This edition of Weekend Rumbings is a bit belated, I realize. I had to, just had to, let this weekend’s happenings settle–like a good piece of cheesecake–because any sort of premature analysis would quickly turn into sentimentality in lieu of one of the biggest shockers in sports history.

You’ll note that I not only predicted a Patriots triumph, but hoped for one. In actuality, I didn’t just hope for a triumph, I hoped for an embarrassment on the part of the Giants. This was the next best thing. My reason for hoping for a Patriots ‘W’ was that I desperately wanted Spygate allegations to hide in the midst of history; well, this type of victory — one that included gameplan execution to perfection and a quarterback who defied every bit of negative press — did just that.

No one gave this group a chance, and you could tell that it didn’t bother Eli Manning or the rest of the Giants team. But we also learned that a recordbook can sometimes get in the way of reality, demonstrated by the media leading up to Sunday’s game. Hindsight is 20/20, and I’ll be the first to admit that I fell in this trap too, but why were the Giants such an underdog in the first place? New England had barely escaped in games since Thanksgiving, they barely beat the Giants in December, and only squeaked by a San Diego team that was missing their franchise player in the AFC Championship. Or how about the pass to Jacksonville’s Ernest Wilford in the Divisional Playoffs that was dropped? If one more guy gets to Manning on that last drive and wraps him up, or if Manning’s pass, god forbid, didn’t stick to David Tyree’s helmet, we’d sit here and praise the Patriots — at least I would have.

This leads to a few conclusions:

a) Wins and wins only matter in a “dominance” discussion. Find me a media outlet reporting skepticism about the Patriots’ dominance (before Sunday, of course) and untouchable-ness, and I’ll find you a drug-free Macauley Culkin. Deal?
b) Reality hides in the shadows of a recordbook.
c) Breaking up perfection is as fulfilling, from a fan’s perspective, as achieving it.

I just have to mention Tom Coughlin. Have you ever seen him grin from ear to ear? This spectacle was a sign that he changed his ways. He instilled confidence in his quarterback and prepared one of the greatest gameplans in recent memory. Brady was on the ground after 23 plays, from every which direction. You have to wonder why the Pats’ previous opponents didn’t show up with such precision and determination with that very goal in mind.

In any case, my prediction as well as the predication of the other 12352356346 media outlets across America was dead wrong.

And that’s why Sunday was so enjoyable.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Media, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.