For The Love Of Port

I'm a fan of neither team nor do I hold a grudge against either so really have no favorite.

I did open a 2000 Warres LBV about an hour ago. I'm sure I'll see another bottle or two at the party we're going to. Enjoy!

I have no horse in this race and truly am hoping for a very competitive game. It would be great NOT to watch a blow out that is virtually over by half time. I hate when that happens.

As to Port wine ... I have a Warre's 2001 LBV for game time.

I don't really care, either, but I'm rooting for San Francisco. They're in Seattle's division, and so far they're 5-0 in Super Bowls. If they win it's good for the NFC West, and might as well keep that streak going.

Conversely, it would nice to be able to see Ray Lewis retire with one ring. That being said, IF I was a betting man, my money would be on SF.

Been rooting against the 49er's since the early-mid 1970's when they played against the then Los Angeles Rams. John Brody was the quarterback for the 9er's and Roman Gabriel for the Rams. Always thought that was a great quarterback name. Anyways, can't root for the 49er's. Opened a 1952 Moriera Colheita for the game.

What a game. Big day for Vegas!

Made ribs on the smoker with a couple bottles of '09 Altano.

A deliberate safety? Are you kidding me? What a sissy way to end the game. Too bad the 49ers didn't bother to show up for the 1st 1/2 - could have been a much different game!

Carl D wrote:A deliberate safety? Are you kidding me? What a sissy way to end the game.

You could make a pretty good case for that safety winning the game for the Ravens. Koch used 8 out of the 12 remaining seconds on that play, which meant that San Francisco didn't even get to run a hail mary. A good play in my opinion.

There were 3 bad non-calls near the end of the game, all in favor of the Ravens. One very blatant interference in the end zone on the 2nd to last drive, the interference/holding that the announcers at least talked about on the last drive that was also pretty blatant but not likely to be called on the "final" play of the game, and then an extraordinarily blatant hold on the deliberate safety that was completely ignored by everyone. (A defensive lineman wrapped his arms around a S.F. rusher from behind and basically tackled him.)

+1

+2..............and how about Ed Reed being offsides on SFs 2-point conversion try? Another questionable call. But why, With the 6'4" Randy Moss did SF not toss a jump ball on one of those 4 plays??

What a great game though. The 2000 Warres was terrific and have a lot left...our host had a lot of very nice beers so no one really got to drink much port (kids today don't have their priorities straight!!)

I wagered and lost a bottle of 2009 Delas Freres Cote Rotie Seigneur de Maugiron and drank some 2007 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Estate Riesling, which was much better than the game outcome.

I've long despised Randy Moss and his lousy work ethic, while still respecting his talent.

Agreed with Roy's sentiments with respect to Randy Moss - and his self-proclamation last week of being the greatest wide receiver of all time could not have been more lacking in discretion. Notwithstanding that, his point is very arguable in its own right.

As an aside, if I had to vote for greatest ever running back, I would choose Marcus Allen.

Ray Barnes wrote:Agreed with Roy's sentiments with respect to Randy Moss - and his self-proclamation last week of being the greatest wide receiver of all time could not have been more lacking in discretion. Notwithstanding that, his point is very arguable in its own right.

I think Jerry Rice said it correctly. Randy Moss is arguably the most talented wide receiver to ever play in the NFL. However, that doesn't make him the best. Moss only plays when he feels like it, and sometimes even then his effort is lackluster. I saw some classic Moss lack of effort plays in this Super Bowl, one of which was a pass to Moss as the primary receiver. It wasn't perfectly thrown, so Moss just gave up on it. Jerry Rice would out-work you every day of the week, all season long, and all through the off-season as well. I don't think anyone has ever matched his work ethic, and that's why he's still the best wide receiver of all time.

However, as Jerry Rice also pointed out, Calvin Johnson has near-Moss-like talent and a near-Rice-like work ethic. He could some day eclipse Rice as the best to have ever played. But that determination is still a few years away.

Roy Hersh wrote:I've long despised Randy Moss and his lousy work ethic, while still respecting his talent.

