The GOAT Bowl

Pats coach Bill Belichick said after winning the Super Bowl that they are actually 5 weeks behind the other teams in preparing for the 2017 season. And I don't think he was kidding or being cheeky. Hoodie don't do cheeky. That statement and attitude is a microcosm of what makes these Pats great. You don't become the Goat (greatest of all time) without that kind of passion, desire, work ethic, and professionalism. Both Hoodie and Brady cemented their legacy with their 5th ring and removed all arguments against anointing them the Goat in their respective jobs. As if winning 5 Super Bowls is not enough, Brady also embellished his resume with the way they won this game.

The team in general and Brady in particular had to play a perfect rest of the game after after falling behind 28-3 and they did just that. 43/62 for 466 yards passing is an amazing stat-line for any QB on any given Sunday, but is an even more impressive performance for a Super Bowl, especially in a comeback win. These 2 Goats never have to pay for anything ever in Boston. One guy can run for the mayor of Boston and the other for the Governor of Massachusetts and probably win the election with a 95% landslide. Of course, we can guess their political leanings and that coincidentally was one of the storylines for the game. A lot of liberals on Twitter were rooting against the Pats just because Trump said he is rooting for the Pats since they are his friends. Thats neither here nor there.

Coming back to the game, there are many astounding numbers and weird stats that paint a picture of the Falcons' collapse, but one thing in particular stands out for me. With a 28-20 lead, the Falcons had a first-and-10 at the Pats 22 with 4:40 to go in the game. They were well within field goal range and they could have literally taken 3 knees, wasted almost 2 minutes or drained all of Patriots timeouts, and gone up 11 points. Game over! That was how close they were to the championship. Instead they played on, moved backwards thanks to an untimely sack and a penalty, got themselves out of the field goal range, and gave the ball back to the Pats with decent time on the clock. They absolutely came from ahead to lose this one. I can't even imagine what the football fans in Atlanta are going through this week.

That was one of the most heart-breaking, soul-crushing losses ever. They had that game in the bag. The Lombardi trophy was almost ready to be packed and shipped to Atlanta. Even their owner Arthur Blank and his wife had come down to the sidelines ready to celebrate. And then everything went wrong. The play calling of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and game management of MVP Matt Ryan has come under a lot of criticism and rightfully so. Between the deep drop on 3rd-1 and not milking the clock pre-snap late in the game and taking a sack in field-goal range  and not running the ball in the second half and not involving Julio Jones enough, the Falcons made more mistakes in a little more than half a quarter than they had probably made this entire season.

The Falcons defense actually played much better than I expected. They got to Brady time and again and looked great. But they got tired and slowed down late in the game. This was due to 2 reasons. The Falcons D has always had issues in the second half of games, which is a sign of a tired team with questionable depth. Plus, Atlanta scored easily in the Super Bowl early and were out-snapped and out-possessed by the Pats in a big way despite the score. This meant the Falcons D was on the field forever and that caught up to them. Matty Ice didn't make enough plays late in the game and that was the difference. Sure, baby Shanny could have called a better game, but the MVP just needed a play or two to wrap this up and he didn't and couldn't. Devonta Freeman was amazing running the ball, but he might have also missed his assignment on that key strip sack.

Atlanta's offense was good and effective early, but dropped the ball in the money quarter. This made for an horrible loss for them, but an immensely entertaining Super Bowl for the fans. The great run of close Super Bowls continued as this one went to another level with the first ever overtime.  It is definitely in the running for the best Super Bowl ever and that catch by Julian Edelman is the best catch ever in a Super Bowl in my opinion. It is better than the David Tyree catch that helped the Giants beat the Pats. The Julio Jones' catch was no slouch either and would have been the story if the Falcons had won. This was a Super Bowl for the ages. I don't know where we go from here. Next year's may be a letdown even if it's a nail-baiter.

