Superbowl 2012--The Brady Game

Here's how I see this going down... Tom Brady is the best QB in the league. Somehow, he isn't the sexy choice anymore, and I don't think he likes that very much. He is a fame-hound, and even though he always seems to say the right thing, he has a fire burning...

Look at wk 15. At Denver; Tebow mania at MILE-HIGH tide for sure. He had guided the Broncos to 6 straight wins including 4 straight 4th quarter comebacks. Knee-jerks from all ranks shoving mikes into the faces of the likes of Eric Decker and Lance Ball hoping for a super sound bite on the second coming; pop culture treading on the thin ice of the sports world, transcendent; anyway... Over in the other locker room sits Tom with his rings and his records and he's cool as a cucumber. Win, and the Patriots are in the playoffs, on a 6 game win streak during which he will have thrown 15 TD's vs 1 INT, averaging 35.8 points per game and with a margin of victory of 17 points. But he isn't getting any press, and that fire is burning. So after falling behind 16-7, on the road, crowd going crazy, Brady loads up his team and carries them up the stairs to the next level. They go no-huddle, neutralize the crowd as well as the vaunted Bronco's front 4, and win the game going away. Totally took the air out of the "Tebow-time" balloon. Brady ends up 23/34 for 320 yards and 2 passing TD's. Oh, and 1 'take that Tebow' rushing touchdown, punctuated by a spike full of the heat of emotion that burst through his calm demeanor like magma though the Earth's crust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN7jrcq7KBs&feature=related. And we talkin bout practice, err regular season.

One of the dangers in a big game like this is letting it get away from you before you even get your feet underneath you. You come in with all the hype, all the buildup. The game starts and you think you're so ready, but somehow your mind just isn't. You look up, and before you know it you're down 17-3 and you're thinking,'what the hell just happened'. Seen it a hundred times. The Pats offense can do that kind of thing to you...

Dink and dunk. Three step drops. Swing pass to the back. Five step drops. Crossing patterns underneath the linebackers to Welker. Seven yard turn-arounds on first down to Gronk and Hernandez. Then you run on 2nd and short to keep the defense honest 2 or 3 times before you play-action a double move over the top. Mix in some no-huddle. Neutralize the pass rush by the front four again, like he did in Denver. Before you know it the D is trying to catch its breath, looking around like "whats happening here". And the mental exhaustion is just as bad as the physical; and the all-or-nothingness of it all takes you out of the team game and individuals start pressing too hard. The Giants will settle down, but by then it'll be 5 minutes till halftime and they will have spotted Brady 2 touchdowns. They'll rally, give everyone a little glimmer of hope, but its just too much to come back against Brady like they've come back all season. He'll just keep pushing and pushing because of that fire inside. He'll take away Eli's chance to come back in the 4th quarter like he's done so many times this year. Its gonna happen and nothing anyone can do to stop it. He's going to carve the Giants up like an electric knife on a turkey breast. They're playing inside on the carpet, so there are no elements to stop him. Pressure? Whatever. He's going to make it look so easy.

In the end, despite all the pre-game press coverage about Peyton's future and Eli's legacy and the Giants this and the Giants that...the Patriots win another Super Bowl, and Brady will take his rightful place among the all-time greats. And he's only 34, and he'll be right back at it next year, because that fire just burns and burns.

New England 45 - New York 31

we run

to play we run we run to things which play its very essence brings sublime yet within our control we write the script and play our role our roll this journey we've become we revel in

A Last Goodbye

Today is the day the funeral process begins for Y's father. I will not be speaking. I have nothing to say about him that would benefit anyone except my wife (and our talks are just that). It may seem strange that I would mention not speaking, although I believe somehow that when I come to the end of my life, I will have spoken at the majority of funerals I attended. If that doesn't make sense, perhaps you don't know me very well. Its not that I am a "mike hog", its just that my gift is empathy, and somehow I've developed a talent for putting ideas into words that hit people where they need to be hit. Plus you probably won't find me at the funerals of very many people, as false sentiment comes hard for me and I'm genuinely close to very few.

So in the absence of relevant thoughts on the deceased, I have found myself philosophizing on the subject of death itself, and puzzling over cultural customs and the effects they have on inter-family dynamics. Seems pretty cold, right? Yeah... But I am at heart a thinking man, so there's gotta be something going on up there; and I guess thats better than thinking about the Cowboy game, or work, or the price of tea in China. Besides, none of those things make for a worthwhile blog entry (except maybe the Cowboys. just kidding. kinda.) Anyway... here's some thoughts to consider for coffee talk fodder.

Someone once said that death is the only supernatural event most of us will ever experience. There is a physical moment there where the being that has spent untold hours and days as a person literally splits; leaving only the physical vessel in our realm. My question is, where does the rest of it go? I mean its here, in our midst, with us in the form of a person--then BAM--not here anymore. Even the most anti-religious of us have to admit that the soul/spirit/whatever you want to call it part doesn't just cease to exist. Every known physics law of the of the universe tells us that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it simply changes its form (google Einstein if you don't believe me). And, like the rest of the universe, a person is made up of the physical- what we can see, hear, feel; and the energy, which, while unseen, is undeniably there in the form of thoughts, emotions, and other elements commonly referred to as the personality/spirit/soul.

Picture this: 99.99% of what humans experience exists in a three dimensional world. We see not only how wide and how tall things are, but we also see depth. Imagine if we lived instead with an awareness of only two dimesions. A sphere would look, to us , like a circle. It wouldn't mean that the rest of the sphere wasn't there, only that we couldn't percieve it. How much more likely, then, that the energy part of a person simply moves into a different dimension; one of which we cannot ordinarily perceive yet is still there; than simply somehow defies all the laws of the known universe and ceases to exist. And if that realm is there, wouldn't that pesky .01% that keeps anything from being absolute account for many of the fringe-type paranormal phenomena which seem to so delight the human race?

I don't know... i'm just sayin...

so, the bus route I take to work most days takes me right through the red cobblestones and spanish colonial facades of downtown. past the other, far less glamorous (yet somehow not all that less romantic... perhaps poignant is a better word) sights as well. I remember a time when I really wanted to live downtown, then I did for about 2 years. got a lot more intimately aquainted with this area than I ever would have thought; file that one under 'be careful what you wish for'. still, with that experience fully in the rear view now, I can't help feeling a little bittersweet about it. no one in their right mind would choose the path I took, but as one who tends to attack life on its terms; innurred to pain and bereft of fear; I keep those times in a special room inside.i don't go in there very often, because I hate the time in my family's life that they represent. still, that siren's song that is the manic side... its enough to keep me focused on marching forward on MY terms.

funny how things work out

So Y finally got her license back. such a huge collective step forward, and here I am back on the bus again. what used to be 20 minutes is back to 2 hours. to complain... no. to use the extra time wisely; to turn the negative energy into motivation; to practice tolerance for my fellow man... maybe on my good days. to march onward... therein lies the ticket. i'm going this way anyway; might as well enjoy the ride.