February 1, 2008

It's almost here. Finally, after what seemed like a month of anticaption, the Super Bowl is here. Well its still two days before, but you know what I mean. I'm finding it hard to learn anything new about these two teams. They played each other in Week 17, and since then, not much has changed. No major injuries, no suspensions, nothing. Pretty much the game will take the same form as the one in Week 17.

Can the Giants get pressure from just their defensive lineman? In Week 17, they sacked Brady on the first play of the game. And that was it. No more sacks the rest of the game, and Brady threw the ball 42 times.

Looking back the Giants did play really well. The converted 60% of their third downs, gained 4 yards per rushing attempt, and only had one turnover. They also got a score from special teams with Domenik Hixon providing a 74 yard kickoff return.

Despite all of that, they still lost. I know that there are good things to take away from that performance, but it has to be dis-heartening to know you played close to perfect and you still lost. I think this will be in the back of the mind of the Giants, no matter what trash they talk.

Next I have to give props to referee Mike Carey. Carey, who has 18 years of experience as an NFL official, is the first African American referee at a Super Bowl. Not to mention, his crew will have two other African Americans officials, line judge Carl Johnson and field judge Boris Cheek.

So, once again the Super Bowl is the site of something historic. Last year, it was the matchup between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. Now Mike Carey has provided another first.

Since last year's Super Bowl, I feel like there have been great strides made for African Americans off the field in the NFL. Jim Caldwell has been named as Dungy's successor, whenever he decides to retire. Romeo Crennel earned an extension on his contract, this after leading the Cleveland Browns to a 10 win season. Ron Meeks, an assistant for the Colts, has also been interviewed and could possibly earn a head coaching job. I truly believe that last year's Super Bowl changed some of the thought process of the NFL. The idea of hiring a black coach not only stopped becoming taboo, but the manner in which they coached mattered.

Smith and Dungy have the laid-back approach to coaching. No, its not any less intese, but yelling is not something they do a lot of. That seems to have rubbed off around the league. Yes, there are still the yelling types, but even those (Tom Coughlin) have softened up.

It'll be interesting to see what changes, if any, this Super Bowl will have for the upcoming year.