Hi Everyone:
The crowd in New Orleans is definitely pro Eagles. And after that 4th down pass interference callin the first quarter, I imagine they’ll be more Eagles fans now. From where I was sitting, it looked more like an inadvertent face mask, that still would have negated the catch. In any event, the “Refs are in the tank for KC crowd” got their Exhibit A
The Chiefs are notorious for falling behind in the Super Bowl and storming back in the second half. They are going to have to do that again, Eagles are looking really tough right now. And Patrick Mahomes might want to start throwing to the guys in the red helmets. And the guys in the red helmets might want to stop dropping his throws.
Thought the Mountain Dew commercial with Seal was LOL. The Google Pixel commercial with the father doing a job interview was a tear jerker especially the part where he is crying watching his daughter go off to college. And the Rocket Mortgage commercial with Take me Home Country Roads was also great. You can’t go by me on that one, I have a weakness for John Denver.
The Breast Cancer commercial I would say achieved its goal of getting everyone’s attention.
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Tonight's game is being played at the Superdome in New Orleans. This is the 11th time New Orleans has hosted the big game. The first 3 times the game was played in Tulane Stadium, (Super Bowls IV, VI and IX.) the next 8, including tonight's showdown, were played in the Superdome.
They call New Orleans the Big Easy, and if you have ever been there, you know why. I've been there twice, once when I was 6 years old, I went down with my parents and my sister*. We did a Riverboat tour and went to the Museum of the city of New Orleans. I'm sure we did some other things, but that's what I remember.
The second time I was there was in 2001**, and I pretty much did what most folks who go down there in their 20's tend to do. Party like a rock star.
When I was there in 1980, Mom, Krissy and I took the St. Charles Trolley to get to the Riverboat. 21 years later, I took the trolley by myself, while my travel partners Karl (the Ace) Ludwig and his brother Keith went to the casino. A couple things I remember about that day..
1) It was 96 degrees and about that much in humidity, and I had to make a run for the trolley. I was in a tank top and shorts and I was sweating like I had just run the NYC Marathon. At the next stop, a couple of guys in 3 piece suits got on the trolley and there wasn't a drip or a drop on them. I guess if you are native to the climate, you get used to it, but I thought the only way they could get me to suit up in New Orleans would be if they decided to have my funeral there.
2) As I sat on the trolley thinking back to when I had been there with Mom and Kris, I had the sobering thought that I was about the same age Mom was when we were there in 1980. And while she was worrying about how to keep us entertained, I was wondering how many bars I could hit along Decatur Street when I got back from my ride on the trolley. (The correct answer Ken, is what is 12)
Thinking back on that trip in 2001, it was the last of an innocent time both for us, and the city were had just been partying in for three days.
Karl, Keith and I were waiting on line in the jetway, when Karl started reciting the classic George Carlin airplane routine. (Get on the plane, get on the plane, f-ck you, I'm getting IN the plane! Let Evil Kinevil get On the plane!) People around us were all giggling.
That was August 21, 2001. Three weeks later, there would be no more jokes about flying. At least if you didn't want to be a guest of the Feds.
And then four years and a week after that, Hurricane Katrina laid most of New Orleans to waste. The year before, another storm was bearing down on New Orleans, and there was talk that the city didn't have the resources or the infrastructure to survive. I thought that absurd in this day and age. And when the storm in 2004 passed by New Orleans without incident, it seemed like all that fear had been forgotten.
Till 2005.
A few days before Katrina hit, I heard some of the editors at the Post talking about sending someone down there. There was almost zero chance they would have, but I thought to myself if they ask me to go, I'll gladly do it. They ended up sending a reporter named Jeremy Olshan down there. Jeremy and I weren't particularly tight, but he was getting married on December 17 that year, two weeks before Tara and I. We had found ourselves comparing wedding preparation notes that summer.
When he got back, both what he wrote and what he and I talked about were heartbreaking and terrifying. He told me it was the worst experience of his life, and he struggled with some of the things he had seen down there.
I thanked my stars I didn't volunteer to go there.
Both New York and New Orleans had a long way to climb back, and have both had their share of setbacks. We had our own Natural disaster 7 years later with Super Storm Sandy, and they just suffered through a deadly attack on New Years morning, which while obviously not on the scale of 9/11, still shook the citizens of the city to their core. The families of some of the victims of that attack were honorary captains at the coin toss.
We've both hosted Super Bowls too. In February 2014, Super Bowl XLVIII was played at Met Life Stadium, but almost all the Super Bowl Experience was held in Manhattan. The year before was the last time New Orleans hosted before tonight. In the third quarter, the power went out. The game was held up for 34 minutes. (On FB that night I put the over/under for getting the power back at 14 minutes)
Luckily there doesn't seem to be any issues so far tonight. I promised a no-politics post tonight, so I won't mention Captain Orange is at the game.
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I said that I wouldn't weigh in on Pete Alonso until he either re-signed with the Mets or signed elsewhere. At the risk of sounding like Mike Francesa, I will say I would have been surprised if he had signed somewhere else.
The longer this dragged on, the less likely it seemed anyone else would swoop in and knock the Polar Bear over with $$ and years. I believe him when he says that the Mets were his first choice. I also believe you don't hire Scott Boras as your agent because you are willing to give a hometown discount.
Juan Soto made no bones about it; he was going to the highest bidder. That happened to be the Mets. If by some miracle it would have been Colorado, he would be singing Rocky Mountain High and bragging about the Denver Public School system. That's why he hired Scott Boras.
And that's why Alonso hired him too.
But Soto had a monster year in 2024 and led the Yankees to the World Series. Alonso had a down year and is also going onto the wrong side of 30. Bill Madden, the Daily News legendary baseball writer, often talks about "one dumb owner" the one guy who ends up bidding against himself and over paying a player. Boras, for years was the master of finding that one dumb owner. This year he came up short. He still has to find a home for Alex Bregman too.
I'm happy Alonso is back and I hope to heck he has a bounce back year. That may mean he opts out of his deal with the Mets and hits the open market again in the hopes someone will go for a long-term deal with him. That bridge will be crossed when we get to it next year, and maybe Alonso will get himself another agent. For now, I'm hoping he rakes hitting behind Soto and look forward to watching him become the Mets all time leading home run hitter. He is currently 26 behind Darryl Strawberry, who has held the record at 252 for 35 years.
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I was going to get into a discussion of Eli Manning not getting elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week, but I'll save that for next week. At least he won the kick of destiny so there’s that.
For now, enjoy the rest of the game.hopefully the Chiefs can make a game out of it.
and Have a Great Week
*This was 3BK (three years before my sister Katie was born)
**Both times I went to New Orleans, the Super Bowl was contested the following January/February at the Superdome. (Super Bowl XV Eagles-Raiders and XXXVI Rams-Patriots)
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