Go ahead, watch; you know you want to

Oh, come on now. Just stop it. Of course you’re going to watch the Super Bowl.

You know it. Roger Goodell knows it. Tony Romo surely knows it (Tony knows everything you’re about to do).

It’s OK. Don’t feel guilty.

You made your point. I’m sure the NFL is shaking in its cleats over the mere threat of a Saints fans’ boycott of their big party.

Just the other day, the commissioner almost apologized to Saints fans while coming dangerously close to admitting the NFL might have made a mistake.

So go ahead and tune in. It’s not like you’re turning in your Saints card. Wear your Goodell clown-face T-shirt, if you must.

True, watching the Super Bowl likely will only encourage them to have yet another one next year. And we can only imagine what creative nightmare/coincidence/foul-up keeps the Saints out of that one, even as the Drew Brees Super Bowl window is rapidly narrowing.

Several leading psychologists have suggested, alternatively, that watching Super Bowl XLIV — Saints 31, Colts 17 — might be restorative therapy. I make it a point never to argue with psychologists — it’s complicated ­— but I think that remedy could backfire. Believe me, the happy ending might just worsen the pain and have you wondering what might have been happening today on CBS if not for … well, you know.

Just feel free to watch the Rams and Patriots and stew about it for the entire game.

Watching doesn’t mean you’re “over it.” Or that you’ve “moved on.” Or even that you’ve accepted the fact that unadulterated highway robbery like the blatant missed call that kept the Saints from their rightful place in Atlanta is “just part of the game.”

But what else are you going to watch? “Dancing with the Stars?”

Puhleeeze.

Somebody told me something about some sort of “Puppy Bowl.” But I don’t even know what that is.

But I know I get choked up every time there’s a Clydesdale sighting in the commercials.

Besides, Gladys Knight is singing the national anthem and I, for one, am curious about what a Maroon 5 is, a mystery which the halftime show promises to clear up.

Point is, today has become a national American holiday and, no matter your gripe with the NFL and Goodell, you’re still an American.

If you spend it staring at four walls all day, then the terrorists and the three blind mice win.

OK, I hate to lecture here.

Whatever your conscience is comfortable with, go with it.

But not only should you watch it, you should be pulling for the Los Angeles Rams.

Let’s remember something: your gripe is not with the Rams. No, they shouldn’t be in the Super Bowl (or anywhere near it). Of course not.

But what were they supposed to do, turn down the invitation?

The Rams are not the enemy. Get over that notion. You can always get our busybody state politicians to fight to have an asterisk put by their name next to the Lombardi Trophy. Maybe file a lawsuit or start a billboard campaign. That’s always fun.

But your gripe is with the NFL — not the Rams — and the NFL apparently likes seeing the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

The Patriots must be stopped. True, the Saints should have been sent in to do the deed, but apparently that’s not going to happen.

So it’s up to the Rams, who will have the disadvantage that any time cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman gets within a time zone of a Patriots receiver it’s going to be Six Flags over Atlanta.

Do we really want to see Tom Brady’s pretty face hoisting another trophy while his head coach scowls at America?

I didn’t think so.

And this isn’t that strong of a Patriots team, or so we’re told. If this Patriots team wins a Super Bowl, then there may be no end in sight.

But remember, the Patriots lost the Super Bowl last year.

Unfair or not, the Super Bowl loser tends to become the dunce of the NFL and the butt of a lot of talk-show monologues.

Lose two in a row and you kind of start to become the Buffalo Bills. And that can’t be anything but good for America.

Plus, though it’s of little solace, a Rams victory strengthens the Saints fans’ claim of rightful ownership on the Super Bowl trophy (which could come in handy for the next round of lawsuits).

But do what you want with your free time.

Maybe you could just keep a running count of how many times the No-Call in NOLA is referenced. The over-under might make for some friendly wagers.

However, you should watch just to see the amazing Tony Romo, CBS’s resident clairvoyant in the broadcast booth.

By the two-minute warning, he should be able to tell you a play in advance what the referees are going to do (or, ahem, not do, as the case may be) to step in and decide the game themselves.


Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics. Email him at shobbs@americanpress.com

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