The Curse of the Red Hoodie

Years from now, Super Bowl XLII will be remembered not for the Giants’ huge upset over the 18-0 Patriots, not for the play in the fourth quarter in which Eli Manning transformed into Donovan McNabb, evaded three Patriots defenders (all of whom had their hands on him) then launched a perfect spiral downfield to David Tyree (David Tyree? Who?) who caught the ball on top of his head as he was falling backwards and wrestled the ball away from HGH monster Rodney Harrison (We think there was divine intervention on that play — and by divine we mean Peyton Manning intervened).

It won’t be remembered for Plaxico Burress catching a beautifully thrown fade in the back corner of the endzone, or the look on Michael Strahan’s face when he realized he finally got a ring after a stellar 16 year career (and then he almost made out with a terrified Tom Coughlin). No, it will be remembered for New England’s brilliant coach’s fatal mistake. The mistake wasn’t made when evil genius Bill Belichick opted to go for it on 4th and 13 on the 30 instead of kicking a fairly easy 47 yard field goal indoors (Belichick may loose his genius tag after that one, really, Bill, we wouldn’t even go for it in that situation if we were playing Madden, even if it was only on all-pro).

The fatal mistake was, of course, Belichick’s decision to sport a bright red hoodie to the game. All season Belichick wore a grey hoodie, and once or twice was spotted in a navy collared shirt. Either way, the colors were drab, he didn’t call attention to himself and he looked downright scary. His kids probably run and hide when he gets home from games. His usual attire matched his mortuary-worker-esque scowl that never leaves his face. In the Super-Bowl, however, the bright red hoodie made him stick out like a sore thumb. He looked more like an awkward middle schooler than Eli Manning, which is quite an accomplishment. In Eli’s post game interview he looked like he had just won his school’s rock paper scissors tournament. Belichick glowed like a pissed off candle in his red and khaki getup. It was one of the biggest gaffes in NFL coaching history. They’re holding a red hoodie bonfire next week in Boston.