Peyton Manning vs Tom Brady is Upon Us

This Sunday, the biggest individual rivalry in professional sports repeats itself when Tom Brady leads the New England Patriots against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. The two hall of fame bound quarterbacks face off for the 15th time and fourth time in the playoffs.  In case you are not fed up with the non-stop coverage on ESPN, here are some different takes on the rivalry:

Here is a Sporcle quiz comparing their stats:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/klofton798/manning-vs-brady-stats

Here are some fun facts on the matchup:

• 6 of the last 7 Manning-Brady meetings have been decided by 7 points or less
• 7 of the last 12 Super Bowls have included either Tom Brady or Peyton Manning
• The last time the Patriots played a road playoff game? The 2006 AFC Championship Game against the Colts
• Peyton Manning & Tom Brady's combined age of 74.3 is the oldest ever between opposing starting QBs in a Conference Championship Game
• Manning and Brady will be the 1st QBs to meet in playoff games 10 seasons apart in the Super Bowl era (2003 & 2013 AFC Championship games).

Both Manning and Brady have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated over a dozen times:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Meanwhile, as pitchmen, they are completely different as this article details. Brady is married to a supermodel wife and endorses Ugg boots and Movado watches, while Manning and his “aww shucks” “down to earth” personality pitches Papa John’s and Mastercard.

I know what I’ll be watching at 3pm on Sunday… with my Papa John’s pizza.

Boston Sports Adventure

This past weekend, I visited Boston for the first time with my girlfriend Erryn, and happened to visit several sports related sites. The first day, we toured the campus of Boston College including the 2010 and 2008 NCAA champion hockey team’s arena as it was being prepared for a game.

Next we were able to walk on the football field, where the Eagles had just lost the night before in a rout by Florida State. Hence, they were running punishment laps.

Later in the weekend, we toured the oldest baseball park in the country, Fenway Park. While the sunny skies, helicopter fly over, and green monster were cool,

the fact that a groundskeeper has to manually change the NL scores on the field between innings and seeing the green monster seats hang over the street were the highlights.

The main event of the weekend was the Giants-Patriots game on Sunday for which we had suite tickets. Once again, the moonlit night, free food, and militia gun-firing were great,

but seeing Brady walk off his own field a loser for the first time in years was extra special.

As a side note, while it seemed like there were statues on every block for colonial historical figures, there were plenty of sports ones as well.

Glad I got to see at least one Manning take the field this season!