Giants win!

Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes starts running to sunny Arizona where his team will face the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII after beating the heavily favored Packers with an overtime field goal. Temperature at kickoff was -1 F (that's -18 C) with a wind chill of -23 F (that's -31 C). Aussies love to bust my chops about how their footy players (NRL, not Aussie Rules ... don't ask) play games sans pads or helmets. Uh-huh. Those mauling baboons couldn't sit in the stands in the Arctic conditions of a northern plains winter, much less battle on a frozen field in front of 72,000 hearty souls like Green Bay's cheeseheads.

Makes me think of sitting in the upper deck of frigid Giants Stadium in 1981 and watching Joe Danelo's kick sail through the uprights to beat the Cowboys in overtime, a win that sent the Giants into the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime. That was Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor's rookie year and the first truly big win of the Parcells era, a 10-year period that would see the Giants win two Super Bowls and make up for nearly two decades of lousy Giants football. My dad took my brother Kevin and I to many games during these lean years. Even brought home autographs of great Giants like Harry Carson and George Martin and Brad Van Pelt. But I'll never forget that December night, way up high in the swamps a' Jersey, watching a dramatic win with my dad and brother and a friend named Frank Gaudioso that changed the fortunes of the franchise. When clapping and stomping is as important to preventing frostbite as it is to showing your passion for your team -- that, my friends, is dedication.

Didn't anticipate this blog morphing into a NY sports forum, but sports are like an investment that pays in memories. I was lucky to have a wise investor of a dad when I was a kid.