What happened last night might be the turning point in Eli Manning's young career. We reserve judgement on this call until next weekend at Raymond James Stadium when we face old foe Jeff Garcia and yet another new team, the Tampa Bay Bucs, for the third wildcard playoff game in the last five years.
But what can I write this morning, that hasn't been said already by my the magnificent sportswriting brethren! Eli stared down the kings of kings, the New England Patriots, and nearly won the battle. He found a new weapon in Kevin "Who's the" Boss, was composed in the pocket, and found Plaxico Burress again (he looked the healthiest he has since the first month of the season). The Giants D, as I predicted, could not stop the Patriots all-world WR tandem of Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but the Pats RB, Laurence Maroney did nothing and Tom Brady got some pressure on him.
Did we lose the war? Well if Kavika Mitchell is out next week, I think the Bucs are still going to be scared by this Gerris Wilkinson guy. Came off the bench was involved in every play. Offensive line didn't flinch when their true center Shaun O'Hara came out with an injury.
So here is what I think this did and history may have to soon start judging "crazy" Tom Coughlin on this year. I think he motivated this squad by leaving all the starters in and fighting till the end when they had ZERO to play for.
You read the comments by some of these G-men this morning and they sound pretty darn confident. Whether this translates to a "W" in Tampa and beyond, we don't know. But we do know is that Coughlin and "easy" Eli have these guys on the same page. These guys possibly have the best mindset heading in the postseason then the previous two years. And more importantly, they get homefield advatange (because its a roadgame).
Note to readers: I promise you that after this month is over, I'll return to more widranging topics then the pigskin. Until then, Chris Matthews can sure as hell adequately tell you about the upcoming presidential caucuses in Iowa and New Hampshire over the next week or so.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Ways to Cement the NY Giants as Legend Killers
Okay, let's make this crystal clear, I don't think my NY Giants have a shot-in-hell of defeating the New England Patriots and has nothing to do with Tom Brady and Randy Moss, but rather this one important reason. After that, I will devise a few suggestions that, if g-d willing, Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress and especially Easy Eli read, it might just work. Okay, here is the main problemo..
THIS GAME IS NOT AT GILLETTE STADIUM-Why would I say this? Well, the Giants need to see a shrink during the offseason, since they've played in NJ this season like they don't belong. 77K + plans watching the G-men get blown out this season by Washington, Minnesota, Dallas and Green Bay. Meantime, the G-men went 7-1 on the road this season and may have cemented their status as Super Bowl darkhorses, because they don't have to play at home ever again this season (barring some goofy wild card scenario). In the process, they made the phrase don't hate the player, hate the game not only trendy again on the road, but made it a scene. Fans in Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo and others witnessed their teams turn into stiffs, while Eli Manning turned into his brother for seven minutes in the 4Q after playing awful for the entire game. So whoever shows up on Saturday night, it might be worth it to just wait a week and enjoy the Giants on the road, its a happenin...
So in case, the Giants want some locker room material, I gave it to them, now that they are paying attention, here's the game plan you need to upset the Pats on the way to the road (literally) to the Super Bowl
Run Brandon Run..Run Ahmad Run-They are not predicting rain on Saturday, but it will be in the 30s in that wind zone of a stadium in the swamp. Again, the light bulb in your head started to turn on Sunday in Buffalo Coach Coughlin. Let Eli throw at most, 25 attempts this game and and hand the damn ball off. Week 14..the Pats beat the tarr out of the Steelers, but the leading rusher in that game was Willie Parker with 134 yrds. The Giants know how to run block. They've had four different RBs lead the game in rushing this season. It's their strength, while Plaxico's gimpy ankle and Jeremy Shockey's absence make this a necessity. Pound Jacobs inside and give Ahmad Bradshaw, perhaps the best seventh round pick ever a healthy dose of sweeps
Pray For Rain/SnowYou don't want Tom Brady to get clear looks for Randy Moss, Donta Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney, Wes Welker, or Scooby Doo for that matter. I think the Giants likely have their best secondary in many years, but they still don't have the depth (who the heck does this season) to keep up with these guys..you take Lawrence Maroney rushing for a 1oo yds, if it means keeping these speedsters off the track. Weather.com gives a 10% chance on Saturday, 60% chance Sunday. So anything goes on Saturday night.
