Reality check for Belichick: New York is the team to pick
What the heck, let's take a (long) shot here: Giants 20, Patriots 19.
A while ago I discovered that being right isn't all it's cracked up to be. Making a logical case for the illogical is more rewarding.
Picking the Giants is supposed to be wrong on so many levels -- mortals trumping immortals, the score being the under rather than the over, somebody from Boston besides John Kerry finally losing something.
So it might be wrong. The Patriots might be good enough to complete an unprecedented 19-0 season. If they aren't good enough, Bill Belichick still might be devious enough to cheat the Patriots past the Giants.
But so much can happen between 5:30 and 8:30 tonight.
Like, the feds might show up in the first quarter and haul away Belichick for wiretapping Eli Manning's helmet.
Tom Brady's supermodel squeeze Gisele Bundchen might curl up her index finger, wiggle the top of it toward her lips and distract the Pats' quarterback into a swoon.
We're talking sports, folks. The Super Bowl is more than reality television. It's reality, period. Anything can happen.
Most people with active brain cells believe the Patriots will beat the Giants. However, only the wagering ill would bet their bankroll on it.
Why? Because nobody knows who will win. Guesses abound but sports are full of wrinkled inklings -- Buster Douglas, the "Miracle on Ice," the Cubs winning the World Series.
(OK, forget that last one; we know that ain't happening.)
Anyway, the reality here is that Super Bowl XLII won't be edited like an episode of "The Biggest Loser." Until SportsCenter needs highlights, no interceptions will be erased for cosmetic purposes, no touchdowns embellished by special effects, no dramatic license exercised.
The Pats are nearly a 2-touchdown favorite. That should make them a lock to at least win if not cover, right? Maybe, but every lock has a key if somebody can find it.
Four teams won the Super Bowl despite being double-digit underdogs -- the Jets in III, Chiefs in IV, Broncos in XXXII and Patriots in XXXVI.
The surest I ever was prior to any of the 20 Super Bowls I covered was when the Giants and Bills were matched up in XXV.
The Giants' quarterback was backup Jeff Hostetler because starter Phil Simms was injured. The Bills' was Jim Kelly, a future Hall of Famer.
The Giants still had legendary Lawrence Taylor. But the Bills had Bruce Smith, who on media day declared that he had surpassed Taylor as the NFL's most dominant defensive player.
Forgetting that this wasn't "American Idol" or "Survivor: Super Bowl," I was certain the Bills would beat the Giants -- until I ran into former Bears general manager Jerry Vainisi the day before the game.
"The Bills can't lose, can they?" I said.
"The Giants are going to win," he said.
Vainisi predicted the Giants would run the ball, control the clock, play great defense and win at the end. The Giants ran the ball, controlled the clock, played great defense and won at the end.
An educated guess was made and good fortune made it come true. That's how it works sometimes in sports, in the Super Bowl, in the real reality TV.
By the way, the final score that day: Giants 20, Bills 19.
So yeah, what the heck: Giants 20, Patriots 19.