Super Bowl

[Imperius3]

I've got the Patriots by 7! Should be a great game!

[Spyder]

When a good defense faces off against a good offense, the defense prevails. Matt Ryan gets humbled today. I have the Pats up by a couple of scores.

[Spyder]

I was way off on this one. ATL had the defensive advantage in every category. Good work by the Gator's old D Coach.

[Fitz]

I put some money on the Falcons between 1-13 points.

[Spyder]

On second thought...

[Warlord]

Same ol' Falcons. They just can't finish teams. They're soft, and have been for years. It didn't help that the defense was on the field for most of the night. What was the final time of possession? NE must've set a record.

[Fitz]

I don't watch NFL, the first Super Bowl I have watched. Though did have it on at work and more watching in the background.

Though can somebody explain to me overtime? It seems so unfair the way it is, and looks like it is just based on pure luck with whoever wins the coin toss.
Like this example, New England won the toss and had an offensive play. They scored and won the game.
Isn't the loser of the toss at a disadvantage if they don't have an opportunity for an offensive reply?
I would think both teams must have equal attempts at an offensive play.

[Warlord]

Yes, it seems unfair if you're on the losing end. It used to be sudden death, whoever scored first won.

They changed the rules while ago, saying that if you kick a field goal, the other team gets one possession. But if you score a TD, it's over.

I think the NBA does it better, with an abbreviated 5-minute overtime quarter. If it's tied after that, double overtime and so on.

The NFL will score it a tie if neither team is ahead after time expires in overtime.

I personally think they just should've just stuck to sudden death. It would complicate things too much if they tried to guarantee teams each get at least one possession, because what if they both score? Is it sudden death again after that?

Either play a full quarter, or make it sudden death. Don't half ass it.

---

And I'm sorry you lost money on the Falcons. I wish you would've asked me first. As a lifelong Falcons fan I would've warned you against putting money on them, unless it was to lose in historic fashion.

I've told this story multiple times, but it bears repeating. Before the Falcons played their very first game in Atlanta (Fulton County stadium), the team brought in a real live Falcon to bless the stadium.

The handler was supposed to let the Falcon go, where it would fly into the air, circle the stadium once, and then come back down and land on his trainer's shoulder.

So he lets his falcon go, it flies up into the sky, circles the stadium once, and takes off into the sunset, never to return.

True story, and a perfect omen for this team.

[Fitz]

Cheers Warlord, I only put $10 on, so I didn't lose much. Mainly just to make the day of work a little more fun, and I also wanted the Falcons to win as I hear New England have been one of the most successful teams in recent times, and Atlanta haven't had much success as a state in general with sports and I heard last time their was serious buzz over there was for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, so I was hoping they won.

I don't watch NFL and today was the most I had watched before, and I actually enjoyed the game, but I just found it really strange about the overtime rule.
It just seems that a lot of it is based on luck, just by winning a coin toss in over time.

It would be like in soccer, having a penalty shootout and first team to score a penalty wins. Team A wins coin toss and decides to take first shot, they score and win without the other side having a shot.
Or in tennis, we have a tiebreaker and instead it's first point wins. Player A wins coin toss and serves first. He scores an ace and wins the set, player B has no service return.
You guys are probably used to it over there, but as a first time watcher, I just found it really, really bizarre.

[Warlord]

It is bizarre, no doubt there. Fans have always angrily criticized it when their team loses, but love it if their teams wins. If the Falcons had won the coin toss and drove down the field for a TD win, I'd have been happy as whale shit that Brady and the Pats never had a chance to touch the ball, considering the momentum they had.

The biggest factor in favor of sudden death is just how damn exciting it can be. I don't think anything in sports can rival it.