330 Miles Later, Still Greatest Super Bowl
I just pulled in after the 330-mile drive from downtown Phoenix. I almost fell asleep several times the final 30 miles, but I didn't, so ...
And now I'm watching the 3:30 a.m. edition of SportsCenter, and it seems pretty clear I'm not the only one fired up by the Giants' 17-14 victory over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
ESPN's threesome of Keyshawn Johnson, Emmitt Smith and, especially, Sean Salisbury, are so excited they can hardly contain themselves. Especially Salisbury, who is so excited I'm waiting for him to come out of his seat and start pumping his fist.
This was a great story for the NFL. It's a great story for sports. The middling team that catches fire late, wins against great odds on the road ... and defeats the mighty, unbeaten, apparently unassailable team in the championship game.
I think anyone interested in sports loves this story. It validates all those "that's why they play the game" statements, and reminds teams that they should still play hard as long as they have ANY chance at all.
The underdog team loses these games far more often than it wins them. We understand that. But as long as you're still competing ... it reminds me of the exhortation of the dying Jim Valvano to "never, never, never, never give up!"
I talked to someone about an hour after I finished writing a Super Bowl game story and column for today's newspapers, and this person scoffed at my contention that this was the greatest Super Bowl ever. "Nobody scored in the first half. Nothing happened until the fourth quarter."
My contention: There was great defense early, and it set the stage for steadily building excitement and pressure. It showed that the Patriots were going to have trouble scoring. That the Giants could stand up to the Patriots in the trenches, and maybe even control them.
I now am reassured. It was the best of 42 Super Bowls. It is. Nobody every beat an unbeaten team in the Super Bowl era. Nobody seemed so unlikely to win. No champion team seemed so unlikely to win. So many of us just assumed a Patriots victory. Were sure of it.
Didn't happen. And it didn't happen in a memorable way.
Oh, and I can't say I was absolutely convinced about this. Especially just before the game. But I DID write this column for Sunday's newspapers in which I predicted a Giants victory.