Ira Stoll on the New York Giants and Predicting the Future

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The victory of the New York Giants in the National Football League's Super Bowl is the latest in a series of recent news developments that underscore a principle that might be called Manning's Law, after the Giants quarterback Eli Manning: The predictions of "experts" are often wrong. You can look it up. Sports Illustrated, the venerable, highly profitable jewel of the Time Warner Corporation's magazine empire, employs a veteran sportswriter named Peter King. The magazine describes him as "one of America's premier pro football writers," writes Ira Stoll. And yet, Mr. King's 2011 NFL preview predicted that the Giants wouldn't even make the playoffs.