The Shenoa Report
February 2, 2020
Groundhogs Day
Super Bowl LIV
I’ll never forget where I was when I heard the news. I was on my way home from work, listening to sports radio. The announcer came on after a commercial and said, “This just in, breaking news, Eli Manning will be announcing his retirement this Friday.” What followed was, surprise, sadness, and also a bit of relief.
Let’s rewind. It all started back in 1997 when I decided to become an Indianapolis Colts fan. I remember watching a Colts game with my high school sweetheart in his parents living room. The Colts were TERRIBLE, and I really thought they had no fans, so I was going to be a Colts fan and I declared it that day. The boy asked me, “What about the Giants?” I told him that I would always be a Giants fan first but the Colts really needed my help and they are in the AFC while the Giants are in the NFC, so it would work. He really couldn’t say anything about supporting a bad team… he was a Lions fan.
In 1998 the Colts drafted Peyton Manning with the first pick of the draft and my life was forever changed. I followed Peyton’s professional carrier closely and in 2004 I remember cutting out newspaper articles of Eli Manning being drafted by the Giants. I also remember when they first put in Eli and benched Kurt Warner. The Giants season was already over at that point but I still remember being so upset about it. I loved Kurt Warner and even though Eli was a Manning, he couldn’t possibly be as good as his brother. He was new and inexperienced, and why couldn’t Kurt finish out the season since it was already a lost cause?
Years went by and I became very fond of Eli, almost as much as Peyton. Heading into the playoffs of the 2007 season I was sure that Super Bowl 42 was going to be a Manning Bowl. When the Colts were knocked out of the playoffs by the Chargers in the divisional round, I was devastated. “Well, I guess I still have the Giants” I thought, though my hopes were not at all high. The Giants would beat the Cowboys in the divisional round and then the Packers in overtime in the Championship round. Eli was clutch in all the postseason games leading up to the Super Bowl. You all remember Super Bowl 42. The undefeated Patriots going up against the 10-6 Giants. You remember the David Tyree catch after what you thought would surely be a tremendous sack of Eli, but somehow he broke out of it to complete the pass late in the game. And then there was the Plaxico Burress touchdown in the left hand corner of the endzone. Eli Manning and the New York Giants had beaten the formerly unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl to spoil their perfect season.
Fast forward 4 years to the Giants Patriots Super Bowl rematch. Everyone said the Giants got lucky the first time. The Patriots were better and stronger this time around and there was no way for the Giants to beat them twice in the Super Bowl. Then came Eli Clutch Manning and the rest of the Giants and they beat the Patriots again! Hah!
There were low times in Eli Manning’s career too. Even my mom threw some shade, posting a cartoon on my facebook of what a conversation at the Manning Thanksgiving dinner table would be like. Archie Manning to Eli, “Eli will you pass the ham? Oh second thought you better let Peyton do it.” Eli had highs and lows as a Giant.
John Mara said of him on the day of his retirement, “Once a Giant, always a Giant.” Eli did him one better, saying, “Once a Giant, only a Giant.” I will miss his determination, his two minute drills when everything seemed to fall into place, his silly commercials with Peyton and especially his Manning face. Mara said no one else in a Giants uniform will wear the number 10. Eli will be inducted into the Giants ring of honor next season. It’s the end of an era.
Now that I’ve talked about what is important to me in the football world I suppose I should talk about the SUPER BOWL!!!! But first, a recap of the Conference Championship.
Titans @ Chiefs 24-35
The Chiefs needed to contain Derrick Henry to have any chance to advance to the Super Bowl, and that’s just what they did. Henry was held to only 69 yards after rushing for 588 yards in the past three games. Kansas City simply outplayed the Titans. Patrick Mahomes had 3 passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown to Ryan Tannehill’s two passing touchdowns. Kansas City had 404 total yards to Tennessee's 295. THE CHIEFS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS!!!!!
