Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most anticipated days of the year. National attention turns to the gridiron as the NFL sends their two best teams to battle for league supremacy and the coveted Lombardi Trophy. But there’s a flip-side – attention also focuses on the antics, conversation and media attention of off-the-field “entertainment” for the two weeks leading up to the game. Let’s take a look:
Deflate-Gate
So, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots took a little air out of their footballs in the AFC Championship Game to help them beat the Colts, right? Wrong, the Colts scored just seven points in their loss to New England, and I might add that the Patriots averaged over 29 points per game up until that point. Nevertheless, this headline has DOMINATED televisions, newspapers and radio stations for ten days now, and is not slowing down anytime soon.
Marshawn Lynch
Media Day – Lynch said 29 times, “I’m here so I won’t get fined.” The Seahawks running back responded this way following a flurry of fines that were handed down by the league after he refused to speak to the media at postgame interview sessions during the regular season, at which point responded that he is “embarrassed to work for the NFL.” On Media Day, he set his alarm for the minimum allotted time for press to ask him questions, then walked away as soon as the buzzer sounded. He later opened-up in an unforced press conference sponsored by Skittles, answering every question that was asked, basically sending a big message Roger Goodell’s way.
Fire alarm at Patriot’s hotel
The fire alarm at the Patriot’s team hotel sounded for the second time in three days this past Thursday morning, this time at 2 a.m. Some are calling it collusion, but others, like Rob Gronkowski who slept through the false alarm, aren’t making a big deal of it at all. But still, another irrelevant headline that the media ate up.
Tom Brady’s “cold”
The Patriots QB was a bit stuffed-up on Media Day Tuesday. Not that this is of any significance, as Brady appears on the Patriots injury report almost every week. But, this story too caught fire, and like the others, is of zero significance to Sunday’s game.
Super Bowl XLIX provides us with one of the most even matchups in NFL history. It’s a shame that so many irrelevant, off-the-field stories are taking center stage. Come Sunday, will we actually get to enjoy the game, and the competitiveness of two of the best franchises in the sport? Or will a power outage or wardrobe malfunction steal the show as they did in years past? Let’s hope all this nonsense is set-aside, and an instant classic is played on Sunday, being talked about for years to come. And if not, hey, we still have the commercials.
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