Green Bay Wins the Super Bowl, Prime Time Makes the Hall
Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and the state of Wisconsin on your fourth Super Bowl Title. As I wrote here, I am not “happy” the Falcons lost to the Super Bowl Champion, as in, “At least we lost to the Super Bowl Champion,” line of b.s. many in Atlanta will be espousing this morning. That’s the lament of the loser, and it’s not for me. I will say my congratulations, and mean it, but it doesn’t heal the wounds of the butt-kicking the Falcons took, the only butt-kicking Green Bay doled out this post-season (all other games were won by single-digits), because the Falcons head coach, Mike Smith, coaches scared, like Marty Schottenheimer.
Now that the congratulations to the Super Bowl Champs are out of the way, I want to also congratulate the seven men who were elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter, Ed Sabol, Shannon Sharpe, and of course, Prime Time himself, Deion Sanders! Congratulations, guys, on your outstanding careers in the NFL, but as it is related to Sanders, this is an especially sweet moment, or it should be, for Falcons fans.
Deion Sanders is the first player to be drafted by the Falcons to make it into the Hall of Fame. It is because of that fact that the many Falcons fans that hold any resentment for Prime Time need to let it go; especially since that resentment is usually based in untruth. Falcons’ fans: Deion did “leave” the team to go chase money and Super Bowls. No, the notoriously dumb and cheap Rankin Smith, the team owner at the time, didn’t even offer Sanders a competitive contract when he became a free agent. By claiming that he couldn’t afford to pay Sanders and not even offering a contract, Rankin Smith was able to turn many fans against Sanders; fans that didn’t understand the relatively new salary cap and free agency system.
Rankin Smith could’ve re-signed Sanders. He had the money. The Falcons weren’t strapped for cash or that close to the cap at the time. Smith simply chose to not even offer Sanders a contract because he didn’t want to be rebuffed and look like a fool for being a terrible owner no big name star wanted to play for (which he was). So please, Falcons fans, don’t buy into the anti-Deion hype in Atlanta anymore. The guy was electric. He put the Falcons on the map and gave forlorn fans a reason to cheer. He was a big part of the first Falcons team to win a playoff game (in 1991 against the Saints). And he is now the first player drafted by the Falcons to earn a place in Canton. Be proud of Prime Time, Falcons' Fans!
And to lay another myth to rest: Deion Sanders was not “afraid” of contact on the field. The man was one of the best punt returners in NFL history. Punt returners routinely get hammered on the gridiron. As a corner, he simply always played the ball, not the man. He wanted interceptions, and that’s how he played. Contrary to the myth, he could, and did, frequently make a tackle or two. For about an eight-year period, he shut down an entire side of the field. Who needs to be a physical corner, like Rod Woodson, when you could do that?
The Seven Things I Know
1) Aaron Rodgers is now something Brett Favre can never be: A Super Bowl MVP. Congrats, ARod.
2) Although I picked the Steelers to win 34-31, a part of me can’t help but marvel at the symmetry of karma in Ben’s horrible performance coming at the worst time possible after his previous bad behavior during the off-season. What goes around…
3) Comeback Player of the Year Awards should only be eligible for players who sustained an injury or illness only to overcome true adversity and excel on the field once more. It should NOT be eligible for animal-torturing-and-killing sociopaths who’s personal CHOICES (not mistakes) led to a situation that took them off the field (and into federal prison).
4) Dallas, with its sand (not salt) on the roads, falling ice injuring people, & screwing ticket-holders out of seeing the game, has now become the worst city to hold a Super Bowl. The citizens of Jacksonville can now breath easier.
5) Aggressive, throw-first offenses have now won the vast majority of Super Bowls in the last 20 years or so. Going back to 1989 and Super Bowl XXIII won by the 49ers against the Bengals, teams with attacking, throw-first offenses have won 17 out of the last 22 Super Bowls. You don’t win the big games if you coach scared (don’t take chances with the deep ball), or if you run more than throw. It’s why Marty Schottenheimer never won a game that mattered.
6) The NFL needs to scrap the lame corporate-ized Super Bowl logo and go back to game-specific, city-specific Super Bowl logos. They had character, and some were great, like this one.
7) We’ve now gone 8 years since a terrible Super Bowl game (2003, Raiders-Bucs), and since 1998 (Packers-Broncos), we’ve only had three total truly bad Super Bowl games (Falcons-Broncos, Giants-Ravens, Raiders-Bucs). For a kid who grew up in the midst of NFC domination of the 1980s and 90s, the last 13 years of Super Bowls has been nirvana.
Today in History
On 07 February 1990, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party decided to allow the different states making up the Soviet Union to have not only their own elections, but elections with candidates not backed by the Communist Party. The decision by the Committee and Premier Gorbachev was like the first crack in the dam, allowing first just a trickle of water, but soon growing into a torrent, as many of the states elected reformers and began to sever ties with the Soviet Union altogether. To this day, I find it amazing that I lived to see the end of the Evil Empire (although a democratized form of (evil) socialism still haunts the world, including our own beloved country), and as always, give particular thanks to this guy for helping to make it happen.
Film Real
There were trailers for many big name films shown as commercials during the Super Bowl, from Captain America, to Thor, to the new Pirates of the Caribbean film (yep, they’ve made another one of those), but the trailer that had me the most interested was the really quick look at the new Matt Damon film, The Adjustment Bureau.
I’m always a guy who loves smartly written science fiction, like Asimov or Heinlein would write, and from the quick look at this film, it looks like an interesting and intriguing idea. Plus, the guys in this Adjustment Bureau, who control our destinies, look vaguely similar to the Observers on Fringe, a favorite television show of mine, so that can’t hurt.
The idea though, that we are not in control of our destinies is a harrowing thought many have, and that idea could be mined for great material if done right. I hope it’s been done right. Check out the short trailer of here, and see if The Adjustment Bureau looks like a film you’d want to see.
Smart Quote
This quote is for Aaron Rodgers.
Leaders are made; they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
Vince Lombardi
Hey, Check This Out!
Without a doubt, this is the best Super Bowl Commercial this year, if not this decade. I laugh so hard I cry when watching this. Love the little kid’s body language. Hilarious!
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