Super Week
If we were going to surmise who has the most at stake this Sunday, the answer starts and ends with Andy Reid, right?
Sure, quarterbacks enter a different conversation with a Super Bowl ring on their hand.
Yes, Kyle Shanahan has the potential to a) exorcise some 28-3 demons and b) drop a monster exclamation point on the Shanahans being the NFL’s first family of coaching with a win.
A win with John Lynch’s magnificent roster would lift the 49ers GM into the top level of the game’s leadership and front offices.
But, Reid’s staring into the black hole of his resumé knowing this is his next best chance, and ultimately it could be his last chance. As Hal Holbrook told Bud Fox in “Wall Street” – “Man looks into the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”
Reid is a no-doubt Hall of Famer – both in Canton and the all-time, joy-filled LeBatard Show’s Looks Like Game. (The Looks Like Game is part of the show’s genius, and Reid’s legacy includes: “Andy Reid looks like a Civil War general; Andy Reid looks like the guy running down the saloon stairs in his long johns because the lady of the night stole his boots and cowboy hat; Andy Reid looks like a cartoon bear in a toilet paper commercial; Andy Reid looks like the guy who endured a harrowing experience of spending 14 hours with his arm stuck in a vending machine; Andy Reid looks like the manager whose framed picture is hanging near the front of your local grocery store; Andy Reid looks like he waggles his fingers in front of a tray of doughnuts and says “Don’t mind if I do.”)
But Reid’s legacy right now – even more than the Hall of Fame, more than West Coast guru, more than an offensive and coaching genius who has had success in multiple schemes with multiple styles at QB – is the winningest coach in the history of the league without a title.
And not unlike the golfers who carry the title of best in the world without a major, and H.I. McDonough’s view on “Recividism Repeat O-ffender” – “Yes sir, that’s one bone-headed name, but that ain’t me no more.”
Can Reid shed that bonehead name like H.I.? We’ll see.
Proper Contest
They are expecting a record amount of wagers on the Super Bowl, because, well, it’s the Super Bowl and we like to wager.
It’s also our last chance to bet on football before next August.
(Well, for most folks. We’re going to try to find some lines on XFL because pickers gotta pick, right Spy?)
But even if you are not the gambling kind, pull up a chair and play along with the Proper Super Bowl contest. It’s free and all you need to do is email your picks on these props to me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com:
> Coin toss, heads to tails?
> Length of the anthem, over or under 1 minutes, 59 seconds?
> Chiefs minus-1.5, who you got?
> Over or under 54.5 total points?
> First player to score (and kickers count, and if it is a safety, then the tackler gets credit)?
> Which half will have the most points scored, first or second?
> First song during the halftime performance?
> MVP?
> Longest TD play, over or under 44.5 yards?
> Donald Trump Tweets on Super Bowl Sunday, over/under 13.5?
Why not, right?