Our obsessive and often infantile love affair with sports! And it's obviously not just an American thing. Tonight, the top story on all of Boston's television and radio stations is Deflategate! New England football fans are aghast that Tom Brady's appeal has failed and he'll have to sit-out four regular season games! Oh the humanity! And there's talk that he should appeal to the US Supreme Court! "Free Brady" tee-shirts are often worn in solidarity with this unfairly maligned "victim". The man is a multimillionaire, married to a supermodel who earns more than he does. Who gives a shit? I believe it all stems from the need of far too many people to be part of something greater than themselves, a "tribe" of sorts. It's the vicarious thrill felt when "we won"! When "we're #1"! I guess it's more benign than religion but still, these are children's games! All too many people can endlessly recite statistics and analyze plays and games, but have they a handle on more substantive issues? By and large, they don't. I feel better now. And I've never used so many exclamation points in a post!!

Peter T.