Getting a grip on reality….

Well folks…. My heart rate has come down to a level that would be considered healthy. It only took about 36 hours. I can tell you that for the 1^st half of yesterday, there wasn't a heck of a lot getting done at work. Listening to the Mike and Mike recap. Reading the Boston press discussing how fans were going to jump off one of the bridges into the Charles River, etc. Of course, I am getting my hands on the papers yesterday back in New York – thanks, JB. To answer some of the questions I received from everyone:

• Marc and I opted to stay at home and watch the game by ourselves. Parties distract us from the game.
• Cooking was nothing special. I knew my stomach was going to be all over the place, so I needed to keep it light and simple.
• Beverage of choice was water. Yes, I didn't consume any alcohol leading up to or during the game. Shocking, I know.
  

Here is my favorite exchange with a Patriots bandwagon fan – Ian, who has tried to resist learning American football for as long as possible, even when we bought him a Football for Dummies book:

On Feb 4, 2008 10:56AM, Green, Ian wrote:

Only that I guess I am truly an American now; I watched some of the SuperBowl and actually cared who won. I may have wished to see the perfect season, but the Giants deserved to win. Boston is a very chilly town this morning. One of my local colleagues has had a mope on all day, he described is as: "you know, it's like when your girlfriend dumps you".

Speak with you soon. Hope all is well.

Ian

On Feb 4, 2008 6:20 PM, Jill Beck wrote:

Hmmmm..... anything you would like to add? It's been remarkably quiet from your end. Would that be because of wedding planning?

I've finally found my interest in football given the record-breaking season, and one really close Monday night game, for the patriots. Your giants might still be in it, but I'm not thinking they're getting my Green Bay this weekend or if they do, Brady will see off Manning in a couple of week. You had to be a little bit impressed by those comments, right :-)

On Jan 18, 2008 6:20 PM, Jill Beck wrote:

OK - I am impressed by the name recollection, that 'Football for Dummies' book may see the light of day.

The Giants ALMOST beat the Patriots in week 17. Don't count them out so quickly. The Giants have already knocked off the #1 and #4 NFC seeds in the playoffs. They may not beat the Pack, but understand this - if they do, they have a 50/50 chance to win and will be going in as the supreme underdog without the pressure of trying to convert a perfect season.

It's never really a QB vs. a QB match-up anyway because they are never on the field at the same time. That being said, Brady is a terrific QB. The other thing is that I don't really care so much if the Pats win. In football, our hated rivals are the Dallas Cowboys and we shut them up last week after TO talked about getting the popcorn out, and their owner (Jerry Jones) prematurely gave extra playoff tickets for this week's game to his Cowboys. And the Seahawks got their butts handed to them - which was awesome. Great weekend of football.

If the Giants win, I'm cheering for them. No need for bandwagon fans. :-)

If the Pack wins, I'm cheering for them. Just because of the Patriots cheating scandal earlier this season.

See - now you got homework. :-)

On Jan 18, 2008 3:15 PM, Green, Ian wrote:

I've finally found my interest in football given the record-breaking season, and one really close Monday night game, for the patriots. Your giants might still be in it, but I'm not thinking they're getting my Green Bay this weekend or if they do, Brady will see off Manning in a couple of weeks. You had to be a little bit impressed by those comments, right :-)

Ian

As Marc has mentioned in the past, my language during these games is not exactly family friendly. That being said, if kids are ever present during a game, my face just turns different colors and I bite through my lip whenever a dumb play or penalty happens. To me, I have very little sympathy for dumb mistakes. Dumb penalties like 'too many men on the field' (thanks, Chase Blackburn) or 'delay of game' (Eli, even Peyton knew you needed to get on the ball) annoy the crap out of me because they are preventable mistakes. Fortunately those penalties were not the difference in the game for the Giants' win on Sunday. But my stress level was through the roof because when you are playing a team that is playing for perfection (READ: The Patriots) that generally means that you do not have much room for error.

