Well, after going 8-3 picking playoff games last year, I went 1-2 in my abbreviated playoff picks. That said, that was an interesting Super Bowl. I'll get out my rambling thoughts on Super Bowl XLV.
- How else would I start? Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and the rest of the crew there. They were the better team on Sunday. They overcome some huge injuries, battled through three straight road games, and closed out one of the most resilient teams in the NFL to win it all. The Patriots in 2001 beat a Rams team looking to cement itself as a dynasty, and then they went on to be a dynasty themselves. You never know, history could be repeating itself.
- That said, most likely, history will not repeat itself. Today started the yearly round of "Team (insert Super Bowl Champion Here) is poised to dominate the league for years to come." I've heard it every year. It is never that easy. The Saints were poised to do it coming into this year, but weird things happen. You need luck to win the Super Bowl these days, and luck doesn't come around that often. Want proof? The Super Bowl Champion has not won a playoff game the following year since the 2004 New England Patriots, who won their Wild Card game in 2005. Want further proof? Other than the Patriots, the streak goes back to the 2000 Ravens, who won their Wild Card game. Other than the 2003-2004 Pats, the last team to make the conference title game the next year was the 1997-1998 Broncos. Repeating is damn hard.
- Same for Aaron Rodgers. Everyone wants to crown him the "Best QB in the world." However, let's backtrack 12 months, when Drew Brees finished a Super Bowl run where he didn't throw an interception over three games. Everyone then crowned him the best QB in the NFL. He then proceeded to throw 22 interceptions the next year, and although his team went 11-5, wasn't exactly "best QB in the NFL" material. That title is fleeting. There is always the flavor of the week. Aaron Rodgers should savor this moment, because however great he might be, and however young and talented the Packers might be, nothing is guaranteed. If you told Dan Marino after his one Super Bowl appearance in 1984 or Brett Favre after winning the Super Bowl with a loaded Packers team in 1996 that you would never win a ring (or in Marino's case, get to the Super Bowl) again, they would have laughed at you.
- It gets annoying when people bring up the drops killing Aaron Rodgers night. The only bad drop was James Jones' in what could have been a touchdown. Of course, if the DB used proper technique and batted the ball down instead of trying to make a play and get a pick, it is an easy incompletion. Also, its James Jones, who drops the ball as much as Big Ben drops trou. The others weren't as bad. Nelson followed up his bad drop with a 30-yard gain the next play, and his "drop" on the first drive was a really tough catch. Rodgers played about as well as his stats show, which is a great performance. But let's not act like this was Joe Montana going 22-28 for 5 tds against the league's best scoring defense in Super Bowl XXIV.
- I still stand by my pick. I think if the teams play 10 times, the Steelers win 6. Despite losing the turnover battle 3-0, and despite missing a field goal, the Steelers still had a drive to win the game. The Packers, like they have so many times this season, didn't really put a team away. The Packers did nothing in the 3rd quarter for the second straight game, and if Rashard Mendenhall doesn't fumble that ball (or if Johnson doesn't stand there like a statue instead of realizing the ball was fumbled), I think the Steelers score a TD there, and since Rodgers was 2 for his last 9 up to that point in the 2nd half, I'm not sure the Packers could have come back.
- One last Packers' slight. This talk of "Oh, they were so resilient, with all those players on IR!" is so grating. Other than Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley, can anyone name the other players on IR? Were there any other starters? One was Nick Barnett, but how about the guy who Charlie Peprah replaced? Anyone know him? This wasn't analogous to the Colts situation. The Colts lost talented, important starters. If the Colts lost their version of Nick Barnett and Atari Bigby (know where he plays? He's one of those IR guys), they would not have gone anywhere near 10-6.
- Also, in no way was Super Bowl XLV a great game. It was a good game, and compared to the junk that happened on Super Sunday in the 80's, it was a major step up. It would have been great but that last drive for the Steelers fizzled out about instantly, making the ending anti-climactic. The game overall was quite sloppy. The Packers were dropping passes, then they couldn't block for Rodgers. The Steelers committed turnovers, then missed a field goal so badly I thought they had signed Vanderjagt. I've watched every Super Bowl multiple times from Super Bowl XXXIV to now (except for Super Bowl XXXV - Ravens vs Giants). I remember every detail from a lot of those games. I doubt I will remember much about this game five years from now. The game was like Super Bowl XXXIX, where despite it being a 3 point game, and the Eagles having the ball with a minute to go down a field goal, it wasn't all that good of a game.
- The Halftime show was a joke. First of all, Slash should never have agreed to appear on stage with the Black Eyed Peas. Then, it gets annoying when instead of singing four songs completely, they do a medley of 10 songs. The Who did the same thing last year, and it ruined it. Also, what happened to having fans on the field for the halftime show. They used to do this each year I can remember, but instead they just had lit up performers who basically added nothing to the show. I please hope this shows that going with a current act is not at all better than going with a bunch of 50-60 year olds from the past.
- With that in mind, I really hope for Super Bowl XLVI, they go with Van Halen. They're recording a new CD right now (the first with Roth since 1984), and are supposedly going on tour at some point this year. Not sure they would agree to it, but similar acts have done halftime. If they can't get them, or don't want them, I would also recommend Aerosmith (although it's been done already), the Eagles (at least one group of Eagles should get to the Super Bowl), or if they want to go modern, Rihanna.
- There was nothing more annoying that media members (specifically Peter King) complaining about the weather in Dallas. Peter King even complained that the city didn't buy enough snowplows. Does Peter King realize that this was the biggest snowstorm in about 20 years? That the normal temperature in February is far warmer, or that in a city with a crippled education, they might have better things to spend money on than snow-plows for a snowstorm that happens once every two decades. Honestly, the media members are getting an all-expense paid trip to Dallas to do work; work that includes hob-knobbing with radio stations, players and attending the Super Bowl. Millions of Americans would volunteer to do that "work", so stop complaining that the temperature wasn't 72, and you had to drive in, you know, 6 inches of snow.
- The seating mess was ridiculous. That Jerry Jones was setting up seating that apparently had its stability questioned months ago, and the NFL okayed it was crazy. Does Jerry Jones really care that much about setting an attendance record. I would never bring the Super Bowl back to Dallas just to shove it in Jerry Jones' self-aggrandizing face. Honeslty, Indianapolis will probably put on a good time, but people will complain about how small and un-Dallasy it is, but I guarantee that at least all the people who bought tickets will be able to attend.
Overall, it was not the most fun of NFL seasons for me. The Raiders going 8-8 was fun, but I'll dwell on their missed opportunities that could've had them make the playoffs. However, other than that, it was a disaster. The Colts were ravaged with injuries at a rate I have never seen before. The Patriots flew to a 14-2 record (although their loss to the Jets gave me a great moment). In the end, a team I don't particularly care for won the Super Bowl, but such is life. After a near perfect 2009 season for me (God, how I still am scarred by Super Bowl XLIV and what could have been), it all evened out. I just hope 2011 will be a little bit better. The odds are against it, since the Colts are trying to do something that no other team has ever done: play the Super Bowl in its home stadium. However, no team had won twelve or more games seven straight years either (or 6 years, or 5, or 4). The Colts proved that possible.
On the baseball.....
