Is the Result of Super Bowl XLII “Good?”

Obviously the above question is a very loaded question and where you stand depends upon where you sit.  If you are in New York or Boston, the answer is easy.  If you hate the Giants (like me) or the Patriots (everyone else), the answer is equally as easy.  But, what about for the greater good of the league, its players, specific teams, etc.?  Is the Giants big upset “good?”  Well, let us assess some consequences of the big game and whether or not we, as fans (of the Eagles, of the NFL or of sports, in general), ought to be happy with these consequences.

The Patriots loss ruined what would have been an uber-historical event.
Is this good?  As a fan (and this is my own personal opinion), I think this is not good.  I know I am probably in the minority, but I personally respect and find real value in watching sports history, particularly dynasties.  How many times have we heard stories of the Packers of the 60’s or the Steelers of the ’70’s?  Are we or are we not going to tell our grandkids about the Bulls of the 90’s as they look at us in awe that we got to see them?  If you met a baseball fan pushing 100 years old, wouldn’t your first question be:  How great were the ’27 Yankees?  It is an honor to watch the greatest teams in history and, yes, it might suck to see the same team dominate year after year, but in the end, we should respect what is going on and revel in the fact that we are witnesses to something special.  This was partially taken away from us on Sunday night, and I, for one, kind of feel cheated that I did not get to see the only 19-0 team ever.

The Giants win (as a 5-seed from the NFC) was the latest and most startling evidence of parity in the NFL.
Is this good?  If you are a fan of any team in the NFL, then yes, this is good.  Personally, as an Eagles fan, this is very uplifting.  Maybe I am a bit biased here, but I never got the sense that the 2007 Giants were all that much better than the 2007 Eagles, and the Giants are now the World Champions.  If the Patriots had blown out the Giants on Sunday, I would have felt much worse about my team’s chances to win a title in the near future.  If you are a fan any of 25 or so teams in the NFL, I do not think it is crazy to ask yourself:  “If the Giants could do it, why can’t we?”

The result of this game may have monumental effects on both of its participants in 2008.
Is this good?  Again speaking as a fan of one of the other 30 NFL teams, that depends on what direction the effect will be on each team.  Personally, I think this is VERY bad.  I think that the Patriots losing means that they will be back next year with a newfound sense of vengeance and mission (though a lot will depend on their ability to resign Randy Moss, and I am not sure what effect this loss will have on that).  This loss will probably make them a better 2008 than they would have been had they won.  On the other hand, the Giants winning means that they have some vindication and a heightened sense of self-belief (specifically their oft-criticized quarterback).  I think that while a defending champion Patriots team might get fat and happy, so to speak, a defending champion Giants team is just going to be the same team with an incredible sense of confidence and trust in one another.  And, I believe that those were the two biggest things missing with this team over the past couple of years.  In all, I believe that Sunday’s result makes both conference champions better in 2008 than they would have been if the result was the opposite.  Not good for the rest of the league.

The Giants’ win brings some validation back to the NFC and, specifically, to the NFC East.
Is this good?  As an Eagles fan, I guess this is good because it is always nice to be considered part of, arguably, the best division in football.  It is also probably good because it shows that, though the AFC may be superior, an NFC team can win a Super Bowl, so there is hope there.  Maybe it is bad because it shows us that the conference is not exactly a walk-in-the-park any more, but I think that was just perception (obviously, since the Giants won), so that does not really change.  All in all, it is nice to see your conference and, specifically, your division get some respect.  Does it change much moving forward, though?  Probably not.

The intolerably obnoxious and awful Boston sports fans had their “shining star” of a franchise embarrassed in front of 105 million people.
Is this good?  Uh…yes!  I have been yelling about the awfulness of the Boston sports fans ever since “Red Sox Nation” emerged in 2004 as a tumor on the American sports scene, and now it seems that most people outside of Boston have come around to agree with me.  The fact that they were 18-0 and lost to an NFC wild-card team in the most-watched TV program ever not named M*A*S*H is probably the greatest thing that happened on Sunday.  It almost makes it all worth it.  Almost…

The nearly-equally intolerable New York fans get to celebrate a Super Bowl championship that they did not even expect to have until the game ended.  In fact, I do not think they even believe it happened now.
Is this good?  No!  This is terrible.  Most New Yorkers (with exceptions) are either Yankees-Giants or Mets-Jets.  Which means that the former group has been incessently mocking the latter for, well, forever.  This year, with the Jets coming off a 10-win season and the Giants having a tumultuous offseason, this season looked to be a slight bit of comeuppance for the losing side of the city.  And, now this.  Not only do these fans get 14 straight playoff appearances by their baseball team and 27 championships, in total, they get a completely unexpected Super Bowl title from their football team.  Excuse me while I throw up.

