Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

When we show up, we win.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Motown is Joe-Town!

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

In my day, never was longer.

Cole is on a roll !

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

Donald Jessica Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

You are here: Home / Sports / Congratulations to the Packers

Congratulations to the Packers

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I hate that the Steelers lost, but congratulations to the Packers. I’ve said for two weeks I felt the Packers were the better team, but you still hope for the best. The Steelers have no one to blame but themselves, and losing was a team effort. You simply can not give up 21 points on turnovers to a dangerous team like the Packers and expect to win.

At any rate, it was nice that the game wasn’t marred by a bunch of shit talk in the preceding weeks, a bunch of bad behavior during the game, and officials who feel the need to make themselves the center of the story. And again, congrats to the Packers!

Reader Interactions

161Comments

  5. 5.

    Steve

    Yes very classy John.

    Farewell, NFL. May your better angels win out and bring you back in September, 2011.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    You are very gracious, John.

    Um, do you think we could have a picture of Tunch and the piglets now plz? Kthxbai.

  15. 15.

    stickler

    Have to say, the Packers earned this. After that first quarter, the Stillers ought to have gone home. They didn’t.

    And, let’s all be honest, how often do you get a good game out of the Superbowl? This one was decided in the last minute. Nicely done (!), NFL.

  16. 16.

    lamh32

    Congrats Packers!

    Not for nothing but I gotta say I have 2 fav commercials the Adrian Brody beer commercial (I find Brody oddly sexy???) and my #1 fav was the Detroit commercial with Eminem!

  17. 17.

    hilts

    Cole,

    This is a very classy and gracious post on your part.

    It was nice that the game wasn’t marred by a bunch of shit talk in the preceding weeks

    Thankfully, the shit talk was avoided because the Steelers sent the Jets to the showers where they belong.

    The Steelers are a great team and you can likely look forward to more Super Bowl wins in the near future.

    Thanks for the entertaining Super Bowl threads today.

  20. 20.

    Mark S.

    I still find it amazing the Packers could win a Super Bowl with virtually no running game. It almost cost them on the goal line being so one-dimensional.

  25. 25.

    Kryptik

    Graceful, John. And yeah, Packers definitely deserved that win, bar none. What impressed me was, despite letting the Steelers back in the game over the second half, they managed to tamp down for that last possession the same way they tamped down on Pittsburgh in the first quarter. Definitely made the stops when it mattered. I honestly thought the defense was breaking down after Woodson got bumped.

  29. 29.

    kideni

    John, I’m sorry for your loss. Here in Cheeseland, I do wish my neighbors would quit with the firecrackers so that my resident noise-fearing dog can chill back out. Poor thing’s beside himself with all the noise.

  30. 30.

    Yutsano

    @stuckinred: Hey, I saw your puppeh Ugga died. That’s tough dawg. Poor guy barely got a chance in the spotlight.

    Gonna go food now, be back in a few.

  34. 34.

    Batocchio

    Classy. John, I wrote this in the other thread:

    May I take a time out to say John Cole is a very gracious host, especially given the circumstances? I wouldn’t be able to put threads if the situation was reversed; I’d be catatonic. Yeah, the Steelers won twice recently, and were impressive especially in the second half, but a loss is still tough for a fan. I like the Steelers, but I love the Packers. Hell, my parents were at the Ice Bowl, and a couple of the other Lombardi championships. And the NFL threads here have been really fun, especially with all the Packers faithful.

    Thanks for giving us a place to chat. They’re two great franchises, and the Steelers will back.

  35. 35.

    Ron

    Indeed, congrats to the Packers. They clearly deserved the win. As John said, you can’t turn the ball over 3 times for 3 TDs against a good team and expect to win. That being said, I’m glad that the Steelers made a game of it and I still had hope at the 1:59 mark.

  38. 38.

    Joe Beese

    Well done, Mr. Cole. That’s the most gracious concession speech I’ve heard since McCain in November 2008.

  47. 47.

    Matt

    Very classy- now go have a drink (or six) to make you forget this ever happened (says the Pats fan still scarred by the 2007 postseason). You guys will be back next year with an o-line not held together by chewing gum and wire.

  50. 50.