I actually enjoyed is tenure in New England. I can see how it was frustrating for him at times when all your role is to be double covered for someone else to make the catch. In recent years, he lacked the speed to warrant the double coverage, but as a player, he is top 5 to play his position ever; Jerry Rice will always be number 1.

Like him or hate him, they didn't come up with the phrased "You got Moss'd" when a defender gets beat on a pass for nothing.

Roy Hersh wrote:Conversely, it would nice to be able to see Ray Lewis retire with one ring. That being said, IF I was a betting man, my money would be on SF.

Well, he retires with two now, the previous from Super Bowl XXXV.

For some unknown reason (given that I am British and living in the UK) I have watched the Super Bowl in the middle of the night for approximately 20 out of the past 25 years.

The pattern has been the same in most years: "I'll watch the beginning and then go to bed". "ok, I'll watch until half time and, if it's close, I'll stay up and watch the next quarter". Yawn, snore, grunt, open eyes momentarily, snore, "Eh?", "oh sh1t I've missed the third quarter". "What's the score?" {decision point: stay up or go to bed? Answer always = stay up}. Then I sleep through the last quarter three years out of four.

This year I woke up towards the end of the third thinking "I must stay awake, I'm about to see the greatest comeback in the history of world sport". I fell asleep 30 seconds later and heard the result on the morning news. I made the right decision.

Can't wait for next year

As far as missed calls, the referees let the players play for the most part. Many non-calls, even on the 49er's side. There was a roughing the passer on Flacco and another late hit on him out of bounds in the 4th quarter. Several non-calls of pass interference not called on the 9ers as well. I think the refs were pretty consistent in their call.

What a game. Big day for Vegas!

Not that great. It would have been best if the 49er's won but didn't cover the spread. A lot of money was paid out to the Raven's bettors. When the bets started, the prop bets for a safety occuring was 900:1. Later it dropped to 450:1, but I understand more than a few bets were won on that one.

Eric Ifune wrote:There was a roughing the passer on Flacco and another late hit on him out of bounds in the 4th quarter.

Unless there was a second instance, Flacco wasn't yet out of bounds on that particular play that the announcers talked about. He was definitely on his way out of bounds, but he was still fully in-bounds when the defender launched and the impact occurred before any part of Flacco touched the ground out of bounds. You might try to argue QB safety, but it doesn't apply as Flacco had tucked the ball to run and was out of the pocket. At that point he's a runner just like anyone else. But I think the play I'm thinking of occurred in the first half, so we might be talking about different plays.

I don't remember which way it was called, but there was a very suspicious running into the kicker called on a punt. I'm not even sure the kicker was touched until he fell on top of the defender who was laying on the ground under him. Oscar-worthy performance by the kicker on that play, and the idiot announcers were debating whether or not it should be called roughing or running into the kicker!

The uncalled pass interference on the 2nd-to-last S.F. possession should have resulted in a 1st down from half the distance (which would have been about the 5, as I recall). Instead S.F. had to try for it on 4th down and Ed Reed was arguably offsides in disrupting that play. Given 4 more downs like they should have had I think they'd have scored, but then the Ravens would have had last possession with the chance to win.

I won't argue overall fairness in the calls, as that was probably pretty close. It usually is, and the NFL (and sports writers) like to point that out as if it makes it okay. What matters is fairness on key plays, and those definitely favored the Ravens at the end of the game when it mattered the most. I like that they try to let the players resolve it on the field, but the refs do still need to enforce the rules when the violation is clear. The uncalled holding on the intentional safety was laughably blatant and obvious, for example. S.F. probably should have declined the penalty, but it still should have been called.

A total of $98.9 million was bet on the Superbowl in Nevada sports books, a new record. A lot of money came late on the 49er's so the casino take was an average 7.3%. In recent past years money was lost only one year in 2008, the first Giants upset of the Pats. The sports books lost 2.8%. The best take was 17% in 2005 when the Pats beat the Eagles.