A Giant Sideshow: Parcells and Reeves

Bill Parcells doesn’t want any part of the sideshows on tap for today’s regular-season finale between his New England Patriots and the New York Giants.

It is Parcells’ first game against the Giants since resigning as coach after the Super Bowl victory against Buffalo in January 1991.

It also is expected to be Dan Reeves’ final game as the Giants’ coach, and there is bound to be an ugly crowd ready to cheer the returning hero and bid a not-so-fond farewell to a man who led New York to one playoff berth in four years, in 1993.

Of major consequence, however, is that a victory gives the Patriots (10-5) a first-round bye in the playoffs, and Parcells knows the importance of an extra week off. Since 1990, only one team that played a wild-card game--the 1992 Bills--has reached the Super Bowl.