GUEST COMMENTARY – BRIAN BROWNSTEIN ON GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL OVER PATRIOTS

Brian Brownstein of the Sydney Morning Herald gives the break down in the form of guest commentary of Eli Manning‘s triumphant win over Tom Brady‘s team. Read bottom up to get the full picture of this mammoth live blog effort. Incidentally it costs $3.5 million for a 30 second ad in Super Bowl prime time.

The New York Giants have beaten the New England Patriots 21-17 in  Super Bowl XLVI. This is how all the drama unfolded. All times are  AEDT.

2.30pm: MVP Manning has summed up the drama perfectly.

“It’s been a wild game, a wild season,” he said.

Starman … Eli Manning

2.15pm: Giants coach Tom Coughlin is revelling in another  Super Bowl triumph. That’s two for him now with the New York side.

“To have a finish like that, that goes down in history, that’s a marvelous  feeling,” he said.

2.12pm:

Giants star David Baas coudn’t contain his excitement.

“This is the American Dream,” he told SEN.

“This is about winning with your family…” he said of coach Tom  Coughlin.

“I’ll play for him seven times a week and twice on Sunday.”

2.10pm: Manning is the MVP. He threw for 296 yards and one  touchdown. As for Brady, he threw for 276 yards and two touchdwons, but was  intercepted once.

2.00pm: Manning is being hailed the hero for the Giants. He  was typically nerveless in that fourth quarter. And that pass to Mario Mannigham  will go down in folklore.

1.56pm: The Patriots have now lost four Super Bowls.

1.53pm: It’s all over. GIANTS WIN. Brady  launched a bomb into the end zone but it was incomplete. Giants 21  Patriots 17

1.51pm: Brady nails two incredible passes. Five seconds  left. Patriots have 52 yards to go

1.49pm: Brady is sacked on third down and 10. Patriots have  no time outs left, so if they don’t complete this pass (fourth down and 16) it’s  all over.

1.44pm: TOUCHDOWN! The Giants remarkably tried not to score  to run down the clock, but Ahmad Bradshaw was left with a huge hole to run  through (left open on purpose by the Patriots) and went over. He tried to stop  himself on the one-yard line but couldn’t. Tom Brady has 57 seconds to get 80  yards to rescue New England. Giants 21 Patriots 17

1.40pm: The Giants are second down and goal with 64 seconds  remaining. Time out called.

1.38pm: The Giants are nearing the end zone. They have gone  70 yards in five plays.

1.33pm: Manning throws a 38-yard pass, the longest of the  match. Amazing catch by Mario Manningham. The referee reviews the call and it’s  good. The Giants are on the march.

1.30pm: Brady is unsuccessful on this drive and New England  punt after a 48-yard drive. It’s back with the Giants. Giants 15  Patriots 17

1.25pm: Tom Brady will be hoping to put a winning margin  between his Patriots team and the Giants in this drive. The spotlight is on him,  but he’s certainly used to being the centre of attention. After all, he is  married to Brazilian supermodel Giselle Bundchen.

The power couple aren’t short of a few bob and they’ve recently bought a $20m  house in Brentwood, LA.

And it’s not only Bundchen that appears in front of the camera for money.  Brady himself does a bit of modelling. Bundchen is so desperate for her husband to win today that she emailed her  friends asking them to pray for him. Unfortunately for her, the New York  Post got hold of it, and published  it.

1.18pm: Manning throws and it’s incomplete. Giants forced to  punt and the Patriots have it on their own eight-yard line. Giants 15  Patriots 17.

1.15pm: Manning calls another time out. The Giants now only  have one left.

1.07pm: If the game does go to overtime the NFL’s rule -  allowing both teams to have the ball if the first possession results in a field  goal – will come into play.

1.03pm: INTERCEPTION! Chase Blackburn catches a Brady  length-of-the-field bomb and the Giants have the ball. No Super Bowl has ever  gone to overtime. Could this be the first?

1.00pm: Patriots coach Bill Belichick stands on the verge of a fourth Super Bowl win as a head coach, which would put him level with legendary former Steelers coach Chuck   Noll.

He looks tetchy on the sidelines though. I hope no one gets in his way, like  this photographer did.

12.55pm: Rob Ninkovich sacks Manning on third down, the  third time the Giants’ quarterback has been sacked in the match.

The Giants have been forced to settle for a field goal. Giants 15  Patriots 17. That’s the end of the third quarter.

12.48pm: The Giants defence does its job and the Patriots  are forced to punt from near their end zone. The New Yorkers are now in great  field position on New England’s 48-yard line. Five minutes 36 seconds remain in  the quarter.

12.43pm: Another break in play and some more adverts.

Elton John appears in a Pepsi commercial as a bored king. It’s not my  favourite (I wonder if MAdonna will have anything to say about Elton), but  Melanie Amaro, the first X-Factor winner, has an incredible voice.

12.40pm: If you want to watch Madonna’s half-time show  again, check it out here.

12.38pm: Field goal for the Giants is good. Giants  12 Patriots 17. Six minutes 43 seconds left in the thrid quarter.

12.32pm: Brady is showing why he is regarded as one of the  best ever quarterbacks. He controlled that drive brilliantly.

He’s a strong guy, but when he joined the Patriots he  was nothing of the sort. Check out this picture taken in 2000, just before the  Patriots drafted him. He  was pretty scrawny.

12.29pm: TOUCHDOWN! Patriots score with their first drive of  the second half. Brady picks out Aaron Hernandez and they are over. Gostkowski  slots the field goal and it’s Giants 9 Patriots 17.

