Super Bowl XLVI between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis was a knuckle scraper and a “gusher” of a legendary football game. The Giants blocked the entrance to the yellow brick road of immortality for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom “terrific” Brady by defeating the squad from Beantown 21-17. Forget the score, there is a rotten smelling fish in the butcher shop. The only black eye regarding the game was the “missed” call on the Patriots, an obvious pass interference non call that very well could’ve altered the course of the game and NFL history.
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Analyst Chris Collinsworth had this to say about the missed call. “You have to remember that the officials are seeing the action in real time” or something to that effect. Well officials are paid to call the game in “real time” aren’t they? Isn’t that how the game is played? There can be no excuses. If an official’s reflexes or eyesight are lacking or questionable, that official should be replaced. But to suggest that a play is too fast for the naked eye and may not be able to be adjudicated properly, then human judgment should not be relied upon. The players should determine the outcome of the game, not bogus calls or non calls.
There was something else I noticed after the game. The Elvis Pressley sneer that Brady usually wears looked sorta kinda teary. This was a game about redemption and evolution not only for the Giants but for all of the teams that had been embarrassed by the ego and mean spirited nature of the Patriots. Remember the year that Brady said that he wanted to “kill” the opposition, not physically but destroy their spirit. It also came to a point that for some reason, Bill Belichick seemed to think that he was untouchable. In spite of the serious charges of cheating and penalties that were levied against them in the past, the spinsters still keep blowing smoke about the so-called New England dynasty. But I find this a bit odd. The Patriots won three Super Bowls prior to the uncovering of the ‘Spygate’ illegal videotaping scandal in 2007. Belichick won the 2007 Coach of the Year award anyway, proving that anything goes in the NFL as long as you’re winning. All seems to be fair in war, love, and cheating. And do not forget the “Phantom” fumble and the invocation of the infamous “Tuck Rule” in the divisional playoff game between the Patriots and the Raiders on a cold night in Foxborough, on January 19, 2002. Technically that botched call was one of the stolen moments the NFL will never get back. You can place a fat asterisk next to that game because eight days later on January 27, they illegally recorded practice footage of the Steelers prior to the AFC Championship game which the Patriots won advancing to Super Bowl XXXVI. If the non fumble call did not happen against the Raiders, they would have never made it to their first Super Bowl. The only Super Bowl that they competed in “post-Spygate” before XLVI was XLII and they lost that one as well to the Giants. New England won Super Bowls XXXIX and XXXVIII against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers, respectively before the Patriots cheating methods were exposed. It has already been proven that New England illegally filmed a St. Louis Rams walk through prior to defeating the Rams in XXXVI. Hey, before ‘Spygate’, three Super Bowl victories, after “gate”, zilch, zero, nada, none.
All other cheating incidents in sports were treated a bit differently. Remember the Black Sox scandal from the year 1919. What about baseball legend and manager Pete Rose betting on his own team? The beautiful track and field star Marion Jones was stripped of her Olympic medals and even jailed because of her alleged use of illegal steroids. MLB pitcher Joe Niekro pitched for over two decades and at times was suspected of altering the baseball. In 1987, Niekro was pitching for the Minnesota Twins when the opposing team accused him of doctoring the ball. Umpires made him empty his pockets and an emory board and a piece of sandpaper fell to the mound. He was suspended for ten games. One of the earliest college basketball point shaving scandals involved the 1951 City College of New York basketball team. The scandal entrapped over thirty players and was funded by organized crime. I can’t get over it. See boys and girls the New England Patriots cheated to be on the “edge of glory” but with their dark and sinister methods they will always just be on the “edge of night.”
Game notes: During the half-time show my stepdaughter asked me how old was Madonna? I guessed that she was in her late forties. She jumped on her iPhone and informed me that the “material girl” happened to be fifty-three. Damn, she is still super fine!
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741. Bruce is also the NFL/AFC North analyst on the “Odd Couple Sports Show’ streaming live on Fox Sports radio; WCWA 1230am, Toledo, Ohio, Wednesdays from 11-11:30 a.m.)
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