Sunday, January 20, 2019

The Superless Bowl (Updated)

Update: ESPN tries to sell it as an epic defensive battle, but this Super Bowl is generally being panned as the worst ever--the Boring Bowl.  It was a game between a team everybody outside MA hates and a team without fans.  Not surprisingly, it got the worst TV ratings in SB history.


Superficially, NFL conference championship Sunday was a success: two seesaw games, settled in overtime, with the underdog winning both on the road.  But really it was a travesty, with one game won on a questionable call and the other on a blown no-call.  In the latter part of both games, it was already clear that the defenses couldn't stop anybody, and the team with the ball last would win.

Plus it was all predictable--all you had to do was read the experts, parading their stats to show that the Rams didn't have a chance and the Patriots not much better off.  When the experts gang up like 5 year olds in a soccer scrum, you know to bet the other way.  Just as I knew that when the experts went on a feeding frenzy declaring Tom Brady finished and the Patriots has-beens when they lost to the Steelers, that in a couple of months the Pats would be back in the Bowl.

Problem now is, it's a Superbowl that nobody outside SoCal and New England will care about.  The matchup everyone wanted was Kansas City and New Orleans--the upstart KC with their freshman phenom quarterback against an old favorite with an aging veteran quarterback still playing at a high level.

Is anybody interested in seeing Brady win another one?  Is there anything interesting about the Rams, besides the money they spent getting here?

Of course, if the experts agree that this could be the lowest rated Superbowl ever, I might have to change my mind.