12.22pm: And the second half is under way. Giants 9  Patriots 10.

12.17pm: It’ll be interesting to see how the critics review  Madonna’s performance. For me, Michael Jackson showed how it should be done in  1993.

12.14pm: Madonna certainly didn’t hold back with her  outfit.

12.04pm: Madonna opened with Vogue and is now  singing Music.

11.54am: It’ll be half-time entertainment soon, with Madonna  taking centre stage. The Material Girl will be up there for 12 minutes and  will give renditions of three old songs [still unknown] and her new track, Give Me All Your Luvin, which she’ll perform alongside Nicky Minaj and  MIA.

The 53-year-old follows in the footsteps of the Black  Eyed Peas …

11.50am: It’s half-time. Giants 9 – Patriots  10. The New York outfit dominated most of the half, but an amazing  14-play drive by the Patriots saw them steal the lead in the last minute of the  second quarter. The rest of the game promises to be a nailbiter.

11.47am: TOUCHDOWN! Brady picks out Danny Woodhead. It was a  96-yard drive – the joint longest in Super Bowl history.

11.44am: Another break and another advert. David Beckham‘s piece for H&M is dominating the Twitter  verse.

11.39am: Not everyone is enjoying the game. (Non-American)  footballer Wayne Rooney has this  to say. “Watching American football, is like watching paint dry.”

11.34am: Finally, Brady gets his arm going, finding Mr Reliable Rob Gronkowski with a 20-yard pass. Grondowski has caught 17 touchdown  passes this season – the most ever by a tight end. The Patriots are making good  progress up the field.

11.27am: Tom Brady will not be happy with the way the game  is going. And he’s not shy of showing how he feels when things are against him.  Check out this tantrum …

11.25am: Cruel blow for New York’s Travis Beckum, who has  torn his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for a long time. It’s Giants 9 Patriots 3 with 6 minutes 30 left in the half.

11.15am: The Giants have won the past two meetings between  the sides, including a 24-20 victory in week nine. Andy Benoit of The New  York Times explains why the New York outfit won that clash.

11.12am: The Giants are certainly in control. The Patriots  will have to tighten up, with New England in danger of being exposed by  Manning’s deep passing game.

11:05am: Make that Giants 9 Patriots 3 as  Gostkowski gets the Patriots on the board with a 29-yard field goal.

11.00am: SCORE UPDATE: Giants 9 Patriots 0

10.55am: Brady will now get the chance to redeem himself for  his earlier error, but not before another advert break.

An advert costs an unbelievable $US3.5 million for 30 seconds.

And this year advertisers  have broken with tradition with more than half of  the 50 or so ads that are running today  available for viewing before the actual  match.

10.51am: TOUCHDOWN! Manning picks out Victor Cruz and the  Giants are over. Lawrence Tynes adds the extra point and the Giants lead  9-0.

Touchdown … Victor Cruz scores for the Giants. Photo: Getty  Images

10.50am: Things go from bad to worse from the Patriots as  they are penalised five yards for having 12 men on the pitch. Second down and  goal for the Giants.

10.48am: It’s the Giants’ 18th play of the game to the  Patriots’ one. New York are on New England’s 11-yard line.

10.45am: The atmosphere sounds incredible in the 63,000  capacity stadium in Indianapolis. Although  the fans may not want to eat there after this was revealed in 2009.

10.40am: Brady’s first pass is incomplete, but a penalty is  called against New England for intentional grounding. It’s a SAFETY and the  Giants are 2-0 up.

10.35am: Manning had made a solid start, but was then sacked  twice in three plays. The Giants punt and the Patriots will start their drive on  their own six-yard line.

10.31am: Manning gets first chance with ball in hand. In the  last five games he has thrown 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Known as a practical  joker, he certainly rates  himself.

And the great thing about Manning is he never seems to lose his head. This  season he has thrown an NFL record 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

10.30am: Stephen Gostkowski kicks off Super Bowl XLVI. It’s  collected at the one yard line and returned to the 23-yard line.

10.28am: Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls. Check out  these highlights (including an amazing pass from the floor at about 1.50 into  the video), which show why he’s so highly regarded.

San Francisco 49ers’ legend Joe Montana and Pittsburgh Steeler Terry Bradshaw  are the only quarterbacks to have won four. Judging by these clips, Brady will  be in illustrious company if his team wins today.

10.24am: It’s the coin toss at the Lucas Oil Stadium. The  Patriots have won it and will kick-off.

10.20am: Kelly Clarkson has just sung the national anthem  and the crowd seemed to like it. Well, it couldn’t have been worse than  Christina Aguilera, who was pitchy and botched the words.

Brian Brownstein (@brianbrownstein)  is Deputy News Editor of smh.com.au

~Reposted by Horiwood.Com, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 6.2.12~

February 6, 2012 | Categories: Aaron Hernandez, Ahmad Bradshaw, America, Australia, Bill Belichick, Bloggers, Brian Brownstein, Chase Blackburn, Danny Woodhead, David Beckham, Eli Manning, Elton John, Football, Gisele Bundchen, Guest Commentary, Indianapolis, Lawrence Tynes, Madonna, Mario Manningham, Melanie Amaro, New England, New England Patriots, New York, New York Giants, Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ninkovich, Sports, Sports Horiwood, Sports Psychology, Sports Talent Management, Stephen Gostkowski, Super Bowl, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin, Victor Cruz, Wayne Rooney | Leave A Comment »