Bet on Brett the Jet, says the pet (ha, POET!)

It's another glorious evening of Thursday night football, and the New York Jets will battle the New England Patriots for first place atop the AFC East.

And you should probably bet on the Jets, not due to the plague of injuries the Patriots have faced this season, but because Princess the camel says so.

Princess, from Lacey Township, NJ, has correctly identified winners in each of this year's NFL weeks, standing at an impressive 10-0 going into tonight's game. Geez, I should call Popcorn Park Zoo for my Survivor Pool pick this week, no?

The owner of the zoo, John Bergmann, chooses a game at random each week and writes each team's name on each of his hands. He puts a graham cracker in both hands and whichever hand Princess eats out of it is her "pick" for the week. This week? It's the J-E-T-S: Jets! Jets! Jets!

The 2,600-pound Bactrian camel had a winning percentage of .647 last year, correctly calling 11 out of 17 games. She also reportedly predicted the Giants would defeat the Patriots in last year's Super Bowl showdown. Smart camel.

I'm sure now that I'm writing about Princess and her accuracy, the Jets will get squashed, Brett Favre will break his leg and the stadium will somehow catch fire (because that's just how my luck has been going these days), but hey, who doesn't love a football-game-winner-picking camel?

The Brady crunch

I had a good laugh at work today: There are four of us reporters that sit together--Anthony and I are often talking about the latest in sports, while Stef and Geoff like to scoff at our pitching matchup discussions and fantasy football gripes.

Amidst today's weekend wrapup discussion, Stef (who had never been to a professional sporting event until two weeks ago) says, "The only thing I care about in football is Tom Brady... because he's hot."

Well, I hate to break it to ya, Stef -- and New England fans -- but your golden boy's season is dunzo.

The team announced today that Brady, who suffered a left knee injury in the first quarter of yesterday's opener, will need surgery. The exact injury hasn't been disclosed yet, but all signs point to a torn ACL.

"It will all be OK. I’m excited to see what our team is made of … I still like our chances." - Tom Brady, in an e-mail to NBCSports.com.

Matt Cassel stepped in Sunday and guided the team to victory, and he will start Sunday versus New York Jets. A friend of mine last week told me he was stoked about the upcoming Favre v. Brady matchup he had tickets to, mmm...not so much.

Brady brought the team to three NFL titles since 2001 and led them to a perfect 18-0 record in the regular season last year before one GIANT loss in the greatest Super Bowl to ever have been played (I'm a bit biased).

The Patriots should take a page out of Ocho Cinco's English-to-Spanish book and say adios to the Bowl de Super.

RELATED LINKS
Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset
Perfect, Schmerfect
For your perfect viewing pleasure

BAM - Perfect!

I'm sorry. I swear I'll stop talking about the Super Bowl soon, but this commercial is fantastic. I can't believe I missed it.

Best (and worst) of the 'Bowl

*Note: This is the second of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is everything but the actual game. For more game coverage, see below!

• Paula Abdul's pre-game performance: No one was more psyched than me to see the "Spellbound" songstress make her comeback, but man oh man...Paula's performance was more of a pantomime than a 'straight up' hit. Lip syncing worse than Britney and moves as bad as, well, Britney on MTV circa six months ago. And what was with the New Years Eve-looking hat? I couldn't have been the only one in American hoping that that weeble-wobble microphone would smack her in the face. [In case you missed it...]

• Paul Brogan's Super Bowl Rap: Soup or bowl? Soup, soup or bowl? This was the greatest part of the pre-game show, in my opinion. This guy is a freaking genius.
  
  

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers halftime show: I'm all for the 'Freefallin' and the 'American Girl,' but it's no coincidence that my friends and I spent the length of the halftime show in front of our cooled hors d'oeuvres, discussing tax rates and competitive eating. Every year, the halftime show is but a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more (thanks, Shakes). I'm sure some day, when I'm older, I'll enjoy performances from my childhood heroes -cough Spice Girls cough- but for now I'd rather load up on unnecessary cards for the second half than watch the streamers and strumming.

