Super Bowl XLVI - The Aftermath

I always have mixed feeling regarding the Super Bowl. On the positive side, I always have a blast watching the big game with family and friends. On the down side, I know that when the game is finally over, so is the football season.

Looking back on Sunday's game, I really have to congratulate the New York Giants on becoming this year's champs. At the beginning of the season, I don;'t think anyone would have picked them to win the NFC, much less, go to the Super Bowl and beat the New England Patriots. If I were a betting man, I would have put big money on Green Bay or New Orleans to win the NFC Championship this year. But kudos to the Giants for scratching and clawing their way to the NFL's most coveted prize.

With that being said, prior to the Super Bowl, I made several predictions. I said that the Giants would beat the Patriots by six. Ok, I was slightly off, they actually won by four. However, if they could have just made that 2-point conversion after the winning touchdown (more on this in a minute), they would have won by six and I would really be patting myself on the back.

I also said that Eli Manning would pass for 350-400 yards and win his second Super Bowl MVP award. Again, I was just a bit off, he threw for just under 300 yards. But he did receive the MVP award. 

Prior to the game, I mentioned that Coach Belichick would be going with the "homeless" look wearing the cut-off sweatshirt. Roger that.

I predicted that there would be at least three people at my party who refer to Tom Brady as a "little bitch". I'd have to say that I nailed that one too.

I also mentioned that Brady's wife would tweet an SOS to the refs at some point. Ok, I was off on that one. But Gisele did bring attention to herself for blaming the Patriot's receivers for the loss after being heckled by some Giants' fans. I'm going to actually defend Mrs. Brady on this one. I think it's a cheap shot to verbally ambush the wife (or any family member) of a sports star. I'm sure she was emotional after the loss and her first reaction was to defend her husband. But, I don't know, maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to throw the receivers under the bus. Brady already has the reputation of getting biased protection from the refs.     Having his wife coming to his rescue certainly isn't going to help his image. In Tom Brady's defense, he handled himself with class in the post-game interview. And in Gisele's defense, she's still hot!

Of course, you can't have a halftime show at the Super Bowl without some kind of controversy. First off, I've heard mixed reviews about Madonna's performance. Some loved it, others hated it. Although I can't deny that Madonna has talent, I can never be too impressed by a "singer" who lip syncs. Stevie Wonder could have saw that Madonna was lip syncing on Sunday. It was like watching an elaborate karaoke performance. I was actually most impressed by the guy who was doing the balancing act on the rope during Madonna's performance. And, true to their name, those guys from LMFAO always make me laugh my.......well you know what I'm saying. Of course, the controversy came when one of Madonna's "singing" guests (M.I.A.?) turned to the camera and flipped America the middle finger. Real nice. I'm sure she made her mother proud. I guess she figured it would get her name mentioned on the Monday morning news shows. And it certainly did. Personally, I never understood why the media runs with things like this. It only encourages more nit-wits to do it.

Back to that two point conversion ......

Probably the only person more disappointed than Tom Brady after the game out was my brother-in-law, John. In his football pool, he had a two for the giants and a seven for the Patriots. So, prior to the last NY touchdown, the score was New England 17 New York 15. All he needed was the Giants to score a touchdown and to kick the extra point. If the game ended 22-17, he was $1000 richer.

The Giants did indeed score the touchdown, putting them up 21-17 with less than a minute left in the game. This sent John on a victory lap around my house while the rest of us remained in the basement. Fueled by a bottle of Gollywobbler, we could hear John upstairs dancing and singing while he gathered the women in front of the TV to watch his $1000 extra point. 

But instead of the Giants kicking unit showing up on the TV screen, the cameras remained on Eli Manning and the boys as they prepared for a 2-point conversion attempt. This couldn't be happening. The dancing abruptly stopped and John came crashing down the basement steps in a hailstorm of f-bombs. Of course, we all thought John's money was in the bank, so we were just as shocked. Of course, the Giants missed the conversion attempt and wound up with 21 points, ruining my brother-in-law's otherwise fun night. If you ever wondered what someone who had their cornflakes pissed on looks like, this was it. We all felt really bad for him....

No doubt, the football season is full of highs and lows. I guess the unpredictability helps make it a just a little more interesting. It was a fun year and I can't wait for the first kickoff of next season. 

kw