SB Nation Seattle - Super Bowl 2012: Giants Do It Again, Beat Patriots In Heart-Stopper

Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show Sort Of Coming To Seattle

2012-02-07T20:24:38Z

With big thanks to the Seattle PI for the heads up on this, I'm indifferent in announcing that following Madonna riveting Super Bowl Half Time Show, the queen of pop (is that her nickname? That sounds wrong for some reason) soon starts her a new world tour and will make a stop in Seattle. ON MY BIRTHDAY! IT'S FATE! Yes, I agree, it's exhilarating. Oh, you don't know my birthday? It's October 2nd.

According to the PI:

Her elaborate performance at last weekend's Super Bowl was just a taste of what's in store for fans, with her oh-so-cleverly-titled album " MDNA" set for release next month.

More importantly, the pop star announced dates for an international tour Tuesday, and Seattle's on the list. Madonna will perform at Key Arena Oct. 2, and tickets go on sale Monday, Feb. 13 at LiveNation.com.

This is her first string of performances since 2009, when she visited venues all over the world under the banner of her "Sticky & Sweet" tour. This tour kicks off May 29 in Tel Aviv, Israel and includes performances in Istanbul, Brussels, Helsinki and Zurich.

If you're still not excited, just watch this for about 20 minutes.

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2013 Super Bowl Odds: Seattle Seahawks 50-1 Longshots To Take Home The Title

2012-02-06T14:01:13Z

The Seattle Seahawks and their fans once again watched from home as Super Bowl XLVI unfolded. When the game wrapped up and the New York Giants emerged victorious, the Seahawks could finally, officially start thinking about their chances for next year's big game. The oddsmakers have been doing their share of thinking as well and have already come up with a cursory list of odds for 2013.

Joe Fortenbaugh of the National Football Post relays the early odds for next year's Super Bowl. The Seahawks are currently looking at 50-1 odds to go all the way in the coming season. Also at 50-1 are the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not the loftiest company, certainly, but 50-1 odds is far from impossible. There is no telling how things will look when the season is upon us.

The early favorites for next year's Super Bowl are the Green Bay Packers at 5-1, the New Orleans Saints at 6-1 and the New England Patriots at 8-1. The New York Giants are currently at 20-1, but expect them to jump in the rankings following their big Super Bowl win.

For all news and information regarding the Seattle Seahawks, please visit Field Gulls. For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Super Bowl Winners: What Does A Fourth Super Bowl Title Mean For The Giants Franchise?

2012-02-06T13:01:29Z

The New York Giants picked up their fourth all-time Super Bowl title on Sunday when they defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

While the Seattle Seahawks are still searching for their first Super Bowl win (they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their only appearance to date, in 2006), the Giants moved to the upper echelon on Sunday, becoming one of just five teams in NFL history to win four or more Super Bowls. They join the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers and the Steelers in the top five franchises with the most championships.

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It may have been a tough game to watch in the Northwest, where winning seasons come few and far between. Seeing yet another championship game arrive between two extremely successful franchises is probably not the tastiest cup of tea.

But it cannot be ignored that the Giants have vaulted themselves into the upper echelon of all-time NFL franchises. Their win on Sunday means that they will now be included in a whole new set of debates regarding the all-time great teams.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

Best Super Bowl 2012 Commercials: Trucks, Rocky And Draculas Bring Smiles To Faces

2012-02-06T13:01:11Z

If there's one thing that Americans love more than football, it's commercials. When you combine the two together, you get the biggest sporting event of the year. Tomorrow's water coolers (they still have those, right?) will be abuzz about which television spots during the big game elicited the biggest guffaws. Heck, there's a chance one of these ads tickled your fancy so much, you spit out your glass of Gatorade!

There was a huge amount of commercials debuting during the broadcast of the game. Let's take a look at some of the standouts from the 2012 Super Bowl.

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Three of the standout commercials in my mind were all car ads. Chevrolet debuted a new ad for their Silverado truck that reportedly raised the ire of the higher-ups at Ford, who tried to get the ad pulled. Personally, I think Hostess should be more offended at Chevy perpetuating the myth that Twinkies have no expiration date. First-rate slander, right there.

Hyundai hit a home run (or whatever the football equivalent of that might be) with their ad invoking the iconic theme from the Rocky film franchise. If nothing else, this commercial probably reminded you: A) that the Rocky theme is great; B) that the Rocky franchise is full of terrific movies and C) boy, I'd much rather watch any of the Rocky movies than that Battleship movie.

I'm not sure what sort of Draculas are meant to be represented in Audi's commercial. They don't appear to be evil Draculas, so they probably didn't all have to die thanks to their careless and well-off Dracula friend. But whatever type they are, they don't seem to be Twilight-style Draculas, so that's fine with me.

