I thought about almost not doing the recap this year (since it’ll be different than my usual ones and I also didn’t take any pictures), but I can’t break the tradition of doing one every year since 2018, so here we are!

The original plan for Josh and I was to go over to his sister’s house to watch the big game—until Josh got sent to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to cover fans at Patriot Place for work (he works in news). I said I’d still go to his sister’s, mostly so I could see my niece, who I hadn’t seen since the holidays.

I guess you could say I was rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, but in the end, it really didn’t matter to me. I’d be happy for Josh if the New England Patriots won; I wouldn’t be cheering for them, though. I’ve also been up to my eyeballs in Olympics coverage, so that’s my main priority right now.

For the game, I offered to bring little pretzel bites and chocolate chip cookies (with sprinkles!). There would also be pizza and chips.

I got to Josh’s sister’s house around 5:45 pm, so I’d have about an hour to spend with my niece before she went to bed at 7:00 pm. She had on a Pats shirt but definitely had no clue what was going on during the pre-game ceremonies. That’s fine—she’s almost one year old. I sent selfies of us to Josh while he was sending selfies of himself on the field at Gillette.

The crew for the game watching included myself, Josh’s sister and her husband, Josh’s cousin and his son, and Josh’s dad—all people I know very well, so it wasn’t weird that I was there without him. I mean, we’ve been at this for 4.5 years, but it’s also nice that I felt comfortable enough to go over by myself and hang out.

The pizza arrived right at kick-off—there was a backup due to the amount of pizza orders for the game—and we all swarmed the dining room table to grab slices as the game started. I definitely ate more pizza and chips than I should have, but it was a special occasion.

Josh’s sister doesn’t necessarily “do the sports” (as I call it), so we sat and talked about Cannoli and my niece’s upcoming first birthday. The rest of the guys spent most of the time yelling at the TV like the players could hear them, you know, as guys do.

By halftime, the overall consensus was that it would be a defensive game, which is my least favorite kind. Speaking of halftime, we did have the show on in the background, but I missed most of it as everyone else was talking or getting more food. But from what I saw live and clips yesterday, it looked really good and a great showcase of the Puerto Rican culture. Yeah, it was all in Spanish, but the vibes were still there. Also congrats to the couple who got married during the show?!

I left around 9:15 pm, which was in the middle of the third quarter. I wanted to get home and ready for bed around 10:00 pm, plus I had to give Cannoli her nighttime snack. Up to that point, I can report that some of the favorite commercials were: the polar bear in the Pepsi commerical, the one from Dunkin’ (always the best), and the one with Bruce Arians and Gronk where Gronk says “Release your tight end” (I forget what the commercial was actually for but Josh’s cousin almost spit out his beer when Gronk said that). I also liked the Uber Eats one because they showed the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a juicer, and I was like, “I’ve been there!”

I had a feeling that the Seahawks were going to win based on the score when I got home; I turned on the game for a few minutes to spend time with Cannoli before I went to bed. Here’s our resident Pats fan’s (Josh) thoughts on the Pats loss: “This loss hurts but not as much as we think. No one expected us to be here. 4-13 to 14-3, and then to the Super Bowl. Couldn’t finish it but man I love this team. Maybe it’s just the experience Maye needs to just get better. Nothing wrong with that. So much promise for this team. We’ll be back.”

Soooo, you heard it here first, folks—maybe next year will be the New York Giants year?! Super Bowl LVI? Hey, if the Pats can do it, the Giants can, too.