    Halteclere

    I didn’t have a dog in this fight, but thought the Packers would probably come out on top going by the number of Packer jerseys in church today vs. Steeler jerseys (about 1/2 dozen to zero).

    Now all you visitors get the hell out of Dallas. I’m tired of hearing the complaining about how we handle the crappy weather (stay home and let it melt).

  55. 55.

    JD Rhoades

    Not only was that classy, John, it summed the game up in two paragraphs, while the professional sportscasters blathered on and on and on and said less.

  57. 57.

    The Commenter on BJ formerly known as arguingwithsignposts

    I wasn’t around earlier for the pre-game thread, but here’s what I would have liked to have seen from Pres. Obama re: the BillO interview:

    BillO: Mr. President, how can we be sure the Middle East will be stable after this uprising?

    Pres. Obama: Well, Bill, it’s like this: the sun goes up, the sun goes down. The moon goes up, the moon goes down … never a miscommunication.

    That would have been teh awesome.

  62. 62.

    Zifnab

    @Teri: Yes. Being only the second best team in football must strike the Steelers as a staggering defeat.

    I’m sure Ben will feel terrible as he cashes his next humongous endorsement deal check.

  63. 63.

    gbear

    If you want to get your mind off the game, Al Jazeera English is running a story right now about a family that works in the coal mines in Virginia. Seems strange to tune in for news about Cairo and see a story about American miners.

  64. 64.

    kdaug

    @Halteclere:

    Now all you visitors get the hell out of Dallas. I’m tired of hearing the complaining about how we handle the crappy weather (stay home and let it melt).

    Worse, it ain’t even Dallas, it’s Arlington.

    Sure, it’s part of the DFW metroplex, but if the stadium were in Hurst/Euless/Bedford, nobody would be saying it’s in “Dallas” – they’d all be giggling that the Superbowl was at H.E.B.

  65. 65.

    handy

    @goblue72:

    Big Ben still has less rings than Brady.

    So awesome not to see that. And on the day Brady just became the first unanimous MVP in history.

  69. 69.

    BGinCHI

    The halftime show. Wow. Just a new low in entertainment.

    Who the fuck are the Black Guy Pees?

    That was just terrible.

    Just put Randy Newman out there with his piano and let him make stuff up.

  71. 71.

    Ash Can

    You’re a good guy, John. I’m sorry the Steelers lost, but I’m delighted that the Packers won. Two great teams, and a dandy, entertaining game. Kudos all around.

  72. 72.

    hilts

    @BGinCHI:

    Just put Randy Newman out there with his piano and let him make stuff up.

    Great idea, but the NFL is way too fucking stupid to ever consider it.

  74. 74.

    4jkb4ia

    Part of being a fan is understanding when your team just failed to show up. (See: 2004 World Series. The Cardinals forgot to hit. AND Jeff Suppan got thrown out trying to steal third, which I will undyingly remember because I was in the hot dog line when it happened. That was the entire story.) I believe John that the Steelers did not, especially with the turnovers.

    It’s OK, John. Let’s hope that there is football next year at all.

  75. 75.

    RosiesDad

    Sorry for the Steelers loss, Cole, but your sentiments are very well put. It’s just a game and you are right–it was refreshing that there was no pre-game bullshit and also that the refs let them play.

    Pitchers and catchers report later on this week I think.

  78. 78.

    Nom de Plume

    it was nice that the game wasn’t marred by…officials who feel the need to make themselves the center of the story.

    Um, John, I appreciate you being a gracious loser and everything, but the officials did try to make themselves the center of the story, and once again it was in favor of the Steelers. I followed about a half-dozen live blogs of the game, and the consensus was that Pittsburgh would win because they were getting all the calls.

  79. 79.

    Cacti

    Nothing personal against the Steelers franchise.

    I just can’t help but be happy that uber-creep Roethlisberger played like shite in a Super Bowl loss.

  82. 82.

    EnfantTerrible

    Good close game between two tough and classy teams, with lots of classy fans, if these comments are any measure.

    Brett who?

  83. 83.

    Halteclere

    @kdaug

    Worse, it ain’t even Dallas, it’s Arlington.

