Super Bowl Live Blog: Counting Down to a Minute

Well, I said I would and here it is: The Super Bowl Running Diary Featuring the New England Patriots and the New York Giants!!

Before we got started last night though, I had some thoughts:

1) If it comes down to a New England field goal, does anyone trust Stephen Gostkowski? My buddy Will (who we'll get to in a second) had Gostkowski in our fantasy pool and had this to say about him: "I would have dropped him long ago if it wasn't for the extra points". I think that's all you need to know.

2) I'm scared of the Giants. I don't know why, but I had nightmares all Saturday night of the Pats losing. Strange right? Especially seeing as the dreams have them losing in the AFC Championship game against the Chargers, which in my dream is played the day before the Super Bowl. I don't understand how this relates, but I'm scared the Pats come out flat, or the Giants go up 17 or something.

3) Jeremy Shockey's crutches are nuts.

    And with that out of the way, let's get to it!

6:30: The game begins with a kickoff return by Domenik Hixon, but he's stopped early-nothing like last year's opening kickoff with Devin Hester. In any even, we'll take this moment to introduce the cast:

T-rev (Trevon): A buddy from work, Trevon is a Vikings fan who's torn up over who to cheer for as he witness the Pats 56-10 whipping of the Bills. He's envied throughout our group as "the guy who turns out great in photos no matter what".

E-Dizzle (Elyana): Trevon's girlfriend. They met in the cleaning products aisle at Zellers (the Canadian Target). It's not as romantic as you think (ie. they both reached for the same bottle of Tide), mostly because we all work at Zellers.

Will 2J (Will): Another buddy from work. He was the one who got the tickets for the Bills game, so I got left at home while he and T-Rev went (not bitter at all). Will's also a Vikings fan, and secretly in love with Trevon.

Stef: Stef is Will's sister. She ends up leaving halfway through the game to catch a train or save the world or something. She's secretly in love with Trevon.

Megan: Will's other sister. Secretly in love with Trevon.

6:40: It's been ten minutes, and we've already had three Bill Belichick sweater sightings. I don't like it. This thing looks hemmed and it's red. Not good.

6:47: Bill Belichick's sweater pays immediate dividends with a Lawrence Tynes field goal. With six minutes to go in the first quarter it's 3-0!!! It's the Super Bowl!!!!!!

6:50: On the Patriots first possession, Will 2J points out they've got dual Bradys (Tom and Kyle) so something good has to happen.

6:52: An epic deal has been struck! If the Leafs finish with a worse record than the Phoenix Coyotes, I have to write an article about their greatness for Will. If the Leafs are better than the 'yotes at the end of the year, then I get to quote him as saying the Leafs are better than Phoenix, for use in a future article. (I'm already doing research on Shane Doan, just so you know.) 

6:58: Because of a defensive pass interference call, the Pats move to first-and-goal, however they only run one play before the end of the quarter. 3-0 Giants.

7:03: Surprise, surprise-Laurence Maroney runs it in. 7-3 Pats.

7:06: The girls are talking about actors while the guys are huddled around the TV. We've made it through one bowl of nachos and one plate of cheese sticks. I'm going to want to kill myself tomorrow morning.

7:08: We're now taking bets on when Stephen Gostkowski will get cut after kicking out-of-bounds. I've got 3:37 of the third quarter. Meanwhile Trevon's instand analysis: "How do you mess that up? He's paid to kick extra-points and kickoffs. You've got the entire field and he somehow thinks he's a punter and is trying to coffin-corner it!"

This got me to wondering as to whether the kickoff should be done like NFL Street: Instead of kicking off, you throw off. But you'd use your backup QB. Maybe Matt Cassel could get more tackles than Larry Izzo.

7:10: Randall Gay is probably the worst corner ever. Either that or Amani Toomer is just that good. I'm starting to think the Earth got knocked off it's orbit.

7:12: Reality strikes Manning Jr. Eli throws a pick!

7:20: Apparently Chris Hanson told the team he wanted to make an appearance at the Super Bowl, I don't think I've ever seen him so many times this season.

7:21: Eli is sacked and I want Anthony Wright. I can't explain it, but I'd feel a lot better if the Pats lost while Anthony Wright is QB. There's just something non-Manning about him.

7:27: There's something strange about Tom Brady. He never gets sacked awkwardly. He always ends up on his stomach holding the ball.

7:29: Forget that last point.

7:37: So Tom Coughlin is coaching like Norv Turner. Eli is back to pass and calls for the snap at 2:01 and then nearly throws up an INT on third down. Why not hold off until the two-minute warning, then run the ball to keep the clock going (or at least make Belichick burn a time-out) and then punt? Hopefully Coughlin's face doesn't start melting again.

7:39: We aren't even drinking and we've started talking about NFL Europe. The latest question? Would you want to be Aaron Stecker? My answer is yes-at least he's in the NFL.

