Of Tigers and Patriots

Despite my comment in my previous post, I have watched some television over the last few days.

You haven't been able to swing a metaphorical dead cat on social media this last few days with hitting a reference to the recently dropped Netflix seven episode documentary series, "Tiger King."  I watched one episode on Saturday, four yesterday, and finished with the final two this morning.

It was compelling in a train wreck sort of fashion, watching the collection of whacky, strange, bizarre, and criminal oddballs who make up this true story of the world of collectors and exhibitors of wild and exotic animals.  (More tigers are privately owned in America today than exist in the wild, according to this series.)  Animal abuse, the black market in owning and selling these creatures, the mysterious disappearance of one of the player's (wealthy) husband, and murder-for-hire are all part and parcel of this one.  It is tabloid television at its Best, or Worst, depending on your point of view.

And, oh yeah, they've set the table for a follow-up to this one, and given the buzz surrounding "Tiger King", I expect that we shall see the sequel in late 2021 or early 2022.

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While going through the TV remote yesterday, I discovered that Fox was showing a replay if the telecast of Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.  I landed upon this at the precise time when Atlanta scored late in the third quarter to go up 28-3 on the Pats.  There were under three minutes to play in the quarter, and, even knowing how the game played out, I could not tear myself away from watching this.  Besides, don't we all need a Joe Buck Fix during this time of No Sports in the World?

You all remember what happened.  The Pats scored a TD, missed the extra point, made a field goal, then scored a TD, made the two point conversion, then with less than a minute remaining, scored another TD and made another two point conversion (all of which concluded a 91 yard drive with a little over two minutes left in the game) to send the game into overtime, which the Patriots won on a seven play drive that ended thusly:

James White scores on OT

Patriots 34 - Falcons 28

And all of this played out with the Falcons giving one of the supreme choke jobs in the history of sports.  And how much fun was it watching Arthur Blank, who left the owner's box to celebrate, prematurely as it turned out, on the sidelines with his team?  As my pal Tim remarked, "All three pieces of Arthur Blank's $3,000 suit looked depressed."

Regardless of how you might feel about the Patriots, Bill Belichick, or Tom Brady, watching how New England, and especially Brady, took control of this game and won a game that they surely should have lost was, if you really admire and love great football, a joy to see.  

And we have another chance to do something similar here in Pittsburgh tomorrow (Tuesday) night when AT&T Sports will be showing the complete television broadcast of Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, Pirates vs. Yankees.

Yet A Few More Post-Super Bowl Thoughts

I mentioned in my post on Monday how I felt about Robert Kraft's comments on the podium during the Lombardi Trophy presentation.  Upon further thought, I have decided that Mr. Kraft has earned a very special award for his behavior.  Hey, Bob, this one's for you!

Jockey's silks will be a blue shirt with a white collar.

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I also read today about Rob Gronkowski at the victory parade in Boston yesterday.  Gronk, who, I'll remind you, didn't play throughout the playoffs,  took off his shirt and chugged beer throughout the parade.  Very classy.  A special citation for The Gronk here.

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Finally, I love this quote attributed to Bill Belichick on Monday.  "Winning yesterday was nice, but it also means that we are five weeks behind every other team in preparations for the 2017 season."

Yeah, you gotta love Coach Bill.

Non-Football Super Bowl Thoughts

We all know that the game itself is only a part of what the Super Bowl is all about, so, herewith, my Non-Football Super Bowl thoughts.

The Halftime Show

Yes, the Lady Gaga Halftime show was overblown, overproduced, and a complete sensory overload, but here is something else it was - totally entertaining and totally enjoyable.  Lady Gaga is complete and total musical talent.  Great voice, great stage moves and presence, and beautiful to boot.  Her show lasted thirteen minutes and I could have watched at least another half hour of it.  It was great.

The Commercials

Quick and random thoughts...

