Dresden and The Giants are STILL World Champs

I must admit that it pains me to move on from that last post. Every time I opened my blog to see the beautiful "Giants Win" piece, I thought I could just go on seeing it forever. Why ever change it? What can be better than that? Who cares if no one ever comments on it any more? I ought to have just retired this blog right there and then and yet still refreshed it every day. That would've been fine with me. Giants win the Super Bowl in triumphant fashion. Giants win, Giants win....let freedom ring.

Bliss.

I've been milking that win for my own personal smiles for weeks. Every time I walk in Man Room now, I think "I saw my boys win a Super Bowl in this room". It makes me grin. If Man Room wasn't already in my personal Hall of Fame of rooms, it sure as hell has the top spot now. In 16 months, I'll be ready to leave Germany, but don't think I won't pause as I close the door to Man Room that last time, head bowed in solemn respect as I formulate some sort of heartfelt good-bye. Because I'm telling you now that's going to happen.

But I guess it's time to move on. Oh don't worry, I'll fill up the off season with ridiculous purchases of "Super Bowl Champion" t-shirts and hats, as well as year-in-review DVDs. And I will certainly continue to be "that guy" who drops little victory nuggets any time football comes up. It's been a long time since the G-men won, and I'm going to milk it dammit.

But football itself is done for now. And when football season is over, traveling season can begin in earnest for Gwendolyn and I. Other hobbies too, can now take center stage, but more on those in later posts.

Last weekend we had a modified four day weekend (we had to spend Friday morning learning how to wash our hands - don't ask) for the President's Day Holiday, and we went to Dresden. I think more than anything both of us needed a break from work. Things have been hectic lately, and well, let's just leave it at that for now.

Dresden's claims to fame are essentially three: It was the seat of power of the "Prince Electors" of Saxony for hundreds of years, it was mercilessly firebombed in 1945 by the Allies (denounced as a punitive bombing, Dresden had no military significance in WWII. Vonnegut writes about this in "Slaughterhouse Five". Interestingly he was an American POW in Dresden at the time of the firebombing.), and it was an East German city in the Cold War, meaning it has lots of commie relics that are fun to point and laugh at since we schooled 'em. ("Hey, people used to stand in line for bread during a drizzle here! Suckers!" Stuff like that...)

We took a train out to Dresden, and for the most part had a very relaxing time, complete with scheduled afternoon naps and sleeping in. The weather was cold but clear which made for good sightseeing. Saturday was crazy because as we started to hit the town we noticed that there were Polizei everywhere. We learned later that there were multiple demonstrations that day (actually we were very near the anniversary of the fire bombing), both left and right wing, and including even a small neo-nazi demonstration. We wandered briefly around the areas of demonstration, and I proceeded to make no less than 6,000 jokes about neo-nazis, most of which aren't worth repeating here. Anyway, I'll hand it to the Germans, they didn't let anything even think about getting out of hand. ThePolizei outnumbered the demonstrators probably about 30 to 1 - see our photo of the "Demonstration", which is really a photo of the backs of hundreds of Polizei keeping demonstrators penned in. (Although what irony if things had gotten out of hand, and you had Polizei beating the tar out of neo-nazi's, essentially going "Police State" on people who are pro-Police State. Think about that, and by the way sorry I just made your head explode.)

Walking around Dresden reveals a city rich with Baroque architecture (prompting the "If ain't 'Baroque', don't fix it!" joke to come out 2000 times). Other interesting sights were the communist relics from wall murals chock full of propaganda to blocky, unadorned, ugly, economical looking buildings for rows and rows. Other than Berlin, this is the first German town we've seen with a distinct "East German" vibe to it, from back in the day. It was funny, walking around, to think that everyone here in 1984 might had a different outlook on things, or at least on movies like Red Dawn and Rocky IV, than I did. (Those were both documentaries, right?)

Anyway, there's not too much else to day about the trip. It was nice, pretty and relaxing. We had some good meals too, including one at a "Medieval Times" style German restaurant which is supposed to recreate an authentic "Saxon" experience. Unfortunately we hit it for lunch, at a low time, and so there weren't kings and jesters and armored knights tromping around like I'd hoped.

For more information, see Gwen's post.

For me now, it's time to post up the pictures link, and then go back to surfing the NFL combine links. I need to see who the Super Bowl Champs might pick up to help us repeat next season...

Dresden Feb 2008

Super Freaking Awesome

I'm still stunned. What an amazing game. Not sure what can top it - not sure what can come close. Does "Wide Right" compare? Sure it does and it's going to take some time for me to figure out where this win sits compared to that one. This one is probably better - mostly because of the juggernaut, hated Pats on the other end. Ruining a perfect season of a big-headed team on the biggest stage in the biggest game? That's awesome. There cannot be a better way to win a championship. It's nuts.

