Finneran: Super Bowl 53

Finneran: Super Bowl 53

The fever is upon us.

Therefore, you’ll have to forgive me for jumping on the pig-pile of pre-game commentary. More serious topics will have to wait their turn while millions of Americans focus on football and commercials.

Random thoughts:

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• I am grateful beyond words, indeed I am ecstatic, that Joe Buck will not be announcing this game. He is an egotistical bore. He never shuts up. He never allows the game to come to the fans. It’s the game that counts, not his endless recitation of intern research and related drivel. He is insufferable. A spoiled brat. Good riddance.
• The Patriots have played two superb games in a row. They are playing their best football of the season, much like last year’s Red Sox playing their best baseball in October. The game of course has yet to be played and the Rams are a good team, certainly capable of testing and beating the Patriots. But deep down inside, the Rams must be nervous about facing the Brady/Belichick juggernaut. Who really wants to play against B and B in January or February?
• An early sack or two by either team can have an outsized effect. Quarterbacks get happy feet and make sloppy throws when they feel rushed. If there’s a clean blitz which levels either quarterback or a bull rush which grinds him to the turf, the game can turn very quickly. Neither quarterback is immune to happy feet. Watch this closely.
• Brady of course has mastered a particular antidote to these football facts of life. He gets rid of the ball in about two seconds, causing enormous frustration to the enormous men who wish him harm. The Chargers game was a clinic and Brady was a virtuoso.
• Regarding the NFL announcers, they all carry some degree of pomposity. They should have a flashing light which reads “less is more”. Let the game itself, and the crowd, speak to us. That said, Tony Romo’s anticipation of Brady’s play-calling against the Chiefs was prescient. I don’t like to use the word “brilliant” in this context but Romo was indeed brilliant.
• Most Super Bowl halftime shows are crap. Here’s a suggestion for next year’s game: have the top two college marching bands go head-to-head against each other, 10 minutes each, and watch the crowd get into it. I know that some of the historically black colleges field some awesome bands. Let them rip and let their schools be seen and be proud.
• I refuse to fall for the NFL’s use of Roman numerals for the Super Bowl. We are not talking about World Wars here. We are not talking about Popes. We’re talking about a football game, the hype of which is insane. Drew Bledsoe’s father had the right perspective on the overblown hucksterism of the day. Drew’s Dad talked about coaches and teachers, and mentors as being far more important than a Roman numeral carnival. Mr. Bledsoe was a wise man.
• Prediction: Patriots win this game comfortably and on the merits. Their wins against Atlanta and Seattle were gifts from the other teams. Terrible play calls—thank you Pete Carroll—and terrible game management—thank you Falcons—gave the Patriots two Lombardi Trophies. Sunday’s victory will be legitimate and earned…….Patriots 31 Rams 17.

 

Pass the chips! Pass the salsa! Enjoy the game.

Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.