Mercury Morris and company popped the champagne.
Is this good?  Not even a little bit.  I have never been so incredibly annoyed by a group of former players than I was with the ’72 Dolphins throughout this year.  Between Don Shula’s “asterisk” comments and Mercury Morris’s rap song and just overall awfulness, I slowly became to loathe the ’72 Dolphins and everything for which they stood.  Now, they will not go away.  In fact, they may never go away now.  I never want to hear about the “champagne on ice” or the miracle of the ’85 Dolphins beating Chicago or what.  Hold on, time to go throw up again…

The Giants began a Super Bowl run the year after Tiki Barber retired and as soon as Jeremy Shockey was injured.
Is this good?  Aside from sticking it to the intolerable Boston fans, this was easily my favorite result of Sunday’s game.  I do not think I need to go into how I feel about Tiki Barber and/or Jeremy Shockey.  The only thing I need to say is that if Shockey does not come back and Tiki, obviously, stays in the broadcasting booth, I may even root for a Giants repeat just for the joy of watching them win without either of those two prima donnas again…well, probably not, but you get the point.

Eli Manning is a Super Bowl champion before Philip Rivers.
Is this good?  No.  This fundamentally drives at the heart of professional sports.  Every significant professional sport has a draft, and each of these drafts is structured to give advantages to teams that did poorly the year before.  And, with the advent of free agency and the effects of market revenue on on-the-field performance, this structure is even more essential.  But, when players like John Elway, Eric Lindros, J.D. Drew and Eli Manning fail to recognize or respect their fortune and choose to spit in the face of their respective sports by refusing to play for the teams which selected them, convention breaks down and the sport–and particularly its fans–ultimately suffer.  Furthermore, because of their unparalleled ability, these players will always win.  They will always get what they want.  John Elway ended up in Denver and played in 5 Super Bowls.  He wears two rings.  J.D. Drew bounced around the league, but eventually got a mega-million dollar contract (for which he blatantly underachieved) and got a big hit en route to a world championship with the Red Sox.  He now wears a ring.  Eric Lindros, though never winning a title (though he may have if the sport of hockey had not completely ceased to exist…wait, what?  Hockey still exists?  I found a little bit of proof), did have some big-time seasons with the Flyers (before being concussed too many times) and scored a lot of goals, or whatever that “sport” calls it when you do good things.  And, now there is Eli Manning.  He was supposed to be the one that messed up by his 9-year oldish actions on draft day.  He could have been in San Diego, with beautiful weather, non-critical fans and a Super Bowl contender, but instead he got his “wish” and was promptly whisked away to the ruthless weather and even more ruthless fans of the Northeast and a struggling, aging non-title contender of a team.  To make matters even worse for Baby Manning, the Chargers got THREE Pro Bowlers in exchange for Manning (Rivers, Shawn Merriman and Nate Kaeding).  It was all working out so perfectly terrible for once.  Then, on Sunday, it all went up in smoke.  Now, he too wears a ring.  Now, he is justified in his draft day tantrum and refusal to sign with the team that selected him NUMBER ONE OVERALL!  Now, he is a “winner” in the end.  There is something inherently wrong with that.  Oh, and, I will not even get into what I think about Michael Strahan and completely taking training camp off and then winning a Super Bowl.

The “classless” coach lost and the previously “classless” coach won.
Is this good?  Well, yeah.  Of course.  As a sports fan, in general, it is always good to see class beat classless, even if it is only the coaches that we are talking about.  In fact, I am extremely impressed by the coaching job of Tom Coughlin this year.  What a turnaround.  It was only a short 6 months ago when he had absolutely no control over a bunch of guys who did not seem to care one iota about each other.  Then, on Sunday, they looked like more of a team than this generation’s poster child for “Team.”  Coach Coughlin recognized he had to make an adjustment, only this adjustment was not personnel or zone defense, this adjustment was personal–and he did it.  Kind of impressive, if you ask me.

The over-anxious media look like complete fools for pre-selling 19-0 books and pulling a complete 180 on how “great” the Patriots were because of one drive.
Is this good?  On its surface, you would think that this is great, actually.  But, in reality, the media is not going to suffer at all with all of this.  Even the Boston Globe, the company that published the 19-0 books (and put them on Amazon.com, before taking them off), probably sold a ton of copies of a book that they would have sold NONE if they had waited until after the game, like responsible jounalists would have.  So, as great as it seems to stick in the media’s face, their insulated resiliency is irritating.