Gwen and I watched the game in Man Room. At the half poor Gwendolyn was exhausted (it was 2:30 am at least) and I sent her off to bed and did the rest of my viewing alone. I was nervous and tense. We played great defense in the third quarter but I could tell we were on the field too much, getting tired. Eli's first go-ahead TD drive was sweet. He was absolutely squeezing the ball into places - that pass to Boss and then the touchdown to Tyree. Then New England bounced back. Our defense looked really tired on that last Patriots drive. When we got the ball back, we had a crappy kick return and then two quick incompletes. I thought we were done. I started to prepare mentally for a loss.

But wait a minute, not so fast. 3rd and 10 becomes 4th and 1. Suddenly we have a first down and new life. Maybe.... Then things get briefly ugly again, then another first. Who's quarterbacking this team - Eli Manning or Joe Montana? Then, on another third down, "The Play" where Eli spun out of a sure sack and David Tyree made that insane circus catch. That's the exact moment where I believed we would score. We couldn't make that play and then not score. And then we did. I went nuts. Just ballistic. What a rush.

When the Pats got the ball back I had this barely restrained rocking motion going, probably chanting something like "come on come on come on" like a pyschopath off his meds while wishing we would just stop them. When Brady went down on second down I went nuts again. Two plays later, they were done.

Still, there was 1 second left on the clock for like a minute as everyone ran off the field, then back on. That was the longest minute of the game. I couldn't let myself go absolutely crazy until I saw the zeros. Then it happened. I was in disbelief. We beat a monster team. We actually did it. It was insane. I broke a playstation controller jumping around like a lunatic. That baby's getting bronzed and framed.

One of the coolest things about this for me was the fact that the Pats, with their demeanor and antics this year, built up such a huge anti-Pats fan base. Even some of my San Diego boys, who are all Eli haters to a man because of what he and Archie did to them on draft day, were pulling for the G-men. That's how much people hated these Pats. I swear a major market team like the Giants will NEVER have such a big karmic one-game underdog following like that again. It took another major market, downright evil team to form a coalition that strong. It was so cool. At work almost everyone I know was rooting Giants. That collective rooting and celebration was the best.

The saying is trite and over-stated this week, but it's true: This sort of game is exactly why I watch sports. Why I pile hundreds of hours into football. My favorite team pulling a huge upset in the biggest game - unbeatable. It's simply unbeatable. I've found myself smiling constantly the past two days. I hear songs on the radio, I smile and think of the Giants. I stare off into space in clinic, and I see David Tyree catching that ball with his head. With his head! I surf the web, and read 15 new articles a day about some facet of that game. I can't get enough. This is bliss.

The only downside is that I wish I had seen the game with my dad. Or at least been somewhere with a pocket of true Giant's fans, going nuts and living and dying with every call. I was my own little island here in Germany, but I'll take it. It was awesome. Everyone should see their team win like this. Everyone should experience it. (Except maybe Eagles and Cowboys fans - sorry George - time to pick another squad...)

I can't believe Eli Manning turned into Luke Skywalker and Frodo Baggins all at once. For Giants fans, it was like watching Luke destroy the Death Star. For Pats haters, it was like watching Frodo destroy the Ring - everything came tumbling down. Belichick was Darth Vader, Belichick was the Eye. So good. So sweet. Unreal.

Below is a little column from an ESPN page 2 columnist from Monday. I thought it was really cool, and kind of right on. (My favorite part is about Belichick's Tie Fighter - still spinning in space).

I'll never forget this game. I'm not sure anyone that watched it will.

Huzzah Giants. Huzzah indeed.

PS - Somewhere Tiki Barber is crying right now. Just bawling. And I don't fell bad for him at all...


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WE ARE ALL GIANTS

In this glorious moment, when words seem so inadequate to express the joy all non-frontrunning sports fans feel, the first thing that comes to mind is this: We are all Giants. We are all New Yorkers, just as surely as JFK declared himself to be a Berliner in 1963. How can we not feel profound brotherhood with Eli Manning, with Tom Coughlin and all the others to whom we owe both the sight of little Billy Belichick sprinting off the field in an ungracious, you-took-my-Legos huff and our collective freedom from the Boston Globe's "19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England's Unbeatable Patriots?"

How can we not be struck at the same time by these observations: Plaxico Burress was right; teary-eyed Mercury Morris can get back to sweeping his empty driveway; Belichick's TIE fighter is probably still tumbling around in deep space.

