super bowl 49 fever is here

photo credit: nbc sports
 
i don’t know about you, but i’m starting to catch super bowl fever. i’m not the only one. the heat is on even in the east coast currently experiencing record-breaking snowstorms.

the super bowl will be held this sunday in glendale, arizona. it comes at the most depressing time of the year when there’s nothing much to celebrate about. at least temporarily, it helps us take our minds away from the bad weather, mounting holiday bills, unrealistic new year’s resolutions, etc. i wonder what life in the u.s. would be without it. it has become as american as pie.

the two teams playing for the championship this year will be the seattle seahawks, last year’s super bowl winner, and the new england patriots, who had won it three times in the past.

the seattle seahawks made it to this year’s super bowl after beating the green bay packers 28-22 in what could be one of the greatest comebacks or epic collapses in football history depending on what team you were rooting for.

trailing 19-7 with 2:09 left in the game, the seahawks managed to score twice before the end of regulation. first, it was a 1-yard touchdown that cut the lead 19-14. then after getting the ball back on the ensuing onside kick, it was followed by another touchdown and an improbable two-point conversion putting them ahead 22-19. green bay packers did tie the score 22-22 with a 48-yard field goal to force overtime, but it didn’t matter. in overtime, the seahawks won the toss and scored a touchdown on their first drive.

the new england patriots made it to the super bowl without much fanfare easily beating the indianapolis colts 45-7. it was after the game that they found themselves getting beaten up by allegations of intentionally underinflating the balls they used in the first half of the game to gain an advantage. the patriots have denied it, but the league is investigating and the results likely will be made public after the super bowl.

deflate-gate, as it’s called, has distracted the patriots as they prepare for sunday’s game. it’s purgatory compared to the hell they’d be in if found guilty as charged. the league would penalize them for sure. it could amount to a hefty fine, losing draft picks, and suspending the coach and quarterback. any of these actions could tarnish their legacy as the greatest football team in the modern era.

although i like both teams, i’d be rooting for the patriots. i like them to win because their quarterback, tom brady and his favorite receiver, julian edelman, are both local boys who grew up in the san francisco bay area.

no doubt about it, tom brady is a great quarterback. when he retires, he would be one of the best, if not the best quarterback to ever played the game. however, if it’s proven that he was directly involved in altering the balls, he may end up with an asterisk in the record books. darn, he may not even make it to the hall of fame. as for now, i give him the benefit of the doubt. i consider him innocent until proven otherwise.

tom brady has become so famous even outside of the football field that the paparazzi and the press have started taking him seriously. with his good looks, he has graced the covers of magazines like gc, esquire, men’s health, and sports illustrated, vogue, espn, tv guide, etc.

he’s also married to supermodel gisele bundchen. she’s one that the rest of us can only dream of. she could likely be the most beautiful woman in the world. i confess that, at first, i found it hard to spell her name. but with such a beauty, it didn’t take me long. even google appears to have fallen under her charms. when i misspelled her name, it corrected me and gave me the pages i wanted with authority.

it’s an irony that in a society obsessed with success, we demonize those who have attained it and try to pull them down. we overreact to suspicion of wrongdoing on their part. we jump to conclusions and pronounce them guilty even before the facts are presented. it’s apparent that those blowing deflate-gate out of proportion are folks whose impartiality are questionable. among them are former quarterbacks troy aikman and phil simms whose place in history are being overshadowed by tom brady. from the look of it, they simply don’t want him to shatter more records.

it’s interesting to see how deflate-gate will affect tom brady’s play on sunday. if he has the heart of a champion, he will find the way to surmount this controversy hanging over his head like a dark cloud and play his best.

let the super bowl begin.