So I finished at 5-6 picking winners in the playoffs, 2-8-1 against the spread. I'm extremely happy. Not with my picks of course, but that my Pats have won 2 out of 3 Super Bowls. I wouldn't call them a dynasty at this point, because they just missed the playoffs last year, but they aren't far off. Of course, as has been pointed out by someone else whom I don't recall, this is pretty cruel fate. We in Boston live and die with the Red Sox, and like the Patriots. People in Miami live and die with the Dolphins, and only get into following the Marlins when things are going well. The Red Sox haven't won a World Series in 86 years, the Dolphins choke every year, the Patriots win twice in three years, and the Marlins win twice in 7. wtf?
A few quick thoughts on the game: If Vinatieri had hit those first two field goals, it would have been a blowout, I'm convinced of it. If Carolina doesn't go for two points those two times, it's 50-50 as to who wins. Delhomme looked absolutely atrocious for 27 minutes, but after going through that and still being in the game, he settled down and played great; he completed less than 50% of his passes, but was around 10 yards per attempt, which is really good. Sure his receivers and the Pats' secondary helped him out at times, but he's a legitimate QB. And the parallels between the end of this game and the end of Super Bowl XXXVI are really eerie.
Here's a few sites I found via Marginal Revolution, a cool economics-oriented website. A teacher gives his kids the first half of some proverbs to complete, here are the results. A contest was held for the wackiest warning labels. If you thought that economics didn't tackle the big issues, you were wrong.