I definitely expect the Pats to be back in the Super Bowl next year and for several more years until Brady retires. They are now the Goats in the NFL and I think they are going after MJ. A sixth ring will put Brady in Michael Jordan's zip code and firmly in the conversation for best athlete ever in all of sports . In reality, winning 6 in the NFL is way harder than winning 6 in the NBA. The only blemishes on his resume are the 2 Super Bowl losses, both to Eli Manning. And of course the spy-gate, deflate-gate controversy puts a small asterisk on his resume as well. But history might look at it completely differently. Fifteen years from now, both Hoodie and Brady may be celebrated as ruthless competitors who were not afraid to cheat. Thats not necessarily a bad thing in sports. This is not war. But don't say that to those 2. They are probably already preparing to fight in 2017 for their 6th ring. We will see them again on the field in less than 211 days and thats fine by me.

King James shocks the world.

Game 7s of the NBA finals or the World Series are indeed special. We don't get many of those and it's the closest thing to a Super Bowl in those leagues. The stakes are of course sky-high and it's for all the marbles. The entire season, which is ridiculously long, is going to be decided by one game with no tomorrow. The game 7 yesterday decided the champion of a NBA season that featured more than 1300 total games, not to mention 2 long months of playoff basketball. The winner is the champion and the loser goes home with all kinds of regrets. While all of that is true for any game 7, yesterday's version involved even more story-lines and higher stakes. There were 4 reasons for that aside from the championship that was on the line.

These finals and game 7 pitted the top 2 talents in the league, LeBron and Curry, against each other. This regular season seemed to have displaced LeBron from the top and established Curry at the very apex of the league. It was widely accepted that Curry was a more potent NBA weapon than LeBron at this point. Of course, LeBron probably hated it and silently wanted his throne back. The 2 superstars had to duke it out in a game 7 to win it all and re-frame the NBA pecking order. LeBron won this round hands-down with a series of jaw dropping performances and grabbed the top spot from Curry, who was off most of the series. It's not that often the top 2 talents meet in the finals. Christmas night match-ups are cute and all, but Kobe and LeBron never met in the finals. LeBron and Durant have met just once so far despite their powerful teams. LeBron did meet Duncan thrice, but LeBron was too young the first time and Duncan was too old the last 2. So this LeBron-Curry matchup with both of them in their prime and facing off in a game 7 was indeed unique.

Also, this was not just 2 teams and cities competing for a championship, it was Cleveland. This city is supposed to be cursed and has been starving for a championship for 52 long years. LeBron bravely and may be even stupidly signed up to carry the weight of the city and that entire region on his shoulders when he came back last year. This also made this game 7 special, at least for Cleveland. Plus, the Warriors' record breaking season was hanging in a balance. Not everyday do we get a 73-win team fighting for it's legacy in a winner take all game. Last but not the least, the Warriors were ahead 3-1 in this series and no team has ever won a NBA finals after being down 1-3. Cleveland was going for a record-setting upset and the dubs were trying to avoid a historic choke job.

All of this culminated in a great game 7. It was nip and tuck all the way and the game was tied in the last 2 minutes. LeBron controlled the game on both ends of the floor and would not let the game get away from the Cavs. The splash brothers were off and couldn't pull away all night though Draymond gave all he had and willed the dubs into a first half lead. LeBron didn't shoot well, but he is a complete player who can do much more than just score. The most amazing stat of these finals might be that he was the first guy ever to lead both teams in a finals in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. Thats just ridiculous! At the end of the night, there were 4 key plays in the last few minutes that stood out for me that decided the game. Curry's behind the back pass and turnover, Festus Ezeli fouling LeBron on a 3-pointer, LeBron's incredible block on Iguodala, and of course Kyrie's clutch, go-ahead 3. As impressive as Kyrie's shot was, that LeBron block will be in the NBA highlight reel for decades to come.

