A bowl of warm weather
Although the NFL playoff format is the greatest in sports
– one-game sudden-death match-ups instead of seven-game series
that can stretch out over two weeks – I do have a few comments I’d
like to make with regards to the NFL, the playoffs and Super Bowl
Sunday.
A bowl of warm weather
Although the NFL playoff format is the greatest in sports – one-game sudden-death match-ups instead of seven-game series that can stretch out over two weeks – I do have a few comments I’d like to make with regards to the NFL, the playoffs and Super Bowl Sunday.
Instead of Arizona, how about having a Super Bowl in Green Bay or New England some time? I understand that it’s always showcased in a warm climate city in order to appease the corporate types that could care less about the game or what they spent on their tickets but, instead, seek a warm venue where they have an excuse to party for a week with the nirvana of saying “I was there.” But wouldn’t it add more to the drama and folklore of it all to have an outdoor game in a cold city just one time? If they can pay 5K for tickets these people can certainly fork out $400 on a warm jacket, scarf and gloves.
Also, the Super Bowl is a title game not a three-ring circus, but that’s what the atmosphere has become. That’s why I enjoy watching on NFC/AFC championship Sunday more than Super Bowl Sunday – a Sunday where the halftime show is now broken down as much as the game, not to mention the commercials.
If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, which they should by about a 38-20 margin, that will give Tom Brady four rings – tying him with Montana and Bradshaw for the most wins all-time by a starting quarterback. The kicker is that Brady could play for another decade, which would make winning a few more easily within his reach. If that happens, the kid from Serra High School would go down as the greatest QB of all time. How could anyone say otherwise?
The debate used to be Brady or Manning? After ousting Green Bay at home, the new debate should be Brady or Manning, as in younger brother Eli, who quarterbacked the G-men to next Sunday’s Bowl.
Back to the weather thing for a second, being in a warm weather city will be a huge advantage for the pass happy, spread-the-field game of the Pats.
Need I say more about the Pats? Okay. Although they have Brady, Randy Moss, Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney, the one player to look for – and he will surprise those of you that watch football once a year – is Wes Welker. Getting this unassuming 5-foot-9, 185-pounder from Miami last spring for a second-round draft pick might have been the steal of the decade in the NFL. Proof is in the nearly 1,200 receiving yards and eight TDs that Welker racked up this season playing in the shadow of Moss.
Enough about the Pats, perhaps the weirdest thing about the Super Bowl or the most brilliant thing about the NFL’s marketing department is that just about everyone in America watches the game – even if they don’t follow football. No other sport can lay claim to that, which makes me wonder just how many households mute the game and watch the commercials?
Even I’ll admit some of the commercials that will be released next week are pretty cool and creative but I’d rather remember the Super Bowl for a dramatic touchdown catch than a bunch of Clydesdales kicking a field goal in a Budweiser commercial.
Well, I better get going as the pre, pre-game coverage is probably about ready to get under way on some sports channel. After all, we’re just nine days from kickoff and every aspect of this overly hyped game must be dissected and scrutinized. The couch potatoes are counting on it.
