At my house our menu consisted of :
wings of a chicken
celery
blue cheese sauce
milano cookies
repeat
and my friend and I managed somehow to give each other a quad modified high five, thus passing along the equivalent of a germy double dip, , every time the Giants scored. Which, let's face it, wasn't much, since it was such a low scoring game.
As usual, as Giants fans we were elated and then faced with an incredible test of faith toward the end of the game when the Patriots finally scored and began an early (and premature) celebration. Four points ahead - why couldn't it be three? Who were the true believers? Were the folks with wing sauce and milano cookie bits all over their faces really die hard fans?
Yes we were. "Go Giants," my friend kept saying.
The room became quiet. My cat sauntered from my lap to my friend's purring, kneading us with his paws, unaware of the magnitude of the situation. The piles of bones from the wings of a chicken lay on a tray. Were we on the chopping block? Visions of chickens began to dance through my head.
No, no we vowed, it wasn't over. And we watched as Eli Manning took the field, David vs Goliath, his firing arm ready, his concentration steady, his resolve true. And when faced with no receivers, he ran with the ball, falling gracefully into a tuck in the nip of time, protecting himself as we groaned "Don't get hurt Eli!"
Eli got up every time, wiped the sweat off his brow, winked at us (okay I made that up), then headed down the field again, hitting receivers, marching them down the field until - touchdown!! Another high five between us, shouting, jubilation - and New Yorkers (whether they live in NY or not) began a celebration that will include a parade on Super Tuesday (good timing NOT but hey it's New York they love crowds!)
Yes, we did it. We won the Super Bowl and whether you're a faux Giants fan or a for real Giants fan, I'll tell you the real fans last night know that the game was won because we believe that you don't need the wings of an eagle to soar. Even underdogs can taste victory because underestimating one's opponent is never ever a good strategy.
[visual description: An illustration of a chicken on a chopping block. ]
[visual description: Eli Manning is shown after the Super Bowl holding up the Lombardi trophy and thanking us personally for our support. Well not really. But he looks very happy. Terry Bradshaw is standing next to Eli, staring at the ground, which he's been doing since, uh, appearing. in Failure to Launch.]
