Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

When the Giants knocked Tom Brady down after his first snap, I should have known.

When Bill Belicheck decided to go for it on Fourth and 13, rather then settle for a 49 yard field goal, I should have known.

When the unflappable Tom Brady missed a wide open Randy Moss in the corner of the end zone, I should have known.

When Pro-Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel dropped a sure fire interception on the Giants game winning drive, I should have known.

When, on the next play, Eli Manning slipped out of the grasp of three separate Patriots and heaved a desperation throw to David Tyree, who jumped over Rodney Harrison, trapped the ball against the top of his helmet and miraculously prevented it from hitting the ground, I REALLY should have known.

But it wasn’t until I was running like a wildman in knee deep water in the sandbar of Maunalua bay, holding up a single victorious finger in the air and shouting at the top of my lungs, celebrating the celebrating the Giants incredible victory over the seemingly invincible Patriots, that it hit me:

God cares about the football.

As the Patriots stormed through the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs undefeated, I lamented that it signaled that God did not care about football. A God who cared about football would not reward a team for cheating and poor sportsmanship. Yet week after week the Patriots continued to win and a championship seemed their manifest destiny. Patriots ownership even trademarked 19-0, Perfect Season, Road to Perfect and 19-0: A Season of Perfection. Yet, just when the Patriots were poised to finish off their perfect season and join the 1972 Dolphins as the only team’s to finish an NFL season undefeated, God aided the Giants final drive and reminded us that his love of the gridiron had not waned.

In retrospect, it seems so obvious. In Week 17, the Giants decided to risk injury and play their starting lineups for the entire game in a meaningless contest against the Patriots. The Giants had nothing to gain from the game – they had already clinched the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs – but in the spirit of fair play and good sportsmanship, they decided to try and knock off the still unbeaten Patriots. During that game, young Quarterback Eli Manning shed his previous inconsistency and, almost instantly, transformed into a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback. Similarly, the unpredictable Giants defense shut down what many believed to be an unstoppable Patriots offense for three quarters, before narrowly collapsing in the end. At the time I attributed the Giants inexplicable improvement to the magnitude of the game and their desire to end the Patriots run at history. Had I only believed, I would have seen God broadcasting his plan.

But the signs didn’t end there. While playing the Giants, Tony Romo and the NFC’s highest scoring offense somehow couldn’t score, even though they had the ball in the red zone twice in a row with less then three minutes to play. The following week, Brett Favre seemed to age thirty years before our eyes. After summarily dismantling the Seahawks, Favre looked old and tired against the Giants. But even with his poor play, the Packers appeared to have victory in their grasp when they won possession of the ball to start overtime. Then, in what should have been an obvious sign from above, Favre threw an atrocious interception on the first play of overtime, which set up a game winning 49 yard field goal for Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes, who had missed his two previous attempts. The signs were there all along, I just lacked the faith to see them.

Looking back on the season, what strikes me most the Giants improbable rise to prominence and eventual Super Bowl victory, is that, while many fans and media members lost faith that anyone could beat the Patriots, the Giants never lost faith. In fact, during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress proclaimed that the Giants were going to win 23-17. Normally, when a player guarantees a victory, especially in a game as big as the Super Bowl, he comes across as cocky, arrogant and foolish. In contrast, Plaxico appeared level headed and confident. (Faithful J-Bors will attribute this to Plaxico obeying the J-Borhood etiquite of the guarantee.) Plaxico had faith. Perhaps, if others had maintained as strong faith as Plaxico, they would have succeeded in knocking off the Patriots.

Earlier in the season, the Ravens seemingly stopped the Patriots on fourth down at the end of the game to win the game, except their Defensive Coordinator, Rex Ryan, called a time out right before the play because he did not trust his players to make the stop. Rex Ryan lacked faith.

When the San Diego Chargers played the Patriots in the AFC Championship, they came out fired up and were within striking distance in the fourth quarter when they faced a fourth down in Patriots territory. Rather then put his trust in his offense and try to convert the first down, coach Norv Turner played it safe and punted the ball. Needless to say, the Chargers never got the ball back. Norv Turner lacked faith.

Finally, in the Super Bowl, Patriots coach Bill Belicheck made an unsuccessful attempt to convert on fourth and 13 rather then allow his second year kicker the opportunity to try a 49 yard field goal in a game which the Patriots would lose by three. Bill Belicheck lacked faith.

The Giants, on the other hand, never lacked faith. Even when Tom Brady led the Patriots on their customary late fourth quarter drive to take the lead, the Giants maintained their swagger. After the score, I, like many others, figured the game was over and that the Patriots had once again eked out a narrow Super Bowl victory. The cameras showed a close up of Teddy Bruschi hugging Juinor Seau on the Patriots sideline saying “You’ve got your ring. You’ve got your ring.” (I’m not sure which display of overconfidence was most ridiculous, The Boston Globe selling pre-orders of their new book “19-0”, Bill Simmons writing an article that tried to determine whether the 19-0 Patriots were a better team then the 1986 Celtics or Teddy Bruschi declaring victory minutes before surrendering the game winning touchdown on defense.) Only, the Giants never got the memo. They marched 80 yards in just over two minutes and secured the greatest Super Bowl upset since Broadway Joe led the Jets over the Colts.

