LITTLE ROCK — Come Sunday, I’m rooting for the New York Giants.
Taking sides has nothing to do with being up to here with the genius of the hoodie-wearing, tight-lipped coach on the New England sideline or the golden boy under center. Nor is the Super Bowl preference related to admiration for the four defensive ends who rush the passer on obvious dropback downs or the son of the man who single-handedly retired the red and white “Archie Who,” button that was proudly displayed on Bourbon Street a few hours before the Jan. 1, 1970, Sugar Bowl.
Endorsement of the Giants is a personal stance against two aggravating developments: —The rush to judgment that permeates sports. —The belief that one of the biggest prizes in sports can be determined by cold computers that gobble up mountains of data and spit out the winner.
Twice, this season the Giants — their quarterback and coach in particular — have quieted critics by sticking to the task at hand. First up was Eli Manning who matter-of-factly said yes this summer when asked if he considered himself among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. The media had a field day ridiculing the little brother of Peyton. All the former Ole Miss quarterback did was complete almost 73 percent in the winner-take-all showdown with the Dallas Cowboys in the season finale, outplay likely league MVP Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and finish three playoff games with eight touchdown passes vs. one interception.
This week, more than one convert has revived Manning’s quote and speculated that he is, indeed, elite. Castigation of Tom Coughlin reached an apex in early December after the Giants lost their fourth straight. Never mind that months earlier, the experts said the Giants wouldn’t be very good because of the players lost through free agency. At 7-7, it was time to dredge up Coughlin-critical quotes from Tiki Barber and again second guess Coughlin’s decision to punt against Philadelphia in 2010, a decision that backfired when Matt Dodge failed to kick out of bounds and DeSean Jackson returned the punt for a touchdown.
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Five straight Ws later, the question is where Coughlin would rank if he coaches another Super Bowl winner. On the other previously cited front, the Giants’ 20-17 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game was less than 24 hours old when we were told that a computer had run 10,000 simulations of the Giants-Patriots and determined that New England would win about two-thirds of the times. The average score was 31-point-something to 27-point-something.
Looking for specifics, a Google search turned up innumerable references to various computer projections. All the data available would not have projected Baltimore’s Lee Evans dropping a touchdown pass or Billy Cundiff missing a 32-yard field goal in the AFC championship game, or San Francisco’s Kyle Williams being forced into a kick return role and fumbling a punt in overtime of the NFC title game. Give me the scientific selections of Princess, who has picked the winner of the five of the last six Super Bowls. Princess, a camel in New Jersey’s Popcorn Park Zoo, makes her pick by nibbling a cracker from one hand or the other of the zoo manager. Prefaced with an admission of archaic thinking, the guess is that the winner will play good defense, protect the ball, be solid in the kicking game and run the ball just enough.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.