Just to get it out of the way Patriots 38 Grunts 12. I have a wager with my sister for a dinner on The Game. She, although spending many years in Mass. moved to NJ and her offspring are grunt fans. Poor kids.

We will be a perfect 19-0 by the end of the weekend and those of us that have supported the Patriots from the miserable outset will be rocking and reeling in the aisles.

Sad to see Mike Holovak died recently.

Nomolos for Commish.
Predict: Pats 38 NY Football Giants 21
To that prick Arlen,

“If I go to him, with my armed fist, I’ll pash him o’er the face”
Troilus and Cressida II, iii

Holovak was a great one.
Remember the Boston Patriots (sans New England)playing at BU’s Nickerson
and their first draft choice from Syracuse, Gerhard Schwedes? Schwedes
never made it but Butch Songin and the gang did…
Another reason for Pats to go 19-0…
Is it too early to drink?

The only “home field” that I did not go to was Birmingham Alabama.

And no, bmaz said that beer thirty was in full effect as of the posting

Awesome bmaz, thanks.

WTF is up with Specter? He doesn’t have enough to do? Comparing the destruction of tapes of U.S. government employees torturing someone to the destruction of tapes of NFL football players, yea, sure Arlen, I see all kinds of similarities.

Stares at feet, incredulous.

OK, here’s some juicy NFL backbiting from this morning’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Unlike most of Bob McGinn’s articles, it’s NOT behind a firewall, so everyone should be able to access: “That defeat still hurts
Wolf says Holmgren to blame for Packers’ failure to win Super Bowl XXXII”

Phoenix - Even now, 10 years after the fact, the cut is deep, the memories fresh and the recrimination endless.
Each time that Ron Wolf tries to get past the Green Bay Packers’ 31-24 upset defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII, he remembers how the course of history might have and, in his strong opinion, should have been altered.

The retired general manager holds former coach Mike Holmgren primarily responsible for the crushing setback in San Diego, possibly the most haunting in the franchise’s 87-year existence.
“Certain calls were to be made that weren’t made,” Wolf said during a trip to Green Bay in August. “Mike Holmgren refused those calls. There would have been an adjustment on the blocking scheme and it would have been over.[…]

Seriously, the Giants have a way to win this game, and the formula is right out in the open: simply play Giant football.

Defense

1. Pressure the QB
2. Stop the run

Offense

1. Run successfully (just make first downs)
2. QB–NO MISTAKES

Eli doesn’t HAVE to play wonderfully to win. All he has to do is not make mistakes.

It is really that simple. And that difficult. Pound NE into a loss.

simply play Giant football.

Yes please, please do that. Pats 38 grunts 12

As I read the post about Specter, I kept thinking, “Wow, bmaz should write for the Onion!” After noticing there was a link, I made the mistake of clicking through. Now I’m trying to get back to that universe I was in before. It was a much more sensible one.

Pats over Giants 28-17.

(And yes, the Giants could win, but likely they won’t…)

I can’t tell you how bad it burns to not be talking about the Packers here (Phred knows)

Truer words were never spoken….

I gotta agree with the Professor, bmaz I thought the whole Specter thing was a joke. I was laughing out loud and thinking you had totally outdone yourself in honor of the SB Trash Talk — one has to elevate one’s game and all that. I figured when I clicked the link it would be to a cartoon saying “gotcha”. So, I click, and there it is in the NYTimes. I. Am. Speechless.

Ok, now that I have recovered some words and have walled off the part of my brain that contemplates how someone like Specter can walk and chew gum, given what should be his crippling level of cognitive dissonance…

FWIW, Mr. phred was reading over my shoulder and figures the boot/shoulder afflictions plaguing Brady are all a ruse, so he can skip the scrimmage on Sunday and prepare for the big game coming up in Hawaii.

Funny I was thinking the same thing “the onion”. Thanks for making me go back and click.

Arlen sure has his priorities straight.

bmaz - I expect I’m not alone in thinking this NFL Practice Tapes Scandal pap is really about the resorting the relevance of Haggis.

