The sport of politics. The politics of sport.

What do Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor and ESPN sports pundits like Stephen A. Smith have in common? They all give the New England Patriots the edge over the New York Giants in Sunday’s Super Bowl context for one very logical reason: turnovers. New England will make fewer — if any — of them, those in the know widely agree.

In a press conference Wednesday sponsored by FedEx, which awared Favre its “Air” award and Taylor its “Ground” award, the players mutually agreed that turnovers, committed by their respective teams during their respective playoff games vs. the Giants and the Pats, contributed to their own respective presences on the sidelines rather than the field this week.

The Patriots and the Giants have faced the relentless attention of the press, with a lot of the “same old, same old” questions. Deion Sanders has been everywhere, tapping the shoulder of Giants scapegoat-turned-hero, field goal kicker Lawrence Tynes, and trying to get the real skinny from Patriot defender Adalius Thomas on which of his teammates is most excited to be in Arizona.

But tomorrow, the press take a back seat — a parking lot seat, actually — so the teams can practice and prep for the Big Game in peace. What’s the sound of 106 men (53 per team) plus their coaches heaving a collective sigh of relief?

From his press interview booth, Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress called Randy Moss “the best receiver in the NFL,” which I thought was mighty big of him. But Burress has also asserted that the Patriots won’t score more than 17 points. As I’ve asked in previous posts: Do ANY of these guys — the most obvious being the deluded Pittsburgh Steeler rookie who “guaranteed” a win for his team vs. New England earlier in the season — understand that you JINX YOURSELF by making predictions about your own success? Especially against this year’s Pats?

I’m surprised Tom Coughlin didn’t send someone to chloroform Burress as soon as he started “talkin’ smack.” Someone like Michael Strahan, who seems to know better. I mean, the powers that be in the cosmic universe have been pulling for New England ALL YEAR — remember the Baltimore game? — so the Golden Rule for anyone slated to play them should be “Don’t mess with the gods.” Then maybe some of those gods will look kindly upon you for knowing your place in the divine scheme of things, and hand you a fumble to play with.

Smith threw in kudos to a South Carolina caller to his show for supporting Barack Obama. The irrepressible has been drafted to represent the sports angle on politics on “Hardball with Chris Matthews” — a Red Zone Blogitics kind of guy.

Yours Truly, A.F. Cook