I was told today by my brother that this clip existed of Whoopi Goldberg exists where she mistakes Amani Toomer for David Tyree and his over-the-head catch in the Super Bowl.

Apparently this is the same Whoopi Goldberg who spoke at the Giants Super Bowl Parade as a “life long Giants fan”. Way to go Whoopi.

If the parade was held on any day other than a Tuesday, I probably would have gone to see it considering it was right by my dad’s work. Anyways, it turns out that a cousin of mine went there and here is a screen cap/video. You can see him around the 12 second mark – coming in from the left.

Much props Sabih.

So a few people mentioned the idea of live blogging which further pushed my own intention of doing it. So follow the game on your television sets and when you get a chance, stop by there for my analysis. Feel free to drop any comments and I will throw them in here.
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10:37 PM:

10:34 PM: So Cindy is also pointing out that David Tyree made a ridiculous 32 yard catch on the 3rd down conversion and he also had a touchdown reception as well. So his props are there now… did I miss anything else Ms. Murray?

10:04 PM: THE MOST DISAPPOINTING 18-1 SEASON! There will never be a more disappointing season than the ones Patriots just had. Quite a disappointing end by Belichick when he ran onto the field and would not leave with 2 seconds left. Congratulations to Eli for having his moment, taking that knee and winning that championship. Congratulations to the New York Football Giants.

10:01 PM: I kind of expected that deep bomb pass to Moss to fall into his hands.

9:57 PM: This is the stuff legends are made of. Crazy play on 3rd down to convert and then the touchdown pass…

9:47 PM: Important first down by Jacobs.

9:44 PM: Two minute warning… can Giants convert the first down?

9:39 PM: Can they make it any more easier for Brady and Moss? Touchdown Patriots… 13-10 Pats. 2:42 to go. Is this where Eli becomes a legend?

9:25 PM: Careless mistake by Eli to Burress… could have easily converted the first down. Now the Patriots get the ball back with 8 minutes to go and Tom Brady has another chance to led a game winning drive in the 4th quarter. Can the Giants D continue to come up with great stops?

9:12 PM: Good Coke commercial with Bill Frist and James Carville.

9:10 PM: 11:05 left in the final quarter.. the Giants score their first touchdown and lead 10-7.

9:07 PM: Finally the big play Giants had been looking for… and the one to catch is Boss – who has stepped up big time since Shockey went down.

9:00 PM: The look on Brady’s face after the failed deep bomb to Moss fails says it all. Brady is frustrated, Patriots offense is stopped yet again… can the Patriots be unraveling?

8:51 PM: Good call by the Giants to go over the top to Burress but still have not converted anything big. How long can the Giants D hold down the Mighty Patriots?

8:43 PM: Interesting call by the Patriots to go for it on 4th-and-14 from the Giants 35. Once again the Giants stop them, now can Eli and company reply?

8:40 PM: Now the Giants allow 14 yards on a 3rd-and-13…

8:37 PM: Big overturn here… Patriots successfully challenge that the Giants had 12 men on the field. Get that call, get the first down and usually the Patriots will capitalize on opportunities like this one.

8:30 PM: Giants D in the past 3 of the 4 Patriot drives have held them to only 3 drives on the possession.

8:21 PM: Almost the start of the second half now… The Patriots struggled on offense in that first half. Their defense did pretty good holding the Giants to only 3 points and you know they are more than happy playing like this and gonna keep waiting for Giants to make their mistakes.

7:50 PM: Important fumble. I have not seen Brady pressured this much in the longest time. Very impressive first half for the Giants… If you are a Giants fan, you have to feel really good knowing you held the Patriots to only 7 points in the half. Giants had a couple of opportunities to convert and they will have to start converting because sooner or later you know the Patriots are going to strike again. Manning looking good so far, short passes are there and even the running game is there every now and then.

It’s me signing off for an hour or until Tom Petty is done. I’ll be back for the second half.

7:27 PM: I do not remember a single time this season that Brady was sacked on back to back plays… Giants D playing great, holding Patriots with back-to-back 3-and-outs.

