February 4, 2008 9:26 AM

The party's over
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 9:26 AM

Was Yogi Berra in Glendale last night?

The spirit of the Hall of Fame baseball catcher and manager certainly was, most notably in his oft-quoted pronouncement: "It ain't over till it's over."

In a game that was marked by defensive domination most of the night, with less than five minutes left in the Super Bowl the two offensive units finally took over. First Tom Brady marched the Patriots down the field and fired to wide-open Randy Moss in the end zone to take a four point lead, 14-10, with less than three minutes on the clock. Tom Terrific had done it again. An apparent Super Bowl victory in their grasp, and the crowning achievement to what would be the Patriots unprecedented and historic 19-0 run.

But wait, says Yogi. One thing left to do: stop the Giants one more time. And they couldn't. And they didn't. And, following in big brother Peyton's Super Bowl MVP award-winning footsteps, Eli Manning, with the assistance of some miracle how-the-heck-did-he-do-that catches from his receiving corps, out-Bradied Brady and took it to the Pats with their own wide-open end zone toss to 6' 5" go-to target Plaxico Burress. Now, game over?

No, not yet. With less than half a minute on the clock, one last attempt to make history by 3-time Super Bowl winner Brady, including two Hail Mary's to record-breaking receiver Moss. And then, finally, it was over (for Pats coach Bill Belichick, it was over even before the clock expired - poor form, in my view). Game over, party over.

So, here in the Job Blog we celebrate a job well done by the Pats organization. Though the taste this morning is bitter and history will record the defeat of the Pats and the outstanding never-say-die performance of the confident and determined Giants, the Patriots had a helluva year. No parade, maybe. (OK, we're still recovering from the Red Sox romp through the streets last fall.) But hats off to the Giants, who in the end outplayed the Pats, and hats off to the Pats on an outstanding year. And, maybe after a break, back to the drawing board for the front office, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Something broke down last night when all the marbles were at stake.

Thanks, Pats. Go KG and Celts.

PS Does it matter that Yogi Berra was from New York?. . .