Obstructed Views - Episode #1

As college basketball heads into March, the discussion focuses on who's in and who's out and who is poised to surprise.
Also, free agency opens up in the NFL and even some NHL and IRL talk.

I apologize

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. The good news is that we will have our first real live podcast (remember the one two weeks ago was "practice") produced and up by tomorrow.

Stitzer's Take: Duma Key, by Stephen King

If you are looking for my "Practice" podcast, you can find it below in the post from 2/12. The first real podcast (and they should start weekly after that) is scheduled to be posted next Friday, 2/29. Andy Stitzer and Jeff Cooper are the scheduled guests.

Speaking of Stitzer, he has just finished reading the new Stephen King book, and wanted to share his thoughts. I will try to get back on here tomorrow and get the conversation geared back to sports, but for now, here is Stitz's take on Duma Key.
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As an attention grabber, let me begin with the following statement: in my humble opinion this is the best novel King has cranked out since Misery in 1987. I would also add Duma Key to the short list of “great” novels King has written which are, again, in my opinion, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Stand (my favorite book of all time), The Long Walk (written under his pen name Richard Bachman) Christine, Pet Sematary, It, & Misery. Despite being a huge “king head,” my opinion is that not everything he writes his great, and some is below average – especially that run of books in the 90s when he was so pre-occupied finishing wonderful The Dark Tower series. If you include The Dark Tower series, short stories, and novellas (which include The Body (the movie you know better as “Stand By Me”) & Hope Springs Eternal: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption), to go along with the 35+ novels, I estimate I have read over 30,000 pages of King’s work. These last 607 were some of the most enjoyable.

Edgar Freemantle (no relation to Mother Abigail of The Stand), a very successful Minnesota contractor, loses his arm and almost dies in an industrial accident. The near death experience has ripped his family apart; Edgar has no desire to live. The desire to live is restored by his shrink. Old Edgar moves to Florida, dabbles in sketching & painting – a hobby from his much younger days – and finds himself blessed with a talent he never he had. The price that Edgar must pay for his talents was neither what he wanted nor what he was willing to pay.

King has always excelled at taking regular people, doing everyday stuff, and then adding some fictional evil to the mix. Edgar has to battle a real “bitch” of that fictional evil in Duma Key, and in the immortal words of Gordon Gekko, “you win some, you lose some, but you keep on fighting.” Another element King has traditionally done a superb job is adding the “back story” that may have occurred last year or 200 years ago; it is almost as if you read a story within a story.

I will keep this short, as going on will give too much of the story away. For die-hard King fans and even casual fans, get ready to have your hackles raised on page 280…guarantee you have a flashback to a long ago written novel. For non-King fans, this would be a great way to be introduced to his works.

Stitz

Dilsmusings Podcast - Test Run; PLUS...Officiating SUCKS, and a Big 12 vs. ACC Comparison

The audio on this show is sub-par, but that's why we call it practice (PRACTICE?!?!) The quality will improve moving forward - production-wise, I can't vouch for the content. But for now, enjoy our first effort.


As for college hoops, the officials proved that they can be equal opportunity game destroyers, as they single-handedly determined the outcomes of both a Men's and Women's Game last night. First, in DC, a Villanova team that has lost five of its last six was tied with Georgetown with 0.1 seconds left when Mike Donato called a touch (if that) foul 80 feet from the basket when absolutely no disadvantage was created for Georgetown. Villanova, who needs big wins desperately if it wants to get back into NCAA (and Big East) Tornament consideration, does not need an official handing the game to Georgetown in that manner. It was simply a horrid officiating call. More reason that these guys should be officials and only officials and not be allowed to ref as a hobby or second job.

Meanwhile, if possible, the refs in Knoxville did a worse job that the refs in DC, stealing a game from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and handing it to the Lady Vols. Don Imus must have been behind this conspiracy. Tennessee had the ball down 1 with a few ticks left, missed a shot and got the offensive rebound, at which time th clock stopped for no reason at 0.2 seconds. After the clock had been stopped for 1.3 seconds, the refs blew a fould and awarded Tennessee two shots. They then reviewed the play using replay and CONFIRMED their ridiculous call. This is highway robbery. In fact, I am not sure why the NCAA does not reverse the result and give Rutgers the win since time ran out. The officiating is so bad that I am actually spending tiem writing about women's basketball. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.