The bulb can't go off in Eli's head with 7 minutes to go in the game-It might be 34-3 by then and Matt Cassel the Pats 2nd stringer may have thrown a TD pass or two by then. Immediately start Eli in the no huddle from the start. Hey, it might even give the Giants some momentum that will carry over to the playoffs. He seems to excel when he's in constant rhythm/motion...and he seems to like looking for a wide array of WRs at that point..speaking of Matt Cassel..
Rough up Mr. Brady-Bill Belichick wants to win the Super Bowl more then chase history. Let me assure you of this. If Terrific Tom Brady is nicked, roughed up or hit in a bad manner. I can assure you, even with a bye, that Bill might just save his boy for the playoffs. I think Matt Cassel probably knows the system well enough that he still might be a threat. But every brake, the Giants can catch, they'll need it hear
Well I'm looking forward to the playoffs for a third consecutive year, I'll preview the more important games for the G-Men next week. Until then, enjoy and happy holidays folks and if you are not in NY or Boston, and you don't have the NFL Network, then you don't have to order it. If you are that curious about the Giants-Pats, then this internet thingies, actually give you a fairly good idea as to what's going on..really.
THIS GAME IS NOT AT GILLETTE STADIUM-Why would I say this? Well, the Giants need to see a shrink during the offseason, since they've played in NJ this season like they don't belong. 77K + plans watching the G-men get blown out this season by Washington, Minnesota, Dallas and Green Bay. Meantime, the G-men went 7-1 on the road this season and may have cemented their status as Super Bowl darkhorses, because they don't have to play at home ever again this season (barring some goofy wild card scenario). In the process, they made the phrase don't hate the player, hate the game not only trendy again on the road, but made it a scene. Fans in Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo and others witnessed their teams turn into stiffs, while Eli Manning turned into his brother for seven minutes in the 4Q after playing awful for the entire game. So whoever shows up on Saturday night, it might be worth it to just wait a week and enjoy the Giants on the road, its a happenin...
So in case, the Giants want some locker room material, I gave it to them, now that they are paying attention, here's the game plan you need to upset the Pats on the way to the road (literally) to the Super Bowl
Run Brandon Run..Run Ahmad Run-They are not predicting rain on Saturday, but it will be in the 30s in that wind zone of a stadium in the swamp. Again, the light bulb in your head started to turn on Sunday in Buffalo Coach Coughlin. Let Eli throw at most, 25 attempts this game and and hand the damn ball off. Week 14..the Pats beat the tarr out of the Steelers, but the leading rusher in that game was Willie Parker with 134 yrds. The Giants know how to run block. They've had four different RBs lead the game in rushing this season. It's their strength, while Plaxico's gimpy ankle and Jeremy Shockey's absence make this a necessity. Pound Jacobs inside and give Ahmad Bradshaw, perhaps the best seventh round pick ever a healthy dose of sweeps
Pray For Rain/SnowYou don't want Tom Brady to get clear looks for Randy Moss, Donta Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney, Wes Welker, or Scooby Doo for that matter. I think the Giants likely have their best secondary in many years, but they still don't have the depth (who the heck does this season) to keep up with these guys..you take Lawrence Maroney rushing for a 1oo yds, if it means keeping these speedsters off the track. Weather.com gives a 10% chance on Saturday, 60% chance Sunday. So anything goes on Saturday night.
The bulb can't go off in Eli's head with 7 minutes to go in the game-It might be 34-3 by then and Matt Cassel the Pats 2nd stringer may have thrown a TD pass or two by then. Immediately start Eli in the no huddle from the start. Hey, it might even give the Giants some momentum that will carry over to the playoffs. He seems to excel when he's in constant rhythm/motion...and he seems to like looking for a wide array of WRs at that point..speaking of Matt Cassel..
