By Michael Felger
A half-dozen thoughts on Super Bowl Monday:
1. Phew. For you Patriots fans who were mindful of your place in this era and concerned about Ben Roethlisberger joining the all-time great conversation alongside Tom Brady, rest easy. Roethlisberger and the Steelers are out of the discussion. For now.
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It was there for them, though. Despite how poorly Roethlisberger had played for most of the Packers 31-25 win, he still had a legacy-enhancing moment in front of him at the end of the game. He had the ball at his own 13-yard line with 1:59 left on the clock and a timeout in his pocket, needing a touchdown to claim his third Super Bowl championship.
Certainly, it was a tough situation. No gimmie. So its not like his performance on that drive was an abject failure. Still, had he marched his team down the field and put the ball in the end zone on that possession, he simply would have had to be considered on par with Bradyperhaps even beyond him. And Roethlisberger vs. Peyton Manning wouldnt even have been a discussion.
Alas, Roethlisberger and the Steelers went nowhere. And now theyre where Patriots fans wanted them all along.
Out of the conversation.
2. Its hard to imagine that Tom Brady winning the MVP award could carry with it less excitement than it did on Sunday. And for good reason. I think we all agree that it was more enjoyable around here when other quarterbacks were winning MVPs and Brady was winning championships.
3. The Bruins made the right call shutting down Marc Savard. It was right for the player, most importantly. But its also the right call for the team. The Bs have been waiting for Savard to return to form for nearly 11 months. But it wasnt happening. Not this year, anyway. Savard needs his space the Bs need to get their team together. And with Savards cap space now available to them, theres no excuse for them passing at the trade deadline again.
4. Toss up for the queasiest moment Sunday night: the Go Daddy commercial revealing Joan Rivers, or Cameron Diaz feeding A-Rod popcorn (I think) from a luxury box? Poor Cameron. I mean, really. At least Giselle had the decency to feed Brady on the vacation under a palm tree. But in one of Jerry Jones suites on national TV? Yuck.
5. Finally, the only highlight of my recent trip to Dallas was visiting Dealey Plaza, the site of the Kennedy assassination. (What does it say about Dallas that the citys top attraction is a murder site?) Its all still there. The Book Depository. The sixth-floor window. The grassy knoll. It hasnt changed a bit. You can put your hands on all of it, although the actual window Oswald shot out of is behind glass.
Anyway, go stand on the grassy knoll and then go stand up on the sixth floor. If you still think the window was the only place the bullets came from, or if that was the most logical place to fire into the convertible from, then you probably think Matt Walsh acted alone, too.
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