The prayers of the New England Patriots players, organization, fans - and for that matter, Tom Brady’s wife Gisele Bundchen - would not be answered on Feb. 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.

Super Bowl XLVI opened with the New York (New Jersey) Giants as a 2.5 point underdog, for whatever reason. After their first drive stalled, Big Blue punter Steve Weatherford pinned the Patriots inside the five yard line. The next play saw Justin Tuck pressure Pats’ QB Tom Brady into an incompletion with no receiver anywhere in the general area. That is known as intentional grounding, and when it occurs in the end zone, it results in a safety. The penalty gave NY an unusual 2-0 lead.

After a free kick, Giants QB Eli Manning led an 88-yd. touchdown drive that ended with a TD pass to WR Victor Cruz, and the obligatory salsa dance. The extra point put the G-Men up 9-0. Manning would open the game completing his first 9 passes, a Super Bowl record.

Although New York dominated the first quarter, the Patriots would keep them off the scoreboard for the rest of the half. New England would get a Steven Gostowski field goal, and then a late second quarter 4-yd. TD pass from Brady to former Jets RB Danny Woodhead with 8 seconds left. That capped a Super Bowl record 96-yd. drive, and led to a Patriots 10-9 lead at the half.

On January 22, 2012, Penn State University’s legendary former head coach Joseph Vincent Paterno lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 85. Paterno was born on December 21, 1926 and became the head coach of the Nittany Lions football team in 1966. This came after being named an assistant coach to Rip Engle’s staff in 1950. He would lead the team for an NCAA record 46 years, before being fired for his lack of action in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

In his career, Paterno amassed an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) record 409 wins, 24 bowl wins, and 37 bowl appearances. He led PSU to five undefeated seasons, and two National Championships in 1982 and 1986. Paterno won numerous awards, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

After clinching a playoff spot, the only thing left for the Liberty to do was give the fans at their temporary home a victory. They delivered.

New York played a high-spirited statement game on Sept. 9 against the Eastern Conference leading Indiana Fever. After some even play back and forth, Essence Carson came off the bench for NY and proceeded to light up the scoreboard. At the end of the first, the Liberty led 29-21.

During the second quarter, Newark Mayor Cory Booker appeared with a young fan to take in the action. This period saw some impressive lockdown defense by the home team, which led to several shot clock violations on Indiana throughout the game. The Liberty closed out the first half with a Nicole Powell layup at the buzzer and a 47-35 lead.

Indiana eventually made its run, spurred on by a couple of perimeter baskets from Shannon Bobbitt, which helped to cut the deficit to 57-50. Then, the Fever forced the Liberty into the penalty, and threatened to move even closer at the foul line. New York head coach John Whisenant objected to the officiating, and got a technical foul for his opinion. Despite that, the Liberty would close out the period thanks to another buzzer beater - courtesy of Essence Carson - that secured a 65-55 lead after three quarters.

After 18 weeks of negotiation, litigation, and aggravation, the National Football League is reopening for business after the owners of its 32 franchises sacked a league-wide lockout.

The owners and players reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that will be in effect for the next 10 years. For the players, the decision upon the 32 team representatives to approve the deal was unanimous. The owners got 31 votes to approve, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining. Both sides have feverishly argued a fair division of a $9 billion surplus, to which the owners would get 52% while the players would take 48%. Other sticking points agreed upon were an adjustment in the rookie wage scale, better medical benefits for players, and keeping a 16-game season rather than expanding to 18 games.