February 3, 2008, marks the ushering in of a new age that seems so far from the promise of another historic day, Feb. 2, 2008 [the Patriots still undefeated, Tom Brady still upright], and a somewhat historic season, 2007-08, which we thought might conclude with a New England title and Belichick publishing "The Passive-Aggressive Manager's Handbook to Grumpy, Self-Serious Perfection in Football and Life." The first decade of the new century instead reminds us that games are worth playing, that odds primarily exist to enrich bookies, that America's preeminent advertising platform can still deliver a compelling sports experience and that Boston fans can now add 18-1* to Bill Buckner and Bucky F'n Dent.

In their ruthless professionalism and obsession with offensive metrics, in their ends-justify-any-means subterfuge and Only-Sing-When-You're-Winning single-mindedness, the Patriots embodied the most disturbing, dehumanizing aspect of modern athletics: Transforming play into work. In the long term, this attitude is untenable, because football is really nothing more than a complicated version of 5-year-olds chasing a soccer ball around a park, falling into each other and having a good time. It is the gap-toothed smile of Michael Strahan, crusty Coughlin enjoying a Gatorade bath. Joylessness, even under the pretext of competitiveness or dressed up in an extra-colorful Patriots hoodie, is never a force that can make sports worth watching or caring about. That is why today we are all Giants.
--Patrick Hruby
---------------------------------




I can still see this when I shut my eyes....

18-1

Not quite perfect.....



G-MEN!!!

Are you Ready for some Football?

Big game today, and I know that most people will probably read this after it's all said and done, but I figured I'd slap up some pregame thoughts to appease the masses.

Today, for the fourth time in my life, I'm going to watch my Giants play in a Super Bowl. Despite our large underdog role in this game, I must say it's pretty cool. Of course, I'm hoping this game turns out more like our first two Super Bowl appearances and less like our most recent one - a game I'm not even sure ever really happened. And I suppose, one way or another, fairly soon, that we shall see.


Here's a couple of thoughts:

I'm not a big fan of the two week break prior to the game. In general I'm not a fan of it, but I think specifically in this situation this season it helps slow our momentum a little and favors the Patriots. And frankly they don't need the help.

The game kicks off shortly after midnight here in Europe, and so this will be my third Super Bowl to watch more or less in the middle of the night. Something tells me I'll be more awake this time...

One difference this year is that I've been more or less avoiding all the press of the game, kind of like I did in the playoffs. I just want to watch the game. Unfortunately the Big Game comes with a severe amount of hype. In years past, when the Giants were involved, I would dive in, watching too much TV about it, and reading every heartwarming story about the third string quarterbacks favorite stuffed animal growing up. But not this time. I don't care about any of that, nor about the "expert analysis" (not one expert picked the G-men in the Cowboy or Packer game), nor about Brady's walking boot - not any of it. Just play it, I say. The game will be enough. Should be enough.

I'm determined not to have a repeat performance of my last Giant's Super Bowl viewing experience. That has nothing to do with the actual game, mostly just my response to it. Like the playoffs, I'm going in even keeled; I will be concentrating and rooting but not living and dying on every play. Of course I'll get excited and pissed, but hopefully on a much lower scale. For one thing, we're not supposed to win this game, and I've been watching the Pats all year - that team is good make no mistake. But because they're so good, and because of all the expectations, etc., there is much less pressure on the Giants. And should things get 'predictable', and we get blown out, we get blown out - I'll do my best to shake it off and concentrate how effing awesome it was to beat up on "America's Team" in the divisional round. (That was some good shit right there....ahhhh) (Also, we'll see if I actually old to this blase' philosophy as the game nears - I mean Christ it's the Super Bowl with my boys!)

The Giants played their first Super Bowl in 1987 (following the '86 season), and I remember little of it. I remember MCconkey and Bavaro, LT of course, and Simms playing a hell of a game. We were actually down in that game at one point (I think at the half even), but to my eleven-year-old mind the outcome never seemed in doubt. OF COURSE the Giants would win. They were my team.


In 1987 Phil Simms made a young me very happy


The second Super Bowl, in 1991 (following the '90 season), was awesome, over the hapless (but also high scoring and heavily favored - hmmm) Bills, in a close but great game. I was a sophomore in high school - having a rough year at that - and my parents had a Super Bowl party at the house. I remember being on all fours in front of the TV for most of the fourth quarter, crawling around between each play as if imitating a nervous, pacing mountain lion at a zoo. When our beloved "Wide Right" happened, it was sheer pandemonium, with high fives and hugs all around. Simply awesome, and clearly the best Super Bowl I have ever experienced by far. (Could today top it? Possibly - and just another reason I'll be excited to get to watching.)

