Reflections on Super Bowl XLVIII 24 Hours Later

Pete Carroll is absolutely vindicated. Only three coaches, Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, and Pete Carroll have won both the NCAA football title and Super Bowl. Pete Carroll took a losing USC team and won the national title four years later. He took a losing Seattle Seahawks team and won the Super Bowl four years later. Pete Carroll proved, once again that college coaches can succeed in the NFL: Pete Carroll, Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Walsh, Paul Brown, Tom Coughlin, and Jim Harbaugh. Reggie Bush is not going to strip this title away from Pete Carroll. Paul Allen continues to give back to Seattle, his home. He has been liberated since leaving Microsoft. Defense still wins title games. The Pot Bowl was a bust; only one team showed up on Sunday. Denver’s offense, defense, special teams, coaches were AWOL on Sunday – a total team effort. Why didn’t Fox switch to three hours of commercials after the safety 12 seconds into the game? Richard Sherman must be that good; Seattle hardly tested him. What is John Elway thinking? Does he miss Tim Tebow? Will advertisers finally stop flooding the airways with Peyton Manning ads? How many times did Peyton Manning call “Omaha?” A quarterback under 6’ tall, Russell Wilson, won the Super Bowl. A 5'11" quarterback defeated a 6'5" quarterback. Prognosticators pronounced yesterday a new football dynasty in the Seahawks. Next year will tell. How can a Super Bowl featuring two mid-media markets, Denver and Seattle, have the highest Super Bowl viewership? Will Americans realize the New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey? The players and coaches will pay New Jersey income taxes on their earnings yesterday. Did the players know they were playing the Super Bowl 1,000 yards from a Super Fund site, Berry’s Creek – a first for the Super Bowl? Did 82,529 fans, often paying scalpers, get their money’s worth? Would Denver have had a chance if the Super Bowl were played today in a snowstorm instead of a balmy 49°? Why do we have to use Roman numerals for a purely American sport? How could Bob Dylan show up in two Super Bowl commercials?