Been to Scotland; ate some haggis; probably no worse, maybe better, than most commercially made pork sausages; especially deep fried. One major difference: the mess o’you-don’t-want-to-know goes into a sheep’s bladder.

Which for some reason got me thinking about the Babe movie [The first one, the one that based its theme music on the had the second movement of Camille Saintsean’s Third Symphony for organ, the one that deserved to beat out Braveheart for the Oscar as best movie], in which we were delighted by the adventures of pig leading up to his fulfillment - not as sausage - but in beating out all the dogs in winning a contest which essentially tested their skills at overseeing sheep.

Now, if a pig can oversee sheep, cannot a concoction held together by a sheep’s bladder oversee a game played with a pig’s bladder?

It strikes me as Senator Specter slumps deeper into his dottage, we should find out something of his hopes and dreams. We may be that his are suffering from at least a mild case of envy - - in this case for all the attention received and status granted Senator George Mitchell for his editing of the transcripts of the tape recordings of a dozen or so baseballers [Anyone with two years in the audit department of one of the major accounting firms could have done as good a job].

Also - I’m thinking this may suggest that Haggis isn’t looking forward to counting the body bags devastation from the coming tidal wave that will hit Gooper Nation on the first Tuesday in November.

So it would not shock me if Senator Specter’s neuronal path of Philly Phanatic Eagle green envy for the Patriot’s decade long hegemony hooked up with his neuron path envy of Mitchell’s post-Senator beatification, and the two of them decided to get drown their senses of gloom with the current state of federal government and impending doom, and as often happens, a birth ensued: namely the notion that Senator Specter might really enjoy it if NFL management committee were to decide to bring him in to serve all their oversight needs as soon as possible before the 2008-9 season begins - in gratitude for which he just might be convinced to parlay what little remaining status and credibility he has with SJC Chair Leahy to set up a special little subcommittee this summer to hear some light-work-out no-pads testimony, issue a report that expresses regret over recent NFL failures to provide good examples for the youth of America, and expresses the only hope - stress ONLY HOPE - for restoring the lustre to our memories of Curly Lambeau and the real Pappa Bear [Halas] and Jim “Greatest Athlete in History” Thorpe and Vince Lombardi, is to have the SJC recommend the Senate pass an expression of intent to leave the NFL anti-trust exemption alone for the foreseeable future.

So then the NFL Commish convenes a presser to express just how seriously the owners’ and leagues’ take Arlen’s “warning” and imposes closure by inviting him to fill a serious gap in its depth chart at the Appearance of Oversight position, from which I’m thinking Arlen might be able to squeeze out a little time to devote to visiting his former colleagues in DC from time to time, just to keep them current on what’s happening in pro football, pass out a few tickets, catch up on old times.

This all seems fitting, given how the Bush-Cheney Administration and the GOOP have been able to outsource and privatize as much of the DOJ’s functions as possible while leaving a skeleton crew in charge to make sure nothing gets in or out.

If this works out for him, what with all the work that he’ll have to attend to this year, plus planning his Gala retirement celebration, I don’t expect Arlen’s going to have much time left over to help out fellow Goopers on their campaigns, or even attend to the full range of his Senate duties, I don’t think we’ll any more of Senate Specter on other burning issues of national concern or committee work than we will of Senator McCain as the GOOP reluctantly places its money on him, and both Dem candidates as their party dukes it out to see if they’d rather be seen as racist or sexist.

All this might prove too tricky for Arlen to pull off, but I kind of hope he does, only because I think it’s success depends on his being able to call on Leahy and a few other Dems on the SJC for cooperation - for which I would expect they would ask for some cooperation on a few of their own initiatives.

Been to Scotland; ate some haggis;

No worse than going to snarlin arlen country and eating scrapple

Jeebus. It’s f*cking football, for chrissakes. A gawddamned game, and the Haggis is FINALLY worried about spying?

I may have to spend some time finding words that I can safely fax to the Haggis to tell him his priorities are so freaking skewed that he needs to consider retirement.

