In a way, it doesn't feel right; the Colts should perhaps be in town today. They are(were) the defending champs, after all. They gave the Patriots the first in a long stretch of runs for their money that the Pats survived. The Dungy-Belichick and Manning-Brady rivalries are about the biggest stories in sports in this young century.
But who cares, really. The Colts are on the golf course and it's San Diego who's in town to try to keep the Pats from perfection. Right now, the Patriots are sitting on 17-0 (same as the '72 Dolphins) and, despite them saying (and probably thinking) all the right things about San Diego's talent and tenacity, they have to be thinking about that plane ride to Arizona in a few days. So let's dream for a moment, and think about all the possible Super Bowl XLII matchups:
Patriots-Giants. The Giants scared the hell out of all of us in Week 17; with nothing to play for except to avoid the "let's take a week off" malaise that claimed Dallas, Indy and Tampa, they fought hard and valiantly and made the Pats mount a huge comeback to cap off the regular season. We had a feeling Coach Bill didn't bring out all his weapons until he really needed them, and it won't be as close the second time around. The added attraction here, of course, would be New England's chance to smack New York on the biggest stage in sports. In case there's any doubt about where the Sports Capital of the World is currently located.
Patriots-Packers. A chance to avenge 1996. A matchup of the two best quarterbacks of our time (we don't want to hear it, Indianapolis). That would be great. What worries us is the effect everybody west of the Housatonic pouring pro-Packer karma into the air, and willing the plucky old Favre and his small-town team to victory against Darth Belichick and the hated Pats. And the Pack will probably bring Desmond Howard onto the field for the coin toss.
Chargers-Giants, Chargers-Packers. At this time, we refuse to consider these possibilities.
If you're going to the game today (sigh), San Diego offers some tips to keep warm. We were hoping for some terrified prose akin to "Staying Alive in Siberia", but they were actually pretty levelheaded about the whole thing. The Chargers claim that they can handle it - a lot of them went to college in the Midwest - but you can't live in sunny paradise all year and not be a little uncomfortable coming North in the winter. As anyone who ever flew back from Texas or Florida in the winter (sigh) can attest.
Phil Kessel and Zdeno Chara connected to give the Bruins a shootout win over the Rangers yesterday. At the game, the Bruins honored Willie O'Ree, the first black man to play in the NHL. It's a good article, with a horrifying quote from the 1958 Hockey News.
3:00 today. It's on.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
I don't think winning the Super Bowl w/o beating Indy AGAIN dimishes the accomplishment. There's more at stake than some silly business about the Colts.
Playing Green Bay is probably a tougher game. But, I bet the NFL would prefer that game. Belichick would thrive on the pro-Favre sentiment as motivation.
I'm pleased that Bostonist is following my lead in using Pat Patriot colors.
"The Giants scared the hell out of all of us in Week 17; with nothing to play for except to avoid the 'let's take a week off' malaise"
They were also playing to be the team that prevented an undefeated season.
MJG - We love Pat Patriot. My blue Pat Patriot hat has been on my head every Sunday (or Monday or Saturday if necessary) for weeks and weeks.
Harmy - true, but there was a lot of conventional wisdom that the Giants were going to ease off as the game went on and pull their starters. I'm glad they didn't.