Jay Mohr, comedian and foxsports.com columnist, wrote a perplexing piece concerning Super Bowl XLII.The gist was that the game "stinks" unless your team is included in the action.
Now, it should be noted that Mohr is a crosstown rival Jets fan, and a staunch supporter of the pinstripes. To say that he's a tad bitter wouldn't be going out on a limb. In this case, I don't expect him to pick the lesser of two evils, but I'm borderline offended that he's neglecting the game for history's sake.
You know the Nike commerical starring Lebron James that claims we are all "witness" to him? Although the ad comes across as arrogant, I find myself agreeing somewhat. Whether James far surpasses Jordan, or fades into oblivion like Bobby Fischer, we are witnessing something great.
Similarly, Super Bowl XLII is history in the making.
Sunday's game comes equipped with intriguing subplots—Spygate, Brady's ankle, Eli's emergence, Strahan's quest for a ring, etc. But it doesn't stop there.
The twist to this year’s Super Bowl is, win or lose, the Patriots are the game's pivotal component.
Like it or not, the Giants need the Patriots just like Bird needs Magic and the cast of Seinfeld needs each other.
The ‘07-‘08 Pats toured the United States single-handedly bringing relevance to all sorts of teams. Why else would all eyes (outside of Baltimore maybe) be glued to a typical Monday night game in which the defensively minded Ravens almost derailed a perfect season? Why else would the '72 Fins—namely Mercury Morris—emerge from obscurity to torture fans with a taunting "Hatriot" rap on SportsCenter?
The Patriots' quest for the unthinkable season gave the opposition reason to bask in the bright lights of the NFL.
And so this game does not pertain only to East Coasters, but to anyone appreciating sports history.
Granted, the Giants staged a tour of their own throughout the playoffs, and credit is overdue. But they don't carry the same weight that the Patriots do.
More to the point, the Giants need the Patriots’ undefeated record that comes in addition to the actual team.
Of course, the argument could be made that the Patriots need the Giants as well. They need an underdog with less bark and more bite, they need a team that’s defied the odds, and they need a David to compliment their Goliath.
Average and diehard football fans alike should be honored to experience a piece of sports history. Forgive me for getting all touchy feely, but our generation has the chance to witness something our grandkids and, possibly, their grandkids will never see.
Whether the end result is a 19-0 record or 18-1, both teams will have played a vital role in the history books.
You can point to the dangling asterisk nonsense next to the record and claim it's tainted. But, in the end, any publicity is good publicity and every dominant team ever to exist has a kink in the armor.
Why do you think the media devotes constant surveillance to the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens? The answer is simple: their historical combination of dominance and controversy are nearly untouchable and may not be seen again.
Heck, Britney Spears falls into the same category. She was the reigning Pop Queen and now she struggles to dress herself in the morning, yet she's perpetually shadowed by the crazed paparazzi. The only thing keeping her from an appearance on Celebrity Rehab is the fact she maintains the perfect storm of dominance and controversy.
So, the Jay Mohrs of the world, unable to rise above their own teams’ failures, can boycott Sunday's game and pretend it never happened. A game will be played and history will be made with or without them—the Pats will attempt to make it and the G-men will attempt to halt it.
Either way, we all are witness.
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John McClory
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