Marc aptly noted that the Giants weren't playing bad. But with the game being so close, mistakes matter and are magnified. And then in the 4^th quarter, both offenses woke up and our defense looked gassed. I was literally shaking for the entire 4^th quarter and probably for some of the 3^rd quarter as well. I know – insane, but I am being honest. It was that intense. Marc actually remarked that he was worried about my health. Based on this article and my family history, it was not out of the realm of possibility.

As the Patriots were making their way down the field in the 4^th quarter, I said, "here we go…. Tom [bleeping] Terrific is going to take it home as usual." And then here comes Eli and the Giants offense, which had been a little bit better than mediocre (save for the 1^st drive of the game), and the play that will forever be a part of Giants lore – our version of 'The Catch'. Note that at this point, it is 3^rd down with 5 yards to go.

TV (paraphrased): Manning has the ball, drops back…. He's down, NO HE IS NOT…. Gets out of it, throws it down the field…. David Tyree jumps up, catches it…. Holy cow (channeling Phil Rizzuto), he caught the ball!

Jill (in parallel): NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Oh my God! I can't [bleeping] believe it. I thought he was down. What a catch…. [thinking, please don't let it be challenged – not sure if he maintained possession and caught it…. Whew, replays show he caught it]

I'm sure Marc was cheering but I was still in shock. A few plays later, Eli throws to Plaxico Burress [THINKING: Plax – please catch this after the prediction you made] – TOUCHDOWN!!!!! Holy crap!

But the Patriots had 35 seconds left as well as 3 time outs. They were down by 3 points so all they had to do was get in field goal range. This game is not over by a long shot. I was still nervous…. The defense looked gassed on the last drive that the Patriots had. I was feeling queasy. 5 minutes later…. The Giants shocked the world! Wow….

Some thoughts on the game:

• Wes Welker is the only one who showed up for the Patriots. Even though the Giants didn't score a ton of points, it was more because of their inability vs. the Patriots defense.
  
• The MVP was a toss-up between Manning, Tyree (had a TD catch in addition to the unbelievable play mentioned earlier) and the entire Giants defensive line. It wasn't out of the norm to give it to Eli, but I bet Tyree could have used the Hybrid Escalade more.
  
• That Belichick did not trust his kicker enough to go for a 50-yard field goal on 4^th and 13 will haunt him for a long time since that was the difference in the game.
  
• The officiating was outstanding. No one is talking about it, which is a great sign. Congrats to Mike Carey, who also happened to be the 1^st African-American to be the head referee for a Super Bowl. I've always remarked to Marc that I like him because he is emphatic in his calls, articulate and easy to understand on TV. Regardless of his race, the man deserved to be the head referee and showed he deserved to it again.
  
• This game was so crazy that I didn't even look at commercials. I was too busy going to the bathroom during commercials.
  
• The Sports Guy is in a world of pain – I love it. Click here.
• Joe Buck shut up more than usual…. This is a good thing. Although Troy Aikman saying that the Giants are going to have to make a decision on that final offensive drive when they are down was a joke. Let's see, Troy. The Giants are losing. There is less than a minute left. You think they are NOT going to go for it on 4^th down!?! Moron.
  
• New chant in Giants world – "18-1".
  
• Until this past week leading up to the game, the Giants defense was somewhat underrated compared to other storylines being discussed in the playoffs. The defense that made up this team reminded me of the true and only real LT – that would be Lawrence Taylor, NOT LaDainian Tomlinson. LT will always be Lawrence Taylor (off-field problems and all) to me and most fans who have been watching the game of football for a long time. Until Tomlinson starts winning "big games", he can't truly lay claim to that name. Only Ronnie Lott or Mike Singletary could be in the same class of influential defensive players.
  
• Michael Strahan is very happy that he decided to end his holdout at the beginning of the season. Tiki, maybe not so much despite what he says.

Thanks to Michelle G. for sending the above picture from the parade in NYC today.