Champs!!

I'm sitting here absolutely stunned right now. Two weeks into this season, I said to my dad, "The Giants are a 4-12 team...but I can't figure out which four teams they're going to beat." Five months later, my team is this year's champions. I couldn't have been more wrong about the game. I thought it would be an offensive shootout--somewhere along the lines of 38-35. I thought the "over" would be the safe bet--boy, was I wrong on that one. Here's some other random thoughts from the game and the season.

- Ryan Seacrest has no business on a football pregame show. If that little Nancy has ever watched a game in his life, it was to watch the linemen get into position (if you catch my drift.)

- Giants G.M. Jerry Reese is a genius. Everyone from this year's draft made a contribution, and even the guy from the preseason who made a big contribution to another team (Packers RB Ryan Grant) was traded for a pick in this year's draft.

- I was ready to fire Coughlin after a lackluster preseason and an 0-2 start. Now I think the Giants would be foolish to sign him to less than a 5-year extension. (And for the record, my girlfriend did predict that the Giants would win the Super Bowl to cheer me up after the loss to the Packers in week 2. She just didn't predict it'd be over her dad's Patriots.)

- I thought Joe Buck should be fired for calling Giants DE Justin Tuck "Jason Tuck" for the second consecutive broadcast during the game. I was even more appalled when Stuart Scott did the same thing during the SportsCenter highlights with time to prepare. Unpreparedness is, to my mind, a worse offense than trying to make a joke that comes up offensive. If Don Imus and Kelly Tilghman get punished, then Buck and Scott should be punished even more harshly for their faux pas.
- David Tyree's final catch should be replayed as often as that of Franco Harris. It truly was the Immaculate Reception for the new millenium.

- Who ever would have thought that the Mike Barnes of the NFL (that would be Randy Moss) would be more gracious in defeat than Bill Belichick, who basically got his start with the franchise that defeated him tonight? I guess that makes him the NFL's John Creese, which in turn makes Bob Kraft football's answer to Terry Silver.

- And apparently I wasn't the only naysayer who reads this blog. Check out the comments on this post.

Congratulations to the Patriots for setting the record for wins in a season, and for an excellent Super Bowl. And congratulations to MVP Eli Manning and the Giants. This truly was one for the ages, and for the next year, at least, you truly are...the best around.

(Photo from FoxSports.com.)