An icy wind made its way through the Meadowlands, cut across the Hudson River and into frigid Manhattan. Looks like Mother Nature is taking seriously the NFL’s slogan for the upcoming Super Bowl: Best Served Cold.
One week before kickoff, on the day the Broncos and Seahawks are arriving in the frozen Big Apple, Sunday brought a bit of a thaw. Temperatures actually reached about minus-5°C.
Hardly balmy.
Not that the guys who will take the field at MetLife Stadium have any complaints or concerns. They would play this one on the New Jersey tundra or in Death Valley.
“Absolutely,” Denver linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. “We’ve been talking about that, our leadership group, that’s something that’s key for everybody. Enjoy the moment of New York, be there, enjoy the Super Bowl, but we are there for a purpose, and that’s winning a football game. I think everybody understands that.”
What they also understand is that the upcoming week is unlike anything else they experienced during the season. Or during any season.
More media, for sure. A glaring spotlight on everything. Spending a week away from home. Practicing in another team’s facility: the Seahawks at the Giants’ complex across the parking lots from MetLife Stadium, the Broncos at the Jets’ place in Florham Park, about 30 minutes from the Meadowlands.
“I mean obviously it’s the biggest game that we’ve ever played in,” Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin said. “It’s one of the games that we’ve been dreaming about playing in it since we were six-years-old on little league fields. The distraction of the hype that surrounds it, it’s definitely real, but that distraction is something that we have to try and eliminate. It’s going to be difficult, but in order for us execute as well as we want to, we have to eliminate that distraction.”
Not one Seahawks player has been this far, giving Denver something of an edge in experience. The Broncos have four: receiver Wes Welker, tight end Jacob Tamme, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and some quarterback named Peyton.
Manning, of course, is the only current Bronco to have won a ring, with Indianapolis in 2007. He also lost the Super Bowl in 2010 with the Colts.
“I think the biggest thing he’s said is eliminate distractions, making sure you’re taking care of the little details, doing extra, watching film, working out, getting your body right,” receiver Eric Decker said. “And then I think the biggest thing is he says he’s won one, he’s lost one. And it’s a complete high; it’s a complete low. So, really understand to give everything you’ve got because this is the last game of the year.”
And it is the first Super Bowl ever played outdoors in a cold-weather city. There is snow on the ground, frost in the air and plenty of forecasts for what might be ahead on Sunday.
The only truly accurate forecast, though, was delivered by Seahawks All-Pro safety Earl Thomas.
“I don’t care where we play,” he said. “I know when we play, all the feelings and the stuff I need to get ready and prepare. It’ll be there.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite