Fans save their raves for Giants, rants for (expletive) Hawk

From Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Tom Brady and the Heartbroken, "Rants & Raves" is flush with from-the-couch musings on Super Bowl XLII -- most notably, "The Grab":

• But first, the author of this pithy column has to eat a plate of fan-fed crow because, two weeks ago here, he totally dismissed the New York Giants' chances of toppling the supposedly monolithic New England Patriots.

And rightfully so Monday, the pointed retorts from New Yorkers came pouring in -- even if they were, well, "post-Giants victory."

For those who don't recall, our author snarkily predicted the game would be the "Snoozer Bowl," even after the Giants gave Brady and the Patriots all they could handle in a 38-35 Week 17 loss.

What a pompous, uneducated twit, Joe Hawk is!

Or as reader Ernie T., a recent transplant from Brooklyn, said in a voice-mail early Monday morning, "Hey, Hawk, you (expletive, expletive). You're a (expletive) for not giving the Giants the (expletive) credit they deserve for running the table in the playoffs and making it to the Super Bowl. I hope you (expletive) choke on your (expletive, expletive, expletive) predictions from now on." And that was before Ernie T. decided to get personal.

So at bended knee in front of all Giants fans, Hawk admits he was wrong. Undeniably, unequivocally wrong. The Giants were the real giants in Super Bowl XLII. They are, as one of Hawk's few acquaintances would say, the "hooga-bahlooga" of the NFL.

With that humbled admission, Hawk now will finish his hefty plate of crows' wings. Can someone please pass the barbecue sauce? ...

• On to "The Grab," that spectacular, phenomenal, miraculous, Cirque du Soleil-esque reception by Giants wide receiver David Tyree with just over a minute to play, which even now defies description no matter how many adjectives are strung together.

How the 6-foot Tyree held onto the ball after 1) leaping high to get it into his fingertips, 2) pulling it down onto his helmet with Patriots safety Rodney Harrison trying to bat it away, and 3) holding it in place as he fell backward is simply beyond comprehension -- as well as, we suspect, several laws of Newtonian physics.

Add in first-time Super Bowl quarterback Eli Manning spinning away from an almost certain sack to get off the pass and you have, without question, the greatest play in Super Bowl history. ...

• The one thing Tyree didn't haul in Sunday was the game's Most Valuable Player award, which, for some inexplicable reason, those in the voting media didn't throw his way. ...

• What was with Patriots coach Bill Belichick leaving the field with a final second still to kill off the clock? It was as if he couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Sure, there might've been some confusion as to whether the game was officially over, but Belichick didn't wait long enough to find out. He was running to the locker room as if the (Arlen) Specter of Spygate was chasing him. ...

• Or maybe Belichick was trying to escape his own stupidity after choosing to go for it on fourth-and-13 in the third quarter instead of attempting a 48-yard field goal that would've put New England up 10-3. ...

• Speaking of Spygate, you know that old saying, Coach: "Cheaters never win ..."

• There's no question that Eli and Peyton Manning are brothers in arm -- in more ways than one -- but did Fox Sports have to cut away to shots of last year's Super Bowl MVP after almost every pass play by his little brother?

The kid is playing the game of his life and even then he can't get out of his older brother's shadow. ...

• Talk about growth, Fox analyst Troy Aikman has quickly become, in our estimation, the best in the business -- perhaps the best of any analyst in any sport.

With Aikman, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, there is no hyperbole, no shtick, no pendulum-swinging praise/criticism. Just honest, insightful commentary.

In an age when most games are best watched with the audio set on mute, Aikman is not only one of the few broadcasters worth listening to -- he's mandatory listening in order to get the most out of an NFL broadcast. ...

• Sorry, Madison Avenue, you threw nothing but incomplete passes with your million-dollar commercials this Super Bowl.

None were memorable. Only a few were even mildly entertaining. ...

• As for entertaining, let's hear it for Tom Petty's halftime show.

At age 57, the dude still rocks.

Joe Hawk's "Rants & Raves" column is published Tuesday. He can be reached at jhawk@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2912.