Greatest Super Bowl ever. That’s what you watched Sunday, and if you didn’t see it, find somebody who recorded it and see for yourself.
If you’re a kid, you’re going to be talking about this one for the rest of your life. If you’re a geezer, you’re going to have to shuffle your memories around, throw out whatever other Supe you had in the No. 1 slot and replace it with Giants 17, Patriots 14.
There have been bigger upsets, including the Patriots’ destruction of Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. And no upset will ever be bigger than the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969. That win, guaranteed by Joe Namath, legitimized the old AFL and made its merger with the NFL the success story that it has been.
But I’m talking about the greatness of a game, and when you think of who was playing and what was involved and how it ended, nothing that has come before can match Super Bowl XLII.
It had everything — a first half filled with violent and smothering defense. A final quarter consisting of two great drives, the first by the master of the genre, Tom Brady, the second by the kid who wasn’t supposed to have the onions to be here, Eli Manning.
And in the middle of that winning drive was a catch that is as great as any ever seen in a game so big and a situation so critical. People have marveled at the Joe Montana-Dwight Clark connection to beat the Cowboys and propel the 49ers to their first championship. And now New York has its own version of “The Catch.”
Call it Manning-to-Tyree, with David Tyree, a backup’s backup, leaping as high as he could to catch a pass Manning thrown in desperation after escaping a sack on third-and-5 at his own 44. Safety Rodney Harrison, one of the greatest defensive backs in the game, also went up for the ball, and got his hands on it. He clawed desperately to wrench if from Tyree’s grasp, but the little-used special teamer refused to let go, coming down at the 24 with the game in his hands and 59 seconds left on the clock, which was 24 seconds more than the Giants would need to complete their incredible journey.
Giants' victory over Patriots simply super
Nike paying McFadden's training expenses
As top NFL Draft prospect Darren McFadden prepares for the scouting combine, his training tab is being picked up by Nike as part of the shoe company's sponsorship of the Michael Johnson Performance Center, sparking speculation that the Arkansas running back will sign an endorsement deal with Nike.
"Who Mr. McFadden signs with is up to Mr. McFadden, but there is certainly an opportunity for us to demonstrate what Nike is all about ... hard work and peak performance," Stoyer wrote.
Johnson's training center in McKinney, Texas, is sponsored by Nike. "As an official training center for Nike athletes, they will send us athletes year in and year out," Johnson said. "They have been in discussions with Darren ... so he came in on their allotment."
There has been a lot of speculation in football circles that top juniors, including McFadden, would not be ready to work out at the combine since NFL agents pay for and often control the slots at the top training programs. "I am not sure if he will run at the combine, but we are preparing to (do it)," Johnson said, adding that was a decision McFadden would make with his eventual agent.
Sources said other marketing agents being considered for the job include Mike Ornstein, Bill Henkel and Jamey Crimmins of The Agency. Conley said he is a friend of Johnson and recommended his training center to McFadden's father, but does not know who paid for the training. But he added that the training center arrangement does not necessarily mean that McFadden will ink a deal with Nike. "What I am saying is that Darren McFadden hasn't decided to be a Nike athlete or an adidas athlete or a Reebok athlete," Conley said.
Monk's time for Hall of Fame has come
Can we put Art Monk in the Hall of Fame already? Please? And while you’re at it, oh high and exalted committee of electors, how about putting Darrell Green in with him when you make your selections Saturday? They were the key parts of a dynasty, the best of their era. They belong.
Green should be a no-brainer, but given the Byzantine machinations of the selection committee, there’s no such thing as a shoe-in with the Hall. In that, it’s similar to baseball’s Hall of Fame, whose would-be members are held hostage by the whims of more than 500 baseball writers.
I suppose that adds to the mystique of such pantheons of athletic prowess, and all the talk that’s generated by the great players who keep missing their turn is good for the game.
Monk’s situation isn’t like that. It defies every rule of logic that the Redskin wide receiver had been passed over for eight years.
Monk retired with the NFL’s all-time record for receptions. He’s since dropped to sixth place on the list, which is headed by Jerry Rice, but all Monk could do was break the record that existed in his day. To keep him out because subsequent receivers were better is like saying Babe Ruth doesn’t belong in baseball Hal of Fame because Hank Aaron broke his record for home runs.
Monk won three Super Bowls on those Joe Gibbs dynasty teams. Gibbs remains the only coach to win three championships with three different quarterbacks. But all of them had the same primary target — the redoubtable Mr. Monk.
The receiver was also named to the NFL All-1980s team. If a player is recognized as the best at his position for an entire decade, it’s impossible to say he’s not Hall of Fame material. That’s what the Hall is about: enshrining the best of every era. To say the best receiver of an entire decade is not also an all-time great is incomprehensible.
Apparently, Paul Zimmerman, the long-time pro football writer for Sports Illustrated, has been holding up Monk’s canonization. A football blog is reporting that Dr. Z as saying he’s tired of being the jerk — he used a somewhat earthier word — who’s keeping Art out of the Hall and is ready to “put him the (naughty word) in.”
Miami Dolphins New Name: Mahi Mahi
Years ago there was a show about a smart Dolphin on television called "Flipper". Flipper was a cute mammal which could perform numerous tricks and on almost every episode he managed to save someone's life.
Flipper made millions aware of dolphins and after that show aired many people fell in love with dolphins.
In the Atlantic Ocean there is a fish that is also called a dolphin. It is a long fish of the pelagic variety and is loved by fishermen for its hard fighting nature and acrobatic leaps when hooked. It also makes great table fare.
It was just a matter of time before some confusion arose in grocery stores and fish markets over which dolphin was a fish and which was a mammal. The result of this confusion was settled in a politically correct fashion by changing the name of the fish variant to Mahi Mahi.
Bill Parcells was just hired by the Miami Dolphin football team and many know him as the "Tuna". Today the Tuna announced that the Dolphins will henceforth be known as the Miami Mahi Mahi.
Many fans of northern teams like the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and the New York Jets are elated to hear the news of the name change. Now when they yell out, "squish the fish" they will be 100% correct. And besides the odor comming out of Miami this years smells not unlike that of a bag of discarded fish heads tossed out of a car by a salty dog.
The Miami Mahi Mahi football team fighting song will go something like this from now on : Miami has the Mahi Mahi, The greatest football team, They're on the ground or in the air like no one's ever seen, They're chewed right up and then spit out by every football team, And when you're talking toilet bowl, Miami is the team, Cause we're the Miami Mahi Mahi, The Miami Mahi Mahi, Miami Mahi Mahi number Thirty-two, Miami Mahi Mahi, Miami Mahi Mahi, They really make me feel real sick and I'm sure they do you too.
