Super Bowl, Baby!!!

I know it's been a while since the last post, but such is life with kids. Speaking of kids, my little girl kicked my butt on championship weekend, going 2-0. I, of course, went 0-2. Nothing shocking there. Hopefully, this week I can save a little face.

Before we jump into the thoughts around the Super Bowl, here's a link that I told CW I'd post. Enjoy.

Since this weekend marks the 6th Super Bowl appearance by the Pats, I thought I'd share some thoughts from the first 5. Feel free to click the comment link below and add your fondest memories.

Super Bowl XX - Chicago 46, NE 10
I had just turned 14, and though I'd been watching the Super Bowl for some time (the earliest that I can remember is Oakland vs. Philadelphia), this was the first one that I watched EVERY play of. Actually, now that I think about it, this might say a lot about why I turned out the way I did! What an experience. I watched the game with my buddy Jeff, and by the half he was ready to turn it off. I should've listened, but the optimist in me kept saying that they could make something happen. On the plus side, they scored the first points (a field goal that should've been a TD) and the last points (whoppee!). Of course, the Bears scored 46 points in between. I'm just thankful that a few years later the 49er's pummeled the Broncos 55-10 to take the Pats off the hook for the biggest Super Bowl throttling. I'm also thankful that the Pats never did anything as embarrassing as this.

Super Bowl XXXI - Green Bay 35, NE 21
I really don't like Desmond Howard. The man torched the Pats, and ended up becoming the game MVP as a SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER. Unreal. The biggest sucker-punch was right after the Pats had scored a TD to pull within 7 (28-21). Howard ran the ensuing kick-off back 99 yards to account for the final score of the game. On the plus side, this was the first year that I made my now famous Jambalaya. Trust me, it's tasty.

Super Bowl XXXVI - NE 20, St. Louis 17
Awesome. Just awesome. I don't even know where to start. So many great memories from this game, but I'll just comment on the two most obvious. Right at the beginning, you got the sense that something special was going to happen. After the Rams were introduced in the traditional fashion (the starters, individually), the Pats chose to come out as a TEAM. As a sports fan, as a Pats fan, it's hard to describe how this made me feel. I was bursting with pride to be a supporter of these guys. Of course the second major moment was the game-winner. Beyond the exhultation of seeing them win, two thoughts stand out. At the beginning of the game-winning drive, I could not believe that Madden said they should take a knee and play for OT (to be fair, he often pokes fun at himself for doing this). The way I looked at it (and I thought this was an obvious point) was that best case scenario, the Pats would win the toss in OT and probably be back where they were at this moment. Why not go for it in regulation? Regarding the kick, as excited as I was (literally jumping up and down), my psyche was so damaged as a NE sports fan that I didn't realize the game was over. I honestly thought there was still a couple of seconds on the clock, and that the Rams would have a chance to run the kick-off back. That wasn't the case, though, and now we Pats fans have a whole new outlook on things.

Super Bowl XXXVIII - NE 32, Carolina 29
Another game that came down to the final seconds. This was an unusual one, in that the first half was pretty much all defense, and the second half was a shoot-out. Of course, we all know what half-time was. As good a game as this was, my clearest memory (aside from the game-winning kick) is from the half-time show. This was the last Super Bowl party that I've been to, and all the guys that were watching the game went downstairs to shoot pool until the second half started. I decided to stay and watch the half-time show with my mom and my soon-to-be wife. I watched the beginning of the Janet Jackson performance, then I'd seen enough so I got up to use the bathroom. No sooner had I entered the bathroom, I heard my fiancee scream out "Is that her boob?". I've never moved so fast in my life. What can I say? There's a few phrases that can get you moving, and that's one of them. Anyway, thanks to Janet (Miss Jackson, if you're nasty), I almost wound up like the hero of this movie. That's enough about that.

Super Bowl XXXIX - NE 24, Philadelphia 21
This one wasn't as exciting as the final score would indicate. To be honest, I don't really have many interesting recollections about this game, other than two thoughts about the Eagles. First, think what you want about the guy, but Terrell Owens can PLAY. The guy came back from a pretty bad injury (I think he lost a limb or something), and pulled in 9 catches for over a hundred yards. That's big time. Second, the Eagles killed themselves on their last scoring drive. They couldn't get out of their own way, and ended up taking WAY too much time off the clock. That's all I got.

Now on to the big pick. Since she wiped the floor with me last week, I'll let the little one go first. Also, she's been upgraded to the Roaming the Sidelines PRINCESS (RTSP).

RTSP's Pick: New York (taking the points). I've actually managed to get her psyched-up to cheer for the Pats. I'll take it.

New England Patriots over New York Giants (+12) 6:18pm, Sunday

I feel good about this game, even with the point spread. I really think that the Pats are going to win in a blow-out. I know that the Giants have been playing some good football for the past 5 weeks, but I don't think it will be enough. The first time they played, the Pats didn't put much pressure on Manning until the second half, and that really made a difference. Also, I don't think you can put too much emphasis on the fact that the Pats have been here before (10 players have been on all 3 championship teams). I think that this can be highlighted just by the behavior during the past week. Most importantly, I think the 2-week layoff is going to adversely effect the Giants. I liken it to the past World Series. Colorado was the hottest team in baseball, then they had to wait something like 8 days between the NLCS and the World Series, which obviously affected their momentum. So at the risk of jinxing the Pats, I'm feeling pretty good about Sunday. Plus they inspired this pretty cool tune.

Hopefully, we'll have a happy re-cap next week!