Well, the Patriots of New England (Although the Patriots are without influential player Rob Gronkowski due to back injury) have won back the Super Bowl & the Vince Lombardi trophy from the Denver Broncos after beating Matt Ryan & the Falcons of Atlanta, Georgia over in Houston, Texas (Host of Super Bowl LI) meaning that both coach Bill Belichick & 39 year old quarterback Tom Brady (Who sat out the 1st 4 games of the season due to suspension in wake of the Deflategate scandal) have won 5 Super Bowls altogether out of 7 attempts (Although they lost to the New York Giants on both occasions in Super Bowls XLII & XLVI) after a miraculous comeback ever with 31 unanswered points to down the Falcons with a match winning touchdown scored by James White during overtime in which Super Bowl LI was the 1st Super Bowl to be played at overtime when the scores were locked at 28 all so here is the news report of Super Bowl LI from Stuff News:
Tom Brady led one of the greatest comebacks in sports history highlighted by an unbelievable Julian Edelman catch that helped lift New England from a 25-point hole against the Atlanta Falcons to the Patriots' unprecedented 5th Super Bowl victory, the 1st ever in overtime.
The Patriots scored 19 points in the final quarter, including a pair of 2-point conversions, then marched relentlessly to James White's 2-yard touchdown run in overtime to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28.
Brady, the 1st quarterback with five Super Bowl rings, guided the Patriots (17-2) through a tiring Atlanta defense for fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 6-yard pass to Danny Amendola and a 1-yard run by White, which came with 57 seconds remaining in regulation. White ran for the first 2-pointer and Amendola did the deed with a reception on the second.
Brady, winning Super Bowl MVP for a record fourth-time, finished 43 for 62, the most attempts in Super Bowl history, for 466 yards, also a record, and two touchdowns.
"You know, we all brought each other back," Brady said. "We never felt out of it. It was a tough battle. They have a great team. I give them a lot of credit. We just made a few more plays than them."
Before the stunning rally - New England already held the biggest comeback in the final period when it turned around a 10-point deficit to beat Seattle two years ago - the Falcons (13-6) appeared poised to take their first NFL championship in 51 seasons. Having never been in such a pressurised environment, their previously staunch pass rush disappeared, they stumbled on offence and Brady tore them apart.
"Deflategate" far behind them, Brady and coach Bill Belichick won their 25th postseason game, by far a record. The Falcons added to Atlanta's long history of pro sports frustration.
Belichick became the first coach with five Super Bowl crowns.
The Patriots won the coin toss for overtime and it was no contest. Brady completed six passes against an overmatched Falcons secondary. A pass interference call took the ball to the 2, and White scooted to his right and barely over the goal line.
His teammates streamed off the sideline to engulf White as confetti streamed down from the NRG Stadium rafters.
It was almost an impossible dream for the Patriots a bit earlier. But helped by Matt Ryan's fumble on a sack, a Edelman's catch off of a defender's shoe, and Brady's passing, they never stopped coming.
White scored a hat trick of touchdowns and had 14 receptions for 110 yards, but Brady hit 7 different receivers.
Until the Patriots took charge with their late surge, league MVP Ryan was outplaying Brady. It didn't last.
Atlanta's string of touchdowns on its opening drive ended at eight, though Devonta Freeman sprinted for 37 yards on the Falcons' first offensive play. The drive was stunted when Ryan was sacked by Trey Flowers, New England's leader in that category.
Then it was Atlanta's D that went sacks-happy, getting two on the Patriots' next drive in what would be a scoreless opening quarter. Who expected that? Well, New England has not scored a point in the first 15 minutes in Brady's seven Super Bowls.
It sure looked as if the Patriots would get on the board immediately in the second period as Brady and Edelman connected twice for 40 yards. But Blount's fumble turned the momentum to the Falcons, who then took their biggest lead in a Super Bowl, yeah, we know, they have been here only twice, on Freeman's 5-yard run to cap a quick 71-yard drive on which Jones came alive.
Jones showed why he is an All-Pro receiver with a tough leaping catch over the middle for 19 yards, then got open on the sideline for 23. Freeman did the rest.
Before New England could catch its breath, Ryan had the Falcons up by 14. Using the no-huddle attack to perfection, he threw for 51 yards on a 52-yard drive, hitting Hooper with a pinpoint pass in the left side of the end zone.
Then Brady was victimized by his own poor decision, a rarity on the big stage. Atlanta was called for defensive holding three times on third downs to keep the drive alive. From the Falcons 23, under pressure Brady tried to squeeze a throw to Danny Amendola. Alford stepped in and sprinted, then glided 82 yards for the second-longest pick-6 in a Super Bowl - and Brady's first.
