As a NH-raised boy, I am definitely a New England Patriots fan.

But I have no problem giving the New York Giants a hearty round of applause for an outstanding win on Sunday’s Super Bowl XLII.

In the mid-80’s, being a Boston sports fan was a rollercoaster - the Celtics were outstanding, the Bruins kicked butt (they played a sport called “hockey” - this was a game similar to soccer but played on ice). However, the Bill Buckner Red Sox fiasco was the worst moment in Boston sports ever.

Even the Pats - which, compared to the success of their Boston brethren was akin to the ‘red headed stepchild’ of local teams - made it to the Super Bowl as underdogs against the Chicago Bears. However, unlike last Sunday’s Super Bowl, it was a punishing experience for the ‘86 Pats from start to finish.

We had a lot of hope for our Pats when the celebrated Drew Bledsoe came on board, but as a team we were never able to turn his talent into a Championship. Then, on one fateful day, Bledsoe suffered an injury requiring 6th round draft pick back quarterback Tom Brady to make his debut in the second half - and he has consistently been the winningest quarterback in the NFL ever since that day. He is, indeed, the Golden Boy.

But something happens when your team is in the throes of dynasty. It feels unworthy. You start to get that ‘dirty’ feeling like a Cowboys or Yankees fan (oops did I write that out loud?). Suddenly, it isn’t a competition anymore - your team has kind of ‘fixed’ everything that was wrong, and now they just ‘win’. The passion, the glory of the fight, is without question subdued.

After qualifying the Giants as worthy opponents while watching them win the NFC Championships, I was REALLY looking forward to them putting up a good fight against the Pats - frankly, I wanted the Giants to put me in mortal FEAR of losing the game - I wanted it to be shocking, to be painful, to be historic, and I wanted it to be good football, not won or loss on stupid mistakes or bad officiating.

And that, as we all now know, is exactly what we got. The Giants defense simply disassembled our offensive line and ate Brady for lunch. It indeed looked as if our defense would need to win it for us - and without question they did a great job.

But then there was ‘The Play’. It was truly a miracle play. Doggedly fighting off multiple would-be sacks for much longer then one would normally imagine, Eli Manning popped out of his certainly doomed pocket and threw one up hard and high. It would be clear at the conclusion of this play that wide receiver David Tyree under no circumstances would show any less effort then Manning to make this doomed play happen - and thats exactly what he did.

Jumping - reaching - stretching to the extent of his ability, in contact competition with Patriots defender Rodney Harrison, Tyree managed to catch the ball, and while descending pressed it against his helmet in order to barely maintain possession as Harrison dragged him down.

The Giants touchdown which followed was predictable and anticlimactic. It felt as if, in light of all the devastating defensive plays taking place throughout the game, the Giants were way overdue for a gimme - an uncontested play, executed with the textbook precision of a practice. And then that play, as if almost brought into existence from sheer will, just ‘happened’. And the rest is history.

So congratulations Giants - you made for a great Super Bowl and you deserve it.