Post-Super Bowl Thoughts

I'll keep this brief because I know the majority of people who read this blog are upset, but I have a couple of thoughts after last night's game.

I have to admit that I had a bad feeling going into last night's game. For one, there were too many distractions between the Brady/Foot/Gisele crap, the Moss/Chick-Likely-Crying-Wolf crap, and Arlen Specter wanting to revisit Spygate with the NFL Commish. Add to that the ENORMOUS amount of hype surrounding this game; even as a Pats fan, if I had to hear "Perfect Pats" or see the numbers "19-0" one more time I was going to scream. To my knowledge, I was the only person I knew who wasn't stating or assuming that the Pats would win. I just never verbalized it because I'm not one to enjoy an angry mob.

Then there are all the superstitions/curses that I'm sure people could blame for the loss. I for one know I took this as a bad sign: Where was Belichick's gray hoodie last night? What the heck was that red thing? I'm surprised no one has blamed the fact that Gisele was up in the booth for Brady's average performance last night. Brady's injury 2 weeks before the big game. Brady actually making snide remarks back after Plaxico Burress predicted a 24-17 Giants victory; what happened to the no-comment Pats that Belichick had developed? People not letting others who they think are bad luck watch the game for fear that the Pats would lose. Troy Brown wasn't even suited up, just hanging out in sweats on the bench.

I'm sure I'm going to hear a lot of stuff today at work, and I'm sure you will too. It comes down to this; the beautiful thing about football is that it really is an any given Sunday game. Thanks to salary caps teams can't just buy greatness like they can in baseball. This means that the best players are spread out among all 32 teams, and you never really know who the best team is. On paper over the course of the season the Patriots were clearly the better team - but if you ask me, the Giants just wanted it more. The current New England Patriots and their fans have been spoiled and have grown to expect that when the Pats make the big game, a win WILL occur. When you have that expectation, you lose some of the heart. If you watched the "Undefeated Pats" over the course of the season, then you'll agree with me that there were some games that they probably shouldn't have won. But they did, and certainly 18-0 is nothing to scoff at.

Eli Manning had something to prove; he's not just Peyton's little brother anymore, and he played a heck of a game last night. I think that also makes them the first brother quarterbacks to win back-to-back Super Bowls, which is kind of neat. And what about Zach and Steve DeOssie - the first father-son Super Bowl winners, and ironically for the same team at that? You have to admit that those are pretty cool things. As far as I'm concerned, the Giants just played better, period. Good for them, they deserve the win.

Now... I'm ready for the excitement of next season. The impatience for August starts now.