Grip on Sports: Patriots win seemed inevitable even when they trailed by 25

A GRIP ON SPORTS • You hungover? With excitement? Me neither. The halftime conversation in the kitchen last night, while waiting for the German sausages to burn, was about the inevitable Tom Brady-led comeback and the nauseating GOAT talk that would follow. And it happened. Almost as if it was destined. Read on.

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• Robert Kraft in his suite. Bill Belichick on the sidelines. Roger Goodell in purgatory. And Tom Brady willing the Patriots into the end zone.

Those were the visuals of the second half and overtime.

Yes, the Pats won, 34-28. Yes, it was probably the greatest Super Bowl game of all time, though I suspect a lot of us remain partial to others.

And yes, we all lost in a way.

Instead of today’s conversation being about Atlanta finally winning at something, we are bombarded by Tom Brady this, Bill Belichick that and the greatest comeback in the history of sports, not just professional football.

That and a little politics, but we’re not going there.

Sorry, but as much as I admire Brady’s abilities – in all walks of life, just watch this prescient video – and Belichick’s professionalism, it’s hard to root for the Evil Empire.

I mean, Darth Vader looks great in black, but who would you rather have win the Galactic Rebellion, Storm Troopers or a scrappy gang of rebels in cool aviator jackets?

If you answered the former, then you got your wish last night.

In overtime. After trailing by 25 points. With Brady seemingly finding the fountain of youth at halftime and throwing darts into Womp-rat-sized holes in the second half.

When James White bulled into the end zone, it wasn’t a Hollywood ending. It was something right out of a Stephen King novel. And we all know those never turn into good movies, right?

But, hey, he’s from New England too. Maybe that explains it. The Pats are Stephen King’s revenge on the rest of us for making fun of his 3,245 page books.

Seems like as a good an explanation as any.

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Gonzaga: Nigel Williams-Goss is not only the Zags’ best player this season, he may be the nation’s. Jim Meehan has more in this story about the do-it-all junior guard becoming a huge part of the player-of-the-year conversation. … Williams-Goss is also mentioned as crucial to the Bulldogs in stories from around the country. … The No. 1 ranking is getting more and more secure, except a couple of tests await this weekend in California. … BYU had to rely on its defense to win a game the other night. That’s unusual in Provo.

WSU: Jacob Thorpe begins your week with a story about the Cougars’ bench and the groups’ newest project. … The Cougar women picked up a win in Utah. … I missed this Stefanie Loh piece the other day but decided to pass it along. … Around the Pac-12, there are always post-signing days recruiting stories and power rankings. The Cougars are mentioned in both. … My all-time favorite Husky basketball player is back in the state and helping at his old high school. … There was one conference basketball game yesterday. California held off a late Colorado rally. … The worst weekend probably belonged to Utah, though Arizona’s wasn’t all that great either. … Oregon basketball has been built with Arizona in mind.

Preps: If you like high school football, you might be interested in this story from the Oregonian on newspapers’ coverage of the sport.

Seahawks: The Hawks probably won’t be penalized for not reporting Richard Sherman’s injury.

Mariners: Now that football is over, can we begin to focus on baseball?

Sounders: Clint Dempsey returned to action this week and it was a bit of a test.

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• As promised, I got through a whole trash-bag full of chores yesterday. But I didn’t get them done. The darn lure of the Super Bowl and all that. Plus, the home-cooked Super Bowl buffet was so good, I kept taking 10-minute breaks that turned into an hour or so. Until later …