SB50: The underdog won

Fausto Coppi is a legend in the sport of cycling, whose dominance bookended the Second World War. Nicknamed the “Il Campionissimo,” the Champions of Champions, he won two Tour de France’s and five Giro d’Italias and a slew of other one day races. But what I remember most about him is a quote he said in the later part of his career.

“Age and treachery can overcome youth and skill.”

Now, some folks may not like the word “treachery” but sports is all about treachery. In basketball, a fake is a staple move and its treachery. In the NFL, treachery abounds and if successful, can mean a W or a L but in Super Bowl 50, two Sundays ago, there was little treachery, but there was arguably the best defense ever to play the game, and a quarterback deemed too old and too lucky to play in the championships-

His name– Peyton Manning a 39-year-old, the man who the Indianapolis Colts replaced by a younger man four years ago, the man who had four neck fusion surgeries, the man who was benched midseason this season by the Broncos staff. The same man whose number was called in the second half of the last game of the regular season to save the game and the home field advantage and reclaimed the quarterback position. He was also the man who was supposed too old and too slow to win it all.

Opposite was a young 26-year-old Cam Newton, the QB who was accurate with his throws, could run like a running back and whose team, the Carolina Panthers, had only lost once this season. Newton was supposed to be the face of the NFL’s future.

But the Panthers choked and withered against the stifling defense of the Broncos. The Super Bowl is a cruel game. Unlike the NBA Finals or the MLB’s World Series, where the championships is a seven-game series, the Super Bowl is a one and done championships. For 60 minutes, all the marbles are played and emotions are high. Team tactics  are revised during the tense times if they are not working well. And the best team who had luck on their side, was going to win.

The SB50 for was a testament for the supposed over-the-hill guy, the people who are given up for dead. This is about the terrapin and the hare. This is about the underdog, the guys and gals on the wrong side of forty.  Author Malcolm Gladwell couldn’t have said it better in his book, “David and Goliath.”

I wish I could have celebrated Kobe Bryant on his last year, but Jim Buss never surrounded 24 with the right people.

Whether Manning will retire into the sunset or be back next year, or whether he allegedly used PED’s, or whether he allegedly molested a female training staff when he was a college star, is beside the point.

Year 2016 is not the Year of the Monkey. It's the Year of the Underdog.