Super Bowl XLII: Inside the Trenches

As promised, L. Rosen's pics from the Super Bowl. Enjoy!


Pats' owner Bob Kraft on the mic.


Former QB great John Elway doing the radio thing, too.



Adam Sandler (in the jacket) was the intended target, but this guy in front of him was ready, too.

More QB time with Kurt Warner, who won the Lombardi trophy and MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams.

Former Dallas Cowboys' WR Michael Irvin, who has won a trifecta of Super Bowls himself. Always a character.


To comment would just be too easy, so I will let this one speak for itself.

Larry David, exactly as I would expect him to look if you caught him at the Super Bowl. Curb your enthusiasm, Larry.


The first TD of the game, courtesy of the Pats.


The halftime show. I appreciated how more than a few friends across the country didn't know who was performing until Free Fallin' started playing.


You know what this is. It's a celebration. . . readers.


A big thank you to L. Rosen for sharing with us. And congrats again to the Giants for making history!

Super Bowl Pics Preview

On Monday, I will post some awesome pictures that I received of one man's (that man is L. Rosen) trip to the Super Bowl. In case you can't wait that long, here's a teaser:

The Vince Lombardi Trophy


Brady in the pocket

The winner's circle


And for those who care, Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima


Stay tuned for the rest . . .

Some Good News

So much to do, so little time. If we could add about 4 or 5 hours to each day, that'd be perfect. Until then:

1. Michael Vick scored a legal victory. A federal judge known to be athlete-friendly overturned the arbitrator's decision that Vick had to return most of his signing bonus, finding that he only had to return about $3.75 million of the nearly $20 million he received. That's the first good news he's had in nearly a year. Hopefully they gave him an extra pudding cup or something to celebrate.

2. Bye bye, Bob Knight. I'm not 100% sure if this one will be official retirement or if he just quit at Texas Tech. He says he's done. And now son Pat Knight is taking over. Reports are that his team was a bit emotional. I'll let this marinate for a while and then give my ruminations later this week. " . . . but that would be an insult to Mickey Mouse." Ah, I'm going to miss him.

3. They're saying 97.5 million people watched the Super Bowl. That's enough for the most watched Super Bowl ever and the second most watched TV program ever. Ever. Wow. The media hype fuel is a powerful thing. Let's just hope the ads don't cost an arm, leg, and both ears next year because of these numbers. That's pretty amazing, though. And there were at least 50 people around each TV at the house where I watched the game, so that number may not be quite accurate.

4. Speaking of which, thoughts on the funniest commercial? Apparently, I missed Naomi Campbell and some lizards performing Thriller but it looked semi-humorous. My favorites were Shaq as a jockey, the guy with the spark plugs attached to his nipples, and the dog lapping up the Gatorade. The latter was mostly funny because everyone else was grossed out and trying to figure out what was going on, and that made me laugh. But maybe I'm weird.

5. It has been a pretty good year for the Cleveland Brown's Derek Anderson. First, he comes from the bench to start for the Browns and does a darn good job, leading them to 10-5 record, keeping media star Brady Quinn on the bench, and throwing 5 TD's in his first start and messing up my first week of fantasy football. And now, since Tom Brady is too beat up to attend the Pro Bowl (why go to Hawaii when you can go home to Brazil with Gisele?), Anderson will be replacing Brady at the Pro Bowl. Heck of a first season as a starter.

David v. Goliath: David Wins Again

Wow. That's all I can really say. No one believed it. You didn't believe it was possible. They looked fallible but it wasn't possible . . .

Indeed, it is. In dramatic fashion, the odds-on favorite New England Patriots were stunned by the New York Giants in the final seconds of the 42nd playing of the Super Bowl. The Giants came to play, but I wonder if they even believed they could win.

And I wonder this to myself, not to the Giants' coach or any of its players, as Terry Bradshaw did after the game. Someone please tell me what the point is of the question, "Did you think you were going to win tonight?" "Hell, no, Terry, I knew we were a goner but I told the guys put on some pads, get on that field, and maybe the Pats will like let us score or something." Yeah.

Not exactly. I wanted the Pats to go undefeated in the regular season, but I was pulling for Eli and the Giants. Eli has that whole "always a bridesmaid never a bride" (or groomsmen/groom, you get the picture) thing going for him. He's an everyman that you want to root for because not one sports pundit would even utter the idea of a Pats upset. But on this night, the groom watched his best man finally take the leap, as big brother Peyton cheered from his luxury box. Eli deserved every bit of that MVP, too, with that tackle he avoided. Exciting finish. And he overcame every odd - and I'm sure made some people very, very rich - and rose to the occasion when it counted. Nice touch by Fox showing the route that Plaxico Burress ran in practice compared to his winning touchdown catch. I was also touched by Burress' display of emotion during his post-game interview. We all get caught up in the hype of the game, the commercials, whose party we're going to attend (where we do not have a seat, miss all of the commercials), but to these guys, it is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work. A lifetime of people who said you would never amount to anything or didn't believe in you, and proving them all wrong in an instant, and forever. This is why sports connects with the people.

You can admit that you thought Tom Brady would launch one to Randy Moss and win the whole game. Even with 10 seconds left. It was simply too unbelievable to think that the Giants might actually win.

Perhaps Bill "I Spy" Belichick is to blame for the Pats loss, because in the end, cheaters just don't prosper. And good guys - like Eli - do finish first.

Congrats, Giants!