Shockingly, it was 21-0.
New England gathered its wits for a 52-yard drive to Stephen Gostkowski's 41-yard field goal. Still, it was 21-3 when Lady Gaga took the stage.
There was smoke hanging over the field when both teams had three-and-outs to open the third quarter. It was a mirage regarding Ryan and Co., who marched 85 yards to Coleman's 6-yard TD catch on a swing pass. While New England scored the next nine points on James White's 5-yard TD reception - the extra point was missed by Gostkowski, who later made a 33-yard field goal.
And the 2017 Six Nations rugby championship season sponsored by RBS (The Royal Bank Of Scotland) is now officially begun in which Scotland (Coached by Kiwi Vern Cotter & captained by halfback Greig Laidlaw) upset Ireland (Coached by fellow Kiwi Joe Schmidt & led by hooker Rory Best) 27 - 22 in considerable fashion at Murrayfield over in Edinburgh as Scotland reclaim the Centenary Quaich for the 1st time since 2013, the last time they beat Ireland because this was the 1st time since 2006 that Scotland won their opening Six Nations match & also the 1st time since 2012 that Ireland lost their opening Six Nations match while Stuart Hogg became Scotland's highest try scorer in the Six Nations & of course that Ireland scored the 1st bonus point in the history of the Six Nations while England (Coached by Australian Eddie Jones & captained by hooker Dylan Hartley) opened up their 2017 Six Nations rugby title defence with a 3 point victory over rivals France (Coached by Guy Noves & led by fellow hooker Guilhem Guirado) extending their winning run to 15 (Although they remained intact since the Second City Saint or Savior of Eddie Jones (Who doesn't sport a black eye anymore because he is recovering from it) took over because the winning streak began when England defeated Uruguay in their final pool game during the 2015 Rugby World Cup because they couldn't advance after losing to both Wales & Australia in Pool A which is the pool of death because the last time England lost was against the Wallabies which cost their previous coach Stuart Lancaster his job), now with their longest winning run while new lock Arthur Iturria made his test debut for the French and finally, Wales (Coached by Rob Howley who is filling in for British & Irish Lions coach, New Zealander Warren Gatland & captained by lock Alun-Wyn Jones) defeated Italy (Coached by Irishman Conor O'Shea & led by number 8 Sergio Parisse) to begin their campaign with a 33-7 knife-edged win with Italy opened up the scoring 1st & led 7 - 3 at halftime after the self proclaimed Welsh playboy from Toulon, fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked a penalty before Wales in the 2nd half, scored 28 unanswered points with tries scored by centre Jonathan Davies, wingers Liam Williams & George North (Who had an injury concern) with Halfpenny scoring all 3 conversions & adding 3 more penalties to their tally.
And finally, yesterday was Waitangi day (Formerly New Zealand day from 1974 to 76 because it is the late reggae star Bob Marley's birthday also because he had lived until his passing in 1981 (So that was 36 years ago) so the treaty was signed on the 6th of February way back in 1840 so I had a great time with Pops so we had fish & wedges for dinner (While I had chicken with spaghetti pasta, beans & red capsicums for dinner on Sunday) while I had a non alcoholic punch drink as well as a lemon flavoured water & for dessert we had fruit salad & a trifle so we have been having wraps for lunch as well as smoothies not only because I had them but I had to watch the Super Bowl on TV during Waitangi day whether it was on TVNZ 1 or TVNZ Duke.
So that is my 7th blog of the year 2017 (MMXVII) & my 87th overall (Only 14 to go until I reach 100 which is the century).
P.S. Former Springbok halfback Joost van der Westhuizen has passed away aged 45 so rest in peace (RIP) or should I say rest in pieces...all thoughts, prayers & condolences to his family who amassed 89 caps for his country from 1993 until 2003 because he managed to stop the late Jonah Lomu from scoring a try during his team's triumph in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final (Then in 1995, disaster struck as New Zealand (Which featured rugby's 1st global superstar, Jonah Lomu) failed to regain the crown (With several players fell victim to food poisoning with the exception of captain Sean Fitzpatrick and the Brooke brothers of Robin & Zinzan), losing to debutants and hosts South Africa in the final in which united the host country as well as their leader Nelson Mandela).
Joost van der Westhuizen
1971 - 2017
And it was yesterday that I went with Poppa that we went to Mitre 10 & The Warehouse to get some stuff before we had an amazing lunch where we had a wrap pizza & it tasted so really good in the process then we moved the table back to the old barbecue area as well as doing garden work & always went to Nan's grave because we went in a orange Citroen (I always tell Pops that he has been isolated, any lateral passes & fumbles on the way) & had dessert before heading back to my flat at home.
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