Who says cheaters never prosper…?
For the record, here is an excerpt from “NFL Conference Championship,” January 20, 2015, which explains my pick.
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iPINIONS will be ro0ting for the Seahawks!
Primarily because, despite being defending champions, they are the underdogs; and I am psychologically disposed to champion the underdog. Indeed, that Wilson, the Seahawks’ relatively small quarterback, looks like the proverbial David compared with (Tom) Brady, the Patriots’ relatively big quarterback (the proverbial Goliath), personifies my take on this matchup.
But I am also picking the Seahawks to win because I’m so impressed with the poise, class, and humility a victorious Wilson invariably displays. In fact, his character is such that it not only compensates for that of the chest-thumping, trash-talking nincompoops on his team, but also stands in admirable contrast to the cheating that seems to have enabled so much of the Patriots’ accomplishments — with all due respect to Brady and the rendezvous with the NFL Hall of Fame that awaits him.
Go Hawks!
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Alas, here is how what might’ve been the most exciting final two minutes of any game in Super Bowl history played out:
The Patriots (15-4) had to survive a last-ditch drive by the Seahawks (14-5), who got to the 1, helped by a spectacular juggling catch by Jermaine Kearse. Then Rookie Malcolm Butler stepped in front of Ricardo Lockette to pick off Russell Wilson‘s off-target pass and complete one of the wildest Super Bowl finishes.
(NBC Sports, February 1, 2015)
But frankly, since “that catch” by Kearse, which kept the Seahawks in the game, was every bit as miraculous as “that interception” by Butler, which saved the Patriots from the jaws of defeat, I see no point in second guessing any play or call.
My only consolation is that the media are covering Butler as the hero of this game; notwithstanding quarterback Tom Brady actually winning MVP. Because, if the Seahawks had won — with running back Marshawn Lynch making a goal-line run (instead of Butler making that goal-line interception) — Lynch would certainly have won MVP, and the trending topic would now be all about his clownish, if not thuggish, refusal to talk to the press, not about the game.
Meanwhile, now that the Patriots are Super Bowl Champions, I suspect Hell will freeze over before the NFL publishes a report on deflategate that brands them as cheaters. Why impugn the integrity of America’s favorite professional sport by making much ado, at this point, about a rule infraction, which many analysts seem to think is the equivalent of a little white lie…?
This, folks, is how the rich get richer: they game the system, which they themselves created, and get away with it time and time again.
Chin up Seahawks! If Brady can lead the Patriots to six Super Bowls and win four, Wilson can lead the Seahawks to at least as many… and win more.
Related commentaries:
Deflategate…
NFL conference…
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