by John Walters

It’s Tom Brady’s World. We Just Live In It

Like that Mexican mother and daughter in the 84 Lumber ad, things looked dire for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in Super Bowl LI. The Falcons led 28-3 with just under nine minutes to go in the third quarter. In other words, New England trailed by 25 points with less than 25 minutes to play.

We all saw what happened next.

Why are we still amazed by this stuff? The Cavs, the Cubs, Trump, now this. What absolutely cannot happen absolutely WILL happen.

Records Brady set: Most pass attempts (62), pass completions (43), and passing yards (466) in a game. Most Super Bowl wins (5), tied with defensive end Charles Haley. Most Super Bowl appearances (7). And, let’s give him the credit, greatest Super Bowl deficit overcome (25 points).

Almost forgot: Roger That! (Roger Goodell That?!?)

2. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard

Here, Atlanta fans. Here is the catch by Julio Jones, a 27-yarder that put your team on New England’s 22 and should have iced the game. But now it’s just a footnote. Troy Aikman: “I have no idea how Matt Ryan is able to get that ball in there, and how Julio Jones is able to make that catch.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eub4Kb2kAyc

Remember just two years ago Seattle Seahawk tight end Jermaine Kearse, who made the incredible catch moments before the Seahawks were supposed to beat the Pats in Super Bowl XLIX? This grab falls into that “Birds of a Feather” slot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kD8HpHRXlo

By the way, Julio Jones, currently the best receiver in the NFL: 4 catches on 4 targets, at least three of them phenomenal grabs. James White of New England, a backup running back, has a Super Bowl-record 14 receptions.

3. New England’s David Tyree Moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmkcgZmM27s

Remember early in the third quarter when Julian Edelman was flaring across on an under pattern and simply failed to catch a Tom Brady pass? He atoned for it here. This wasn’t as dire a moment as many others in the final 25 minutes—it happened on first down—but the 23-yard reception, which took place near the same spot on the field where David Tyree of the New York Giants had made the single most unbelievable catch I’ve ever seen at a Super Bowl nine years earlier, signaled that moment where you just felt the Patriots were destined to win.

By the way, how incredible was this Patriot comeback/Falcons choke? I detailed the nine plays that had to happen in order for this result to occur in Newsweek (“All I do is type, type, type….”)

4. Strange Currencies

Yeah, the dude with the “Make America Great Again” ball cap in his locker who had a terrible September came out the winner. “Hillary Clinton” is 7 letters + 7 letters. “Atlanta Falcons” is 7 letters + 7 letters.

“Donald Trump” is 6 letters + 5 letters. “Thomas Brady” is 6 letters + 5 letters.

Boston pro sports teams now have 37 championships. Atlanta has one.

I kind of like to look at New England’s comeback like that 84 Lumber family. There seemed no way they were going to get past that wall, but they didn’t give up. And then they found a way. Meanwhile, the Falcons were on the “edge of glory,” but just could not pound that final nail in the coffin.

5. Topher Grace, William Hurt and an Indian Dude Who’d Never Be Allowed Into The Country Now Explain The Subprime Mortgage Crisis Better Than Margot Robbie Did

As Trump/GOP appears headed to repeal much of Dodd-Frank, which was passed in order to prevent another global economic crisis like the one that occurred in 2008-09 after the avaricious banks got too greedy, we submit this concise and clear explanation from Too Big To Fail about why it all went down the toilet the first time. Those who forget (or don’t care about) history are doomed to repeat it.

Music 101

I Like To Rock

Growing up in the Valley of the Sun, going to high school in Reagan’s resurgent America in the early Eighties, this was the FM music that all the white boys in their OP shorts and Chevy Blazers were listening to. April Wine, TURN IT UP! The Canadian band released this tune in 1979 off an album titled Harder…Faster, which I just assumed was my high school football coach giving me tackling instructions.

Remote Patrol

The Shawshank Redemption

10:30 p.m. AMC

I can’t watch sports tonight after last night. I need a palate cleanser. Why not go with one of the few perfect films ever made? It’s the story of a tall New Englander who seems to be in a hopeless situation but he keeps digging away and finally, against all odds, somehow is able to overcome his tormentors. Wait, I have seen this movie before.