Throw your picks in below if you feel like it. As usual, bear in mind that I know little about football and don’t pay much attention to it until the playoffs.
My instinct is to take the Giants and the points, although I would still predict a Pats win. Double-digit spreads always feel like sucker bets to me. That said, in this case, I think there’s a decent chance the Patriots will try to run up the score, on top of the fact that they’ve already seen the best the Giants can throw at them and have now had two solid weeks to prepare for it. So I’ll say the Patriots win and beat the spread – say, 41-24.
One other thought on the game. I’m a casual Patriots’ fan, since they’re the local team and they hired Parcells around the time I settled up here – I have always loved that defense-first style of football – and now it’s just habit to root for them, but it doesn’t ruin my week when they lose. This time, though, I’ll be rooting hard for them for a reason unrelated to the franchise: I like history.
When I was a kid, I followed all sports. If Newsday printed standings for a league, I’d pick a favorite team and follow it. (I always rooted for the Denver team when there was one. I still don’t really know why.) And every year, I’d root for an NFL team to go undefeated. There was just something so appealing about that zero in the “L” column – it hadn’t been done since before I was born, and to a kid who liked math, there was something beautiful in the idea of a team going 16-0. (And, yes, in a team going 0-16, although now I have a harder time rooting for anyone to fail to that degree. Well, except the Cowboys.) And every year, I’d get my hopes up, and some time in November, the last undefeated team would fall, and I’d see those idiots from the ’72 Dolphins with their champagne, celebrating someone else’s defeat. So the Patriots going 16-0 this year fulfilled that little wish I had as a sports-nut kid, and I’d love to see them finish it off today with a victory – and, since they’re already on Mercury Morris’ front lawn, to see them urinate in his flower bed and take a dump in his fish tank while they’re at it. Celebrating someone else’s failure is bad enough, but the way the mainstream media celebrates these jackasses’ annual celebration really rubs me the wrong way.
So I’ll be rooting for New England today, despite my New York roots, because I like to watch history happen. The guacamole is made, I’ve got the materials to make tacos for our small crowd, and there’s a chocolate cake cooling on the counter, waiting to be sliced, filled, and frosted. It’s time for football.
EDIT: Jake’s post reminded me of one thing – Tom Brady’s the obvious pick for MVP, but if it’s not him, I’ll take Wes Welker.
Mercury Morris really needs to just disappear. He was incredible irritating on ESPNews this afternoon.
The Pats and their fans will make the ’72 dolphins look like decent guys who celebrate in the most modest way possible.
Believe me, this will be the most insufferable sports story in a long time, perhaps ever. New England fans are already bad, now they will be worse.
The worst part of it? I’m a skins fan and can’t root for the Giants either. Oh well, at least there’s beer.
45-10 New England. Eli throws multiple picks, one of which is returned by game MVP Adalius Thomas for a TD.
So the Patriots going 16-0 this year fulfilled that little wish I had as a sports-nut kid, and I’d love to see them finish it off today with a victory – and, since they’re already on Mercury Morris’ front lawn, to see them urinate in his flower bed and take a dump in his fish tank while they’re at it.
Couldn’t have said it any better
52-7 Pats…the score they beat the Redskins by this year
I’m from New York, but I’m a Jets fan. I don’t hate the Giants, but you, Keith Law, have summed up my feelings on this quite well. I always root for history and I love the idea of a team going undefeated. As if that’s not enough, Mercury Morris is absolutely insufferable (though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t listen to his every word because it’s just so sensational).
Also, best wishes to you on your small Super Bowl gathering tonight. I’m making some basic BBQ chicken wings to bring to a friend’s house this evening. Should be a good time.
Oh, and before I forget, I’m thinking 38-24, Pats over Giants.
27-23 giants. i dont like either team, but can’t deal with another NE super bowl/boston championship. have a hard time rooting for eli though. every time i see him i picture him sitting on the bus at the draft looking miserable b/c he was going to be the #1 pick in the draft and HAVE to play in san diego. tough deal kid.
mercury morris is unbelievably obnoxious.
