So much for NFL playoff predictions, eh? It would have been nice to see a Super Bowl matchup of the two "Cinderella" teams, but youth and inexperience generally gets trumped by age and skill, I suppose. Neither game was really even close, but both were still pretty good nonetheless.
And this should be a fine Super Bowl, especially with the return of Terrell Owens. Still, Belichick just seems unstoppable at this point. Really, aside from the freak burp in their rhythm that came from them overlooking Miami six weeks or so ago, they've been flawless. Injuries don't seem to matter; the defensive scheme that Belichick and Romeo Crennel have devised is something to behold.
Indeed, both the Patriots and the Eagles are impressive in this regard: each team functions on a true system, where it hardly matters who is put into a skill position. The system allows them to perform at a consistently high rate, because it forces the team members to work as cohesively as possible.
This is a lesson that can be applied anywhere you have a team scenario, from corporations to government. Why have a high-paid figurehead, always at the ready for the proverbial golden parachute the moment things go south? You could save money and have a much more efficient machine with a system that maximizes individual excellence, while paradoxically minimizing individual glorification.
There are more lessons, big and small, that can be gleaned from the true national pastime (baseball, contrary to popular cliche, is really the repast of stat diddlers and pussies like George Will, who couldn't throw, hit, or field a baseball if a gun were at his head). We'll get at those lessons shortly. In the meantime, the official revised Super Bowl prediction: Patriots 37, Eagles 24.
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