17-14 = 18-1.....GIANTS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s been a little over 15 hours since Eli and the mighty New York Football Giants ended the Patriots string of consecutive wins. I cannot be happier at this moment in my football watching history.

On draft day four years ago, when the Giants made a seemingly impossible trade, giving up Phillip Rivers for an unpolished member of football’s royal family, NY had high expectations that this risk would yield a huge reward. At this point, it was seen by many as the most undeserved coup in history. An SEC quarterback with “ok” stats, when you could get another QB who’s just as qualified? And at least you don’t have to give up another pick. This seemed ludicrous, but the G-men's front office knew what it wanted. This didn’t really matter early on though. Eli struggled through his first season, and NY and other media services jumped on his back to bring him down, as he didn’t make the playoffs his first year. The Giants had looked promising behind Kurt Warner, yet put Eli in half way through to allow for "growing pains". To put salt in the wound, the draft pick they surrendered for Eli turned out being Shawne Merriman, who has proven himself as a perennial Pro-Bowler/ steroid user / freak. Eli continued to progress, despite claims of inconsistency. The media continued to put him down as "Peyton's lil bro" and placed him as one who would never reach elite status. The media outlets touted him as trade bait this off-season due to inconsistency and used him as a scapegoat for Tom Coughlin's lack of success in NY. This year, Eli finally started to come into his own. Some struggles, but overall he looked like he had finally developed into the QB they had expected...most of the time. Finally last night, after 3 great playoff games before, Eli reached the top of the football pyramid as the MVP of the Super Bowl Champion NY Football Giants. So to the NY Giants, Eli, Strahan, et al, Congratulations, you deserved it.

On the other side of the field, everyone is trying to figure out what happened. Some have speculated that Spagnuolo (Giants Defensive Coordinator) had several different sets of signals that the Pats couldn’t steal, thus resulting in Belicheats inability to coach around the Giants’ defense. Others simply say the Pats just peaked too early. They had an unconvincing win against a battered Chargers team 2 weeks ago. They barely won against the Ravens and Eagles. Maybe they just couldn’t sustain being that motivated for that long? My theory is that Brady is hurt. He pulled out of the Pro Bowl today. He couldn’t throw the long ball accurately last night for shit(save the one on 3 & 20 that the Giant’s defended). He looked rattled and uncomfortable. He took his licks. There was a period of time where the Pats ran the ball at least 7 plays consecutively. I know the G-Men's D was great. That is a factor. But some of Brady's throws looked like there was a complete lack of communication or Brady just couldn't throw it the way he's used to. I'm picking the latter, and if anyone has a better idea of why he was so inaccurate and inconsistent last night, please let me know.

That being said, Eli Manning is the Super Bowl MVP. The Patriots go 18-1, tying the records of the 1984 49ers and 1985 Chicago Bears (both of whom won the Superbowl btw). I am jubilant to have a championship team in New York again. However, it was a Pyrrhic victory for me this weekend. The gambling site I use crashed as I was placing my bets, so none were entered. I called ¾ picks in my last post (which 20 dollars would have won you 68) and had so much more to bet, that would have won. Alas, I will walk away from the Super Bowl happy with a Giants win, and happy with the 50$ I won, that I had placed on them to win right after they beat the Packers. Bittersweet, almost.

Super Bowl

So if Hollywood is for attractive people and politics is the Hollywood for ugly people, what are sports the Hollywood of? Each of the former has their main event: The Academy Awards, the Elections. Yet still, neither of those rivals the yearly spectacle that is the Super Bowl. Nobody will pay 2.7million dollars for a 30 second spot for the Academy Awards. The only person I can think who’d spend that around an election is Mitt Romney (Ba-Zing!), but seriously this is a sports article today. In the years that Paul Tagliabue and Roger Goodell have been in charge of the NFL, football has displaced baseball as our modern “national pastime”. Nobody cares about the World Series anymore, yet on Sunday, millions, err billions, of viewers worldwide will unite in celebration of football…or to watch the commercials, but that’s a different pastime. This year is the pinnacle of the accomplishments of this league. Advertisements are costing an all-time high. The most viewers in the history of the world will be able to access the game. For those who care about the sport, a New England Patriots team will try to become the greatest team in the NFL completing the most perfect season in history. On the opposite side, a young Eli Manning, who has undoubtedly looked to be the sharpest quarterback in the NFL this offseason, is set to continue his family’s legacy of greatness following in his father, Archie, and brother, Peyton. Older brother Cooper lacks verifiable information, but may have been employee of the month at wherever he works for a significant time period. (way to go!) But enough of the surface detail…