7:55: Eli Manning's Hail Mary to finish of the first half is almost good. In the immortal words of Champ Kind "I think I S**t a squirrel". Seriously, if that's good-out comes the squirrel. In other news, I'm hoping Belichick pulls a Might Ducks 2 and goes back to a grey hoodie at the pause in the action.

8:06 My favorite camera angle of all time-the crowd running to the stage during the Super Bowl halftime show. At least it's not Prince this year!!

8:13: We've missed the fact that Will, his sisters, and Elyana aren't here right now. Will had to drive Stef to the train station so the other girls decided they had to go to. They're probably talking about...well I'm not sure what they're talking about, but I feel sorry for Will being the only guy with them.

In other news, T-Rev and I make our first halftime wardrobe malfunction joke: (Tom Petty approaches the microphone) Tom: "Hi everybody. I'm Tom Petty and...uh....here's my Penis." 

8:21: Do you think that LT's mom calls him LT in real life?

8:28: Will and the girls make it back just in time, although Megan and E-Dizzle are talking about Taylor Swift or something (all I can tell you is that they're singing).

8:32: What's the deal with N.E. (Yup, that's all I wrote)

8:44: Another shot at Gostkowski: "You either go for it on 4th down, or you punt...no field goal's". I want to say that bitterness came from Will, but I'm honestly not sure.

8:50: T-Rev (at seeing me writing my running diary or "rap" as he calls it, and Will is doing....something): "I wish I had cooler friends."

8:54: Despite the defensive struggle that's taking place on the field, E-Dizzle has challenged T-Rev to a thumb war!!

8:59: Wes Welker=Amazing. I'm running around in my jersey right now, fists-a-pumping!

9:01: Welker does it again!!! (that's about as far as that drive goes though)

9:11: Kevin Boss with a huge gain. Meanwhile, Visanthe Shiancoe is sitting somewhere muttering quietly to himself.

9:15: T-Rev wrote something in here that can't be repeated in public for the sake of Will's reputation. 

9:17-Roughly 10:00: The following is just a blur. I was standing and yelling the entire time, so I never really got a chance to properly record it. These are the snippets of thoughts and actions throughout the final moments of the game.

-Oh darn, the Giants scored. That is unfortunate. (I rewrote this, replacing a...um...angrier message)

-Will's getting texts about Randy being a non-factor.

-Wes Welker ain't a non-factor!!! THAT'S A RECORD BABY!!!

-WHERE ARE THOSE TEXTS NOW?!?!?!?!? MOSS STAMPS DOWN ON A TD!!!!

-4th Down ELI!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

-God I hate Amani Toomer....

-Will: "I don't like this. The clock's messed up (Fox's game clock was having issues), Eli looks calm and is making decisions, they've got the ball last...damn..."

-This would be the point in which the entire room stood up and shouted "OH F$%K, HOLY S*$T, and death threats to Eli Manning....you can probably assume when that moment was...

-Plaxico Burress TD...Ellis Hobbs fell down, which to lighten our moods, we re-enact but to no avail...

-Tom Brady with 30 seconds......1 pass.....sacked.....two misses to Randy

-silence

-Belichick running

-silence

-Belichick shaking hands

-silence...."Oh God....the Giants are world champs........"

    I lost track of Will at this point....it turned out he was slumped behind the couch in his Randy jersey....he hasn't had an easy year at all (if you're familiar with the CFL...he's a Bombers fan...)....this is about the same kind of numb I felt after the Rockies ousted the Padres in October...the entire season is a waste....Welker's record means nothing.....Eli Manning is the MVP?!?!

    And with that, I went to bed. I just couldn't stand it. Even today, I was forced to sit through Giants bandwagon jumpers talk about how Eli is "so great". Give me a break.

    I have a question though: I know the Pats can't have a dynasty with an 18-1, no Super Bowl victory season, but is the Manning family a dynasty now? Two champions, two MVPs, two years straight? I feel really really dirty right now.

In closing on the Pats: I can't really fault the defense. They kept them in it for three quarters, and held the lead at 7-3 for three quarters. Yes Asante Samuel dropped an INT on the sideline, and yes Ellis Hobbs did fall down, and while I'm mad at the Pats-the defense did all they could. I want to know if Brady is hurt more than he's letting on though, because the offense BLEW. Seriously, over-throwing receivers, under-throwing receivers....Brady didn't look right, and neither did his offensive line. In the end they lose as a team though, but I would've loved to have the offense show

up.

In closing on the Giants: I love how David Tyree is "the man" now. I guess if you catch a ball with your face-mask in the biggest game of your career, you'll be a 95 in Madden next year, as well as the cover-athlete (I don't think I'm being sarcastic). The Giants did play a better game though, and took advantage (eventually) of a team that came out extremely flat. Someone has to win and someone has to lose though, and the better team won, previous records aside.

One note I'd like to add: Please stop the "it was us against the world" sentiment. I know they were underdogs and they were playing an undefeated team, but there were a suprising amount of people behind you guys to win it. You're discrediting yourselves by thinking otherwise.

    Anyways, at least this Super Bowl was one you'll WANT to tell your kids about.