Monday, February 7

Hard To Hate The Patriots

As a Miami Dolphins fan, with the New England Patriots in the same division, I have always *hated* the Patriots (and the Buffalo Bills, and NY Jets, and even the Indianapolis Colts [who have since moved out of the division]).  It is my duty to hate these teams and I do hate them with all my ability.  Yet, if the Dolphins ceased to exist, I'd likely become a fan of one of those division rivals.  Probably the Patriots, since they're on free TV every weekend here in the Maritimes.
It used to be easy to hate the Patriots, especially that time they used the snowplow to remove snow from the field so they could kick a field-goal against the Dolphins.  It is really hard to dislike this current crop of  Patriots, though.  More than any other sports team I've seen, they are the epitome of "Team".  They win every way they can.  They win easy, they win hard, win pretty and ugly.  They just win.  Normally, such a team would be easy to hate because they'd appear so full of themselves.  But not this Team.  They are dignified and humble in victory.
They are the greatest football team I've ever seen.  Not necessarily the best ever, but the greatest.
And I hate them.



Some SuperBowl thoughts:
During the pre-show entertainment, some woman (who on closeups looked much older than she appeared from a distance) sang some song (just before Charlie Daniels, who performed "Devil Went Down To Georgia" way-too-fast).  I found it odd that the "fans" that they assembled on the field around the stage were all women/girls.  Many of them were screaming (instructed to, I'm sure) at her like girls screamed at John and Paul during the height of Beatlemania.  Just found that odd.
SuperBowl XXXIX - I'm not an authority on Roman Numerals, but can a Roman Numeral have more X's in it than the number 39?
Was Alicia Keys lip syncing "America The Beautiful"?  While the lips were actually well-synced with the vocals, It kinda sounded like the emotion and quality in the vocals didn't quite match the physical effort.  If she was lipsyncing, well, that's a shame.
The plate that the vegetables get scooped onto in the Cunard Restaurant plate is exactly the same style of plate my mother had for years and years when I was growing up.  Cheap Corelle plates.  Also, I miss how the voice-over used to (a couple of years ago) say:  "reck-anized in Where To Eat in Canada".
The game was pretty good, I guess.  I enjoyed the defensive performances in the first half, but as soon as the Pats took the lead, I figured that was it.  It was good (but not really exciting) that the Eagles were able to come back to within 3 points.  But, from midway in the third quarter, the game was over.  With four minutes or so left, the Eagles looked spent.
Paul McCartney sounded better than I've heard him sound in the last decade.  It's such a shame that he's such an innocuous performer now.  While his songs are better than their comedy, I see him as the musical equivalent of the Royal Canadian Air Farce.  Actually, I take that back, the Air Farce is never enjoyable to watch and he can be.  He's more like Saturday Night Live.  Long past prime and only occasionally shows flashes of past ability.



3 comments:

dylan said...

As much as it pains me to say it I am a Raiders fan and because of that and a bullcrap "tuck" ruling a few years ago I've had an unnatural hatred for the NE Patriots. But even I had to recognize that the Patriots play football the way it is meant to be played. Team first with a focus on the game at hand. Never do we see the Patriots look past an opponent never do they say anything stupid to the media. They focus on each game and play as hard and as smart as possible.
This season watching an injury decimated defensive backfield propped up by a undrafted rookie, a rookie safety, a veteran wide reciever turned nickel back and a converted linebacker play extremely well. All the while never asking for any quarter to be given. I think I may be a NE Patriot fan now. Until my Raiders get Randy Moss and I start to foolishly believe that will make a difference to the antithesis of the Patriots.

Rob said...

Wait, I thought the Dolphins were gonna get Randy Moss. He's the guy that's supposed to turn the Fins around.

Gooner said...

The pats play like a complete team, there's no big-time star so to speak, other than maybe Brady and Dillon. And they also provide for exciting games, not boring Superbowl blowouts like in past years.