first quarter which is the most of a pro game I've seen in the last three seasons. Ya.... very good defense played by both teams = boring game (to me). Turned it off and found other things to do. As far as cheating, in football it's "Shoot the SOB!" but in baseball "hey it's part of the game, right? Steal those signs, use that spitter, sandpaper that ball!" I didn't believe deflategate then and still don't now. I'm tired of the virtue signaling events/people/things cropping up in EVERYTHING, when I watch sports I want to see SPORTS, it's an escape from EVERYTHING else. And I was rooting for the Pats......

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    1. A couple of the commercials were good, I tuned out the virtue signaling and Jim Nance. Not that they're the same, but they are both annoying. Halftime show? Sucked, and I like Maroon 5's earlier stuff.

      I paid attention to the game itself, with a few exceptions, it was a well-played game. But I like defense, it ain't for everybody.

      Delete
  2. I've come to realize that the work I did in college influences me to this day. "Deflategate"? I thought of the combined gas law. There was probably a quick and easy explanation of temperature, altitude, and volume change. I guess that science isn't as settled as others. Good line, that: "Wake up or grow up."

    One year when I was still a kid, our TV quit. We did without for most of a month, then dad showed up with a handful of tubes. He started swapping them in until the TV light up. Next day was the "Yelling at the Refs" event. Heard a lot of "FOR GARDEN SEED!!!" that year. Who played? Who knows...

    When Tom Landry left the sport, I was right behind him. The good old days are gone, and I have other vices to feed besides football watching.... Besides, I don't need to be preached at by the likes of madison avenue and their souless, vacuous, fad following minions. Curmudgeons United! Go C.U.!!

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    1. What happened to Tom Landry was disgraceful. Pretty much unforgivable in my book.

      I use my TV for certain sporting events and the occasional cooking show.

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    2. C.U. indeed. As a Dallas inhabitant (Not native, but I got here quick as I could.) I gave up on pro football after the Landry debacle. Still enjoy college ball and now even local high school as the coverage has become much better.

      Perhaps we need to come up with a C.U. challenge coin

      Delete
  3. If it was 41-38 people would complain there was no defense. It was an excellent game! I avoid commercials, coin toss and halftime so I did not notice any of the PC crap, and yes women can do anything, I think it is criminal that the NFL has no women defensive lineman, if only they would be empowered. Anyway, I did get a little political and this year rooted for NE because I am tired of rooting against B and B and losing, also a bunch of Liberals got their panties in a bunch because Trump likes NE. Does it get any stupider?

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    1. Sounds like we're on the same page Joe. No big surprise there.

      Women can do anything, provided they have the requisite skills and the desire. (For defensive linemen, gotta have the size as well!)

      The progs outside of NE hate the Pats.

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  4. Speaking from ‘over here’, the land of rugby football, football football and cricket.......I thought it was a bloody good game and was surprised to read a sports journalist in a National paper this morning, describe it as a ‘forgotten’ game. I’d agree if he meant the halftime ‘chewing gum for the ears and eyes’ but that game held my attention throughout.

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    1. It was a great struggle, as the Great Duke would have said, "It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life."

      Better yet, "Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound longest."

      Which made it all the more exciting.

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    2. Attrition! More enjoyable to watch than cricket!!

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    3. Don't cricket matches last for weeks? Or something like that?

      A Bollywood movie which I really enjoyed (Lagaan) was pretty much centered around a cricket match between some villagers and the British. Our Indian friend explained cricket to us before the movie so we wouldn't be completely lost. Which we were anyway, but the music was good.

      Delete
  5. Everyone is looking for that competitive edge that gives one the advantage in their chosen field. It's call intelligence. Everybody bends the rules, stretching them to the limit. Heard many times, "if you're not cheating, you're not trying." Stealing the signs from the third base coach or dugout, tipping the pitch to the batter, talking into their gloves in baseball. Coaches covering their mouths when calling a play, 3 people using different signals from the sidelines, coded placards on the sidelines. Everybody does it, complains about it, denies it when 'caught'. Still gotta hit the pitch. Anything short of outright stealing or murder pretty much goes in sports. Play ball.

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    1. I couldn't have said it better myself.

      Bravo Dwight, Bravo!

      Delete
  6. WHOGAS? Overpaid disrespectful thugs.

    But if you want to watch, well it’s yout time. Spend it as you like.

    Just as a point of reference, when did the Rams move back to LA? Was flyover country too deplorable for them?

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  7. CBS & social justice... All the MSM is corporate owned and they are all part of changing what "normal" is.

