A win not in the Cards for Arizona

One year ago, they said Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and previously unbeaten New England Patriots would not be beat. At the time, I was seriously in that category. But I think this one – start to finish – was better.
You know, something weird has happened in the last few years. After years of Super Bowls where the commercials (which we never got in Canada, anyway) were better than the games, this year’s instalment has turned out to be a pretty good football game.
This one was special. Last year, the first three quarters and Tom Petty at halftime put me to sleep. The fourth quarter made it all worth it, though.
This year, there were big plays from start to finish. There was the goal line stand on Ben Roethlisberger (which in a bad year for Seattle sport fans probably made them gag a little more), there was the longest play in Super Bowl history when James Harrison ran a Kurt Warner interception back on the last play of the first half and there were the three touchdowns in the second half. It proved why Larry Fitzgerald is the best wide receiver in the NFL. It also proved that Santonio Holmes was as much Big Ben’s target in clutch situations is Hines Ward.
Now this wasn’t a perfect football game. There were too many penalties on both sides that took away from the game’s overall style points, but off the top of my head this is the sixth Super Bowl in the last 17 years where both teams had a realistic chance to win in the final minutes (the others: Bills-Giants, Rams-Titans, Patriots-Rams, Patriots-Panthers, Patriots-Giants).
That is a pretty good run of success, even considering that peppered in the same 18 years are routs. The three other Super Bowls Buffalo lost, 49ers-Chargers and Ravens-Giants come to mind.
If the Super Bowl can continue to have great drama, then the NFL fan base will continue to grow considering that many casual fans or people who aren’t football fans at all watch this particular game.
The model league?
A lot of people continue to think the National Football League is the best-run professional league in North America. I’m not going to argue that. When your competition is David Stern, Bud Selig and Gary Bettman, you’d better be better. However, the NFL is far from the perfect league they – and many others – would have you believe it is.
Yes, all of their teams make money. Yes, they have the perfect balance of parity and dynasties. Yes, they have an absolutely tremendous television deal. Yes, they have an institution that makes money like no other league.
But consider the negatives. Although the NFL would like you to believe they have had tremendous labour relations since the 1987 strike. Not so. The players are not thrilled with the current system that has undergone some changes. For one, contracts are not guaranteed. Other sports that are far more physical than football have them, and I think that it is an important gesture to make. This won’t affect the Peyton Mannings or Tom Bradys, but a deal like this can really help the unsung players especially heading into an economic downturn.
The second, somewhat related, is the issues the league and the players association has had in regard to the way they are treating the alumni pension fund for players who made the league the way it is right now. It has left a bad taste in people’s mouths and will continue to come up until the issue is finally resolved.
Another issue that – somehow – the NFL seems to avoid is the conduct of their players off the field. Yes, the media has talked about the high profile cases of Michael Vick and Adam “Pacman” Jones, but there are others. Both in the past (Lawrence Phillips, Art Schlichter, Chris Henry, Rae Carruth) and present (Plaxico Burress, Matt Jones, Marvin Harrison) NFL players have gotten in trouble with the law. Now, while every league has these problems, they appear to be happening more in the NFL than any other league.
The last point that makes me cringe when I watch the NFL are the incessant penalties for petty things. I don’t care if a player removes his helmet on the field. Why does it cost his team 15 yards? I actually snicker when I see insane touchdown celebrations. Why fine and penalize players? The NHL loves Alex Ovechkin because he has shown himself to have a personality. The NFL is in danger of limiting this.
The NFL also stands for the National Felon League and the No Fun League.
Allow me to add another acronym. Is the NFL the strongest professional sports league in North America? Absolutely. But perhaps Not For Long.