My team played. My Giants. In case you missed it, they won. I couldn't even look at the live play unfold some of the time, I'm so superstitious, so nervous and so devout a fan.
My friend Gary and I usually call each other after a Giants appearance in the Super Bowl, Knicks appearance in the NBA finals or Rangers appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. OK, that's not a lot of phone calls, but who's counting.
After the final gun, when the Brady Bunch's Hail Mary hit the turf, I picked up my phone to call Gary. And then remembered I couldn't. He died as a result of a bizarre accident last year.
Even after all these years, I'm still Y.A. Tittle to his Del Shofner. I'm still Walt Frazier to his Bill Bradley. I'm still Mark Messier to his ... eh, what did he know about hockey anyway?
We swapped calls after Latrell Sprewell carried the Knicks into an NBA Finals they'd lose; after the Giants got embarrassed by the Ravens in the Super Bowl; and after Eli hit Plax with the game-winner four years ago (Plax shoulda' kept running after he caught that one).
And I was about to call him Sunday after Tom Brady's last hurrah fluttered to the end zone ground, with Patriots fans wishing Rob Gronkowski had a good enough ankle with which to dive for it (if he did, the whole game would've been different and that Hail Mary play likely never would've happened anyway).
Gary passed 13 months ago and I've still never erased his contact info from my computer or my cell phone.
And I never will.
***
As good as Moneyball was on the big screen (it got six Academy Award nominations), Pride of the Yankees got 11, most ever for a sports movie (awarded only one though). Sylvester Stallone's Rocky went 3-for-10.
***
Will someone please tell President Sports-Obrama to stop borrowing and spending. We can't run our households like that. We'd be on the street, homeless. How much you want to bet he shows up at the Final 4? And at a Bulls' playoff game, especially if it's game seven of the Eastern Conference finals versus Miami.
Mr. Sports-Obrama, please hold all federal spending at current levels until the budget is balanced, no matter how long it takes. If I can do it at home, so can you. Stop making believe you're George Dubya' on a prewar shopping spree. This is why we elected you in '08. Romney can't fix it. Gingrich won't, except to spend any excesses on gfs.
Sports-Obrama won't either. It isn't politically expedient, especially if you want to get re-elected. And get choice seats for the Final Four. And Bulls' playoff games.
***
Madonna will never perform at a Bulls' playoff game, but her halftime show was great, striking a blow for my generation, with no Usher dropping in from the sky nor Slash popping up from under the stage. As good as that group is from last year's game, by comparison, their show was more like Black Eyed P-U. And thanks to M.I.A. for reminding us that Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction will never be forgotten but can be beaten. Anyway, they said Madonna is 53. I believe she actually has a (Don't Cry For Me) Argentina birth certificate which likely says she's older, like most South American athletes with whom she, uh, plays ball. But doesn't she still looks good enough to eat?
Out with.
***
Odds: Patriots are Las Vegas' Super Bowl favorites already for next year. I guess Wes Welker can drop key passes in consecutive Super Bowls ... Isn't it great how NBC shamelessly promo'd its "The Voice," which debuted after the game (nice lead-in audience) with stars Blake Shelton singing pre-game and Cee Lotso' Green joining Madonna at halftime. Only thing worse would've been having Christina Aguilera flubbing lines from the National Anthem. No, wait ... I don't know about you, but now that the Super Bowl is over, I'm going to Disney World. Hey, I want to go someplace quiet while the G8 and NATO Summits host a few thousand protesters here in Chi-town. Besides, I've already got my house rented out for those weeks. Gotta' remember though to switch the contents of my Amaretto and apple juice bottles before I leave.
Prediction: Next year's Super Bowl, one more legacy group, The Eagles, perform at halftime, and Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus screw up the words to the National Anthem before the game. Lord, please, take me to Disney World.
Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition due out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424
Prediction: Next year's Super Bowl, one more legacy group, The Eagles, perform at halftime, and Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus screw up the words to the National Anthem before the game. Lord, please, take me to Disney World.
Howard Schlossberg is editor of the Journal of Sports Media, with his first edition due out this year. He's an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where creativity and learning are embraced hand-in-hand. And he still writes sports for the Daily Herald in Chicago's northwest suburbs. http://journalsportsmedia.blogspot.com; www.colum.edu; http://www.facebook.com/pages/CCC-Journalism-Columbia-College-Chicago/115604591875424
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