Reading The Lips of Polar Bears (appended)

You don't punt the ball back to the Giants in that
situation; you just DON'T!!

Hostile New Orleans Winds
Yesterday, Howard and I
left our "sign" spot at around noon, having slept through the morning to recover the sleep lost during a cold night, which had us each waking up and fitfully repositioning fleece throws around feet and flipping ourselves to put the zippered side of the bag to the "leeward" side of the hostile New Orleans winds, blowing 55 degrees, mercilessly..
Noontime meant that the pregame shows for the Superbowl would be starting, 6 hours before the game.
We stopped at a couple stores, where Howard bought chips and salsa, which we planned to smuggle into Felipe's Taqueria.
The plan went without a hitch. We found a table for two by a window, where we could watch the game with only a small light fixture hanging from the ceiling in our way. Howard ordered chips and guacomole, and then kept replenishing both from out of his backpack. Anyone observing us might have thought we weren't very hungry, and had hardly touched our chips and salsa, well into the game.


Madonna opted for a "less pasty-skinned looking"
backup singer for her Superbowl gig than myself,
shown here at one of the many rehearsals.

 I ran to the store 3 times, during commercial breaks, for 3 beers. I knew I was missing some of the best commercials that money can buy that way, but I still made the sacrifice. The Patriots were driving me to drink by the third quarter.
Howard must have acquired some special skills, from being almost deaf. The sound from the TV was mingled with the noise of the revellers and I missed a lot of the audio, but Howard burst into laughter and said "That was cute!" after a couple of ads which I hadn't even comprehended. He must read the lips of even polar bears.
The Superbowl cost us each only about 3 bucks that way, though I wound up paying a much higher price, emotionally.
Patriots Punt Away Hopes


Hey, do you feel like singing?!?

 (Second guessing Bill Belichek)
All was for not, though. The Patriots lost in the same frustrating way as their previous losses to the Giants. They were conservative, as if they thought there was so much time left that they would eventually establish a rhythm and overtake the opponent.
The next thing we knew, there were less than 4 minutes left in the game, and the Patriots had to hope that their 17 total points were going to hold up.
They should have "gone for it" on 4th and one, in the 4th quarter. The probablility of their offense making a yard, was better than the prospect of their defense protecting the lead. 
They could have milked some of those 4 minutes off the clock, if they made it, and maybe have taken at least a 20 to 15 lead in the process, and then given the ball back to the Giants with under 2 minutes left and them needing a touchdown. 
Even if they didn't convert, then the Giants would have had a shorter field, scored more quickly, and given Tom Brady the ball back with more than the 57 seconds that he had to work with.
"Are You Going To Sing?"
As we left Filipe's with the sounds of celebrating Giants fans ringing in our ears, Howard turned to me and asked me "Are you going to sing?"
I realised at that point as I thought "You've gotta be kidding me!" that, for a truely professional musician, "the show must go on" despite losses and tragedies, and despite being in no mood to perform.
"My team just lost, it's gonna take more than 20 seconds to get over it, Howard. I haven't even thought about "singing!"

Got 'em again! Yee Haa!!!

"I'm sorry," said Howard.
Are The Patriots The New Red Sox?
They have built up our hopes each of the past few years, only to fall to a team from New York which apparently "has their number." No matter how well they play during the season, even if they amass a perfect 16-0 record, it won't matter, because in the end, they will fall to the team from New York that has their number. Just like the Red Sox.
Are we going to hear, during one of the next few seasons, sportscasters say for the first time:
Sportscaster #1: "Now that's a throw that Tom Brady would have gotten to the receiver, a few years ago!"
Sportscaster #2: "No doubt about it, he just didn't put enough mustard on that one. A younger Tom Brady would have thrown a touchdown pass there, instead of his third interception of the game!"