• The Intel commercial with Tom Brady had a funny ending
• Like the #weaccept piece
• Liked the 84 Lumber one.  You had to go online to see the full thing.
• Liked the Justin Bieber one for T-Mobile that also featured Rob Gronkowski and Terrell Owens
• Liked the Honda CRV bit with celebrities' year book photos
• Liked the one with Christopher Walken and Justin Timberlake for some sort of beverage
• The Terry Bradshaw Tide commercial was a good one
• LOVED the Mr. Clean commercial
• LOVED the Verizon ones with the fifty shades of gray theme
• Peter Fonda "Born to be Wild" bit for BMW (or maybe it was Mercedes Benz)
• I never, not once, watched the TV show "Baywatch", but I just might have to go see the movie version with Dwayne Johnson
• Melissa McCarthy for KIA...very funny
• Oh, and that Fabreze Halftime Bathroom Break one was a great one if you have the mind of a fourth grade boy, otherwise, pretty disgusting.

And finally, a salute to our forty-first President, George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Bush at the coin toss.  Thank you, Mr. President.

Patriots Win. I Believe I Had That!

We all know what happened in the Super Bowl last night.  Atlanta bolted to leads of 21-0 (in the second quarter) and 28-3 (midway through the third quarter).  Patriot haters across the country were rejoicing as Tom Brady was looking every bit like a 39 year old quarterback.  And an extra point attempt that clanged off of the upright seemed to just add to the debacle that New England was experiencing.  But as we all know, you don't tug on Superman's cape....

Add a New England field goal after that missed PAT, then a touchdown and a two point conversion, and all of a sudden, it's 28-20.  Atlanta begins a march down field that included a remarkable Matt Ryan to Julio Jones pass completion, and it looked that at the very least, the Falcons would kick a field goal that would ice their victory.  Then Ryan does the one thing that a quarterback absolutely cannot do in such a situation.  He takes a sack.  Then Atlanta gets hit with a holding penalty. Then Atlanta punts, and even though the Patriots were starting at their own nine yard line, did anyone have any doubt that Brady was going to lead the Pats down field and score the TD and two point conversion that would tie the game and send it into OT?  I didn't.  At that point I made this post on Facebook: "The sonsabitches are going to pull this one out."  And they did.

They tie the game. They win the coin toss.  They march right down the field and score a touchdown.  Atlanta never sees the ball again.  34-28, Pats win!

And I will say it right now.   Bill Belichick is the best coach ever in the Super Bowl Era, and possibly of all time.  Tom Brady is the best quarterback ever.  Ever.   As my buddy Dan put it last night, we never got to see Babe Ruth play, but we are seeing Tom Brady play, and thus, we are witnessing true greatness.

A word on Pats owner Robert Kraft.  He could have taken the high road in the trophy presentation, but he didn't.  He chose to be a jagoff and take his shots at the Commissioner.  No, I am not defending Roger Goodell, and yes, Kraft could have said a lot worse.  However he could have chosen to be a bigger man, but he didn't, so he can eat it, as far as I'm concerned.

And speaking of owners, how about Arthur Blank appearing on the Atlanta sideline early in the fourth quarter?  I really detest showboating, egomaniac owners standing on the sidelines, so when I saw Blank down there so early, a part of me began to root for the Patriots.  I am only sorry that the Fox cameras weren't on Blank as Brady undressed his Falcons to tie, and then win that game.  I'd have paid to see that.

Oh, and I heard whining on the radio this morning that the NFL's overtime rules aren't fair.  Now, to be fair, I am not sure if the Falcons themselves are making that complaint, but if they are, then here's what you need to do.  First,  When you have a twenty-five point lead with twenty-two minutes or so left in the game, DON'T give up twenty-five unanswered points to the other team.  Second, if you lose the coin toss to start overtime, DON'T turn into Swiss cheese and let the other team go seventy-five yards down field and score a touchdown.

As I said to Marilyn this morning, that game last night is why you watch sports.  Not every game you will watch will be a classic.  A lot of games that you watch will be pretty much unmemorable.  But every so often, you will see a player like Tom Brady, and  a team like the Patriots, turn in a game like we all watched last night, and THAT makes all the dull games and even the downright lousy games that you sit through worth the effort.

There's nothing like it.

Edelman's Amazing Catch 

on the game tying drive.

White's TD Wins It in OT

The MVP

Oh, and as for the headline on this post, I did predict a Patriots win in the Super Bowl, although I certainly never envisioned that it would happen in quite the way that it did.  I finish the NFL Playoffs Season with a prediction record of 9-2.  Yeah!