I hope Craig Rousseau still likes me after this. Well, assuming he did anyway.
Suze and I just watch Superbowl XLII at our friend Paul's house. I think that was quite possibly the best Superbowl I've seen since the last time the Packers won. That year, my beloved Pack beat the Pats and we saw the game in an outdoor bar in the Bahamas. I was downing 2-dollar pina colodas and celebrated the win with a Cuban cigar in our hotel room.
I didn't tell Craig, but this year I was rooting for the Giants. I don't particularly care for the G-men (not since the awful treatment they gave Phil Simms years ago) but, as much as I love the Packers, I've been a fan of the Dolphins even longer. (Yes, I have two favorite teams. Sue me.) As you've probably heard more times than you cared to this year, the '72 Dolphins are the only team since the merger to have a completely undefeated season. I've watched that record stand since I was old enough to understand what it meant and I've panicked each time it was threatened. The last serious threat was back when the Chicago Bears made a run at it (was that 1986? Jeeeeez...) and the Dolphins dashed their hopes, defeating them in the best Monday Night Football game of all time.
Imagine how I felt going into tonight's game. This is the closest anyone's come to breaking the record. The Pats actually won more games this season than the Dolphins did in '72. But they didn't win the one that counted. Whew.
Forgive me, Craig.
I had mixed emotions tonight. There was the concern for the record. I didn't really like either team and thought it was going to be a blow-out in any event. And then there was the realization that this was the first Superbowl without Mike. As everyone who knew him was aware, he was as huge a football fan as I am. He didn't have a favorite team (though he liked the Chargers as a kid) and usually just rooted for the offense. But he loved the game and he would have thoroughly enjoyed this one. I felt a little guilty for having such a good time watching this game and thought of him often. Especially every time the announcers made such a big deal of Eli following in his big brother Peyton's (who won the big game last year) footsteps. I kept wishing he was here to see it. I don't think we saw a Superbowl together since maybe '91 and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It would have been a blast and I'd give anything to change that.
This post is kind of all over the place. It's late and I'm tired. I'm going to go get some sleep now, secure in the knowledge that the '72 Dolphins are still the greatest team of all time.
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10 comments:
Matt-
I too am glad that the 72 Fins record still stands.
I was not really interested in either of these teams, but was aware of the Pats run on the Dolfin record.
I watched one commercial (Pepsi/Timberlake) and saw a punt, I think. Watching a sick baby while the Missus is out house-hunting tired me out and I hit the sack early. (That and I don't follow American football.)
Matt-
I was at a cousin's house to watch it, and i'm not much of a football fan. If I'm out and it's on at a friends house i'll watch it. But last night's game was really good. I enjoyed it, and even though I wasn't really rooting for any one team to win it, the Giant's played a hell of a game, and the Pats didn't seem to have as much oomph in the game as i thought they would.
the commercials were good though, and i really loved the little terminator vs. the fox robot(cylon w/shoulder pads) bouts.
i don't follow football throughout the season (not since the 80's when my roommates and i would watch the giant religiously--go LT!), but have always enjoyed the superbowl and the spectacle and the commercials. sharon and i had to go out early last night and so i only caught the last half hour/forty-five minutes of the game and didn't really see any of the commercials.
but it's always exciting to know you're watching something that so many million other people are watching all at the same time! i dig that!
so my dad's a big giants fan and craig (and brian and bill) are all patriots fans, so my loyalties were stretched. on one hand, the pats had an undefeated season (well, 'til last night) but eli manning was definitely doing some serious quarterbacking. tom brady already has, what, three rings? a part of me says, spread the wealth. i didn't know who should win.
in the end, it was just an exciting game to watch--what i saw of it. next year, maybe we should have a big superbowl party. i don't know where, but maybe...
aww, it's okay... i still love ya.
was a riveting game and i REALLY thought the pats were gonna have the perfect season... but as luck didn't go their way (as it has so many times this season), it was the giants who pulled it out. they had a CRAZY good defense who just kept the pats off their game. and manning made the clutch play.
i'd still say the pats were the best team this entire season, but weren't playing like it in the superbowl.
i was hoping to see a new record set by one of the best teams to play (if, for nothing else, so we could stop hearing about... and from ... the '72 dolphins)
18-1 is still a damn good record, if ya ask me.... (and it's not like they hadn't won 3 recently...)
... well, at least the sox won, right?
Matt-
Hadn't really watched the game (just bits a & pieces) while it was on, but watched all the commercials last night (I recorded it for that purpose).
Some of them were good, some just "eh".
Most notably:
The terminator / robot thing was kinda cool.
The baby doing investments online (2 different versions)was also interesting.
Coke-macy's parade balloons.
I think there was 1 or 2 others, but obviously not as memorable.
Of course, I did check out "GoDaddy.com" thanks to the Danica Patrick bit. I just LOVE "race"y women. LOL
Its was in 85 but you were close, that Danny Marino and the fins scored on their first 5 possions to send the bears home with the defeat. I remember watching Dan roll out as it was the first time Don every used him like that. Not sure if you recall but had the Pats not scored on thier last possion of the game the Fins would've faced them in the superbowl. I would have loved to see that rematch.
My daughter for some reason to which god only knows has been a pats fan since she was small enough to decide. Belive you me I tried to raise her better than that and show here the error of her ways LOL. I felt bad for her cause it really sucks when your team loses the big one but my joy had to far outwiegh her grief. I felt like a hypocrite as she was sobbing and I explained that there was time left 35 seconds for the Pats to win cause Dan Marino did it many times while inside I was rooting for thier failure. After it was over I merely explained it to her by saying, "I guess Tom just anit no Dan Marino". I know that was rotten but now I don't have to hear about the dang Pats no more till next season.
To qoute a line from the movie Highlander "There could be only one" and baby thats still the 72 fins.
No problems on my end either Matt. With three Superbowls and Two World Series Championships in the last seven years - not to mention how good the Celts are doing right now - I'm more than able to cope with a loss like Sunday's.
Your Dolphins perfect season is a record to be cherished, but the Patriots runs of 21 and 18 consecutive wins over the last five years aren't too shabby.
It was maybe the most suspenseful final quarter I've ever seen in a Superbowl. This year, for once, the game might have been more entertaining than the commercials.
A little late in adding a comment here, but wanted to add a couple things.
One of my favorite Mike memories was watching SuperBowl 38 between those same Pats and the local Panthers with Mike, after years of listening to them on the radio anytime we were both working on Sundays. Mike may not have had a fave team, but we sure rooted for the Panthers. (We even had a chant for when they played the Packers... I'll describe it for you sometime in person... :) ) And like this years game, it was a great 4th quarter, decided only at the very end of the game. The Pats won that year, but we had a blast watching the game. I'm really glad he finally got to see a game in person in 2006.
Also, I'm glad that the other perfect season, by the '76 Buccaneers, also remains unequalled. As a Bucs fan for more than 30 years, I take a certain pride in the record of the winless season, which was made all that easier to take when they finally won the big one in 2003.
Go Bucs!
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