7:21 PM: Just when the Giants’ D comes up big, their offense comes out just as flat… follows a Patriots 3-and-out with one of their own… barely taking any time off the clock.

7:18 PM: BIG stop here by the Giants defense. I was talking here during the last Giants possession with my brother and I agree with what he said. The Giants do not necessarily have to get a touchdown but just protect the ball and put something on the board. Keep your eyes for the end zone but be happy with a field goal… this is only the first half.

7:12 PM: That is the last thing the Giants needed. HAVE TO make those catches there… cannot give the Patriots these free opportunities. Wasted at least 3 points right there and now with the interception, Patriots can have a time consuming drive to limit the Giants to probably only one more drive this half.

7:09 PM: Impressive catch by Toomer and now Giants need to convert.

7:00 PM: 7-3 Patriots. Giants need to respond now, do not want to give Patriots the ball back with the chance to push the lead to 11.

6:57 PM: Costly pass interference by Pierce for the Giants. You have to turn around on a play like that and just not tackle a player without looking. Had a chance to hold the Patriots to 3 but probably will not now. 4 downs to pound it in.

6:45 PM: Giants ran an impressive first drive. 16 plays – the longest drive in terms of plays for an opening drive in Super Bowl. Eli Manning looks pretty good so far but they will need to convert drives into touchdowns instead of field goals if they want to keep this game close.

6:26 PM: Giants call tails and end up winning the toss… 3 minutes to kick off now.

6:18 PM: Unofficially the anthem was at 1:55… good luck to those that betted over on the 1:42 line.

6:13 PM: Here come the Patriots, led by Brady and Bruschi.

5:50 PM: Switched over to C-SPAN for a bit and turns out Maria Shriver comes out to support Barack Obama in California.

5:39 PM: My dad continues to insist that since the Patriots are 18-0 they might as well win the 19th game as well. I am certain he does not understand that the Patriots are now like the Yankees of baseball. They are going to be hated. Maybe it is not fair to the Yankees since they were never caught cheating.

5:36 PM: I was not aware but my friend Matt from RIT tells me Coughlin coached there when they had a football team from 1971-73. Who knew?

5:29 PM: Talking about Tom Coughlin’s mentality… several Giants’ players joked that if they win the game today, Coach Coughlin might give them the day off tomorrow.

5:22 PM: Jeremy Shockey is shown on tv… turns out he is actually going to be at the game with the team.

5:15 PM: So far I saw two early commercials… one about the deaf community in America and certainly a well done commercial.

Only an hour and 15 minutes until game time…

Well here it is… Super Bowl Weekend. It’s also time for a game preview between the hometown New York football Giants and the team everyone loves to hate – the New England Patriots.

New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (6:30 PM – FOX)

It has been nearly two weeks since the Conference Championships but here we finally are. New York Giants against the New England Patriots, certainly not the match up most people expected at the start of the playoffs.

Everyone always likes a feel good story and this year’s Giants are just that. They have won about a million straight games on the road, having defeated the Cowboys and Packers in back to back weeks, their quarterback has finally come into a zone, the team has all the confidence in the world… but let us not forget who they are going up against. The Patriots are in pursuit of a perfect 19-0 season, they are not going to let that slip away to a team with just momentum on their side.

Breakdown:

Head Coach:
Tom Coughlin has done wonders getting his team to finally believe in each other after the miserable start but he is always a visibly angry coach. Bill Belichick is truly a genius at his position and no one comes close to him. Maybe if they had one week to prepare… maybe… I would have given the Giants the nod especially with the way they played week 17. Edge: Patriots.

Offense:
The Patriots have put together the greatest offensive season the NFL has ever seen. Tom Brady threw for 50 touchdown passes, Randy Moss caught 23 of them and I have not even started talking about Wes Welker or Laurence Maroney or Kevin Faulk or Dante Stallworth. As good as Eli Manning is playing, the Patriots just have too many weapons compared to the Giants. Edge: Patriots.