Rough up Mr. Brady-Bill Belichick wants to win the Super Bowl more then chase history. Let me assure you of this. If Terrific Tom Brady is nicked, roughed up or hit in a bad manner. I can assure you, even with a bye, that Bill might just save his boy for the playoffs. I think Matt Cassel probably knows the system well enough that he still might be a threat. But every brake, the Giants can catch, they'll need it hear
Well I'm looking forward to the playoffs for a third consecutive year, I'll preview the more important games for the G-Men next week. Until then, enjoy and happy holidays folks and if you are not in NY or Boston, and you don't have the NFL Network, then you don't have to order it. If you are that curious about the Giants-Pats, then this internet thingies, actually give you a fairly good idea as to what's going on..really.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Rockin around the Christmas Tree
..This December has been one that is far remote from winter's past. There are a dozen political candidates, 11 banking CEOs that have been or maybe fired, 10 Yankees who are alleged to have done steroids, 9 days where it been below 30, 8 crazy nights, 7 Harry Potters, six stories a day on economy's ills, five fantastic off-days coming up, four Die Hard movies (did anyone see III or IV), three happy bloggers (stop, the rest are cynics), two wins left for my Giants, one loud cat waking me everyday and ZERO WRITERS filling me up my winter with new TV shows.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
AND TO
ALL A GOOD NIGHT
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
AND TO
ALL A GOOD NIGHT
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Cheaters Cottillion
Did George Mitchell's somber speech remind anyone of the press conferences that used to be held in the aftermath of the Watergate breakin?
Well okay, equating Bud Selig with Richard Nixon is perhaps taking it too far, but I may have planted a bug in people's minds that the baseball commissioner could be the ultimate villian here. Letting juicers run amok in his game over the 15-20 years, while not stepping in to do something about it until quite recently. This thought has hardly original, but I let sportswriters around the country; radio show hosts and CNBC (for crying out loud..Citigroup appointed a new leader, the super-SIV is dead, the middle east in chaos and all these anchors wanted to talk about this week was the Mitchell Report..conspiracy indeed), have their fair shot and place lots of blame on the commish, the owners and the culture they "oversaw". Though, again, I think Bud didn't run in the same circles as say BALCO kingpin Victor Conte or the Mets sinister assistant trainer.
All I can do is offer Bud two paths to redemption and these two roads something that would not happen in today's day-and-age
1) RESIGN IMMEDIATELY: Admit you were the commissioner that was the overseer of this culture and ask for immediate government action to intervene and finally appoint an F-N neutral commissioner who was NEVER an owner and NEVER a player. Just somebody who can arbritate, mediate and may have been a fan of the game at one point or another. In the past, I've admired NBC sportscaster Bob Costas and columnist George Will for their love of the game and wondered if they might make good candidates. I stand by that assertion (though Costas still owes me a hockey interview from three years ago).
2) BAN THE ACTIVE PLAYERS ON THE LIST FROM THE GAME-Why did I bold that suggestion. Because you are trying to send an active message. Would the player's union, American Civil Liberties Union, the government..etc. etc. allow it. Probably not. Nor is there conclusive proof that everyone on that list did it.
But that's why you take active measures to beef up testing procedures. That's why upon immediatey testing positive, that instead of 50-games, its more a one-and-done scenario. Baseball my hurt in the short-term, but the game will have taken steps to correct itself, because here is the thoughts I had this week in the wake of the report.
...I'm a diehard Yankees fan and this morning, I'm sad to say that I don't very much like Andy Petite anymore. I'm glad he admitted taking HGH and I think it time, he called it a career. I once watched Mark McGwire as a wide-eyed 23-year old make history in 1998 by breaking Roger Maris record and now I'm thinking that I wasted time on that as well. Call me a cynic, but baseball indeed will be hard for me to watch next year . ! Knowing that I might wonder and guess who's next. Who did what.
...I sure enjoyed watching the NJ Devils play yesterday in the brand new Prudential Center in Newark. Gorgeous arena. Two streets from the Newark Path Station. Might enjoy more time there then in Yankee Stadium this spring.
Well okay, equating Bud Selig with Richard Nixon is perhaps taking it too far, but I may have planted a bug in people's minds that the baseball commissioner could be the ultimate villian here. Letting juicers run amok in his game over the 15-20 years, while not stepping in to do something about it until quite recently. This thought has hardly original, but I let sportswriters around the country; radio show hosts and CNBC (for crying out loud..Citigroup appointed a new leader, the super-SIV is dead, the middle east in chaos and all these anchors wanted to talk about this week was the Mitchell Report..conspiracy indeed), have their fair shot and place lots of blame on the commish, the owners and the culture they "oversaw". Though, again, I think Bud didn't run in the same circles as say BALCO kingpin Victor Conte or the Mets sinister assistant trainer.