The annoyingly over-reported Brady ankle injury may have actually been an issue after all.
Is this good?  No.  Again, this may be another meaningless rant on the media, but this story was so overdone, and I was so convinced that it was a non-issue and a complete media creation.  However, when watching the game, there seemed to be something wrong with Brady.  I have no idea if it was the ankle, and I do not know enough to venture a guess, but there was something wrong.  And, the media can run with this and say “See, the ankle was a big deal.”  Again, irritating.  (Wait, Doogan, are we part of the “irritating media” with this website?  If so, then I take it all back.  Media members are genuises.)

In the biggest stage, yet another coach pays for a stupidly arrogant decision to go for it on 4th down.
Is this good?  I think it is good, if only to bring awareness to this ridiculous trend that is developing.  I wrote a post earlier about how much I despise going for it on 4th down when it is not an absolute must.  Now, I understand sometimes when it is 4th and inches and the “field position” warrants it, it may be justified.  But, in this case, Belichick made the most glaring mistake of the year, in my opinion, by going for it on 4th and 13!  The field goal was only 49 yards (coincidentally, they lost the game by 3 points).  Okay, so the coach knows his kicker better than I do, and maybe he did not trust him to kick the 49 yarder and did not want to give up field position.  Fine.  Then, PUNT THE DAMN BALL!  I really do not get it sometimes.

Steve Spagnuolo, in throwing out one of the greatest defensive gameplans in Super Bowl history, probably just won himself a head coaching position with the Redskins.
Is this good?  For several reasons, in several contexts, I think this could be very good.  Now, I know that he has not been given the job and, despite his multiple interviews, many sources still believe that Jim Fassel will be the next Redskins coach, but it seems to me that Daniel Snyder is easily swayed by “current events” and is a sucker for the “flavor of the week.”  I kind of think this is going to happen.  And, this is good.  One, it is good for Spagnuolo, the former Eagles coach, who did an absolutely terrific job with that Giants defense this year.  I think he has been a good coach for a long time now, so I am glad to see him getting more opportunities at higher levels.  But, much more importantly (because, in all honesty, do we really care about Steve Spagnuolo, as a person?), I think this is very good for the Eagles, for two big reasons.  First of all, if he is hired by the Redskins, he will no longer be the defensive coordinator of the Giants.  There is no question that he made that defense better.  Does anyone remember the 12 sacks his defense posted against McNabb in Week 4?  How can losing him not be good for the Eagles?  Second of all, if he is hired by the Redskins, does anyone think that he is really ready to be a head coach?  He has only been a defensive coordinator for ONE YEAR!  I cannot imagine he brings immediate success to the Redskins.  He may, down the line, be a great head coach, but probably not right away, and The Snyder Regime in Washington is never patient.  This may be a terrible loss for the Giants and a terrible gain for the Redskins.  This is very good for the Eagles (and the Cowboys, ugh). 

Peyton Manning was genuinely excited for his little brother.
Is this good?  This may seem sappy, but I think that in this era of teams with multiple arrests, constant reports of spousal abuse and DUIs and such, it is great to see a genuinely good person so unabashedly thrilled with the success of his younger brother.  There seemed to be no jealousy, no envy, no real competition in Peyton’s emotions.  Granted, this may have all been different if he had not won just a year ago, but it is still nice to see brotherly ties transcend the ultra-competitive, cutthroat attitude that professional athletes must embrace to reach the highest levels.  I think this was good to see.

With this loss, Bill Belichick is 0-1 with that “Red Hoodie.”
Is this good?  Personally, I like the gray hooded-sweatshirt, so I guess this is good.  Why am I even bringing this up?  I’m sorry.  I suck.

Jeff Feagles has a ring.
Is this good?  He is the earliest Eagles’ punter that I can remember, so I have a fondness in my heart for old “Feags.”  Yes, I think this is good.

And, last but certainly not least, Vegas took a bath on this game.
Is this good?  The only people to which the Super Bowl is more important than the players in the game are the players really in the game–those in Las Vegas.  The reports of how much money the Super Bowl generates for bookies are astronomical.  And, with their 12-point spread, the gambling gurus were begging everyone to take the Giants.  And, from what I can tell, most people were “suckered” into taking the points and betting on the Giants.  Oops!  Vegas took a bath on this game, and with all the money that they took from me this year, I could not be happier about it.  Unfortunately, “with all the money that they took from me this year,” I was not able to personally benefit from their “sucker” line.  Actually, on second thought, I would have taken the Pats -12.