Way back in 1977, a fictitious movie titled Black Sunday hit the big screens.  But, before it hit the big screens one of the final scenes had to be shot.

That scene had the ever-present at Super Bowl games Goodyear Blimp hitting a packed Orange Bowl Stadium during Super Bowl X, and dropping a bomb that would turn lose a quarter-million steel flechettes(think mini bombs).  The terroristic plot was foiled at the last second, but not before it terrorized 80,000 fans who were actually movie stand-ins of course.  The film grossed $16 million.

Now, 45 years later, Super Bowl LVI will be the 56th Super Bowl and is scheduled to be played on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, a city two miles from LAX and not far from the movie-making capital of the world-Hollywood.

Note we said scheduled to be played.  There’s a terror of a different kind sweeping the nation as we write.  And, last night there it was scrolling across the ever-present ESPN updates.  “The NFL is looking into alternate sites to host SB LVI.”

What the scroll didn’t say was why.  Why move?  It’s because Omicron is the 2022 version of the bomb and the ease of its transmission is the quarter-million flechettes.

The real why of course is that the NFL show must go on as Hollywood might say even if it needs to move to another state and stadium.  Super Bowl “movies” gross way more than $16 million worldwide these days.

A determined virus should never get in the way of capitalism, our economy, our freedom, and our independence many say.  The “many” who say that are few when it comes to California governance, however.

You can never be “too safe,” and even level that might not be safe enough for Cali.  Could Cali opt out of SB LVI? Will Gavin Newsom make the call from the French Laundry Restaurant for the safety of the citizens he governs?

Could LA?  The Rose Bowl was played last Saturday in Pasadena.  But. But. But, new cases are geometrically increasing.

The world is waiting because the world will be watching regardless of what patch of grass it’s played on in five weeks.

It would take some game balls to call it off and make the NFL move the game and its footballs to another state.  It would be another huge defining moment of how divided our United States are on issues big and small.

Super Bowl LVI hits the big screens in your living room in five weeks and the Goodyear Blimp, sans flechettes, will have an eye in the sky to bring it to you.

Safety first?  Or hooray, hooray for Inglewood?