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SIDELINE ARCHIVE Unnecessary Hits To The Pocket / Upset: BYU October 17, 2008 Romo's Pause / Seattle Seahawks October 15, 2008 Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008 College Football's 'Crossroads' Weekend October 9, 2008 Gramatical Error October 7, 2008 Turning The Page September 30, 2008 So Cal 'Quizzed — But Who Will Answer? September 26, 2008 3rd Tuesday Panic Button / Forté Yard Dash September 23, 2008 Two and Oh; Oh and Two September 22, 2008 No More NCAAffeine September 11, 2008 Week 1 College Football September 6, 2008 How To Spell Heisman / Chad Ocho Cinco September 1, 2008 Why the Favre story STILL won't go away August 18, 2008 Olympic Notes / Ricky's Still Relevant August 14, 2008 Committee Meetings August 9, 2008 Let the QB Battles Begin August 8, 2008 Slinging The Slinger — More Favre August 6, 2008 Welcome to the 2008 season July 28, 2008 Plus One May 27, 2008 Draft: The Morning After April 28, 2008 Draft: Thinking the Unthinkable April 25, 2008 Draft: Ready For The Long Haul April 23, 2008 Sofa–bound Sport April 16, 2008 Post–Winter Wonderland April 11, 2008 Six Impossible Things February 4, 2008 Brady's Misdirection Play February 3, 2008 Colorful Language January 23, 2008 Let the Romo–bashing begin: Dallas lost January 14, 2008 Bowl Bites: The Wrap January 10, 2008 All About The Coaches January 1, 2008 Bowl Bites 3 and A Communication Breakdown December 29, 2007 Bowl Bites 2 December 27, 2007 Bowl Bites 1 December 23, 2007 The Empty Chair - Coach Situations Vacant December 22, 2007 For Some, The Playoffs Are Now December 15, 2007 A Certain Lack Of Welcome December 13, 2007 Unrelated Notes November 29, 2007 Two Thanksgiving thoughts November 22, 2007 Halftime: NFC November 9, 2007 Halftime: AFC November 8, 2007 London, Part 2 / A Tale of Two Chads / A Game of Intimidation November 4, 2007 Damp Squib / Other London Notes October 29, 2007 Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em / Dolphins – The Aftermath October 23, 2007 The Dolphins Did What? October 18, 2007 Notes on the Defenses October 13, 2007 Habits to be Broken October 12, 2007 Overtime October 13, 2007 This Week's Starters October 6, 2007: USF: Covering The Spread / Fantastic Football September 27, 2007: Grossman: The Final Act? / McNabb, the Epilogue September 24, 2007: Eagles QB in Slight Controversy September 21, 2007: Leftwich's Parting Gift to Jacksonville? / Boos cruise September 18, 2007: Notre Dame M.I.A. September 16, 2007: Looking Beyond NFL Wk. 1 September 12, 2007: Best Hope For Heisman September 10, 2007: Coaching Hot Seats / AP Poll Feeling ’Appy September 7, 2007: The NFL’s Prime Cuts September 5, 2007: Michigan Falls to Killer Apps September 3, 2007: Look Out Couch / The Taint's On You, Bud September 1, 2007: |
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SPORTS SIDELINE 
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale Six Impossible Things I believed the Giants could beat the Patriots. And despite taking the long odds on the Giants (see previous column), I didn't actually believe the Giants WOULD beat the Patriots. Now they have, and like the vast majority, I woke up Monday morning asking myself if it really happened. Like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, I'm trying to believe six impossible things before breakfast. That the Giants beat the Patriots to become Super Bowl champions isn't one of them. That the Giants are the best team in the NFL is a little trickier. If you're suffering the same feeling, try this for a reality check... The Giants just beat four division champions in a row, and they did it on the road. They passed better than their opponents, they rushed better than their opponents, and they defended better than their opponents. Whatever may have happened between opening day and Christmas, the Giants ARE the best team in the NFL right now. If you can cope with that, take a deep breath for the next 'impossible thing'... Tom Coughlin is a Super Bowl winning coach (it's okay, you can sit down if you need to). The coach that people thought was too hardline, or unreasonable, who didn't have the support of his players, and that has never had 'genius' applied to him the way other coaches have, just earned a ring. And I do mean 'earned'. He learned to rein himself in, to soften up enough that he avoided the late–season Giants blow–up that many, including myself, were waiting for. Turns out he did have the support of his players; after this, he's going to have their unswerving support forever, because he's a 'Super Bowl winning coach', with all the respect that deserves. The third impossible thing we'd better start believing: This Patriots dynasty is over. Yeah, I'm sure that's one of those statements I'll end up regretting later. If somebody wants to send a link to Bill Belichick so that he can tell next year's Patriots team how disrespected they are, that's fine by me. I honestly think this year was the last chance for a team whose emotional leaders on defense — Junior Seau, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi — might be wrapping it up soon. The Patriots will still be there or thereabouts for a while, not least because the AFC East practically gifts New England a bye to the playoffs every year, but the wider AFC is still a place full of hungry (and increasingly hungrier) rivals. As for the final three impossible things to believe, they were all wrapped up in a single play with one minute to play in Super Bowl XVII. On 3rd down, and just one play after Asante Samuel had almost picked him off on the sideline to end the game, Eli Manning came under pressure of the pass rush. Suddenly, he was in the middle of a crush of bodies, with Patriots arms on him, clutching at his jersey. But he evaded capture, pulled away from them. Eli the escapologist: we weren't expecting that. Then Eli rolled out and back, to set up again away from the collapsed pocket. With the next wave of pass rush in his face, he launched the ball downfield towards David Tyree for what statistics will tell you was a 32–yard pass but felt like 50. Eli the slinger: we weren't expecting that either. Then the catch. Tyree — a depth receiver that nobody had given much regard to with Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress around — leapt to make the catch above his head, had it knocked loose by Rodney Harrison, but re–establish control of the ball between his hands and his helmet while falling to ground to end bent backwards over Harrison's knees. And still held on. That's the play we'll remember Super Bowl XLII for, the one that led to the winning score. We may also remember it as the defining play of the month when Eli Manning came of age as a franchise quarterback, fulfilling the promise and the projections, and then some. Manning finished up as Superbowl MVP, twelve months after his brother. You could have made the case for any number of Giants defenders being the Most Valuable Player, and with two fumbles and an interception, it wasn't as if Manning was perfect. Then again, neither are the Patriots any more. We'll just have to get used to it. |
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