Many people in Sanpete love their football. They can’t get enough of it. Fortunately, many of these people also love basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, track and field, and maybe curling — so they never have to go without sports in their lives.

I watched most of the Super Bowl Sunday. The Super Bowl “party” at my house had two people involved. Well, three if you count Archer the Sheltie wonder dog. He thinks he belongs in the category of “people.” Who am I to disagree.

We didn’t go all out for Super Bowl food at our party. Having our traditional shrimp and cocktail sauce was the highlight. Dang it! Now that I think of it, I forgot an important part of my refreshment plans. I was fully intending to have a Mountain Dew Code Red float with chocolate ice cream.

I may need to look into that memory enhancing concoction that they peddle on TV. They say that it has an ingredient that comes from jellyfish. Somehow that part of the sales pitch isn’t appetizing to me. Oh well.

Back to the game. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, both former New England Patriots, played superbly for Tampa Bay this year.

My wife grew up in New England. When asked who she was going for in the game she replied, “I root for the Patriots. I have no dog in this fight.”

I was hoping for Kansas City to come out on top. My hopes, of course, were dashed. The lopsided final score (31-9) made the game less exciting than many Super Bowls have been. The Buccaneers certainly earned the win. Congrats to them and their fans.

My oldest son has always been interested in football — especially when it comes to the Denver Broncos. He has followed that team since he was a little guy. Back when he was four or five, the Salt Lake broadcast stations ran the Denver games more than any other and I think that’s why he imprinted on the Broncos.

He’s learned to ride the “roller coaster” of Bronco losses and wins over the years. John Elway played as quarterback for Denver in five Super Bowls. He won two of them.

After Elway lost one of those three losing games, my son wrote a letter of sympathy to him. He was probably six or seven years old at the time. I don’t know if it ever was actually mailed, but it was a pretty serious project for a sad little boy.

In addition to the Super Bowl game itself, most viewers are interested in the commercials. Advertisers spent millions per ad (not counting production costs) to broadcast what they hope was seen as a “super commercial.”

Somehow, this year, I wasn’t super impressed with the commercials. Maybe it was because it seemed like there were less humorous ads than usual. I felt like there were more serious messages of what I would call pleas for Americans to be nicer to each other and to take care of our world.

Also, beyond the game itself, there was the pre-game and half-time entertainment. Country singer Eric Church and Rhythm and Blues singer Jazmine Sullivan were a duet for the national anthem. My review: Thumbs Up!

The Weeknd performed for the half-time show. Yes, the Weeknd. I guess if my given name was Abel Makkonen Tessfaye, I might be tempted to find an alternative name to use professionally. But, the Weeknd? Why not Abel. A good “normal” one word name should suffice. It’s worked for Cher, Madonna, and Beyonce and others. My review? Thumbs sideways. Not memorable.

The most memorable half-time show was the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake show. That was 17 years ago in 2004. That was the

“wardrobe malfunction” show. The top part of Janet’s outfit “malfunctioned” and more of her body was on display than was intended.

In anticipation of that game years ago, I had read in the paper a piece from The New York Daily News that “…viewers can expect the unexpected…” and that the performer’s incentive by appearing at the Super Bowl is “massive exposure.” That seemed to be true that year.

I hope you had a Super Sunday and that you, with me, can now try to give football a rest for a while. Before I do that though, I need to go check the results on the college football recruits. It was national signing day last week. And then I need to check up on spring training, it’s just around the corner. — — Merrill