Willis redux

ANKLE SPRAIN FROM KRYPTON

NFL fans have seen how a high ankle sprain to Ben Roethlisberger derailed this year's Steeler's Super Bowl dream. Phil Simms said it was the most painful thing he's ever been through, taking him 2 years to get over. Rob Gronkowski has two weeks. The Patriots need their hyper kinetic, 90-catch human highlight film who redefined the tight end position this regular season to be at his cartoon-hero best, just to keep up with the Giants aerial show this Sunday. This has evolved into human drama on a scale appropriate of the Super-setting, maybe even bigger.

It's worthy of any of the Boston - New York sports-zenith clashes, a Superbowl rematch spearheaded by two likely H.O.F. quarterbacks, yet Gronk is the man of the hour, make that man of the fortnight. One cannot overhype his importance to the Patriot's offense this season: 90 catches, 17 TD's over 1300 yards receiving. Yet his stats pale in comparison to HOW he achieved those numbers: helicoptering into endzones, outracing fleet defensive backs, shedding sure tackles punctuated by those signature TD spike explosions. His manic zeal allowed the Boston sports nation forget 4 years of NFL playoff dread. In this age of full-faucet media, on the biggest stage in a sports-mad world, the guy is a supernova beyond comic book proportions. He's GRONK, check the Youtube videos produced out of Boston. That spike of his is the latest craze in the Hub, they call it "Doin the Gronk." The guy is more popular than Brady right now, a rawboned irresistible force with a perpetual smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE_Isf49Pp8

For Sports fans conditioned to instant gratification and a constant flow of live telecasts to slake their thirst for live action (umm, I think that's all of us), these two weeks prior to Supe XLVI have been arduously slow. Yet for Gronk and his recovery, it hasn't been nearly enough. We've heard daily comments from those in the know that the pain will be in full force on Sunday, no amount of enthusiasm and ADHD will mask it. Other than the QB's, he'll be the most important player on the field, and based on his potential impact on the game, a good case could be made that he is the most important player, certainly on the NE side.

And with hundreds (thousands) of side stories being generated in this media blitz from New York and Boston, essentially the entire Northeast United States has a firm rooting interest here, the outcome of this frenzied spectacle boils down to a single player's ability to conquer his personal pain threshold. With him racking up catches, YAC and TD spikes, the Pats will compete; without him they are simply overmatched.

It's been nearly 42 years since Willis Reed blew the roof off the world's most famous arena: shooting up, limping out and swishing two J's before sitting down in a 1-game winner take all for a championship. Stakes are higher now--bigger sport, bigger game, bigger stage, bigger role.

Watch carefully starting at 6 pm ET Sunday for the Willis limp-out. What will Superman do after full exposure to Kryptonite? It could make for a good read by flashlight in a tent in your back yard. Except this is real, live, and in hight def. Consider yourself lucky. Not all baby-boomers reading this can expect to be here in 42 years the next time it happens.