And I am not even getting into the fouls and walking calls that do NOT get called on Tyler Hansbrough....

A friend of mine emailed me the following: Duke needs to beat an unranked mediocre team like MD in Durham; Big 12 is better than ACC. Agree? So I pondered it and here is my response:

If you think Maryland is a mediocre team, then you definitely have not seen them play any basketball since the calendar turned to 2008. They are playing sweet 16 basketball over the past several weeks without a doubt. they beat Carolina in chapel hill, had duke by 9 at half in college park, and have beaten everyone else (they started 0-2 in conference, and are 6-1 since). plus, if you know this rivalry, they ALWAYS play final 4 basketball against Duke. Watch the game Wednesday night and then tell me Maryland is not that good. They have two very good players up front in Gist (clearly 1st team ACC in my opinion, along with Hansbrough, Demarcus Nelson, Trevor Booker and Hickson at NCSU) and Bambale Osby. Their backcourt is shored up now that Eric Hayes is healthy to go with Grevais Vazquez. SO I would be more than pleased with a 1 point win on Wednesday no matter where game is being played.

I think ACC and Big 12 are rather comparable. I think ACC is getting bad rap this year and is better than people are giving it credit for. Check out this article for a comparison between the ACC and Pac 10 (the point being that the greatness of the Pac 10 may be a media creation and to tread lightly before buying into it: http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=24321

As for the ACC (and I am NOT arguing the ACC is great this year or the best conference or anything like that), it is ranked #1 in the conference RPI (Big 12 is third behind Pac 10), and it is the only conference that has zero teams with a losing record. The worst team in the league, Virginia, smoked Arizona earlier in the year.

When you compare the ACC and Big 12, here is how I see it:

Top Tier:
Duke/Carolina vs. KU/Texas. In my opinion, pretty comparable. All four teams have shown they can pretty much beat anyone on any given day. I think if I had to rate the best chances of winning the title, I would favor KU first, then Duke, then Texas then UNC (cause their defense blows), but overall, I would call these four a wash.

Next Tier:
Clemson/Maryland vs. Kansas St/Texas A&M. Are you sitting down? I think Clemson has the talent to get to the Final 4. I have watched this team play about 4 times (three against Duke and Carolina) and they are every bit as good. They have a monster inside presence in Booker and Mays, they have nice perimeter guys led by Rivers, and they are well coached. They have two key problems that will kill them in the first round if they do not fix between now and March: first, their free throw shooting is horrid, all in caps. Just brutal. Second, they do not know how to finish a team off. They had Carolina beaten twice and lost both times, including up 11 with three to go and lost. This team may lose early, but you heard it here first if they fix these areas, this team can beat anybody, anywhere. K St. has in my opinion the best 1-2 punch in the country with Beasley and Walker. I am very interested to see how they do in the tourney with two stars like this but no experience (either from the players or the coaches). This is another team that can make a deep run or lose on the first day. Texas A&M has really disappointed me this year. I think they have some talent but I am not convinced they can do anything with it. You saw my thoughts on Maryland above. Basically, any of these teams can go to the sweet 16, and K St and Clemson have the talent but right now not the mental makeup to go further.

Middle tier:
Techs (Va & Ga), NCSU, Wake vs. Baylor, Nebraska, OU, Texas Tech. NCSU has the most talent of these 8 teams. Of course their problem will continue to be that they do not have an adequate point guard to distribute the ball to all the talent (Hickson, MacCauley, Costner, Gavin Grant, Courtney Fells). Scott Drew has certainly done a nice job with Baylor program. Oklahoma is going to have a tough time with Longar squared out for the year, although Capel has done a nice job with that program this year. From this tier, each conference MAYBE gets one bid, with Baylor the front runner in the Big 12 if they can hang on. The ACC is more muddled, but if a 5th team gets in, it will still probably be NCSU, if they can get more consistent play from Gonzalez or Johnson. Nobody from this group will be playing the second weekend.

Bottom tier:
Miami/FSU/BC/UVA vs. Iowa St/Missouri/Okie St/ Colorado. Missouri and Iowa State can compete at home, Colorado and Okie St are terrible (when will the Sutton eras end in Stillwater?). The ACC teams in this group I think are slightly better, but overall it is close on this tier as on all of them.

