Can You Remember Where You Were Super Bowl Sunday?

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on February 3, 2013
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As Super Bowl Sunday fast approaches, I have seen so many articles from Super Bowls gone by. Each time I see one, I think about where I was and in what atmosphere did I watch that Super Bowl. Now this Super Bowl will be more than 40 I have been on this Earth to witness and some I remember and some I don’t. The funny thing about it, I’m not really sure how many, if any, Super Bowls I have missed, but the only one’s I distinctly remember are just a fraction of the 40 or so I have seen. As I recall my past Super Bowls, I challenge you to do the same even post a couple of memories in the response.

The very first one I can remember is Super Bowl X. You see, being born in the early Seventies is was required that every kid not born in a football city to be a Dallas Cowboys fan and I was no different. So when the Dallas Cowboys made it to the Super Bowl, I was there directly in front of my TV. Just a few weeks prior I had received a Cowboys uniform, including helmet, from “Santa Claus” just a few week prior and I was ready to go. I watched that game from kickoff until the last second rolled off the clock. What I remember most was the feeling after the Cowboys lost, I guess that was my first taste of defeat. I can also vaguely remember (but not as well) two years later when the Cowboys one the Super Bowl not near as well the X when they lost. I guess that tells me that the agony of defeat is memorable to me than the thrill of victory.

The next one I distinctly remember is Super Bowl XX between the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots. Growing up I loved Walter Payton and he was very well thought of in my circle of friends and family. There was also I lot of hype leading up to this game. The personalities involved (Jim McMahon and William Perry just to name a few), the Super Bowl Shuffle, and they way they dominated the regular season made it easy for me to remember this Super Bowl. Seeing Walter Payton win makes this easily one of most memorable ones. Again I watched this Super Bowl, with my parents in our living room.

The next one I distinctly remember watching is Super Bowl XXII between the Redskins and the Broncos. I have always pulled for underdogs when I can and Doug Williams made it easy to be a Redskins fan. Growing up in the South I was familiar with Historically black colleges and the SWAC so I was familiar with Williams. By this time I was a teenager and was out from under my parent’s thumb. My best friend had moved about 100 miles away and his dad had bought a house that had a “mother-n-law” suite in it so I went to his house for the weekend to watch the game with him. We invited a few girls over and we had my first Super Bowl Party. I really wanted Williams to have his day, but became extremely nervous when Elway and Denver jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Then came the second quarter, which is probably the most one-sided quarter in Super Bowl history.Doug had his day and in now a large part of Super Bowl history.

I can also remember Super Bowl XXIII. How can you not remember Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, if you’ve read my previous blog you know what I think of Jerry Rice. I remember I watched this Super Bowl with the Youth Director at my local church. Our youth group had a party and I enjoyed it. As a teenager, my youth group was filled of good-looking, popular, young girls. That alone made memorable, but the fine young girls definitely added to it.

The next one I remember is Super Bowl XXV, I was in the Army and it was just before Desert Storm. I remember the Kick, The Giants, and the Bills losing. I watched the game with a girlfriend I had at the time and a girl I was seeing on the side was also there. Juggling that is what I remember the most. The only other one I really remember watching from my time in the Army is the next years Super Bowl. I watch the game in Europe with a unit I had just been transferred to. The thing I really remember the most is watching the game at a very odd time, not knowing anyone in the room, and the commander giving everyone the next day off.

The next one I remember is Super Bowl XXIX between the 49ers and the Chargers. I remember the game because Steve Young “got the monkey off his back”, and Jerry Rice won another Supper Bowl, but I remember this one mainly because my girlfriend and I had a party at out house and invited a bunch of people. My little brother and one of my childhood best friends (coincidentally the one I watched XXII with) were there. Soon after the game they got into a wrestling match and my little brother slammed my friend on the floor. In doing so they left a mark on the wall and my girl friend complained about it for a month.

Super Bowl XXXI started a new era for me, because of personal connections as well as connection made in the military, I found my new team, the Patriots, in the Super Bowl. I watched the game with the same girlfriend from the previous Super Bowl, but we watched it at my house. I remember this game because mt team, adopted while in the Army, lost in the Super Bowl, but also because me and my girl friend broke up soon afterwards. I miss her.

Well that misery wouldn’t last too much longer because the Patriots made their way to the big game again for Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots were vast underdogs and Brady wasn’t the star he is now, so I didn’t feel my team had a chance. Regardless, I put on my Bledsoe Jersey (the same one I wore in the previous Super Bowl) and my Patriots hat and watch the game with my family at my house. Winning that game was one of the greatest thrill I’ve had from watching a game, of any sport, on television. I still have that jersey, although it is retired, and I still wear that Patriots hat on some game days. The other two Super Bowl wins were awesome but none gave me the thrill I experienced that day. Since that Super Bowl the others have kind flown by in a blur, I remember the other two Patriot wins, but I also remember the losses equally. The loss that stands out though is the first loss by the Giants that ended the Patriots almost perfect season. If the win in Super Bowl XXXVI was the biggest thrill then the loss in SBXLII would be the reciprocal.

Those are my Super Bowls from times gone by. They are the ones that stand out in my memory. Some of the reason have to do with the game and some have to do with circumstances surrounding where and how I watched the game. Please take the time and give me a Super Bowl that stands out in your memory and explain why. I would love to hear it.

Randy Moss What??? The Best…….Really

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on February 1, 2013
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Although I am a hardcore, avid sports fan I really try to stay away from commenting on sports. Occasionally I will respond to a comment I see after an article or call someone out that says something that they really had no business saying, but never did I think I would find myself writing about it. When I heard what Randy Moss had to say during the media frenzied Superbowl Week, I felt I had no other choice but to take action.

