Was this the greatest Super Bowl in history? I vote yes, and I have seen 'em all, although I was a mere stripling of eight for the first one.
It was certainly a deeply fulfilling Super Sunday for any devotee of football, with New Yorkers especially dancing on the balls of their
feet. Now both Manning brothers have managed the task of unmanning Tom Brady, no easy feat.
Not only did the Giants defeat the Patriots to prevent an undefeated season, they did it with an exciting comeback in the last two and a half
minutes of the game. A guy named Jacobs ran for a do-or-die yard to convert a fourth-down play, a receiver named Tyree made an insanely
spectacular catch over his head, holding on despite two bone-crunching tackles, and finally a famous guy did his part. Plexico Burress, whose
stardom had been dimmed throughout the game by smothering coverage, caught the touchdown pass with a half-minute to go. Tom Brady uncorked a
few long blasts in an effort to save the game, but he was plumb out of magic.
So Super Sunday is in the books, and Super Tuesday is in the cards. Hillary Clinton's team beat Mitt Romney's team on Sunday: Is that a
portent of some sort?
Since you asked, I'll tell you my opinion. I think that this victory by the Giants brought a quality that has been sorely lacking lately in
our culture and utterly lacking in our politics. Namely, joy. Pure unadulterated joy and jubilation. We could really use some of that.
And I hate to tell you this, but there is only one way to bring joy to Democrats and Republicans alike on Super Tuesday. There is only one
possible result that will literally put a sparkle into the eye of the vast majority of Americans, party affiliation not a factor. That will
be if Obama wins big.
Say what you want, be as churlish and curmudgeonly and cantankerous as you wish, it will be a great moment for this country if a black or
Hispanic, a thoughtful one, agree with him or not, becomes the nominee of a major party. The truth is it would be nice if a woman made it,
too, but not one of these phoney-baloney spouses running to take over the husband's job. The new Prime Minister of Argentina, Mrs. Kirschner,
got a big yawn when she won, because although she was a senator in her own right, she was seen as another Mrs. Peron extending her husband's
reign.