Oops - forgot the obligatory forecast.

I suspect I’m like every one else with a love for the game so pure that it doesn’t matter who wins, just so long as the game is well and fairly played from the heart and no one gets seriously hurt; in other words, my Vikes went down to the Skins a week before the end of the season and ever since I just don’t care.

But FWTFIW, bearing in mind I’ve watched each and every Stupor Bowl through four decades and even back before then to when Otto Graham and Dante Lavelli et al held pretty much the same status as the Brady Pats, herewith the few things I have learned:

[1] When in doubt, go with the superior quarterback.

[2] As the sports pundits remind us whenever there is a big upset: This is why they have to play the game.

[3] As Woods is to golf, Jordan is to roundball, and Gretzky is to hockey, Brady is to oblongball.

I’m going with destiny: Pats 26 Giants 16.

It is down to the fourth quarter on the FISA bill. It is time to fasten your chinstrap and be prepared to carry the ball for the administration. The defense must be prepared for a trick play such as a “cameragate end around” This play will probably only be used as a last resort and will not result in a touchdown. Be careful of arlen as he is a dirty player, he will stop at nothing in his quest to run up bush’s ass.

Since you mentioned Otto Graham, I thought I would link to this thoughtful, imo, article comparing QB’s across generations.

Is Brady best ever? Not yet, but time is on his side

In an ESPN.com poll of seasoned NFL talent evaluators, Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana rated highest, followed by Tom Brady.

Tom Brady’s charge up the list of all-time great NFL quarterbacks will only accelerate if his New England Patriots prevail in Super Bowl XLII.

Already a three-time Super Bowl champion, Brady is coming off the finest regular season an NFL quarterback has ever enjoyed, whether measured by won-lost record or overall statistics.

The debate about which quarterback ranks No. 1 in NFL history might one day begin and end with Brady, but we’re not to that point — yet.

While seven seasoned evaluators placed Brady solidly in the top 10, Johnny Unitas consistently ranked higher than any other quarterback. Joe Montana was second, followed by Brady, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre, Otto Graham and Dan Fouts.

“To try to say who was the greatest would be an injustice to so many others,” said Marv Levy, the former Buffalo Bills coach who recently retired from his position as the team’s general manager.
Levy, Art Rooney Jr., Ken Meyer, Zeke Bratkowski, Dick Haley, Larry Kennan and James Harris have been watching, coaching or playing quarterback at the college and pro levels for a combined 321 years heading into 2008. (See credentials here.) […]

Prof @ 7: I, too, thought it was a joke until I clicked the link. Has the Haggis no sense of irony?

That is the University of Phoenix? Is that the online school? How do they make enough money doing that to pay for getting their name on a stadium? Do people actually go to employers and tell them they have a degree from the UP?

And if you go to school online how do you learn to drink beer, smoke dope, have sex, tailgate at football games and all the other great things associated with school?

And for you college basketball fans - I saw Memphis in person Wednesday night against UH. Free throw shooting looked a little weak but otherwise, they’re a legitimate threat this year. Easy to see why they are number 1.

The University of Phoenix has many satellite campuses around the country. They are a for-profit school offering for-profit degrees in IT and so on.

Thomas Frank did a great mordant piece for Harper’s on the scene at the Super Bowl between the Rams and the Patriots. (I suppose the middling performance of the Edwards and Huckabee campaigns shows that you need a message of economic populism in a different kind of mouth at least)

I think Haggis wants some of the reflected glory of the steroids hearing.

Mmm Haggis. Mmm scrapple.

Actually, I was raised to love scrapple. No really. Still look forward to it every time I go back to PA.

ROFL I thought and then yes, there was this blue shade and WOW!. And he of the haggis called something untrue. After Muck-asey’s muck up, there is no standard of truth on the repub. side of the SJC table.

why the shiny object now, or is the question too obvious to merit asking?

Okay, as to my prediction–not ready to do that yet.

