First things first: I’m 46 years old, which means I can always remember what Roman numeral should be acquainted with what Super Bowl as long as I can recall the year. The Super Bowl and I are the same age.

And even in my mid-40s I felt the need to dress appropriately for the big game. So before loading up the wife and kids and a huge pot of homemade soup in the minivan and heading out to my sister’s house, I grabbed my favorite Rams sweatshirt. This, of course, makes me pathetic.

Being a Rams fan alone is embarrassing, and wearing NFL gear to watch a game with family probably is equally so. However, I do believe in karma. The New England Patriots stole the Rams’ dynasty 10 years by filming red-zone plays and eking out a win over St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Bitter much? Yeah, you could say that.

So whenever a Bill Belichick team has a chance to stumble on the biggest stage, I’m all for it, just as I was four years ago when the G-Men stunned the 18-0 Pats.

Taking all of that emotion out of it, I still pegged New York to win Super Bowl XLVI. The Giants simply have the right makeup to win titles these days – a star quarterback (Eli Manning), one of the game’s best wide receiver tandems, a solid but not spectacular running game, a disruptive front four, reliable tacklers and very effective special teams.

Last year, I predicted Green Bay would beat Pittsburgh by six points, and I watched that game at my big sis’ house, too. Again, karma.

So I found a comfortable living room chair, popped open the laptop and decided to log my observations once again.

Here goes:

6:30 p.m. – After two weeks and an entire day of hype and overanalysis, there is a kicked football in the air and we’re underway.

6:32 – The Giants pick up the initial first down of game as Manning zips one to receiver Victor Cruz, one of the emerging stars of the NFL. You can bet Belichick and his staff don’t want this guy to get loose.

6:33 – Yet another reason to root for the Giants: Jake Ballard. The former Buckeye tight end hauls in a Manning toss and makes an early mark on the offense. New England isn’t the only team in this game that can dial up TEs.

6:36 – Ballard runs wide open down the middle of the field and Manning fails to see him. Could have been a glorious start to the scoring. I need some finger food.

6:38 – A big special teams play ensues as Steve Weatherford, out of Illinois, knuckles one around the New England 5 and a gaggle of G-Men are there to cover it. Weatherford celebrates like Oprah just handed him car keys.

6:39 – The first in-game commercial out of the chute is for Audi. However, the foreign car company wins points by incinerating a young vampire. I wonder if we’ll see another ad for a car company? Hmmm.

6:41 – Men Without Hats are not in Indy – at least I don’t think so – but we’ve got a safety dance! Tom Brady is afraid of getting the pretty knocked out him and chucks a ball to no one out of his own end zone. That’s a no-no. Since he intentionally grounded the aerial from there, the result is a safety and two points for the NFC champs. Just for the record, a prop bet of the Giants opening the scoring with a safety is 50-to-1 in most casinos. I know this because somebody posts his receipt on Twitter – $1,000 paying $51,000! Hello. Talk about a good start to a game.

6:46 – With the ball again – Tom, you’ve got time to call your super model wife and tell her you’ll be home late – the Giants have an excellent offensive mix working and look like the more enthralled and physical team. As soon as I type this, NBC’s Cris Collinsworth says they “look like the more physical team up front.” Hey, Cris, stay out of my head.

6:50 – Another New England penalty is a big one as the Pats rip the ball free from Cruz in the red zone but are caught with 12 men on the field. There goes Belichick trying to cheat again.

6:52 – Touchdown! Manning fires right behind a Patriot defender off his back foot and finds Cruz in the middle of the end zone. It would have been understandable if Cruz dropped the ball since he couldn’t have seen it until it hit his hands. As it was, he bobbled it but hung on then broke into his trademark salsa dance. Giants 9, Evil Empire zippo. Time for some food – barbecued pork sandwich, cole slaw, fruit salad and, wait a minute, I need something really junky … there we go! Seven-layer dip and a big handful of tortilla chips. I honor you, Senor Cruz.

7:06 – The Patriots respond with a field goal. Whatever. I’m full now. Burp.

