February 6th update

Giants Nick(s) Patriots in Thrilling Game

• The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 in a game that met most expectations laid upon it. Eli Manning cemented his place amongst the elite quarterbacks by winning his second Super Bowl MVP trophy while completing 30 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. Hakeem Nicks had dreamlike game, with 10 catches for 109 yards, while Victor Cruz and Ahmad Bradshaw each scored a touchdown.
• The game got off to an interesting start after the Patriots were called for a penalty in their own end zone on their first offensive play, giving the Giants a 2-0 lead. Still, the Patriots stormed back and were in front for the entire second half, except for the final 57 seconds. Bradshaw’s touchdown with 57 seconds to go in the game gave the Giants the lead for good, even though the Patriots had a chance to win the game with a last ditch hail mary that just missed.
• This is the 4th Super Bowl for the Giants franchise, and the second for Manning and his head coach Tom Coughlin. After 12 games the Giants were 6-6, winning 3 of their remaining 4 games, the Giants entered the playoffs on a hot streak. They rode that streak all the way through the playoffs and can now once again call themselves Super Bowl champions.


Super Similarities

• There were remarkable similarities between this year's Giants team and the Giants team that won it all in 2007. It's pretty remarkable when you look at some of these coincidences, check them out:

- In December 2007 the Giants lost 38-35 to the undefeated Patriots in the regular season and in December 2011 they lost 38-35 to the undefeated Packers in the regular season.
- In 2007 they lost 22-10 to the Redskins in Week 15 and in 2011 they lost 23-10 against the Redskins in Week 15.
- In 2007 they defeated the #1 seed Cowboys in the Divisional Playoff Round and in 2011 they defeated the #1 seed Packers in the Divisional Playoff Round.
- In 2007 they won the NFC Championship game on an OT FG by Lawrence Tynes against the #2 seed Packers and in 2011 they won the NFC Championship game on an OT FG by Lawrence Tynes against the #2 seed 49ers.
- The defining play of the 2007 Super Bowl was a 32 yard catch by David Tyree in the 4th quarter and the defining play of the 2011 Super Bowl was a 38 yard catch by Mario Manningham in the 4th quarter.
- In 2007 the Giants scored a TD in the final minute, beat the Patriots by 3 and Eli Manning was the MVP. In 2011 the Giants scored a TD in the final minute, beat the Patriots by 4 and Eli Manning was the MVP.
- In 2007, the Giants stopped the Patriots 18 game winning streak in the Super Bowl and in 2011 the Giants stopped the Patriots 10 game winning streak in the Super Bowl. On a side note, the Giants stopped the Patriots 20 game home winning streak in November of 2011.


Doleman, Roaf lead 2012 HOF class

• Since this weekend has pretty much been dominated by football, we might as well stick with the theme right?? On Saturday the NFL announced its 2012 Hall of Fame inductees who are as follows:
• Chris Doleman: Defensive End
• Willie Roaf: Offensive Tackle
• Curtis Martin: Running Back
• Dermontti Dawson: Center
• Cortez Kennedy: Defensive Tackle
• Jack Butler: Cornerback

• Doleman was one of the greatest pass rushers of all time, his 150.5 sacks are 4th on the all-time list. He was named to 8 Pro Bowls in his 15 year career and was named to the 1990's all decade team.
• Roaf, who played for the Saints and Chiefs is considered by many to be one of the top 5 offensive tackles of all time and helped pave the way for Priest Holmes' record setting 27 touchdowns in 2003.
• Martin was a workhorse, piling up terrific stats with the Patriots and Jets. He had:

• 3,518 career rushing attempts (3rd all-time)
• 14,101 career rushing yards (4th all-time)
• 17,430 career yards from scrimmage (7th all-time)
• 90 career rushing touchdowns (12th all-time)
• 100 career rushing/receiving touchdowns (19th all-time)
• Was also the oldest player to win a rushing title (age 31) in 2004

• Dawson, Kennedy and Butler also had terrific careers but Roaf, Doleman and Martin will probably be the ones you'll hear the most about.

January 23th update

Giants and Patriots to meet again in Super Bowl

• The New York Giants are back in the Super Bowl after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in OT, the second time in 3 years that the NFC championship game has been won on a FG in OT. Vernon Davis caught two long TD passes for the Niners but a fumbled punt in OT put the Giants in prime field position and they used the very short field to allow kicker Lawrence Tynes to make the game clincher quite easily.
• Eli Manning was beaten up all day by the 49ers tough defense, getting sacked 6 times and knocked down 12 times, but he kept popping back up and will now go to his second Super Bowl, this one in Indianapolis, the hometown of his brother Peyton no less (who has only played in one).
• Eli's Giants will go against Peyton's longtime rival, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. It's a rematch of the Super Bowl from 4 years ago when the Patriots entered the game 18-0 needing only one more win to become the first team in NFL history to finish a season 19-0. Instead the Giants upset them, keeping the Patriots from even winning the Super Bowl in a season where they may have been the best team in NFL history.
• The Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 after Ravens WR Lee Evans dropped a game winning touchdown that he had in his hands but was then knocked out by a Patriots defender, and then kicker Billy Cundiff missed a short FG that would have sent the game to OT.
• It was rough day for the Harbaugh family, as brother John and Jim are the head coaches of the two losing teams, the 49ers and the Ravens.


Paterno Dies of Cancer

• Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died on Sunday from complications from lung cancer. Paterno, the winningest coach in NCAA football history, passed away less than 2 months after his condition was initially divulged to the public.
• Paterno was fired from his position at PSU earlier this year due to allegations that he covered up child abuse reports involving his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Whether or not you believe that Paterno should have been fired, or he was unjustly villified, he did plenty of good in his life and we will take some tine to review a bit of that life.
• Paterno and his wife were a fixture in the central Pennsylvania town of College Park. The library on campus, and other buildings on and around campus are named for the family. Patrons of many charities, Paterno and his wife have given countless hours and millions to different charitable organizations.
• Paterno will be remembered as a fantastic football coach and a beloved mentor. The number of lives he changed by giving an opportunity to play football, the number of coaches who have come from his coaching “tree” and the numerous charitable and philanthropic organizations he supported will be the bulk of the footprint Paterno leaves on this earth, to say nothing of the staggering numbers he put up in terms of wins, players drafted into the NFL and bowl game records, the likes of which will very likely never be seen again in the history of football.


USA Soccer has Big Month

• The Olympic qualifying tournament (Jan 20th-Jan 29th) for soccer is underway and the U.S. will try to first of all make the tournament, and then progress further than they have in the past. While the U.S. is not considered a favorite to win, they have been improving and will hope to make some noise. Argentina has won each of the past 2 Olympic tournaments, both in 2004 and 2008.
• The team defeated Venezuela 1-0 Saturday night for their first victory over a South American team since 2007. Much maligned US player Ricardo Clark headed in a corner kick in the 94th minute (extra time) to give the US the victory. It was Clark’s first goal since 2009, and a chance to help forget a blunder in the 2010 World Cup that cost the US team against Ghana.
• Meanwhile, earlier this month across the pond, US superstar Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick (3 goals) in the English Premier League. Dempsey and fellow US star Landon Donovan helped Everton advance in the FA Cup, a major knockout tournament of English soccer teams.