Super Bow; LIX - Eagles XL - Chiefs XXII

Let me begin my commentary on this past Sunday's Super Bowl by flashing back to what I wrote two years ago in this space, February 15, 2023 to be exact, after the Kansas City defeated Philadelphia 39-35:

• Equally magnificent in defeat was Eagles QB Jalen Hurts.  Three rushing TD's and a bomb of a TD pass.  He led the Eagles on a drive in the fourth quarter to tie the game after KayCee took a 35-27 lead, by making an "octopus" (more on that later).  It was gutty performance, and perhaps the best and most heroic performance in defeat in Super Bowl history.  Hurts has proven himself beyond all doubt, and Philly is set at QB for the next decade or so.

As the old saying goes, I believe I had that.

The highly anticipated matchup between the  two Number 1 and Number 2 seeds in their respective conferences turned into pretty much a non-game.  The Eagles led 24-0 at half time and extended that lead to 34-0 in the third quarter before KayCee finally got on the board.  Patrick Mahomes had perhaps the worst game of his career with two interceptions, one of which was returned for an Eagles TD and the other was deep inside Chiefs territory that led to another Philly score.  He was also pressured relentlessly by the Philly defense and was sacked 6 times.

Hurts, on the other hand was terrific.   He went 17 for 22 passing for 221 yards and two TD, and rushed for 72 yards on 11 carries and scored a TD of his own.  He fully deserved that MVP Award and those trips to Disney World.

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith 

each caught a TD pass from Hurts

It sure wasn't the thrilling game that America's football fans wanted to see, and Mahomes and the Chiefs sure picked a bad day to have a Bad Day, but it happens.  As I often say, no sporting event comes with a guarantee.

Halftime Show

I am going to take the position of my favorite podcaster, Tony Kornheiser, on this one.  I am certain that Kendrick Lamar is very good, and perhaps among the very best at what he does (the guy has actually won a Pulitzer Prize for his work), but what he does is not aimed at me, although I truly did enjoy the choreography and dancing of the seeming hundreds of people on stage with Mr. Lamar..  I am not going to rage and criticize.  If you enjoyed it, great.  If you didn't, I hope that you used your time to go to the bathroom and get something to eat, and didn't give yourself an ulcer by griping and moaning about the performance.

Commercials

What we liked:

• Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal
• David Beckham and Dave Beckham.  "Are you like Matt Damon-famous?"
• Harrison Ford for Jeep "even though my last name is Ford."
• Ben and Casey Affleck for Dunkin' featuring Bill Belichick and his girlfriend.
• Anything with the Manning Brothers.

Didn't like:

• Those Tubi commercials with the people with the cowboy hat heads.  THAT was totally creepy.
• Seal as a seal.  Also kind of creepy.

Super Bowl LVII: Chiefs 38 - Eagles 35

Yes, the Super Bowl ended three days ago, and here I am just getting around to writing about the Chiefs epic 38-35 victory over the Eagles.  There is a reason for that, and here it is....

Yep, over the weekend I made the decision to trade in my eight and one-half year old iMac, which, I have learned, Apple now considers to be "vintage", and get a new one.  I made the purchase on Monday, the Apple Store did the transfer of data from my old iMac to the new one yesterday, and I picked this baby up this morning, so you are reading the first official Grandstander post typed out on my brand new green iMac!

So I am not going to hash over a lot of detail on the game itself.  That horse has now been thoroughly beaten, but here a just a few small impressions that remain with me from SB LVII.

• Major lesson learned.  Never bet against Patrick Mahomes.  It took awhile before we all learned to never bet against Tom Brady, so let's get that same lesson as it applies to Mahomes down pat (no pun intended) right now.

• Mahomes, bum ankle and all,  was truly magnificent in that second half when he led the Chiefs from a ten point deficit to victory.  He is the best quarterback, if not the best player, in the entire NFL at this point.
• Equally magnificent in defeat was Eagles QB Jalen Hurts.  Three rushing TD's and a bomb of a TD pass.  He led the Eagles on a drive in the fourth quarter to tie the game after KayCee took a 35-27 lead, by making an "octopus" (more on that later).  It was gutty performance, and perhaps the best and most heroic performance in defeat in Super Bowl history.  Hurts has proven himself beyond all doubt, and Philly is set at QB for the next decade or so.

• Of course, Hurts did commit one major faux pas, the rather odd fumble that was scooped and returned 33 yards for a Kansas City touchdown.  It put the Chiefs back in the game when they were kinda sorta back on there heels, but hey, shit happens.
• The biggest cause celebre  was holding call against the Eagles in the last two minutes of the game near the Philly goal line.  It enabled the Chiefs to secure a fresh set of downs, eat up more of the clock, and allow Harrison Butker to kick the game winning field goal with only :08 remaining in the game.  Announcer Greg Olsen made a big deal about making a call like that that late in the game and that near the goal line in a game of this magnitude.  Maybe he wants the NFL to become the NHL where the zebras swallow their whistles in the third period of Stanley Cup games.  To me, it was a holding penalty ("but let's bring in Gene Steretore to see what he sees here...."), and if it wasn't called, do you really think Butker was going to miss the FG attempt from five yards farther back?  Of course, Philly would then have had more time on the clock to try for a miracle drive with no time outs remaining, but when all is said and done, I don't believe that had that call not been made, the outcome would have been any different.
• The slippery playing surface.  When you know years in advance that you are going to be hosting a Super Bowl, the largest single sporting event in America, how can you possibly screw it up like they did?  Unbelievable.

In the end, it was a great game, a Super Bowl for the Ages, and one that makes you sad that we have to wait six months before we see another NFL game.

Odds and Ends.....

BETTING

I made a total of 27 separate wagers on the Super Bowl ranging from point spread, money line, and over/under bets, to wild parlays, to props on who would score touchdowns, throw or rush for X number of yards, and so on.  Most were for one to two dollars.  The largest ones were for $14 and $12.50 on a point spread and a money line bet.  I wagered a total of $77.28 and received a return of $74 92.  So, I ended up losing $2.36 on the Super Bowl, and it gave me way more that $2.36 worth of pleasure.

I was really saved by the aforementioned "octopus" made by Jalen Hurts.  I had never heard of this before, but what it is is a bet that a player who scores a touchdown will also score a two point conversion after that same touchdown.  Eight points = Octopus; get it?  Hurts did that in the fourth quarter and  $1 be produced a $14 return for me.   Nice.

Also, and as if you didn't already know this, parlay bets are how bookies and casinos get rich.  You'd be smart to stay away from them, but they are just so damn TEMPTING!!!

COMMERCIALS

I was going to make notes on and keep track of commercials, but early on, I decided to hell with it.  So I'll be brief....I liked Ben Affleck working at Dunkin' Donuts with JLo in the drive through lane, liked John Travolta in the Grease take-off, although I had no idea that the two guys with him were also celebs, Serena Williams seemed to show up a lot, the rabbit hole one was really creepy, and I apparently missed Jennifer Coolidge.  Aside from that, I got nothing.

HALFTIME

God bless Rhianna.  I have nothing against her and I concede that she is talented, but I just wasn't interested.  What I did see was about 500 people on the field dancing while dressed as abominable snowmen, and Rhianna rising on a platform a million feet over the Stadium floor, so she has talent AND she has a lot of guts.  Most of the time, though, I was going to the bathroom and getting myself something to eat.