OK, so it's been over a week since the Superbowl, and I haven't commented yet on the game. My Patriots lost, but I don't feel too bad about it, despite the lack of a "perfect season."
As a Patriots fan, I've seen three Superbowl wins in eight years. My father, who had season tickets until the mid-1980s, never saw one.
This team is going to be competitive for years to come; this wasn't a fluky season that will fall into the "lucky" category (the Panthers played the Pats well in the Superbowl a couple of years ago, but where was the follow-up success? They're not even a playoff-relevant team at this point.).
The Giants played incredibly well, and the game was not decided by questionable penalty calls.
Sometimes a winning team gets lucky breaks. That's not to say that the Giants didn't do enough to earn the victory on their own, but consider the following regarding the final scoring drive alone:
1. The conversion of a long 3rd and 11.
2. The conversion of a 4th and short.
3. Asante Samuel dropping what would have been a game-ending interception.
4. Eli Manning recovering his own fumble despite having two Patriots on either side of him.
5. Eli Manning escaping what looked to be a sure sack and threw that pass resulting in ...
6. David Tyree's ridiculous catch, pinning the ball to his helmet with one hand while falling to the ground after a tackle reminiscent of a Tully Blanchard backbreaker to Magnum T.A. in 1986. (Extra points if this reference even shows up as a blip on your radar.) There's about a one percent chance of that play ending up as a successful completion; that ball would have been knocked out or hit the ground almost every time something like that happens. But this time ... this was the one that ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Go figure.
For me to complain about any of these things would be somewhat hypocritical, I think. "Oh, but if THAT didn't happen ..." Well, they did. And I recall the Tuck Rule play, and David Givens "fumbling" the ball after a reception on the sideline while knocking himself out when he hit the ground, but by virtue of the ball being touched by the lower half of his body while his unconscious upper body was out of bounds, the play was called dead. Or something like that. The point being, sometimes you throw a strike, sometimes you throw a gutter. What can you do?
So congratulations to the Giants. Those who dislike the Patriots (almost everyone outside of New England, I realize) can chant "Eighteen and One" all they want - but tell me, with the exception of Giants fans, are there really any fans of other teams out there who wouldn't want to swap their fortunes with those of the Pats and their fans? 18-1 is something to be proud of.
I mean, tell me Dolphins fans wouldn't be ecstatic to have been 18-1 with a Superbowl loss than to be 1-15.
Tell me you wouldn't rather call an 18-1 team (in one season) your own rather than being a Raiders fan, supporting a team that has one more game than the Patriots SINCE 2003 (19 wins in four seasons) than the Patriots did in 2007 alone.
Was it disappointing? Sure, a little bit. But if you ask me, it's still pretty damn good, no?
And not to poop on the Patriots or seem like I'm "jumping ship" after a loss, but as a side note, at the end of the game, Nicole turned to me and said, "Sorry your team lost." I said, "They're not my team." I pointed to my Red Sox hat and said, "THEY're my team."
You can like the Stones and you can like the Beatles, but you have to like one of them more. That's just the way it is. (And for those who wonder, I like the Beatles more than the Stones.)
If you would have asked me in 2000 before any of the recent success of both teams began in earnest which I would have rather seen happened, I'd have told you I'd have traded 10 Superbowls for just one World Series. And I got three and two, respectively. And counting.
*****
If you don't know/like classic movies or Spongebob, you might not like this, but if you DO, be sure to check this out. It's clips of "Casablanca", "Singing in the Rain" and "The Godfather", as re-dubbed by the cast of Spongebob in their characters' voices.
As a Patriots fan, I've seen three Superbowl wins in eight years. My father, who had season tickets until the mid-1980s, never saw one.
This team is going to be competitive for years to come; this wasn't a fluky season that will fall into the "lucky" category (the Panthers played the Pats well in the Superbowl a couple of years ago, but where was the follow-up success? They're not even a playoff-relevant team at this point.).
The Giants played incredibly well, and the game was not decided by questionable penalty calls.
Sometimes a winning team gets lucky breaks. That's not to say that the Giants didn't do enough to earn the victory on their own, but consider the following regarding the final scoring drive alone:
1. The conversion of a long 3rd and 11.
2. The conversion of a 4th and short.
3. Asante Samuel dropping what would have been a game-ending interception.
4. Eli Manning recovering his own fumble despite having two Patriots on either side of him.
5. Eli Manning escaping what looked to be a sure sack and threw that pass resulting in ...
6. David Tyree's ridiculous catch, pinning the ball to his helmet with one hand while falling to the ground after a tackle reminiscent of a Tully Blanchard backbreaker to Magnum T.A. in 1986. (Extra points if this reference even shows up as a blip on your radar.) There's about a one percent chance of that play ending up as a successful completion; that ball would have been knocked out or hit the ground almost every time something like that happens. But this time ... this was the one that ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Go figure.
For me to complain about any of these things would be somewhat hypocritical, I think. "Oh, but if THAT didn't happen ..." Well, they did. And I recall the Tuck Rule play, and David Givens "fumbling" the ball after a reception on the sideline while knocking himself out when he hit the ground, but by virtue of the ball being touched by the lower half of his body while his unconscious upper body was out of bounds, the play was called dead. Or something like that. The point being, sometimes you throw a strike, sometimes you throw a gutter. What can you do?
So congratulations to the Giants. Those who dislike the Patriots (almost everyone outside of New England, I realize) can chant "Eighteen and One" all they want - but tell me, with the exception of Giants fans, are there really any fans of other teams out there who wouldn't want to swap their fortunes with those of the Pats and their fans? 18-1 is something to be proud of.
I mean, tell me Dolphins fans wouldn't be ecstatic to have been 18-1 with a Superbowl loss than to be 1-15.
Tell me you wouldn't rather call an 18-1 team (in one season) your own rather than being a Raiders fan, supporting a team that has one more game than the Patriots SINCE 2003 (19 wins in four seasons) than the Patriots did in 2007 alone.
Was it disappointing? Sure, a little bit. But if you ask me, it's still pretty damn good, no?
And not to poop on the Patriots or seem like I'm "jumping ship" after a loss, but as a side note, at the end of the game, Nicole turned to me and said, "Sorry your team lost." I said, "They're not my team." I pointed to my Red Sox hat and said, "THEY're my team."
You can like the Stones and you can like the Beatles, but you have to like one of them more. That's just the way it is. (And for those who wonder, I like the Beatles more than the Stones.)
If you would have asked me in 2000 before any of the recent success of both teams began in earnest which I would have rather seen happened, I'd have told you I'd have traded 10 Superbowls for just one World Series. And I got three and two, respectively. And counting.
*****
If you don't know/like classic movies or Spongebob, you might not like this, but if you DO, be sure to check this out. It's clips of "Casablanca", "Singing in the Rain" and "The Godfather", as re-dubbed by the cast of Spongebob in their characters' voices.
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