The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Time is ticking, it keeps on ticking and time is ticking away—so embrace all of it! Here we are getting ready to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday. In Roman numerals that would be America’s CCL Birthday! The only reason I was thinking about Roman numerals was because here we are in February, getting ready to kick off Super Bowl LX, or Super Bowl 60.

The NFL uses Roman numerals to limit confusion with the big game being played in same calendar year as the following regular season, later in the year. It’s also reported former Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt believed the use of Roman numerals added a sense of grandeur to America’s most popular sporting event.

I wish I could be excited for the halftime show. Some dude named Bunny hopping around in a dress may tickle your pickle, but it does little for me. The jokes write themselves, but I can’t find any humor in the NFL booking a dude who has zero songs in English.

I see the business side of it, though. Marketing worldwide! As much as I believe Bad Bunny’s music sucks, the fact remains he is one of the most streamed artists in the world. If millions of people across the seas are tuning in, the NFL could care less if the average American isn’t excited for the show.

One more complaint: Jay-Z and his Roc Nation company need to be kicked to the curb. Since 2019, Jay-Z has held primary responsibility for choosing the headliner and over the years it feels like there’s been a lack of diversity as far as music genres go. There are far too many people who care more about a political or social statement needing to be made than they do the musical performance, and that sucks!

That’s why we all should support Battle of the Bands instead for our halftime entertainment. We line up two large college marching bands on opposite ends of the field. They begin by dueling one another through music and, after that, instruments and all, they attack one another. Last person standing wins the bloody, gladiator-style event. Imagine a 300-pound tuba player stiff-arming a clarinet player and then planting their school’s flag midfield. Problem solved, with an event that potentially becomes bigger than the game.

If that’s not suitable, we should just do a better job representing the most popular genres of music. Is it too much to ask for the occasional rock show? Maybe a little metal? I have high hopes for a country music tribute show in the next decade when Nashville hosts a Super Bowl, which I imagine will be shortly after the new Titans stadium opens in 2027.

With the recent reports of Jay-Z being involved in the Epstein files, plus his Diddy past, I imagine we aren’t far off from the NFL actually kicking him to the curb and having someone else pick the halftime entertainment, hopefully someone who sets a diverse standard for different genres of music within a given time frame. Every year the show seems to become more vulgar and sexualized. We have become a society that I guess is okay with our children seeing these things, and that’s bothersome.

The second largest food consumption day of the year is Super Bowl Sunday, right behind Thanksgiving. What food will you have at your Super Bowl watch party? I hear 1.25 billion chicken wings are consumed on game day. In perspective, that would be around 4 wings for every legal American. I tried to look up how much ICE we use for the big game, but the numbers were inconclusive. Nearly 20 million pounds of chips are purchased. Screw a veggie, give me a chip! I guess if you want to be healthy, avocados are a fan favorite—140 million pounds of avocados mushed up into delicious guac.

The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin tell us that we will eat enough cheese on Super Bowl Sunday to cover Mercedes-Benz Stadium, end zone to end zone, 10 yards deep in cheese. We Americans wash it down with over 325 million gallons of beer! The number seems unrealistically insane, but it pops up everywhere, cited by numerous sources. That’s near a gallon of beer per person in the country. I am skeptical of that number, but whatever.

Check out Budweiser’s new commercial for this year’s Super Bowl. This year’s “American Icons” commercial commemorates Bud’s 150th anniversary. It follows a Clydesdale foal that saves a young bird. The bond grows over the years as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” plays. I won’t spoil the rest, but that one brought a patriotic tear to my eye.

After the party, all that food and drink must go somewhere! They say we flush down 13 million pounds of poo during the big game. I guess that’s why antacid sales see a 20% rise the following morning. The Monday after the Super Bowl needs to be a national holiday. The holiday of healing, rest and self-reflection. Super Sunday to Mild Monday has nice ring to it. I’m not even joking on this one. It’s downright evil we as a country don’t make the following day a National Day of Rest for everyone.

Next topic—Titans Talk! My Tennessee Titans have made me proud with the hiring process of their new coaches. This was a cycle where the NFL had a record-tying 10 vacancies at head coach.

The Titans, after firing Brian Callahan mid-season, had months to think about the direction they wanted to take. The team hired Robert Saleh, one of the few men in the NFL who I believe would whoop Coach Vrabel’s ass in a fist fight. Coach Saleh has a Greek god/caveman look about him. Power.

The Titans then went and grabbed one of the best options available for their new offensive coordinator, bringing in decades of QB developing experience in Coach Brian Daboll. If these two coaches can’t get the best out of Cam Ward, nobody can. It’s reason for excitement.

I absolutely loved Coach Saleh’s introductory press conference; the defensive-minded genius was giving all the right answers. He was asked about what this team’s identity will be now, he said “Fast and violent, play in and play out. We’re going to play confident, and we’re going to play with some swag, talk a little sh*t.”

When Coach Saleh said we are going to be able to feel this football team through the TV—maybe I am doing nothing more than grasping at hope—but I believed him. There is a good reason these hirings were well received by the national media. The Titans will look very different this coming season, with the job being to get the best out of year-two Cam Ward and turning this Jeffery Simmons-led defense into a problem for opposing offenses.

There is a much-needed identity change happening in Nashville, and I for one am embracing it after years of this franchise not having an identity.

Let’s truly wrap this up now. It’s riDICKulous that we must continue saying this, but keep wieners out of female athletics. The Supreme Court seems inclined to allow states to ban transgender athletes, and that’s a win for integrity.

The Train is rolling into the station. Choo-choo!