The Cheap Seats

Blogs, Buzz and Bluster

Obviously, I've stopped blogging with any kind of regularity over the past couple years. But, deep down, I still consider myself a sports blogger. And on the rare occasions when I am able to carve half an hour out of a day to write a decent post, I do it for the same reason I did it five years ago -- because I love sports, and I love talking about sports.

Because I love sports, I wasn't watching when, inevitably, Buzz Bissenger threw a hissy fit at the blogosphere as personified by Deadspin's Will Leitch Tuesday night on HBO's Costas Now. I was busy watching the Red Wings thump the Avalanche. Actual games are always more intriguing to me than the navel-gazing of those who cover them, whether in print or in pixels.

And let's face it, the longstanding war of words between crusty old newspaper guys and basement-dwelling bloggers, which was never that interesting in the first place, is the worst kind of navel-gazing; all bluster and bravado, a turf war over ether. Neither blogs nor traditional media are going away any time soon (although traditional media better get its arms around new methods of content delivery before long), despite the protestations each has to the ongoing existence and relevance of the other.

The quickest way to get me to unsubscribe from your blog's RSS feed is to bitch incessantly about ESPN or your local newspaper hack. And when I run across yet another columnist chiding bloggers for their lack of journalistic integrity from his lofty perch, I feel pity rather than anger, because if you work in the traditional media and you're not embracing new methods of content delivery like blogs and podcasts, you're just not going to be all that valuable to your employer in five years.

Really, both sides would probably be better served to stop obsessing about the perceived shortcomings of the other, and to start concentrating on producing better content, wouldn't they?

Which brings us back to Buzz v. Will. I finally got around to watching the entire (interminable) exchange this morning. Personally, I didn't find either guy's arguments particularly compelling.

While I'm not a huge fan of Deadspin, I do respect the rabid following that Leitch's hard work has garnered. But Will struck me as disingenuous in his defense of his site's commentors and of the lowest-common-denominator garbage that some of his writers produce in an effort to pander to them. (Just as an aside, in my opinion Deadspin was a much better read when Leitch and Rick Chandler were solely responsible for its content.)

And for a guy who was apparently trying to make a stand on behalf of high journalistic standards and professionalism, Bissinger simply came off as bitter and woefully under-informed, willing to judge thousands of sports blogs across the internet based solely on his perception of Leitch & Co. In so doing, Bissinger made a mistake common to those who believe that Deadspin is representative of all sports blogs. He threw the baby out with the bath water.

Whatever it has become in the post-Deadspin era, with its proliferation of off-field snark and gossip, the sports blogosphere has its roots as the world's biggest sports bar, a meritocracy where opinions flow freely, a sense of humor is your best weapon and a sense of self-importance will get you nowhere. And passionate fans are still out there, hammering away at their keyboards, producing content that you're just not going to find anywhere else.

Dismissing their efforts just because you find a site like Kissing Suzy Kolber offensive is every bit as silly as dismissing brilliant newspaper guys like Joe Posnanski just because of the Woody Paiges of the world. There's plenty of value to embrace in both mediums, and they don't have to be mutually exclusive. Just ask Posnanski, who is arguably the best columnist and blogger in sports today.

Now if you'll excuse me, there are games to watch.

Technorati Tags: Beatin' a dead horse, Buzz Bissinger, Will Leitch

February 22, 1980

USA 4, USSR 3.

Technorati Tags: Miracle on Ice

The Spartans' Seven Year Itch

Tuesday night's 60-54 loss to Purdue dropped Michigan State to 8-3 in conference play and pretty much assured that, when the dust settles on the 2008 Big Ten basketball season, the Spartans' conference title drought will reach seven years.

There's plenty left to play for, of course -- the Big Ten tournament (which I'd love to see the league drop in favor of a full round-robin regular season schedule, but that's another post for another day) and, for the eleventh consecutive season under Tom Izzo, the NCAA tournament. But still, despite all the success that the MSU basketball program has had under Izzo -- and it has had a lot -- it's somewhat jarring to think that the Spartans haven't won a regular season Big Ten championship since 2001.