    I’m glad I don’t have to pay the taxes for that stadium, and that I don’t have to be concerned with game-day traffic. Heck, there were not as many private jets flying over my house today heading into the Addison airport as I expect would be if the new stadium had been rebuilt at the site of the old stadium.

    But having the Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington is just some kind of wrong, and I’m not even a Cowboys fan.

  85. 85.

    Magatha

    Couldn’t get the game on my TV (no cable, and around here you need cable) so I kept track of it on the radio, at ESPN’s online gamecast, and here. Thank you John Cole!

  87. 87.

    handy

    That video screen at Cowboys Stadium was huge. It looked like from TV it could cover the length of the field below. God knows how big the electric bill is for firing that thing up.

  91. 91.

    Christian Sieber

    John Cole is a classy host as always.

    However, the thread title should be, “Does this mean I have to turn my blog green?”

  93. 93.

    Ash Can

    @BGinCHI: Halftime is when you get up and go to the kitchen and get something to eat, and fetch another beer, and mingle with the other people at the party, and make sure the kids have all had something decent to eat and haven’t just been raiding the plate of cookies that one of the moms has brought over. Who gives a crap about the show?

    Although, I must admit that, at the neighbor’s party we went to tonight, we did watch a lot of the show, and pointed and laughed at all the mistakes and flubs. The best, though, was at the end, when the mopes in the blockhead costumes came marching out. We were all roaring at that, kids and grownups alike. I commented at the end that I thought the show turned out to be a little more entertaining than had been intended.

  96. 96.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    .
    .
    YAY, soshulists win one!

    BOO, poor people lose another one –

    White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob “Jack” Lew wrote in an opinion article for The New York Times that Obama is willing to cut financing in half, saving $350 million, for community service block grants that cities and towns that allocate to grassroots groups for them to provide basic necessities for poor people.

    This is the kind of work Obama did as a community organizer at the outset of his political career, so “this cut is not easy for him,” Lew wrote.

    –

    We all hope that President Obama recovers quickly so that he can make more deals with the honorable Republican Party.
    .
    .

  97. 97.

    BGinCHI

    Dubya turns up and the Rangers lose.

    Now he’s done it to the Steelers.

    Who’s next?

    America?

    Oh, wait….

  98. 98.

    drkrick

    The BMW rich guy prison ad early in the game – was I the only one hoping it was about some Matt Taibbi-inspired program for banksters and brokers?

  99. 99.

    Cacti

    @handy:

    Indeed. Only a week out until pitchers and catchers report.

    Only a week left for the Cardinals to re-sign Albert Pujols.

    If they don’t get it done, Bill DeWitt will replace Don Denkinger as my all-time most hated sports figure.

  100. 100.

    BGinCHI

    @Ash Can: I bounced a friend’s one-month-old during it, but even that didn’t make it go away.

    I think I drank too slow in the first half.

    Rookie mistake.

    edit: By “bounced” I mean in a nice, rocking motion sort of way. I like babies.

  101. 101.

    Halteclere

    @4jkb4ia

    2004 World Series. The Cardinals forgot to hit. AND Jeff Suppan got thrown out trying to steal third

    The Cardinals were playing against a team with incredible momentum, and, instead of trying to play within themselves, slow the Redsock’s roll, etc, the Cardinals panicked early and began swinging for the fences, so to speak, on every play. Of course they failed miserably.

  104. 104.

    Poopyman

    So, when do pitchers and catchers report?

    It’s a brand new season for the Pirates! And Nationals!

    (Yes, I’m blessed to have these 2 winners as my hometown team and current local team.)

  105. 105.

    BGinCHI

    @drkrick: It was an Audi commercial, which proves my theory that those elaborate ads serve the narrative but not the product.

    The ad folks are fleecing those stupid capitalists, I mean cudlips.

  108. 108.

    burnspbesq

    @Halteclere:

    But having the Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington is just some kind of wrong

    The New York Jets and Giants play in East Rutherford, the Washington Redskins play in PG County, the Buffalo Bills play in Orchard Park, FC Dallas plays in Frisco, the Chicago Fire plays in Bridgeview, the LA Galaxy plays in Carson, the Los Angeles Angels play in Anaheim … your point would be?

  110. 110.