Thanks for posting. I’d also take the Pats, 38-13 victory.
Oops.
by 27-23 i meant 17-14. beat the spread either way. greatest show on turf II.
That was an unbelievable game. If a good football game is the price I have to pay for being totally wrong with my predictions, then so be it.
Best thing about the game: upsets are fun, even if I honestly wanted to see a 19-0 team
Worst thing: Mercury Morris won’t shut the heck up.
Damn.
Normally I wouldn’t have had a strong rooting interest in this game, but, like everyone else, I was hoping the Pats would wipe Mercury Morris off of ESPN forever.
I guess the Browns will just have to do it next year.
Keith,
This was one of the most incredible days for me as a sports fan (though admittedly I’m a baseball and hockey fan first) due to the scale of the upset and the culmination of this Giants playoff run. That said, the only negative thought are those damn Dolphins. Knowing the 72 Fins are celebrating right along with us makes me a little sick to my stomach. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gotten over it, but still a (VERY) little bittersweet.
G-MEN! Keith, did you root for the Giants or Jets growing up?
i would take annoying but pathetic mercury morris and the rest of the 72 dolphin geezers over a generation of even MORE insufferable pats fans any day.
good job g-men. money line paid out 350 to win. nice.
Ken – are we Pats fans really that insufferable? What’s your exposure to us? If it’s only message boards and the like, no wonder you feel the way you do. The problem is that rational fans are not as likely to be presented to the general public. We are less likely to spout off on irrational forums and be the focus of media reports. If I’m talking smack with a friend, I might go a bit overboard too, but it’s tongue in cheek and part of what being a fan(short for fanatic) is about. Don’t let exposure to a handful of idiots define the New England fandom. Just like a few of us will want to throw Brady off the Zakim Bridge after last night, some Giants fans will now think all is well with Eli, despite all prior evidence to the contrary. My point is that sports are emotional no matter your level of involvement. Some of us go overboard, but most of us can move on and give credit where it is due.
i have met perfectly rational and likable boston fans including some good friends. however, by and large, boston fans are the worst, in my experience. dont worry about it tho, im sure you’re one of the good ones.
Sorry Urayoan, Boston fans have become the most insufferable. I guess it’s due to the years of abuse heaped on by Yankees fans. They have the attitude that they *deserve* all the wins and accolades, that they are better than every other fan base, that they are smarter than others, just because they suffered so long (Cubs fans, though, are just lovable losers, I guess).
It doesn’t help having cheerleaders like Bill Simmons as your spokesmodel.
As a Chargers fan I hate Eli Manning…but I was rooting hard for the Giants last night. Eli getting a ring was worth not having to hear all the football analysts at the four letter suck off the Patriots for the next seven months.
I heard gloating all week and then today…silence. Not even a congratulations, nothing. Same thing with the Sox. Boston fans aren’t used to winning — that’s how I explain their antics.
I’ve only encountered insufferable Boston/New England fans on the Internet, to be honest. And they’re everything people say they are.
Offline, however, I’m surrounded by a ton of Pats and Red Sox fans all the time, and they’re always gracious. Of course we rib each other hardcore throughout the season and playoffs; my friend went as far as decorating his entire living room with tons of Boston/New England championship memorabilia (bats, bobbleheads, DVDs, helmets, baseball caps, jerseys, the works). But after the World Series and the Super Bowl, most of them give me a “good season, good series” and other gracious gestures whether their teams win or lose.
Just thought I’d complicate things.
I’m guessing most people who read this have some interest in baseball so you may have heard of or visited the Sons of Sam Horn forum. It is “dedicated to all things Red Sox” but has recently branched out to include forums about all sports. In the Patriots forum, there is a thread dedicated to congratulating the Giants and another thanking the Pats for an exciting season. The coments are overwhelmingly congratulatory and I have not seen one “the Pats lost this game, the Giants did not win it” type of comment, as fans of a losing team often claim.