    The game? Two good defenses...

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    1. Yup, normal is what the Meejah says it is. NOT!

      Two very good defenses, Aye!

      Delete
  8. Cheating? If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying (as they say in NASCAR).

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    1. All's fair in love and war, and pretty much everything else in life.

      Delete
    2. Since there was no 'PSI OF BALL ON FIELD MUST BE X' then the whole deflate-gate was just like any other scandal-gate.

      And I'm tired of everything being equated to Watergate. Geeze, people, let it die. One Republican gets caught doing what Dems have been doing all along and people just can't let it die off. Come on, what about people knowing that Eleanor ran the Government during FDR's last year, or LBJ (hwack-ptooie) or Carter charging for refreshments in the WH, or the Bubba C's and their idiocy.. One, count it, one Rep gets his fingers a little dirty and IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AND WE'll NEVER LET YOU FORGET IT!!!

      Bleh. Deflate Scandal, because the NFL allows the teams access to the balls before the game, rather than keeping them in complete control of the Refs like sane and normal people would have done. And then making more of a scandal of it than all the wife-beaters, drug dealers, armed felons, graft, corruption and fake shows of 'fighting the man for being oppressed.'

      That and Goodal still being the Commissar. Those are the real scandals.

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    3. Yes, Goodell sucks, it was fun watching him being booed during the trophy presentation. Warmed the cockles of my heart.

      Delete
  9. I thought that the fourth quarter was fun. Before that, the game was intense defensively. I don't watch much of the league play mostly because of the social justice warriors who are paid millions of dollars a year who have made a fad out of kneeling. However I did watch the Super Bowl.

    As to the media playing to political correctness during commercials which have become dull... they're the corrupt, elite, smug, sly, lying media. They're only following their weak and tender hearts.

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  10. I read half a book whilst watching the game. Looked up every now and again to see that not much had changed. I did enjoy a momentary laugh or gasp at some of the commercials, can't remember what they were though, so I guess they wasted their money. YA Tittle was the star at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco for my first attended game. Actually my last, as well. I don't like crowds that much any more and there is no rewind on reality.
    What is it, anyway, about cooking shows? Jeanie and I keep on saying "let's make that!" and then realize that it would feed a crowd and we are but two seniors. Invite more folks up, I guess. There are some here who love to be experimented on in the food field.

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    1. As to the cooking shows, I watch them, even though I don't cook, and find them very entertaining.

      And if I ever do start cooking, at least I'll have a clue. So I tell myself...

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    2. Used to watch some cooking shows, but after a while they got boring. And I don't like the 'take the idiots and teach them how to cook show.' I miss "Good Eats" with Alton Brown.

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    3. Alton Brown could explain a lot in a half hour.

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    4. As for me, I enjoy "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." I've eaten at a few of the places featured on that show, haven't been disappointed yet.

      Then again, when it comes to food, I'm easy to please.

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    5. I agree, Beans. Put Alton Brown back on.

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    6. Hi Skip. Missed your comment the first time.

      Delete
    7. AB has a way of making the weird and expensive be easily understood and inexpensive. Miss him on that show. Now on that lame remake of Iron Chef, well, no. Just no. Best thing would be to have done what Spike TV did to a bad Japanese game show and dub the voices horribly. That would have been funny.

      Delete
    8. On the rare occasions I have caught a bit of Iron Chef, didn't really care for it.

      A bit over the top I thought.

      Delete
  11. I knew the Rams would lose. Because of Trump. Stop laughing and hear me out.

    Ever since the Winter Olympics of 2016 (which was apparently a huge PR stunt by the Norks from the way the newsies covered it) any athlete or team who comes out with either openly hating on Trump or "We won't visit the White House if we win" has lost. That stupid limp-wristed male (maybe) figure skater, Linsey Vonn (hahahahaha was fun watching her not win) and lots of other people. Then, last week, the Rams said, to much acclaim, "We won't visit the White House if we win." So Trump waved his magic wand and made their wish come true.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - (gasp, wheeze, gasp, wheeze) - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    My Schaden(colloquialism for an episode of Priapism) is quite magnificent!

    Heard the signing of the National Anthem was awesome. Good. Yay for Gladys Knight, who was under pressure not to sing as people were promising to end her career (really?) over her not making a negative spectacle of the event. So, well, she Killed It. Dunno if they played that on TV, but good for her.

    And I am so fragging tired of hearing anything related to pro football being connected to that second string hack of an idiot whose last name starts with the letter after "J." People, he sucked as a quarterback, he sucks as a human being, he just sucks. Let it rest.

