Super Bowl XLII

You have to be happy for Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin.

After Manning snubbed san diego (great career move), he got no love for anything he did, few individuals showed this guy any respect, and he is only in his 4th year in the league. He could have folded, and let the media and the fans get to him, but he kept a cool head and brought this team from out of nowhere to being atop the greatest arena in pro football. What an impressive feat; I for one never thought he would get there, but he not only got there, he did it in impressive time and against a stacked group of opponents. I remember Keith Oberman (NBC-Football Night In America) saying earlier in the year that there were 5 really good teams, 5 really bad teams, and the rest of the league was just watching. Manning and the Giants upset Tampa Bay in round one gunned down three of those teams on the road (granted the Super Bowl was a neutral sight, bottom line is that they were away from the Meadowlands, and they were playing the best team in the history of football). That road warrior mentality is another aspect makes him and the Giants such a special team, it's one thing to have a dominant home-field advantage, but it's much more special to go on road winning streaks like they did this year.

After Tom Coughlin and the Jacksonville "Jagwads" (Thanks Woody Paige, you are the man, but you didn't need to do that, never underestimate your opponent) took down the Broncos in that monumental 1996 Divisional Playoff game, they suffered an unfortunate letdown the following week against none other than the New England Patriots. It must have been a great feeling to finally win a Super Bowl over the team that ended an impressive playoff run for such a head coach in only his second year and a franchise in only its second year. Following that was even more heartbreak, getting paid back next year 42-17 when they came into Denver, and then for the next 2 years having one of football's elite teams and never getting to the Super Bowl, and then 3 straight sub-.500 seasons. Then he came to New York and missed the playoffs in his first season, and was ousted in the Wild Card round for two consecutive seasons. Then came the epiphany that all legends have at some point that allows them to turn the corner. He shrugged his strict disciplinary attitude, proved to the critics that a man believed to be set in his ways could change, and formed a bond with his players that led the Giants to one of the most impressive season-ending tears in sports history, which concluded with tonight's epic upset over the Patriots.

These two great stories of struggle, overcoming the odds, and triumph are what make professional sports great. I do not mean to subtract from the rest of team whatsoever, it was undoubtedly a team effort that carried New York through, these simply stand as shining examples of how perseverance and quality performance culminate into what is the beauty of the game.

Last year at the conclusion of Super Bowl XLI, I said, "Let's hope Super Bowl XLII is at least a good game or the NFL officially sucks." This game gave me some hope again as an NFL fan, because I truly believe what my brother Anthony said, "If New England goes undefeated, winning the Super Bowl from here on out will never be good enough if the team does not go undefeated." This is very true because if the Patriots won tonight the pursuit of perfection in the modern era would have been reached. So for at least one more year, the 1972 Dolphins can celebrate with their champagne party being the only team in NFL history having achieved perfection, and I sure hope that holds true forever.