LeBron promised a championship for Cleveland and delivered it in style after being down 1-3 in this series. He is now 3-4 in finals all-time and thats way better than 2-5, though losing this finals would not have dented his reputation that much given how great he was individually in games 5 through 7. Last year, he was impressive, but was not efficient since he had to shoot a lot. He had Kyrie by his side this year and finished the Warriors off. Not only did LeBron outplay Curry, Kyrie did too. Kyrie was unbelievable in that game 5 along with LeBron and he looked more like Curry with his outside shot than Curry ever did in this series. He averaged an impressive 27 points this series, not to mention the game winner in game 7.  If not for LeBron's brilliance, Kyrie would have been a legitimate finals MVP candidate. LeBron won his 3rd Finals MVP and this ring cements his legacy and puts him in a very special place. He won it for Cleveland and is his 3rd ring spread across 2 cities with completely different supporting casts. To me, this puts him above Kobe though Kobe has 5 rings. LeBron is a better player on the court than Kobe, and is now catching up to him on rings.

I wanted the Warriors to win this series just to legitimize their impressive 73 win season. It's no joke to win 73 games in a a season and they made it a fun season to follow. They were truly must-see TV ever since they started the season 24-0. I also like the personalities with the Warriors like coach Kerr, Curry, and Klay. They all seem genuinely humble and nice unlike LeBron's fake humility and contrived respect for his teammates. With all that said, I don't mind the championship for Cleveland at all. I was upset when LeBron left town and happy the day he returned. Granted, his megalomaniac acts since his return like the firing of the coach, playing GM, Tristan Thompson contract etc. pissed me off a little bit, but I still wanted him to win one for the land. Too bad, he is going to have even more control now that he is a champion and the unanimous finals MVP. But kudos to him for promising a championship to a down-trodden franchise and actually delivering it in 2 years.

What does all this mean for the historic Warriors? They are now in the conversation with the 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 2007 New England Patriots - teams that set the record for the best regular season in their respective sports, but failed to win the championship. Therein lies the problem. We remember those teams for all the wrong reasons and we will never forget these Warriors either. The lack of a championship diminishes the regular season record for sure. In some people's eyes, it might also put an asterisk on their championship last year since LeBron has now beaten them with his supporting cast that was injured last year during the finals. I am not into asterisks and frankly, we could slap a few on the Cavs win this year too. Draymond's suspension in game 5 was a huge momentum shifter. Then Bogut got hurt and Iguodala had a bad back that troubled him in game 6 and I don't think he was back to normal in game 7 either.

So the dubs seemed to have choked away a 3-1 lead by losing 3 straight games including 2 at their famed home. At least the thunder lost 2 out of the last 3 on the road when they lost to the dubs after being up 3-1. With that said, if you dig a little deeper, I think we can all agree that the circumstances conspired against the dubs. Thats not even taking any suspected Curry injury into account. They were still in it till the last minute of game 7 and I am not sure how much of a failure that is. Being a young team, they can win a ring again and it will be interesting to see how we look at this season if they win next year for instance like the Spurs who came back and won in 2014. Also, I am curious to see what the narrative will be in a couple of months with respect to Draymond's suspension and how that affected this series. There will be no sympathies for the Warriors of course, especially after the Joe Lacob article earlier this season where he claimed the Warriors were light years ahead of the rest of league (bad karma??). They sure can't shake away this unexpected, shocking, and monumental collapse. The first 3-game losing streak under coach Kerr came at the worst possible time. This will stick with the franchise forever.

But the Warriors still have a lot to look forward to and Vegas has already installed them as the favorite for next year. Curry hopefully improves his ball handling this off-season and cuts down on his crazy turnovers which could be a big blessing in disguise. Dub-nation is understandably disappointed, but this was a magical season and their team was in it till the last minute of the last possible day of the NBA playoffs. The players will have a challenging summer and have to come back poised and stronger. The reality is, though they were the reigning champs, they are not very experienced. They jumped literally overnight from being the 6th seed in 2014 to winning the ring in 2015. During the previous round, there was talk about how Durant and Westbrook had so many more playoff rounds under their belt than these Warriors. The Splash brothers are still young and were over-confident and confused at some points in these finals. They can grow from this and come back stronger. I know it's hard to keep going back to the finals, especially in the wild West, but I want a round 3 next year between these 2 heavyweights. The Cavs were hurt last year and the Dubs dealt with suspension and injuries this year. Lets get a totally healthy, suspension-free rubber match next year.