By Rick Lavoie
Forgive me in advance, but I am fairly confident that I am about to go off in several tangents. The title says it all, Gronk is overrated. Sure, he is one of the better tight ends in the history of the NFL, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t overrated. The online dictionary used by Google defines Overrated as “having a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved.” Using that vague definition to guide us, as we travel through space and time to explore the truth that is Gronk’s overratedness.
Last year, around this time, I activated my “MoviePass” account. The premise was cool. I pay about $100.00 for a year-long subscription and in return I get to see one movie a day (no blackouts). I was very excited. I thought it was the greatest subscription service ever and I eagerly began seeing movies that I would never had gone to see if paying individually. I found myself getting drinks and popcorn more than I had originally planned and realized that the theaters were probably cool with the arrangement. In February, during Black History Month, I went to see Black Panther. It was on fleek and I decided to see it a second time. A few days later, I rolled up to the Showcase – Revere and opened up my MoviePass App. I scrolled to find the show and time, but they were not accessible. Perplexed, I chose another, albeit less on fleek, film. The greatest subscription service ever had let me down. I invested my money and heart into it’s success, but due to a lack of capital investments (and not enough subscriptions) MoviePass was on a downward spiral. I canceled my account before the year was up because the number of available theaters in the area became less than one. Anytime something is highly rated, the expectation must be met…otherwise it was over rated.
This yarn reminds me of another example of something in my life that was overrated. The year was 1995. I had just graduated from high school and I was serving Massachusetts DeMolay as a state officer. As a self-diagnosed insomniac, I routinely found myself up late on most nights (It’s 12:31am as I write this). In September, I think it was, I found myself turning to an old standby…Saturday Night Live. It was the first year without Sandler, Myers, and Nealon. I was nervous that the onslaught of new cast members would not serve the show well, but watched with baited breath. Dave Spade was still there, but anyone who’s seen Joe Dirt knows that no big thing. Anyways, there was an old dude on the show, kind of reminded me of Phil Hartman. He had been a member of the Groundlings and was brought onboard with Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. Admittedly, I found some of Will Ferrell’s skits humorous. I chortle at his role in Jeopardy even today. I, however, found his humor to be quite bland. I remember, as time went on, becoming less and less attached to the show that I had watched since elementary school and it was mostly Ferrell’s fault.
Fast forward a few years, and I am at Revere’s Showcase Cinema. I am there, with friends, to watch a movie called, “Old School (which I paid for because MoviePAss hadn’t been invented yet).” It sucked…in my opinion. So many other people were calling Ferrell a genius. As I went to more and more of his movies, I saw him do the same old shtick. The sheeple all doubled over with laughs, but I cringed everytime he appeared in his underwear screaming nonsensical nonsense at the camera. [I remember loving Wedding Crashers until his character showed up] I made a similar claim about Will that I have about Rob. If one is the greatest and is unstoppable, then their shit should smell of roses at all times. You can imagine the shock over the past few days as my longevity paid off even if Holmes and Watson hasn’t.
To prove me wrong, one would have to change my perception. I listen to what folks say about Will Ferrell, what they said about MoviePass, and what is said about Mr. Gronkowski. I am riddled with confirmation bias on this matter. Every injury, every dropped pass, and every non-football related event that he participates in reminds me of how overrated he is. Every playoff game, when he didn’t play, adds credibility to my argument. Any post-season touchdown is expected, it’s the lack of production when it counts that counts. Gronk is overrated until he isn’t, but he probably always will be.
Thanks for reading!