Whether it was on the field…
Eli Manning and the New York Giants, all but given up on mid-December, saved their best for the last, pulling out a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against the New England Patriots to finish off a brilliant stretch of play with a 21-17 victory Sunday for the franchises’ fourth Super Bowl title.
Manning delivered a 78-touchdown drive, capped by six-yard Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown run against an uncontested Patriots defense with 1:04 left. New England tried to give Tom Brady as much time for a comeback as possible, but the Giants defense stopped them to seal the victory.
It was Manning’s seventh fourth-quarter winning drive of the season for the Giants, who seemed to court disaster and play their best with everything hanging in the balance. It also signaled another late-game, Super Bowl outdueling of Brady, considered among the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Manning previously won a duel between the two in Super Bowl XLII.
The Giants took over at their own 12-yard line, trailing 17-15 with just 3:46 remaining. Manning started with a pass to Mario Manningham, who made a circus 38-yard grab down the sideline. The Giants moved methodically the rest of the way, both killing the clock, burning New England timeouts and eventually forcing the Patriots to concede the winning points rather than allow a field goal with no time left.
While sharing the stage with Madonna and Nicki Minaj during the song “Give Me All Your Luvin,” M.I.A. — in Cleaopatra gear and black stiletto boots — gave the middle-finger insult directly to a camera for a full second.
Janet Jackson’s 2004 “wardrobe malfunction” in which her breast, with a nipple guard, became exposed during her halftime show with Justin Timberlake has been a difficult-to-top moment in TV history.
Jackson’s indiscretion resulted in a $550,000 fine levied by the FCC against CBS for airing the uncensored, highly controversial moment.
…This Super Bowl had a distinct sense of deja vu about it, right down to yet another Government Motors, Chrysler division commercial praising the joys of bombed out, government stimulus-ed out Detroit, this time with Clint Eastwood — once a self-professed libertarian — playing the role of Eminem:
And once again, presumably Mark Steyn’s next weekly column or Corner post writes itself.
Update: “Would Dirty Harry ask for a handout? Hell no, he wouldn’t.” In contrast, the attendees at the Super Bowl have a bit more common sense than Clint: “#Occupy Protesters Heckled Outside Super Bowl.”
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