Anticipating the Super Bowl

I don't claim to be a big football fan, but I do enjoy watching the NFL, especially at playoff time. The 2022 playoff cycle has been particularly entertaining and exciting. Here is my recap.

Wild Card Weekend.The Bengals won 26-19 over the Raiders, but not before the drama of the Raiders having the ball on the Bengals 9-yard line woth 12 seconds left, only to have the Raiders' QB throw an interception.

Bills 47-17 over the Patriots. Very heartening result to me, for two reasons: One, the Patriots coach Bill Belichek is one of the most despicable characters in the NFL, someone with absolutely no personality, and someone who has twice been caught in illegalities, for taping opponents' defensive signals, and for deflating footballs. The second reason is that the Bills gave an NFL berth to my childhood hero, Elbert Dubenion, who played at Bluffton College, in my hometown, and went on to an awesome NFL career, even though he was already 27 years old when he got started (he had been in the military before college).

Chiefs 42-21 over the Steelers. The Chiefs clobbered the Steelers, giving me great joy for two reasons. One, I lived in Kansas for many years and became a fan of the Chiefs. Two, the Steelers' QB, Ben Rothlisberger, is a two-time rapist who has no moral character whatsoever. Wishing him a useless retirement, even though his hometown in Ohio is only 17 miles from mine.

Divisional Round. The Bengals won 19-16 over the Titans. QB Joe Burrow got sacked an incredible nine times(!), but he kept his poise and engineered a last-minte drive that ended in a winning field goal as time ran out.

49ers 13-10 over the Packers. As in the Bengals game, the niners won it with a field goal as time expired. The niners special teams play waas the highight of this game, with a blocked field goal and a blocked punt. Special teams players are often overlooked, so it is gratifying to see them get the credit they deserve in this game. Both the Bengals and 49ers wins are noteworthy in that the #1-seeded team lost, despite having the advantage of a wild card round bye.

Rams 30-27 over the Buccaneers. The Bucs came back from a 27-3 deficit to tie the game at 27 in the 4th quarter. The Rams then won with a miraculous 44-yard pass with 10 seconds left, putting them in field goal range, and their kicker connected for the 3-point win. Good riddance to the cheating Bucs quarterback, Tom Brady, who announced his retirement a few days after this game.

Chiefs 42-36 over the Bills. This is the only game whose result I didn't wholeheartedly support. I was torn between these two teams, rooting for the Bills only because they have never won a Super Bowl, unlike the Chiefs. This game has been aptly called the greatest game every played. The Bills went ahead by three with only 13 seconds left, and the game seemed to be over. However, the Bills kicker kicked the kickoff into the end zone, resulting in the Chiefs getting the ball on the 25-yeard line with 13 seconds still left. Commentators thought he should have kicked it short, forcing a runback to taske time off the clock. In two plays, QB Patrick Mahomes took the Chiefs into field goal range, and the kicker came through to tie up the game.

In overtime, the Chiefs won the coin flip and scored the winning touchdown, without the Bills ever having a chance to score. This odd sudden death rule has been roundly criticized, and shoud be tweaked before next season begins!

Championship Sunday. Bengals over the Chiefs, 27-24. The Bengals came back from 18 points down to send the game into overtime. QB Joe Burrow came though in the clutch, as did kicker Evan McPherson, who hit four field goals.

Rams 20-17 over the 49ers. The Rams trailed by 10 points in the 4th quarter, but came back to shock the niners.

So, the Super Bowl will feature the Rams, led by QB Matthew Stafford, vs. the Bengals, led by QB Joe Burrow.

The Sarah Palin Defamation Suit

This case went to trial today in a New York federal court. I hadn't heard of it until last week when it was delayed due to Palin testing positive for CoVid, but it strikes me as a significant case which deserves greater publicity.

Based on the 1964 standard, under which public figures must show actual malice to prevail, it seems certain that Palin will lose in the trial court. However, it is likely that she will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could then revise the standard enunciated in 1964. Two justices have already indicated a desire to do so.

The absence of malice is evident from the fact that the Times immediately retracted its editorial statement that Palin's PAC had "incited" the shooting of congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

The case was originally thrown out by the trial judge on the basis that Palin's petition stated no actionable claim. However, the appeals court reinstated it on procedural grounds, and now it is going to trial. It is noteworthy that the appeals court expressed no opinion on the merits of the case, and in fact pointed out that Palin has a high bar to surmount in order to prevail.

Palin's case is so laughably weak that one hardly knows where to begin. She is clearly a public figure, and a controversial one at that. Her PAC did in fact publish a map with crosshairs on 20 Congressional Districts. The only problem was that the Times editorial said that this map "incited" the crazed gunman who shot Gabby Giffords.

Within hours of the publication of the editorial, the Internet blew up with criticism, because there was no evidence that the gunman had ever seen the map. The Times immediately issued a correction and apology, within hours of the publication. This obviously negates any "actual malice", or "reckless disregard" of the truth.

Palin claims she has suffered damages because her "budding career" as a political commentator was derailed. The facts are that her so-called budding career was ended two years before, in 2015, when FOX News terminated her contract as a political commentator. She has suffered no damages, and cannot prove otherwise. Her attorneys are simply going through the motions at this point, anxious to get this whole fiasco over with, and probably disappointed that their case wasn't thrown out prior to trial.

It is hard to understand why any public figure still feels compelled to sue for libel in the post-1964 era. I can think of no such case that has succeeded. Spectacular failures include William Westmoreland's case againt CBS, and Ariel Sharon's case against Time magazine. The idea here is that if a falsehood is said against a public figure, that person has the ability to correct the record immediately with a press conference. That's what it means to be a public figure!