There have been a couple close calls along the way -- MSU finished one game behind 13-3 Illinois in 2004, and two games back of 15-1 Illinois in 2005. It's notable, of course, that the '05 team went on to reach the Final Four, the fourth of Izzo's career, and in the process redeemed the Torbert-Anderson-Davis-Hill era in the minds of most Spartan fans.

But the thing that Spartan fans might find disturbing is that, in the years since the '98-'01 glory days of Izzo's program, the pre-tournament portion of the MSU basketball storyline has begun to take on a familiar arc. From year to year, with some variations (last season was obviously a rebuilding year, for example), it goes something like this:

•Preseason practice through the non-conference schedule: High preseason expectations inside and outside the program, accompanied by speculation that the current group of players will be more athletic than their predecessors and that offensive pace will increase. Hope abounds that this will be the MSU team that gets out and runs on offense again. At some point, there will be a close call or a loss, and Izzo will tell everyone within earshot that "we're not that good yet, no one is stepping up to lead this team, and we haven't had a true leader since Mateen." No noticeable increase in the offensive pace of play, but fans on message boards will laud the team's defensive efforts and remind each other to stay patient in the early going as "Tom tinkers with the rotation and tries to get the pieces to fit." Much anticipation of the team "gelling on the offensive end as the young guys learn Izzo's complicated sets."

•Big Ten schedule: At least one completely mind-numbing offensive performance, though not necessarily a loss, which will have observers questioning MSU's offensive philosophy, followed, at some point, by a loss or two to teams "that will surprise a lot of people by the end of the year." Izzo will respond to those losses by challenging his players to get tougher, and will probably mention Mateen. The team will bounce back and show improvement, hopes will raise, only to ultimately be dashed by a couple more losses to teams who "always play MSU tough." Izzo will bemoan a lack of leadership and/or toughness. Fans on message boards will begin arguing over the relative prestige and importance of a Big Ten championship as compared to a lengthy NCAA tournament run.

•Post-season: The annual MSU run for redemption in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments! Some seasons, it works out (2003, 2005), others, not so much (2002, 2004). Everyone looks forward to the following season, when an emerging young star will claim the team as his own, a la, you guessed it: Mateen.

Look, I know it's sacrilege to suggest that there's anything wrong with this program. Do I think people should be wondering if the game has passed Tom Izzo by or sorting through resumes of potential replacements? Of course not. Izzo is still one of the best college basketball coaches in the country, and MSU is lucky to have him. He's earned my deference, my respect and my fandom. I appreciate how difficult it is to attain the kind of success he's had and how he's gone about attaining it. He does things the right way.

But, from a basketball standpoint, it's fair to point out that Izzo's best teams didn't have to rely on "flipping the switch come tournament time." They got better as the season progressed, and won big games during the regular season -- big games which prepared them for NCAA tournament battles to come. They didn't just talk about pushing the ball in September -- they actually did push it in January, February and March. And if the game did happen to slow to a crawl, they could execute their offense, both inside and from the perimeter, and avoid the ridiculous rash of turnovers that have now plagued the most recent incarnations of the team for nearly two years.

And they put Big Ten championship banners in the rafters. For whatever reason, that hasn't been the case of late.

I'm a huge fan of Tom Izzo, and I appreciate both the success he's had at MSU and the way he's gone about succeeding. But I'm sure if you ask him about those problems, his answer would be some variation of "get tougher." Remember, when the Spartans won the 2000 National Championship, their rings were engraved with "PP-TPW," an acronym for "players play, tough players win."

But a lack of toughness doesn't make you turn the ball over nearly 20 times a game. Toughness won't help you overcome an offense described as "very predictable" by analyst Tim McCormick (another huge fan of Izzo, by the way), or offset a 21-0 deficit from three-point range in a game against Purdue. Sometimes it seems that the constant search for toughness, or for another leader in the mold of Mateen Cleaves, is a bit of a red herring. I want Michigan State to be a tough basketball team, but I'm not sure I buy "get tougher" as the answer to every question that's raised about the Spartans anymore.

