The 2012 World Series concluded with an 89-mph fastball over the middle of the plate, the sort of pitch that ends up over outfield fences as often as it does in catcher’s mitts.

It’s not a stretch to suggest that sports marketing absorbs much of what makes sport so intriguing.

Back in August, back before the season began, Eli Manning was asked whether he considered himself an “elite” quarterback a la Tom Brady.

THE New York Giants have a habit of beating the Superbowl favourites.

ONLY Tim Tebow could resurrect Tebowing and early yesterday morning even Dan Marino joined the growing procession of adoring fans genuflecting to the Denver Broncos quarterback.

MM: How important is a winning pro franchise to a city?

SETANTA Ó hAILPÍN is “hell bent” on capitalising on a second bite of the cherry that has seen him go full circle, bringing him back to the doorstep of where he was born.

THE New Orleans Saints suffered a shock 31-21 defeat to the previously winless St Louis Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots in NFL action on Sunday.

THE New York Giants coach, Tom Coughlin, was forced to accept responsibility for a second bruising defeat in-a-row as the Giants’ NFL season continued to unravel on Sunday.

EDGAR RENTERIA paid tribute to the San Francisco Giants for keeping faith with him after his home run led the franchise to their first World Series title in over half a century on Monday night.

SUPER Bowl champions The New York Giants shrugged off the latest publicity surrounding absent receiver Plaxico Burress to defeat Washington 23-7 on Sunday.

THE Arizona Cardinals ended the Buffalo Bills’ unbeaten start to the season with a surprisingly easy 41-17 victory in Week 5 of the NFL.

Hillary Clinton urged first-time voters today to choose someone “who actually cares” and who would offer both change and experience in their leadership of America, hours before Super Tuesday.

ELI MANNING trotted toward the New York Giants’ huddle facing a challenge of historic proportions.

The New York Giants won the American football Super Bowl in a dramatic comeback victory that denied their opponents, the New England Patriots, a place in the sporting history books.

NEW ENGLAND’S Tom Brady threw a team-record six touchdown passes and Tennessee’s Rob Bironas kicked a NFL-record eight field goals to spark impressive triumphs on Sunday.

San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds finally joined American sports legend Babe Ruth in the history books by smashing his 714th career home run in the Giants’ game at the Oakland A’s.

THE best performance by Denis Irwin that I witnessed live was the one he produced when Ireland beat Italy in the World Cup finals of 1994.

OAKLAND and Tennessee captured division NFL titles on Sunday, but the playoff puzzle was still missing plenty of pieces after the penultimate weekend of the gridiron season.

THE Oakland Raiders kept its perfect record intact on Sunday after a bruising encounter against the Buffalo Bills with a 49-31 win, in what Bills' coach Gregg Williams called a “rock em sock em game”.

REIGNING Superbowl champions, the New England Patriots, overcame an early 10-0 disadvantage, then blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead before finally eking out a 41-38 overtime win over Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The Belfast Giants owners have invested £2m in a bid to bring success to the fledgling ice hockey team, it was revealed today.