Monday, February 6, 2012

Super Eli?


6 February 2012

The 2011 NFL season is over and the New York Football Giants have won the Super Bowl and are now Champions for the 8th time in their 87 year history as a team!! That right! Some of our younger generation may not know that this team has been around since the league first formed in 1925! This was their 8th title, their 4th Super Bowl win and their second Super Bowl under Coach Tom Coughlin and with QB Eli Manning at the helm.

It was a fantastic game! It was one of the better games of the season and one of the best Super Bowls ever played! Certainly one of the better ones I have seen in recent memory. And if Patriots Wes Welker would have caught that Tom Brady pass, an easy over the shoulder one he’s caught many times, it could have been different. If Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski could have gotten just inches closer and caught the “Hail Mary” in the last play of the game, again, it would have been different. But they didn’t and it wasn’t and that’s why it was such a great game as have all games between these two teams have been.

As I said prior to the game, I wanted the Giants to win. It would be, and is, a great story for Eli Manning. That he now has two Super Bowl Champion rings as opposed to the one owned by older brother Peyton kind of brings a smile to my underdog lovin’ face. He led his Giants to a 9 – 7 record during the 2011 regular season. Often times, Giants fans questioned his worth as a quarterback and wanted him and Coach Coughlin run out of town. I doubt we’ll be hearing that today but I don’t doubt we’ll hear it next season if the Giants falter a little! This Super Bowl win establishes Eli Manning as a great quarterback. As a proven winner and more, a proven leader on the field. He is perhaps one of the “coolest” quarterbacks in the league today. By “coolest” I mean his demeanor while under pressure. A lot of game pundits and “experts” have debated this and will continue to do so in the days ahead but is Eli Manning an “elite” quarterback? Does it matter?

I say “no” on both counts. Eli Manning is not an elite quarterback when compared to some of the “elite” quarterbacks playing today. I don’t think it’s Super Bowl wins that make a quarterback elite. Miami Dolphins quarterback never won a Super Bowl and he is most certainly an elite quarterback. Sure, elite quarterbacks win games and they do so by going out and throwing for 300- 400 yards a game, numerous TD passes with minimal interceptions and turnovers. HUGE numbers! Elite quarterback is a label placed on those quarterbacks by people not playing the game today. Eli is not going to do that. He is not going to produce big numbers every game. He can, if he needs to, and has in the past but there’s no need for him to be that kind of quarterback. That’s not Giants football and I can’t remember when it ever was. So no, in that respect, Eli is not an elite quarterback and it definitely does not matter. What he is, is one of the better quarterbacks playing in the league today. He is a leader and he will execute the game plan with a surgeon’s precision. He will win games for you with consistent and disciplined play. A trademark of New York Giants football.

Have a Blessed Day!

Today’s “Did Ya Know”: That today kicks off National “Go Green” Week! This appeals to me. Conserve your resources, learn about alternative energy sources, and check your local community for activities. Take care of the only planet we got! Think about ways that you can conserve energy and resources in your own home and employ those ideas. Turn off lights, lower your thermostat, don’t run water needlessly and if you can afford it, go buy an electric car or install a solar energy system in your home. Our local energy company has programs where your home can be fitted with digital energy saving thermostats and even a solar energy system.
 
 Related Links:

A history of the New York Football Giants:

A brief history of American style football:

National Go “Green” Week:
 

No comments:

Post a Comment