Page 4 February 1, 2018
Brady’s Bunch of Rings Back at Big Bowl
By Adam Serrao
The sun sets in the west, the moon
rises at night, and Tom Brady is in the
Super Bowl. Few things in the world are
seemingly as automatic as Brady and the
Patriots playing for a championship at the
end of a season. Come this Sunday, they’ll
both be right back where they seemingly
belong. You can love him, hate him or
even refuse to have an opinion about him,
but as Brady readies to play in the eighth
Super Bowl of his career, you certainly
have to respect the way that he plays the
game of football.
Even if you love to root against Brady
and the Patriots – which most football fans
who don’t cheer for the Patriots do – you
have to admit that New England being in
the Super Bowl at least makes the game
a bit more interesting to watch. What can
be better than rooting against the guy
who will likely go down as the greatest
quarterback to ever play the game, not to
mention his head coach who thrives on
being unlikeable?
The good news, too, is that New England
has never dominated its opponents in the
biggest game of the season. In his seven
championship games so far, Brady is 5-2.
Were it not for some miracle plays by Eli
Manning and the New York Giants, he could
very easily be 7-0. Just as easily, though,
Brady could have been 0-7. The total
difference in scoring between the Patriots
and their opponents in seven Super Bowl
games is just 12 points. New England has
put up 169 points, while their opponents
have combined for 157. That alone should
provide enough foreshadowing to tell
that this weekend’s Super Bowl LII will
likely be a close game, no matter what
outcome arises.
Philadelphia doesn’t figure to be a
walk in the park for the Patriots either.
Despite losing their MVP-caliber starting
quarterback in Carson Wentz, backup
Nick Foles has come on as of late and
is leading the team in quite a similar
fashion. “They’ve got a great defense,”
Brady explained of Philly. “As good as
we’ve faced all year. They’ve been playing
well all year and that’s why they’re in
this game – and that’s why we’re in this
game. It’s going to be a great game.”
Brady would likely change his opinion
about the game should the Patriots lose,
but losing isn’t necessarily something that
comes easily to New England.
The Eagles defense will be tasked with
stopping Brady and his teammates on
Sunday. That same group ranked fourth
in the league in total defense (306.5 yards
per game) and points allowed (18.4) this
season. Great defenses have fallen to
Brady before, though. Just two weeks
ago, he and head coach Bill Belichick
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
Celebrities Aren’t Banned From Enjoying
Their Right to Freedom of Speech
By Cristian Vasquez
It’s easy to dismiss and criticize celebrities
for sharing their political opinions, but it’s
also as childish as a kid on the playground
becoming upset because a classmate brought
the same version of their toy. The weekend
gave us another edition of the Grammys,
which in all honesty was avoided in this
household like it has been every year.
However, what’s never ignored is the anger
from certain people who have convinced
their ignorant minds and feeble egos that
celebrities have no right to express any
sort of political thoughts. U.S. Ambassador
to the U.N. Nikki Haley demonstrated her
ignorance and intolerance Sunday night
when she tweeted, “I have always loved the
Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and
Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music
with trash. Some of us love music without
the politics thrown in it.” Well, Haley and
the people who think like her simply need
to stop being such whiny babies.
Art has always been political. Music has
never existed separate from political, social
commentary. Maybe Haley has never heard
Merle Haggard sing the lines, “After a soldier
fights, should we read him his new rights?
There’s not that many to read anymore.
Where’s all the freedom that we’re fightin’
for?” I wonder if Haley knows that the classic
American song “Yankee Doodle” itself has
political roots. Or maybe she’s just selective
about whom she wants to criticize. Maybe
Haley is just another one of the snowflakes
that her boss constantly takes jabs at,
but he hasn’t realized as much. Let’s not
pretend that the arts exist isolated from
current events, because art is an expression
of life and life is as varied as the music
that’s out there.
It is ironic that an ambassador chosen
by a party known for constantly slashing
funding for the arts is online criticizing the
message in the arts. If the industry decides
to be political during its biggest celebration,
does anyone really have the right to tell it
to stop? No. Nothing about the freedom of
expression states that it’s limited to people
in a certain profession, income bracket or
from a specific political ideology. Now,
do people like Haley also get upset when
conservative celebrities speak out? Did
Haley speak out against Hank Williams, Jr.
when he called President Obama a Muslim
who hates the military? I wonder where
Haley’s outrage was when Ted Nugent
threatened President Obama and Hillary
Clinton. Haley is a hypocrite of the worst
kind and needs to stop spreading the idea
that being a celebrity makes you unworthy
of a political opinion, especially when that
opinion contradicts your personal views.
