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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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while I'm rooting for the Pats, due to being a long time (since 6 years old) fan (which spanned at least 30 years of truly terrible teams, including a memorable SBXX, woeful, which I fortunately did not see as I was traveling to Europe on that day), the SB seems so random in so many ways that I find it impossible to actually give a prediction.
I do wish the SB wasn't so commercially attractive that a 1 hour 15 minute game + timeouts takes over 4 hours to unfold... but that's living in the US for you.
for your reading enjoyment, Judy Macur's piece in the NYTimes sport page is a fun read:
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/sports/football/new-england-patriots-super-bowl-cheating.html
The flip side is the natural tendency for losers to attribute the winners' success to some unfair advantage. In particular, alleged cheating that, in the end, doesn't actually obtain an advantage may not be cheating after all. But it can deflect the embarrassment of having one of your offensive linemen picked up and pushed into your scrambling quarterback inducing in a fumble viewed by a large number of people at primetime on Thanksgiving... maybe it's mean to bring that up.
In the two most publicized accusations of the Patriots, neither seemed to gain an advantage, while both were violations of the rules (at least in letter). The team has succeeded even after these activities were discovered, albeit with the suspicion that they are somehow so deceptive that they must be cheating somehow...
And it is also a consideration that in both cases, when denied the cheating scheme, that the team seemed to carry on its winning ways. In particular, the deflated balls (if that is what happened) didn't seem to affect the outcome, or the performance of the Pats, in that infamous game against the Colts; the accusation of cheating coming from the former General Manager who couldn't believe his team sucked as badly as it actually did, because, after all, he considered himself a football genius.
Oh, and the headsets seemed to work in Gillette stadium a couple of weeks ago.. when the team that tipped off the Colts' GM of the possibility of nefarious deflation played... hmmm.
But I am not objective in this regard...
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slabbo
Trad climber
colo south
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Trump signed THE Doug Flutie for a crazy amount ( i think $5 m) and then wanted $$ from the other teams because "I did it for the league".
The biggest problem for the Pats is the EagleBrook Saloon, a few miles from the stadium. I used to live nearby and man o man a lot of drinking goes on there !
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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The game will hinge on whether the effing refs will let 'em play and whether
the Pats can stop da Boids' running game, which is moderately impressive.
There could be some other factors, too, depending upon how desperate Lady Gagme
is to attract attention. I'm leaning more towards da Boids than I was but
I think the B-man will prevail - he and his crew just seem to play smarter,
even without any untoward advantages.
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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Watching at home with my wife, who has prepared a favorite artichoke dip to go with chicken & portobello enchiladas. I like to focus on the game, and can't stand watching with other people who want to talk, so I am allowed full hermit status on such occasions. I'm only moderately interested in the commercials, and have no interest in watching or listening to Lady Gaga drone on.
I have the Pats 34-20. All of their previous wins have been within three points, and I think Brady takes advantage of an inexperienced secondary and weak pass rush. Pats D is disrespected despite leading the league in points allowed, and Ryan will have to figure out what scheme the Pats are throwing at him fast with his All Pro center playing with a broken fibula.
And why is it Super Bowl LI? Did Trump get to name it after his administration?
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slabbo
Trad climber
colo south
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i remember a quote from the Great john Mallery from El Cap Meadow "what's with these F#%$&*ng Falcons Man ?"
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Edge, it's part of the BIG LI.
And enjoy your enchiladas. I already devoured my green pollos AND six rollie-pollie tacos. Saving the burrito for the game.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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It ain't rocket science - stop Edelman and Amendola and you win the game, don't stop them and you lose it.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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After carefully thinking about it..... going with my gut football feelings rather than my emotional ones...
New England ...30
Atlanta ...24
Brisket, Potato Salad, Veggie Chili, shrimp cocktail and more....
everybody have fun.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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And stop Blount too. Makes it a little harder.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Guess I got my answer about Pat's run D
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Game over - Pats can't stop the run. Boids shouldn't throw another pass, until the Pats
overcommit to the run.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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"They shouldn't throw another pass."
Don't think they're hearin' ya.
8:48 left in the half.
14-0
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Ticky tack hold - the NFL hates a blowout
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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It's ovah now. Time for short ribs and Chateauneuf du Pape.
Finslly a decent ad! Alfa Romeo, baby!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nat Geo wins the ad battle!
Geez, people pay money to watch that bimbo?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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"Who could have predicted..."--JoBuck
Who could NOT have predicted that JoBuck would have said what he said about that?
Here comes NE after a 36-yd run-back.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Joe Buck is the poster chile about the perils of nepotism.
Wow, another ticky tack pass int call. I guess the NFL doesn't love the Pats.
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