God, as people often say, works in mysterious ways. The signs of his work, while obvious in retrospect, are easy to overlook when they occur. In spite of my recent revelations and return to faith, I almost missed God’s final calling card in regards to the Super Bowl. While researching for this article, I learned that Super Bowl XVII was the second most watched TV program of all time, behind the only the final episode of M.A.S.H. This didn’t mean much to me at first, until I learned the name of the episode:

“Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”

Amen, indeed.

Pro Bowl Musings

It seems sacriligious (Ok, maybe that's a BIT strong) to talk about the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, but I have some editing work to do on my Super Bowl piece and only a few things to say about the Pro Bowl.

1. Yes, Adrian Peterson is that good. He's not only big, strong and fast, but can cut on a dime. I'm not looking forward to him playing the Bears two times a year for the next decade.

2. Yes, Devin Hester is that fast. I'd pay money to watch him race Antonio Cromartie in a 100 yard dash. They both take only two steps every five yards. Unreal.

3. The game taught me everything I need to know about Terrel Owens. He dropped two easy passes to start the game, which drew the ire of the crowd and a chorus of boos. Then he caught a magnificent shoe string catch on fourth and 13 to spark an NFC rally and a rain of praise from the crowd. Wildly inconsistent. Supremely talented. Polarizing figure. Done. Done. and Done.

4. My favorite moment from the game was watching Chad Johnson try to convince Al Harris to match up with him at the line of scrimmage. At one point, when Harris refused to get any closer then an 8 yard cushion, Johnson turned to the NFC coaching staff and starting pleading with them to force Harris to guard him. Say what you want about Johnson's brash, outspoken personality, he's alright in my book.

5. Gotta love the special teamers in the Pro Bowl. On the first NFC kickoff, Bears special teamer Brendan Ayenbadejo was about 5 yards in front of his closest NFC teammate as he sprinted down the field to cover the kick. Maybe the big stars didn't care about that game, but he did.

6. Tom Brady and Randy Moss displayed the same lack of character that their coach and organization displayed this year in declining to play in the Pro Bowl. Oh well, they got what they deserved. 18-1! 18-1! 18-1!

And on that note friends and J-Bors, a hui hou!

2008 Annual J-Borhood Super Bowl Prognostication Extravaganza!

Bad news, friends and J-Bors. Due to recent time constraints, I am forced to downgrade the status of the 2008 Annual J-Borhood Prognostication Extravaganza! Unfortunately, it does not contain the required amounts of fun, frivolity and flavor required of an Extravaganza! It’s not quite an Extravaganza (notice the missing exclamation point, a serious downgrade), an Etravaganza didn’t feel right (Missing the ‘X’ of course, because it is no longer Xtreme), a Travaganza sounds more like an Eastern European city then a ‘Hood worthy celebration and Vaganza sounds uncomfortably similar to a certain lovely member of the female anatomy. With that in mind, if decided to coin this celebration a Ravaganza. It does not quite conger up the no holds barred excitement of an Extravaganza! (for which, I humbly apologize), but it still sounds like a party at which it’d be cool if you took your pants off. Which, let’s be honest, is what you’re all here for anyway.

So, without further ado, allow me to present the 2008 Annual J-Borhood Prognostication Ravaganza!

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Yesterday, J-Bor Jericho Stone (who wins the coolest name award, hands down), sent me some information about an intriguing development in the 2008 Presidential Primary race. Two new candidates have emerged and cemented themselves as the front runners in the up-for-grabs race towards the White House. These two individuals provide a potentially ground breaking ticket that, not only crosses racial lines, but crosses party lines as well. Forget Mitt Romney. Say goodbye to Hillary Clinton. Move over John McCain.

Make way for Brady / Moss in ‘08

On one side you have Brady, the socially progressive Democrat. He looks like a winner, talks like a winner and acts like a winner and has a proven track record of success. Though some liberals claim that he doesn’t like to give handouts (as evidenced by his small number of turnovers), he manages to appeal to the broader base of socially minded liberals through his proactive welfare solutions (his efficient distribution of touches to all members of the offense.) He demonstrated that he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is when he declined a larger salary for the good of the team and, in the footsteps of the great Democrat, JFK, he’s good looking, from Boston and has a penchant for spending time with Supermodels.

On the other side you have Moss, the hawkish, outspoken Republican. He firmly believes in the conservative ideal of every man for himself, an ideal he embodied during over the off season when he orchestrated a trade from the worst team in the league to the best team in the league. He also demonstrated a strong capitalist spirit this season in breaking Jerry Rice’s long standing touchdown record, which will surely lead to a giant contract in the offseason. He has also garnered strong praise in conservative circles for his support of a strong armed forces (clearly the man knows the value of a good offense) and, finally, like Mitt Romney, he appeals to the African American demographic.

