How Eli Manning Won Over NYC

Connor Cruise cusses out former rep after Patriots tweet

(NEWSER) - Apparently Connor Cruise takes football very, very seriously: A tweeted joke from one of his former reps after the Super Bowl led Tom Cruise's only son to lash out via text, and may even have led to a split with the rep. It all started when Todd Krim tweeted to Connor, Patriots fan extraordinaire, "Sorry @TheConnorCruise maybe next year!!!" Connor's response, sent via text to Krim, was perhaps a bit of an overreaction: "That was a gay ass [bleeping] tweet . . . U don’t say [bleep] like that about my team the second they lose. Low." More»

Eli Manning and crew get a ticker-tape parade

(AP) - To the victors go the massive ticker-tape parades. Thousands roared as Giants quarterback Eli Manning hoisted the team's Super Bowl trophy during a parade today through New York City. (The Daily Intel blog wonders why the city can't do this for Iraqi war vets, too.) Today's parade set off from the southern tip of Manhattan and moved slowly north to City Hall as confetti wafted down from the high-rises. Mayor Bloomberg said the city should now be nicknamed the "Big Blue Apple." Click for more from the parade . More»

But in Super Bowl XLVI, Manning made a hero of himself

(NEWSER) - Last night's big game was intensely fought, undeniably exciting—and a little mystifying, thanks to Eli Manning's unusual brand of heroism. Analysts weigh in on the game's place in football history:

• Last night brought us "the most Eli Manning moment of Eli Manning’s career." During the game-winning touchdown, we saw "a hero shot in which the conqueror looks totally confused by his conquest," with "arms half-raised in quasi-triumph." His quiet humility was the polar opposite of Tom Brady's "aggro posture," but it remains "difficult to understand," writes Josh Levin at Slate .

Bundchen defends Tom Brady after Patriots' Super Bowl loss

(NEWSER) - Gisele Bundchen made headlines last week when she asked friends and family to pray for her husband's team to win the Super Bowl, but as we all know, those prayers went unheard. Bundchen was decidedly less sappy in her post-game comments last night, caught on tape as she left the VIP suites on her way to comfort Tom Brady. "My husband can not f****ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time," she said as she was heckled by Giants fans. "I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times." The Insider has the video. More»

Tom Brady has minute to win it, but New England Patriots can't pull it off

(AP) - Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 for New York's fourth Super Bowl title. It was a rematch of the 2008 NFL championship, when Manning led New York past New England to ruin the Patriots' bid for a perfect season. This was the first Super Bowl with two starting quarterbacks who previously won the big game's MVP award—and they took turns being brilliant. More»