Yes, REDEMPTION. That word has been overly overused (overly overused?) the past week when talking about them Giants.

And just in case you have no idea why people have been clamoring for Super Bowl XLII tickets the past few days, the New York Giants will be taking on the 18-0 New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona for the biggest prize in all of American sports. That is of course, the Super Bowl.

And yeah, REDEMPTION has been the keyword, if you will, when talking about the New York Giants and their chances of coming up with a shocking upset victory over the still perfect New England Patriots this Sunday.

First, obviously, it could be redemption for New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. Much has been said about his father Archie Manning, during his illustrious career with the New Orleans Saints in the past. Of course, much has been said about his older brother, Peyton Manning too during his run with the Indianapolis Colts in this era.

Eli Manning, on the other hand, has failed to live up to the ‘’Manning'’ name the last couple of seasons, losing time and time again and giving up…

Uh oh…

After two failed championship runs and a rather miserable campaign with the Nets this 2007-08 NBA basketball season, triple-double king Jason Kidd wants out of New Jersey after rekindling his desire to be traded.

Yes, it definitely looks like the relationship between Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets organization is coming to an end people. They have lost NINE FUCKING GAMES in a row and are still eight games below .500. Yup, J-Kidd sure is having one season to forget.

Jason Kidd probably realized that the only thing he can do to help the team is have the team deal him. Then again, he probably realized too that this New Jersey Nets team is really not that good.

‘’I'm not mad at anybody,'’ Jason Kidd said. ‘’Sometimes, when you ride a wave, you get to the end and that’s all there is. That’s where we are.'’

‘’It used to be if I got a triple-double, that was an automatic win. That’s just not the case now. We tried to make this work. We’ve found out it doesn’t. It’s time for us all to move on.'’

This team have the Milwaukee Bucks visiting Tuesday so these trade speculations surrounding…

That’s what they think.

The Patriots. Yes, they were the team to beat the moment they brought the Jets down with Bill Belichick’s spying cameras to start the season. After that Week 1 match-up, these Patriots have been dominating basically everybody in the league. And yes, these guys haven’t lost since, earning them the Super Bowl XLII ticket for this Sunday.

So how in the hell do you stop a New England Patriots team that has yet to taste defeat in this campaign? I dunno… Um… Fool Belichick into taking a heavy dose of laxative perhaps?

The New York Giants have the responsibility of stopping this Patriots team this Sunday and some people are saying that the Giants secondary has to stop Patriots wideout Randy Moss to give Eli Manning his first Super Bowl championship ring.

For what it’s worth, Randy Moss IS having one heckuva’ season in his first full campaign with the New England Patriots. But for some reason, stopping this dude just didn’t cut it as far as stopping the Patriots offense is concerned. It didn’t work for either the Jacksonville Jaguars or the San Diego Chargers and I’m betting it won’t work for the…

At least that’s what FIA executive Max Mosley is saying.

March 16 is the date when the 2008 F1 season kicks off in Melbourne, Australia. However, that didn’t stop people from talking about some early shit like Lewis Hamilton will win the 2008 title or Kimi Raikkonen will win the title for the second straight season.

Probably the most stupid one I heard was this thing about Fernando Alonso winning it again. That deserves a separate story here on OddJack.

As far as Max Mosley is concerned, he believes Lewis Hamilton will dominate. Hell, he even said that the young British driver will be even better than Michael Schumacher once Hamilton’s career is over. Hmm…

‘’If you are thinking about the drivers dispassionately, it was Raikkonen’s turn more than Lewis’,'’ Max Mosley said of last season’s championship chase when Kimi Raikkonen snatched the 2007 title away from both Alonso and Hamilton.

‘’But Lewis will get plenty of turns. Unless something dramatically goes wrong, he will win several Championships. I think Ron (Dennis) said the other day…'’

Wha?!? Somebody actually wants this dude back?!?

You read it people. After a pathetic stint with the Detroit Pistons last year, Chris Webber could be playing for the Golden State Warriors this 2007-08 NBA basketball season.

Rumor has it that C-Webb’s exodus back to the Golden State Warriors is on course to be completed on Tuesday. That’s according to the men and women responsible for this utterly chaotic venture.

If Chris Webber agrees to the deal the Warriors can come up with, C-Webb will reunite with former head coach Don Nelson and former teammate Chris Mullin to play for the very team that won him the 1994 NBA Rookie of the Year.

Sure, Chris Webber was indeed something back then, throwing all them slam dunks on basically everyone while moving as if he’s Richard Hamilton on steroids. But the fact of the matter is, 1994 is 14 looong years ago and C-Webb is no longer the same explosive dude of the past.

Nevertheless, the Golden State Warriors, for some reason, claim they…

Eli Manning. You know him. He’s Peyton’s less decorated sibling. And yes, he’ll be playing for a Super Bowl ring this Sunday.

How about that huh? After all that talk about the New York Giants wasting their draft pick to get him, and all that shit about him being a guy desecrating the Manning name in American football, Eli Manning earned a Super Bowl XLII ticket this season. And now, he’s only a win away from being crowned a world champion.