7:08 – New England placekicker Stephen Gostkowski drives the kickoff into the middle of the end zone and the Giants kneel down. The kicker does this, well, because all kickers can do it now that they’ve moved the kickoff line up 5 yards this season. Dumb rule. Football has an element of violence. Violence results on kickoff returns.

7:10 – Did that commercial just condone whizzing in the pool?

7:14 – Best ad so far has a dog getting rid of his winter gut so he can chase a Volkswagen down the street. The best part is the James Brown tune in which our canine hero is told to “get up off of that thing.” Too bad the message isn’t going to reach me.

7:20 – Just to make sure women are watching, the anticipated David Beckham underwear commercial comes to the fore. Don’t worry, guys. Madonna will be jiggling around here in a little bit (that’s a joke). By the way, Beckham is tatted enough to play in the Giants’ secondary.

7:23 – Great pitch and catch by Brady and wideout Wes Welker, but the third-down play comes up half a yard shy of a first down. Belichick doesn’t hesitate in deciding to punt. We’ve got a long way to go with 8:24 left in the second quarter. After the punt we learn another Beckum, Giants tight end Travis Beckum, has blown out his knee. More work for our man Ballard?

7:30 – Weatherford is psyched again. He just booted a punt out of bounds at the 4. Long field to go for the Pats.

7:34 – Gronk! After a fortnight of speculation regarding the playing status and ankle of Rob Gronkowski – I imagine he was probed by NASA this week – the star tight end makes a first-down catch for the Patriots. Will it alter the momentum or merely be a side note?

7:40 – The Pats appear to be on the move late in the first half when they are guilty of a holding penalty. The laundry situation is the difference in the game at this point.

7:47 – Poop. That team from Bah-ston caps off a very methodical 96-yard scoring drive and takes a 10-9 lead after Brady moves in the pockets and finds Danny Woodhead and Gostkowski adds the extra point. The length of the drive ties a Super Bowl record.

7:50 – Manning kneels down are we are at halftime. My 11-year-old son asks who is doing the halftime show. When he is told it is Madonna, he chuckles and says, “Ha, ha, she’s going to mess up.” So I guess cynicism is genetic.

8:01 – Cleopatra, er, Madonna is on stage with her army of backup dancers after – what else? – an overly elaborate entrance. It’s a pretty entertaining effort, though, including one of the most impressive staging and light productions of its kind. One question: Why is anyone holding a mic? Clearly, this a lip-synch deal.

8:13 – The halftime extravaganza ends with the words “World Peace” on the field. I didn’t even know the Lakers’ shooting forward was going to be at the Super Bowl.

8:28 – The Patriots go right down the field and score again. It’s now 17-9 and the insistence to throw to the tight end continues to be the NFL trend. There are only three problems with this: 1) I hate the Patriots (has this been established yet?), 2) I have no idea what the hell Aaron Hernandez’s TD dance was supposed to simulate, and 3) Belichick looks like he’s got a brick in the back end of his shorts. Of course, if the Giants were winning you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at Tom Coughlin, either.

8:45 – Looks like we’re about to go old-school with the commercials. Jerry Seinfield’s was pretty funny – “Leno!” – and the Ferris Bueller ad is yet to come.

8:48 – Boom. Brady’s coronation as the greatest athlete in the history of mankind is put on hold as he is sacked for the first time. Justin Tuck drilled him on third down. Funny how these guys complete all their passes when there is no pressure and suddenly look mortal when the pocket collapses on them. I’m still banking on Eli to come through here.

8:56 – Another Lawrence Tynes field goal has cut the New England lead to 17-15. I’ll take one more of those, please – and about a dozen more sacks by the Giants D-line.

8:59 – We are headed to the fourth quarter. NBC has to be pleased that the game is close at 9 Eastern and that everything has gone off without a hitch to this point. No halftime wardrobe malfunction, no highly controversial plays, no embarrassing skirmish after a whistle. Of course, if Brady gets hurt there will be a production room suicide.

9:06 – Bueller? Bueller? Oh, there he is.

