Life is magical and full of joy!

THE GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!

What a game. What a bloody great game. THIS is what football is supposed to be like. Real smashmouth kickass old-fashioned duel to the death. DAMN but that 49ers defense played great. I don’t think I have ever seen Eli take such a hammering, but he kept getting up and fighting on. And my man Cruz was magnificant as well… though the Niners obviously made adjustments at the half to clamp down on him, or else the win would have been much more lopsided.

The Giants D played great as well. They did not get nearly as many sacks on Alex Smith as I had expected/ hoped for, but they kept him under constant pressure, held Gore in check for the most part, and stifled the 49er receivers… well, except for those two times when Vernon Davis got loose.

But it was turnovers that won the game. Turnovers, and Big Blue’s special teams. I never could have called that. Our special teams have been a weakness all years. Weatherford’s a decent punter but not a great one. Ditto the Scottish Kicker (bad luck to say his name). And we get NOTHING on kickoff returns or punt returns. But it was the coverage teams, and the turnovers we got on those two punts, that made the difference in the end… and once again the Scottish Kicker came through! (My heart did stutter a little when we got that stupid delay-of-game penalty just before the FG attempt, adding five yards to the distance).

Who would ever have thought it? Not me, I admit. Not after that four game losing streak in mid-season and that dreadful December defeat by the Redskins. But then something funny happened. The Real Giants showed up.

So now we’re off to Indy, and a rematch of SuperBowl XLII with the Patriots and Evil Little Bill. Why, it’s like an epic fantasy… the heroes from NYC against the Dark Lord and his minions.

But that’s two weeks away. Right now, I’ll just enjoy the win. And hats off to the 49ers too. They had a great season, and Jim Harbaugh deserves all the credit in the world for turning that team around. I think they will be contenders for years to come.

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And now it’s Championship Sunday in the NFL.

I meant to post about last week’s fantastic Giants win at Green Bay, but there was so much else to catch up on when Parris and I returned from LA, I never got the chance. Needless to say, it was a magical afternoon, and did help take some of the sting out of losing the Golden Globe. Parris and I watched the first half of the game while dressing for the awards banquet, right up to that last second Hail Mary TD that Eli tossed to Hakeem Nicks. I still have trouble believing that one, but it had the both of us screaming. We listened to the third quarter in the limo creeping toward the Beverly Hilton past all the security and the crowds of religious lunatics. But then it was time to go into the banquet. Fortunately, David Benioff (another Giants fan) had an app on his iPhone that allowed him to check the score, and he kept updating the table. I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming “YEAH! G-MEN” when we finally locked it up.

Hard to believe it has already been a week.

So… another tough game today against the 49ers. And the rain will not help. Here’s hoping the Giants still have some magic left. Win or lose, though, this has been an incredible run. After that dismal loss to the Redskins late in the season, I really thought they were done. I’ve never been so pleased to be proven wrong, wrong, wrong.

As for the early game, the AFC championship, I will be pulling for the Ravens, of course. Should the Giants advance to the Superbowl, I would much rather face Joe Flacco than Tom Brady… and I would prefer the “revenge factor” working on my side. Let’s give the Giants a chance to avenge 2000, instead of having Brady and Evil Little Bill trying to avenge 2007.

But that’s secondary for me. Pats or Ravens, we’ll take either one. First we need to get past the Niners.

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