The Super Bowl, Belichick, And Like The Super Bowl
Hear it here!
The Super Bowl is coming up Sunday.
Do you want a prediction? Well, none coming. All it is, is a guess and what is it based on? Who’s the better team? I have no idea.
No one knows. All I know is that the winner will be the team that plays better and I would hear a chorus saying, ‘no kidding’.
So how does anyone know who will play better? I’ve been around head coaches who admitted they had no clue as to how their team would perform on the day of a game. Maybe they had a good week of practice, maybe they didn’t.
It doesn’t matter. We’ll find out. By the way, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are the teams involved.
In 2015, they played in Glendale, Arizona in Super Bowl XLIX. We were guests of the Carolina Panthers and sitting in their suite along with the executives of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That meant Dan Rooney, the Steelers president and his wife were on hand and it was the last time I saw Dan, who had been a dear friend since 1967.
We were right on top of the goal line play when the Seahawks blew the game with the worst call I’ve ever seen.
All Seattle needed to do was give the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the 1-yard line for the touchdown with 20 seconds remaining to win the game. Instead, they called a pass play, Malcolm Butler intercepted and the Patriots held on to win 28-24. Lynch could have simply leaned forward to get over the goal line for the victory.
That was 11 years ago and now those same teams, both huge, long shots to even come close to this moment, will battle it out in Santa Clara, CA, home of the 49ers.
The lingering question is the health of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. He has a right shoulder injury and has missed practice time. If he’s not right, or even is unable to play, which is unlikely, the Seahawks, with the best defense in the league would have a decided edge. But how can you come close to counting out New England when they’ve answered every call in this amazing comeback season. They won only four games last year, and this season have not lost on the road. This is a road game as well and will wear the same white jerseys they’ve worn for all nine victories. Do uniforms win games? If this championship showdown is anything like we’ve seen in the NFL this year, we’re in for a beauty. Again, no pick. I have no idea.
Bill Belichick didn’t get in the Pro football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. What a joke. The excuses are many. He was involved in a scandal called ‘Spygate’ years ago when the Patriots illegally taped Jets coaches giving their defensive signals. Belichick and the Patriots were fined heavily. Also, during his long-time term of six Super Bowls never before achieved, Tom Brady was fined and suspended for four games in what was called, ‘Deflategate’, when Brady apparently ordered the footballs for a playoff game against the Colts deflated to some degree. While I know we’re all up-in-arms over these two events, the fact is, Belichick is the greatest head coach in the history of the sport, and the sports writers who vote for Hall of Fame membership have always resented, maybe even detested Belichick. He has never ever given those writers the time of day because he refused to be forthcoming during interviews and media sessions. He simply didn’t want to reveal any information on his team, which is his prerogative. Two things are interesting here. Someone couldn’t wait to leak the news on the head coach. And they all said they would vote for him the next time. If they felt those scandals were so significant, why would they still vote for him? Sports journalism has gone down the drain for years, with personal agenda rather than simple reporting the rule. Don’t be surprised if Tom Brady meets the same fate when he’s eligible. There are many who dislike excellence, especially over a period of two decades.
Bill Belichick, like Tom Brady are the greatest ever at what they accomplished. Everybody knows it. Regardless of any voting process.
Overshadowed during this time of the year in was the return of a major competition in the sporting world.
The Australian Open marked the first of the four Grand Slam events and there was no shortage of dramatic moments. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, the youngsters who are dominating men’s tennis were expected to once again meet in yet another head-to-head clash in the finals. It didn’t happen. The top seed Alcaraz sailed along until a grueling five-set semifinal struggle against German Alexander Zverev tested the 22-year-old Spaniard to the ultimate. In the longest-ever Australian Open semifinal, five hours and 27 minutes, Alcaraz outlasted Zverev 7-5 in the final set despite suffering from cramps requiring treatment which caused frustration from the German. Meanwhile, the old man of tennis who keeps churning along, 38-year-old legend Novak Djokovic, found some good fortune leading up to his semifinal match with the second-seed Sinner.
He had a walkover in the round of 16, when his opponent withdrew to injury. Then, in the quarterfinals, Djokovic dropped the first two sets to Italian Lorenzo Musetti, before Musetti had to retire from injury in the third set giving the veteran Serb entry into the semis.
What followed was a bit of a shocker. Djokovic eliminated Sinner in five sets, winning the last two to earn a chance at an unprecedented 25th grand slam title.
Here it was. Instead of Alcaraz-Sinner, it was Alcaraz against Djokovic. How amazing to see this 38-year-old great, who works around the clock at staying in peak physical condition once again vying for a championship.
Hanging over Alcaraz was the possibility of fatigue after his marathon duel in the semis, as well as his first major after firing his long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in December. Djokovic, despite giving up 16 years to Alcaraz, came in the more-rested player. Whether or not it was a factor, Djokovic dominated the Spaniard in the first set. Alcaraz was off his game, and his body language showed it. But he rallied quickly winning the next two sets handily, and finally outlasted Djokovic in the fourth set to become the youngest ever, at 22, to capture all four Grand Slam events in a career.
Carlos Alcaraz is at the top of the heap right now. But plaudits to Novak Djokovic. Every time we start to write him off, he returns with gusto. Is this the beginning of the end? Or the end, itself? Who knows?
It’s like the Super Bowl.
Stocktons & Rooneys Super Bowl XLIX
Hall of Fame snub
Youngest Ever!