Honestly, did you ever thought the New York Giants would come this far? After a 0-2 start to the season, who would’ve thought that these Giants will be the road warriors of this year’s playoffs and earn their ticket to the biggest dance in all of North American sports?

Yes, Eli Manning will have the chance to win HIS title after older bro Peyton won his last year. Eli’s Giants will be taking on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Sure, it is safe to say that the New York Giants will be creamed for sure, facing a New England Patriots team that has yet to taste defeat in this campaign. But hey, the Giants have been proving everybody wrong all season and they could have the momentum they need to prove everybody wrong for the last time this Sunday.

For what it’s worth, the Patriots are not taking anything for…

Probably because he just tired of coming up short the last couple of seasons.

Yes, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, probably with a Super Bowl XLII ticket in hand ready to go to Arizona this Sunday for the big game, wants to be Tom Brady. (Probably because Brady’s girlfriend Gisele Bundchen is waaay hotter than his…)

I know, I know, that last one was weak. But this one, I guarantee you, won’t be. And yes, you read it right, Ben Roethlisberger wants to be like Tom Brady. That being a quarterback with tall wide receivers (like Randy Moss of course…) who he can throw the football to.

How in the world did the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback came up with that? I don’t know, must have something to do with his midget wideout named Hines Ward. Hee hee…

‘’I'm always going to ask for a tall receiver,'’ Ben Roethlisberger said in an interview. ‘’That’s just me. Our receivers are unbelievable, but our tallest guy might be Hines. Or Santonio [Holmes]. Hines is going to say he’s 6 foot, but he’s 5-11.'’

Of course, Hines Ward didn’t like the…

Probably the only guy happy about Djokovic’s win is me. I still can’t believe that this Tsonga dude beat the reigning clay king. Jeez…

After shocking the world by beating the master of the clay court Rafael Nadal, (wait ’till all ya’ll play this dude at Roland Garros fuckers…) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga earned a ticket to the 2008 Australian Open Men’s Finals match with Novak Djokovic. Oh yeah, Djokovic got here by beating his own giant, some dude that goes by the name of Roger Federer.

So there it was, in what should’ve been a final between world No.1 Roger Federer and world No.2 Rafael Nadal, we have this Djokovic - Tsonga match instead. And just because their final concludes the first Grand Slam of the calendar year, fine, we’ll write about it.

The crowd in attendance sure were pulling for Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to conclude his Cinderella run in Melbourne with the 2008 Australian Open title. When it was all said and done, Novak Djokovic simply WUP HIS ASS, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) Sunday night much to the dismay of the people watching it at Melbourne Park.

‘’I know the crowd wanted him to win more,'’ Novak Djokovic said. ‘’That’s OK. It’s all right. I still love you guys, don’t worry. I’m very, very happy that I won my first Grand Slam here, so hopefully we’ll see you here on this stage a lot more often.'’

So why was the crowd against this dude? Hmm… Must be something to do with the way he kept the Rod Laver Arena crowd in stitches last week with his impersonation of…

Just kidding… Hee hee… But hey, we want him to.

In case you were not really paying that much attention to the 2007-08 NBA basketball season, the Miami Heat just can’t do anything right lately, probably missing out on the playoffs already this early into the season after losing half of the games a team can play in one full season.

As for Miami Heat superstar Shaquille O’Neal, his stock has decreased so much this year that people are starting to value a Kris Humpries more than the guy once dubbed as the ‘’Most Dominant Player in the NBA.'’

It probably has something to do with the number of times he left the Miami Heat roster because of various injuries. Yep, Shaq sure did went in and out of the lineup so much this season that it can make your head spin.

Shaq can’t blame the people if they are already expecting him to retire right? Well, as far as this seven-foot pile of sit is concerned, he’s not ready to retire just yet.

Shaquille O’Neal was asked this question and his response was, ‘’No, never that. I am the son of an army drill sergeant, and when we enlist, we go full term.'’

What the fuck does that…

Oh yes, the results are in people.

And guess what, somebody was booted out of the starting lineup this year. But before we dwell into that, YES, the 2008 NBA All-Star Game starters for both the Eastern and Western Conferences are in and all the usual suspects made it. (Except that one who got his ass booted out of course…)

We’re talking about Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady. Voters probably got tired of watching him hobble on the basketball court with a sore back, that’s probably why they voted Denver Nuggets star Allen Iverson in to start for the West for the first time in his career.

Allen Iverson rallied past Tracy McGrady in the final weeks of the voting to earn his very first Western Conference All-Star starting spot since Philly sent him to Denver. (What a fucked-up move that turned out to be…) Iverson will now be making his 9th All-Star appearance on February 17 in New Orleans.

‘’It’s a good feeling. I think it’s a tribute to my teammates and coaching staff because without those guys none of that would be possible,'’ Allen Iverson said in a statement.

‘’But most of all I just want to thank the fans for appreciating what I…'’