super bowl xlii

Unfortunately the Seahawks are not in the super bowl.
Unfortunately I have never been to the new Seahawks stadium.

The pic was just taken in my kitchen where I'm currently cooking 24 beer brats and wearing mom's tatupu jersey.

GO GIANTS!
My roomie Loryssa (RI) would kill me if she read that. She is at the Phoenix stadium at this very moment, 6 rows up from the Patriots field goal. She went to the Colts/Bears super bowl too.

Below is my article for the Feb 1st issue of the Digest.... but it didn't get published! Too bad.

Belichick Trophy?

Forty years ago today, Vince Lombardi resigned as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. To many Trinity International University (TIU) students’ dismay, the Packers will not compete in Super Bowl XLII.

But Lombardi will be there, making his 25 thousand dollar sterling silver entrance, just as he has every year since ‘71.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy was named in honor of the Green Bay coach who led the Packers to six division titles, five National Football League (NFL) West championships and to win Super Bowl I and II in the ‘60s. His post-season record was 9-1.

The undefeated New England Patriots are fated to be champions Sunday, and the win over the New York Giants would be Super Bowl championship number four for head coach Bill Belichick and a 14-3 playoff record, second best in NFL history. He trails only Lombardi.

Some NFL fans have tossed around the idea of a replacement “Bill Belichick Trophy,” and their voices have been heard in less reputable mass media outlets, mainly sports comedy formats, late night television types and random internet forums.

“It would be a dishonor to rename the trophy and replace the legend Lombardi,” said Wisconsinite Kevin Geldon, a Packers fan.

Others think it is inappropriate to compare coaches from different eras and dissimilar football styles of play.

“Lombardi is the history of football and one of the greatest coaches of all time. Football is the way it is now because of him,” said Rhode Islander Loryssa Simas, a Patriots fan. “Belichick is more of the now and he will be history. He’s hall of fame worthy.”

But Belichick’s entrance in to the Hall of Fame was potentially marred by accusations of illegal spying. In September the NFL confiscated a tape from the Patriot’s sideline and after an investigation Belichick was fined 500,000 dollars. The Patriots were fined 250,000 dollars and lost a their future draft pick.

The NFL prohibits taping an opponent’s signals on the sideline. Video recording is not allowed in the coaches’ booth during the game, on the field or in the locker room.
Some Patriot fans are skeptical to whether Belichick authorized the operation.

“Nobody knows if he was directly involved,” said Simas. “The Patriots aren’t the first ones to videotape games and read plays off of opponents lips. Whoever did it was just the first one to get caught.”

New York Jets coach Eric Mangini, a former Belichick assistant, was the one who knew of the Patriots spying tactics and ratted them out. Mangini has been suspected of spying too.