There were 2 Super Bowls in the state of New York last weekend. One was super and was was a total dud.

Let’s discuss amongst ourselves the superior game. Using the Syracuse Orange and Duke Blue Devils game on Saturday night as a metaphor, wouldn’t life be grand if you could lose and still come out a winner?!

Everyone won on Saturday…the fans, ESPN, NCAA, Duke and thankfully, the ‘Cuse. The Orange remain one of two undefeated men’s NCAA teams and broke the school record for number of consecutive wins in one season. What a heart stopping and amazing basketball game.

Syracuse and Duke performed to perfection with both only turning over the ball once in the second half. The Orange defense clogged the middle, but Duke had the magic touch from the 3-point line and knocked down 15 of them (half of Duke’s points were from 3-pointers).

The shots kept falling even though the Orange zone defense was tough. A 3 at the buzzer by Duke sent the game into overtime.

Syracuse prevailed at the end by 2. I must say that even Richard Sherman couldn’t stir up any controversy about this match up. Every man on the court played a superb game and conducted themselves with class and dignity. Even my husband, who only watches sports if I promise favors, watched the game and was riveted.

Yesterday’s Super Bowl was a different story. There was one clear winner and one enormous loser. Seattle Seahawks were the better team on both offense and defense and they reigned supreme. Congratulations and I hope that next year’s Super Bowl is watchable. Go Giants!

And, speaking of losing, the world lost a very talented actor yesterday. Philip Seymour Hoffman, succumbed to a drug overdose. He was a truly gifted actor. Personally, I made every effort to see his all his movies and plays.

He was an artistic director and member of the LAByrinth Off-Broadway theater group and starred in and directed productions, such as, Jack Goes Boating, which was made into a film.

Several years ago, they were filming the movie by the  Central Park boathouse. I was taking my daily constitutional with the dogs. Hoffman was sitting on a bench, taking a break from filming. We passed by and he reached out to Madison, my golden lab. She was all over him and we chatted. He was shy, but lovely. I acted like a cool New Yorker and did not go off about how much I admired him as an actor and that I loved him in Almost Famous, Capote, Doubt, Pirate Radio…

He gave us all pleasure, was one of the greats and I will miss his talent. I hope he is at peace now.