Side Note: This was the best Super Bowl for me, but was it the best game ever? Turns out no. It was the second best. The game before, when the Giants went to San Francisco for the NFC Championship and upset the Montana 'Niners, was the best. My dad and I joined a group of New York fans at a sports bar in La Costa, and watched there. The game was back and forth, with Montana being knocked out late by Leonard Marhall. The Niners were up, and seemingly going to go on to win, but then Roger Craig fumbled late, and none other than LT came up with the ball. I remember him doing his high-knee dance around the 50 yard line with the ball, and Madden saying "Great Players make Big Plays in Big Game" for what I remember being the first time (even though that phrase has been uttered a billion times by now). Then "Hoss" (subbing in for Phil Simms and his broken leg) marched us down the field and Matt Bahr kicked the game winning field goal. Our little posse of Giants fans went apeshit, right there in that California bar dominated by Niner Fans. It was the greatest football moment of my life - I'm convinced - just barely edging out the Super Bowl victory shortly thereafter. It just seemed the Niners had the game, things were over, and then suddenly we had it. I get chills just thinking about it.)






Wide Right! Wide Right! Sweet, sweet Jesus - the kick is wide right....

Things turned sour for the third Giants Super Bowl, shortly after the Millenium in 2001. I was a third year medical student, and honestly I barely remember the game. I had a huge party at my house, and we rented a big screen TV for the living room. We crammed about 45 people in that small place, and I think it was by maybe the second quarter I had stopped talking to everybody. I just sat there, arms crossed, staring at the TV - I was pissed. Not my finest hosting moment and kind of embarrassing actually. After it was all over I had to take a good look in the mirror and seriously reevaluate how I watched Giants football. Since then, I'm much better. Really. I only remember a few salient points about the game. I hated those Ravens, a team of convicts led by Ray Lewis who led the league in tackles and murders for the season. He came out and did his steroid-crack-murder dance which I simply loathed. The game was fairly close early, and Jesse Armstead picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown only to have the play nullified by a defensive holding call against one of our defensive tackles (a penalty I've never seen by the way). The call was utter crap, a questionable penalty in theory at best, and one that didn't even happen at all in reality (the replays showed nothing, absolutely nothing. It was the worst call in the history of the NFL and I will not argue about this.) Anyway, that play set the tone, and for three or four hours I had to watch Trent Dilfer lead a team to victory, Ray Lewis do his shitty dance, and Jason Sehorn look like the only white cornerback in the NFL, which he was. On top of that, I lost our football pool because of that game. It was a dark, dark time.


"But I play football well, so killing people is OK for me."


(Side Note: Ah, Jason Sehorn. Before his knee first knee injury, he was relatively unknown and he was awesome. He was the only white corner in the NFL at the time. Now there are none. He was fast as hell, and I remember going to a game at Texas Stadium late in the season in 1997 while visiting my parents - the Cowboys were already out of it - and he shut down Michael Irvin. He was flying around the field, he played physical, he was awesome, like he had been all season. And he was still under the radar. My dad and I were pumped on him.

The next year he hurt his knee in a preseason game returning a kick against the Jets and missed the whole season. Somehow, by the time he had come back a year or so later, he was all hype. The New York media latched onto him, and he was their darling. Only after he hurt his knee twice, he really wasn't that fast or good any more, but he was still getting a ton of attention. He was "hot", gave a good interview, married a TV wife, etc. He had an awesome game against the Eagles in the playoffs leading up that Ravens Super Bowl (a pick for six where he tipped the ball, fell on his back, caught it, got up and ran it all the way back), but otherwise he was abused. Trent Dilfer and Brandon Stokely made mince meat out of him in that Super Bowl, and from then on it seemed like he couldn't cover anybody any more.

In a playoff game against San Francisco when I was an intern, he was utterly exposed perhaps worse then I've ever seen any cornerback exposed. The niners came on in some crazy come back and play after play Jeff Garcia found who Sehorn was covering and just got him the ball - to the tune of about 20+ fourth quarter points. I remember Chris Collinsworth absolutely screaming "The Niners were content to take Terrell Owens on anybody, but now they're content to take anybody on Sehorn!" And it was true - so true. It hurt. I'll always remember Sehorn as he was before he was hurt and before the hype, a lightning fast and physical corner who could've been one of the game's best. Alas, things turned out differently.)


By the end of his career, an all too common sight...


And here we are. What today will bring, our fourth Super Bowl, I have no idea. We may win, we may lose. I will be watching, there will surely be a few key plays to remember, and my lifelong football dance with New York Giants fandom will continue. This game has the possibility to be the best game in Giants history - an awesome thing in itself which has me pretty excited when I think about it. Or it may be quite less, and end in a loss. Either way it will fit somewhere. Regardless, it's a damn fine day to be a Giant's fan.

Let The Game begin.