But I will say something: Rodney Roids had better use all of his enhanced performance, because he’s going to be the make or break person at shutting down Jacobs and Bradshaw, and he had better be helping out plenty against Plaxico because Hobbs will need some serious 5′9″ help.

It’s Rodney Roid’s job to turn Good Eli back into Bad Eli and if Rondey Roid doesn’t get it done, this game will rest on his shoulders.

If I were an Eagles fan, I’d be calling Specter in a huff for selling out his team–or at least choosing the wrong time to take a stand.

My thought too. Then if glory is what he is after, he can surely find a way to have a Heath Ledger hearing. There were interstate phone calls made so why not try out a corrupt enterprise investigation. It could be a model for others….
trashing haggis is never OT. and haggis is after all made with offal. trash in many people’s sense of what is edible.

Heh heh, what, you think you can’t get porn, drugs and scalped football tickets online? Seriously, I agree that there is nothing ever in your life like the college experience; in a great many ways, really the defining time of one’s life. As to the University of Phoenix; don’t kid yourself, they are big business. I did have the pleasure of lightening their wallet just a tad in one dispute though. The founders John Sperling primarily and several others still hold most of the stock as far as I know and they are absolutely filthy rich. UP is part of the Apollo Group which is an interesting little group (ties with Carlyle) and has well over 2 billion in yearly revenue.

Ahhh, the obligatory Rodney Roid Rant. That didn’t take long to whip out….. EW now figures she is golden….

BTW, bmaz, could you do us a favor and make sure the Big Dog doesn’t partake of any of thsoe exclusive hookers, please?

He may well be our First Gentleman candidate in a week, and I know how hard it is for him to restrain himself.

We’ve got a better chance of winning on FISA, than bmaz has on that request ; )

Heh heh; well, the Clenis would do well to get on out of dodge then; because I am here to tell you, this town was never short on talent, both pro and wholesome, to start with and it is literally bursting at the seams, so to speak, right now….

Yes please, please do that. Pats 38 grunts 12

This is just impressionistic of course, but doesn’t the lockstep nature of the Pats media response remind you of the White House, and more generally, the GOP? Every player carefully following the company line, etc.

One gets the sense that, if the GOP had a team, it might well be the Pats.

And let’s not even consider all this business of the Pats’ surveillance of other teams communications without a warrant.

Hmm…

On the other hand, one might imagine that if we had any Democratic leaders instead of leadersheep, they might go about doing their job and protecting the Constitution with the single minded ruthless efficiency of another lifelong loyal Democrat, Bill Belichick. Instead, we have nattering nabob of nonsense Nancy Pelosi and her greased sloped table, Hanoi Harry Reid, whose Congressional shrewdness is limited to how to screw us, and on and on and on…

One gets the sense that, if the GOP had a team, it might well be the Pats.

Now that is crossing the line.

Amen to that.

Bill Bellichick for Senate Majority Leader! If any can make the Dem caucus toe the line, it would be Bill Bell ; )

phred @ 35:

He’s got Moss toeing the line (mostly) and that’s saying something. Neither Dennis Green nor Mike Tice could manage it here in Vikingland.

Yep. He gets big props from me for that. I was one of the naysayers when they brought Moss to the Pats and I have to give credit where it is due, Moss has consistently played well for the Pats. No one else has gotten Moss to do that.

He is a student of the chinese treatise, “the art of war.” * He knows how to keep a secret under the hoodie–like the news of how own divorce or his salary amount–and stonewall the press–like the injury report–and control the information flow. In the future Demo utopian administration where transparency will rule *g*, where will that skill package me of the greatest use.
Of better, here with us in the blogosphere. Partner to EW, for ex.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War

Now that is crossing the line.

and don’t get me started on the Patriot Act.

Surely, these factors can’t all be coincidence?

Amen Brother.

One gets the sense that, if the GOP had a team, it might well be the Pats.

Perish the thought…
On a man-o-man basis, the Pats are Dems…
Maybe you’re thinking of Curt Schilling the “shill” for McCain?

