Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro

Sports

Our Bowl likely destined for middle of list

Odds are we aren’t going to get the best Super Bowl ever. That said, the good news is, odds are we aren’t going to get the worst Super Bowl either.

Odds are, we’re going to get something in the vast middle, a game that will, in the moment, feel like it will capture our imagination for a while … and then, as the weeks and month and years pass will take an appropriate place in the bookshelf of our memory.

That said … we could get something epic.

We could get something unforgettable … or something so forgettable that by its mere forgettableness it could be … well, unforgettable.

These are one man’s opinion on the three best and the three worst Super Bowls. One disclaimer: I didn’t include Super Bowls I-VII for consideration because my Super Bowl memory only extends to Dolphins-Vikings and Super Bowl VIII. And though I trust John Facenda’s voice implicitly, I can’t rank what I didn’t see. By all indications, none of the seven would have made the list anyway.

The three best

  1. Super Bowl XLIII, Tampa, Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 — Arizona trailed 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter then rattled off 16 unanswered points, capped by Larry Fitzgerald’s breathtaking 64-yard scoring pass with 2:37 left. But Ben Roethlesberger hooked up with Santonio Holmes for a 6-yard TD with 35 seconds to go.
  2. Super Bowl XLII, Phoenix, Giants 17, Patriots 14 — One of those rare marriages of amazing accomplishment (maybe the biggest upset ever) and remarkable quality of game. Tom Brady seemingly rescued the Pats’ 19-0 gem by hooking up with Randy Moss with 2:42 left. Then David Tyree happened and Plaxico Burress happened and a desperate 70-yard throw from Brady barely missed Moss.
  3. Super Bowl XXV, Tampa, Giants 20, Bills 19 — People tend to forget the Bills didn’t exactly underperform — they did score 19 points in 19 minutes of possession. But the Giants played keepaway, Jeff Hostetler somehow held onto the ball for a safety when a strip-sack would have been ruinous, then the Giants’ D kept the Bills just far enough away that Scott Norwood’s 47-harder drifted just barely right.

The three worst

  1. Super Bowl XX, New Orleans, Bears 46, Patriots 10 — It was the coronation of one of the best seasons ever, but man was it ever brutal to watch. Plus, Refrigerator Perry ran for a TD and Walter Payton didn’t. Boo.
  2. Super Bowl XXIX, Miami, 49ers 49, Chargers 26 — Proof that sometimes a mismatch on paper is a mismatch in practice, too. On the game’s third play, Steve Young found Jerry Rice for a 44-yard TD and the 49ers were on their way to covering the 18 ¹/₂ -point spread.
  3. Super Bowl XXIV, New Orleans, 49ers 55, Broncos 10 — This was around the time America grew sick of seeing John Elway and Denver in the Super Bowl and this was the worst of the bunch, the Niners leading 41-3 at one point in Joe Montana’s fourth and final Supe win.

Whack Back at Vac

Joan Mettler: Alain Vigneault has the Rangers finally playing up to their potential. What a difference a coach makes!

Vac: There’s no doubt in my mind that the Broadway Blueshirts are the greatest open-air pond hockey team of all time.

Marc Sepulveda: All this talk about New York getting credit for the Super Bowl when it’s played in New Jersey is getting old. I think we should just merge the names of the two states and call it “New Jersey” — problem solved!

Vac: I think we should take this to the next natural progression: Gov. Christie vs. Gov. Cuomo in a one-on-on decathlon like the one Oscar and Felix did in the final season of “The Odd Couple.”

Ken Schlapp: The toll booth connection in which I always remind the Jersey crowd: You have to pay to go to New York, but it is free to go to New Jersey.

Vac: Hey, I believe in equal time.

@DickieV: Nationally rated UMass goes down to Hall of Famer Bob Lanier’s school, [St. Bonaventure] … yes @MikeVacc … is dancing, baby!
@MikeVacc: Yes. Yes, he is.

Vac’s Whack

Actually, maybe the Giants should simply embrace all of this. It would make more sense to everyone if the game-used Eli Manning we saw this year weren’t the actual Eli Manning.

The metro-area schools in the MAAC already know this better than they would care to, but there may be no finer show in all of college basketball than when Billy Baron of Canisius starts feeling it.

The perfect vehicle to speed you along toward pitchers and catchers is “The 34-Ton Bat,” a splendid book by the great Steve Rushin, the kind of baseball book that makes baseball fans grateful to be baseball fans.

If you see the Joe Buck bit on “Funny or Die” and still don’t like him … well, then you’re thoroughly committed to disliking Joe Buck.