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An Underdog for the Ages
An Underdog for the Ages
The Patriots were the team constantly talking about history, how a victory would secure their place in the sports pantheon and establish them as the greatest team we've ever seen.
A victory in Super Bowl XLII would've put the Patriots in their own stratosphere. Pats linebacker Junior Seau put it this way last week: "There's good, there's great, and there's ever. We have a chance to be part of that category -- ever."
But the Giants were the ones that became an "ever team".
They are now one of the biggest underdog winners in sports history, joining a short list of teams whose accomplishments only grow with time.
You know the list. USA Hockey in 1980, the team of college kids that upset the Russians and then won gold in Lake Placid. Villanova basketball in 1985, the undersized squad that shocked big, bad Georgetown for the national championship. Buster Douglas putting the "unbeatable" Mike Tyson on the canvas in 1990. The 17 point underdog AFL Jets in 1969, with Joe Namath running toward that stadium tunnel at Super Bowl III, waving his finger for eternity, delivering on an audacious guarantee made earlier in the week.
Most teams who win championships become one of a long list of others who were also expected to win. Not these kinds of underdogs. Books are written and movies made about them, because of the improbability of their victories. We are a nation infatuated with the Cinderella story in sports, and while it's hard to imagine a team from New York with the nickname the Giants fitting into that mold, they do.
The victory over the Patriots capped the most improbable Super Bowl run in history, and will turn the players who pulled it off into legends (David Tyree anyone?).
The Giants' season unfolded as if it were entitled "Friday Night Lights: The Pros." They have the embattled head coach, the struggling franchise quarterback and the aging defensive end who passed on retirement for another go around. They have the 0-2 start and the midseason hiccups, the injuries and the setbacks and new characters stepping up.
They won three straight road playoff games, including one in the second-coldest game in NFL history, and capped their run against an undefeated team that already beat them once. Their last three victories came against teams with a combined record of 45-6. No team has ever surmounted a more daunting road to the Lombardi Trophy.
The Giants have written a story to go with anything ANY New York team has ever produced. They will stand as one of New York's most revered teams, and this improbable victory will stand with Bobby Thompson's home run, The Miracle Mets of 1969, Namath's Jets, and Willis Reed's Knicks in New York sports lore.
What fun it is to be witness to history.
A victory in Super Bowl XLII would've put the Patriots in their own stratosphere. Pats linebacker Junior Seau put it this way last week: "There's good, there's great, and there's ever. We have a chance to be part of that category -- ever."
But the Giants were the ones that became an "ever team".
They are now one of the biggest underdog winners in sports history, joining a short list of teams whose accomplishments only grow with time.
You know the list. USA Hockey in 1980, the team of college kids that upset the Russians and then won gold in Lake Placid. Villanova basketball in 1985, the undersized squad that shocked big, bad Georgetown for the national championship. Buster Douglas putting the "unbeatable" Mike Tyson on the canvas in 1990. The 17 point underdog AFL Jets in 1969, with Joe Namath running toward that stadium tunnel at Super Bowl III, waving his finger for eternity, delivering on an audacious guarantee made earlier in the week.
Most teams who win championships become one of a long list of others who were also expected to win. Not these kinds of underdogs. Books are written and movies made about them, because of the improbability of their victories. We are a nation infatuated with the Cinderella story in sports, and while it's hard to imagine a team from New York with the nickname the Giants fitting into that mold, they do.
The victory over the Patriots capped the most improbable Super Bowl run in history, and will turn the players who pulled it off into legends (David Tyree anyone?).
The Giants' season unfolded as if it were entitled "Friday Night Lights: The Pros." They have the embattled head coach, the struggling franchise quarterback and the aging defensive end who passed on retirement for another go around. They have the 0-2 start and the midseason hiccups, the injuries and the setbacks and new characters stepping up.
They won three straight road playoff games, including one in the second-coldest game in NFL history, and capped their run against an undefeated team that already beat them once. Their last three victories came against teams with a combined record of 45-6. No team has ever surmounted a more daunting road to the Lombardi Trophy.
The Giants have written a story to go with anything ANY New York team has ever produced. They will stand as one of New York's most revered teams, and this improbable victory will stand with Bobby Thompson's home run, The Miracle Mets of 1969, Namath's Jets, and Willis Reed's Knicks in New York sports lore.
What fun it is to be witness to history.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
