The Stupid Bowl

Call it a case of sour grapes, if you like.

My Green Bay Packers are sitting at home this Sunday, hosting their own Super Bowl parties…and I’m pouting.

The only reason I’m planning on watching the Rams demolish the Patriots Sunday in what may prove to be the most lopsided mismatch since Custer played Sitting Bull is that I have an invitation to a Super Bowl party. ***

Right behind the Packers on my priority list are free food and good company.

Now that my "rant" is over, I’d best explain the title of today’s column, "The Stupid Bowl."

No, it’s not a matter of disrespect for the people who played the game hard this season and clawed their way to the top. Rather, it’s my reaction to a U.S. News story that appeared on the Internet, this weekend, revealing that dozens of current and former NFL players have been hit up for millions of dollars in faulty investment schemes.

Big money brings out the worst in people…and the worst of people. Foolproof investments litter the financial paths of the league’s top stars. Few teams have proven immune.

The copyrighted expose claims that some of the victims include Tampa Bay Defensive end Simeon Rice, Baltimore Ravens Tight End Shannon Sharp, Carolina Panthers Defensive Tackle Sean Gilbert, Cincinnati Bengals Linebacker Brian Simmons, Washington Redskins Running Back Stephen Davis and former players Steve Atwater, Art Monk, D’Marco Farr and Eric Dickerson.

The executive director of the National Football League Players’ Association Gene Upshaw believes only the tip of the iceberg has been exposed with countless other players too embarrassed to admit they, too, have been scammed.

To win the confidence of the players and gain access to their sizable signing bonuses, some sports con men actually struck up friendships with the future superstars while they were still in college, handing out cash, expensive clothes and trips to the players like cotton candy.

In some cases, individual players were taken for more than a million dollars.

In a world where natural disasters, wars, famines, pestilences and financial collapse claim our attention, and rightly so, on a daily basis…it’s almost hard to justify pointing out that even the wealthy and famous among us are not immune from the hardships of life and, yes, even occasional acts of stupidity.

But, after all, it is Super Bowl Sunday.

Hike.

*** (Post game post-script...Patriots 20 Rams 17. It takes an awfully big man to admit he was wrong. Unfortunately, I'm only 4'5" tall. However, the Patriots deserve the title and I'm pragmatist enough to say, "Thank God I'm not a betting man." Congratulations to all our readers in New England.

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