Pre and Post Super Bowl chatter

Is it like soccer ? Or maybe Rugby ?

maybe its like 'Aussie rules'?

No aussie rules football is far better than american football. Faster pace, more violent...overall if we played that it woudl be more interesting. I am a football fan but definitely appreciate rugby and aussie rules and wish they were big on TV here.

The audi commercial was good, as long as you get the God Father thing.

Nice to hear that from an American!!

I think NFL is modelled from Rugby --The penalty kick, touchdown or try in rugby -are so similar --

AFL is shown on Setanta now https://www.afana.com/drupal5/tvsched

Yeah the biffo without the padding in AFL, Rugby and Ruby league is extremely engrossing - Having said that, I dont know enough about American Rules to actually compare the codes objectively. Wonder what you think of cricket then river

The same sort of play killed the Giants last year against the Titans. Kiwanuka had Vince Young wrapped up but he let go because he thought the play was dead. I think the Pats thought the ref was going to blow the whistle. Lesson learned.

The game sucked for 50 minutes, but the last 10 minutes or so were very exciting. Congrats to the Giants and their fans!

As a die-hard Steeler fan living near Boston, I'd just like to say...

Hee hee.

(Sorry River)

Not too many knowledgeable football fans here. That was perhaps one of the greatest football games ever. No one made too many mistakes, it was a well played game. Defenses held their ground, some crazy plays were made on offense. Giants earned the win, Pats offense couldn't adjust to the pass rush. Great game. It will go down as one of the classics.

I agree. The game was very tight. The first quarter was extremely quick with the sustained drives that the Giants and Pats had.

After the game, people flooded the streets here in NY and went absolutely nuts - it was a great atmosphere.

It definitely is a classic, but I've heard some say it's the greatest SB of all-time, which is false. I think the Pats/Rams, Pats/Panthers, and Giants/Bills games were all better from start to finish...and that's just off the top of my head. This game was blah the 1st 3 quarters, and then it was amazing.

I'm an Eagles fan, so I was happy to see Steve Spagnuolo (the Giants defensive coordinator) completely dominate the Pats. The guy climbed the ladder really quick (went from being a position coach with the Eagles last year to a coordinator this year) and he's interviewing with the Redskins this week for their head coaching job.

I lost my voice screaming after Tyree reception. Then when I saw the corner get faked and Plax haul in that TD pass, it was game over. Lots of group hugs went around.

As a Mets/Giants fan, my football team won the Super Bowl, my baseball team traded for Johan Santana, and I had the NFC 7-AFC 4 box in my office pool. What a week!!!

Wow congrats. Santana was a great move for the Mets. And they gave up diddly squat to get him.


P.S. All the pitching in the world wouldn't have stopped that monumental collapse last year. Go phillies!

I can just feel the "What championships have your teams won, Mr. Philadelphia fan?" coming.

The santana trade was definitely a great pick up. However, I dont think they gave up diddly squat to get him...they are paying him huge money pretty much what he would get if he was a free agent. Like all pitchers he is far better off in the NL than the AL. I am glad the sox didnt give up any of their stud prospects for him and also happy that he didnt go to the Yankees, so now the sox wont have to face him unless its in interleauge or the world series.

As for the superbowl. I think had the pats ended up winning no one would be saying it was a great game. It was exciting cause it was close but the fact that the giants upset what was considered the most dominant team in the history of the NFL is what has made it a great game. not so much the quality of play. Giants d-line definitely deserves the credit for the win since the offense really didnt win it for them if you think about it but man the Pats o-line played terribly. The only players on the pats that played at their typical high level was Faulk and Welker the rest were not up to what they played at during the season.

Worst of all was the coaching calls were down right bad. Going for it on 4th and 13 instead of kicking a 48 yard field goal? Thats what you do in college and have a kicker who scares you doing point afters, not with a kid who can hit 50+ yarders easily. I wish Bill showed some class when the game was over...he owes the Giants an apology for that move. Brady was great during the post game and showed that he is a classy guy in victory and defeat. You have to expect more from a coach though.

Hey, the Phils grit and heart paid off. Phillies wanted it more than the Mets. The Mets effort was quite pathetic. But, you can't wipe this smile off my face. It's been a terrific sports week.

It's amazing how the whole thing played out. Think about this: at first, the Mets didn't have the prospects to trade for Johan, but in the end, the Yanks & Red Sox prospects may have played too well that their own teams may have over-valued them so that they did not want to trade them. In addition, due to Johan's pricetag, all but the Yanks, Sox & Mets were eliminated from the Johan sweepstakes.

As for the contract, again, it was a bargain. If Zito gets 120mm, then Johan is worth 500mm. It's a bargain.



I'm going to have to disagree. Sure, it makes for a better story, but it was a great game that had fans at the edge of their seats. For that matter, most of the Pats' Super Bowl wins have been good games (except maybe the one over the Eagles).



Gostkowski is a pretty good kicker inside the 40, 40-44, he's shaky, beyond 45, he's downright frightful. Their options were punt or go for it on 4th down. FG wasn't really an option.

river, what are your thoughts on spygate? esp with the recent revelations (Super Bowl vs Rams)

The Mets have a lucrative television contract and their new stadium will be done in '09, money isn't much of an issue. Plus, top starting pitching is so scarce today that if a team has a chance to get it, they gotta do whatever they can. Also, Santana should age very well. His best pitch is his changeup, so a loss in velocity as he ages shouldn't hurt him too much.

As far as the prospects go, they didn't give up their #1 prospect. Gomez was a significant loss, but he's a year away from being a full-time player anyways. The Twins definitely had better deals on the table from the Yanks and Sox, but were hoping for a better deal. They got screwed in the end.

No doubt man. I wish I knew what it felt like to win a championship.