So I’m in the checkout line the other day buying supplies (wine) for Impending Armageddon, otherwise known as Tuesday’s snowstorm. The guy in front of me commits the mortal sin of engaging the cashier in small talk.

“Did the team you were rooting for win last night?” he asked, alluding to the Super Bowl.

“Are you kidding?” she replied. “It was rigged.”

The cashier then embarked on a meandering soliloquy that touched on Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Patrick Mahomes, the referees and other conspiratorial conjectures.

It was here I wanted to actually open the wine and begin guzzling. Or find the nearest sharp pencil and begin stabbing myself.

Alas, I stayed quiet (and pain free) for the duration. When it was my turn at the counter, I kept my head down and escaped as quickly as possible.

But when I returned to the car, I started thinking how prevalent the word “rigged” has become in our lexicon.

There are theories as to why the word is more linked to sports than ever. Like this is what happens when professional sports leagues pander to gambling. Comes with the meal. And should you ponder the past, you understand gambling’s influence on Paul Hornung, Rick Kuhn and Tim Donaghy, among others. Now fast forward to 2024. Imagine what would befall Don Denkinger and John Clougherty, one umpire and one basketball official, whose bad calls cost two different teams championships.

In those days, their transgressions were dismissed as simple human error. Now? The games are fixed. The refs are on the take. Rigged.

Even the other night when the Knicks got a terrible whistle late in their loss at Houston. The officials issued an apology an hour after the game ended with a regrettable foul call on Jalen Brunson. And still, the Human Comments Section of the New York Post featured the word “rigged” as much as it had the words “and” and “the.”

Rigged.

Full disclosure: I often side with H.L. Mencken on these things. Mencken once said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.” Among my interpretations of Mr. Mencken’s musing: Just because a conspiracy theorist makes an occasional point doesn’t mean he or she ever makes another one. Conspiracy theorists often act as though they know one more fact than we do about everything. If it helps them sleep at night, fine. Except the boogeyman isn’t hiding around every corner and some mistakes are honest.

But back to “rigged.” Sure, that word has been tossed around in sports and other contexts. But here is where I must give The Patron Saint credit where it’s due. Surely, you know The Patron Saint of all things “rigged.” He’s one of the two geezers presumptively running for president, just a little less geezer than his likely opponent.

The Patron Saint used the word “rigged” frequently in reference to the 2020 election. And darn, if it hasn’t caught on in other spheres, the way many of his inferences do. The Patron Saint has successfully linked politics with the entertainment industry — say, Tay Tay really isn’t endorsing Biden, is she? — and now he’s, even if unwittingly, done it to sports.

When your team/gambling interest loses under suspicious circumstances, the game is rigged.

When your team/gambling interest wins under suspicious circumstances … crickets.

Funny how that works.

Still, it’s impressive, in a pathetic sort of way, how one man’s blathering maintains such influence in daily society. Think about it. What if The Patron Saint had such popularity in earlier days?

Would Jack Daniel’s have underwritten The Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 to drum up business? Rigged!

Did Neil Armstrong get a kickback from the PGA for hitting a golf ball on the moon? My sources tell me Louisville Slugger wanted Mr. Armstrong to hit a baseball up there but got outbid. Rigged!

Are we absolutely sure George Steinbrenner didn’t pay Jeffrey Maier to snag Derek Jeter’s deep fly ball in the 1996 ALCS? Rigged!

Are we totally sure this column isn’t rigged?

Hmmmm.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro