Too much hype ruined Pats vs Colts

The higher the expectations, the tougher they are to meet.
We had been hearing about the game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts since what seemed like the beginning of the season.
It was called Super Bowl XLI½, The greatest regular season game ever, and just about anything else the media types could think of.
There’s only problem with generating that much hype for a sporting event: it rarely IF EVER lives up to the hype. Personally when the game ended and Tom Brady had taken his final knee, I was disappointed.
Granted it was a terrific game. At times both offenses proved they could move the ball. There were moments where both defenses stepped up as well. And yes, there was the comeback that is necessary for all great games.
That’s what it was; a great game, but it was not the greatest game I’d ever seen. Not even close. As a result when the game was over I felt cheated.
That’s the problem with the 24 hour media coverage. ESPN and other outlets pumped this game up to a point where it was going to be impossible for the actual game to meet its expectations.
That is what happened, and it is unfortunate. It’s not fair to the Patriots or the Colts, but most importantly, it wasn’t fair to the fans.
Twenty years ago this game would have gotten coverage, but fans would have been able to breathe and make their own judgments about this game. Fans would have seen this game for what it was; an exceptional game between two teams, neither of which have any glaring weaknesses.
Instead fans were forced to hold this game to an unfair and unattainable standard. In the future I hope the media will avoid over analyzing the game and allow the teams and the players to determine how the game will measure up over time.
How a game is billed means nothing if it doesn’t live up to the hype. The media should make sure it doesn’t drive that hype to unattainable heights.