Maybe, just maybe, the Spartans' new credo should be: Players play, tough players win, and smart, tough players executing smart, tough gameplans win championships. The Big Ten sure would have been a nice place to start.

Technorati Tags: Big Ten, Spartan Basketball, Tom Izzo

Khabibulin Has the Right Idea

Remember that post a few weeks ago when I described my disdain for the shootout? Well, you can multiply that hatred 1,000 times over after seeing this:

I mean, honestly, it's bad enough that we're deciding hockey games with this nonsensical exercise in the first place, but if we're going to allow shooters to run goaltenders on their way to the net, why bother with goalies at all? Let's just stick paper targets in the corner of the nets and settle things Ray Bourque-style.

Completely ridiculous. I'm sure Ryan Shannon wasn't planning on bumping Nikolai Khabibulin, but I don't blame Khabibulin for taking offense one bit.

What a circus.

Technorati Tags: Do not trifle with Nikolai Khabibulin, Seriously, this ain't hockey

Thoroughly Unscientific 2008 Detroit Tigers Projections

It's 7º Fahrenheit in Detroit right now. -9º with the wind chill. But rejoicing will be heard throughout Michigan on Thursday, and not just because the mercury is expected to climb to a balmy high of 28º.

You see, Thursday is the day that Tiger pitchers and catchers are due to report to Lakeland for spring training, and Dave Dombrowski's stellar off-season, spent acquiring Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Dontrelle Willis and Jacque Jones, really stoked the hot-stove fires for Detroit baseball fans. Current pre-season expectations for the Tigers are the highest we've seen since the mid-1980's. We're ready for some baseball.

For the past few weeks various publications have been releasing their projections, predictions and analysis of the Tigers roster. And just as I've done in the past, I've skimmed through them, nodding and wincing and raising an eyebrow or two whenever it seemed appropriate. But I've never bothered to jot down my own projections in the past, because it's always seemed to me as if folks who do so tend to end up rooting harder for their projections than they do for their favorite team.

But, as I mentioned above, it's really cold outside today. I mean, it's Alaska-cold. With that in mind, and with the Wings on a three-game losing streak (Lidstrom's game-tying goal yesterday absolutely should not have been disallowed, by the way, and the Anaheim Ducks are a dirty, goalie-running hockey team who will get their comeuppance), I just feel like thinking about baseball for a few minutes this evening.

So, just for fun, here are some off-the-cuff, scientifically baseless performance predictions and hackneyed analysis of your 2008 Detroit Tigers. (I only bothered with the starting rotation and position players whom I expect to get the majority of starts. I didn't look at the relief pitching at all because, with Joel Zumaya still not healthy, I get kind of ornery when I think about the Tigers' bullpen. I will project, however, that Jason Grilli will continue to make me long for the good old days of Doug Bair and SId Monge.)

•C, Ivan Rodriguez: 118 games, 465 at-bats, 7 home runs, 54 RBI, .271 avg., .293 OBP. I know, I know I'm projecting a .022 difference between Pudge's batting average and on-base percentage. Believe it or not, that marginal difference can be considered optimistic for a guy as undisciplined at the plate as Rodriguez has become over the past few years. I'm a devout believer in the Church of Getting Your Pitch and Hitting It Hard, even at the expense of working the count, but Pudge really has turned into just the kind of guy who gives free-swingers a bad name.

•1B, Carlos Guillen: 144 games, 548 at-bats, 23 home runs, 104 RBI, .308 avg., .365 OBP. I'm a big fan of Carlos moving from short to first. I expect that playing first base full-time is going to be significantly easier on Guillen's legs than playing shortstop, and a healthy Guillen is a must for Detroit this season. Obviously, he's a huge offensive upgrade over his predecessor, Sean Casey. Edgar Renteria, meanwhile, will be a substantial defensive upgrade over Guillen at short. Everybody wins. Even Casey, who''ll have a great seat at Fenway all summer as a role-player for the Red Sox.

