This Game Is My Game

Three MORE Reasons the New York Giants Will Win the Super Bowl

With the article that my colleague produced a few days ago, I felt that the giants should be represented with yet another rebuttal. However, I am not going to reuse 2 of my reasons from our first set of articles, Alex. ;)

It’s ALL about the defense!

                                    

Throughout the regular season the Giants struggled in all aspects of their game. However, the Giants found their mojo as post season approached. Despite their set backs in the beginning of the season their defense was still statistically better than the patriots, although not by by much. The Giants ended up number 27 in overall defense in the league and the Patriots D were still worse! They ended up 31 out of the 32 NFL teams for defense. But like I said, the Giants had a regular season slump… they slowly crept up on teams surprising America with a spectacular defense as well as offense. A lot of this is being accredited to Defensive End, Jason Pierre-Paul. This USF Alum (GO BULLS!) was a first round draft pick and has wowed everyone with his skills, starting 12 games this season. As a proud USF student, I have been watching him blocking kicks and taking down quarterbacks this season. Watch out Brady and Gostkowski, JPP is coming for you!

The Running Back Duo

                                

Close friends Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs may not have had the best season in the league for a running game, but with Eli Manning and his magical swoop they haven’t needed to have a great running game. Because of this factor we have another underrated star on our hands, Ahmad Bradshaw. Here is what Vince Wilfork, of the NE Patriots had to say about him:

“I think Bradshaw is probably one of the most underrated running backs in the league, I really do,” Wilfork said. “This guy, I’ve seen him for a long time, and he can just run the football. He’s a tough, tough runner. I’ll put him up there with some of the best in the game today.”

These guys together put up some decent yardage. They make it count when they are both on the field and as long as Coughlin has them both on and healthy, we are sure to see a decent running game out there!

Hakeem Nicks is Underrated and Overlooked

                                

Hakeem Nicks is a great wide receiver yet people miss it despite clearly being a successful player. I have to admit, I was blind to the greatness of Nicks because I really didn’t follow the Giants except for JPP. (Most USF sports fans have been following JPP since the draft.) After watching one Giants game (Giants v. Cowboys), clearly being an expert on wide receivers for this team, I picked up Victor Cruz for fantasy football. The next week I didn’t get crap from Cruz for fantasy points! Throughout the game all I saw was Hakeem Nicks knocking it out and putting up a lot of fantasy points. Then I did a little research on Hakeem Nicks… He’s an awesome wide-receiver! His stats are amazing and he produces a lot of points. Despite all this, people still underestimate him. He was even set to be 4th STRING IN THE PRO-BOWL in 2010, even though statistically only Roddy White was a better player this season. This year… Well the jokes on them, he’s going to the Super Bowl!

Are you all beginning to see a pattern? Manning, Nicks, Jacobs, Bradshaw… all underrated players. These guys coming together with break out stars like JPP will  prove what skill they truly have today at the Super Bowl! The Patriots are great and have some big names on the field. But I would take the team of overall above average players rather than a team with 4-5 stars. GO GIANTS!

-J. Brees

The Super Bowl: The Intersection of Sport and Americanism

Twas the morning before the Super Bowl, and all through the land hype was spreading in anticipation of the day’s great contest…

Or something like that…

TheUnited States of Americais often referred to as the land of excess. We spend too much, we eat too much, we’re too lazy, and we’re too inconsiderate of the environment. This nation is also well known for our polarizing political battles between candidates that in the end are almost identical on paper. And, of course, we Americans are known for our adoration of a good party.

For these reasons, and many others, the Super Bowl is perhaps the greatest representation ofAmericaas a whole. An event that lasts only a few hours receives endless media attention across multiple networks for weeks prior to the game. Like an American Presidential election, Super Bowl Sunday is preceded by verbal jabs from both sides, media show downs akin to televised political debates, and a fair share of campaigning from the sides faithful.

Super Bowl Sunday is simply a 24 hour segment of time. Just one day out a 365 day calendar. Yet despite the brief nature of the Super Bowl, the entire festivity is a microcosm of American culture and society. It is because of these reasons, I speculate, that so many Americans adore the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is “as American as apple pie,” but it goes so much deeper than that. Just as characteristics of American culture are entrenched in the Super Bowl, so too are characteristics of the Super Bowl entrenched in the American psyche. Don’t believe me? Consider this brief list of examples…

The Super Bowl: The Definition of Excess and Commercialism

According to Wikipedia, a 30 second commercial during this year’s game goes for a cool 3.5 million dollars. One ad costs roughly 4-5 times the average cost of a suburban home inAmericatoday. In addition the Super Bowl is known for drinking and eating in excessive quantities. As such the NFL has “official” beer, chip, ht dog, and fast food brands. It’s safe to say that such a distinction costs FAR more than 3.5 million dollars.

Americans Love a Good Debate

In this country there is currently a heated political debate going on primarily between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Despite the fact that they are large part nearly identical on paper, people from the two camps can talk for hours about which candidate is the most successful or the most qualified. In similar fashion there is a large debate going on surrounding whether or not Eli Manning is in fact an “elite” quarterback, who the better Manning brother is, and whether or not Tom Brady has lost his edge. For the record: yes he is, Peyton in his prime is still the better of the two, and Tom Brady is still the elite quarterback in the NFL. And so the debate goes on and on, as it probably will for some time. Proponents on either side of whichever issue will pull stats and information that support their own stance. The cycle is a never ending one.