The pair certainly have their work cut out for them on Super Tuesday, er… Sunday, but they’ve established themselves as the clear favorites and plan on storming their way to victory.

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As has become tradition here in the ‘Hood, I provide each Super Bowl a unique moniker.

Super Bowl XV, brought us the Ex-Girlfriend Bowl.

Super Bowl XVI was the “It's about more then just the Quarterback” Bowl.

Without further ado, allow me to present the 2008 J-Borhood Super Bowl:

Super Bowl XVII: The Destiny Bowl

This Super Bowl matches up two teams with destiny on their side. The New York Giants became a team of destiny when, rather then rest their starters in a meaningless game at the end of the season, they went toe to toe with the 15-0 New England Patriots, nearly shattering their attempt at a perfect seasons. The Giants rode the momentum from that victory into three consecutive road victories over heavily favored opponents. Meanwhile, the Patriots have sliced through the league with ninja-like efficiency towards their Manifest Destiny: a perfect season. (Yes, this last sentence was just an excuse to say “ninja-like efficiency”) Now, their two destinies collide in what many say will be the most watched sporting event in the history of the world.

While, on paper, the Giants appear overmatched, they possess the type of pass rushing threat that a team needs to try and disrupt the Patriots precision and timing passed passing attack. As we witnessed in the Sugar Bowl, a ferocious pass rush can wreak havoc on a passing attack. I feel like I’ve written the same thing for the past three weeks, but if the Jaguars, err…Chargers, err…Giants can put consistent pressure on Tom Brady without having to take men out of coverage to blitz, then they have a chance. Unfortunately, the Patriots have the best offensive line since the mid-90’s Cowboys (for you non-football fans out there, if an average NFL offensive line is a picket fence creating a small, but sturdy impediment for opposing defenses, then the mid-90’s Cowboys lines were like Alcatraz, if Alcatraz was surrounded by tiger sharks with laser beams on their heads.) rendering the possibility of creating pressure on Brady for four quarters nearly impossible. On top of that, Eli Manning, playing in his first Super Bowl, will need to continue his recent run of efficiency (6 TDs to 0 INTs in the playoffs), sustain long drives with the offense and score touchdowns when they get in the red zone. Eli has the unusual opportunity of talking to his brother about what needs to be done here, but judging from Payton’s post season track record against the Patriots, maybe he’s best going this one alone.

In large part due to the quality of their defense and the emergence of young quarterback, Eli Manning, everyone wants to compare the 2007 New York Giants to the 1990 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. The 1990 Giants featured a hard hitting defense, led by a veteran Superstar, Lawrence Taylor, with a penchant for antagonizing the quarterback; They were led by a young efficient quarterback, Phil Simms, with something to prove; They faced the daunting task of slowing down the seemingly unstoppable K-Gun offense of future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Jim Kelly and dynamic playmakers Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. The 2007 Giants also feature a hard hitting defense, led by a veteran superstar, Michael Strahan, with a penchant for antagonizing the quarterback; They are led by a young efficient quarterback, Eli Manning, with everything to prove; They face the daunting task of slowing down the seemingly unstoppable offense of future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Tom Brady and dynamic playmakers Randy Moss and Wes Welker. In fact, the similarities are so abundant, that it has led many pundits to predict that the Giants will once again shock the world in Super Bowl XVII. This reasoning, however, has one tiny oversight.

The defensive coordinator of the 1990 Giants, the man responsible for orchestrating the brilliant game plan that confused and manipulated the powerful Buffalo offense was Bill Belicheck.

Yes, that Bill Belicheck: The coach of the New England Patriots.

In my playoff preview, I postulated that the Patriots recent run of success proves that God does not care about football because he would not thusly reward a group who has cheated and displayed poor sportsmanship. J-Borhood fan, erudite intellectual and Dallas Cowboy cheerleader Jennifer Higaki has a different theory. She believes that God does care about football, however, much like during the fall of Rome, God has lost interest in the dominant power – in this case, the Super Bowl – due to it’s immorality, corpulence and largess. As the NFL has transformed from a league centered around man to man competition and fair play into one predicated on large contracts, me-first superstars and commercial interests, God’s interest in the NFL has waned and he has focused his attention towards the college season. We only need to observe the recent season of the University of Hawaii Warriors for an example of God’s good works on display in the college game.

But, you ask, how does this affect this Super Bowl?

Because the Giants will need an act of God to beat the Patriots.

I’m sorry to say this and I hope it’s not true, but I think the Patriots are going to get out to a big lead in the first half and never look back. The only interesting thing about this game after half time will be the commercials, which, sadly, switch to local programming for the second half.

Heaven help us. (Please.)