Super Bowl 56

The Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl...and no one cared. Here's the thing, Los Angeles is a fickle town. Everything moves all the time and it's hard to get loyalty. In this case, they often try to buy it. The NFL is trying desperately to win the crowd of Los Angeles because there are about 10 million people who can be potential customers. Full disclosure, I am a Cincinnati Bengals fan (obviously) and hated watching them lose...unceremoniously to a long suffering Matt Stafford. Los Angeles also happens to like buying their trophies. Happened with the Lakers. But no one here cares...until they win. In Cincinnati, they decked the entire city in orange and black. Everyone got caught up in the hoopla. Makes more sense when it is a town with less than a million. Schools were going to be closed to celebrate. So the defeat cut deeper. The city wanted a championship. As a close friend from home said...people were much more pleasant to one another. But the NFL doesn't care. Lately, I have been wondering more and more if the game isn't rigged. A few things come to mind after someone had told me this: "You cannot have a billion dollar industry and leave it to chance" The Rams didn't cover the spread in terms of betting. Now how can they rig a game? Officiating comes to mind. In the last 4 minutes of the game, there were a lot of flags thrown. Mostly against the Bengals. One that was so aggregious it boggled the mind (and most likely created MORE conspiracists). This led the Rams to score. Perhaps even the officials had skin in the game. What better way to make a family member or friend rich if bets were put on through people who could benefit? The NFL isn't considered sports, by the way. I learned this recently. It is considered "entertainment" The same you would see in pro-wrestling. And we all know that is scripted. But it hasn't deterred people from watching. And it is "just a game" Cincinnati benefitted financially. The windfall of making the Super Bowl alone made merchandise sales soar. So, regardless of the outcome of the game, the city got an injection of money. Now you probably are asking how the game itself can be rigged. It has been revealed by ousted former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, that he was paid to "throw games" so that the team could get draft picks. It seems incongruous to the argument that the game is legit. But having a star down there does bolster their popularity. Zero doubt about that. In the case of the Bengals, it is unfortunate they were made to be the jabroni this year. To a team that spent a ton of money on their players (buying a "dream team"). Some people are okay with that. To me, it was getting closure from when I was 12 years old and watched them lose to Joe Montana in Super Bowl 23. The script will go towards the Bengals at some point. In that time, would I say the same. Yeah, I just said it. Again, would I care? Look, I don't get a paycheck from the team. I am only happy it does something good for the city. I think the NFL would think the same.