• Bawk, bawwwk: No one did the Chicken Dance in the end zone, so no-go on KFC's charity promise. Guess they were too chicken to pay the fines.
  

• Celebrity sightings: Perhaps Giants fans should be thanking Gisele Bundchen for the Patriots' choke; it's that Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson curse, praise the Lord! There were more blond bombshells in attendance last night too: We got a glimpse of a somewhat shy Pamela Anderson, who covered her face with straggly, bleached hair. And half the room 'aww'd' at the Jenny McCarthy/Jim Carey shot...and the other half said, 'Wait, what?' Yes, they've been together for a year and half - wake up! And of course, we had Mr. Peyton Manning watching over baby bro. Not gonna lie - as a superstitious Giants fan, I was a bit worried.

• Commercials: Of course. What would the big show be without a collection of exorbitant, over-hyped and underwhelming advertisements? This year, there were several forgettable commercials and a few memorable because they were so terrible (yes, I mean you, hideous girl dabbing Planters nuts on your hot spots). Here's a look at my top three:

• Mice like Doritos--Mickey's revenge.

• Chris Kattan might get sick of Diet Pepsi Max--what is love?

• Donkey Lips makes a comeback better than Paula--ahh, push it!
  

Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset

*Note: This is the first of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is just about the game. More about commercials, segments and specials to come tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The result might have been an upset, but Super Bowl XLII was the most perfect I'd ever seen.

The New York Giants tonight beat Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 --against all odds--to make history.

"Offense wins games; defense wins championships," and the New York defense held the New England "dynasty" to just one touchdown until the last three minutes of the game. They also sacked, hurried and hit Tom Brady all game, forcing a less-than-perfect showing for the 'untouchable' quarterback and leaving the door open for Eli Manning to step up and lead his team to victory.

"That's a position you want to be in. You can't write a better script." - Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII MVP

The first three quarters--close as the score was--paled in comparison to the last 15 minutes of the game. I'll do the play-by-play no justice, so check out this write-up, but when biggest Super Bowl upsets are discussed in years to come, no doubt you'll see the Eli "Houdini" Manning escape/insane off-the-helmet combo that came in the middle of a 12-play, 83-yard drive. Or the two consecutive long bombs Tom Brady let loose to Randy Moss that looked like they would be completely devastating to Giants fans (and Pats haters) everywhere. [when videos of the game are posted, I will most definitely be linking to them.]

The fate of the Patriots' perfect season on their shoulders. The pressure on Eli to live up to big bro Peyton and show some emotion. The 11-game on-the-road winning streak. Tom Coughlin's job on the line. The need to prove that the more you underestimate a team, the sweeter the win will be.

My emotions are getting the best of me here as I'm writing about this--almost as much as the teary-eyed Plaxico Burress in his post-game interview. But he doesn't deserve the same ridicule T.O. got a few weeks ago because Burress' presence in the end zone during the last minute of the game sealed the deal tonight.

There is an incredible amount to say about this game. And while it might have made for great bragging rights to say that the Giants blew the Pats out of the water 56-3 tonight, I wouldn't have changed a gut-wrenching, edge-of-my-seat, hands shaking, knot in my stomach moment for all the money in the world.

In the words of my brother, "This one's for Tiki."

Perfect Schmerfect

Okay, go ahead and rip on me for Wednesday's smack talk.


Tom Brady's behind was not the only perfect thing on T.V. tonight. The New England Patriots beat the New York Giants tonight to become the first team in NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season. (The 1972 Miami Dolphins also went unbeaten throughout the season, but played only 14 games.)

The Pats scored 38 points to the Giants' 35, overcoming a 12-point deficit as millions watched one the three channels simulcasting the game (also an NFL first).

Other than the winning record, tonight marked a number of other records for the team: Brady beat Peyton Manning's mark of 49 touchdown passes by throwing two to Moss, landing him at 50 for the season. Moss broke Jerry Rice's record of 22 TD receptions, and the Pats finished with 589 points for the season, a single-season record.

Good job, Pats. I'm sure your cheating ways had nothing to do with your perfect season.