 rjonas, Wed, February 6th, 2008 Summer in Albany just got a lot more interesting. All because of perhaps the greatest upset in professional sports history. Now, we’re going to be the summer home for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Not the NFC wild card Giants or the NFC champion Giants. The Super Bowl champion Giants. Somebody pinch Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and University at Albany athletic director Dr. Lee McElroy to make sure they’re not dreaming. Heck, somebody pinch all the Giants fans to make sure they’re not dreaming. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to this bunch of Giants, anyway. Eli Manning wasn’t a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback. Tom Coughlin wasn’t a Super Bowl-caliber head coach. The backfield didn’t have a Super Bowl-caliber tailback without Tiki Barber. Those were the thoughts most football analysts had heading into the season. Those were still the thoughts most analysts had heading into the playoffs. Then, the Giants proved the analysts wrong. Following the blueprint the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted two years earlier en route to their improbable Super Bowl title, the Giants hit the road and turned into road monsters. They went into Florida and beat up a decent-but-questionably good Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad. They went into Texas Stadium and rallied to beat a Dallas Cowboys team that had beaten them handily twice during the regular season. They went into the Arctic Circle and stunned the Green Bay Packers with a Lawrence Tynes overtime field goal. Did anyone who watched the Giants train last summer at UAlbany see this coming? Did anyone see this coming? No. But then again, we are talking about the NFC – a conference that went from being dominant in the 1980s and 1990s to mediocre in the 2000s. It wasn’t impossible for the Giants to win the NFC title, but it was certainly improbable. What was deemed impossible was a Giants victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. All anyone heard from the analysts was how the undefeated Patriots were going to steamroll the Giants, especially after United States Sen. Arlen Spector announced that he wanted to talk to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about “Spygate.” Surely, the reminder of the Patriots’ biggest embarrassment would lead to an embarrassing blowout, just like it did back in September when the Pats rolled over the San Diego Chargers the week after “Spygate” came to light. Even if “Spygate” didn’t have an effect on the Patriots’ play, surely there was no way Bill Belichick’s perfect crew would allow the Giants to hang close a second time this season. Tom Brady was going to connect with Randy Moss for at least two touchdowns. And if it wasn’t Moss, it was going to be Wes Welker or Donté Stallworth or Jabar Gaffney who would. There was no way that the Giants were going to stop the Patriots. Except the Giants found a way to stop the Patriots. They applied near constant pressure on Brady with a ferocious defensive line, which forced “Mr. Perfect” into hurrying his throws. Yes, Brady threw for 266 yards and a touchdown pass to Moss, but it took Brady nearly 50 attempts to get those 266 yards. And that pass rush sacked Brady five times. Hardly what Brady expected. (Side note 1: I think it’s time single quarterbacks like Brady and Tony Romo stopped bringing their girlfriends to games. Romo was never the same after Jessica Simpson saw him throw three interceptions in a 10-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, Brady’s gal, Gisele Bundchen, watches him lose in the Super Bowl. So, I guess the lesson is you can date a supermodel or a pop singer if you’re a superstar quarterback – just don’t bring her to the stadium.) Still, the Patriots had a 14-10 lead with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter. That lead should have been safe, especially with Eli Manning guiding the Giants’ two-minute offense. The perfect season was in the bag. Except, Eli Manning must have read Joe Montana’s guide to successful two-minute drives (not available to the general public) and guided the Giants down the field. At one point, he eluded three Patriot tacklers and threw a pass that David Tyree pulled down by trapping the ball against his helmet. Four plays later, he connected with Plaxico Burress for the go-ahead touchdown. Where was that Eli Manning the past three years? He wasn’t at training camp at UAlbany, was he? Yet, he must have been there all along. He just needed the right stage to show himself. (Side note 2: One play before Manning connected with Burress, he threw a key third-down pass to Steve Smith, and the rookie had the sense to tiptoe down the sideline for the first down before being knocked out of bounds. One week earlier, I interviewed Smith at the Center for Disability Services Telethon in Colonie. Coincidence? Yeah, but it’s something I’ll likely remember for years to come.) Yet, the Patriots still had 35 seconds to make something happen. Perhaps a tying field goal or – gasp – the game-winning touchdown. Except, nothing happened. Jay Alford sacked Brady on second down. Then, two Hail Marys fell incomplete. Game over. Perfect season over. Giants are Super Bowl champions. Patriots are the forgotten runners-up. So when training camp opens on a late July day at UAlbany, we’ll be welcoming the defending Super Bowl champions. And chances are, there will be a lot of people there to greet them. Certainly, there won’t be a lot of people there doubting them. Not now. Not ever again. blog comments powered by Disqus  |
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