* Bill Simmons made this point well, but – what if the Miami Dolphins had chosen to sign Drew Brees over Daunte Culpepper? The Saints run doesn’t happen, Nick Saban probably doesn’t take the Alabama job, Peyton Manning probably wins another Super Bowl off the back of three Brett Favre interceptions and Texas probably beats Florida for the NCAA title this year, while the Tide fires Jim Leavitt after three mediocre seasons and some allegations of player abuse. And the Saints are probably the San Antonio Saints.
* King cake may be nature’s perfect food. When they invent bacon king cake, we will be able to say as a civilization, “All done.”
* Talk about regression to the mean. Peyton Manning, despite the best efforts of the NFL and its media concubines to force him down our throats as The Greatest Quarterback Of All Time Ever, is – in the final analysis – a .500 career playoff QB who luck-boxed his way into one Super Bowl win three years ago against a Bears team that was lucky to be there. Very pretty numbers, impressive regular-season figures, a regular berth in the playoffs (in a division that couldn’t be more sad-sack – I mean, two expansion franchises and the Titans post-McNair?) but when the big moment comes…a whoopsie-daisy.
* Best actual Super Bowl game since the Rams and Titans. Although last year was not bad. The figures bear it out, too – these last two have been the most-watched Super Bowls ever. And last night’s game was the most watched program ever on American television – even beating the numbers of the M*A*S*H finale some twenty-seven years ago. (WHIMPER. Hold me.)
* That absinthe’s a hell of a drug.
* If nothing else, New Orleans deserved to win because you KNOW that they will celebrate in a manner befitting the accomplishment. They may as well close the state of Louisiana for the week.
* The Skins will always be my #1, tragically, but if the need ever arises, Who Dat Nation – I’m yo’ huckleberry. 😉
There’s a blog post coming once I dig out from under my pile of work stuff that has built up since last Thursday night around 11:30 pm.
Suffice to say: I unfortunately have seen the city of New Orleans at its near-worst (I evacuated, after all) moment of the past 100 years. Sunday night I dare say I saw it at its best.
I apologize for the post-game phone call filled with screaming.
Oy vey, my liver! Thanks for being part of it, even if from afar and for understanding that it was so much more than a mere football game!
Actually, I felt the thing vibrate, answered it, and spent about 2 minutes screaming myself. I believe there was “WHO DAT” chanting going on by people who don’t even watch football. Also, I was about six cocktails in and blubbering like Glenn Beck.
Looking forward to the eyewitness reports. =)