    As someone put it on some website, funny how the progressives were attacking rich people in Atlanta when 75% of the black millionaires in this country live in, well, Atlanta.

    Enough.

    I want open air studios, play in whatever weather exists, have a local (or a military) marching band for the half-time shows, and that's it. Make it real again, rather than what seems to be WWE in armor.

    As to your title, when I saw it before I scrolled down the page, I thought, "Hey, Sarge is Catholic?" See the twisted way my mind works?

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    1. The male figure skater is Adam Rippon or something. I know L Vonn is a female skier. Sorry, sentence was unclear.

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    2. Yes, the Orange Man Bad crowd loses. Again.

      My advice to the Progs: You may not like the guy but give it an effing rest, will ya? I'm not the biggest Trump fan, but if I could grit my teeth and soldier on for 8 years, so can you.

      Outdoor stadium, yes, absolutely. I would ban all indoor venues for all football games. I mean if the Packers can play in the frigging cold so can the rest of the league.

      WWE in armor - nice!

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    3. I got confused when you said "male figure skater."

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    4. Hey, that Scott guy who was the last person to actually win in actual figure scating (where they actually had to do, in preliminaries, perfect figure 8s and other figures, was, for a short gay guy, decidedly male.

      I don't know when the 'flaming' gene was required to be gay. And I don't like it being thrust into my face. For once I'd love to see a hardcore, monogamous heterosexual be in the spotlight for being a hardcore monogamous heterosexual. Oh, wait, we got that in our Vice President, where now several DC schools are refusing to have their athletic teams play against the school that Mrs. Pence is doing part-time work at.

      AHHHHHH.

      MOAR Normalicy, please!

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    5. Andrew:

      '...signing of the National Anthem was awesome."

      Proofreading is awesome.

      Paul

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    6. Paul:

      RE: #1. Oops. Dangit

      Re: #2. Well, considering how lousy skating has been, maybe scating is appropriate.

      And that's what happens when I type and send before proof-reading.

      Like the Winter Olympics, of 2018, not 2016.

      Oh, well...

      Delete
    7. PLQ - Piling on, using two comments to point out typos. 15 yards, repeat your first comment.

      Delete
    8. Beans - 'Tis the spirit of the comment which matters, often in our haste we also mistype.

      Pointing out typos is akin to clubbing baby seals...

      Delete
    9. But... clubbing baby seals is FUN ( In the SCA, 'Clubbing Baby Seals' is the saying when a seasoned fighter wades into a bunch of newbie fighters. And, yes, I have waded into a patch of baby seals and clubbed them most fulsomely, so fulsomely it was heard that I hit too hard. Wimps. )

      On the other hand, baby seal fur is soooooooooo soft and nice. And ask any fisherman, who has had his catch robbed or destroyed by the coyotes of the sea, how much they'd love to see more baby seal clubbing.

      Delete
    10. "Pointing out typos is akin to clubbing baby seals..."

      Did you not, some while ago, invite me to point such things out; or did I misunderstand what you wrote?

      As to the two comments, I had posted the first before I saw the other item. Yes, yes, I know-excuses, excuses.

      Paul

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    11. Misuse of the language is appropriate to be pointed out, typos...

      I am of two minds on those, on the one hand, it seems gratuitous to point them out in the comments (heat of battle sort of thing), on the gripping hand, pointing out my errors is actively encouraged. I take time to write these posts and try very hard not to make mistakes, but I do. Commenting on other Chanter's comments might actually discourage some from commenting.

      Edit and abuse me all you'd like, that I encourage and need, commenting on other commenters, leave it be.

      Hhmm, did that rhyme? Wasn't intentionally, I'm not a poet. And I know it.

      Delete
    12. But I like clubbing baby seals...

      And, Paul? Keep it up. It's all in the spirit of Buck, who kept Sarge straight for many years. Plus you make me laugh pointing out my boo-boos. And I really do need to learn to edit before speaking or publishing. Lack of 'Edit' has messed up many a conversation on my part.

      And.. I like seeing OldAFSsssssss flummoxed or hung from his garters, well, if he wore garters, and I really don't want that visual image in my head anymore.

      Delete
  12. I attended a family gathering where the game [sic] and snack foods were featured.
    The Rams have moved enough times now that they could legitimately be called the carpetbaggers.
    I, too, saw YA Tittle at Kezar.
    The pros played a game then.
    They all had other jobs in the off-season... and the season was only a little more than three months.
    It’s reached a point where football at all levels is about money, instead being a game.
    Back at Kezar the 49ers had the “Million Dollar” backfield.
    That was only a figure of speech then.
    None of the four was making anything like a quarter million.
    Of course, they didn’t have a union, either.

