A Super Bowl prediction

I don’t see why anybody could possibly pick the Giants to beat the Pats unless they are either die-hard Giants fans (or Patriots haters), which is acceptable (I mean, I always have and always will predict an A&M victory no matter who the opponent- although with the recent struggles at A&M I’ve started making 2 sets of predictions- one with my heart, which is always an Aggie victory, and one with my head, which is my attempt at pure objectivity), or people just trying to be different so that on the off chance that the Giants do win, they can claim to be a genius. It’s the second group that I have a problem with. Just picking something wild and crazy for the heck of it isn’t a real prediction- it’s an attempt to look really smart. But it’s not.
 
If you are a true, objective fan of football, there is no possible argument for predicting a Giants victory. It makes no sense. The Patriots are essentially the best team ever. That doesn’t mean they will win every game for as long as they play, but it does mean that an honest intellectual pick of the game’s winner would NEVER be the other team.
 
So, that brings me to Dr. Z, i.e. Phil Zimmerman of Sports Illustrated. He wrote his annual prediction for the game in last week’s edition, and I feel that it was one of the most shameless pieces of writing I’ve ever seen in a major publication. Here’s why. First of all, and this is the more minor of the two problems with his article, he picks the Giants to win. I’m sorry, but you just can’t pick a 6-loss team (or whatever NY is) to beat an undefeated team using any logic. Especially when the teams have already played once, and the Patriots won, on the road no less, yet this game will be at a neutral site. The only argument possible for such a prediction is the whole “it’s so crazy it just might work” line of thinking, but that is not a reasonable choice. It’s a choice whose sole purpose is to set himself apart from the rest of the media so that IF he’s right, he can claim to be the only one who “knew” what was going on. It’s not a prediction, it is merely a professional choice he made. He knows that it’s basically a no-lose situation, because if anyone calls him on the ridiculous prediction, he can just claim that well, we all really knew New England would win, but what’s the fun in that? and just go about his day. So right off the bat, his “prediction” absolutely REEKS of either a complete lack of football knowledge, a complete lack of integrity in what he is paid to do by predicting these games, or both.
 
But secondly, here’s the real pathetic part of his article. Way back in Super Bowl III, the famous Joe Namath game, Dr. Z was already doing his predictions. That game, like this year’s version, featured a very heavy favorite versus a big underdog. He did the right thing and predicted that the favorite would win. How could you predict otherwise if you’re looking honestly at the situation? But it turned out that he, and most everyone else, was wrong, and the Jets won. So what does he do? 40 years later, in last week’s Sports Illustrated, he tried to take credit and claim that, despite what he wrote back then, he really knew that the Jets would win, but he just didn’t write it because it would have sounded ridiculous. Here’s his direct quote, in the January 28, 2008 SI:

 ”I can’t handicap this game by traditional means… I can only go back to Super Bowl III, when… I had a hunch that [the Jets] were primed for a major upset over the Colts even though it didn’t seem logical. So I chickened out and picked the Colts…”

No, what’s ridiculous is trying to claim you were the one and only genius who knew something 40 years ago, even though you publicly were on the other side of it. I’m sorry but that is one of the worst examples I’ve ever seen of a journalist being slimy. You can’t have it both ways. Seriously, as a sports fan and as someone with a degree in Journalism, that disgusts me. Bush league.

 So, for my prediction. Not much football analysis coming here, because honestly, what else is there to say that hasn’t been said? This Patriots team is the most talked about team ever. Whether talking X’s and O’s or intangibles, you can not make a legitimate case for them to lose, so I am picking them to win 38-22. Brady will throw for about 350 and once again, be the MVP.