•2B, Placido Polanco: 130 games, 517 at-bats, 8 home runs, 65 RBI, .324 avg., .385 OBP. If the Tigers are going to meet expectations, this is a guy who has to stay reasonably healthy. Polanco has the capacity to be the quintessential table-setter in the Detroit lineup. You really couldn't ask for a better hitter in the 2 hole. Now if he can just avoid the injury bug for a full season....

•SS, Edgar Renteria: 148 games, 585 at-bats, 13 home runs, 72 RBI, .286 avg., .349 OBP. Presuming he handles his defensive responsibilities as he's capable, Renteria doesn't need to be as good offensively as he was last year in Atlanta. He took some heat when his OBP dipped below .340 for two consecutive years in '04 and '05, but he bumped back up to .361 and .390 the past two seasons. This will be his second go-round in the American League, so look for a smoother transition to the AL than what he experienced during his 2005 stay with Boston.

•3B, Miguel Cabrera: 152 games, 587 at-bats, 32 home runs, 126 RBI, .327 avg., .410 OBP. Cabrera will own this town by August. That is all.

•LF, Jacque Jones / Marcus Thames Platoon: 154 games, 570 at-bats, 23 home runs, 81 RBI, .268 avg., .309 OBP. Left field is the biggest unknown in the Detroit lineup. You'd think that this would be a straight lefty-righty platoon, with Thames starting against southpaws and Jones starting against, uh, "northpaws." But if I had to pick out one veteran whom Jim Leyland will irrationally fall in love with, to the eternal (and loud) consternation of Tiger message board denizens, it would be Jacque Jones. Hey, with Casey and Neifi gone, someone has to fill the void, right?

•CF, Curtis Granderson: 155 games, 610 at-bats, 27 home runs, 83 RBI, .290 avg., .355 OBP. Granderson will be out to prove that last year's performance wasn't a fluke. Personally, while I'm not sure that Granderson will repeat his 4x20 (home runs, doubles, triples and steals) performance of last season, I am sure that Curtis isn't the kind of guy to get complacent. Some of his numbers might slip from his stellar sophomore campaign, but Tiger fans will certainly still count themselves lucky to have Granderson in the lineup every day.

•Right Field, Magglio Ordonez: 152 games, 585 at-bats, 26 home runs, 117 RBI, .331 avg., .386 OBP. Ordonez won't win back-to-back batting titles, but with the protection that this lineup should afford, he'll get his numbers. It should be another productive summer for Detroit's professional hitter.

•Designated Hitter, Gary Sheffield: 138 games, 504 at-bats, 28 home runs, 87 RBI, .278 avg., .351 OBP. It's a cliche to say that the Detroit lineup feeds off of Gary Sheffield, but just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it isn't true. The best description I can think of for Sheffield's approach at the plate is patient ferocity -- nobody in baseball swings the bat any harder, but you can be sure that if Sheff is swinging, it's going to be at his pitch, not yours. The question regarding Sheffield is how well he has recovered from the shoulder injury that hampered him throughout the second half of last season. If he's anywhere near 100%, look for another productive season in the heart of the Tiger lineup.

•"Super" Sub, Brandon Inge: 105 games, 360 at bats, 9 home runs, 52 RBI, .231 avg., .299 OBP. Inge may retain value as a guy who can be plugged into any defensive position and keep things afloat, but I don't think he's going to embrace the "super sub" role the same way he did back in 2004. Offensively, I think 2007 Inge is much closer to reality than 2006 Inge. Factor in the uncertainty of where he'll be playing on a day-to-day basis, and I think that 2008 will be a struggle for Brandon at the plate.

