SUPER?

On the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, it's time for a rant.

Seriously, what's so super about it?

Don't get me wrong. I love to watch football. Every year I live and die with my Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, I attended the Super Bowl in 2005, in Jacksonville, Florida, when the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots.

Football players, for the most part are tremendously gifted athletes. Taking a hit from a 265-pound linebacker, who is faster than the best sprinter from your high school track team, is like being run over by a small truck traveling at 25 miles per hour.

Football has become, as we have tragically seen this year, a circus. It is inching closer to the gladiator games of ancient Rome, and is not far from professional wrestling.

Beating your wife, your child, rape allegations, and cheating scandals have dominated the headlines this past season.

Spoiled, pampered babies, some are horrific role models. This week, a guy sells out his hat concession, not for his accomplishments on the field, but because he doesn't talk to the press.

Oh, and a guy who COULD be playing for the Patriots tomorrow, is in the middle of a murder trial instead.

Meanwhile, we all run and race.

Our rewards may include a shiny medal, a plaque, or a really cool shirt.

While professional athletes whine, party, and continue to be rewarded for bad behavior, we lace up our shoes, in all kinds of weather, and continue to perform the purest, and perhaps the oldest of all human activities: placing one foot in front of the other and going as fast as we can for as long as we can.

Tomorrow, then, break out the party food. Cook the wings, eat the nachos and celebrate.

Don't celebrate the cheaters or the loud mouths...celebrate YOU!

Crush a workout or a race tomorrow morning, then celebrate YOUR Super Sunday. Celebrate and rejoice in the fact that YOU are participating in a super sport, with super people. You have whipped your body into super shape, and you cover a distance from point A to point B in a super fast time, that few humans (certainly few NFL players) can match.

Yes, tomorrow is the NFL's Super Sunday. But for all of you, 2015 will bring many Super Sundays, and Super Saturdays as well. They are the days you will put your training on the line and test your skills against others. They are the race days, when you will cover distances that are only driven by most. They are the days you will race in big cities and small towns. They are the days when YOU are the Super Heroes.

Now that's what I call super!

www.muldowneyrunning.com