But perhaps the stress of the last few weeks had taken it's toll. He and I did indeed have a good time (I think, anyway). Yet, my blog sank into an introspective narrative about why my interest in sports has waned considerably with age.
Yet, it is a fascinating topic, and one that I have been giving some thought to for a while now, actually. So, I will indeed continue it, but that can wait a little bit longer. Because it would be unfortunate if I lost sight of what sports can do, and can bring, at it's best. It was an opportunity for my son and me to get a bit closer, to share and enjoy an experience together. A game involving the favorite team for us both: the New York Giants.
And what a game it was!
To be sure, it did not start out in a very promising fashion. The Bucs seemed the more organized, energetic, and resourceful team on the field throughout the first half, at least, and probably even through the third quarter. They not only answered whenever the Giants created something positive on the field (not that this happened often in the early going), but seemed to be at least a step ahead of the Giants at every turn - at least a step. It was a frustrating afternoon under a sun that was beginning to feel blazing and oppressive. You could feel the tension within the stadium, as the patience was wearing very thin.
The Giants offense is supposed to be one of the most dangerous offenses in the league, particularly their passing game. Yet, Eli Manning was having more than just an off day. he threw three picks in the first half - including one pick six. And when he did manage a good pass, it bounced in and out of the waiting hands of the intended receiver.
So, the offense was not playing well, but surely, the Giants "D" (or the G-Fense, as it has been called) would hold the team together, right?
Wrong. The defense was being pushed around all over the field. The vaunted defensive line, which has been touted by some as the best in the league (and maybe the best of all time), was not getting to Freeman. in fact, they did not appear to be getting near him, and he is not the most mobile quarterback out there by any stretch. And speaking of Freeman, he was having a good day against the Giants secondary, and the G-Fense was matching the Giants offense for inefficiency and poor play.
Yes, watching that was very annoying, and if the crowd was not exactly sitting on it;s hands, then many people were holding their heads up with their hands, and wanting to turn away from the disastrous performance that their favorite team, allegedly the defending champions for the second time in five season, was putting out thereon the field. It was a bit surprising just how quickly, and loudly, the home crowd turned on it's Super Bowl championship team.
It was painful to watch.
When Tampa Bay held a 27-13 lead, not only did it look like the game was already out of reach for the Giants, but it looked as if they would be lucky if it did not get worse. They just looked horrible, and everyone was wondering what had happened to the team that, just earlier in the year, had that incredible run to the Super Bowl, which it won, to become the first team in NFL history to win six straight elimination games (unofficially they had defacto playoff games against the Jets and Cowboys), then actual playoff games against the Falcons, the Packers, the 49ers, and then the Patriots. They won them all, and were crowned Super Bowl champions once again.
This team on the field before us, they couldn't possibly be that same team. Oh, sure, they were wearing the familiar Giants uniforms, had those same NY logos on their helmets, and the names and numbers matched that team. But the level of play was nowhere near, and they were on the verge of becoming the first defending champion since the 1999 Denver Broncos to start off a season at 0-2, and that team had seen the departure of John Elway, and lost their star running back early in the season, en route to a disastrous 6-10 season, from which they never truly bounced back. These Giants, too, had lost some talent, but not that much talent, that they should be playing like this!
Then, of course, came the moment when magic happened. A moment that will surely be immortalized in team history, as this game changed from a snoozer to an immortal classic that will add to the mysticism of this team's achievements.
Eli Manning came alive! he showed his true greatness by not allowing his past failures to bother him. When he gets hot, he gets hot! And he is very dangerous when he gets hot. From one of his worst games ever, with three picks and virtually zero production, to over five hundred yards passing, for the second most productive game by a Giants quarterback in franchise history (Phil Simms enjoyed the most productive, with 315 yards with three touchdown passes in an away game against the Bengals in 1985). Eli fell a few yards shy of that, but also had the three touchdown passes, and just in the nick of time, to boot - right in the fourth quarter.
In the meanwhile, the defense suddenly came alive, as well. Freeman was getting hit, being pressured. The Bucs suddenly looked like the inept team that could not get anything going, although they finally did manage that incredible drive very late in the 4th quarter to tie it all up, after falling behind 34-27.
But this was the day of the Big Blue return, and the Giants responded with another touchdown drive, and finally nipped the game in the bud with an interception.
Shades of their recent postseason success!
Of course, not all of the drama was done with. There was the controversy of that final play, when Tampa's defense, at the behest of rookie head coach Greg Schiano (recently head coach for my alma mater, Rutgers), went hard at the Giants, who were taking a knee to run out the clock. That incited Tom Coughlin's anger, prompting the now famously tense handshake between the two.
I think that it was a cheap shot, and a relatively classless thing to do, although Schiano certainly was not backing down, and said that he did not want to send the message to his team to take a play off or concede defeat. I really appreciate what he did at Rutgers, and he did manage to make sound justifiable what I initially thought to be entirely unjustified. Still, however, I am not entirely sure that it was not simply a classless and unsportsman like thing to do.
But all of that is up for debate now. Bottom line, the Giants won an incredible game, and my son and I, who enjoyed the magic of last season's Giants Super Bowl run with a playoff game and the stadium celebrations a couple of days after the Super Bowl, got to enjoy another magical moment at the stadium with an incredible, and very memorable, team - the New York Giants!
At the incredible Giants-Bucs game on a beautiful, perfect Sunday afternoon. The game seemed painfully dull at first, but it certainly did not stay that way! One of the most incredible 4th quarters in team history, and it will live on for a long time, surely! Here, my young son is posing for the camera with the field below as the backdrop.
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