Manning family returns to Disney World

That was one heck of an effort by the New York Giants. Holy smokes, what a game!

Super Bowl XLII was probably one of the five best Super Bowls I've ever seen. It doesn't top XXXIV, which ended with Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackling Titans receiver Kevin Dyson one yard shy of the end zone as time expired. But it's not far off.

The play of the game: The Giants have gotten to their own 43, with 1:15 to go. They're down 14-10. It's third-and-five. The Giants have already converted on one fourth-down play on this drive, and would certainly go for it again if it came to fourth down, but they'd obviously rather it didn't come to that. Eli Manning takes the shotgun snap. The Patriots rush four guys. The blocking breaks down quickly. Adalius Thomas, coming from the left side, gets a hand on Manning, but he evades him by stepping up in the pocket. But there are two Patriots waiting for him there. Richard Seymour is on his right, trying to shed a block. Jarvis Green manages to get through his blocker, and has Manning by the collar with one hand, and has grabbed onto the back of Manning's jersey with the other. Manning looks like he's got no chance to get a throw off. But somehow, Manning fights his way out of Green's tackle attempt, meanwhile slipping past Seymour, then runs backward, takes a quick peek down field and flings it from the 33. Wide receiver David Tyree is in single-coverage at the Patriots' 24, and the throw is a little bit high. Tyree leaps into the air and gets the fingertips of both hands on the ball, with Patriots cornerback Rodney Harrison all over him, thinking he's got a shot at a game-saving interception. Tyree has two hands on it, and Harrison has one. Tyree still doesn't quite have control of the ball, but he keeps both hands on it, holding it against his helmet while Harrison tries to wrestle it away from him. As the two of them fall to the turf together, Tyree somehow gets the ball down to his chest area. Harrison is still trying to get the ball away from him after they're both prone on the ground, but Tyree has established possession, and the play is over. Giants' ball, first down, 24 yards to go for a go-ahead touchdown.

A few plays later, Manning found Plaxico Burress, his favorite big-play target, in the end zone, with just 35 seconds to go. It was just Plaxico's second catch of the evening. Tom Brady has led some great comebacks in his time, but the way the Giants' defense was going, he didn't really have a shot. He took a sack on second down, then missed on two desperation heaves, both intended for Randy Moss, both into double-coverage. And the Patriots' perfect season was suddenly quite imperfect indeed.

And Don Shula, Bob Griese, Mercury Morris and the rest of the 1972 Miami Dolphins drank some champagne. They remain the only team to run the table for an entire NFL season, counting the post-season.

Archie Manning's quarterback sons are now both Super Bowl MVPs, something he never got within a mile of. And I'm sure he couldn't be prouder.

I don't believe I heard a single word about Spygate during the Super Bowl broadcast, though I did hear it mentioned in some of the talk earlier in the day on ESPN. I don't always know why I'm rooting for a particular team to win a particular game, but I can tell you that was the primary reason I was rooting for the Patriots to lose this game. I generally root for the underdog, so there was also that. But when I see Bill Belichick's face now, I no longer think "Failed former Browns coach." I think "Cheater."

I haven't felt this good about a sporting result not directly involving one of my teams since the Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.