SUPER BOWL XLII (IN PROGRESS)

I'm not going to be posting after the game, so I figure in between the third and fourth quarters is as good a time as any. Congratulations to people who had Patriots 7, Giants 3 in the squares - double winners. This has been an exciting 7-3 game. Here are my thoughts:

• The Giants defense has been as solid as a Giants fan could have hoped.
• Tom Petty sounded AWESOME at halftime. I'm not a huge fan - I'm a casual 'Greatest Hits'-type fan....but he was great. I would have figured him for a horrible, Bob Dylan-type voice, but he was great.
• Big play by Kevin Boss just now - first play by the Giants in the fourth quarter. Shockey who?
• Tom Brady might actually be hurt....he's not able to evade the Giants rush. I thought that was a media-overblown story.
• I don't care what color his skin is, Mike Carey is an excellent referee. (He became the first black referee in a Super Bowl Sunday night.)

A couple of predictions I didn't have the chance to put on the site before the game, but they came in well advance of the game - my dad picked Patriots 31, Giants 20. And then there's this from Rob in New Jersey:

"Hi John. Longtime reader, 4th or 5th time emailer. Love the site (...and all the rest of the email versions of the b.s. sports radio callers use to butter up the hosts in the hopes of getting more than the usual 23 seconds of air time). Anyway, I saw your prediction for the Super Bowl and your rationalization, and I couldn't help but take umbrage. And I wanted to register my umbrage before kickoff.

The idea that the 2007 Giants are the 2001 Patriots incarnate has been making me laugh. The 2001 Pats lost on November 18th of that year (to the Rams) and never lost again. They entered the SB on an eight game winning streak. Several of those wins were decisive. The Giants enter today's game on a three game winning streak (all three playoff games). They lost two of their final three games. In the one win, Eli Manning fumbled FIVE TIMES and threw 2 or 3 picks (can't remember which). Yes, they played the Patriots tough, but the Giants have not come close to duplicating the impressive pre-Super Bowl run of the 2001 Patriots, in my opinion. (I could provide more facts and figures, but nobody wants that.)

I may be proven to be a dope as the game unfolds, but I wanted to make sure my assessment didn't come off as Monday morning quarterbacking. Pats 41 - Giants 13. Keep up the good work!

-Rob
Cherry Hill, NJ"

Point taken, Rob. But I wasn't really looking that far back - I just meant in terms of Super Bowl matchups - not many people gave the 2001 Patriots a chance against the powerful Rams team, except for those who really knew the Patriots. The same happened this year with the Giants, in my opinion.

• Back to the bullets - the Giants just scored to take a 10-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
• That score reminds me of another thing - it sounds like (and on this broadcast, I realize it could be skewed) there are more Giants fans than Patriots fans. Although, I guess there has been more for a Giants fan to cheer for than a Pats fan up until now.

One more e-mail - I haven't exactly been tortured by the fact that the Giants are playing the Patriots - it's been an easy decision for me to root for the New York team, and against the perfect season. But it's downright torturous for my cousin - I think he intended for this to be published:

"We'll, the worst has happened. The Patriots and the Giants- a Jets fan's nightmare. I don't buyall this BS about a close game. We haven't had a good old fashioned blow out in a while at the Super Bowl. It used to happen every year. The Patriots will put an exclamation point on their perfect season with a big win. I'll say 42-17. The weather will be good and their experience will prevent any early jitters. The Giants have to have their luck run out soon. They were supposed to be bad. Their coach was supposed to be on the hot seat. Yours truly picked them to be 5-11. I still haven't gotten over week 5 when the Jets had them beat. Look at their post season so far. Tampa had barely beaten anyone all year. Dallas was banged up and playing lousy at the end of the year. Green Bay came out of no where this year. Who knows how good they really were? If I sound bitter, well I am. Too many crazy Giant fans yelling Phil Simms is a Hall of Fame QB while I was in High School. Brady broke Simms' completion % record earlier this post season. Now let him squash the Big Blue on Super Bowl Sunday. And the best part is that recent history tells us the the Super Bowl losers usually fair poorly the following year. Next year is a green and white year. Wait until next year..... Cuz"

I'm heading back to the couch. This should be a great ending. If it merits more writing, I'll revisit it on Monday. Post your reactions, if you have any, in the comments, or send along an e-mail.