Holy Sh–! The Superbowl Was Actually Good This Year
I’m not a big football fan and professional sports certainly isn’t the focus of this blog. But, I have to weigh in on this.
Yesterday after returning early from an UnSuperbowl Party so that I could watch the Superbowl (I know, I know – it doesn’t make any sense) I found Sal huddled up in the TV room, watching the big game.
"What’s the score?"
"7-3 New England."
"No shit? They are supposed to be crushing the Giants."
"I know!"
So I sat down.
I am a sucker for an underdog story. ANY underdog story. Flying Scotsman, 1988 Dodgers in the World Series, 2005 Red Sox win over the Yankees, Hoosiers, you name it. If someone is not supposed to win and does, I want to be watching when it happens.
What struck me about this particular story was that, like so many other come-from-behind stories, it all came down to one moment of magic.
One moment where you are looking, but you just can’t believe your eyes.
When Eli Manning somehow escaped a guaranteed sack, found his footing again, kept his composure, and found Tyree downfield, well… I literally could not believe my eyes.
"There is no fucking way that actually just happened!" I screamed. I was standing on the couch by this point. I’m excitable.
But the play wasn’t over.
The throw was a floater. High and soft of the middle. It didn’t look good.
And then, somehow, miraculously, Tyree pulls it out of the air, getting it just at the top of his reach, pulling it down to secure it not with his other hand, but against his helmet as he fell with Harrison hanging off of him on the other side.
What!?
One handed! Ball pinned to helmet! How did he get the other hand up there in time? How did that ball manage to not hit the ground?!
Magic.
That’s the only answer.
And that’s when I knew they were going to complete the drive and win.
If you haven’t seen this play, you have got to check it out. It is totally worth sitting through the 30 second Planter’s Peanuts advertisement at the beginning, trust me.
Incredible stuff.
I could give a rat’s ass about football, the NFL, the Patriots, or the Giants, but I will be talking about that play for a long, long time.
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I really love the Super Bowl and I loved that catch!
And? I predicted a Giants upset.
I agree, that play made the game. Most of the game I thought was fairly boring (I’m not a huge football fan), but the first and last 5 minutes definitely made it worthwhile!
What is it that causes us to root for the underdog? We had a big crowd over to watch the game–everyone agreed we had no real interest in two east coast teams. Until Brady got the crap knocked out of him on one of those early sacks and we realized we really did care.
Never in a million years would I have thought I’d have cared about the New York Giants. But I love seeing a team come together, and I love seeing great leadership when its do or die. Both of those were evident yesterday.
I didn’t care either. Except that as a university of Michigan grad…Tom Brady is one of my own. However at U of M, I was friends with the Giant’s Head Coach’s son. (He was a baseball player and hated that his Dad was famous.)
Anyway, that play was sick. That’s all i can say. And full of all the passion and excitement that pro sports seem to be missing. (Except my passion filled Rasheed Wallace of the Pistons.)
What will that play go down as? The Great Escape? The Helmet Catch?
That was as awesome as it can get for football fans. That was the best finish to a Super Bowl since v.39 when the Titans were stopped 1 yard short from tying the game as the clock expired.
Ski Trip on Superbowl Sunday = low traffic. Back to car at kickoff. Listened on radio. Home to watch 4th quarter. All that really mattered – amazing.
MtMann – Nice timing, dude!
Ed – We are all underdogs at heart. :)
Paul – I love “The Great Escape”…
I hated the way Tyree landed when he fell – it looked like he was going to break in half. I’ve watched the clip at least 10 times today. Still amazes me!
Aimee – Nailed it. Passion. The lack of which is why I don’t pay attention to pro sports. The presence of which made last night’s game so incredible.
It`s the first game in year`s that I`ve actually sat and watched, usually I`m up wondering around, and catch it on the replay, I found this to be a great defensive game, and the Giant`s were tuff on the line! Awesome job with 2 minutes to go!
Thanks snarky…check out sheed during a plain old regular season game. Some people complain that he’s a baby or he gets too high strung and messes up. I call it heart and I call it passion. He’s like a high school boy trying to win a play off game. It’s nice to see that sometimes it’s not about the money it’s about the love of the game and winning.