The Super Bowl: A National Holiday

All things considered, the Super Bowl is akin to a great religious holiday celebration. Football fans mark the date of the big game months in advance, plan parties and allocate funds for proper (drunk) celebration. Furthermore, prior commitments to friends, family, and organizations who are not fans (unbelievers) are rescheduled, cancelled, or disregarded. The event is also a great mobilizer of people. Similar to American Christians who only attend church on Christmas and Easter (C&E’s) so too are there “fans” who only watch football when it is in fact the Super Bowl. Whether they are enticed by the game itself, half time, the commercials, or something else they are none the less watching and thus lead to profits for the NFL and associated brands.

Super Bowl is Synonymous With Spectacle

The singing of the National Anthem. The fly over. The half time show. Lots of explosions.

The Super Bowl itself is a spectacle all in it’s own. Often times the auxiliary events surrounding the game itself are more memorable than the game being played. Consider that the “Nip Slip” and Christina Aguilera’s botched performance of the National Anthem last year are among some of the most associated storylines when it comes to the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl isn’t a game, it’s an event. We Americans love events.

And so, as a result, we set aside time once a year to come together for the Super Bowl. We’re fans of the game, fans of the excitements, fans of the unknown and fans of the social explosion that is the Super Bowl. It’s a hard thing to describe really, which is probably what makes it so magnificent.

Is it time for kick off yet?

-Alex “Red Beard” Cobb

This just looks awesome…

Three MORE Reasons the New England Patriots Will Win the Super Bowl

Bill Belichick is a Magician

           

Belichick may, yes, be an ass hole and a cheater, but he’s also a wizard when it comes to play calling. On more than one occasion during this post season he has used Tight End Aaron Hernandez in a running back role, often times for a first down. It’s the kind of play calling that just makes someone sit back and say “huh?” But for Belichick it works. Other interesting play calls by Belichick have included Tom Brady’s punt (that’s right, Tom Brady’s punt) on third down (that’s right, third down) against the Broncos a few weeks back. There was also that one point kick from Doug Flutie a few years back.

Speaking of Tight Ends, Double B has taken an often overlooked, underutilized position and made his core of TE’s the central point of his offense. It often seems that no matter what the situation may be, Tom Brady is looking for either Rob Gronkowski or Aaron Hernandez.

Also unorthodox is Belichick’s use of shorter players. Both Patriots running back Danny Woodhead and wide receiver Wes Welker are shorter than six feet tall, at 5ft 7in and 5ft 9in respectively. They are among some of the shortest players in the league, are a big part of the Patriot offense, and are among some of the most effective players at their respective positions.

Basically, Bill gets it done.

Tom Brady Plays Better With a Chip on His Shoulder

Earlier this season the Patriots had three big losses on their record, including a loss to the New York Giants. Coming into a much anticipated game against the Denver Broncos there was lots of talk that Tim Tebow may add yet another victim to his increasingly long history. The Patriots offense, the pundits claimed, would be outmatched by the Broncos D. TheNew Englanddefense, furthermore, wouldn’t be able to slow Tim Tebow down.

Tom Brady, thusly, came into the game with a lot to prove. Prove it he did. Brady lit up the field on the way to a 41-23 victory which saw him throw for an impressive 320 yards. The Patriots and the Broncos would meet again in the second round of the playoffs to a similar result.

Tom, at least so it appears, plays better when people bet against him. Considering his “poor” performance against the Ravens two weeks ago and his history against the Giants…well…it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of Brady detractors this weekend. I’m sure that Brady would never admit that other people’s opinions effect his play on the field, but in this case history seems to say otherwise. And if this particular bit of history repeats itself, it will be to the benefit of the Patriots…

The Patriots are Playing for More Than Just Another Ring…

All season long theNew Englandjerseys have been adorned with a patch with three block letters: MHK. Each letter represents an initial in Myra Hiatt Kraft’s name, the late wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.Myradied at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. She passed away just five days before her husband was instrumental in bringing the NFL Players Association and the league to agreement and thus ending their lockout. According to an article recently published on ESPN it wasMyrawho pushed her husband to continue working towards a resolution, towards a season, towards football.

Later in the season New England Patriot Matt Light commissioned a painting that the team would eventually give to their owner. The painting depicted hands of Patriot players pointing towards the sky, pointing towards the same patch that their jerseys will carry this weekend in Indi. It was the same painting that was placed in the Patriots locker room during half time againstBuffalo, they came out in the second half and scored 49 unanswered points. It’s the same painting that the team brought with them to the Super Bowl this weekend.

The Patriots, through rallying around their owner in his time of loss, have learned that there are more important things than football. With their play, however, they work towards paying homage to the woman that so many of them saw as a mother figure in their lives. Sunday is about winning, it is about the ring…but it’s also about so much more. A win this weekend for the Patriots, thusly, would seem fitting. Only time will tell.

P-A-T-S! PATS! PATS! PATS!

-Alex “Red Beard” Cobb