Defense:
This is the place where the Giants can provide the difference. Even though I would probably give the two teams a push here with the Giants D-Line and the Pats’ Secondary. I think if Osi or Strahan some how find a way to do something no team really has all year – rush Tom Brady or apply constant pressure, they can create turnovers and keep the game close. Edge: Giants.

Special Teams:
Giants’ fans hold their breath everytime Lawrence Tynes comes on to kick. That is enough reason to give the Patriots the edge but if Domenik Hixon can give the Gaints good field position, it can prove to be the difference. Edge: Patriots.

This is not going to be a rout as many people are expecting the Patriots to put on the Giants. Give the Giants some credit. It is too hard for a team that is not talented to make it to the Super Bowl by fluke. They have the ability to win it but they lack the experience and possibly a true superstar. Randy Moss has been completely ineffective for the Patriots in the playoffs and they still have won their games rather comfortably. The Giants have had everything clicking and they have pulled off two heart-wrenching victories. This playoff season was the time for Eli Manning to step out of his brother’s shadow and has the chance to not only become the 2nd quarterback to win a Super Bowl after going 0-2 in his first two playoff games (Peyton Manning) but he can also lead the first team to a championship after they had a losing record at home (3-5).

Giants keep it close but Patriots find yet another way to win their 19th game and complete the great season in NFL history. 35-28 Patriots.

P.S. How funny would it be if the game came down to a game winning kick and Stephen Gostkowski pushes it wide with Adam Vinatieri sitting at home watching the game.

EDIT: Early results on an ESPN.com poll asking viewers what they would rather see. The Patriots go 19-0 or would you rather see the Giants upset the Patriots. Too bad this is not like the Presidential Elections, New York Giants are carrying about 40-45 states… enough to translate to about 57% of the total votes.

So I guess I am finally getting around to talking about the two games because I am finally getting over the Packers loss. I will start with this game first because certainly this was arguably one of the best playoff games I have ever seen. A back and forth game from the start where neither team really got true momentum and even though it was a game that many will argue Giants dominated from the start (outside the one 90 yard pass to Driver). The Packers, much to my surprise, never established a running game that had really balanced out their offense in the second half of the season and really burst wide open in the last game against the Seahawks. Give all the credit in the world to Eli Manning who kept going to Plaxico Burress against a clearly over-matched Al Harris. Make no mistake about it, Packers gave this game away to the Giants with their mistakes but Eli stayed composed the entire game even though the Packers responded to every Giant score. I will still say it, Tom Coughlin’s decision to play all of his starters in that ‘meaningless’ Week 17 game versus the Patriots really brought this team together and there is no way they are in the Super Bowl unless their starters play that game. 3 straight road playoff wins, 10 straight road wins… this team has the momentum that could produce a victory in Arizona, but that is a little too early to call. Momentum is a dangerous opponent to play against regardless of who you are.

Oh by the way, Patriots continued their winning ways basically because the Chargers could find a way to score in the red zone. They were held to four field goals, two of which certainly could have been touchdowns and who knows, might have produced a different result at the end of the game. Regardless, the Patriots played less than their ‘A’ game but still found a way to win. They did that this game and have done that often over the course of the season and now stand one win away from a perfect 19-0 season. I will not elaborate more into what I think happens in two weeks but yea, I just might pick the Patriots two weeks in a row, who knows?

Well here we go again… it is Conference Championship weekend – the Final Four of the National Football League. 3/4 the first week but a very disappointing 1/4 last week – only 50% for the playoffs… gotta pick it up with a perfect week this week.

