1.The best Super Bowl. Ever.
Notice how I refrained from using the word "greatest"? That's because it's not only a conveniently overused word when it comes to sporting events and athletes, nothing will ever touch Super Bowl III when it comes to having lived up to the tag of true greatness. Without Joe Namath and the Jets upset, the NFL might not be the juggernaut it is today.
This game, however, deserves a special place as simply, the best. A future legendary QB watching helplessly as his team, on both offense and defense, was dismantled and hammered with brilliant strategic counter punches.
A steely-eyed missile man Head Coach who rolled the dice more than once and laid waste to the old mantra of "Dance with the one who got you here". That onside kick to begin the second half will put Sean Payton right alongside Joe Gibbs calling the play "70 Chip" in Super Bowl XVII as the most startling and unexpected moves ever.
Drew Brees? Hammered as a loser by those same Saints fans who would one day liken him to a football God, this after coughing three turnovers in the Saints first ever NFC Title game in 2006.
Methinks a lot of people owe Brees one whopper of an apology.
2.Peyton Manning haters prove how little they know about football.
Peyton Manning has barely removed his helmet after the final gun sounded when he was being called a "loser", a "jerk with more failures than successes", and a "choke artist" that will "never shake the stigma of setting personal records while letting his team and the Colts franchise down with alarming regularity". All quotes from dribbling fans and media morons after the game.
No one tears down sports heroes better than we do. And quite often when neither necessary nor warranted.
3.Resurrection for the city of New Orleans.
More than a few people I spoke with in the media privately mocked the story line about the Saints ascension to the Super Bowl acting as the best salve possible for years of suffering thanks to Hurricane Katrina.
Heard all too often where phrases such as, "that's dragging up ancient history to create a crying audience".
This, of course, just before they all went back to their cozy hotel rooms and returned to a home that wasn't still in pieces.
4.Who were those guys at halftime, and why wasn't it sponsored by adult diapers?
Shark, meet aging rockers playing the Super Bowl halftime show. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, however, get a lifetime pass.
5. The Tim Tebow Pro-Life commercial. A stroke of marketing genius.
Completely defusing and disarming all the pre-game hand wringing with a perfect lesson in how to let the media and angry groups of protesters turn a $3M investment into a message delivery system worth 100 times the amount.
Ed Berliner's complete article, "Five for Fighting, Super Bowl Edition", can be read by clicking here. Ed Berliner is represented by Entourage Management.