Paris Hilton showed no interest in Bmaz of Emptywheel fame? She is really losing it.

She is really losing it.

Sure she lost it years ago… there was a movie if I recall.

Hey, now, its not like I didn’t have a camera with me…..

Re 42-44: Paris Hilton: the walking justification for confiscatory estate taxes.

Now now, Paris’ inheritance is helping her to stimulate the economy ; )

This from a big-screen HDTV Q&A in the NYT’s Circuits newsletter yesterday.

Clearing Up Some of the Confusion Over HDTV
By DAVID POGUE
[…]
Q: So of all the sets here, which is the very best one to
buy for the Super Bowl?

A: Well, all of them will give you an absolutely great
picture. But there’s one thing that none of these sets can
do: they can’t make the Giants look good.

[D.P. adds: I’m not touching that one. Happy ‘Bowling!]

they can’t make the Giants look good.

Good one! That’s the kind of trash talk we need here.

That said, G’ints don’t need to look good. Just win. (Harry Reid please take notice)

Hey folks be nice to Paris; she has been traumatized. The family recently decided to leave 90% of the inheritance to charity….

Pats are not Democrats, they are socialists, according Rush Limbaugh, which, according to Zippy, a commenter on another site, goes to show that socialism works.

(I posted the original Limbaugh remark a few trash talks ago, along with a record of owner Kraft’s recent contributions.)

During the pregame introductions at their first Super Bowl a few years ago, the Patriots chose not to take to the field individually when their names were called. Instead, they ran onto the field together to showcase their solidarity and team ethic.Later, Rush Limbaugh described the Patriots entrance as “un-American” and “socialist”.

Conclusion 1: Socialism works!

Conclusion 2: The Bengals took Limbaugh seriously.

http://matthewyglesias.theatla.....nd_awe.php

Later, Rush Limbaugh described the Patriots entrance as “un-American” and “socialist”.

And Mass. did not vote for nixon so “FU” limpbow

They may be available online but WE all know who’s watching don’t we.

The Carlyle Group - amazing. Will we ever rid ourselves of some of these people?

wow, so much to cover!

1) I had to read the Haggis opening THREE TIMES before I realized it was real… searching for the inevitable snark that had to be there somewhere… for a while there was very impressed with Bmaz’s fiction abilities!

2) Phred and Bmaz - yes I know it burns. Believe me.

3) Scrapple. Where to start? I was introduced to it by a really hot girl from PA, and I almost yakked when she described it to me. During my 6 years in DC, I spent a lot of time at the beach during the summers, in Delaware. On the road down from DC was a town named Bridgeville, which had a HUGE billboard at the edge of town that said SCRAPPLE CAPITAL OF THE USA. (In the end, I aquired a taste for it.)

4) The Talent level in PHX. I can vouch for it. I’ve been out a couple times to catch the Padres in spring training. I was impressed.

UPDATE: Told you folks some time back that the shitpile was critical to this area, as was the 80s S & L crisis, because the whole place is built on construction and land speculation. Proof comes in mysterious ways… Even the local nuns are shilling their plowshare! Heh heh.

Looks like Arlen, Casual Observer and I are going to have to down a few beers, jump on the bar and challenge all you Patsies to a little King of the Mountain!

Giants 35 Cheats* 31

* Caught Cheating in one game.

Make sure you check out the update on who the famous people picked.

OT, baseball news, Knobby goes live… (the guy that couldn’t throw
straight)….

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02.....ch.html?hp

Two, they did it to the Packers first, admittedly last year, so not sure if that counts for this year’s team.

Ummm, did you intentionally single out the famous people who picked the Gents or are you trying to fire up the Pats fans in these parts to ramp up their trash talk? ; )

No, I didn’t. First, note how many more Giants fans there were on the list.

But also, these really were my favorites.

When I talk about how Eli was (in college, according to Peyton) and may be, in the future, better than Peyton, I always talk about Serena, so I was glad she thought the same way.