All I can do is offer Bud two paths to redemption and these two roads something that would not happen in today's day-and-age
1) RESIGN IMMEDIATELY: Admit you were the commissioner that was the overseer of this culture and ask for immediate government action to intervene and finally appoint an F-N neutral commissioner who was NEVER an owner and NEVER a player. Just somebody who can arbritate, mediate and may have been a fan of the game at one point or another. In the past, I've admired NBC sportscaster Bob Costas and columnist George Will for their love of the game and wondered if they might make good candidates. I stand by that assertion (though Costas still owes me a hockey interview from three years ago).
2) BAN THE ACTIVE PLAYERS ON THE LIST FROM THE GAME-Why did I bold that suggestion. Because you are trying to send an active message. Would the player's union, American Civil Liberties Union, the government..etc. etc. allow it. Probably not. Nor is there conclusive proof that everyone on that list did it.
But that's why you take active measures to beef up testing procedures. That's why upon immediatey testing positive, that instead of 50-games, its more a one-and-done scenario. Baseball my hurt in the short-term, but the game will have taken steps to correct itself, because here is the thoughts I had this week in the wake of the report.
...I'm a diehard Yankees fan and this morning, I'm sad to say that I don't very much like Andy Petite anymore. I'm glad he admitted taking HGH and I think it time, he called it a career. I once watched Mark McGwire as a wide-eyed 23-year old make history in 1998 by breaking Roger Maris record and now I'm thinking that I wasted time on that as well. Call me a cynic, but baseball indeed will be hard for me to watch next year . ! Knowing that I might wonder and guess who's next. Who did what.
...I sure enjoyed watching the NJ Devils play yesterday in the brand new Prudential Center in Newark. Gorgeous arena. Two streets from the Newark Path Station. Might enjoy more time there then in Yankee Stadium this spring.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Return of the King*
Well I mistook my Yankee pride and A-Rod's agent miscalculated his net worth. The result is that A-Rod decided to come crawlin back to the Bronx with a modest USD 3m pay raise and Warren Buffett's sound financial advice that he would maximize his net worth in um Gotham (as opposed to say LA).
I fully realize that this rant is about a week-and-half too late, but I needed to figure out, well is my blog worth it at this point? I mean mr. 28m man will be in pinstripes. I will once again resume my 32nd year on this earth routing for the Yankees. So I guess everytime A-Rod hits an A-Bomb (I must never quote John Sterling ever again)..I will probably clap my hands cheer. But when we approach October again and A-Rod hits .223 in the league championship series, I will once again resume my arguments that this dude will simply never close to Reggie in terms of being Mr. October. So I say to that Alex, prove me wrong, you have seven years and oh what..300m if you get the record
As for my blog, well we all need an escape..especially for this mild-mannered business writer tha sometimes forget he become creative some times..especially when a great story is at his fingertips..So every Sunday or so..I'll sit down..drink my coffee and perhaps try and illuminate you with some sarcastic observations..some witty banter and engage in topics..that hopefully will be more serious, and a level of realism that far eclipse Mr. Rodriguez's pursuit of fame and glory in the Bronx.
