Worst Seat In The House: Why quit now?

I live in an interesting home. On Saturday my wife and I were in the car and I mentioned something about the Super Bowl and she asked when it was going to happen. I said, “Tomorrow!” She laughed and wondered if I was going anywhere to watch the game this year and I said, “No. I’m watching it at home like I always do.” She said, “Well, I should probably fix something to snack on.”

She really put some things together for a mini Super Bowl party. For anyone that doesn’t know my wife you will need to know that she isn’t a sports fan for the most part. She has had fun going to a youth soccer game if she knows some of the kids that are playing. And she has had a lot of fun going to Gonzaga women’s basketball games. And she will go to a home middle school football or basketball game in Lind.

She likes to rate places to watch games according to the popcorn served. The best she has had and will rave about if you bring it up is Christian Heritage in Edwall. She liked the fact that it was air popped and topped with real butter. A close second is at the Lind home games.

Our conversations can also be interesting. When she says something is a slam dunk I think of Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura handling a lob from Josh Perkins and slamming it home. Her thoughts on that subject do not include a basketball.

When the topic of yardage is mentioned I think about how many yards that EWU’s QB Eric Barriere threw for on a Saturday afternoon in Cheney. She thinks about how many yards she needs to purchase in order to make her next quilt.

After nearly 40 years together we’ve been able to figure it out and that is a blessing.

I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday as did most of you I assume. The game was not an exciting offensive spectacle but that is because the defenses were so good. I’m amazed to see how strong these defenders are and how they can stop a running back’s momentum and keep them from getting first down yardage.

I was hoping that the Rams would win this game because of the EWU Eagle connection. Only Samson Ebukam played as Cooper Kupp is recuperating after season-ending knee surgery and Aaron Neary is on the practice squad. But they are part of that connection to me and I hope for their success.

In these parts I would say that Tom Brady is a hated man since he replaced former WSU signal caller Drew Bledsoe after he was injured. Brady has been at the helm ever since with the exception of the AFC championship game that year when Bledsoe got the Patriots to the Super Bowl only to be benched by Coach Belichick on that Super Bowl Sunday. Brady has missed a few games since then when he was injured or suspended.

Brady is 41 and plans on continuing to play as long as he is healthy and since his line is pretty good that could be a while. Why is his line so good? Well, some QBs negotiate for huge paydays which can lead to less money for needed position players. Guys like Aaron Rodgers make big money as QBs and endorsements but has limited the cash for experienced linemen which maybe a big reason that Rodgers has been injured the last two seasons. And don’t forget that it also cost his coach his job.

Brady doesn’t take maximum pay and since his linemen are good and keep the defenders from hitting him on a regular basis he is still enjoying what he does.

The competitive juices flow in Tom Brady so he feels pretty good about playing another season or so. I think the only thing that will stop Brady will be injuries and if he gets protected like he did on Sunday, why would he want to quit playing?