oh..and I feel like I must make a final statement on another aspect of this Super Bowl... which was played on feb. 2nd... in New Jersey.. in which over 50 points were scored.. in which a record for completions by one qb (also by one team) in a single game was broken.. in which the record for most receptions by a player in a single game was broken... in which a team became the first in SB history to score via safety, interception return and kickoff return in the same game... where an ugly defensive struggle happened for one team... where at halftime, it was 2 degrees warmer than in Seattle....
If you were one of the ones who lost your crap because of the venue of the super bowl.. or how it could impact the results... or pretty much anything else... 3 things: 1) you were wrong (though even if the weather had been crappy, you would still have been wrong); 2) you have shown you either have no clue about football and what makes it great; 3) if you talk about the 'wussification of the game' or anything like that, you have given lifetime permission to be 'gibbs slapped' by any real football fans within arms reach....
For almost anyone who has put on the pads and shed blood and sweat playing football, or even just went out and played neighborhood or backyard football can tell you.. a football game in warm weather is wonderful.. but when the game truly comes to life, it is in the rain..the mud..the snow... excelling in perfect weather is one thing (and worthy of being proud of and lauded for), but doing so when the weather is as much an opponent as the other team? That is when the exciting becomes epic; the amazing, legendary..
Go back and look up the fog bowl or the ice bowl... the eagles/lions game from this season.. and so many more I could mention. Look at all of the other games that have been played in crappy conditions. that is one of the things that makes (American) football great. weather conditions are at the heart of the game too, if for nothing else than the fact that, with the exception of possible life threatening conditions, they don't stop the game.
A 10 yard rush in the pouring rain... a diving catch on a snowy field and coming up with a face full of snow... the sting and exhilaration of a solid tackle in cold weather... the incredible rush of walking off the field knowing you bested not only the opposing team, but the weather as well.... even the consoling knowledge that even if you came up short on the scoreboard, you still went out there and performed at your best in the face of variables that you have no control over... you faced it and you triumphed at some level...
if you don't or can't get it.. that is okay, it happens... just try to not make your ignorance of, or disregard for, what makes the game great so painfully obvious....
It wasn't a pretty game, by any means... but it gave us a truly great defensive show... Percy Harvin's 87 yard kickoff return... incredible touchdown receptions by baldwin, kearse and d. thomas.. plays that will be remembered..not only for the plays themselves, but also the stage and location where they happened.
I loved the game.. i have no problem saying that... but to be honest, it would have been better with a bit of snow or being a few degrees colder....
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