MOChassid

The rambling thoughts of a Modern Orthodox Chassid (whatever that means). Contact me at emansouth @ aol.com

Monday, February 04, 2008

Thinking Giant Thoughts UPDATED

* Last night's Superbowl was probably the best I have witnessed, at least in 39 years, since Superbowl III and Joe Willie Namath.

* My brother and sister-in-law, in whose home I watched the game, had enough food to feed several third-world countries. Alas, only two other couples and a bunch of 20-somethings were tasked with consumming said food; we were not nearly equal to the task.

* OOS watched the game in Israel in the middle of the night. This was very uncharacteristic since he's not a huge Giants fan nor even a huge football fan. I think he watching the game made him feel more connected (although without the hot poppers and six foot long hero sandwiches, it's not quite the same. Also not quite the same was the fact that the feed from his computer (He doesn't have a TV) was in Chinese. On the other hand, there isn't much difference between listening to Mike and the Mad Dog and listening to a bunch of Chinese commentators.

* If there was any doubt that Bill Belichick is a low-life cretin, it disappeared after his ungracious post-game grunt session.

* To me, the most poignant moment of the entire broadcast was the shot of Peyton Manning, Eli's illustrious brother, motioning from his Skybox for Eli to move quickly to avoid a delay of game penalty (which he did not). The brotherly love and closeness was revealed for all to see, wordlessly.

* By far the most interesting and hard to understand aspect of the Giants' amazing run has been the sudden arrival of Eli Manning. His seeming overnight transformation from a talented but mistake-prone, underachieving quarterback who often looked like a deer caught in the headlights, to a confident leader who was virtually mistake free was astonishing. It is the stuff of movies; did he sell his soul to the devil in return for a run like this? (It will be equally interesting to see which Eli Manning we see next year.)

* The great football writer, Paul Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated (who has to be about 100 years old) called the Giants win. His conclusion was based on a gut feeling rather than any rational analysis. That is indeed what unfolded yesterday. The Giants simply played harder and better than the "best team in football history".

* I don't have time to get into detail right now, but the game brought home much of what Joe Schick wrote about in his cover article in the Jewish Press on Sports and Orthodox Jewish Fans. I hope to have some time to post on this soon.

* The bad news is that there will be a parade in Manhattan tomorrow. That means a bunch of drunk kids (and adults) on my train ride back home. Oh well.

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5 Comments:

  • At 5:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Last nights game was incredible. I agree entirely. One of the best games i've ever seen, and when considering the stage and buildup... probably the best game i ever saw. I actually watched the game in ur side of town... but sadly no poppers were to be found---should have come to your brothers house-thanx for inviting. I agree with the peyton thing. I thought it was beautiful how unjealous he was(though it helps that he won last year) but that u could see how he schvitzed and cried with everything that eli did--touching. My only complaint was there is no way Eli should have won the mvp. Lawrence Tynes td catch along with possibly the greatest helmet grab in history should have made him the MVP. That catch will go down in history as... as something.Brad

     
  • At 5:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    im sorry, i meant david tyree not lawrnce tynes. Cant imagine y i mixed the 2 of them up.Brad

     
  • At 9:09 PM, Blogger Neil Harris said…

    I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Payton were shepping goyishe nachas last night!

     
  • At 6:30 AM, Blogger Jameel @ The Muqata said…

    As someone who can't stand sports, I was unexplicably drawn to watching the game in the morning hours of Bangalore (and rooting for the Giants).

    I was rather enthralled by the game and shocked that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Perhaps because it was such a great game.

     
  • At 8:50 AM, Blogger MoChassid said…

    Jameel, two years ago I was in Asia during the Soccer World Cup. I think soccer is the most dreadfully boring sport ever invented but, since I was compleely screwed up time-wise, I also found myself watching the games. Sadly, my opinion of scoccer did not change at all. I found the games to be brutally boring.

     

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