Schumer just made me laugh–how can a Dem FROM NY, where the fucking Roosevelts are like royalty, say such a thing???

BillO, not surprising, but since everyone was accusing Pats of being Republicans…

And frankly, I have said precisely what Hayden said, that the Giants are having a year very similar to the Steelers a few years back (though, FTR, I don’t endorse torture).

So they really were the most intesting, at least outof the probably 10 that I recognized.

Thank you, phred…I’m making ‘nice’ in the early trash talking here by only pointing out the Jets game, for which the League *fined* Bellicheat, personally, half-a-million integrity-lashes.

Later tonight, after I hang a few more sails on my boat, so to speak, I’ll get around to pointing out that Cheating is a Lifestyle for the Patriots, and pull-in the Packers’ game.

As far as I’m concerned, Billy-boy and Dickie both have walk-in Man Safes filled full of things they shouldn’t have in games played by the rules.

Every Freedom Loving, Founding Father Respecting, Constitution Honoring American has a stake in this Game: The Giants are playing for US, and the Cheats are playing for BushCo - plain and simple.

This year’s Super Bowl is the dumb show before the Play that foretells whether BushCo and their Cheating Ways are going to get caught, or get away.

Go Giants!

PS - When your franchise has real historicity about it - there weren’t even any Boston Patriots when the Giants won the 1956 NFL Championship with Offensive Coach Vince Lombardi and Defensive Coach Tom Landry - then your bandwagon is Big Enough to Carry All Types, including Hayden (He might just turn out to be allright after all…), fucking O’Reilly, and even Little Naive Schu with his Cotton Candy.

Bmaz, that’s a pretty stadium and all, but it says you CAN’T BRING GRILLS TO TAILGATE PARTIES.

No Grilling? For an NFL game? Who’s the Socialists now?

I dunno randiego. I moved to San Diego with Goose Gossage and Greg Nettles (I think I was the player to be named later). And as a former New Yorker, I was appalled to see Nettles get up and do a “play nice in this family stadium” announcement not long after he got there. It was so disillusioning to see an ex-Yankee say such a thing.

And with that, we are guaranteed a Hubcap winner this week!

Yeah, I remember those. Petco Park is worse. It’s so quiet it’s embarrassing. When the Red Sox were here last summer, it was hard to swallow, but the zillion Sox fans that came really showed how a crowd should act at a game.

However. If you want to see true tailgating - The Murph still has one of those old-school parking lots that’s WFO for the hoi polloi before the game. Not one of these modern, ridiculously expensive, sissy-mary, parking-pass-assigned-to-a-space for CEO-types parking lots. You just know that the new stadium, once they finally get one, will have just one of those lots.

But you probably knew that, as a graduate of SD.

Notice a trender for Sunday…

Super Bowl 20 1986 Bears 46 Pats 10
Super Bowl 31 1997 Packers 35 Pats 21
Super Bowl 36 2002 Pats 20 Rams 17
Super Bowl 38 2004 Pats 32 Panthers 29
Super Bowl 39 2005 Pats 24 Eagles 21

Drink early, drink often, and vote Democratic
I was for Edwards, but Tuesday in Mass Primary, I’m voting for
Hillary…. (decision just made after a few brews)

Oh, sure, I’ve spent some time in that parking lot.

Don’t know what scrapple is would anyone mind explaining?

Go Pats. Pats 35 Gent 17

I’ll allow Marcy to describe the delicacy that is Scrapple.

I not only clicked through, I went to my own login page on the NYT, I was just sure this was a spoof. I can’t believe it. Have I mentioned how much I loathe these people?

Patriots 42, Gents 17

Pats 27, Giants 17. Commence the Coronation!

Here’s the real score:

Pats 49, Giants 39

That’s not gonna matter, granddaddy got rich suing to set aside the will when great-granddaddy tried that trick.

I’ll allow Marcy to describe the delicacy that is Scrapple.

She’ll do it justice!

Just like it sounds: pig scraps (really, really scraps) and cornmeal. And a lot of spices to make it taste so yummy.

