Sunday, February 03, 2008
Perfect Game Beats Perfect Season
"18-1...18-1....18-1..." was the chant going through the streets of New York tonight.
(Along with that always-dependable standby, "Boston sucks!")
Sorry about that, Pats.
My friend David Bernstein called this the best Super Bowl of our lifetimes. He may be right. I can't think of a better one recently. Hey, it's the first time in the modern era that an unbeaten team has been knocked off in the Big Game.
This was a game very reminiscent of Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants beat the offensive juggernaut Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
In a nice bit of irony, the Giants also did to the Patriots what the Pats did to the Rams during their first championship run: They kept the offense off the field and off-balance. They kept the ball out of Randy Moss' hands (though it looked for a while like Wes Welker was going to be the Giant-killer). They pressured Tom Brady like he hadn't been all year (and as they did to Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo and Brett Favre previously). Five sacks.
Eli Manning had the ball twice in the fourth quarter and delivered touchdowns twice. (Wow. Is this Archie Manning's revenge on the NFL, or what? After suffering with the horrific New Orleans Saints his entire career, his two sons win consecutive Super Bowls -- and consecutive game MVPs, to boot!)
Brady, meanwhile, had the ball with the game on the line and couldn't deliver. (Does he dump Gisele in the next couple of weeks -- or does she dump him?)
14-6>18-1
Wow.
UPDATE: Ten things we learned from the Giants' Super Bowl win. The Manning-escape-from-Pats-rush-and-throw-to-Tyree-who-made-insane-sky-high-catch is a play for the ages. It's that play that solidified the MVP for Manning. As two friends mentioned, otherwise, a great case could be made for Justin Tuck who had two sacks, a forced fumble and was in Brady's face all night.
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(Along with that always-dependable standby, "Boston sucks!")
Sorry about that, Pats.
My friend David Bernstein called this the best Super Bowl of our lifetimes. He may be right. I can't think of a better one recently. Hey, it's the first time in the modern era that an unbeaten team has been knocked off in the Big Game.
This was a game very reminiscent of Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants beat the offensive juggernaut Buffalo Bills, 20-19.
In a nice bit of irony, the Giants also did to the Patriots what the Pats did to the Rams during their first championship run: They kept the offense off the field and off-balance. They kept the ball out of Randy Moss' hands (though it looked for a while like Wes Welker was going to be the Giant-killer). They pressured Tom Brady like he hadn't been all year (and as they did to Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo and Brett Favre previously). Five sacks.
Eli Manning had the ball twice in the fourth quarter and delivered touchdowns twice. (Wow. Is this Archie Manning's revenge on the NFL, or what? After suffering with the horrific New Orleans Saints his entire career, his two sons win consecutive Super Bowls -- and consecutive game MVPs, to boot!)
Brady, meanwhile, had the ball with the game on the line and couldn't deliver. (Does he dump Gisele in the next couple of weeks -- or does she dump him?)
14-6>18-1
Wow.
UPDATE: Ten things we learned from the Giants' Super Bowl win. The Manning-escape-from-Pats-rush-and-throw-to-Tyree-who-made-insane-sky-high-catch is a play for the ages. It's that play that solidified the MVP for Manning. As two friends mentioned, otherwise, a great case could be made for Justin Tuck who had two sacks, a forced fumble and was in Brady's face all night.
Labels: New York Giants, NFL, Super Bowl, Super bowl XXV
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sopranos Finale: Horrible or Brilliant?
Imagine if in Super Bowl XXV, when Scott Norwood was lined up to kick a possible game winning field goal against the New York Giants, that suddenly the screen on the TV went blank. The coverage ends before the kick is made. No resolution. Only speculation as to what happened. Did he make the kick? Did it sail wide right? Did the Bills win? Did the Giants win? What the hell?
That is how the Sopranos ended. Everything seemed to culminate with a final scene inside an ice cream parlor. The family all in one place, and a whole lot of questions. Will Tony be killed? Will Meadow get whacked? Will the FBI storm in and arrest Tony? What the hell is going on here? And meanwhile our ears were treated to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. But to our disbelief, the unbelievable occurred. The screen went blank.
I was watching the show in a separate room in the house from my parents. The TV that I was watching the show on was on a bit of a delay due to the combo of TIVO and pausing. My Mom hurried in during the final minutes saying she wanted to watch the end with me because the cable had gone out on my Dad's set.
Moments later the same thing happened to mine. Just as I was about to sue Cablevision, credits began to role for the final installment of the Sopranos.
A friend called in a nanosecond to suggest that the whole nation must have yelled a collective "what the F*%# just happened?"
Another friend suggested that the end was both "brilliant and horrible" at the same time.
So many people thought they knew (including myself) how the show would end. All of us were wrong.
Maybe that is what makes the ending work. They set up so many different expectations, that they decided to pull any answers away from us. They gave you no ending. Nothing.
People will have theories as to what might have happened. None of us will be wrong, none of us will be right. But we'll be talking about it for years to come. The show ended with the ultimate bang. A silent bang.
The ending may have been horrible, and you may have felt cheated. They did that to you purposefully. But isn't that what makes it so brilliant?
I'm off to eat my final cannoli before bed. So long Tony and the gang. You will be missed.
Della bounanotte!
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That is how the Sopranos ended. Everything seemed to culminate with a final scene inside an ice cream parlor. The family all in one place, and a whole lot of questions. Will Tony be killed? Will Meadow get whacked? Will the FBI storm in and arrest Tony? What the hell is going on here? And meanwhile our ears were treated to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. But to our disbelief, the unbelievable occurred. The screen went blank.
I was watching the show in a separate room in the house from my parents. The TV that I was watching the show on was on a bit of a delay due to the combo of TIVO and pausing. My Mom hurried in during the final minutes saying she wanted to watch the end with me because the cable had gone out on my Dad's set.
Moments later the same thing happened to mine. Just as I was about to sue Cablevision, credits began to role for the final installment of the Sopranos.
A friend called in a nanosecond to suggest that the whole nation must have yelled a collective "what the F*%# just happened?"
Another friend suggested that the end was both "brilliant and horrible" at the same time.
So many people thought they knew (including myself) how the show would end. All of us were wrong.
Maybe that is what makes the ending work. They set up so many different expectations, that they decided to pull any answers away from us. They gave you no ending. Nothing.
People will have theories as to what might have happened. None of us will be wrong, none of us will be right. But we'll be talking about it for years to come. The show ended with the ultimate bang. A silent bang.
The ending may have been horrible, and you may have felt cheated. They did that to you purposefully. But isn't that what makes it so brilliant?
I'm off to eat my final cannoli before bed. So long Tony and the gang. You will be missed.
Della bounanotte!
Labels: James Gandolfini, Scott Norwood, Sopranos finale, Super bowl XXV
