As pitchers and catchers get set to report to spring training, I would like to take a moment to remember Gary Carter.

As a player for the World Series champion Mets of 1986, the Kid brought out a lot of emotions. For Mets fans, he was a God. For others, he was one of those arrogant Mets, like Doc and Darryl and Davey Johnson and Keith Hernandez.

When the Mets won it all in '86, I was a junior in high school and all I remember are all those "bandwagon" fans, wearing those Carter jerseys, talking about the Mets, celebrating this Amazin team.

I wasn't a Mets fan, so I, of course, was one of those anti-Carter folks and I remember getting into these arguments with my best friend, who to this day is one of the biggest Mets fans there are.

Carter, among all those Mets, brought out this type of emotion. But, the one thing sometimes overlooked in all the back-and-forth, was that this guy could play. It's no surprise Carter is a Hall of Famer.

When I heard about Carter's death, memories of 1986 came flooding back. Although his career in New York was relatively short, for that time with the Mets, Carter owned the city.

Gary Carter lost his battle with brain cancer at age 57. The Kid will be missed.

OK, so I know you all have been waiting for weeks for my Super Bowl prediction, so I'll try not to disappoint.

Giants fans will have plenty of reason to celebrate less than 12 hours from now.

I know the Patriots have won their last 10 games, but they are not playing nearly as well as the Giants. New York, which seemed to be playing for coach Tom Coughlin's job about a month ago, come into this game much like it did when Big Blue won the title four years ago.

By now, I'm sure you've heard all the comparisons — losing a close game to an unbeaten team (this time the Packers) late in the season. Beating an NFC South team in the playoffs before winning road games at the Nos. 1 & 2 seeds to reach the Super Bowl. In 2008, a Lawrence Tynes field goal in OT (after a turnover) pushed the Giants past the Packers in the NFC title game.

This year, a Lawrence Tynes field goal in OT (after a turnover) pushed the Giants past the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game.

I'm sure I've missed other similarities.

I, however, don't believe in this kind of karma. I do believe what I see and what I see is a potent Giants' defense that has gotten better the past four weeks of the regular season holding a Patriots' offense in check. On the other side of the ball, I see a Giants' offense that has found its stride of late having a field day against a very mediocre Patriots' defense.

I know the Patriots are a 3-to-3 1/2-point favorite, but don't believe the hype.

Giants win this one, 41-27.