It was a relief when they finally shot that damn balloon...

We spent a lot of time outside last week. Part of it was shoveling more snow off the driveway, some at night looking for that green comet and during the day trying to spot that Chinese balloon that went across the northeast corner of Wyoming.

One of the Bench Sitters has a cousin who lives up that way, and he tried shooting at it with his .243 and his old .06. Somehow neither gun can reach up almost 9 miles high.

That balloon sure got a lot of attention. Must have been a slow week for news, but those talking heads on cable TV went non-stop for several days, telling us the same thing over and over. 

Even if you were not interested, it was a relief when the Air Force shot it down. The Chinese complained about loosing their balloon. With “Google Earth” we have to wonder what they might have been trying to photograph around here. 

Those TV talking heads said they could have been listening to cell phone messages, but how many million would they have to check anyway. That would be one big party line to check.

Meanwhile back down on the Main Drag we keep hearing about locals who have slipped and fallen on ice. Some are wearing braces or casts on their wrists, a few are grimacing with broken ribs or very sore rear ends. A few have even had surgery and some hospital time.

One of our younger friends who slipped on the ice described it this way, “I realized I was probably in serious trouble when I slipped and the first thing I noticed both of my feet in midair . . . a sure clue for a hard landing.”

Not everyone watches professional football, but a lot of people end up buying a box or a number in the dozens of Super Bowl “boards” around the village.

Sunday afternoon the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to be evenly matched in the biggest professional football game of the year.

A lot of local fans root for Josh Allen (former UW Cowboy quarterback) and the Buffalo Bills, but they melted down in the final playoff game.

This is the third time in the last four years the Chiefs have been in the Super Bowl and they are a slim favorite with the Bench Sitters.

The guys were talking about loading into the best car the group has, and heading for Pheonix to watch the game. That is until they found out ticket prices ranged from $4,000 to $14,000 for each seat. And motel rooms for that weekend started at $350 a night with a few at $1,200 per night. 

A little beyond their budget. 

It’s a shame they won’t get to see a singer named Rihanna being featured in the half-time show. They saw a photo of her on the internet. She has a “hair do” that looks something like it includes some frozen rope.

But she must be able to sing real good.

It only seems right that we share a few of the best football quotes we have in the Bench Sitter collection —

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.” – Lou Holtz

 “A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.” – Frank Leahy / Notre Dame 

“I don’t expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation.” – Bob Devaney

“You can learn more character on the 2-yard line than anywhere else in life.” – Paul Dietzel / LSU.

“It’s kind of hard to rally around a math class.” – Bear Bryant

“I never graduated from Iowa but I was there for two terms – Truman’s and Eisenhower’s.” - Alex Karras

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.” – Duffy Daugherty

“Football is not a contact sport . . . it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.” – Duffy Daugherty

“Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon.” – Spike Dykes / Texas Tech

“We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.” – Wilson Matthews / Little Rock Central High School

Think spring and we’ll drop a line again next week.

SVEN