San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (3:00 PM – CBS)

Not too many people expected the Chargers to pull off the upset over the Colts last week without the help of Rivers and LT for the entire second half but give credit to Norv Turner and his team for sticking together and pulling out a gutsy playoff victory. Let me just say that the Chargers will not be able to repeat the same kind of result this week unless they do have quality contributions from Rivers, LT and Gates. The Patriots have proven all year long that you might slow them down for a little bit by taking away Moss or taking away their running game but that only works for so long. They just have so many weapons on offense that they can give any defense nightmares. Now the Chargers do have quite an athletic defense that has the ability to stay with the Patriots playmakers and with the weather forecast for heavy gusts, the Patriots short passing game that they run so well will probably be in full use. Chargers need to be able to apply some sort of pressure onto Brady if they want to have any chance this game. Brady was sacked on the first play of the game last week but then he was barely touched for the entire game after that. If San Diego can bring pressure often, I can see them keeping this game close in the 4th quarter otherwise it is an easy path for the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Patriots 31-21.

New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (6:30 PM – FOX)

Now this is the Eli Manning everyone had been waiting for. Who really expected this Manning brother to be in the Conference Championship game while is brother was sent home packing? Give all the credit in the world to Tom Coughlin for playing his starters in the last game of the regular season against the New England Patriots – these guys really came together on the field then and that has led to 2 straight victories on the road for the Giants. Now they head to Green Bay where the high temperature for Sunday is forecasted to be about 4 degrees. Brett Favre is a career +40 in win/loss ratio at home and only has a handful of losses when the temperature drops below freezing. Everyone questioned the Packers running game at the start of the year and whether it would be good enough to provide a balance to defenses to keep them honest with their prolific passing attack. Ryan Grant proved that last week with a franchise record for rushing yards in a playoff game – one that seemed very unlikely after he fumbled the ball twice on the Packers first two possessions of the game. The Gaints’ pass rushers need to be able to do what most teams have not been able to do all year and that is bring pressure on Brett Favre and force him to make mistakes. He has really cut down on his interceptions and if he manages the game again the way he did last week vs. Seattle, the Giants are in for a long day in Green Bay. I think you have to tip your hat to Eli Manning for finally bringing his game to that next level and I certainly think he is going to have another efficient game this week, I just do not think that will be enough for the battered Giants team to pull out a victory at Lambeau Field. Packers 35-20.

Well I went 0/2 today, much to the delight of all Giants’ fans out there but I am going to start with the Chargers/Colts first. Who really saw this upset coming? The verdict was out in the Giants game where they had two quality games against the Patriots and then a solid game against the Bucs last week but the Chargers who were winners of their past 7 games really were not given any respect, myself included. Their defense really buckled down and slowed the Colts offense enough for the battered and bruised Charger offense to squeak out this victory. As if no respect was not enough, the Chargers go on to lose LT and Phillip Rivers for most of the 2nd half and still pull this off. Sure guts and determination can pull out a victory but they will need a complete healthy arsenal if they want to have a shot next week.

Eli Manning did this wrong, Eli Manning did that wrong. That is all we have heard about him for the past few years but man has he turned things around. Everyone questioned Tom Coughlin for playing his starters in the last game of the season with “nothing” on the line… yea, the Giants had the progress of their playoff season on the line. I guarantee it that if Coughlin benches his players that game, they are out of sync for the playoffs, they do not have the confidence they have in Eli now, and they are probably sitting at home next week instead of having a shot at the Super Bowl.

Certainly looking forward to next week now, more on the NFC side. I know all the Giants fan have certainly rallied behind their team and I probably would have to but they are playing the Green Bay Packers. The very same Green Bay Packers who played in the very first NFL game I watched back in 1997. The very same Green Bay Packers who had Brett Favre at their helm back then. The very same Green Bay Packers who went to the Super Bowl (hopefully they will win it instead of losing it like they did in 1997). Green Bay cannot afford to take this Giants team lightly because confidence is a very dangerous opponent to be up against and the Packers will be facing just that in this New York Giants football team.

I will have a more in depth preview on both games on Friday but I will leave on a few factual notes from today…

- Dallas Cowboys become the first NFC team seeded #1 to lose in the Divisional Playoff round since the NFL expanded to a 12 team playoff system
- San Diego Chargers win a road playoff game for the first time since 1982
- New York Giants have not committed a turnover in this playoff season
- Teams scoring first in the playoffs this year are now 2-6 (Giants and Seattle)