    Binzinerator

    That’s classy, John.

    This was one of the best superbowl games I’ve seen in years. I would have been bummed if the Packers had lost, but still proud. Good football, some brilliant moves, some unfortunate mistakes, almost always excellent playing. Good clean playing. Can’t feel bad for long about that kind of superbowl game, win or lose.

  113. 113.

    Suffern ACE

    Regardless of the outcome, I think the worst thing is that I am now seeing orange/teal everywhere and I’m annoyed at something I never thought to be annoyed about before.

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    @Cacti:

    Pujols would look really good in blue and orange, playing first at Citi Field and hitting behind David Wright.

  119. 119.

    DS

    @4jkb4ia: Wasn’t he picked off trying to decide whether to run home or not? I remember that Ortiz fired a rocket (who knew!) over to third with Suppan leaning off the base and got him.

  120. 120.

    Comrade Luke

    Watching the interviews with the Green Bay players on ESPN, I’m very impressed. They’re very articulate.

    I wish I could say the same about Steve Young.

  121. 121.

    honus

    The Steelers at the end showed class. No hitting on the snaps for the kneel-down, just stood at the line and took it. Like a team that had been there before and expected to be back again.

  122. 122.

    KG

    I really wanted to Aaron Rodgers or someone from the Packers to get up on the stage and just scream, “FUCK BRETT FAVRE!”

  123. 123.

    wobblybits

    @burnspbesq: The Angels don’t quite fit in with the other teams you named. Their owner named them the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim for marketing reasons. you know good and well Los Angeles will always belong to Big Blue.

  126. 126.

    CaseyL

    A really good game between two very evenly matched teams: one whose quarterback kept throwing to guys in the wrong uniform, and the other whose quarterback kept throwing to guys who dropped the ball :)

    I watched with neighbors and friends. Since we’re Seattlelites, we of course rooted against the Steelers, so we’re pretty pleased with the final score.

  127. 127.

    Ash Can

    @BGinCHI: I thought the music was pretty good, but the sound was fucked up in the beginning, the lip-synching was off at one point, a whole bank of floor lights was out, and whoever came up with the bright idea of those guys with boxes over their heads should go back to designing costumes for kindergarten Christmas pageants. The entertainers did their best under the circumstances, but the production was a train wreck. We got some good laughs out of it, though.

  128. 128.

    Mark S.

    @Cacti:

    I just can’t help but be happy that uber-creep Roethlisberger played like shite in a Super Bowl loss.

    My sentiments exactly. I think the Steelers are just dandy but I hate Ben so much I wanted them to lose.

    @handy:

    That video screen at Cowboys Stadium was huge. It looked like from TV it could cover the length of the field below.

    My girlfriend’s dad has been to a couple games there and he says you end up just watching that thing instead of the field. It kind of defeats the purpose of going to a game. I can do that at home and not have to sit in traffic for a couple of hours.

    And I’ve driven around Arlington. I bet the traffic’s a bitch after a game.

  129. 129.

    Tattoosydney

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Well, I like my mens with their brains mostly unscrambled, so I’m in favor of helmets!

    I wonder whether American football has a lower injury rate than our four (unpadded and unhelmeted) kinds.
    A quick google doesn’t give me any indication.

    ETA: The GaGa Lady. We MUST have her as the halftime entertainment next year.

    I know. It would be fabulous. She could wear a Terrible Towel.

    /blistering sarcasm

    Oh, wait… um…

    /edited for typo

  131. 131.

    General Stuck

    Feetsball and basketball only exist for temporary winter entertainment for the boys of summer to rest up for the next season. The Reds are gonna be awesome pawsome this year, with enough blue chip pitching to field two competitive teams.

    GO Redlegs!!

  132. 132.

    Donut

    @BGinCHI re: Randy Newman – because nothing represents the NFL in the 21st Century quite like a 68 year-old white dude playing piano.

  134. 134.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Omnes Omnibus: Very true. The Steelers came to play in the second half.

    @Tattoosydney: Probably not as to the former. With all the bulking up the American ‘ballers do, they hit something nasty. As for the GaGa Lady, I just don’t get the whole phenomenon. I am so freaking old.

  137. 137.

    Halteclere

    @burnspbesq

    your point would be?