I stopped by ’cause I dugg this up:
The List: Best football nickname of all-time

don’t see how you can pick just one imo

Ha Ha HA thanks EW yummy Huh?

Yeah, it’s the stuff that SPAM doesn’t use, mixed into a kind of paste, then smashed flat and fried like sausage. Yum.

EW, you were raised in PA? I had never heard of the stuff until my PA friends introduced it to me, saying it was a staple of their childhood. I was horrified at first.

Nah, my white trash father was. But that’s the only place we’ve got family going back more than a half-generation, so it still counts.

Apparently it is a rule strictly imposed by the NFL, and has been in the past too. My guess is it doesn’t have to do with security as much as they want to funnel people out of the parking lots and toward the stadium where they are making money off of sales of food and merchandise.

Thanks “Magic Bullet” Specter, cuz that is going to jack the Patriots up. Nothing like a little smack talking grand-stander pandering for Philly votes on Super Bowl weekend. Ba ha ha. Nice timing, and good use of time.

Strahan has been a walking talking sideshow, but a darned amiable and funny one. You gotta love the guy. Jeremy Shockey is out; and as far as I know, he isn’t even here. Plaxico now has a swollen left knee in addition to the ankle injury he had that kept him out of in the conference championship game where he caught 11 passes for a gazillion yards. He’ll be fine.
——-

Strahan is helping people like the Giants, he is their good PR man.

Did Plex get hit with that flu? Does he talk in a nasal way or was his cold getting better over the week? Should not matter at this point since they boost them with IV type cold recovery.

Clemens and McNamee are coming over to shoot some B-12 in Plaxico’s butt. Barry bringing in some bay area flaxseed oil. Not gonna work though, because Belichick is surreptitiously video taping them….

“Magic Bullet” Specter should also get a grip since it happened in the 1st half of the first game, and it was a rule broken not a law. Not only that but the sign stealing they did was taping an essentially public (private stadium) area where the guy was giving signs. The NFL teams change their signals every week for this reason. It was a stupid episode of cheating, but these other teams do the same thing and if the Jets want to say the Pats are cheating then Mangini should come out and admit any cheating he has done (when he was the O coordinator of the Pats).

Mercury Morris from the ‘72 Dolphins is so comical. Its like Joe Montana says its all good to everyone is going to say they would win, but he is not going to get up-tight if Brady has 4 rings like SF Joe. Mercury is going bonkers about keeping them out of the neighborhood (you may have seen this, he is from the 14-0 team).

As a fan I think people should root for their team or the underdog, but also appreciate (watching) what great football a chance at 19-0 is. I am also very happy that the Giants are representing the NFC. They have played great and are the best team out of the NFC based on their run and their performance in the Playoffs.

Clemens and McNamee are coming over to shoot some B-12 in Plaxico’s butt. Barry bringing in some bay area flaxseed oil. Not gonna work though, because Belichick is surreptitiously video taping them….
——-
LOL. That actually sums it up pretty good.

From the Boston area as well Manny is in SBowl site AZ (where he works out) - so ironically there are some sightings (and a funny interview of him sipping juice and being Manny). The funny part being that the media will be waiting for him to roll in late to spring Training Camp. One of his quotes was about how he was not so pumped about going to work and playing at Spring Training.

OK, we have a definitive word on hot quarterbacks: Heather and Jessica have spoken.

Tom, however, is — technically speaking — smoking hot

buuuuuut…..

I like how you broke it down, so I just used your hard work to put some of my analysis in there. Thank you, nice post. I also think the Giants can win, though even if the scenario comes to be the Pats would have an advantage in the last 4 minutes if the game were close. They key for the Giants is to score -touchdowns- and not -field goals- (and NY coach is in top tier as well so he will not leave 3 points on the field if the game does not warrent it as some teams have).
———-

Seriously, the Giants have a way to win this game, and the formula is right out in the open: simply play Giant football.

