Sunday, February 03, 2008

AAAAAH! Giants Shock World, Beat Pats!!!

Oh my god! OH MY GOD! Count the superlatives:

This is, without hyperbole, the Greatest Upset in NFL History. (Particularly given that the Pats presumably sealed the win with that late TD.)

This is the Greatest Performance by a Defense in Super Bowl History. (Particularly given the way the Giants D shut down the Pats offense, the most devastating of our time.)

That play by Eli Manning to David Tyree may just go down as the Single-Greatest Play in Super Bowl history: "The Immaculate Escape." (Shanoff says: Firsts! AA's Brian P. has the video, and the astute observation that Joe Buck completely blew the call with his underwhelming delivery.) Eli Manning will never have to answer a single question about his career again. It's over: He'll just have to reference that play. (How about this: Greatest 4th Quarter in Super Bowl History?)

And that's before you even say: Perfection Denied. My god: Perfection Denied. From 19-0 to 18-1... there's very little distinguished about being the most accomplished Super Bowl runner-up of all time. (Except the irony that they displace the Super Bowl XXXVI-losing Rams, whose loss to these Pats was the point of such contention these last 48 hours. Dare I say: Karmic payback?)

All those superlatives -- not to mention the "perfection" stuff -- begs the question: Was this simply the greatest Super Bowl ever? Until the cheating questions came up, Super Bowl XXXVI was up there, but these Pats had so much more on the line than those Rams, and these Giants were given so much less of a chance than those Pats. I think we will look back -- tomorrow, next week and years from now -- and wonder if this is as great as a Super Bowl can ever get. I think that's quite possible.

I have never been so happy to get a prediction wrong. Did I say 41-17? I guess I had a few numbers turned around.

This is just the most incredible, unbelievable sports result I think I have experienced. (You know, that statement has had me up an hour later than I thought. I have experienced some incredible sports results -- Texas beating USC in the Rose Bowl for the national title, Duke beating UNLV in the 1991 Final Four, hell even Florida stomping Ohio State for the BCS title when no one gave them a chance. But this is the NFL, and the Pats were perfect. Again: I'm neither a Giants nor Pats fan -- but I was still blown away by this result.)

As unprecedented as 19-0 was going to be, this result is equally unprecedented, stunning and -- if you are a fan of football... sports... or just life -- completely energizing.

Here's a link to my Twitter coverage. Check out how it falls apart as the game ends!

-- D.S.

26 comments:

David "SirFozzie" Yellope said...

Congrats to the Giants. Don't call it an upset, they beat us up and earned their win

Steve said...

I was with you on Twitter all night, Dan... that was just, um, I'm gonna have to do this Dan-style.

Most. Insane. Super Bowl. Ever.

What. A. Game.

Seriously, I don't care which team you were rooting for - that's one of the best 4th quarters I've ever seen. And in the biggest game of all, no less.

Luke Bell said...

Patriots go from "best ever" to 3rd best 18-1 team. I, for one, love it.

Michael W said...

Decent 1st quarter. Terrible second and thirds. Best. 4th. Ever.

The Professor said...

Best Super Bowl play ever?

I would venture to call it the best non-scoring play in NFL history.

bird said...

Old Dolphins fan here--I LOVE THE GIANTS!!!

Unknown said...

As a Browns fan, I didn't even root this hard against the Pittsburgh Steelers 2 years ago as I did tonight against the Patriots.

Thankfully, Boston didn't get another championship!

What's that? New York won?

Shit...

Unknown said...

Reviewing all of the predictions, it looks like the most accurate prediction was by... Plaxico Burress

Joe H said...

Plaxico says that they will win 21-17, and Brady says that he should have given them more credit than only scoring 17 points. Looks like Brady should apologize for that remark.

I would have loved to have seen a team go 19-0... this team just made it impossible for a non-NE fan to root for...

marcomarco said...

Hey sparty, a sincere congrats on your Giants.

(as i said several weeks ago) Of all the teams to do it, I'm glad it was one with as much heart as your team.