I would say the conferences are pretty comparable. I disagree with your assessment on KSU being significantly better than Clemson. Maryland is better than A&M in my opinion. I would be willing to call it a wash but I do not believe the Big 12 is better than ACC.

Podcast Announcement, Blog Recommendation

For those of you holding your breath waiting for my podcast launch, get ready to let ity out. We will be recordnig the first podcast this coming Monday, and it will be available next Tuesday (2/12) for your listening pleasure. The panel for podcast #1 will be myself, Ted Price (producer/moderator), Stephen Moss, and Bob Landow. Yuo will be able to access it here as well as through i-tunes. Should be fun....

I have a great blog for you to bookmark for any of you who are Jets fans, or NFL fans in general. Brian Bassett's Jets Blog is a really great read. Brian has one of the more professional blog site around, and as an added bonus, Stitzer is featured on there semi-regularly (he is toon2388). The Jet's blog features outstanding content.

College Hoops, L.J. Smith

Duke 89, UNC 78.

The Devils controlled the game from about the second TV timeout though the end of the game. They were able to utilize their lack of size as an advantage by spreading the floor, and creating open looks at 3-balls all night that they were able to convert at a 44.8% clip. In addition, I think Coach K really outcoached Roy Williams (certainly not always the case in this match-up). He put his players in positions to make plays and force turovers (both of which they did). He also made the smart decision to let Hansbrough get his, but not let the other guys beat him. The result: 28 & 18 for Psycho T, big struggles from Ginyard, Ellington, Green, and Thomas from the perimeter. It will be great to see the return match up in Cameron with Lawson back at full strength.

Last night, UCLA continued to show two things. First, they are as strong a National Championship contender as any team in the country. Kevin Love is a beast inside. Darren Collison is the best defensive point guard in the country. They play good defense, they rebound, and Love's outlet passes are one of the best weaopns in the country. On the other hand, Washington State has lost 5 of their last 8, and it seems that thoughts of a deep run into March were wildly exaggerated. This team looks ripe, with certain match ups, to be one and done in March.

Eric Gordon, Indiana's super Frosh, made his much anticipated trip to Champaign to face the Illini team and the fans he jilted ahen he backed out of his verbal commitment when that scumbag cheater Kelvin Sampson kept recruituing him (does Sampson remind nobody else of a crooked Jim Calhoun). He clearly felt the heat of the crowd and the energy of the defenders, asd he struggled mightily and then some in this game. But ultimately, Illinois let him off the hook (they were who we thought they were...) and squandered a big second half lead and lost in double-OT. Indiana, who has perhaps the best 1-2 punch in the Nation in Gordon and D.J. White, has not looked right for about a month now. It will be interesting to see if they can get on track by March.

The Eagles placed the franchise tag on L.J. Smith, meaning they are committing to paying him a salary of the average of the top 5 tight ends in the NFL. Did I miss the announcement that Pat Gillick took over running the Eagles? Are you kidding me? Smith has been largely a disappointment since coming into the league. He has been plagued by injuries, inconsistency, a propensity to fumble, and dropped passes. He was picked when Jason Witten, the Cowboys perennial All-Pro (who was rated higher by most people but the genius brain trust of the Birds thought they knew better) was still suitting on the board (he got picked by the Cowboys the following round). If I were making the decisions, I would let L.J. take a walk, and turn the reigns over to Brent Celek, who had a very nice rookie year and looks like he can be a productive starting tight end in this league. UGH!

Duke v. Carolina, Shaq to Phoenix, and Kris Benson

Tonight, we get to see another chapter written in the beautiful, fierce rivalry that is Duke v. Carolina basketball. This rivalry has featured countless unbelievable moments and brings out the absolute best in each other. In years like this one in which both teams reside near the top in college basketball's pecking order, it is even better than when one program or the other is struggling (Duke in 1995, Carolina in the Matt Doherty era).

From a Feb 2006 post I wrote "20 years ago next month, I was a Freshman at Duke. We were on our way to our first Final 4 under Coach k, a 37-3 record, and a #1 overall ranking at the end of the regular season. But none of that mattered on the first Sunday in March. All that mattered to all of us on that day was avenging at that point one of our only two losses of the season, in Chapel Hill. Duke was ranked #1 in the country, UNC was #3. Spring Break had started two days earlier, but nobody was leaving campus until after the game. We all camped out, ordered pizza, drank beer, and waited, and waited, and waited. At the game we chanted "we're #1, you're #3", "We're Smart, You're Dumb" and other beauties. It was all worth it. Duke went on to beat Carolina. The fact that I still remember the score, 82-74, or running on the court with all the other students after the game, just shows how important this stuff is if you are part of the rivalry (cause I don't remember much from 20 minutes ago, much less 20 years!!!!)

