Snowstorms and footballs
This Storm of the Century, Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse or whatever superlative you wish to attach to the storm wreaking havoc on much of the Northeast, inevitably disrupted many lives, caused considerable damage and drained a few municipal budgets.
The storm didn’t materialize to the degree meteorologists and a big city mayor said it would in New York, but it was pounding Boston and much of the East Coast Tuesday. I don’t know how the Blizzard of 2015 ended because this column is appearing on the day when those supposedly in the know said the storm would be winding down.
I, however, do trust the prognostication of 2 to 3 feet of snow and 75 mph wind gusts in Boston and much of New England were correct because it would take an event as catastrophic as this for the powers to be to cancel “Monday Night Raw” (yes, professional wrestling) scheduled for live broadcast from Hartford, Conn. Of course, the governor of Connecticut issued a travel ban, so no one could get to the arena anyway.
New York was spared the brunt of the storm, receiving about 6 inches. My goodness, that is right up there with a midwinter storm that usually hits Washington or Greene counties.
I suppose this gives some credence to the belief that meteorology is an inexact science and the track of this storm, any storm, is dependent on a host of factors. New Yorkers should be thanking their lucky stars. Not so lucky, however, for those Bostonians and other New Englanders.
I understand the hyperbole used by television newscasters and their weather-people sidekicks because when those who would be impacted by the storm are counted in the millions, that is some impact. We here in Western Pennsylvania are just lucky, at least this time around.
If there is one positive to come from this storm it is “deflate-gate” was relegated to the lower tier on television newscasts. I was a football fan before John F. Kennedy became president, and I never knew the two teams had their own game balls. Even more astounding, I didn’t know they had as many as 12. I guess that takes into account the number of balls given to fans in the stands by celebrating players.
I wonder, though, if a New England Patriots fan was ever tossed a ball, grabbed it and mused, “You know, this ball seems a little soft.” I doubt it.
And I also doubt anything of consequence will happen to Bill Belichick or Tom Brady, who categorically denied, in public, having any knowledge of under-inflated footballs. If the NFL fined the Patriots $25,000 for each under-inflated ball, this story would have gone away a long time ago.
It’s just a matter of time before this “investigation” identifies some equipment manager or low-level locker room employee as the culprit. And that will be that.
I do hope all those who were in the path of this monster storm are safe today, and I also hope the Arizona heat doesn’t do funny things to the footballs Sunday.
It’s time partisan political squabbling and the flu epidemic regain their rightful places on the evening news.
Jon Stevens, Greene County bureau chief, can be reached at jstevens@observer-reporter.com.