Luck or skill? Either way Giants are Super Bowl champs
By Jon Yaneff

Whether it was luck or the fact the New York Giants played stellar defence, casual National Football League fans wouldn't know if the Super Bowl victory was well deserved, considering the New England Patriots were so close to perfection and were 11.5-point favourites.

So, the question here is; "does luck trump skill or vice-versa?"

Luck versus skill usually reflects games such as backgammon, poker, or any board game, and associating luck with professional sports would be premature.

Luck is defined as a chance regarded as the bringer of good or bad fortune.

During the week of the Super Bowl, I found I was having moments of luck periodically. When I was taking pictures of Nobleton punk-rock band, Outspoken's performance at Seneca's King campus (Jan. 31) I was told by one of the band members that I didn't have to pay for parking as the day was slow and therefore school bylaw officers wouldn't be ticketing. Though as I approached my vehicle I could see an officer a few cars away from mine.

That could have been luck or just good timing.

So, was it luck that the Giants' defence was able to get to New England quarterback Tom Brady and his offensive-line for five sacks, as New York stunned the nearly perfect 18-1 Pats, 17-14, in Super Bowl XVII?

Well, the Giants' defence, featuring two-time Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora, Giants all-time sack leader (141.5), Michael Strahan and explosive young-gun Justin Tuck, who sacked Brady twice in the game, definitely can agree luck had nothing to do with it.

Maybe wagering $20 on my Giants and winning would be considered luck, as I bet a buddy I was watching the game with, solely based on the fact that I am a Giants fan and if I didn't it would make me seem disloyal to my team.

But I did predict the GMen would win and the fact I won the bet isn't bad either, and maybe others who foolishly thought the Pats would destroy the Giants easily should think twice next time when betting against a team that despite all odds shouldn't be in the game.

Greg Sansone of the Score Television station predicted a rather lofty 45- 24 Pats pummeling of Giants.

Sort of a far-fetched guess considering the fifthseeded Giants' (a wild card team in the NFC) road to glory began with three roadupset victories against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, division rival Dallas Cowboys, and Wisconsin cheeseheads, the Green Bay Packers, who all won their divisions.

Think back to 2006 and Super Bowl XV, when the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) made the playoffs on a winning high and rode that through the playoffs to eventually beat the Super Bowl favourite Seattle Seahawks.

It's the same thing, except the Seahawks didn't have the pressure of a perfect season on the line. I'm not weighing on the fact the Pats weren't a good team, but the Giants deserved more credit considering the close game the teams played just five weeks ago in week 17, the 38-35 Pats victory.

So, there was skill allaround on both sides of the ball, with the Giants defence versus the Brady driven offence, as well as both running games of the massive Brandon Jacobs or the speedy Ahmad Bradshaw versus Patriot back Laurence Maroney. The Giants were lucky he didn't show up, with only 36 yards on 14 carries.

The Giants had a game plan and executed to their version of how perfection should be. So I guess it turns outs the Pats aren't on another continent or world, walking-on-water, can't-doanything wrong level previously detailed in my last column.

But the feeling Super Bowl MVP, Eli Manning had when Plaxico Burress caught the 13-yard catch with 35 second left in the game must have been out of this world with excitement.

Also it is ironic the Giants were able to Jeremy 'Shock'ey the Patriots without their star tight-end. Instead they were able to show them who was Kevin "Boss" with his replacement, who had one big catch for 45 yards.

This victory confirms the notion that no one's perfect; I'm not, the Pats aren't and the Giants are perfectly OK with that.