The Duke fans and the Carolina fans get this. Most of us (myself possibly excluded) are normal, productive members of society the vast majority of the time. But when their team, whether it is the Devils or the Tar Hells, lace it up against the other, they morph into a slightly psychotic nutcase that resembles a rabid dog. We desperately want to beat the other one every time. We respect the other's programs, but we do not like each other. It should be noted that Duke men do like Carolina women, as they tend, on average to be more attractive than our own kind."

Tonight Duke travels to Chapel Hill for Dick Vitale's return behind the microphone (can we all admit that we missed him and that he is good for the game...I had to substitute him for Dick in that sentence at the last moment) and will try to win their 8th straight in ACC play without a loss. The Tar Heels, who lost to Maryland in Chapel Hill earlier in the year, will try to tie the Devils atop the ACC standings. I for one hope that Ty Lawson is able to play and play well. I want to beat Carolina at their best so that none of the Duke haters can use the sprained ankle as an excuse for UNC's inability to handle Duke's pressure (from Duke's standpoint, Brian Zoubek will be missed, as he has the size to give 10-12 minutes of quality time against UNC's big frontline).

It will be interesting to see how the UNC fans blast Gerald Henderson, who broke Tyler Hansbrough's nose last time he was in the Dean Dome, and how G reacts and what kind of game he has. Henderson has really stepped his game up as far as both quality and consistency in the past 4-6 weeks so if he can keep building on that in a hostile environment it will be a big plus.

Tonight is Round 1 in what is likely a best of 3 to see who gets the coveted Raleigh/Charlotte road to the Final 4. The game probably means more to the Tar Heels since they are at home, have not played all that well lately, and would fall two games behind Duke in the ACC with a loss.

Whether Lawson plays or not, this will be an all out war, and these two teams will play at an amazingly high level (emotionally if not from an execution standpoint). When it is over, it will likely be something like the Democratic Presidential battle after Super Tuesday yesterday. There may be a slight frontrunner, but there will be more battles to fight this year before there is a victor declared in the war.

Let's Go Devils! Go to Hell, Carolina.

The NBA continues to amaze me for all the wrong reasons. The Miami Heat are going to trade Shaq to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I know that Banks was likely thrown in the deal to even out salaries and make the trade feasible according to NBA rules, but how in the world could Phoenix trade Marion for Shaq at all? Shaq will be 36 next month, and he plays like he is about 46. How can he be expected to get up and down the court at the pace at which the Suns and Mike D'Antoni like to play? So Shaq by himself is a bad fit (not to mention the 2 more years after this one at $20 million per that he is owed). But to give up Marion, disgruntled at his role or not, is crazy. Marion is in his prime at 29, he is averaging 16 pts and 10 boards a game to go along with 2 steals and 1.5 blocks, and an ability to pass, run the floor, and basically fit what the Suns do. I just cannot understand how management in Phoenix can pull the trigger on this trade. (From the Heat perspective, this is a great trade, giving Dwyane Wade a legit #2 and build the foundation for what could be an exciting nucleus in the future). This will not end well for the Suns...

Pat Gillick is at it again. I guess feeling the pressure to match the Mets signing Johan Santana, Gillick is making a similar quality move by reportedly signing Kris Benson. In fairness to Benson, he did have an ERA below 4.00 once (back in 2000). Despite being the #1 overall pick in the draft out of Clemson, he has never won more than 12 games in the big leagues. And to make matters worse, he missed the entire 2007 season. Pat Gillick is just old and senile. I cannot believe he is still stealing money from the Phils. Pretty soon I will begin to believe that Ed Wade was a better GM (at least he drafted all the good players they have now..Utley, Hamels, Myers, Howard, J-Roll). The only good thing about bringing Benson to Philadelphia is that his wife will likely be coming with him. For those of you unfamiliar with the outspoken and beautiful Mrs. Benson....