First of all I’m going to give Moss the benefit of the doubt, I can only imagine how much hype, pomp and circumstance is surrounding the week before the Superbowl. Besides all of the hype, the media loves to put clebrities and athletes in a position where they will say something silly or over the top. Over the top doesn’t even begin to describe what Randy Moss said. No matter what the hype, no matter what type of uphoria is surrounding the situation, what Moss said was absolutely absurd. As I arrived at the office this morning my friend and coworker’s first words were, “Did you hear what Randy Moss said?”. Yes I did.

For those of you that don’t know Randy Moss stated he was the best wide receiver to ever play the game. His exact quote was, “I really think I’m the greatest receiver to ever play the game”. I was so flabbergasted by his comment, I wasn’t sure what to say. For one there are many positions in the game of football, who the “greatest ever” in each position is up for debate, but unfortunately for Moss, receiver is not one of them. Hey, you can argue who was the best quarterback. Some will say Montana, some will argue Favre, but when it comes to receiver there will always to be, without an argument, a concensus. So everyone reading this knows exactly who is the greatest, and who I’m talking about. I could give you stats of THE GREATEST and tell you how he came from a small Mississippi town and how he had to go to a small historicaly black college because no major institution offered him a scholarship. I could tell you how THE GREATEST was part of possibly the greatest quarterback – wide receiver tandum in the history of college football. I could also tell you that THE GREATEST played every down like his spot on the roster was in jeopardy and his offseason training regiment would make an Ironman blush. I could tell you that the three time Superbowl Champion and Super Bowl XXIII MVP was a first ballot Hall of Famer who has more records than a 1970’s disco radio station. But I don’t have to, because anyone with “sense enough to walk around” knows Jerry Rice is the GREATEST WIDE RECEIVER to ever play the game. I think even Jerry’s response to the quote epitomizes his career. Jerry Rice said, “I feel like my body of work, it speaks for itself, and what I was able to accomplish on the football field. I pretty much leave everything up to the fans. If they want to say I was the greatest receiver to play the game, then that’s okay. If they want to say I’m the greatest football player to ever play the game, that’s okay. I never felt like I had to say that, and those words are not going to come out of my mouth”. Your exactly right Jerry, and everyone with sense enough to get out of the rain knows as well.

Let’s take things even a step further. Even though Randy has played on six different teams he is mostly known for his time on the Minnesota Vikings. You can argue that one season in New England may have been his best single season to date but his best years of consistent play was while he was in Minnesota. So that bring’s me to my next point. Randy Moss should for starters worry about being the best receiver on the team is known for. It is up for debate whether Moss is even the best receiver in the history of the franchise for which he is most known. A good argument could be made that Cris Carter is a better receiver than Moss. Take it one step further he may have not been the best receiver on the team he is most known at the time he was on the team. Remember for two or three seasons, Moss and Carter were on the roster together. Now that may be a stretch because Carter’s career was ending as Moss’s was beginning but you understand my point. How can Moss argue he is the best ever if one can argue the above.

The last point I want to make concerning his ridiculous claim is the platform in which he did it. We all know who was the greatest ever and where did he play? Yep, for the San Francisco 49ers. Moss had the audacity to get up in front of the media and make his claim while wearing the same uniform that Jerry Rice wore! I don’t see how anyone was able to keep a straight face, including Moss, while making this ridiculous claim. Jerry Rice is not only the greatest ever, he is also the most gracious as well. Jerry should have responded by saying that if Randy Moss even dreamed of saying he was the best receiver ever, he should immediately wake up and call Jerry and apologize.

Just my dos centavos.

I am The Modern Day Machiavelli.

The Fake Hug

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on January 30, 2013
Posted in: Blog. 3 Comments

How many times have you been in a restaurant, theater, or anywhere else and noticed two people hug. Whether it’s two women, two men, or a man and women, it seems more and more I see these fake, disingenuous “hugs”. Everyday it seems that I see them more and more and I kind of get tired of seeing it. It’s not that I’m some “macho man” who doesn’t believe a man should show any type of affection in public, I just believe that hugs are somewhat of a personal thing and most of the time these “hugs” seem extremely superficial and disingenuous.

The ones I notice the most are the hugs between two women, who are usually friends, that see each other in a public place. They smile, put there arms around each other and pat each other on the back without really touching. A significant portion of the time one of the two seem to not be totally comfortable about the experience. What’s worse is when you see two men give the “bro hug” in public. They usually run up to each other, bear hug, and then do a triple fist bump on the back. I bet it even sounds more ridiculous to you hearing it explained doesn’t it? As I stated earlier, I’m not against “public hugs” or what some would call PDA, but to go around hugging everyone you see is just a little over the top. Maybe that’s just me, maybe I’m over-analyzing it but I really want to say something to the people I see, maybe ask them if they know they look a little ridiculous.

As I stated before I’m not totally against hugging someone, male or female, and I do on occasion hug someone in public. I guess it’s just the fake and disingenuous nature I see that really gets me. If I see someone who is special to me then I have no problem with a true genuine hug. My daughter, who is a preteen, lives with me and I hug her all of the time. Just the other day a friend of mine, a female, returned from Afghanistan and I haven’t seen her in about six months. The first thing I did when I saw her is give her a big, warm genuine hug. I’m not sure why I have this mentality, maybe it goes back to my days in the Army. I joined the United States Army just before Gulf War I and I was constantly being deployed somewhere. Although I was single at that time I had family, friends, and significant other who were very important to me. I gave a lot of hugs to my loved ones when I was leaving and when I returned. These hugs were genuine and meaningful and they had purpose. I’ll never forget the hug I gave my girlfriend right before I stepped on the plane to deploy to a combat zone for the first time. I hugged her, held as tight as I could, for as long as I could, and I told her I loved her. Now that was a genuine hug.

I would like to hear what you think agree or disagree.