9:11 – Ballard is down holding his left leg. Looks like all fantasies of him becoming the hero of this game are flitting out the window.

9:16 – Mario Manningham, who couldn’t haul in a deep pass on his hands early in the game, runs a poor fade route on second-and-5 and steps out of bounds after catching it. Collinsworth is all over the mistake. Manning then burns New York’s second timeout and the Giants, inexplicably suffer a false-start penalty out of it. Now facing third-and-10, Manning throws a strike that would have been a chain-mover but the New England defender hits the wideout early and gets away with it. Could be a devastating sequence. I need more chip and dip or I’m going to start biting my fingernails.

9:22 – Brady has been surgical on the short and immediate throws but hasn’t had much luck going downfield in this game, thank goodness. Still, the guy might get whisked straight to the Hall of Fame after this game considering they gave him the MVP of Super Bowl XXXVI for throwing for about 140 yards. Los Gigantes need a stop – NOW.

9:24 – That karma thing is a bitch (isn’t it, LeBron?). Welker, maybe the most surehanded receiver in the league, can’t quite hang onto a pretty good Brady throw that would have set up lots of good scenarios for the Pats. The Giants break up the next play and get the ball back, fielding a punt on the 12.

9:30 – As I await Eli’s chance to repeat history with a clutch, fourth-quarter scoring drive against the Pats, I look up the numbers of the two QBs. Both them are 25 of 34 with virtually identical passer ratings heading into last Giants’ last drive. Eerie.

9:35 – Wow, wow, wow! Manningham hauls in a 38-yarder – the longest play of the game – and does an amazing job to catch the ball clean and keep both feet in with two defenders draping him. What did you think of that play, David Tyree? We have our first real replay of the game and it confirms the completion. I have griped all season how replays are ruining NFL watching for me but this added to the drama and the beauty of the play. Here comes Eli.

9:38 – The Giants pick up another key first down and are in the red zone at the two-minute warning. New York still needs to take care of the ball, manage the game correctly, make the field goal and leave Brady little time. Still, I’m liking my chances.

Losing track of time and feeling in my extremities – Are NFL coaches now smarter than the people on the competition committee? Belichick and his wicked wit decide to let the Giants walk into the end zone rather than run the clock down the nothing and kick a chip-shot field. Coughlin apparently has told his offense to not to score but Ahmad Bradshaw can’t stop his legs from churning in time, tries to go down and ends up backing over the goal line. We have the first game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl that results in basically a squat.

Just when I think the Giants are the smarter team they decide to go for two for no particular sensible reason and fail. I hope they knew that wouldn’t take any time off the game clock. Still, New York leads 21-17 with just 57 ticks remaining. Michigan’s favorite male model is back on the field. My sister asks me if I want dessert but she doesn’t understand that A) I’m about to burst, and B) This is going to require my full concentration so the Giants don’t do something stupid and let Megamind host the Lombardi Trophy.

9:53 – Whew! After an impressive fourth-down pickup and a couple more completions, New England has a chance for a game-winning Hail Mary. Coughlin, though, shows he’s thinking again, by putting 12 defenders on the field on the prior play. It costs New York 5 yards but also pulls five seconds off the clock. Brady has to heave one now.

The ball goes into 213 players and Gronk dives for a batted ball in the end zone but thankfully can’t get to it. Man. Suddenly I’ve got room for some celebratory ice cream cake. Belichick seeks out Coughlin and gives him an uncomfortable bear hug. Hey, even evil geniuses have to admire somebody, I guess.

And the winner is … dogs. They dominate the commercials and the underdog Giants pull the upset. The other winner is Indianapolis as league and media members rave about what a good job the city did the last two weeks handling all of the festivities. Looks like the Circle City will get to host another Super Bowl sometime down the line. Fine with me. I only go there several times a year for work and I can use always use another St. Elmo’s steak in my belly (well, not really, but still).

Time to scoop up exhausted kids who have school tomorrow and make the 25-minute drive back to Rapp Estates. I know I’ll do so patting myself on the back for the prediction of Giants by 3, although it’s hard to reach with this much food weighing down my midsection.