I'm still on a food hangover from the Super Bowl so instead of a full write up, I'll go with the more popular and concise stream of conscience random thoughts from Super Bowl XLII.
- That game represented everything we love about sports. It's an over used cliche, but could Hollywood write a more compelling script? In one corner you have a team going for the first ever 19-0 season in NFL history with a golden boy quarterback and a villainous head coach in the other corner a group of underdogs lead by a quarterback who had been trashed by his fan base his entire career and a head coach that almost got fired after the prior season. Couple that David vs. Goliath scenario with two brilliant fourth quarter drives and possibly the greatest and most bizarre play in Super Bowl history and you have what is one of the best Super Bowls of all time.
- How good was Eli Manning in the 4th quarter? He was simply brilliant. New York cannibalizes its sports stars more so than any city except maybe Philadelphia and Eli was public enemy #1 in NYC. He put together an amazing four game playoff stretch playing nearly flawlessly and in just a matter of months he went from "Sheli" to a living legend.
- Hey Falcons fans, wish the birds would have waited a couple of weeks and interviewed Giants DC Steve Spagnuolo? No slight against Mike Smith at all, but Spagnuolo's stock is soaring right now after his defense dominated the Patriots. It will go down as one of the great coaching jobs in Super Bowl history.
- Speaking of coaching, it was shocking how badly Big Game Bill Belicheck got outcoached. The Giants were just better prepared in every aspect of the game and Belicheck's decision to go for it on a 4th down rather than attempt a 48 yard field goal in the 4th quarter proved to be a deciding factor in the game. I'm still not sure what to make of Belicheck walking off the field with 1 second on the clock. To me it was a technicality and much of the vitriol directed towards Belicheck has to do with the fact that he's just not a likable person.
- 8 of the first 31 Super Bowls were decided by fewer than 10 points. 6 of the last 11 have been decided by 7 points or fewer. We might not be getting the great teams like the 70s Steelers, 80s 49ers or 90s Cowboys, but we're getting much more compelling games on Super Sunday. In an era where the hoopla surrounding the game was more interesting than the game in the 90s, this shift towards a compelling game is obviously great for the NFL.
- I hope the decision makers for College Football were watching last night. The Giants finished the season 14-6. They are still a more deserving champion in their sport than LSU is in college. The Giants went on the road and beat the 13-3 Cowboys, 14-3 Packers and 19-0 Patriots to win their title. They played the best football in the playoffs. Perhaps the best team can't be determined until the very end of the season. Oh by the way, this was possibly the most watched Super Bowl of all time and the second most watched TV event of all time, College Football is lucky to get 1/3 of that audience now. I'm just saying...
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