|
Coughlin To Enjoy The Sun, Bootgate and More
by Rob Staton
26/1/2008
 Has anyone ever seen a face as sore as Tom Coughlin’s during the NFC Championship game? Someone should have been kind enough to get the man a balaclava. Clearly Tom’s is not a face made for -23 wind chills.
When Lawrence Tynes missed a kick to put the Giants ahead in the 4th quarter, Coughlin went over to have a word. If you look carefully enough, he could only muster ‘Hey.Hey’ a couple of times and then retreats back to the sidelines. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise for Lawrence, who will have been less affected by the weather due to a diet of Haggis and Porridge as a child in Greenock.
I think Tom probably had a whole host of things to say at the time, most of which probably wouldn’t have been printable, but he hadn’t taken the sore face into account. ‘Hey’ was the best he could squeeze out of his frozen jaws. When our boy Lawrence shanked a 37 yarder as time expired Coughlin just looked to the floor in despair and didn’t even approach his kicker. People will tell you Tom has simply mellowed out as a Head Coach this season. I’d say it was down to the sore face.
Alas it didn’t matter, and the Giants quickly won the ball back in over time. The reprise allowed Tynes to kick his team into the Super Bowl but even then the frozen face was locked into a scowl. I’m sure Tom was feeling all warm inside and probably wanted to tell his kicker how much he appreciates his efforts after all.
Going from one extreme to the other, hopefully someone can get Tom some sun tan lotion ahead of the Super Bowl. From the frozen tundra to the desert of Glendale, Arizona. The hometown Cardinals were previously unable to start a season on home turf due to the extreme heat at the aptly named Sun Devil Stadium. The air conditioning at the new University of Arizona Stadium allowed that possibility, so maybe it’ll be chap stick instead of sun tan lotion for Mr. Coughlin. You have to feel for him. Rain and fog at Wembley. Ice and cold at Lambeau. Now boiling hot sun. He’s certainly braved the elements in a long season.
During the process of selling the naming rights of the University of Phoenix stadium, a company called ‘Pink Taco’ was allegedly in the running to snap up the honours. The New England Patriots taking on the New York Giants LIVE from Pink Taco Stadium. That sounds fun.
 The stadium itself looks like the UFO from ‘Independence Day’ with a retractable field parked outside. The roof opens and closes, which at least means it won’t be a wash out like Super Bowl XLI. How that affects the game is anybody’s guess, but it should provide good conditions for Tom Brady to re-route his radar on Randy Moss and give Eli Manning the chance to keep the Lombardi Trophy in the family.
 Talking of Brady, there seems to be a fuss at the moment about a ‘walking boot’ he was wearing as he hobbled around New York this week. With rumours of ‘bootgate’ spreading faster than a Dolphins defense that he’s carrying an injury, Brady was seen carrying a bouquet of flowers as he visited his super model girlfriend Giselle. To the common reporter it could appear that Giselle has played some part in the unknown injury. Why else the flowers? Is Brady simply the perfect boyfriend, or perhaps Ms. Bndchen cooked her current beau a lovely meal only to receive a lukewarm review upon completion? Maybe she decided to exact some revenge by stamping on Brady’s foot and ruining the Patriots’ chances of a perfect season? Brady limped up the stairs to her apartment in shades and a hoodie which suggests maybe he was also on the end of a Giselle left hook. Patriots’ fans will be hoping that Giselle has got it out of her system with the countdown to the Super Bowl underway.
Finally, the AFC will be the classified ‘home team’ ahead of next Sunday’s encounter. Despite winning eight of the last ten Super Bowls, the AFC actually trail the NFC 21-20 in overall titles. I’m not sure if there’ll be any advantage to the Patriots in being the home side, unless they prefer the way they look in their home jerseys. However there may be a psychological advantage to the Giants considering they’ve won 10 straight on the road. If they make it eleven wins a week on Sunday, maybe they should consider calling Giants Stadium ‘Jets Stadium’ in future and try to make every week a road game?
|
