It is not as if I watch sports often or regularly. I watch sports occasionally. I'd much rather play than watch. I watch the World Series some years. Watching sports is more a social experience for me, though I transcend into a fan as I am watching. I love numbers and statistics and accomplishments, so I am drawn to that aspect of games. I love consistent dedication to excellence, so I am drawn to specific athletes more than specific teams. Joe Montana, for instance, is one of my favorite athletes. Mariano Rivera is another. For the last fifteen years or so, Tom Brady has been one of my favorite athletes. Against all odds a relatively unknown sixth round draft choice steps up and becomes one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game and more, he does it with an ever changing cast of players around him. I can think of no one else who did that.
So when a favorite player makes it to a championship, I want to watch. When there is talk of a great team, I want to watch to see how great they are. Unfortunately, I have not had TV access for the past year so I missed some championships I would have immensely enjoyed. After feeling Jackson's pain over her beloved Cubbies year after year for so many years, it would have been so sweet to a once-in-a-lifetime event - watching her Cubs win their first World Series in over a hundred years. I watched it from the street at an outdoor sports bar and felt good, but so alone it hurt.
For many years we watched the Superbowl together and with Brady in it going for a record fifth Superbowl ring, tonight's game was tough to miss. I did not want to go out and watch with strangers. I did not want to go to a Superbowl party with the new boss (he has a 105 inch screen). I chose to stay home and watch A TV show about the environment on Hulu while checking the score on the NFL website. I couldn't find a radio station airing the game, which is the highest form of greed as radio has never charged like pay per view (pay per listen?) in my experience before. I hate that aspect of professional sports and that is the primary reason I stopped supporting the industry.
I enjoy the specific players I choose to admire though, so I was sad to see the score in the second quarter as Brady was down 21-0 with 7 of those points coming on a pick-6, a mistake Brady made directly. Next time I checked it was 28-3 and I could imagine most people wrote the game off.
Beyond wishing Jackson would share her love of sports with me the way she used to, I feel lonely when I want to share sports because, as I said, I don't have close friends (the friends I call whenever just to say hello and talk are few) into sports.
She texted a couple of times during the game (she was rooting for Atlanta because I believe Brandi is an Atlanta fan), but I did not want to tell her I was not able to watch or listen because I did not want to trigger her guilt (as she would likely feel guilty for not helping me watch the game by inviting me over). Yes, that is real.
Anyway, I enjoyed the environmental show (though it was somewhat heavy-handed anti-pollution propaganda... I do agree with people like Paul Watson and in my more radical moments, support his actions... in my most radical moments, I support a complete reset of our species starting with our government and wholly expect nature to set that into motion in the next century or few, but I digress).
Suddenly I saw a text from Jackson that read "OT Holy Crap." I checked the NFL website (it is way too memory-greedy to keep open on this 2GB Celeron notepad as are most sports sites, even the less biased ones) and sure enough, Brady worked one more miracle and the score was 28-28. I read the recap and listened to sports announcers on a radio station (turned them off quickly, they are mostly arrogant egocentric talking heads more interested in what they have to say and how something affects them and most of all, making excuses, complaining, and proving they were right at all costs than reporting anything accurately or without bias {might as well listen to this guy lol} or read my babble about the game, aye? lam). Sure enough, in spite of the stupid talking heads claiming the game was all about Matt Ryan (Atlanta's QB) and their team choking, Brady threw completed passes for two successful drives and two two-point conversions in the last ten minutes of the game to tie the score. It was Joe Montana all over again.
I will give kudos to a a Panther's fan who wrote this summary which I believe is as accurate and unbiased as I've been able to find:
The greatest quarterback and coach in NFL history pulled out the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
If there was ever any doubt about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s place atop that list, they secured it by pulling off a remarkable 34-28 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons in a Super Bowl LI for the ages Sunday night.
Brady completed a record 43 of 62 passes for 466 yards (another record) as the Patriots (17-2) erased a 25-point, second-half deficit to win the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their fifth Super Bowl ring. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP for a fourth time.
Or something like that.
Anyway, I am sad I missed the game, especially the last quarter. I am sad I have no sports friends (considering all the softball teams I play on, perhaps I am being anti-social or as jackson would say, "to picky", huh?). I am sad I don't have TV when I want it (but don't miss it enough to want to pay the extortion the cable monopolies demand (on demand, no less... pay to watch commercials... more on that later). I am sad the world is being destroyed by human beings.
Otherwise, it's been a great night. lol lam :)
At least I might be able to watch some of the commercials (what a culture we've created, huh?... you've got to pay someone to sell you something... maybe... I suppose I could read about them for free if I wanted to) if I buy a better computer (the site overloaded this notepad).
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