If you were anything like me, you approached this game with only luke warm optimism and interest. I for one wasn't eager to watch the Patriots hoist another Lombardi Trophy. To hell with the opportunity to witness history. I wanted the Giants to win, I just wasn't going to invest too much emotional capital in the game...at first.
So like the majority of Americans who watch the Super Bowl but are more interested in the festivities surrounding them, I settled in to watch with a mountain high table of food, plenty of libations, and a couple dozen friends. Problem for me and my football viewing experience was I was hosting, and me and a friend were doing a crawfish boil, which if you've never done one or seen one, I'll summarize succintly in three ways.
1) They're incredibly awesome, especially if you like a little spice.
2) They're labor intensive to shop for and cook.
3)They're messy as hell.
We polished off 35 pounds of these suckers last night
I hope your time spent with friends, family, or just yourself and the great game of football, was enjoyable. I watched every play of the final 10 minutes, but was only to intermittantly watch throuhgout most of the game. Here's what I saw in the limited action I saw:
- I thought the Giants might have a fighting chance when they succesfully converted multiple third down situations on their opening drive.
- You can't beat the Pats with FGs though, and when the Giants had to settle for 3, followed by a Pats score, I was afraid it was the beginning of the end.
- Manning's pick inside the redzone on their subsequent possesion didn't do anything to calm those fears.
- Crazy that there were only two possesions in the 1st quarter. In last year's Super Bowl, there were 10! Seemed like it was halftime just a few minutes after kickoff.
- What's the deal with those people that are paid to look like they're having the time of their lives during the halftime show? Call me crass if you want, but those people scare me for some reason.
- Reader TheMostViolentTeam pointed out to me in recent correspondence that last night's game was very well officiated. I didn't watch carefully enough to judge. Anyone agree with him? I surely don't want to hear any nonsense from Pats fans about the refs.
- That was a disgusting catch by David Tyree on the game-winning drive. Disgustingly incredible. Not sure how you would describe that catch in words to someone who didn't watch the game. Manning deserves credit for giving his teamates opportunites to make plays, but really that was a 1-in-25 type catch. Giants don't win the game without that play, and you give Tyree the same exact situation over again, he most likely doesn't make that play. Incredible concentration, strength and athleticism by Tyree in the biggest of moments.
- Clearly the difference in the game was the play of the front 7 of the Giants, particularly the play of the pass rushers. Everyone knows their names by now and what they are able to accomplish disrupting the passing game without having to send an all out blitz. The player who I don't think gets enough credit, but who is a baller, is Justin Tuck. Frankly, he was more valuable than Eli Manning was last night. You're just not going to beat the Pats unless you have athletic pass rushers like Tuck and Umenyiora to harass Brady.
His name was mentioned on the site awhile ago, and he's worthy of more discussion this offseason, as he's exactly the type of player that the Steelers could use. Sure, he may be a tad undersized in the running game, but he just makes plays. Period. We could use some of that in the trenches. 2 sacks, 5 tackles, and a forced fumble. Good stuff.
- If you've read the site long enough, you may be aware that reader steelerark is usually a great 'sound bite' when the subject is the Patriots, Ravens, or Atlanta Braves. Or when he's sounding off on irrational fans. Good rational comedy, and his Super Bowl diary hints that last night's game might have been the pinnacle of his rooting career. Outside of Steelers games of course. But have any of your nemeses ever fallen in just dramatic fashion as the Pats did last night? If you didn't like the Lakers in the Shaq-Kobe era, the Pistons series might have excited you, but whatever, that's the NBA. When you play best-of-7 series for nearly 2 months, it's just not that dramatic.
I digress. I think a healthy number of us were excited to see the Patriots go down. While it's only fair to recognize some of the incredible things they've accomplished this year, it's still downright impossible to cheer for a Bill Bellicheck coached team. Spygate or not. He's still totally unlikeable and uncouth. The image of him running off the field before time had expired was classic Bellicheck. There's some interesting shit going on in that man's brain. He's got serious psychological issues that manifest themselves in unbecoming ways on the field. From the adultery to the video taping, to the throwing camera men out of the way and fake congratulatory handshakes (if he bothers at all), and even the way he handles the media. It's all so classless.
Good riddance GRUMPelstiltskin. Cheaters never win, remember?
Thoughts?