Wow.
Wow, Wow, wow, wow, wow.
Wow.
Here's the thing. It wasn't the best game ever. It wasn't even in my top five. But damn, I'll take it.
Ironic isn't it, that after two weeks of hearing how much the 2003-'04 Panthers were the clones of the 2001-'02 Patriots, and for as much as I didn't want to listen to it anymore, that the game would end essentially the same way, except for listening to John Madden yell "Play for overtime!"
The Patriots dominated the beginning of the game in '02 and in '04 Check. They let it slip away late in the game in '02 and in '04. Check. Ricky Proehl scored the TD to complete the other team's comeback late in the 4th quarter in '02 and in '04. Check (and kinda creepy). Adam Vinatieri kicks a game winning field goal after Tom Brady leads a drive with under
The game itself was uninteresting until the second quarter, which I'm sure had CBS execs sweating and calling up Paul Tagliabue to make him guarantee that New York would be in the next Super Bowl. The halftime show, well, save for the last 30 seconds I couldn't have cared less about it. Until the end, the best part of the show was critiquing the artists' lip-synching abilities. First rule of lip-synching, don't take the mic away from your mouth when your lips aren't moving.
But from the second quarter on, man, what a freakin' game. I'm satisfied. I picked it wrong, I was way off on the score, and I still think that Mike Vrabel or Deion Branch deserved the MVP more than Tom Brady, but hey, I'll take a W, ugly or not.
As you know if you've been paying attention, I like to go to the Indian casinos in
My mother came too, and God Bless her, she loves football. But she doesn't really know a lot about the game, just that the Patriots are who to cheer for and they need to score touchdowns. That's enough. But she always provides me with more than enough fodder at every game to fill up pages of stories. Sunday was no different. During a penalty, CBS showed their typical yellow FLAG box that then turned into two boxes, one that said "Holding" and another that said "CAR". Obviously, holding on
Mom (pointing at the screen): "Ooooh, David, look. Someone just won a CAR!"
Me: "Uh, no ma. There’s a penalty on
So at least everyone within earshot got a great laugh out of that. And then of course, there was the whole Patriots winning thing. But I'll be honest, I miss the good 'ol days; ah, where have they gone.
I know Billy Joel says the good 'ol days weren't always good, and far be it for me to question a chronic alcoholic's view on life, but I would have been just as happy as I was in Connecticut if I'd been spending the game with 200 of my closest friends playing in "Beirut Bowl IV" and defending my runner-up standing. I’m putting the challenge out to my friends and readership that next year, the Day After Super Bowl is a national holiday, and the Beirut Bowl tradition will rise again. For those of you who have never been a part of this tradition, jump in, it's an experience not to be missed.
Finally, back to this whole "greatest game ever" thing. No, this was not the best Super Bowl ever. Top 10? Maybe. Top 5? Nope. Not for me, and my team even won this one. Joe Namath's guarantee is still #1 in my book, but the 2001-'02 Patriots vs. Rams is just about a tie at this point. And I know Vin's gonna kick my ass on that one. Joe Montana to John Taylor, John Elway's helicopter, and Scott Norwood "wide right" round out my top 5, not necessarily in that order. This game was good, but it was ugly as hell. For a defensive struggle, 61 points seems a little excessive.
So where do we stand heading into next season? The Bengals will be in the playoffs. .The Cardinals, Lions, Bears, Chargers, Raiders, Bills, Jaguars, Browns, Seahawks, 49ers Bucs and Steelers will not. Peyton Manning will not have another MVP season, because Bill Belichick has exposed his major weakness (remember Kurt Warner?) And as for next year's Big Game? Well, I see no reason for the Patriots not to make it. They won a title, they don't have any major contract looming aside from Ty Law, they get back the second-best defensive acquisition from last year (Rosie Colvin) and they have 7 draft picks in the first 4 rounds. You give me a reason why. But you know who they're gonna be playing?
The Redskins.
So that's my Super Bowl wrap-up. I was up, I was down, I was up, I was on the floor in the fetal position, and I was jumping up into the air and catching high fives from three rows of people. Yeah, I think it was a good day.
"Someone just won a CAR!".... Priceless.
posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM
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