Dominate the Super Bowl

Chapter 453: 452 Focus on the line of sight Chapter 453: 452 Focus on the line of sight Li Wei.

Li Wei.

Always Li Wei.

Once again, Li Wei dominated the screens powerfully.

Perhaps some might wonder, was everyone making such a fuss just because Li Wei missed the Pro Bowl, as if they had never seen the world.

The reason is simple, yet not so simple.

In recent years, due to the rise of the internet, traditional television viewership has taken a hit across the board.

Even the NFL, the everlasting ratings king of the North American continent, has felt the impact.

With more channels and platforms available for viewing their preferred content beyond television, naturally, the question of how TV programs should retain their audience has become a topic of discussion.

The Pro Bowl is at the forefront of this issue.

The NFL is not worried about its other events; the viewership numbers remain strong.

Even if there has been a slight decline in TV ratings and viewership numbers, partnerships with online platforms are actually helping the League expand its market.

This is the confidence fueling Goodell’s ambitious goal to open up overseas markets.

However, the Pro Bowl is different.

Lacking in competition, lacking in novelty, and repeating the same old formula year after year, the Pro Bowl’s allure to the general public has been slowly diminishing.

The NBA All-Star Game, with its three-point contests and slam dunk contests, always effortlessly ignites the passion of the entire arena; but football, a sport that focuses on physicality, simply cannot do the same—

The excitement of football lies in the collisions and confrontations, yet the focus of the Pro Bowl is to avoid the intensity of these confrontations to prevent injuries.

Even skill competitions fail to truly showcase the charm of football.

This is precisely the breakthrough the League has been desperately seeking.

Without it, the viewing figures for the Pro Bowl simply cannot be miraculously revived, and the all-star effect remains the last resort to retain viewers for the Pro Bowl.

Against such a backdrop, Li Wei’s absence from the Pro Bowl was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

At a time when the League was tirelessly pursuing the Hua Xia Market, when the Pro Bowl faced a bottleneck, and when Li Wei was proving his market influence, it seemed that the Pro Bowl might finally have a long-awaited breakthrough opportunity—

But then…

It was all about interests.

And so.

All the major news media turned their focus in a bustling manner, each seemingly eager to add to the chaos.

Even League Commissioner Goodell had not anticipated the development of events.

In response, Donald Yee was the first to speak with Goodell to explain the situation.

Donald believed that Goodell understood Li Wei’s decision, trusted that Goodell looked forward to Li Wei’s impressive performance at the Super Bowl, and was confident that Goodell would not be easily swayed by the media.

But as much as he believed, and whatever Goodell’s position was, Donald could not take things for granted—

He still needed to make a gesture on behalf of Li Wei.

Otherwise, if the media continued to fan the flames and sow discord, with rumors of Li Wei being a diva and attacks on the Pro Bowl’s inability to attract star players, it would be unpleasant for Goodell, and things would get troublesome.

As expected, when Goodell received the call from Donald, although he verbally stated that he didn’t know what happened and truly wasn’t concerned with the media reports, he still warmly inquired about Li Wei’s preparation for the game and sincerely wished for Li Wei to deliver an excellent performance at the Super Bowl.

After hanging up, Donald felt relieved, and Goodell felt more at ease.

Bustling and noisy, the hot topics revolving around the Pro Bowl continued unabated.

Even in Li Wei’s absence, he remained the focal point.

In an atmosphere of congeniality, the annual Pro Bowl smoothly came to a close, with the American League narrowly defeating the National Conference with a score of “24:23.”

And then.

The entire League’s attention turned towards the ultimate showdown at the Summit of the Forbidden—the final Huashan Swordsmanship Meeting of the 2017 season—

“Kansas City Chiefs vs.

Philadelphia Eagles.”

When the conference championships concluded and the Super Bowl match-up was set, people couldn’t help but notice a coincidence that wasn’t exactly a coincidence:

At the start of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs faced both the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, adopting an underdog status with nobody favoring them to win.

Yet, this young team showcased their potential, starting with two consecutive wins and shattering numerous expectations.

In the blink of an eye, the Chiefs first defeated the New England Patriots in the divisional round to advance, and next, they are set to face the Philadelphia Eagles once again at the Super Bowl.

Interesting, truly interesting.

It became apparent from this angle that the Chiefs had indeed faced severe trials this season, even though the voices on social media crying “pretend strong team” never entirely subsided; but by the end of the season, when looking back, one found that the Chiefs were stronger than imagined.

Speaking of which, the meeting of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl seemed to be fated, as the multitude of connections between the two teams were far beyond what one might expect.

We’ve already touched on this during week two of the regular season:

Reed had coached the Philadelphia Eagles for several seasons and built his reputation as a quarterback maestro there.

The Eagles’ current head coach Pederson was a disciple personally groomed by Reed, and despite Reed’s departure to Kansas City, their relationship remained very close behind the scenes.

And so on and so forth.

The NFL isn’t huge, but it’s not small either; it’s really just the size of a palm.

With determination, connections can always be drawn, no matter what.

However, intimate relationships like those between the Eagles and the Chiefs are quite rare.

Moreover, both teams had roller-coaster seasons, advancing in bumpy fashions, playing the roles of dark horses to varying degrees, and finally meeting at the Super Bowl was fate within fate.

The Kansas City Chiefs went through an inconceivable six-game losing streak mid-season, barely clinging to playoff hopes on the brink of elimination.

After narrowly emerging victorious, they pulled off back-to-back dramatic comebacks in the first two playoff rounds, breaking the team’s curse with relentless determination to keep their season alive.

Winning once could be luck; twice, a coincidence; but, what about three times?

With renewed vigor, the Chiefs shattered a half-century’s gloom and oppression and advanced to the Super Bowl, scripting a new miracle.

The Philadelphia Eagles, meanwhile, saw quarterback Wentz finally come into his own in his second season, achieving eleven wins and two losses in the first thirteen games with MVP-level performances, only to suffer a season-ending ligament tear during a critical moment of the sprint to the playoffs, dealing a severe blow to the team’s hopes of revival—@@novelbin@@

Almost everyone thought the Eagles’ season was over without their key quarterback, and despite the team being full of hope, they could only look forward to next year, for the future ultimately belongs to the young.

But against all odds, the Eagles displayed phoenix-like resilience, not only refusing to stop there but also surging forward and commanding the top spot in the National Conference.

Talk of coincidence and fate, but both the Eagles and the Chiefs, through different paths, met together in a fairy tale-like fashion, pushing the excitement of the 2017 season to an entirely new and unexpected peak.

And then.

They ignited the energy.