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it was kelvin's last day. since his flight back to london wasn't until 9pm, they'd decided their last meal would be at mulan in cambridge before leaving directly to the airport afterwards. they finished the petsi's pecan pie for lunch. i chatted with them until the early afternoon before finally leaving. we debated who was more handsome, jay chou or eddie peng. when i said jay was more handsome by far (eddie looks like an asian version of young jim carrey), they couldn't believe it because jay is considered quite ugly back home in asia while eddie is touted as the chinese ryan gosling. i also asked kelvin for the key back but told him he could keep his MBTA charlie card.

i made myself a bagel when i got to belmont. later when my sister showed up, we went to the mt.auburn star market to get some fried chicken. they had a sale on a 2 lbs. bucket of wings for just $10. however when we got there, there were just loose flavored wings at $10/lbs. i filled up a bucket but later saw the sale buckets (there was just one). one of the workers said i could take it while he took my previous bucket of wings and returned them back into the trays. i also got some woodchuck hard cider. when i went to go pay, the young cashier had to side aside and let the older bagger woman process the order as he wasn't of legal drinking age.

the rest of the afternoon was spent building up to the super bowl starting at 6pm. there was kind of a nervous energy, and a part of me wished it was already monday so i could already know what happened in the game and not have to wait. i snacked on some wings and had chips with dips. i played my mother the favourite with chinese subtitles. around 4:30pm i checked my asus router remotely and saw that both kelvin and sandy were no longer at home, so i turned the heat down. before the game started my sister made a sausage and fish stew. it wasn't that good, kind of watery with not a lot of flavor. she also made a gluten-free cheese cake which was a melted mess of either salty or sweet ingredients.

when the game finally started at 6pm, i almost couldn't even watch it because i was so nervous. yes, i wanted new england to win, but from what i seen of the los angeles they were a formidable opponent, and there could be a chance the patriots could lose. i forgot that these were the same los angeles rams that beat the kansas city chiefs in that epic 54-51 monday night football game. it wouldn't be too bad if the patriots did lose, having already won 5 super bowls, but since new england lost to philadelphia in the last super bowl, it seemed they were due for a victory. besides, the only reason the rams are in the super bowl instead of the new orleans saints is because of a blown penalty call.

the game started well enough for the patriots, converting on 10+ yards for each of the first 3 downs on run plays. when brady chose to throw to what appeared to be an open hogan on the next play, the receiver tipped the ball into the air which was then intercepted by a rams defender. but the rams didn't make much of their opportunity, going 3 and out before kicking the ball back to the pats. on their next drive, the patriots got close enough to the end zone where they tried a 45-yard field goal kick on 4th down. unfortunately it missed the goal post. the quarter ended with back and forth punts. at one point brady was stripped but fortunately a patriots player landed on the ball for no turnover.

like all of pats' super bowl games in the belichick-brady era, the first quarter ended with new england scoring zero points. the defense on both teams were amazing, completely nullifying the offense. despite not point any points on the board, the only thing the pats had going for them was time of possession, with new england having the ball for about 12 minutes. and even though they didn't score, at least they had some chances, which couldn't be said of los angeles. still, it was early, and 3 more quarters left in the game.

the 2nd quarter was the continuation of a patriots' drive that finally led them to a successful 42-yard field goal kick. that was followed by 3 alternating punts, including a sack of goff by van noy for loss of yards. the patriots gave up possession their next drive when they failed a 4-and-1 conversion with a long failed throw to gronkowski. rams didn't make much on their drive, which included a sack by hightower. the first half ended with the score at 3-0.

it was a nerve-wracking game to watch with the score being so close but i felt good knowing the patriots had the better time of possession and at least scored, though a paltry 3-point that could easily be negated by a rams' touchdown. i didn't pay much attention to the half time show, not being a fan of maroon 5.

the 3rd quarter was a series of alternating punts ending in a los angeles drive that finally landed them 3-point in a 42-yard field goal. it was a great quarter for fans of punting, with special teams on both sides making sure the opponents had bad field position. rams definitely had opportunities to score, but new england's defense was just insane, including a last minute strip by jason mccourty of a wide-open brandin cooks in the end zone; mccourty seemed to appear out of nowhere to make that play. pats were down a key player when patrick chung left the game with a broken arm. the one thing i noticed was how badly new england needed a deep receiver threat. the only one they have seems to be hogan, who seemed to drop the ball every time brady threw at him. if only gosh gordon was still on the team! something to think about going into the off-season. i also thought the officiating was pretty good. there were some defensive coverage that could've been called interference, but the referees let them play through it. you know the officiating is good when it's invisible and people don't complain about how bad it is. on a side note, sandy seemed to have finally returned home by 9pm; i turned up the heat for her.

going into the 4th quarter, the game was tied at 3-3. with stifling defense on both sides, it seemed like whoever could score a touchdown would probably win the game. rams threatened with their first drive, their longest of the game, with possession at nearly 5 minutes. but it didn't make enough progress, and at one point goff was even knocked into the sideline when he tried to run the ball himself. new england's next drive was what finally opened up the game. with just 5 plays, they made 69 yards, including two amazing catch and run by gronkowski, to finally score a running touchdown by sony michel. the score was 10-3 with 7 minutes left in the game.

the rams made good progress on their next drive, getting as far as new england's 27-yard line. a throw to cooks was almost a touchdown except two patriots defenders ripped the ball out. then on the following play a costly ram turnover most likely sealed the game: attempting to throw to cook again, goff underthrew the ball which was easily intercepted by gilmore. new england drove the ball 67 yards to a 4-and-inches. belichick had a decision to make: kick for a field goal even though gostkowski missed one in the 1st quarter, or go for it but risk not converting and turning the ball over to the rams? the coach ended up putting his confidence in the kicker, who made a 41-yard field goal, bring the score to 13-3 with about a minute left in the game.

los angeles needed a miracle but didn't get it. out of time outs, their only chance was converting a field goal then hopefully get the ball back through an on-side kick. with only 8 seconds left in the game they tried a 48-yard field goal attempt which failed. the new england patriots had just won their 6th super bowl.

the final minute was anticlimactic since the patriots pretty much won when they scored that final field goal to bring the score to 13-3. i'd already celebrated, pumping my fist so hard i lost circulation in my hand for a moment. when the game finally ended and new england's victory was official, i was rather subdued. 6th super bowl. it seems surreal. a dozen teams have never won the super bowl in their franchise history, and 4 teams have never even been to a super bowl before. and here is new england, 9 super bowls under the brady-belichick era, with 6 wins. it's a good time to be a patriots fan.

i stayed to watch the post-game coverage including the award ceremony. julian edelman won MVP; made me think how come james white didn't win MVP back in super LI against the falcons (though you have to give it to brady for mounting that 28-3 comeback). i finally left by 10:40pm, arriving back home by 11pm.

sandy was in the living room watching live coverage of the super bowl celebration happening in boston. she'd been back since 9pm and watched the second half of the game. turns out she and kelvin didn't get to mulan until 6pm. they ate quickly, and took an uber to logan airport by 7pm. that's cutting it a bit close, as i personally prefer to get to the airport 3 hours in advance for international flights, as per aviation recommendation. sandy then took the subway back home. i spent the rest of the night watching super bowl coverage, from local news broadcast, to ESPN and the NFL network.