I fully realize that this rant is about a week-and-half too late, but I needed to figure out, well is my blog worth it at this point? I mean mr. 28m man will be in pinstripes. I will once again resume my 32nd year on this earth routing for the Yankees. So I guess everytime A-Rod hits an A-Bomb (I must never quote John Sterling ever again)..I will probably clap my hands cheer. But when we approach October again and A-Rod hits .223 in the league championship series, I will once again resume my arguments that this dude will simply never close to Reggie in terms of being Mr. October. So I say to that Alex, prove me wrong, you have seven years and oh what..300m if you get the record
As for my blog, well we all need an escape..especially for this mild-mannered business writer tha sometimes forget he become creative some times..especially when a great story is at his fingertips..So every Sunday or so..I'll sit down..drink my coffee and perhaps try and illuminate you with some sarcastic observations..some witty banter and engage in topics..that hopefully will be more serious, and a level of realism that far eclipse Mr. Rodriguez's pursuit of fame and glory in the Bronx.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Knocked Up, Coming Back For More, and a tribue to a runner
Well I just watched Knocked Up last night and I must say again..Judd Apatow is sheer genius. He taps into that inner voice of ours where we think alot of things, but never say them. Only this time around Seth Rogen's protagonist character says alot of it and more. His castmates follow suit. And it may have been raunchy, over-the-top (zero need for the "scene" within the pregnancy scene). And this gets my utmost Berke's Law 6 stars out of 5. I was so amazed that I linked up immediately to the SuperBad website-the next Apatow production--but saw zero info when its coming out of DVD.
Now to the news of the week. Merrill kicked Stanley O'Neal out of the exeutive suite and Chuck Prince of Citigroup is following him. I never saw this coming, but when Wall Street takes catastrophic losses then somebody needs to be ushered out the door. Ultimately, do we know what kind of stewardship Prince or O'Neal had over their mortgage lending units and super-advanced SIVs? Hard to say, when you are a running a multi-zillion dollar global conglomerate. What is certain is like any other high profile "corporation" this fall somebody has to be the sacrificial lamb.
I can't digress any further on pop culture or wall street.
As a fellow runner, yesterday's death by Ryan Shay was tragic and just a devastating loss for the running community. I've run a NYC Marathon. I endured pain that was unbearable...and yet I fought, I walked some and ran some over the last 10 miles and finished somehow in 5 hours and nine minutes.
I was very lucky that my sister could be there that weekend to usher me through those last 10 miles and talk to me and encourage me.
Mr. Shay was a world class athlete who had a shot at qualifying for the US Olymic team yesterday. Its tough to come up with more words, but to life is precious gift and its simply unfair what happened yesterday.
My condolences to the Shay family.
Now to the news of the week. Merrill kicked Stanley O'Neal out of the exeutive suite and Chuck Prince of Citigroup is following him. I never saw this coming, but when Wall Street takes catastrophic losses then somebody needs to be ushered out the door. Ultimately, do we know what kind of stewardship Prince or O'Neal had over their mortgage lending units and super-advanced SIVs? Hard to say, when you are a running a multi-zillion dollar global conglomerate. What is certain is like any other high profile "corporation" this fall somebody has to be the sacrificial lamb.
I can't digress any further on pop culture or wall street.
As a fellow runner, yesterday's death by Ryan Shay was tragic and just a devastating loss for the running community. I've run a NYC Marathon. I endured pain that was unbearable...and yet I fought, I walked some and ran some over the last 10 miles and finished somehow in 5 hours and nine minutes.
I was very lucky that my sister could be there that weekend to usher me through those last 10 miles and talk to me and encourage me.
Mr. Shay was a world class athlete who had a shot at qualifying for the US Olymic team yesterday. Its tough to come up with more words, but to life is precious gift and its simply unfair what happened yesterday.
My condolences to the Shay family.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Here's a little ditty I'd like to tell
About the A-Rod decided to smell
He came over to NY, thought he was cool
Instead, he revealed how much he is a tool
Let me tell you this minute
This past Monday took me to the limit
A-Rod, the fool had enough
The Red Sox won the Series; oh it was rough
Then Mother Merrill laid an egg
It fired its CEO, when he laid an egg
He talked to Wachovia
Financial writers cried Foulovia
This Monday, A-Rod decided to smell
The Red Sawx swept the championship
And Mother Merrill laid an egg
Mixed in a bowl it ruined this rhyme..
About the A-Rod decided to smell
He came over to NY, thought he was cool
Instead, he revealed how much he is a tool
Let me tell you this minute
This past Monday took me to the limit
A-Rod, the fool had enough
The Red Sox won the Series; oh it was rough
Then Mother Merrill laid an egg
It fired its CEO, when he laid an egg
He talked to Wachovia
Financial writers cried Foulovia
This Monday, A-Rod decided to smell
The Red Sawx swept the championship
And Mother Merrill laid an egg
Mixed in a bowl it ruined this rhyme..
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