Damn Giants
I’ve been ignoring the NFL for most of the season. After 12 years without a professional football team in Los Angeles, I’ve just had it. It didn’t help that my fantasy football season was a complete disaster after drafting Steve Smith, Shaun Alexander, and Vince Young. While I did miss the game a little, I found other ways to occupy my time.
Of course it was impossible to completely ignore the NFL. Although I failed to watch a single game from start to finish, I did know about the New England Patriots’ pursuit of a perfect season and the resurgence of Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. I was intrigued by the story lines because I hate the Patriots and have been a longtime fan of Brett Favre. I also embraced the controversy surrounding the Patriots for their cheating and bad sportsmanship and the portrayal of Favre as an old, revitalized gunslinger on what might be his last journey.
So as the playoffs neared I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of a match-up between both of these memorable teams. There were only two potential obstacles, the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys. The Colts had the second best record in the AFC behind the Patriots and the Cowboys had home field advantage over the Packers after beating them during the regular season. Then a funny thing happened. The Colts lost to the injury depleted San Diego Chargers and the Cowboys lost at home to the New York Giants.
Now I started to get excited. There was no way the Chargers were going to beat the Patriots. Also, the Packers were looking strong after thumping the Seattle Seahawks 42-20 and I figured they wouldn’t have any problem with the Giants at home in sub-freezing Green Bay. The battle between Good and Evil was going to take place and I had a feeling Good might be able to pull off the upset. Since the Patriots were the favorites against any NFC team, even the Patriots fans were excited at the idea of exacting a little vengeance for the Pats' loss to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI back in 1997.
Unfortunately, Eli Manning and the New York Giants didn’t get the script. They had their own story to tell about a much-maligned quarterback coming through when it counts. A story about a team who lost its star running back, Tiki Barber, who had disparaged that same quarterback and the team’s coach, and made it to the Super Bowl without him.
To be honest, that’s not that bad of a story. But I haven’t liked Manning since he refused to play for the Chargers after they drafted him and I really don’t care about Barber. So once again the NFL has let me down. After truly looking forward to the Packers/Patriots match-up, all I have is another battle between New York and Boston, as if the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry wasn’t sickening enough. Oh well, at least I’ll have the Super Bowl commercials to look forward to.
Of course it was impossible to completely ignore the NFL. Although I failed to watch a single game from start to finish, I did know about the New England Patriots’ pursuit of a perfect season and the resurgence of Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. I was intrigued by the story lines because I hate the Patriots and have been a longtime fan of Brett Favre. I also embraced the controversy surrounding the Patriots for their cheating and bad sportsmanship and the portrayal of Favre as an old, revitalized gunslinger on what might be his last journey.
So as the playoffs neared I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of a match-up between both of these memorable teams. There were only two potential obstacles, the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys. The Colts had the second best record in the AFC behind the Patriots and the Cowboys had home field advantage over the Packers after beating them during the regular season. Then a funny thing happened. The Colts lost to the injury depleted San Diego Chargers and the Cowboys lost at home to the New York Giants.
Now I started to get excited. There was no way the Chargers were going to beat the Patriots. Also, the Packers were looking strong after thumping the Seattle Seahawks 42-20 and I figured they wouldn’t have any problem with the Giants at home in sub-freezing Green Bay. The battle between Good and Evil was going to take place and I had a feeling Good might be able to pull off the upset. Since the Patriots were the favorites against any NFC team, even the Patriots fans were excited at the idea of exacting a little vengeance for the Pats' loss to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI back in 1997.
Unfortunately, Eli Manning and the New York Giants didn’t get the script. They had their own story to tell about a much-maligned quarterback coming through when it counts. A story about a team who lost its star running back, Tiki Barber, who had disparaged that same quarterback and the team’s coach, and made it to the Super Bowl without him.
To be honest, that’s not that bad of a story. But I haven’t liked Manning since he refused to play for the Chargers after they drafted him and I really don’t care about Barber. So once again the NFL has let me down. After truly looking forward to the Packers/Patriots match-up, all I have is another battle between New York and Boston, as if the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry wasn’t sickening enough. Oh well, at least I’ll have the Super Bowl commercials to look forward to.
posted by The Pocho at 10:51 AM
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