Superbowl XLII Winners: NY Giants

Well they did it. They did what few people thought they could do. They defeated the New England Patriots, and in doing so, overcame destiny. The New York Giants are your Superbowl Champions.

And what a way to win. On the drive that literally defined the whole game, Eli Manning stepped out of his brother's shadow and began his own legend. Breaking out of the grasp of two defenders to throw up a ball that in all honesty looked like it should have been dropped but for the determination of Tyree to hold on to that damn thing. Just one play, but a magnificent play, that led to Eli connecting with Plaxico for the winning touchdown.

But with a glorious win for the Giants comes a crushing defeat for the Patriots. An historical season brought to a bitter end. Throughout the regular season the Patriots dominated most of their opponents, or had things go their way that would really make you think it was their destiny to go 19-0. But while destiny had brought them to the big show, it couldn't win it for them.

Congratulations to the New York Giants, Superbowl Champions, 2008.

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

So, as we all know, the Superbowl is coming up in about a week's time. The New England Patriots vs the New York Giants.

You've got Peyton's lil' bro vs Mr. Perfect, Tom Brady. The team everyone loves to hate and the team that... well... no one expected to even be here. Hell, I didn't. I don't hate the Giants, but really, have they played so well this year to be at the final dance? I don't think so. I honestly can't think of any reason they should be there. I can't think of any victories that were noteworthy. No blowouts. They've just plodded along, managing to squeeze into the playoffs.

Sure, the Steelers managed to do that as well, but that was destiny. It was Bettis's final year, and the Superbowl was in his hometown. They'd gotten close the year before, and Big Ben even promised Bettis that he'd get him there the next year. It was just meant to be. But the Giants? The only thing you've got is Eli trying to equal his brother's accomplishments and Tom Coughlin trying not to get fired. Last year would have been the better story as it was Tiki's last year, and everyone loves Tiki.

Nope, the story of this game is completely and entirely about the Perfect Patriots. I remember the game on Monday night, Patriots vs Ravens, where Don Shula, coach of the '72 Dolphins, was being harrassed by Tony Kornheiser to say that he hoped the Patriots didn't win. He was graceful at first, saying that he'd congratulate them if they did it, but quickly changed his tune as soon as it looked like the Ravens might actually do it (yep, that infamous game where Brian Billick lost his job :D).

Then there's "spygate", as the media are calling it. Ol' Billy Bob Belichick got caught peeking at his former protégé's defensive plays, and he gets slapped with a fine and whatever. Suddenly everyone is coming out of the woodworks saying that Billy cheated them out of some wins (Donovan McNabb springs to mind... "They stole our ring..."). So what does Billy do? He goes out and stomps on everyone's ass who said anything (it helps that is QB is literally a machine).

But forget about the team as a whole for a bit. You've got the most potent QB/WR combo since Montana and Rice. That's right, Brady and Moss are your new super heroes. Okay, so maybe that's a bit hasty, but one play, just one play, to me shows how completely dominant they are. The play where Brady and Moss broke Peyton's season pass TD record, and Rice's season receiving TD record. The play IMMEDIATELY after the same exact play failed. The play that defined how complete a duo they are.

Will the Pats go 19 - 0? That's the real question. And we'll find out, next Sunday.