By Jay Benjamin Kitchen

Staff Writer

The time has come when the most unofficial holiday becomes officially the most celebrated Sunday of the year when the Super Bowl comes to a flat screen TV near you.

The event not only draws football fans, but also the bulk of those curious and desperate viewers who only care about what those overpaid commercials will

bring with their fifteen minutes of fame.

This year it is an East Coast affair, with the New York Giants going against the New England Patriots, two teams that have had a past history with this high profile event. This could be considered a rematch from 2008, when the Giants upset the Patriots and ruined what could have been a perfect season, after the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season.

In Super Bowl XLVI, Mr. America Tom Brady lost to Eli Manning and the underdog Giants in what could be called a Super Bowl upset, considering the Pats have been America’s team the past decade and this year is no different

The Pats, who dealt with Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game, go in as favorites, something that was expected from the beginning of the season to no surprise, but it is certainly not the same scenario for the Giants.

Known for their defense, the G Men overcame a hyped-up Green Bay Packers and then defeated a surprise team in the new generated San Francisco 49ers to get to the Super Bowl.

The Giants have been here many times before, once with Eli in 2008, and twice before in the past when Phil Sims was under center. During the Super Bowl runs during the Sims days the Giants had ties to the Inland Empire when hometown hero Mark Collins was the starting safety for the Giants and competed in the back-to-back Super Bowl championship runs.

The Inland Empire has had connections to the Super Bowl for the past 14 years; this year with Bret Locket as a member of the New England Patriots will make it 15 consecutive years.

Other local Super Bowl champions from past years who are possible Hall of Famers include Ronnie Lott, who won four Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers. Lott was a standout athlete at Rialto Eisenhower High School, then went on to be an All-American at USC. Lott, who is still considered the best safety to ever play the game, is a Hall of Famer. Collins as mentioned before won two Super Bowl titles with the Giants before being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Collins had a long successful career in the NFL that is worthy of a Hall of Fame nod.

The late David Lang won two Super Bowls as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, where he served as captain of the Special Teams unit. Lang more than likely won’t be a Hall of Famer, but he is forever in the record books as a Super Bowl champion as a member of America’s team. Other local Super Bowl winners include Chris Hayes and Craig Newsome, who won Super Bowls while with the Green Bay Packers; Charles Johnson and Mark Seay made it to the big dance with their teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers, respectively. Unfortunately they didn’t walk away with a Super Bowl ring. Pat Johnson was a member of the Baltimore Ravens when they won their Super Bowl championship. At the time, the Ravens were coached by Brian Bileck, a Redlands native. Johnson, who played receiver, was a standout athlete at Redlands High.

Michael Vick and company could not fulfill the dream, and yet again the Cowboys had plenty of America’s funniest videos when it came to the fourth quarter, with Tony Romo and company throwing away many late chances. Despite a decent start, the Redskins went away as the season progressed.

After the “win and go to the playoff” victory over the Cowboys in the last week in the regular season, the G Men’s momentum began to roll.

Big underdogs in the game against the Green Bay Packers in the post season, in Green Bay's hallowed Lombardi Field and set up against Packer Aaron Rodgers, the Giants came out winners, then moved on to San Francisco to complete their playoff march with a dramatic win over a new and improved 49er team that has the potential to be like the surprising Giant team next year.

Eli has been the inspiration so for in the postseason, but he has yet to come out of the shadow of his brother Payton, who was out all year recovering from a neck injury as the Colts suffered a terrible season with the loss of his talent and leadership.

The Colts have until March 8th to pick up the team’s option on Payton, but the everlasting buzz is that Stanford QB Andrew Luck will be drafted with the first draft pick and the Colts’ icon will be gone....maybe.

In the end, Eli has somewhat become the highlighted Manning in an unfortunate way. Payton and his future are still in question, but for Eli, he seems to be the answer for the Giants in the post season. Look for Ahmad Bradshaw to run the ball in the typical Giant smash mouth style and the talented Victor Cruz to do damage in the passing game.

While the Giant story is that of the comeback kids, there is no denying Captain America. The clean and talented game of the New England Patriots has them as the best team over the past decade.

Ring leader Tom Brady leads the way for the favored Patriots in the Super Bowl, who has earned that label because of their quality play all year and their consistency over the years.

Captain America this year has thrown for 5,235 yards with 39 TDs and 12 interceptions. While those numbers are competitive with many other impressive QBs this year, Brady has the knack for doing the right thing at the right time. He is undoubtedly the leader of the team.

The Pats (13-3) don’t really have a dominant RB or running game. Their leading rusher is Ben Jarvis with 667 yards rushing.

The two teams took completely different paths to get here, but on Sunday, February 5, all roads lead to Indy and the biggest party in the country.