•Starting Pitcher, Justin Verlander: 33 games, 210 innings pitched, 3.57 ERA, 19 wins, 175 strikeouts. Verlander followed up on his Rookie of the Year Performance in '06 with a stellar '07 in which he solidified himself as one of the American League's premier starting pitchers. Durability aside, there's no reason not to expect more of the same in '08. Rookie Verlander was a thrower; sophomore Verlander was a pitcher. In his third year, look for Justin to emerge as the true ace of the Detroit staff -- a role Tiger fans are hoping that he'll fill for years to come.

•Starting Pitcher, Dontrelle Willis: 32 games, 198 innings pitched, 4.01 ERA, 16 wins, 145 strikeouts. Willis is coming off his worst season in the bigs, and he's thrown a ton of innings over the past four years. That's bad. But he's also going to be playing for a winner again, and he seems like the kind of guy who'll feed off the excitement at Comerica Park this summer. That's good. Some guys need a change of scenery, and I'm of a the opinion that Dontrelle will benefit from his.

•Starting Pitcher, Jeremy Bonderman: No Tiger has more to prove this season than Bonderman. Simply put, it's time to set the excuses aside and become a consistent big leaguer. As for projections, your guess is as good as mine. I've given up trying to figure this guy out. Just for fun, I'll say 29 games, 177 innings pitched, 4.96 ERA, 12 wins, 136 K's. Prove me wrong, Jeremy.

•Starting Pitcher, Nate Robertson: 30 games, 184 innings pitched, 4.54 ERA, 14 wins, 113 K's. That's right, Bondo -- I think Nate's going to win more games than you. Seriously. Prove me wrong. (I like Nate, by the way. Here's hoping he enjoys good run support, eats up some innings and has a career year in the win column. He deserves it.)

•Starting Pitcher, Kenny Rogers: 15 games, 98 innings pitched, 4.46 ERA, 6 wins, 54 K's. I just don't see Rogers holding up to a full season's worth of work. I'm just hoping he's reasonably healthy down the stretch. And Kenny, if it doesn't work out this year, don't fret -- we'll always have '06.

So, there you have it. Should be interesting to look back at this post come October. If I'm on the money, I'll remind you how smart I am, and if I totally miss the mark, I'll remind you that I pulled these numbers out of thin air.

Just 49 days until Opening Day....

Technorati Tags: 2008 Projections, Detroit Tigers, Pulling Numbers Out of Thin Air

Obstructed Views -- Super Bowl Leftover Edition

•I don't have any real animosity toward Tom Brady. He's been one helluva player over the course of his career, and he deserves the adulation and accolades that come his way. But still, I can't imagine the day when I won't laugh at this media day sound byte in response to Plaxico Burress' prediction that the Giants would beat the Pats 23-17.

Yes, Tom. 17 points. Ha ha ha.

By the way, after he gets through the initial wave of smarminess at the beginning of his response, Brady makes a good point that didn't get much play last week: any player going into any game should believe that their team is going to win. Whether they should go public with those feelings is another matter, I guess. But you've got to believe that every player who stepped foot on the field Sunday night believed, deep down, that their team was going to win the game. And that's as it should be, isn't it?

•Two plays from the Giants' final drive will live on in NFL Films highlight reel infamy -- Manning-to-Tyree and Plaxico's game-winning touchdown reception. But sandwiched in between was another play that, though overshadowed, was every bit as noteworthy.

With no timeouts left and a third-and-11 from the 25, Manning hit rookie wide receiver Steve Smith on the right sideline. Smith turned upfield, got past the marker and was forced out of bounds at the 13 for a huge first down and a clock stoppage. It was the kind of heady play that you'd expect from a seasoned pro, not a rookie. Smith, who had five catches for 50 yards on the day, deserves some props for his contribution to New York's signature drive. Just one more example of all the little things that contribute to a championship.

•Speaking of little things that make a difference, how about the tough-as-nails performance turned in by Wes Welker? While the Pats offense misfired most of the day, Welker was the one guy on the offensive side of the ball who really showed up for New England. Welker had a record-tying 11 receptions for 103 yards, but I'm sure he'd trade every one for a ring.