    I don’t care about soccer, I don’t care about any American League teams, and, except for a couple teams, I only care about the Chiefs and who is playing the Cowboys (I always root against the Cowboys).

    So I don’t care where other teams’ stadiums are located. I just think that, as someone who has disliked the Cowboys his whole life, and who has lived in Dallas for at least a decade, I don’t think it isn’t quite right that the Cowboys are no longer in Dallas. Being in DFW is close, but just not the same.

  138. 138.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN:

    As for the GaGa Lady, I just don’t get the whole phenomenon.

    Think about how Madonna was marketed, then compare the two. I only give Lady Gaga credit for one thing: she does have a decent voice. But the schtick is re-packaged Material Girl.

    @Tattoosydney: Teal and orange sounds more like something you drink over crumpets and cucumber sandwiches than a colour scheme. I am more than willing to admit that could just be me however.

    Hi hon.

  141. 141.

    Suffern ACE

    @asiangrrlMN: Yes, I read that. Now I will find movies and commercials less enjoyable than I otherwise might. But those are the risks one takes when clicking on a link.

  144. 144.

    Halteclere

    @Mark S

    You do realize that the Cowboys played for 40 years in Irving?

    Dammit I’m an idiot. So ignore everything I’ve said tonight except for the parts about church, what sports/teams I dislike/like, and my take on what happened to the Cardinals. I’m going to bed, and will hopefully engage my brain tomorrow. See-ya!

  146. 146.

    Comrade Luke

    You gotta admit that the “I want to sleep with her I want to sleep with her I want to sleep with her” was a least a little funny.

  148. 148.

    Bobby Thomson

    @drkrick:

    The BMW rich guy prison ad early in the game – was I the only one hoping it was about some Matt Taibbi-inspired program for banksters and brokers?

    Nope.

  149. 149.

    Three-nineteen

    Thanks, John, for the nice words. I’m happy the Packers won, but you’re almost spoiling it. It was a good game – too good, in my opinion.

  150. 150.

    Bubba Dave

    Upside of being at the game: check one more off my bucket list. Downside: Horrific lines to get in, $10 beer, long trip home.
    Imagining Brett Favre at home crying into his Vicodin? Priceless.

  152. 152.

    eastriver

    I can’t stop laughing. My lord I’m glad the Packers won. My gosh I don’t like the Steelers.

    Wow, I guess I’m gentlemanly, too. Since I put that in much more polite terms than I would like to.

    Pittsburgh got their asses handed to them in a milk bucket from a bunch of cheeseheads. That’s gotta hurt.

  153. 153.

    New Yorker

    I’m glad that we keep getting great games (and this one looked like it was going to be a blowout early). Each of the last 4 Superbowls (since Giants-Patriots) has been an absolute thriller, and it’s been a very long time since we’ve had a boring blowout (which was all too common in the 90s).

    Now if only the World Series could follow suit. We haven’t had a 7-game series since Angels-Giants in 2002, and the last truly exciting World Series was Marlins-Yankees in 2003 (which went 6).

  156. 156.

    bob h

    I could give a rat’s ass about pro football, but Saturday I saw the very fine play about Vince Lombardi and his Packers, “Lombardi” in NYC. At the end they held a prize raffle, and I won an autographed copy of the David Maranis book about them. So I was sort of pulling for my Packers.

  157. 157.

    mnpundit

    No one I know in real life was going for the Steelers and I live in fucking Minnesota so you know we hate the Packers pretty hard.

    Why do you call them Stillers?

  158. 158.

    harlana

    I don’t really follow sports, but as a true mstie I have to say “Packers won the Super Bowl!! WOOOHOOOOO!!”

  159. 159.

    Polar Bear Squares

    Classy, John.

    And although I’m so happy your team lost, I feel bad for you personally. You guys fought to the end tho. Nothing to hang your head about.

  161. 161.

    JWL

    Cole, you are a sportsman. Those are good words, with an honest take on what happened yesterday.

    Still, remember when you were a kid? A loss like that would have torn your guts out. Not to mention the pocketbooks of all the big talking, put-their-money -where-their-mouths-are Pittsburgh gamblers who took a bath yesterday.

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