Let the Grammys have their night. It’s
an exclusive party for artists brave enough
to take a chance on a creative career and
fortunate enough to have made it. If their
political opinions can ruin your day, then
toughen up. Not everyone in the world
agrees with you. •
One Year In, Trump Seems to Be Doing a
Darn Good Job… If You’re a Legal Citizen
By Duane Plank
So I am still tooling around in my kid’s Honda
Civic, as he kiped my Mini-van about 15 months
ago, as he attends music festivals and similartype
events in and around the environs of Santa
Barbara, chauffeuring around his posse. He and
his buddy descended on the mansion Friday
night, caught me a little off-guard, as they were
attending a music soiree in LA. He had to hit the
floor in the master bedroom, because my dump
was going through a bit of renovation and the
furniture was askew.
Anyway, mentioning this because the kid’s car
that I am driving is a Honda hybrid. Doing my best
to save the world and all. And it sports a Bernie
Saunders bumper sticker. Kid became politically
motivated when Sanders made his cheated run at
the 2016 Dem presidential nomination.
If you pay any attention, you may remember
that the nomination was rigged by the entrenched,
old-line Dems for the skow Hil Clinton, against the
upstart Sanders…as she was expected to trounce
whichever Republican garnered the nomination on
the way to busting the glass ceiling and becoming
the first woman POTUS in the good-old-US-of
A. Girl power. How did that work out?
Mention this because a recent poll -- because
why not float polls two years in advance? -- noted
that the pathetic Dems have apparently listed the
fossil Sanders as the second choice today to nab
the 2020 nomination. He trailed the number one
relic Joe Biden. Also mentioned in the poll was
two-time loser Hillary Clinton, author of the
tome What Happened, which finally showed up
on my doorstep courtesy of the Amazon drones.
She was number three in the poll. Took Amazon
two weeks to get me the Trump book Fire and
Fury, but I did receive way-too-many emails
from the Amazon god zillionaires expressing
their remorse for the delay in the delivery of
my books.
Shockingly, Congresswoman Mad Maxine
Waters, who has incredibly become very wealthy
after she started her career in politics (how the
heck did that happen?) is not considered a viable
candidate for the presidency in 2020. Mad
Max has recently toned down her incoherent
diatribes against President 45, though she and
a few Lib losers were threatening to boycott
Trump’s this past Tuesday evening State of the
Union Address.
Nice! Stay home, or in some other paid-for
domicile, and not support the…elected…president
of our country. Someone should investigate Mad
Max’s finances, BTW.
And Trump throws out a plan to help the
illegals, Dreamers, whatever, to get a path
towards citizenship, and Schumer and Pelosi,
who probably hadn’t even read the deal, cry
foul. Resist, resist. What programs are you
proposing, my leftist brethren, other than the
garbage of victimization?
Finally, since I have two jobs, I am always
amused when the hardly-working DACA freeloaders
can take time out of their busy days
and protest. At Disneyland. Last Tuesday. Me,
no time to protest. Them? The best and the
brightest, all college grads, according to the
blowhards on CNN. Disneyland? Really?
Adios to the Dreamers. •
dispatched the Jacksonville Jaguars and
their top-ranked defense this season.
Even still, it’s not the team on the other
side of the ball that the Patriots concern
themselves with and that in itself could
be the reason for the team’s prolonged
success. “I think they have their strengths,
but we have ours,” Brady continued on.
“It’s going to come down to who plays
the best and that starts with being who’s
the most prepared.”
No other quarterback in NFL history
has ever played in eight Super Bowls.
This weekend, at the ripe young age of
40, Brady will become the first ever and
maybe the last ever to do so. Perhaps the
most important thing that has fueled the
quarterback’s decade-and-a-half-long run
is preparation. The drama and controversy
that has been mixed in between has
certainly made it easier to root against
Brady and the Patriots, but when it comes
down to X’s and O’s, New England
naturally has a distinct advantage no
matter how old the quarterback or how
athletically gifted the team.
Now, as Brady prepares for his third
Super Bowl appearance in the last four
years, the outcome of the game has almost
been painstakingly decided before it has
even been played. When Brady’s on the
field, people expect him to win. He has
been a dominant force in the NFL for 17
years now. In the most important game
of the year, even Patriots detractors feel
as though the ending is predetermined.
The only thing that can seemingly take
him down is a remarkable helmet catch
or maybe just Eli Manning himself.
Fortunately for Brady, Eli’s not suiting up
in Minnesota this week. No matter what
the score of the game or how much time
left on the clock, Brady consistently finds
a way to win. Just ask the Atlanta Falcons.
Twenty-five points wasn’t a big enough
cushion in the second half of play. Unless
they have a miraculous play to draw up
in the huddle, Philadelphia certainly has
its hands full come game day.
Yes, Tom Brady and the Patriots are
going to the Super Bowl again. You’ve
heard it before and quite frankly, it’s
getting rather disgusting to talk about year
in and year out. But just as the Patriots
have worn down fans of the NFL, they
have also worn down their opponents.
The Philadelphia Eagles are next to
face off against Belichick and Brady in
a championship game. That coach and
quarterback are certainly no stranger to
big games. That reason alone gives the
initial advantage to New England, no
matter the eventual outcome of the game
on Sunday night. – Aserrao6@yahoo.com
| @UpandAdam6 •