Steve Skojec

This morning I read a story about the USS New York, a new amphibious assault ship that was built using approximately 24 tons of reclaimed steel from the fallen World Trade Center.

There’s no way to put into words how sweet the poetic justice of this is. Better than any monument, memorial, or tribute, we just built the aftermath of the biggest tragedy in modern U.S. history into an engine of death aimed straight at our enemies. It doesn’t get more badass than this.

My long time readers know that I want my country to tighten up the ill-named “War on Terror” and work hard on getting out of Iraq, but I’m a red-blooded patriot first, and the idea of this beast dealing punishment to those who would attack our sovereign nation gives me a visceral thrill.

You want the WTC? Fine. We deliver.

Rather than sticking with that downer of a story, how about some more Giants this morning?

As Eli Manning Eli Manning stepped onto the grass one last time at University of Phoenix Stadium, all along the Giants sideline players were keeping the faith, nearly chanting in unison. “I was thinking about an Eli Manning great comeback,” defensive end Justin Tuck Justin Tuck said. “We were running up and down the sideline yelling ‘Believe’.”

Michael Strahan needed more. He screamed, over and over, “17-14!” demanding all within earshot buy in. “I said ‘Believe it …. don’t just say it, believe it’!”

In the huddle, Manning barely raised his voice.

“We’re going to go down and score,” he stated.

“We believed in him,” guard Chris Snee said. Perhaps that is why they won.

[snip]

Completing an astonishing season with a game for the ages, the Giants New York Giants shocked the world, denied history and defeated the Patriots 17-14 in a remarkable Super Bowl XLII stunner. Manning’s 13-yard pass to a wide-open Plaxico Burress - who ran past a stumbling cornerback, Ellis Hobbs - with 35 seconds left set the final dagger in one of the greatest contests and upsets in Super Bowl history. Manning directed a 12-play, 83-yard drive - kept alive by a miracle Manning escape and 32-yard pass to a sky-walking David Tyree - to outduel the usually immaculate Brady to win the MVP award that his big brother Peyton won one year ago with the Colts.

“Every team is beatable,” said Tom Coughlin, the jubilant comeback coach. “The right moment, the right time, every team is beatable.” What was supposed to be the coronation of the Patriots’ immaculate 19-0 season instead became one of the most unexpected defeats in this game’s storied history. The Pats sought to copyright the 19-0 trademark; instead, they’d better get busy printing up those “18-1″ shirts.