The pretty boy has fallen.

Sunday night, as I’m sure most of you know, was the 52^nd Superbowl Championship. 

Wait…….I wrote 52^nd wrong.  Let me correct that for you: 

The “LII” Superbowl Championship.    (So dumb. Who uses Roman numerals anymore??)

Anyway, as I’ve written before in a past blog (which no doubt you’ve read), I am not a die-hard football fan.  But when it comes to the Superbowl, I never miss a single game. 

And no, it’s not just the Superbowl parties that have me hooked….. even though they really are truly delightful with their traditional foods in football-shaped buns. 

But no, it’s really not about the delicious foods.  Or even the good company. 

It’s about the energy and the excitement of the match.  It draws you in.  It’s palpable.

For the last 2 hours of the epic game, I sat on the edge of my seat watching as the Patriots and the Eagles battled it out for the title of the championship.

Now because I am not your typical football fan, I never watch the game hoping for a particular winner. Like I said, I just watch for the thrill of the game.

But I have to admit that the little knowledge that I do have of the sport, and from having diligently watched past Superbowls, I already knew that Tom Brady was the man to watch that night.

Would he succeed in winning a 6^th Superbowl title??

For most of the game, the Patriots were losing.  

Or....were they just waiting to strike??  

Would this be a repeat of last year, with another huge comeback win?

Well, it appeared it could be just that......as I watched their quarterback bring the team back to a lead in the 4^th quarter,  33-32.

I was almost certain now that the game would end the same as last year's Patriot championship, with a win for Brady in the last few minutes of the game.

But after a questionable play by Eagle’s Zach Ertz, which after review was deemed a successful run, the Eagles had once again established their dominance with a 38-33 lead.

But we all know “it ain’t over til it’s over" right?  And we watched with great anticipation to see if the alleged “greatest quarterback of all time” could turn things around.

Until….. the unforeseeable happened.

Brady got sacked.

BOOM!!

The ball was stripped out of his hand by Eagles’ defenseman Brandon Graham.  It happened so fast that the quarterback didn’t even realize it was missing, and continued throwing an empty hand through the air.  The look on his face was pure confusion and disbelief as he finally connected with the reality of what had just happened.

It seemed as though their golden ticket player couldn’t recover what would eventually be an inevitable loss.

And trust me…...we were waiting….. and watching…. in extreme anticipation……until the very end, when Tom threw a Hail Mary pass to the endzone in the last 9 seconds of the game. 

But to no avail.

The underdog had won.

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I ran into work on Monday morning (as I did EVERY morning after a Superbowl) yelling randomly to my co-workers,  “Did you watch the game??”  “Wasn’t it amazing??” “Weren’t you on the edge of your seat the WHOLE time???”

But most of the people who I spoke to just haphazardly answered with an “I don’t like football” or “I just watched the half-time show” or “I don’t have cable”.   

Don’t even get me started on that last one.  I still don’t understand how can one live without cable??

Anyways, regardless of what they answered, I just went on and on about how much I loved the game.  

Until someone asked me a very simple question.

“So were you happy that the Eagles won?”

When I told this person that I didn’t care who won, and that I wasn’t even a huge football fan, he asked me one more question as he walked away laughing,

“So why watch the game if you’re not invested at all??”

I stood there silently staring at him as he walked away.

Hmmmmm…? 

That was a VERY GOOD question.  

I initially thought I didn’t care who won.   After all, wasn’t it possible to just enjoy a game without having any personal attachment to the players or to the game itself?

But then if I really felt that, then why was I so intrigued with it all?

And if I was intrigued, then I MUST have had some sort of investment.  Because I couldn’t possibly be this excited about something if I didn’t care about it…….right??

When I got back to my desk at work, I focused on what was really important. 

No, not work silly!  

The game!  

I thought about what Philadelphia's team must have been feeling during the match and after their win. The adrenalin rush, the fight, the victory, and finally, the relief. 

They had done the unthinkable.

They had finally taken down pretty boy Tom Brady from his (albeit well-deserved) podium seat at the top of the league.

What an incredible high that must have been??  To take down a team that was a sure-fire win. 

I was ecstatic for them.  

But I still don't really know why?

Maybe it's as simple as me wanting to see the underdog win.

After all, don't we ALL feel like the underdog sometimes?? 

Well, the Eagles finally did it.  They finally won the Superbowl.

And they gave us all hope.  

That anything is possible.  And that sometimes, when you bust your ass, you can rattle the Patriot......and eventually knock him right off the scoreboard.

And just like the ball that slipped out of Brady’s fingertips, so did his 6^th Superbowl win.  

And the Eagles soared to the finish.

Congratulations underdogs.  You finally made it over ;) 




Here's another Ridiculous Girl Superbowl blog:

iamnotjustagirl