On Sunday, thousands in New Orleans will join Archie Manning and root for one his sons again in the Super Bowl.
On this day in Glendale, Ariz., Eli Manning hopes to become the second Manning to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy in victory.
Unlike another New York quarterback, Joe Namath, Manning said earlier this week that we wouldn't get a guarantee out of him on the game. He has left the quips and the pithiness to others. His wide receiver Plaxico Burress has predicted a Giants' victory.
Tuesdays before the Super Bowls are Media Days, Manning didn't really say anything out of the ordinary. The teams take turns being interviewed on the field . All sorts of creatures crowd into the stadium trying to ask questions about favorite hip-hop and sex preferences. A gal from Mexico was posing as a sportswriter and asked Eli to marry her. He told her he was already engaged. She asked Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to marry her. He said he had other plans. Eli has been cool all week. He learned that from Archie and Peyton.
But most of us in the audience don't know the real Eli. We know him as being shy, but there is another side to the reserved quarterback nicknamed "Easy" by those outside his locker room and his inner circle rarely see.
Deep beneath that Southern "yes sir, no mam" exterior lies a fiery, cutthroat competitor. Not only does he have a drive that matches Peyton's, he has a sense of humor that isn't all that far from the one the Colts quarterback displays in television commercials.
He may sound as dull as his coach, Tom Coughlin, during interviews. But during his days at Ole Miss. Manning was know to blast tunes on the karaoke machine in his apartment
"He enjoys living," said Sheila Collins, Manning's Newman calculus teacher. "There was a little devilment in him."
"Eli loves to laugh and make fun of himself and surround himself with people that are funny and spare no expense at a good time," said Cooper Manning, the oldest Manning son and a partner with the Howard Weil energy equities research firm here. "He is a little more behind-the-scenes funny. He is more likely to do something when you're not looking."
When fans watch Eli on the field they see an emotionless and sometimes passive-looking quarterback whose biggest display of emotion is an occasional fist pump. But looks can be deceiving as he wrote to his parents in his yearbook. "To Arch and Mom -- Even though I never said much or showed any emotions, I love you and I'll miss you," Eli wrote.
Here's Billy Fitzgerald, Newman athletic director who coached Eli in basketball team: "He's laid back, but I wouldn't be fooled by that. He's not going to growl and make faces like somebody else might, but he is just as competitive. He doesn't like to lose."
Cooper, 33, played football for Newman and Ole Miss until stenosis of the spinal chord forced him to give up the sport. He is the court jester of the Mannings.
"Cooper is our family comedian, clown. entertainer," said Archie,
Peyton, 31, is the emotional and intense one with the legendary work ethic.
Eli, 26, is the mamma's boy of the three. Because he is the youngest and stayed behind when the others were off at college and Archie was traveling for speaking engagements, Eli took on many of his mother's traits.
Archie said Olivia is very calm. "I call her the great equalizer," said Archie. "She can handle any situation with calm and she has good judgment and makes good decisions.
Eli made the right decisions in leading the Giants to the Super Bowl. He outplayed Jeff Garcia, Tony Romo and Brett Favre on their turf by playing error-free and not throwing a single interception.
Archie is good friends with Pat Browne Jr., an attorney and a champion blind golfer. "Archie told me he doesn't get nervous when Eli is playing because he's so relaxed," said Browne. "Peyton is very intense and Archie feels that."
A little-know fact about Eli: he should have been a seer. In the middle of the Newman yearbook, the most famous senior in the class penned a long inscription filled with one-liners and inside jokes. Toward the end of Elisha Nelson Manning's senior farewell, the humble quarterback dedicated a prophetic boost to his already widely known older brother that no one will take lightly anymore.
"Peyt -- We had our fun times, and our serious times (watch out world, you ain't seen nothing yet.)"
"That doesn't sound like Eli does it?" said Cooper. "Somebody must have borrowed the typewriter and typed that in. That sounds like Eli trying to get a rise out of somebody. Apparently it worked. I have a hard time believing it, actually."
The fact he predicted such a feat nearly a decade ago -- even he said it in jest -- is proof that what you see is not always what you get with Manning.
But hold on. Eli wasn't the first Manning to tell the world of what was to come.On Peyton's senior Newman yearbook, Peyton made his own amazing declaration years before Eli's.
"Watch Out, world," wrote Peyton. "Eli is the best one."
NBA Store
The National Basketball Association opened its first NBA Store in New Orleans for NBA All-Star 2008. The 1500 square foot store is located at 620 Decatur Street in the historic JaxBreweryBuilding in Jackson Square and features a comprehensive selection of commemorative NBA All-Star merchandise. The NBA Store on Decatur is the first of eight NBA Store locations to open throughout the city during NBA All-Star 2008.
NBA licensees such as adidas, the official outfitter for the NBA, Spalding, Alyssa Milano’s TOUCH, JH Design and Majestic Threads will provide fans with a comprehensive lineup of NBA All-Star merchandise, including: NBA All-Star 2008 jerseys; commemorative tees; tanks and sweatshirts; basketballs; jewelry; footwear; headwear; jackets and more.
Fans will also find NBA Store locations at NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas at the ErnestN.MorialConvention Center; the New Orlenas Arena -- site of the 2008 NBA All-Star Game; and at NBA partner hotels. In addition, there will be NBA Store satellite locations throughout the New Orleans area, as well as a full selection of NBA All-Star 2008 merchandise available at local retailers.
The opening dates for the NBA Store locations in New Orleans are below:
Feb. 1:
· NBA Store at Jax Brewey Building in Jackson Square (620 Decatur St.)
· NBA Store Mobile Merchandise Trailer at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino – Canal Street entrance on the plaza (228 Poydras St.)
Feb. 13:
· NBA Store Hotel Kiosks – New Orleans Marriott (555 Canal St.), Intercontinental (444 St. Charles Ave.), Hilton Riverside (2 Poydras St.)
· Champs Sports at the Sheraton Hotel (500 Canal St.)
Feb. 13-17:
· New Orleans Arena
Feb. 14-17:
· NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas at the ErnestN.MorialConvention Center (900 Convention Center Blvd.)
New Orleans retailers such as Champs Sports, Sports Plus and Sports Avenue will also carry NBA All-Star 2008 merchandise. In addition, Champs Sports and adidas will be opening a 3,000 square foot store inside the Sheraton Hotel at 500 Canal St. The shop will feature a full selection of NBA All-Star merchandise, as well as adidas footwear and apparel.
GIANTS TO COVER
My Super Bowl selections (drum roll, cymbals clash, please: Giants +12 over Patriots and total over 53...By Sunday night everyone will know who Ahmad Bradshaw is...I don't pay attention to NFL injury reports anymore. The Patriots list Tom Brady as having a shoulder injury with no mention of a minor high ankle sprain...The annual head coaches' news conference, held each Friday before Super Bowls, should be a knee-slapper this year with those stand-up jokesters, Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin. Not a grin in a carload...
A single club seat on StubHub is listed at $19,446. Two tickets on eBay are going for $77,000. And if you want a luxury suite of your own at the Super Bowl, you've got that option for $224,825. And they're good seats. Super Bowl ticket prices have reached insane heights in recent years. But officials at online ticket websites say that the demand for this year's game exceeds anything they have seen before and is pricing out even the most dedicated fan. In a typical year, the price of Super Bowl tickets will fall as it gets closer to game time...
On Sunday, thousands in 
