Harry Connick Jr. loves his New Orleans Saints. He loves the game of football. But he won't be watching the Super Bowl after one of the most egregious non-calls in the history of the NFL -- a no-call that took away a first down that would have allowed the Saints to run down the clock and kick a chip shot field goal to end the game.
The non-call was so bad (and really, it was that bad) that Harry Connick Jr. wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He said that moment in the NFC Championship Game "was one of the most disgraceful no-calls I have ever seen."
I'm with Harry on this one. There are bad calls in games, it's part of sports. But this non-call took a virtually certain Saints victory away and gave the Rams another chance. One which, to their credit, they made the most of. But the Saints should be in the Super Bowl, and they're not.
In New Orleans, some folks are organizing a "Boycott Bowl" -- basically a plan to do something else as a community instead of watching a Super Bowl that feels tainted this year.
We won't be watching either. I can see all the Super Bowl ads elsewhere; most of them are released before the game is ever played, and the rest can be viewed immediately after. The halftime show with Maroon 5 should be good, but again, there's nothing about the spectacle that I need to see live. Once the referees gave away our victory, I just lost interest. We'll probably go to the movies instead.