With the exception of the final play in the first half, it was until that point a prosaic performance. But then things livened up. There was a recurrence of Unnecessary Roughness and related disorderly conduct, some of which hindered the progress of one or the other teams at a crucial point (as evidenced by an unusual Safety conversion awarded to the Cardinals and providing them two incremental points). Then, a six point conversion by the Steelers in the waning moments of the game required multiple camera angles and a referee review to affirm its validity. An ensuing field goal by the Steelers forced the hapless Cardinals into an appeal to the Virgin Mary, as there was less than a minute available on the clock and they were now down four points.

Alas, these prayers were unavailing. In the final analysis, the margin of victory for the Steelers was fundamentally the result of that propitious interception and energetic 100 yard run at the end of the first half, resulting in an additional seven points for Pittsburgh. That play will be, in retrospect, the source of a lifetime of profound lament and regret for certain of the Cardinal players, so at least you and your patient witnessed the "defining moment", as it were, of the entire enterprise.

I am leaving out of this analysis the excessive advertising content, which turned the Super Bowl into the Commercial Bowl. Many of these productions were confusing or meaningless, and seemed unworthy of the hundreds of millions of dollars proferred by these companies to reach such a large viewing audience. I trust your hospice patient had recourse to a morphine drip to escape the existential emptiness of these all-to-frequent interruptions of the game.

Let us hope too that your patient witnessed the entirety of the second half, as the battle shifted from one side to the other until the final seconds when the outcome proved favorable to the Steelers. It was an unusually satisfying struggle, as these competitions go, plagued by doubt as to the outcome until nearly all available playing time had expired.

And speaking of expiry (and I write here with no disrespect for the situation facing your nursing charge), your patient will go to his or her Maker having witnessed one of the best such entertainments in the long, XLIII year history of these games. I am using the pretentious system of marking anniversaries as employed by the Super Bowl official governing body itself - it is indeed a wonder that the average American fan can count that high in Roman numerals. Let it not be said that the Super Bowl lacks an ability to educate the hoi polloi.

- eom

for a summary of the game. Truth be told, though, I have never taken a liking to American football for various reasons. One of them is that I find there is no flow in this game. There are too many 'standing still' moments that are boring unless there is a special technique to 'standing still' that I'm not aware of. Neither can I get excited about a bunch of men running around trying to pull someone down. And then there's all that armor they have to wear in order to play the game. It doesn't appeal to me one bit.

I grew up with soccer. Now that's a beautiful game to watch even if no one scores a goal. Soccer offers two 45 minute periods of continuous play. One gets to see the players work as a team as well as numerous close up shots of an individual's magnificent footwork with the ball not too mention some breathtaking long passes. The only protective gear a soccer player wears is a little padding inside his socks. Then there is the added bonus of being able to look at so many gorgeous muscular legs :-)

As for my patient, he was half asleep when I left. It was mostly his son who was jumping up and down and causing a great commotion in the room. The one thing that pleases my patient the most is watching the crows fly by which is what he's been doing for 30 years. The two days I care for him I watch the crows with him as we sit on the side of the bed together - at 4 o'clock sharp. The excitement never lets up.

_{Tolerating prostitution is tolerating abuse and torture of women and children.}

The choices people have to make these days. Football porn versus advertising porn versus the real thing.