Patriots vs. giants, 6:30 p.m., ch. 7

Upon closer review, it’s all on the line
FOXBOROUGH, MA JANUARY 22, 2012 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS VS. BALTIMORE RAVENS New England Patriots' Tom Brady #12 in the first quarter of the game against Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. (Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff Photo)

Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff Photo

Despite the protests of fans, the Giants are a nightmare matchup for the Patriots. New York is a much better team than it was in Super Bowl XLII; New England likely isn’t.

Dan Shaughnessy

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/05/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/shaughnessy150.jpg The day of reckoning

This Super Bowl has zero connection to Super Bowl XLII, when Elisha Nelson Manning broke New England’s heart and killed dreams of perfection and immortality. Baloney. This is all about revenge.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/05/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/bradymontanasquare--90x90.jpg Brady looks to join Montana’s club

Tom Brady has another chance to join childhood idol Joe Montana in an exclusive club with his fourth Super Bowl title.

Interactive Graphic

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/03/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/Super Bowl Jim Litke Football.JPEG-0f4f0-2236.jpg Head-to-head: Where the Patriots, Giants ranked in 2011

See where the Super Bowl rivals rank among the 32 NFL teams in a variety of offensive and defensive categories.

Three-strikes rhetoric heats up

With November looming, analysts say lawmakers may already have in mind that voting against the three-strikes proposal could become potent ammunition for opponents.

Fired conductor says his ordeal has been transformative

Benjamin Zander refuses to see a dark side of his firing from New England Conservatory for hiring a sex offender to videotape students. The mess, he says, has humbled him.

GLOBE MAGAZINE

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/04/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/mag05cover2A1.jpg What if the lights go out?

In our wired society, surviving even a day without electricity can be a hardship. But thanks to the combination of freak storms and a groaning grid, darker days may still be ahead.

nevada caucuses

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/04/BostonGlobe.com/Politics/Images/Romney Gingrich 2012.JPEG-0696c-235--90x90.jpg Romney wins Nev. by wide margin

Mitt Romney notched his campaign’s second straight victory, while Newt Gingrich reiterated he would stay in the race until the Republican convention in August.

Jeff Jacoby

What’s so good about a long GOP primary fight?

If Newt Gingrich is serious about having it out with Mitt Romney in a long, grueling slog for the Republican nomination, the next several months will be increasingly bitter. Would that be good for the GOP?

“There have been times when he has been so ridiculously generous with his time and insights that I have gotten embarrassed by his kindness.”

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa,  on Bill Belichick

Globe Insiders

Globe Talks | Feb. 15, 6 p.m.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/01/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/greenhouse_movies2_business[1].jpg Oscar Talk

Join the Boston Globe’s movie critics, Ty Burr and Wesley Morris, for a conversation about this year’s Academy Awards.

Inside The Boston Globe

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 12: Manager Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals talks with head coach of the New England Patriots Bill Belichick before game one of the NLCS against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium on October 12, 2006 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Pals know a different Belichick than fans do

Beloved giraffe at zoo on the mend

Winter Arts Guide
for Travel - 05college - The spring bulb show is always a hit at Smith College's Lyman Conservatory. (Sheri Lyn Peabody /Smith College)

10 smart things to do at New England colleges and universities

Boston City Hall’s championship bets

Perspective

In defense of the bandwagon Patriots fan

movies

Daniel Radcliffe is in for the long haul
04super illustration by Luci Gutierrez

g cover

How to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday — without watching football

Super Bowl is all about excess

A pricey perk for new UMass head
Watertown, MA 012512 Cut-out of Patriots logo was made from lavash and baked, Wednesday, January 25 2012. The yellow star is a yellow pepper. (Globe Staff Photo/Wendy Maeda) section: Food slug: 01super stylists: Sheryl Julian, Catherine Smart

The Super Healthy Bowl

Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii keeps the music coming

Columnists

gareth cook

The charity game

Yvonne Abraham

A true fan, body and soul

Jeff Jacoby

What’s so good about a long GOP primary fight?

Bob Ryan

Confidence brimming from Coach Hoodie

Joanna Weiss

A good week for Planned Parenthood
William F. Weld doggedly yet unsuccessfully investigated then-Mayor Kevin White.

JOAN VENNOCHI

Weld’s obsession: Getting Kevin White

Dan Shaughnessy

The day of reckoning

Adrian Walker

Beloved cop paved way

Brian McGrory

One man’s victory over a tow truck

Dan Shaughnessy

Might Bill Belichick retire if he wins?

Boston Capital | Steven Syre

Heads and tails of a huge IPO

ALEX BEAM

Happy birthday, Battle Hymn!

Metro

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Pupil, 6, dropped off at wrong bus stop

The incident, confirmed by a Boston School Department spokesman, occurred on students’ first day back at school after Christmas vacation, and followed months of frustration over tardy bus arrivals.

Nation & World

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Police clear some tents from Occupy site in D.C.

The move left large swaths of open space and raised questions about exactly what would remain of the encampment.

Politics

Political Intelligence

Romney, Brown face tests of sincerity

Mitt Romney and Scott Brown are two different political animals with two different political goals this year, yet their fates are intertwined with two offsetting challenges.

Business

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Suit raises questions about contractor safety

A lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court over the death of Romulo de Oliveira Santos during a Walpole Walmart’s renovation seeks to hold the company accountable for actions of contractors.

Sports

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Welker is the Patriots’ little big man

The Patriots hit the jackpot when they traded for versatile slotman Wes Welker. Over five seasons and 83 games, he has 600 receptions, an average of more than seven per contest.

Travel

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MIAMI

MIAMI, UNITED STATES: Dinners enjoy the weather 18 April, 2005, at a Lincoln Road restaurant on Miami Beach, Florida. Miami is 105 years old and the eleventh largest metropolitan area in the US. According to the US Census Bureau, Miami's population in 1900 was 1,700 people, currently Miami's population stands at 362,470, with 60 percent of them foreign born. AFP PHOTO/ROBERT SULLIVAN (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/Getty Images)

On Miami’s Lincoln Road, variety spices the life

Take a walking tour of the shopping-eating-drinking strip.

Books

BOOK REVIEW

‘Behind the Beautiful Forevers’ by Katherine Boo

A dive into horrific poverty on the edge of Mumbai plumbs the painful ironies of globalism and an emerging India.

Arts

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MOVIES: Actor Gregory Peck (L) appears with actor Brock Peters in a scene from the 1962 film

1962 isn’t considered a vintage movie year - but it should be

Fifty years ago, the movie world was in a state of quiet ferment - and ferment, like fermentation, can produce intoxicating results.

Magazine

The cover for the February 5 2012 issue

What if the lights go out?
The cover for the January 29 2012 issue

Reversing a restaurant curse
The cover for the January 22 2012 issue

Mother worries about her Occupy Wall Street protester son
The cover for the January 15 2012 issue

Mass. voting maps reflect State House evolution

Opinion

“It’s hard to see how a Republican victory in November becomes more likely if [Mitt] Romney, [Newt] Gingrich, and Rick Santorum spend the next several months bashing each other instead of [Barack] Obama.”

Jeff Jacoby 

Ideas

“For American enthusiasts of the Kagame regime, the Ingabire case points to a dilemma: Rwanda’s remarkable reconciliation and success have gone hand in hand with severely curtailed freedom of speech.”

Peter Canellos,  on free expression in Rwanda