Sports is the only form of entertainment for viewers in which the outcome is different every single time a contest is played.
Super Bowl LI was the only championship game that felt exactly like the election.
Disclaimer: I’ve been a Patriots fan all my life. This was the greatest win, comeback, and Super Bowl game I’ve ever watched.
This game had all the ingredients of a proxy war between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump is great friends with the now five-time Super Bowl winning Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick, and owner Robert Kraft.
Everyone planned to root against the Pats because of that friendship (and the Pats’ history of winning bigly). Meanwhile, Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, who was a strong advocate for Hillary, feuded with Trump on Twitter after Lewis called Trump an “illegitimate” president. He even boycotted his inauguration.
Trump’s faith in the Patriots, like his chances of winning the election, never wavered. The Patriots were favored by 3 points heading into the game.
But then came the first half kickoff. While there was no scoring in the first quarter, the Falcons manhandled Brady in the pocket. Falcons QB Matt Ryan, who was awarded the previous night with the NFL MVP, shredded the New England defense, putting up 14 points (7 off a LaGarrette Blount fumble). Then came the pick-six. Brady was picked off by Falcons cornerback Robert Alford and strutted 82-yards to the house to put Atlanta up 21-0. The Falcons had victory in hand.
The first half of the game was basically the three presidential debates. To most, Clinton made Trump look almost foolish. At that point, everyone thought the Clinton would win the election.
I predicted during halftime that people supporting the Falcons were getting cocky and that, like Clinton, they would forget to make a campaign stop in Wisconsin and lose.
I won’t lie to you. I was in the doldrums during this time.
This continued into the third quarter where the Falcons extended their lead to 28-3.
But then, Brady & Belichick went to work. Just like Trump, they were all over the place. Brady spread the ball to seven different receivers with two touchdowns with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Trump won seven battleground states: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
Remember that last one, Wisconsin.
As you know, the Patriots won in overtime, 34-28, with the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. While this wasn’t the biggest upset ever in sports, there are just too many parallels between this game and the election.
For one, with 9:00 left in the fourth quarter, the Falcons had a 99.6 percent chance of winning the game. This was the night before the election when basically every pundit said that Clinton would defeat Trump, the only question was by how much?
At no point in the game did New England lead, except for the very end. Just like Trump. Clinton had a 90 percent-plus chance of winning the election.
And like that, it’s over. The New England Patriots are Super Bowl champions and Donald Trump is the president.
Bring on the tears.
