Super Ruminations

Some thoughts on the game a day later, and after watching PTI:

-I'm really enjoying seeing Belichick get crushed for leaving early, at least by Wilbon if no one else. Sportsmanship matters and the Patriots have played with a deficit of it all year. How many records do they hold now because they ran up the score? This is one of the biggest reasons for my not being able to root for them, even though I'd also like to see an undefeated team in my lifetime. It just needs to be someone else.

-I've agreed with Wilbon all season that the way to beat the Patriots was to play tough and punch them in the mouth. Too many teams played not to lose and got killed because of it. The Giants weren't intimidated and it showed.

-Yeah, the Giants have 6 losses, but they're still the champion. It's pretty impressive that they won 11-straight games on the road. The "best" team doesn't always win in a playoff, people just tend to ignore this most of the time because we've decided it's the most "fair" way to determine a champion. Unless you're playing Madden, teams don't have a numerical rating. Everyone had the same shot at the Super Bowl; the Giants pulled it off. Hats off to them.

-Has anyone come in to the NFL with higher expectations than Eli Manning? I'd take Peyton over Eli any day, but I don't think Eli sucks. He's showed improvement that would get all sorts of compliments if he had a different last name. During the game-winning drive last night he displayed all the qualities that the QB on the sideline gets praised for constantly. Peyton has had consistently tougher opposition and has played better over his career, but the best teams don't always win. Eli made the best of his chance and now he's an NFL MVP. By the way, how great is it to watch two Super Bowl MVP brothers celebrating after the game? That's a great image.

-The commercials were underwhelming. Bridgestone "Screaming", Budweiser "Horse Training", and FedEx "Carrier Pigeons" were pretty good, but the rest didn't do much for me. Okay, I guess Corolla "Soundproof" wasn't bad either. The Prince Caspian trailer was good, but Iron Man just rocked.