The Patriots are the obvious favorite this weekend, yet lately they’ve proved to be vulnerable. They are banged up and on the news for it (see: Tom Brady’s foot/shoulder, Jabar Gaffney’s shoulder, et al). They’ve had difficulty stopping the run, as Chargers’ backup running backs, Michael Turner and Darren Sproles racked up almost 4.8 ypc. Yet despite this, they’ve been the most consistent team all year, and they are the best regular season team in the history of the sport. Their offense will be explosive, and pending a tragic accident, Tom Brady will play and lead this team. The Giants, however, are the hot team right now, and sometimes that’s all you need (see: 2006 Steelers, 2001 Ravens). They are banged up as well, missing valuable pieces Mathias Kiwanuka and perennial loudmouth, Jeremy Shockey, but their keys to success revolve around their ability to adapt to injuries. Kevin Boss has stepped up, in addition to rookie running back, Ahmad Bradshaw. Their defense has looked amazing, and they will use different schemes to rush Brady and get him unsettled. On offense, look for them to pound the ball against a Pats team that has done poorly against the run with Brandon Jacobs, and for a change of pace, they'll bring in Bradshaw. This should open up the pass game, especially young Eli’s play action. The Pats will need to find a way to stop the Giants’ run game and get to Eli. If they are able to give Brady some time, look for him to get the ball to Welker and Moss, much in the same way they abused a weaker Giants’ secondary in the last game. Since I am a gambling man, I will give you no predictions for the total outcome of the game. But as teasers…

Brady’s total completions Over 25 ½

Brady’s total TD’s Over 2 ½

Eli’s total TD’s Over 1 ½

Welker’s total REC over 7 ½

Giants +7 ½ …….for the first half…

That’s all I got. Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Let’s go Giants!

Lost _____________Lost



Definitely Lost_________Next?


Update:: In fact I am. If you are under the age of 13 and would like an invitation to this special Candy, Puppydogs, and Fireworks party held at the Chuckie Cheese, just shoot me an email, you cute commenting piece of jailbait. ;-)

Football Soap Opera Digest Weekly; I Hate That There Is No Football This Weekend (senior bowl doesn't count...fuck colt brennan)

Ok so amid the nonstop stories about how crazy Britney Spears is and how Amy Winehouse finally went to rehab, recent tabloid reports have infiltrated ESPN even (God, say it ain’t so?!) to discuss the Tony Romo and Yoko Romo, sorry, Jessica Simpson relationship scandal. I’m paraphrasing ESPN last night on Sportscenter when they say they have obtained information (from OK! Magazine no less, a fine reputable periodical!) that Tony Romo tried to dump Daisy Duke last week. However, Jessica either did not follow the basic concepts he was trying to relay to her, or just refused to be dumped by this gummy smiled jackass. So in order to try and drive her away, Tony decided to take her on a hunting trip, to make her feel awkward and unwanted. This failed miserably, like his playoff record, and she and he are still dating…sort of. Basically there has been no resolution to the issue and Jessica is just pissed off that people could report that: A) she’d been dumped (by Tony Romo, no less) and B) people would print such things. Now, this all being said, I could care less what happens to the couple. I retain the last lingering amount of respect for Tony Romo only because he had the audacity to "hit it and quit it" with good ole’ Chicken of the Sea herself, but he can’t even do that right, so fuck him.

Moving on from one pretty boy QB to another…

Tom Brady was seen wearing a boot on his right foot this week, causing a media clusterfuck to report that he might not play, he’s more hurt than Belicheat is letting on, and other ridiculous nonsense not pertaining to anything really valuable. These reports were then nullified by interviews with Brady and his father with the two stating that virtually nothing could keep him from the game and that the boot was merely precautionary. Moreover he was seen later that night sans walking cast. However, today’s news reports that Brady has been absent from any media coverage at practice. This could mean something awful! Maybe he really is hurt! Maybe Belichick is hiding something! Or (and this is directed to any asshole believes anything in the past 3 sentences could actually be true) maybe the Patriots are all just full of shit. Tom Brady has been “Probable” or "Questionable" for the last 55 games, and he’s played in every last one. I wouldn’t be surprised if the boot and this entire media storm is just to fuck with the Giants' planning (though I don’t see how). Anyways, I don’t really care about Tom Brady. I think it will take more than him to win the Super Bowl, especially with the way he played last week.

That being said, I hate that football has been tainted by this tabloid nonsense. On the plus side though, I do not apologize for getting to use the gratuitous pictures of Jessica Simpson.