Saturday, February 02, 2008

2007 NFL Picks - Super Bowl XLII

Just get it over with already.

Seriously. Just get it over with. Start the pregame shows, start the game, have the crappy halftime show, crown a winner and get tne Miami Dolphins on the clock.

It's sad that a die hard football fan such as myself has grown to have this attitude, especially considering that my team is actually in the game. I can't imagine what non-Giants / non-Patriots fans must be feeling like. I actually feel sorry for Jets fans.

No, wait. That's not right. I can never feel sorry for a Jets fan. Ignore that last statement - it's late and I've had a long week.

What I'm driving at here is that the 2-week period leading up to the Super Bowl is too much. Fifteen years or more ago, it would have been perfect - the Internet was still in it's infancy, reporters could take their time fleshing out a good story, and fans could read or watch it, digest it, talk about it, and move on.

Now, every story is dead before the next morning's sun can hit it. Fans are bored of hearing the same pundits take the same stance on the same issues, and even more bored of hearing those pundits change sides because some non-issue pops up in the middle of the week.

Tom Brady has a limp. The Patriots might have used a video camera seven years ago. Plaxico Burress said something without first thinking about how it would play in every media outlet from Tuscon to Tokyo.

The only time an issue can pop up during Super Bowl week is if:
A) There's a legitimate injury. As a gambler, I'm terrified about Plax's legs. I couldn't care less about Brady's ankle.
B) Someone actually insults the other team or players/coaches. See Bradshaw, Terry and something about spelling "CAT".
C) A player/coach gets arrested or into some form of accident. Call it the Eugene Robinson rule.
D) There's a massive storm heading for the site of the Super Bowl. Last year's game was a perfect example of this - I was stunned that the line didn't move more towards the Bears once the announcement was made of "Hurricane-like conditions" in Miami.

That's it. For all the talking points, talking heads, and just talking, not much actually affects the outcome of the game itself. And as fans, most of us are sophisticated enough to understand what's important and what's not. It would just be nice to not have to try to decipher two weeks of junk and condense it into about three hours of important information.

That's enough ranting for today. Onto the pick itself.

For the past five years, I've picked the Super Bowl incorrectly on the spread, and I'm 3-2 on only correctly picking the winning team. I'm really hoping to break that 0-fer this year. So here goes.

The Pick: Patriots 38, Giants 17. The way I see this game shaking out, I think the Pats take an early lead and hold on to it. I think the game gets close in the second half, but ultimately I think the Pats' experience holds up against the Giants, and a couple of late turnovers will make this game seem like much more of a blowout than it actually is going to be.

I expect a close game for at least two and a half quarters, if not three or more. I expect bettors everywhere to go crazy towards the end, when a late TD for the Pats or turnover for the Giants kills any chance of New York covering...

And I fully expect to look like a fool on Monday when the Patriots win by three. Again.

So there you have it. Short and sweet. No 10,000 word opus, no ranting and raving about the latest spying allegations, no snappy comeback for the commenter from last week's post regarding the fact that the NFL doesn't suspend players for four games for "Substance Abuse" for a legal substance like alcohol. None of that. Well, maybe some of it...

Not sure when I'll be back here with uninsightful sporting commentary. I've moved back to Massachusetts for awhile, so I'll be even more Boston-focused than I previously was (if that's even possible). I can feel you rolling your eyes already...

Lata.

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posted by Big D @ 11:33 PM

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