Super Bowl Thoughts, A Bobby Knight Favorite, & Don't Always Believe Everything You Hear on ESPN

Here are my thoughts after watching the Super Bowl Sunday night:

• It is not always the best team that wins the Super Bowl, but the team that is playing the best. The Giants were at times a good team and at times an average team this year, but caught fire at the right time and took advantage of the opportunities they had. They deserved to win the title because they did it on the field when it mattered most.
• New England was the team that clearly was the best thoughout the season, however did not have what it took to complete their 19-game sweep when it mattered the most. They were dominant in their first 11 or 12 games and then looked shaky the last quarter of the regular season and certainly less than fantatstic in the playoffs. Would a loss to the Eagles or the Ravens or somebody in the regular season taken the pressure off and let them play better and with less of a burden for the remainder of the year? We will never know.
• Nobody is talking about the fact the the Patriots dropeed three, yes, three, interceptions on the Giants' decisive drive. Rodney Harrison dropped one. Asante Samuel, self proclaimed best cornerback in the NFL, dropped one, and Brandon Merriweather dropped one (although his would have been a really nice over the shoulder catch). Make any of these three plays and the legend of Tom Brady continues to grow.
• If I had a vote, David Tyree was the MVP of the game. I know he did not do much throughout th egame, but really did anyone on the Giants offense do much throughout the game. When it counted, they could not have won the game without Tyree. Not sure you could factually say that about any other single player.
• Personally, I was happy to see the Pats lose, because they are an arrogant bunch of chumps. Oh, and cheaters. I was most happy to see Junior Seau not win a Super owl ring. His entire career has been amazingly over-rated.
• It does not seem like Eli's teammates have a lot of love for him. When you are the QB and lead your team to a victory, people are supposed to swarm you. It seemed like the players did not have a lot of interest in finding Eli to hug and high five. If it were reversed, players would have swarmed Tom Bardy, who seems to have the ultimate respect of his teammates (probably most of whom are hoping Giselle will fix them up and they can have a double date, but I digress).
• Tom Coughlin's face recovered nicely from the frostbite he had in Green Bay.
• The Giants winning the table gives hope to lots of teams in the NFL. During the regular season they were probably about the 8th or 9th best team in teh league. But they played well enough to get in the tournament, and then turned it on. There are lots of teams good enough to be in the top 8 or 9. They just need to get hot at the right time. And the Giants did. And they earned the title. Congrats to the Boys in Blue.

An oldie but a goodie on the day after Bob Knight resined (see post below for more on Knight). Remember when someone snuck a tape recorder into teh locker room and recorded his blasting his team? Well, here it is for your enjoyment.

ESPN is so powerful people just believe everything they say (or lecture on). Here is an example of how one of their main premises may be flawed this season. Click here to see Al Featherston's analaysis that suggests maybe the Pac 10 is not all that. Always take ESPN with a grain of salt...

Good Knight Bobby, The Palestra Rocks, Ty Lawson

Bobby Knight suddenly and unexpectedly stepped down yesterday at the age of 67. After almost 1,300 career games and an amazing 902 wins, Knight decided he had had enough and handed the reigns over to his son, Pat. Say what you want about him and his acerbic personality, but Bobby Knight was one of the best coaches ever to stalk the sidelines (29 20-win seasons), and he was great for the game. He certainly had some unfortunate outbursts, but he cared about his kids and teaching them the game the right way. And he always made things more interesting. Duke fans all have a special spot in their heart for Coach Knight for coaching our guy, Coach K, and then getting him the head coaching gigs at Army and later Duke. Speaking of which, Coach K is now 108 wins behind Knight...and counting.

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the game between St. Joseph's and Villanova at the Paestra. Now of course I am biased when I say that, in my opinion, there is no equal to Cameron Indoor Stadium. However, the Palestra is not far behind. It had been decades since I had graced the halls of the legendary basketball barn. As you walk in, the rafters and walls ooze tradition and history. As you walk toward your seats, you brave the hundred degree temperatures (no AC) and pack into your tiny seats like sardines. It is just a magnificent building. Some highlights (or lowlights) from the game:

• After the National Anthem, the PA announcer asked for a moment of silence for those who had played in the rivalry and had passed away. As the moment was about to attend, a St. Joe fan screamed out "F*&^ Nova" that all 8,700 people could easily hear. Immediately after, the PA announcer said "Thank You." Priceless. Classic. Phenomenal.
• St. Joe is looking more and more like a tournament team. Their defensive pressure and overall D was outstanding all night. This team can win at least a game in the big dance.
• Rob Ferguson, who shows flashes of the player he was supposed to be, played a great game, with his 20 points coming inside and outside. Pat Calathes continues to have a better year than his much more heralded brother (who is having a great freshman year for the Gators).
• Villanova looks lost. Jay Wright has not done a good job developing this team, and has no continuity in his substitution patterns. (That being said, Jay Wright is a great coach for this program). They clearly have some talent on this team, but everybody is playing inconsistently and the confidence level is at an all-time low.
• Scottie Reynolds has regressed more than any player I can remember since Mark Macon or Greg Koubek. Just painful to watch. He is so hesitant with the ball. Does not know what to do. His shot is off. It is painful to watch. And remember, this is a kid that was good enough as a freshman last year that there was some speculation that he would jump to the NBA.

As Duke and UNC prepare to play in their first battle of the year tomorrow night (9:00 pom, espn, Dick Vitale's season debut), Ty Laswson is questionable for the game with a bad ankle. I, for one, am hoping he plays. If he doesn't, and Duke pulls out the win, then all the billions of Duke haters will say it is only bvecause Lawson didn't play. I want to play our best (although Zoubek is still out fo rthe Devils, costing them some size) against their best and let the chips fall where they may. Back tomorrow with more on that tilt.

Back later with a few thoughts from the Super Bowl....

Phillies Farm System, A Tale of Two Halves, and the Dils Super Bowl Prediction

I mentioned earlier this week that the Philberts should put a package together and try to wrestle Eric Bedard, a legitimate #1 starter, away frmio the Orioles. Upon further review, it is evident why they can't do that: their farm system SUCKS. According to Keith Law of Scouts, Inc, the Phils only have 1 of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and he (Carlos Carrasco) only checks in at #53. In a nutshell, this is what happens when a) ownership is cheap and will not put the resources into building an infrastructure, and b) your last two General Managers have been Ed Wade and Pat Gillick. Of course, ownership does not care as they are able to put a competitive enough product on the field and pack the seats. It is hard to see a scenario in which this team can put together the pieces to go from contender to champion. Click here to see Law's full list.

The Dukies got behind for the second straight game last night, trailing NC St by 9 at the half (same deficit they had faced at Maryland). Then in the second half they outscored the Wolpack 55-26 and actually covered a 17 point spread with a 92-72 win. Greg Paulus was absolutely great last night, scoring a season high 22 points to go with 6 assists (a couple of them spectacular), some solid defense and strong leadership. In addition, Gerald Henderon continues to develop more consistency, and has as good a midrange game as anyone at the college level. He is consistently nailing his 15 footers, and can really get great elevation around the rim as seen on his outstanding putback last night. One more test for both Duke and UNC before they meet up in Round 1 in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night.

We are only 48 hours from the Super Bowl. The box pools are filled out around the country, and the pizza joints and bookies across the land are all ready to take lots of orders. Most people I have spoken with like the Giants, and for some pretty good reasons. The Giants played the Pats very tough a month ago when they faced off at the Meadowlands. In addition, the Giants match up well defensively with what the Pats try to do, and if their front 4 can get pressure on Brady, they can take Moss out of the game and try to take their chances with Welker. Offensively, Eli Manning seems to be maturing before our eyes (finally!) and has really started limiting his mistakes. Plaxico Burress, when healthy, is a great weapon that is difficult to stop much less slow down. Public sentiment seems to agree with the "people I have spoken with" as the line opened at 14 and has come down to 12. And on top of everything else, New England always plays close Super Bowls (they won the previous 3 by a field goal apiece), and has not been blowing people out since Thanksgiving. So all signs point to the Giants. Except this: Belichick not only has had two weeks to prepare for this game, but also had a chance to play against the Giants a month ago and that will help him design a plan that works against the Boys in Blue. In addition, on this ultimate stage, the Patriots want to prove that not only are they the best this year, but that they are the best of all time. And I am still not sold on the new and improved Eli Manning, at least not in this game at this time. I look for the Pats to get ahead, and then absolutely go for the jugular. Dils Prediction: Pats 35, Giants 13.