You can find tons more commercials and commentary at SB Nation's Super Bowl commercials StoryStream.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog,Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

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Super Bowl MVP: Eli Manning Gets His Second Award

2012-02-06T04:24:25Z

Eli Manning had another excellent game on the big stage. He could barely be stopped. And he directed another huge drive at the end to win this one. The New York Giants quarterback completed 75% of his passes and averaged over seven yards per pass attempt, and again had another game-winning drive against the New England Patriots. Manning won MVP accolades once more, besting Tom Brady in a battle of two of the best quarterbacks in the league.

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Super Bowl 2012 Recap: Giants Win Heart-Stopper, 21-17

2012-02-06T03:11:24Z

The rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl did. Not. Disappoint. Much like the game four years ago, Super Bowl XLVI had a heartstopping finish that came down to the very end. This time around, it came down to the final play. But let's back up first.

The game started out rather sloppy for the Patriots, and the Giants were first on the scoreboard when Tom Brady was called for intentional grounding while throwing from the endzone, meaning a safety was called. New York went up 2-0 and added to their lead later in the first with a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.

The Pats finally got on the scoreboard with just over 13 minutes in the 2nd quarter with a field goal. The two teams held fast for the most part of the quarter, and New England took control of the ball on the four yard line with just over four minutes in the first half. Tom Brady and company then put together a 14-play, 96 yard drive and scored the go-ahead touchdown with eight ticks remaining. Patriots led 10-9 at half.

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The Patriots struck first in the 2nd half on their first possession with an 8-play, 79 yard drive for a touchdown and looked to be in good position to take control of the game. They led 17-9 and were rolling, with Tom Brady completing 16 straight passes from the late second quarter to early third.

The Giants didn't quit. Eli Manning and the G-Men put together a drive on the ensuing possession and got a field goal out of it to cut the lead to 17-12. The defense held the Patriots to a three and out and again, the Giants took the ball down the field and put a field goal through the uprights. 17-15. Fourth Quarter. I'll just skip to the good part.

After forcing a Patriots punt with 3:53 to go, the Giants took the ball and on their first play, Eli Manning threw a bomb down the left sideline to Mario Manningham for a brilliant reception for 38 yards that was reminiscent of David Tyree's Immaculate Reception from four years ago. That put the Giants at the 50 and they did what they needed to do to get within the 10 with just under a minute to go. At that point, the Patriots let them score a touchdown in order to get the ball back with time to go down the field. Weird.

The Patriots put together a great effort on their final drive but came up short as the hail-mary to the endzone fell to the turf, making the Giants the Super Bowl XLVI champions. I have to go change my shorts.

Eli Manning MVP.

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

For more on the Seahawks, more importantly, check out Field Gulls.

Super Bowl 2012: The Abridged Halftime & the 3rd Quarter Recap

2012-02-06T02:16:49Z

The Patriots led at halftime 10-9 in a fairly well-matched first half. Then, there was halftime. This happened.

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There was a little of this, sprinkled in for good measure.

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It wouldn't be a halftime show without a move that was dangerously close to a wardrobe malfunction.

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A game happened too, in fact. The 2nd quarter of the Super Bowl.

Patrick Chung hit Hakeem Nicks really hard.

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Aaron Hernandez made it rain up in here with a touchdown catch from Tom Brady.

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Oh, and Chad Ochocinco made a catch!

The Patriots lead 17-15. It's a really close game! There are 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Now you're up to date!!

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

For more on the Seahawks, more importantly, check out Field Gulls.

Super Bowl Halftime Score: 10-9 Patriots. Madonna Time.

2012-02-06T00:54:19Z

Let's recap -

Super Bowl XLVI got off to an ugly start with an intentional grounding call on Tom Brady and the Patriots at the 9:00 minute mark while Brady was in his own end zone, and that resulted in a safety. 2-0 Giants. And I'm sure you all called that one.

The ensuing Giants possession was a 9-play, 78 yard drive that resulted in an Eli Manning to Victor Cruz touchdown. That was certainly more predictable, and for the most part, the Giants dominated the 1st quarter and led 9-0 at its end. Eli started out the game 9-for-9 passing, a Super Bowl record, and the Giants venerable defensive line did their thing, pressuring Tom Brady and knocking down several of his passes at the line of scrimmage.

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The 2nd quarter was a little more evenly balanced, with the Patriots picking up an early three points on a Steven Gostkowski field goal with 13:52 on the clock to cut the lead to 9-3. After that, both teams went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter with not much to show for it. With 4:03 left in the quarter, the Patriots took control of the ball, marched down the field on masterful 14-play, 96 yard drive that ended in a Tom Brady to Danny Woodhead 4-yard touchdown pass with 0:08 seconds remaining in the half.

So there you have it. I'd say it's been a pretty evenly matched battle thus far, it's 10-9 Patriots at half, and it's anyone's game. Stay tuned...

For more on the Patriots and their Super Bowl run, check out SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit as well as SB Nation Boston. For more on the Giants and their Super Bowl appearance, visit Giants blog Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For all news and information regarding Super Bowl XLVI, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated Super Bowl hub.

For more on the Seahawks, more importantly, check out Field Gulls.