(Disclaimer - I know it's cliche as all get out for short, unathletic white guys to overstate the accomplishments of short, athletic white guys. I don't care. Welker was fantastic this season, and I'm appreciative of his efforts without remorse.)

•Bill Belichick has been pretty roundly criticized for leaving the field of play before the clock hit :00. I wasn't surprised in the least that Belichick bolted, as that's exactly the type of surly behavior I've come to expect from The Hoody over the years. In fact, I was glad to see that he at least had the decency to make his way to mid-field and offer congratulations to Tom Coughlin before making a break for the tunnel.

I do understand the criticisms of those who say that the captain should stick around to go down with the ship. It's just hard for me to get worked up over the anti-social behavior of a guy who has already proven himself, at least within the confines of the gridiron, to be patently anti-social. It's hard to be disappointed in someone of whom you have no expectations. It was just Belichick being Belichick.

In my opinion, if there's anyone Belichick owes an apology to, it's Tedy Bruschi and the ten other Patriots who strapped their helmets on and lined up across from the Giants for the final snap of the game. They did their jobs and they handled their loss like men, and I'd rather give them credit for being stand-up guys than worry about Belichick's early exit.

•David Tyree picked the perfect day to have the game of his life. It's always entertaining to see a bit-player seize the stage in a big game, and Tyree certainly capitalized on his opportunity, catching three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, and earning a piece of football immortality for his spectacular 32-yard reception on New York's game-winning drive. Not a bad day for a guy whose special teams tackles outnumbered his receptions 9-4 during the regular season.

•If you're ranking NFL teams that went 18-1, in my opinion you have to put the 2007 Patriots behind the 1985 Bears and the 1984 49ers. Championships matter.

•In much the same vein, I'll still take Joe Montana over Brady, by the way.

•If there's one thing I'm already looking forward to next season, it's the first time Jeremy Shockey comes back to the huddle and gets mouthy with Eli Manning. Let's hope that Manning grabs Shockey by the facemask and reminds him that the Giants got along just fine in the Super Bowl with Shockey safely tucked away in a luxury box with a beer and a set of crutches.

Technorati Tags: 18-1, Bill Belichick, Brady ain't no Montana, David Tyree, Eli Manning, Steve Smith

Better Than Perfect

New York 17, New England 14. I don't know about you, but I totally didn't see that coming.

We tuned in to Super Bowl XLII expecting a coronation, and we ended up with a coup.

I was wrong. Most of the talking heads were wrong. You were probably wrong. And you know what? I'm thrilled at our collective, full-scale wrongness. Because games like last night -- when the Giants ignored conventional wisdom, punched the neighborhood bullies square in the jaw and stole their candy -- are what make sports worth watching.

Sometimes, the hype misses the mark, the script ends up in the circular file and the underdog has his day. And today, for the first time since 1991, and the third time in their history, the New York Giants are Super Bowl champions.

Most of us probably owe them an apology. I know I do.

I figured the Patriots' fourth Super Bowl championship was an inevitability, and that the Giants would end up as the answer to a trivia question when people would reminisce about the Pats' undefeated season. I figured that, with two weeks to prepare, Bill Belichick would devise a fool-proof game-plan, and Randy Moss would re-emerge as the focal point of New England's passing attack, and the Patriot defense would rise to the occasion and Tom Brady would join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the third starting quarterback to win four Super Bowls.

The Giants had other plans.

The defensive effort put forth by New York, spearheaded by Justin Tuck, was simply incredible. All season long the Patriots' opponents said that, to beat the Patriots, you've got to get to Brady. And the Giants got to Brady, sacking him five times and knocking him off his feet at least a dozen more. They lined up across from a heralded offensive line and proceeded to gash it to shreds. If it wasn't Tuck putting a hit on Brady,it was Osi Umenyiora or Jay Alford. Or Michael Strahan. Or Kawika Mitchell.

