Monday, February 4, 2008

super bowl--postgame random thoughts

What just happened!!!

No, really...

WHAT
THE
HECK
JUST
HAPPENED!!!!!







And once again, we are shown why things are decided on the field, and not by polls.








I was rooting for NE, I admit it, I confess it, and without shame. I don't automatically go for the underdog simply because it's the underdog. And the idea of a pursuit of perfection actually being rewarded with fulfillment is something I could respect.

I remember hearing one radio sports talk guy (can't remember her name, if I even heard it) talking about how the Pats needed to lose a regular season game because it was impossible for a team to win all the games in a season. It irks me that such a nay-sayer can now have something to crow about.








At the same time, all respect to the Giants. When NE scored with about 3 minutes left to take the lead, I thought it was over.

And certainly NE had chances to put them away. They could have held on the one fourth down play, but didn't stop the runner. There was at least one interception chance, one particularly good, but they didn't finish it.

Then, that one Giants' reception--Manning being pulled down by the shirt, gets away, throws downfield, receiver and defender go up for it, somehow the receiver pins the ball with one hand to his helmet, gets bent backwards and still somehow makes the catch.

That was a play that's made when both sides want to win, because both were doing their darnedest to make a play. And the Giants made it.

That's the thing that made it a great game. I didn't think that the Patriots were flat or unprepared, though why their offense only scored at the beginning and the end of the game is puzzling. One reason, though, would be that the defenders kept putting the quarterback on the ground.









Reminds me somewhat of another big upset, in another sport. Way back in the 80s, in the NCAA basketball finals, Kansas-Oklahoma. Kansas was given no chance, but they won.

Funny, Kansas had a Manning, too.








And the most surreal thing, for me personally...

I was expecting the sports talk radio shows to be freaking out over it. Granted, I live in about as remote a place as one could imagine, so finding a station can be tricky--even the local one fades out at night. But there was the Chicago four-letter-sports-network station which came in very clearly.

And what was the guy talking about? The Super Bowl? The Giants? The Patriot's losing?

No, he's talking about college basketball.

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