Packers @ 49ers 20-37
San Francisco’s Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns in this lopsided win over Green Bay. Nick Bosa was in Aaron Rodgers face all game as the 49ers defense shut out the Packers in the first half. There would be no heroic comeback from Rogers, not this time. Last year the 49ers were 4-12, this year they are heading to the Super Bowl.
Sunday, February 2nd
Groundhogs Day
Super Bowl LIV, the 54th Super Bowl
Chiefs VS 49ers
Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
National Anthem: Demi Lovato
Kickoff: 6:30pm
TV announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Chris Myers and Mike Pereira
Halftime show: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira
Cost of 30-second commercial: $5.6 million
Super Bowl 54 will be televised nationally on FOX.
If you don’t have cable or you have Dish Network, who continues to be in a fight with FOX, there are other ways to see the game.
We use a live TV streaming service; specifically YouTubeTV on an Apple TV. Its WAY less expensive than cable or dish, we get more channels, and we are able to watch all the sports. Another streaming option is HuluLive. Both YouTubeTV and HuluLive are available on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Playstation4, Xbox One just to name a few. Another option is the Fox Sports app, which usually requires cable credentials, but is not needed today for the Super Bowl. If you don’t have any of the above at your fingertips you can also catch the game on your computer by going to nfl.com or yahoo.com/sports.
This is the 10th Super Bowl write up from the Shenoa Report! Even better, we don’t have to watch the Patriots this year!!!!
This year I actually like both teams. I just want it to ge a good game, and I think it will be. This game will be pretty much the best defense going against the best offense. Patrick Mahomes is by far the better quarterback in this matchup but Nick Bosa is probably the best pass rusher in the NFL right now. I’d like to see the Chiefs win because my Uncle Steve is a HUGE KC fan, he and my aunt are actually in Miami now taking in all the festivities. I even bought a KC shirt in his honor, which I will wear this evening. If the 49ers win I’ll be happy too, they are the first team to have a female coach on their staff, and I think that’s pretty cool. Shout out to Katie Sowers!
I’m picking the Chiefs for the win, and even if I get this pick wrong, I will still have a better season record than all of the NFL Insiders on Showtime’s TV show Inside the NFL!
Thanks for reading #theshenoareport ! Until next season….
PS Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning and predicts an early spring!
National Anthem: Demi Lovato
Kickoff: 6:30pm
TV announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Chris Myers and Mike Pereira
Halftime show: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira
Cost of 30-second commercial: $5.6 million
Super Bowl 54 will be televised nationally on FOX.
If you don’t have cable or you have Dish Network, who continues to be in a fight with FOX, there are other ways to see the game.
We use a live TV streaming service; specifically YouTubeTV on an Apple TV. Its WAY less expensive than cable or dish, we get more channels, and we are able to watch all the sports. Another streaming option is HuluLive. Both YouTubeTV and HuluLive are available on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Playstation4, Xbox One just to name a few. Another option is the Fox Sports app, which usually requires cable credentials, but is not needed today for the Super Bowl. If you don’t have any of the above at your fingertips you can also catch the game on your computer by going to nfl.com or yahoo.com/sports.
This is the 10th Super Bowl write up from the Shenoa Report! Even better, we don’t have to watch the Patriots this year!!!!
This year I actually like both teams. I just want it to ge a good game, and I think it will be. This game will be pretty much the best defense going against the best offense. Patrick Mahomes is by far the better quarterback in this matchup but Nick Bosa is probably the best pass rusher in the NFL right now. I’d like to see the Chiefs win because my Uncle Steve is a HUGE KC fan, he and my aunt are actually in Miami now taking in all the festivities. I even bought a KC shirt in his honor, which I will wear this evening. If the 49ers win I’ll be happy too, they are the first team to have a female coach on their staff, and I think that’s pretty cool. Shout out to Katie Sowers!
I’m picking the Chiefs for the win, and even if I get this pick wrong, I will still have a better season record than all of the NFL Insiders on Showtime’s TV show Inside the NFL!
Thanks for reading #theshenoareport ! Until next season….
PS Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning and predicts an early spring!
