Giants Parade 2012: New York Atmosphere Guarantees Celebration Will Be a Classic

The New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 to win the Super Bowl on Sunday, so now it's time for them to celebrate the only way a team representing the Big Apple knows how—with a ticker-tape parade throughout the city.

According to Erik Matuszewski of Bloomberg.com, up to a million spectators are expected to watch the parade, which will go through the famed Canyon of Heroes and stretch across both New York and New Jersey, beginning at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

The ticker-tape parade, in which shredded paper is thrown about in celebration, originated in New York in 1886 during the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, so it's only fitting that the Giants were able to come out on top. This is Big Blue's second Super Bowl win in five years, but that doesn't make it any less special.

It's very easy to draw comparisons between New York's latest Super Bowl team and the one that also beat the Patriots four years ago. Both teams were barely able to sneak into the playoffs and entered the postseason as afterthoughts for the most part.

This year's Giants team may have been even more miraculous, though, as it needed a win over the Dallas Cowboys in the final week of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. Also, the G-Men became the first 9-7 team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl.

Perhaps the Super Bowl win itself wasn't as dramatic this time around as New England was undefeated entering the game four years ago, but the Giants were once again underdogs and quarterback Eli Manning was once again heroic on a late game-winning drive.

The defense wasn't as dominant as the one that sacked Tom Brady five times in XLII, but the pressure got to him late and prevented him from staking claim to the title of best quarterback ever. Ultimately, in a season that was all about offense, it was the more balanced team that came out on top.

With most of the talk surrounding Brady and head coach Bill Belichick entering the Super Bowl, it was easy to forget about Manning and Giants head man Tom Coughlin. With the win, though, Manning and Coughlin put themselves in the conversation as one of the best quarterback/head coach combinations in NFL history with two Lombardi Trophies.

Celebrations are often made even better when a team isn't expected to win. A little over a month ago it was inconceivable to most that the Giants could win another Super Bowl. They proved the doubters wrong, though, just like they did four years ago.

The G-Men accomplished a feat that deserves the finest celebration money can buy, and in New York City there is no question that that is exactly what they will get.