Super Bowl & More

Super Bowl 42

Others will have much more to say, but I have just two observations after watching the Giants upset the Patriots today.

First, hats off to the Giants’ defensive front seven, who pressured Tom Brady from start to nearly finish. They ran out of gas on the Pats’ apparent game-winning drive that resulted in a Randy Moss touchdown reception.

Fortunately for the Big Apple, the Giants’ offense found a way to answer. It might have been the ugliest 83 yard touchdown drive I have ever seen – but it counts nonetheless.

Congratulations to both the Giants, and ’72 Dolphins, who can still claim the title of the NFL’s greatest team. Until someone goes 19-0, you can’t argue with perfection.

Secondly, let me be the first to point out how classless many Patriots were – led by their head coach of course – for heading to the locker room with 0:01 left on the clock and not waiting around to shake a few hands.

Am I the only one to notice this?

It reminded me of the Detroit Pistons, who left the floor in the final seconds when they were finally dethroned as Eastern Conference Champions, by a guy named Jordan and company back in the early 90s.

Yes, I know Bill shook the opposing coach’s hand, but he could have hung around a bit longer and shook a few more hands before making his exit. You see college kids even line-up and do it, why not expect a little more from adults?

Spy Gate
Hey, do you think Roger Goodell will burn the tape of Super Bowl 42 so the Patriots don’t use it next year for advantage purposes?

That was the most lame excuse I ever heard when the commissioner of the NFL gave that ridiculous reasoning when answering why he burned the six tapes and notes the Pats turned in after Spy Gate broke.

The man must think the general public’s intelligence level borders on the retarded.

We complained loudly when the league investigated, came to a conclusion and passed judgment in JUST one week’s time when this story first broke. It smelled of COVER UP up then, and stinks even worse now.

Thanks to Congress, and specifically my new favorite politician, Arlen Spectre of Pennsylvania, the league will not be able to sweep Spy Gate under the rug after all. My guess is that he (Spectre) is an Eagles’ fan and wants to know if the Pats cheated when they beat his Eagles in one of their previous meetings.

Regardless of the reason, the story is still alive. Good.

Major League Baseball didn’t take the steroids issue seriously until Congress stepped in. The same can be said for the NFL on this matter– who doesn’t want its anti-trust status touched either.

Why did the NFL brass want this story behind them? Simple. The Patriots are the team of the decade - the league's current flagship franchise. If their reputation is tarnished, the league is tarnished. Get it?

However, if the cheating was widespread – we need to know. The league’s integrity and the holy grail of competitive sports – the concept of an even playing field - is also at stake.

Finally, if it is discovered Goodell was pass protecting for the Pats, he should be fired and perhaps even prosecuted, depending on how negligent he was. That’s right –prosecuted.

The NFL is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. If there is much more to this story than just six tapes and some notes, the commissioner didn’t just drop the ball – he tried burning it, and pleading ignorance won’t do. We are smarter than that Roger.

For Goodell and the league’s sake, I hope this is all there is.

Politics
Speaking of politics, we have some advice for right-wing Republicans who are having trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that John McCain will be their party’s nominee in the general election next fall.

Ronald Reagan is not coming back to life and lead the Republican party. So stop whining and get on board.

Yes, McCain doesn’t reflect the conservative position on immigration, he opposed the Bush tax cuts, and he sided with democrats on campaign financing reform. And there’s more. I know. I know.

And he has a temper too. So what? You’d have a temper if you spent nearly six years being tortured by the North Vietnamese.

I never said he was perfect. But the guy is genuine and Americans seem to want that this time around - someone who tells it straight regardless of the political consequences.

My response to the right-wing of the party is simple – if you don’t support McCain and decide to sit this election out, you’ll likely get either Clinton or Obama in the White House in charge of fighting Islamic Fascism and choosing perhaps as many as three new Supreme Court justices.

Is that what you really want?