In View from America , Simon Veness salutes the giant-killing New York Giants after their Super Bowl win.
View from America:
US-based British sports-writer Simon Veness offers his thoughts from Over There on one of the great Super Bowls of all time
Wow. And then wow again. And probably wow one more time after that.
That collective gasp you heard from across the Atlantic was the sound of 300 million-plus people watching in disbelieving amazement as the New York Giants pulled off one of sport's great upsets.
They watched in absolute astonishment in New York; they watched with slowly mounting horror in New England; and the neutral fans simply watched in delight and admiration as the underdogs came through with one of the greatest clutch wins anyone will ever see.
In the Press Box at the University of Phoenix Stadium there was an equal measure of incredulity and wonder. To be honest, virtually no-one gave the Giants a chance against the Patriot juggernaut, and certainly no-one predicted the kind of nail-biting, low-scoring thriller which we witnessed.
To be at the game was to experience the absolute electric thrill of seeing history unfold right in front of your disbelieving eyes; and virtually the whole of America reacted in similar fashion, from the TV presenters, to the other media and on to the fans themselves.
Climax
It was a finale of such classic immensity it left you stunned to your very toes. How the Giants must have felt in those closing seconds after the miraculous final drive of Eli Manning and Co we can only guess. But it's hard to imagine a greater feeling in sport.
Not only did Tom Coughlin's men pull off an underdog triumph for the ages, they halted the runaway Patriots' '19-0' bandwagon (which, reportedly, had already been trademarked and put out ready for public consumption on T-shirts and other paraphernalia) absolutely dead in its tracks.
There was no Perfect Season and no victory parade in Boston. Instead, we have to salute the Giants and their never-say-die brand of football which carried them to unprecedented heights through these play-offs, with one increasingly unlikely win after another.
And what about that Manning family? Has here ever been such a sequence of father-and-son success in the sporting annals? There are certainly none I can think of (typing away at six in the morning-after-the-night-before). What an absolute stunner.
For the media, it was hard to know exactly which way to turn, which angle to focus on as the confetti rained down on the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation.
Was it the coronation of Eli Manning after that roller-coaster ride of the final drive? Was it Plaxico Burress - the man who 'guaranteed' a New York win, and then caught the winning touchdown? Or how about David Tyree, with only two catches on the night but both of them of massive proportions, a touchdown and the key 32-yard circus catch on that last drive?
Coaches
Then again, you have to credit a truly monumental performance from the Giants defence, holding Tom Brady and Co to their lowest score of the season. And the game plan which Coughlin and his coaches brought to bear, out-witting the Super Bowl's previous top dog for planning brilliance, Bill Belichick.
Not to forget a stellar special teams display from the men in white, which ultimately ensured Brady started most drives in the shadow of his own goal posts.
As the media coverage poured relentlessly on through the night, thoughts also turned to next season and the possibilities for even more heroics from the teams who were the 'nearly men' of this campaign.
Next year
For Super Bowl XLIII, the contenders were mentioned as follows - Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Diego, Dallas, Washington and, of course, those pesky Patriots.
Astonishingly, everyone seemed to overlook the biggest contender of all with the biggest resume of current success. Yes, the latest champions were not given credit for being able to defend their newly-won crown.
Yet, when you consider they are largely a young team with the potential to get even better in future (only Michael Strahan is a real doubt to return, as retirement seems a distinct possibility in the wake of his first Super Bowl ring), it seems the biggest oversight of all.
Yes, no-one really, honestly saw the Giants coming (as I think I've said before!), but there can now be no doubt they are where they belong, on top of the gridiron world after an epic achievement.
And anyone who writes them off at any stage in future has only to look back on the final two minutes 35 seconds of Super Bowl XLII to realise what true greatness is.
All hail the New York Giants!
