I can't remember a better NFL weekend, a more entertaining end to a Monday night game.
So what's with an ESPN SportsCenter anchor saying she's depressed, media everywhere going into a conniption fit because our entertainment package goes haywire?
I would argue there's nothing better when we can jump up and down in excitement, disgust or whatever at the end of a sports event.
Breaking news: This is not the end of the world or the demise of the National Football League.
They played three regular season games with replacement players in 1987, counted the results in the standings and reduced the season to 15 games.
The NFL regular season covered nine games in 1982 because of a strike and the Washington Redskins still stand as Super Bowl XVII champions with apologies to no one.
All this nonsense about turning off NFL fans is just that, fans enjoying a good car wreck as we all know.
We already know, too, that this shall pass; regular refs will be back at some point.
In the meantime, it's the Three Stooges — and you have to admit the Stooges are hilarious and infuriating — with the reaction of the angry coaches on the sideline only heightening the TV drama.
If the officials make the correct call at the end of the Green Bay-Seattle game, they take away so much emotion spilled Monday night. And there's nothing better about sports than when it can spill emotion and allow everyone to escape from what really matters.
If one of the officials calls a touchdown and another throws a flag because Seattle receiver Golden Tate is guilty of offensive pass interference, how much enjoyment would everyone have been deprived?
It was perfect, bad call after bad call mounting and analyst Jon Gruden giving an Academy Award performance. His mounting frustration made it a Monday Night classic — even before he delivered the line of the night, suggesting he was about to jump out of the press box.
It's a game that had to end on a botched call.
And aren't sports wonderful when it's also great theater? Steve Young and Trent Dilfer later weighed in with eloquent outrage.
It was incredibly entertaining to watch Young gather himself, knowing he was about to savage NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, no doubt weighing the consequences in his head before he did so.
But he also knows, having made the point a week ago, that no one is going to turn away from watching the NFL because of any of this.
I can't remember which ex-player said after the game that this will go down as one of the worst NFL seasons ever. But he'd make a fine newspaper columnist, going over the edge with the dramatic punch to the gut.
Come on, who knows how this will go?
Each team has 13 games remaining, so many highs and lows to come. If Green Bay misses the playoffs because of one too many losses, I know I'll get over it.
And if the folks in Green Bay don't, they will have next season. What's their other choice?
