The Cookie Jar- leftover super bowl tidbits
Thoughts while digesting my Super Bowl chili. No beans- always the way to go. Secret ingredient- sweet sausage combined with the ground beef. Lots of cumin seed, easy on the chili pepper. Dijon mustard and a cup of Burgundy wine give it flavor while simmering. (The rest of the red wine goes to the Cook.)
Was this the same Broncos team that booted the Patriots out of the Super Bowl? What does that say for the Patriots defense? I realize Wes Welker took out Aquib Talib, but it had to be more than that. Seattle pulverized Peyton Manning. They were all over him like a cheap suit. (Haven’t heard that one for while.) The Patriots defense never came close to putting Peyton into a state of panic.
The NFC West, in particular Seattle and San Francisco are light years better than the cream of the AFC. Defense wins championships and we never saw a better example than Super Bowl XLVIII.
And Richard Sherman was right. Peyton Manning does throw “ducks.” He forgot to say “wounded ducks.” Manning said post game that he would not use the word “embarrassed.” It’s too insulting. Well how do “manhandled” and “annihilated” sound?
I have always liked Peyton Manning. He is definitely one of the best regular season quarterbacks ever. His commercials are real and funny. He is humble and talented. Nobody can hate on Peyton Manning.
But how does the same guy that has won five regular season MVP awards, passed for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards this past season look as lame as he did on Sunday? The answer comes in three words- I repeat. DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Manning sets records, he wins MVP’s, he rolls up numbers. It don’t mean a thing if you don’t get that bling.
Other Super Bowl notes:
-Wes Welker looked even more like a little kid with that over- sized helmet. (post concussion) I swear a couple of times he couldn’t catch the ball because the helmet was slipping down over his eyes.
– The best moves of the night were delivered at halftime by Bruno Mars. That was a show I didn’t want to end. The Red Hot Chili Peppers did not look as “hot” even in their bare chests. Talk about a wardrobe malfunction. And we won’t get into that Janet Jackson nipple thing. Wonder if the Red Hot Chili Peppers would have come out half naked it it were 22 degrees?
– I was happy for Pete Carroll for my own selfish reasons. The day Carroll was fired by the Patriots 14 years ago was one I will never forget as a reporter, as I stood in a frozen Foxboro Stadium parking lot. Carroll emerged from the Patriot’s offices, and instead of making a bee line to his car, he walked over to the waiting reporters, the live news vans, and the vast line up of television and still cameras. He shook everyone’s hand and said how nice it was to “work with you.” He smiled and waved and said “thank you.”
Good guys do finish first.
And finally, I got a laugh out of all the tweets and stories coming out of Sochi. American reporters in place to cover the Winter Games could not find a television anywhere to watch the Super Bowl. You think a country that spent 30 billion dollars to put on the Olympics couldn’t figure out how to install satelite TV in a few bars and restuarants?
We need Pete Carroll to get over there and let Vladimir Putin try on his ring. Hopefully the Russian President will give it back.