At the end of the day Brady ended up putting up decent numbers (29-48, 266 yards, 1 TD), and the fourth quarter drive that culminated with a go-ahead TD pass to Moss was vintage Tom Terrific. But Brady looked tight for much of the game, losing a fumble on a blind-side sack by Tuck at the end of the first half, and missing several open receivers during the course of the game. Getting knocked around all day by a relentless pass rush will do that to you, I suppose.

And, unlike the AFC championship game, when the Patriots turned to their rushing game down the stretch after it became apparent that Brady wasn't at his best, New England's backs couldn't find any daylight against New York's front seven. Case in point: 36 yards on 14 carries for Laurence Maroney, who'd gone for 122 yards in the Pats' playoff wins over Jacksonville and San DIego.

On the offensive side of the ball, New York set the tone early with a sustained drive of nearly ten minutes that resulted in a 32-yard field goal from Lawrence Tynes. The Pats answered with a touchdown on their first offensive drive. And then, for two full quarters of play, nothing. A stalemate. The scoreboard remained stuck at 7-3. The Patriots didn't blow the game open, and the Giants hung around, avoiding the big mistake.

Finally, with 14:52 to play in the game, on the first play after getting the ball back on a New England punt, Eli Manning hit TE Kevin Boss deep over the middle for a 45 yard gain. It was the beginning of one of the best fourth quarter performances in Super Bowl history.

Five plays later, the Giants had the lead back thanks to a five-yard touchdown pass from Manning to David Tyree. But with 11:05 on the clock, you had to know that Brady and the Pats would answer.

They did, two possessions later, on a masterful 12-play drive that ended with Brady and Moss hooking up for a touchdown. With 2:42 left on the clock, the Giants were going to win or lose with Manning.

Three times on that final drive, a Patriot defender came within an eyelash of intercepting a pass and ending the game. Once, the Giants held their breath as Brandon Jacobs converted a 4th and 1 with a lunging second effort to keep the drive alive. And once, Manning and Tyree hooked up on a play for the ages, a 32-yard gain that will define both players' careers for as long as the game of football is played, with Manning slipping through the grasp of three defenders and scrambling and lofting a pass high above Tyree, and Tyree leaping and clutching it with both hands, and then with one hand against his helmet, and then, as he bent over backwards again with both hands as the ball nearly grazed the turf.

But it didn't graze the turf -- it was a catch, and if it's not in your top five plays in Super Bowl history, I'd love to know why.

Four plays later Plaxico Burress put a terrific move on Ellis Hobbs, slipped past him into the end zone and hauled in an arcing pass from Manning on a fade route for the touchdown that gave the Giants the lead for good.  Manning had completed nine of 14 passes in the fourth quarter for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The New York defense took the field for one final series, and sacked Brady one last time, and safely double-teamed Moss on two last-ditch Hail Mary's that didn't connect. And when it was all over, I caught my breath, and shook my head, and really didn't believe what I had just seen.

Perfection denied. Eli Manning (19-34, 255 yards, 2 TDs) named MVP. The Giants, champions. Stunning.

Yep, these are the games that make sports worth watching.

Technorati Tags: New England Patriots, New York Giants, Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII

Manning Up

I'll have more on the Super Bowl later this morning, but for now, suffice it to say that we have a very deserving champion in the New York Giants, who put an end to the Patriots' run at perfection with a huge 17-14 upset in Super Bowl XLII.

The MVP could (and probably should) have gone to the Giants defense as a whole, but all credit to Eli Manning for answering the critics and giving us one of the best fourth quarter performances in Super Bowl history. I'm not sure if it will eventually be known as 'Eli's Escape' or 'Manning's Miracle,' but we'll be talking about that completion to David Tyree for a long time to come.

I guess I feel a little bit bad about so thoroughly botching my prediction, but if it gets us a game as entertaining as what we saw last night, I'll gladly be wrong every time.