All dashed hopes, broken dreams, and lost money aside, the NY Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots last night redeemed all professional sports.
Because, despite the dark cloud of cheating that hovers over almost every sporting event these days, this one showed why nothing can diminish the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat, that sports provide.
But don’t let anyone tell you that this was an exciting game to watch. Because, true to form, the first three quarters were a yawn; and the 3-7 score at that point betrays any suggestion to the contrary. And even though a few lead changes and a couple hail-mary plays in the final quarter injected some excitement, they were hardly enough to overcome the tedium that was by then in full repose.
Of course, some sports analyst insist that the defensive battle, which limited the scoring, is precisely what made this game so exciting. But this is (post hoc) defensive rubbish. Because if anyone were looking forward to a low-scoring game, the odds makers would not have made the Giants 12-point underdogs.
(Apropos the odds, even I was sensible enough to pick the Giants to beat that 12-point spread. But if you’re one of the suckers who picked the patriots not only to win but also to beat the spread, you’re just another fool who deserves to be parted with his money….)
At any rate, here are my pre-game thoughts – as published two weeks ago after both teams won their respective league championship and a ticket to the Super Bowl:
I wanted the Giants to win to give their nerdy young quarterback, Eli Manning, a chance to emulate his big brother Peyton – the quarterback of Indianapolis Colts who not only led his team to a conference championship last year, but also to victory in the Super Bowl.
Therefore, here’s to Eli and the Giants for keeping this sibling rivalry going….
Like everyone else – except Chargers fans – I was rooting for the Patriots to continue their historic and improbable perfect season. Therefore, it was tremendously gratifying that by half time, quarterback Tom Brady had his team well on its way to a rendezvous with destiny: to win the Super Bowl and become the first team in NFL history to go 19-0!
[But] since I want to see history made more than I want to see Eli emulate his brother, I’m picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl!
Nevertheless, I suppose I can derive some consolation from the fact that Eli not only emulated his big brother as Super Bowl MVP; but he did it with seeming insurmountable odds and almost-universal interest in the “perfect season” stacked against him.
Not to mention that his performance upstaged Brady’s premature coronation – by sports writers and advertisers alike – as “the greatest player in the history of the NFL.”
(Incidentally, I would’ve given MVP honors to the Giants’ pass rushers who were on Brady like fleas on a dog everytime he touched the football. But I understand the irresitable appeal of playing out the sibling rivalry angle. )
Meanwhile, all we need is for Brady’s teammates to blame their loss on his supermodel girlfriend Giselle Bunchen – who at least stimulated some interest in watching this game, perchance to glance her face as she mugged for the JumboTron from her skybox over the stadium….
But, given the precedent set by Cowboy Tony Romo’s girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, this was probably Giselle’s last game not only as the team’s guest, but also as Brady’s girlfriend….
So Congratulations to the New York Giants – Super Bowl XLII Champions!
NOTE: My disappointment in the game paled in comparison to my disappointment in the much-hyped commercials: $2.7 million for a 30-second spot?! Give me a break! Although, it was probably money well spent for Barack Obama to get his message out.
As for the traditional commercials, however, the Super Bowl ring for the best one goes to Coke for shrewdly exploiting nostalgia and childhood emotions with its Charlie Brown (finally getting his football) ad.
The worst? Salesgenie.com’s stupid pandering to Chinese stereotypes. (Or was that voice-over fool supposed to be an Indian…?)
ENDNOTE: It would be impossible for me to thank all of you, individually, who sent get-well e-mails. Therefore, please accept this as my note of thanks and sincere gratitude.
Related Articles:
NFL League Championships
Super Bowl XLII
Noel says
Anthony: i beg to differ. That game was the best Superbowl game of all time. Simply because the defenses were keeping the offenses in check and the pendulum could have swung either way until the final seconds of the game. It was an exciting game. There were no blowouts. The Patriots fans were yelling “18 and 0” with 24 seconds left on the clock. After Burress caught the ball in the end zone you could hear a pin drop.
Tom Brady is only 30 and he will be one of the greatest football players of all time, barring any injury.