Defense

1. Pressure the QB
Brady can take pressure and pick up the blitz (w/o spy tapes), but you are correct here and it can be done by the Giants; they hurried him a good amount in Week 17 - but Pats did have some ~ 450 yards of offense.
2. Stop the run
The key here is that its unlikely to do both, the best idea and what most people do in a big game is pressure Brady and hope the run is not that good (and or D physical enough to punish the runners & recievers at the same time). It rarely works since the run (inc Kevin Faulk) is good and QB is excellent at play action. Pats might go 5 WO recivers, or even 3/4 TE-running back.

Offense

1. Run successfully (just make first downs)
Pats will likely try to stop the run and make Manning keep up with or beat them while trying for a pick by hiding and jumping routes & hitting hard. I think the Giants have an advantage in the run (which could help with the clock), but the Pats could have a better running game (if they need it) if Faulk can come up big on 3rd down or Maroney has a great game. Having long drives will be a must for the Giants because if they get ahead they will want to be able to use up clock in case the Pats go on an Offensive roll.
2. QB–NO MISTAKES
I think Manning will be picked once, which would not be a bad game but not perfect. He has been excellent during the entire playoffs protecting the football (no INT) and from the analysis I hear only threw one shaky risky pass (meanwhile Brady has had multiple INT).

Eli doesn’t HAVE to play wonderfully to win. All he has to do is not make mistakes.
>>>> Making no mistakes is playing wonderfully (but that’s just semantics)

It is really that simple. And that difficult. Pound NE into a loss.
That, including jamming Moss at the line as part of the plan. Moss will be the best reciever and Giants Safety will need to be able to help on coverage effectivly. Also to outlast the other team in a physical game, including not messing up with the pre-game ritual or getting to riled up in the beginning and running low on emotion at the end.

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Intangibles:

1. Giants all wearing black off the plan to signify the Pats funeral.
2. Plex score prediction.
3. Arlen Specter opens his trap about SpyGate on Superbowl weekend.
4. Tie: Both cities are planning their parades since you need to do it in advance (OT: it is a stupid idea to have it on the same day as voting).

These intangibles do not play much into the game, but help in the prep & if coming out in a controlled manner for the actual game can help in the first few minutes as -both- physical teams knock people in the mouth (not to injure them, rather to hit them hard).

Sure you can pick just one - & it’s not even on that list:

Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch.

See this makes my point about why American republican democracy is has turned into Celebrity Dance Stars - folks just don’t seem to remember all the poop that Goopers has dropped on the world over the last 55 years.

I blame TV: too passive. Besides a bunch of other large cultural trends, the GOOP is going down because the ‘Tubes are interactive.

Did any US Court order the commissioner of football Goodell to keep all evidence collected in the case of the Patriots rule-breaking by means of recording their opponents defensive signal calling with a video camera. Clearly, no court was ever involved becuase it was a matter of breaknig league rules not an investigation of a criminal violation.

Specter’s comparison of Goodell’s investigation of the desrtuction of CIA torture tapes is meritless and he, a fine lawyer, should be embarassed and disgraced (by us, I mean.)

Of all the cocamema bullshit to pull durng the week precedding the Super Bowl. Arlem makes himself the center of attention and rakes mud on the Patriots AND THE GIANTS accomplishments by stealing the spot light from their upcoming faceoff.
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Goodell said the team’s accomplishment hasn’t been tarnished. “I think what they did this season was certainly done within the rules on a level playing field.”

In answering 11 questions specific to the “Spygate” scandal, Goodell also defended the league’s actions in destroying the tapes, a decision that has come under scrutiny from Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania.

“I think there are very good explanations for the reason why I destroyed the tapes or had them destroyed by our staff,” Goodell said, noting he is willing to meet with Specter. “They were totally consistent with what the team told me. There was no purpose for them. I believe it was helpful in making sure my instructions were followed closely, by not only the Patriots but also by every other team. I think it was the appropriate thing to do. Our discipline sent a loud message.”

Goodell pointed out that one of the tapes was leaked and broadcast Sept. 16, which was another reason he destroyed them.

“It was the b