Sunday Super Bowl, Sunday, February 1, 2015 - Update: Patriots win 28-24

"There are only a matter of hours left until Super Bowl XLIX is played at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday (February 1) in Glendale, Ariz.
The game will begin at 6:30pm ET  (3:30 pm Western, our time)and coverage of the game will air live on NBC starting at 1:00pm ET (10:00 am Western, our time), so you’ll have plenty of football themed television to watch all day!
The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will face off in the game and the Super Bowl Halftime Show will feature Katy Perry with her special guests Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott.
Idina Menzel will be singing the National Anthem while John Legend will take on “America the Beautiful.” Stay tuned to JustJared.com all night for all the great performance videos and photos, as well as all the commercials!"  Just Jared (entertainment blog), /1/31/15, "What time is the Super Bowl 2015? Find out here!"
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Related background. Everything has come down to this. On the one hand, it seems like only yesterday we were sitting here with one another, commiserating about how long it would be until football started. Worse yet, that we had to sit through the "agony" of preseason football before the real stuff started. We've come a long way since then. We've had highlights, lowlights, hackneyed narratives and honest-to-goodness storylines, with everything in between.
Then again, doesn't it also seem like that was forever ago? The NFL season is a monolith. It comes and goes in a flash, yet it is so all-encompassing that it's easy to get lost in the expanse of it all.
And it's all come down to this. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are getting ready to face each other in the biggest game in all of sports, and Bleacher Report has collected absolutely everything you need to know. ..."  CNN/Michael Schottey, NFL National Lead Writer, 1/29/15.  "Super Bowl 2015: the ultimate guide to Sunday's Big Game." Read article with slideshow, 10 pages.
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Related NFL controversies.  "Another day, another controversy. It's been that kind of a year for the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell talked about it all Friday at his annual State of the League address in downtown Phoenix.
The most recent controversies — deflated footballs and Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch's refusal to talk to reporters — have dominated media coverage in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and defending champion Seattle Seahawks. Regarding Lynch.
Goodell said he understands that speaking with the media may not be at the top of the running back's list, but, "everyone else is doing their part because it's their obligation. Part of the job of being an NFL player."  NPR/Tom Goldman, 1/31/15. "All is not so well in the NFL ahead of Super Bowl Sunday."
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Related commercials. "Audiences no longer need to wait until the Big Game to watch Super Bowl commercials, with an increasing number of marketers opting to release their spots days before kickoff. This year is no different, with Budweiser, Budweiser, Bud Light, Kia, Mercedes-Benz USA, T-Mobile, Victoria’s Secret, BMW, even Paramount with “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” among those having already posted their ads online.
The reason? The high cost to play the Super Bowl promo blitz is one. At around $4.5 million per 30 second ad, buying time during the match up between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots is at record levels. NBC is airing the game Feb. 1. An early look at this year’s ads signals that comedy will play a major role after scoring with consumers in previous years."  Variety/Marc Graser, Senior Editor, 1/27/15, "Watch: Super Bowl 2015 commercials"  All commercials HERE.

Update win: Yahoo Sports/Dan Wetzel, 2/1/15. "Malcolm Butler's goal-line pick clinches Super Bowl win for Patriots against defending champion Seahawks." "GLENDALE, Ariz. – On the ropes, down 10 points in the fourth quarter, Tom Brady engineered a comeback to give the New England Patriots a 28-24 lead over the Seattle Seahawks with a little more than two minutes left in Super Bowl XLIX. Brady and the rest of the Patriots couldn't exhale until defensive back Malcolm Butler picked off Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson at the goal line with 20 seconds left to secure a dramatic championship in what will go down as one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever played." 

Update conspiracy: CNN/Bleacher Report/Dan Carson, Trending Lead Writer, 2/2/15. "Report: "Anonymous Seahawks player ponders anti-JMarshawn Lynch conspiracy." The moment Malcolm Butler plucked Russell Wilson's pass out of the air, the NFL conspiracy mill began churning. "Why would you pass on the 1-yard line? You have the Beast at your disposal, and he is starving. Why call a high-risk pick play that's experienced Hindenburg levels of success in recent memory?" Such were the questions flooding in from all angles after Wilson's sole interception of Super Bowl XLIX—a turnover that flipped the game on its ear and doomed a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback by the Seattle Seahawks. Fans and pundits alike wondered aloud exactly what led Pete Carroll to call a risky, no-read passing play with the Lombardi Trophy on the line and Marshawn Lynch waiting in the backfield."

Note photo/graphics.  Seattle Seahawks logo from Sports Logos Screan Savers.  New England Patriots logo from Jewish Women's Archive.  Grumpy Cat from Grumpy Cats.com, "... the Super Bowl - this game is awful."

Posted by Kathy Meeh