‘Catching’ Super Bowl fever

Opinion by William “Ski” Wilczewski

Guest columnist

Sure, the Tom Brady Haters Club of America has about a zillion members.

All who would love to put his face—and throwing arm—through a cheese grater.

And, yes, the Philadelphia Eagles fan-base is about as friendly as Al Capone on a bad hair day.

Who else would throw snowballs at Santa?

Anyway, these are two great examples of things, I think, we can all agree on when it comes to Super Bowl LII.

More importantly, though, should be the hope that this 52nd edition isn’t marred by one of the NFL’s many recent problems.

Public Enemy #1: Defining what a catch is.

After all, it shouldn’t be that difficult, right?

The ball firmly in hand or hands.

Said ball not touching the ground.

Two feet inbounds.

That should basically be it.

Sadly, in our modern day of super-slow-mo instant replay, it’s not that simple.

As a Buffalo Bills fan, I’ve felt the pain of this controversy—although not nearly as much as any Pittsburgh Steelers fan, which are likely still seeking therapy for what they’ve experienced this season.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m a supporter of instant replay at the end of the day.

What’s right is right. Right?

The problem seems to rear its ugly head, though, when it comes to judging “control” when time is slowed to the point that you can watch a receiver’s nose hairs grow at the same time he’s pulling in a touchdown pass at the most critical point of the game.

At some point, though, maybe we just need to go back to good ol’ school-yard judgement and move on.

I know it’s not that simple and likely will never be.

Heck, maybe it shouldn’t be that simple with the fate of the free world—and millions of dollars in Vegas—riding on every single snap.

Having said that, however, I don’t claim to have a solution to the NFL’s biggest catch-22 dilemma.

So, I’m part of the problem, you say? Well, sue me! I’m not getting paid enough for that.

But, before you rake this four-eyed, bald Polack over the coals, I hope we can at least agree on more than just wanting Brady to see half the game through his helmet’s ear hole and Santa giving Eagles fans the aforementioned coal on his big day in about 11 months.

And that’s a Super Sunday without any of the crazy controversy that could spoil one of the greatest days on Planet Sport.

(Wilczewski can be reached at wilczewskiwilliam@hotmail.com.)