GIANT SLAYERS...

I am not an American Football fan as much as I am a Dallas fan. I claim no knowledge of the sport. As big and strong as I am, I know you are surprised that I was never drafted by any NFL team, not even Dallas. Perhaps no one ever knew that I could run 40 yards in 8.7 seconds... when chased by my older brothers (just kidding, I do claim that I was a decent soccer player in my teenage years). So, I decided to not ever study the strategies of "American Football", which has little to do with your feet touching the odd shaped ball. Let's face it, calling "American Football", football (it's not even round), is pretty much like calling golf, "handball" because you happen to pick up your ball out of the hole with your hands... or because some people use their hands to improve the lie of the ball. Anyway, outside golf, I am a just a "big event fan". I am not even a "Monday Morning Expert", I just watch and try to enjoy. Above all sports events, I like the Olympics and the World Soccer Cup (the only sport other than golf that I understand and know more of than the average person, and, the only other sport that I played for many years), I like the NFL playoffs, the NBA Finals, College Football's "Championship Game (?), the MBL World Series, or the "Final 4"... even all of the tennis major championship finals, and like millions, I will watch today's Superbowl, at least most of it if it is close. If the Giants happen to be leading by 21 going into the last quarter, I will do something else. In all that, I have learned that, in professional sports, there is not a "sure" bet before an event. I am sure no one is thinking that the Giants are saying, "Well, we are going to get our behinds kicked in. Tom Brady is awsome! Let's just go out and see that we beat the spread and lose by less than 14 points", do you? The same goes on in golf and other sports. Surety only comes at the end, when the score is final... never before the event. "I DON'T KNOW, THAT"S WHY THEY ARE PLAYING", used to be Ben Hogan's favorite quote when asked, "who do you think is going to win?"... wise answer! If Tiger is leading by 3 shots going into the last round, chances are that he will win, particularly if he is leading by 3 with 4 holes to go. But I have never seen anyone give him the trophy on hole #1, before the last round because he happens to be leading by 2 or more shots. Is he the favorite? Sure! But there is still the remote possibility that someone could have a "miracle round" and beat him. It hasn't happened yet, but it could. History will show us that there have been many "Giant Slayers", where underdogs have won and upset those who thought had a "sure" bet on the outcome. The "Final Four" of 1982, when North Carolina State beat Houston, the XXXVI Superbowl where New England beat St. Louis, this year's Tennis Australian Open where Novac Dokovic beat Roger Federer in the semis. In golf, I know of many: Lee Trevino upset Jack Nicklaus in the 1971 U.S. Open 18 hole playoff; Jack Nicklaus himself, upset and beat Arnold Palmer for his first personal win, the 1962 U.S. Open, in another 18 hole playoff. Now, those were recognizable names. You want to hear some truly "underdog" names that beat "Giants" of the game? Jack Fleck, a non winner on the PGA Tour, a club professional, upset Ben Hogan in the 1955 U.S. Open Playoff; you ever heard of George Von Elm or S. Davidson Herron? George beat Bobby Jones in the final of the 1926 U.S. Amateur, Davidson had beat him in the final in the 1919 U.S. Amateur. So, let's watch today's football game as an opportunity to see something out of the ordinary happen, an upset: the Giants becoming Giants Slayers, the Giants proving that they are in the final because they deserve it, not because they are "dog meat" for the big dogs. I would not give the New England team the Vince Lombardi trophy before the game... let's wait, enjoy and see. At least see the commercials! Now, personally, since my team is out, I'm rooting for the "underdogs" GO GIANTS!!