Anonymous said...

Wow. We had about 30 people over for the Super Bowl party to end all Super Bowl parties. Sure there was an insane amount of food but the fact that even my wife who doesn't understand the first thing about football was sitting there watching the 4th qtr says something. My family room was like being in an arena. We were all jumping and screaming on every play at the end of the game.

Easily the most exciting football game I have ever seen. I am hoarse, fairly drunk but happy.

Now I have to go kick my kids asses into bed so they can try to get some rest and go to school tomorrow.

That was fun!

Anonymous said...

The even more amazing thing about the game is that it wasn't controversial. No blatant missed calls either way. Refs called the game as intense as the players played it.

John said...

Well it took 19 games for a team to do the one thing that had to be done to beat the Pats...consistently knock Brady down. Kudos to the Giants D-line for making the Pats O-line look like a JV team.

"Welker. Again. No wonder all the vaguely racist fans in New England love him so much." That might be the absolute dumbest effing thing you've ever said Shanoff.

kway34 said...

As a Bengals fan I didn't root as hard against the Steelers as I did tonight either. Congrats to the Giants and to Belichick for proving he's the biggest douchebag in the NFL.

futurelegendvinceyoung said...

This is not the best Super Bowl ever. This Instant History bullshit has gotten out of hand. Bengals-49ers in XXIII was better than this. Bills-Giants in XXV was better than this. Broncos-Packers in XXXII and the Panthers-Pats in XXXVIII was better than this one. These are the most recent and does not include the Steelers-Cowboys epic showdowns in the 70s or the forgotten classic between the Redskins and Dolphins in XVII.

Unknown said...

Not the greatest superbowl ever........but the best superbowl 4th quarter? The first 3 quarters were a snooze...

admin said...

is it wrong that i still think of eli as a jackass for the way he handled his draft? it turned out just fine for him and he seems like a nice enough guy - but i just can't shake how he dealt with the whole san diego/ny draft thing. anyway...

A.P. Boynton said...

Dear New York, enjoy the only championship you'll be winning for 5 or 6 more years. Who would have predicted the Giants to win a title again before the Yankees?

John Paul Manahan said...

whoa. wow. unbelievable. goodness.

Qwagmire said...

Mercury friggin Morris. He lives another day.

A.P. Boynton said...

As one of the few Massachusetts natives who is not a Patriots fan, I still wanted them to win because I hate the Dolphins and the 1972 Miami Douchebags with a passion. Now we have to listen to that dolt Mercury Morris flap his gums.

rukrusher said...

So happy right now

Unknown said...

I know that Dan is crazy about bold pronouncements but calm down! First, this is definitely a top five Super Bowl, but not necessarily the best. What about Pats-Rams, Pats-Panthers, or Rams-Titans? Those are all within the last ten years as well.

Second, it was one of hell of a play no doubt, but what about the game ending tackle in Super Bowl 34 by Mike Jones? He saved the game and Dyson fell a yard short? Or earlier in the game with Kurt Warner hooking up with Isaac Bruce to take the lead? Or Mushin Muhammad's 90 yard TD from Jake Delhomme in SB 38? Or either of Vinatieri's game winners? I rest my case.

Either way, great game no doubt.

Big D said...

This is all I have to say on the subject... for now at least.

BTW - nice work on Twitter. Kept me entertained while the game dragged, and gave me something to do to avert my eyes from the disgusting outcome.

Ryan said...

Greatest 4th quarter ever? I'd say it's up there...but what about Panthers-Pats from a few years back? Didn't they scored the most combined points in a 4th quarter in Super Bowl history? That'd get my vote.

And as for the greatest Super Bowl..this is up there, solely for the finale and the Tyree catch, but Rams-Titans came down to the final yard. I doubt that ending will ever be topped.

Unknown said...

I'm late to the game, but I've got a new label for Bill B. after walking off the field with 1 second left...

Sorest. Loser. Ever.

You were so right Dan, karma is a bitch!