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    1. I don't get too enamored of the "old days," some aspects of the game were better, but some of it sucked. I like free agency, so if a kid doesn't want to be a winner he can go play for a crappy team and make more money.

      As soon as you pay someone to play a sport, it's no longer really a game. It's a business.

      Delete
  13. "What is officially called the Super Bowl but the NFL gets angry if you use that name and haven't paid for it."

    Well, I guess I am safe then, as I have called it the Super Bore for many years.

    As previously mentioned, I no longer watch even tennis ( the only sport of which I have some experience as an adult ) on tv. I did attend, and enjoyed, a NFL game once.

    Anyway, I enjoyed the post and comments, as usual.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt




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    1. I don't think "Super Bore" has been trademarked. Yet. (That would apply to any number of people of my acquaintance. None in these spaces, fortunately.)

      Thanks Paul.

      Delete
  14. I found to my delight that the advantage of watching the Super Bowl in a bar was that the patrons started talking to each other during the commercials and the halftime show and drowned them out. Apparently the key to the game was in the 4th Qtr when Josh McDaniels, the Patriots' Offensive Coordinator, said "This ain't workin'", tossed the game plan, and put in "the heavies", going to a two tight end alignment with all the beefy guys he could (save Edleman, who was catching too many passes to keep out of the game). He then proceeded to call plays for this formation that, while all in their playbook, had not been practiced at all in the weeks leading up to the game. Result? TD, FG on the next two series. Improvise, adapt and overcome indeed.

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    1. When fighting as heavy infantry, it is always good to use heavy infantry tactics. Shield Wall forward, grind them into the ground, send the Harriers around the edges to pick off the low-hanging fruit, and keep forward momentum. Never fails.

      Oh, were we talking about football? Well, same same. If you wanna watch light infantry, I mean sports, well, soccer is for you. Heavy Infantry is Football. Shock Troops? Rugby, old school rules...

      I always have enjoyed watching Football when the various coaches and coordinators understand it's war. Civilized war, but still war. Even more fun when only one side believes that and the other side is totally all about 5 bazillion plays and such.

      One of the reasons I liked football the way it used to be. Sure the players were thugs, but if they acted out off-field, they got benched or fired. They were hired to play, and play hard. If they didn't, well, bu-bye.

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    2. Playing in the pit as both an offensive and a defensive lineman, I can almost imagine what a shield wall is like.

      Heavy infantry, I like the analogy.

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    3. Has anyone here ever played bocce? There's less fighting and bad language, well, less fighting anyway.

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    4. Ah, if only I knew how to swear in Italian. Game looks fun. Isn't wine involved?

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    5. It's a very simple game, but it is not a simple game. Mostly reds.

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    6. Bocce is fun, but if you really play old school, you have to make sure the Don sitting on the sidelines is okay with you winning, otherwise you'll be swimming with the fishes.

      As to Shield Walls, they are fun if properly run. The interior shieldmen are supported by their mates on either side. The only real suckage is on either end, where one has an open flank. One needs strong men on the lead and the tail. I was one of the premier left flank ends in my fighting days. Other people did good jobs being Prime (the first guy on the right of the wall,) but I was the driver and made sure the shield intervals were closed.

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    7. Dave - Simple on its face, but requiring the player to pay attention.

      And I like a good vin rouge.

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    8. Beans - Having you around is awesome, a constant font of knowledge of the old days. (I mean the really, really old days.)

      ;)

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    9. sportsfans/

      If you're ever in NYC there is a terrific family-owned Italian basement restaurant on e. 42nd (IIRC) w. a bocce-ball court/lane on one side down te length of the wall. named il Vagabondo. MUST go!! GREAT food AND atmosphere, nom, nom. nom, glug, glug, glug!

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  15. Sorry for being late to class. I am in a seminar at SPAWAR so my normal at-work blog-check didn't happen. The game? I watched too. The commercials were pretty good, but the game wasn't all that compelling. I liked the Google one with the DD-214 codes, and the Hundai ad that showed different levels of suck- like like the vegan dinner party with beet loaf. Hilarious.

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    1. Well, as long as you have a good excuse. (A seminar at SPAWAR qualifies!)

      The AFSC/MOS codes and the vegan dinner party commercial was awfully good.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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