Giants 17 Patriots 14 – The Impossible Dream Comes True for the Giants

Incredible. Amazing. Unexpected. Stunning. These are all words that can be used to describe Super Bowl XLII. It was supposed to be a blowout, over by the end of the first half. About the time that Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers were going to take the stage, I was planning on taking a nap or maybe turning on the Xbox for a little Madden 2008 to play my own version of the big game since the real Super Bowl would have already been decided.

Fortunately for football fans everywhere, the game was more competitive than we could have ever imagined. The Giants defense gave a valiant effort, harassing Tom Brady and roughing him up like he owed each member of the defensive unit money. As halftime rolled around with the score standing at 7-3, the same thought that we had many times this season flashed in our minds. Was today the day? Was it even possible? Could the Giants complete the impossible dream and defeat the juggernaut Patriots, who had plowed through the league, demolishing virtually every team that stood between them and their fourth Lombardi Trophy in seven years?

Maybe it was just the emotion of the game carrying over, but even Tom Petty seemed to perform better than expected (but shave the beard and put on a little weight, buddy, you’re scaring the children).

As the second half carried on and the Giant defenders continued to keep New York’s hopes alive, it felt like the levee could break at any moment. A nation of Patriot-haters held their breaths, waiting for the moment the Patriots would break through.

And they did. Just like they had done against the Eagles, and the Ravens, and the Giants during the regular season, the Patriots stole the lead back in the second half. With less than three minutes to go, the Patriots had pulled ahead and were well on their way to immortality.

But a star was born this postseason: Eli Manning, long held as the less talented Manning and referred to as a weak and boyish quarterback who melted in the limelight of New York City, continued his stunning maturity on the brightest stage in sports. He led the Giants down the field on that unbelievable last drive, where it seemed at any moment the dream would end, and put them back in the lead for good. It capped an incredible postseason for Manning, who threw only one interception in the Giants’ four playoff games after being labeled as mediocre his whole career.

I don’t hesitate to call this Super Bowl the best I have ever seen, and I have witnessed some great ones (Rams vs. Titans in 2000, Patriots vs. Panthers in 2004). This game was historic, with the first-ever 18-0 team in NFL history, and featured a 12-point underdog stunning one of the biggest bullies the league had ever seen. It was truly a game for the ages.

Sour grapes for the little man in the hood

Is there anyone more irritating than Patriots coach Bill Belichick? It’s bad enough that you can always count on him to be the most horrifically boring person at every pre-game and post-game press conference, speaking in a monotone so dull that it could put Richard Simmons to sleep. But while I can tolerate Belichick being both uninteresting and uninterested in entertaining the fans, I have no patience for his poor sportsmanship.

Belichick famously exchanged frosty handshakes after games with former pupil and current Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini and Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy, and the Pats spent the first half of this season mercilessly running up the score on every opponent they faced. But the icing on the cake came at the end of the Super Bowl.

After the Patriots’ final play, everyone mistakenly started running onto the field because they thought the game was over, including Belichick. However, one second remained on the clock. Belichick exchanged a quick handshake with Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin before the final play was run, then bolted for the locker room. While 11 of his players had to take the field so that the Giants could take a knee and make the victory official, Belichick was nowhere to be found. Apparently he couldn’t spare the extra second to wait for the game to be officially over. Belichick may have as many championship rings as the late Bill Walsh, but he’ll never measure up to Walsh’s integrity and class.

They won every game – except the one that mattered most

After tearing through the NFL this year, this Patriots team will be remembered as a colossal failure. That’s a mighty big fall for a team that was being hyped as one of the best of all-time.

Now there are also signs that the mighty Patriot dynasty may at last be coming to an end. Already tarnished because of the “spygate” scandal earlier this season, the Pats are under greater scrutiny now that U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has expressed his interest in investigating the videotaping scandal and the destruction of the Patriots’ tapes by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Allegations have also surfaced that the Patriots may have videotaped other teams illegally for years, perhaps even taping the Rams’ final walkthrough before the 2001 Super Bowl in which the Patriots bested the heavily favored Rams.

If these new allegations prove to be true, I wouldn’t expect Goodell to be very kind to the Patriots. He is very image-conscious when it comes to his league, and being called out publicly by Sen. Specter has undoubtedly made the famously stern commish angry. More draft picks could be taken from the Patriots in the future and I anticipate owner Bob Kraft and Head Coach Bill Belichick would be writing some pretty hefty checks to the league if Goodell believes they lied to him about the taping scandal.

The three championships the Patriots have earned this decade would also become more questionable than Barry Bonds’ home run records, leaving fans in St. Louis, Carolina and Philadelphia wondering if championship banners should be hanging in their stadiums instead of New England’s.

If the Patriots are found to have violated the rules (again), punishment will be rightly deserved. They should know better than to think they can get away with cheating in the NFL: I mean, what do they think this is – Major League Baseball?

Fernando Gallo can be reached at [email protected]