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Friday, May 15, 2009

The Vitriol of Ultimatenyg

Yesterday's NY Giants blog installment was an opportunity for us to poke fun at the offensive coordinator. Some regulars agreed, some did not. Good debate. Xtian always makes remarks which I appreciate, because we agree and agree to disagree, but we always know we are constructive. And since we learn from one another in the forum, it is all good.

One remark from xtian needed a little more time for response: "ny fans always have some guy to pile on--kg... kg is not as horrendous an oc as you state."

Of course Gilbride is not horrendous. He probably works harder than all of us and does plenty of good things. Our point all along has been that he costs the Giants in many ways, and for that, we are better served with someone new. To that general idea of the folks here actually having a say in GM affairs, xtian adds: "a more measured jerry reese response is deserved and gets better results in the long run. thank god you guys aren't the giants gm."

For starters, I do not believe I have ever seen the Giants GM order a head coach to fire any of his assistants. It is likely handled in a much different manner.

Secondly, In terms of this blogger's track record on commenting about NY Giants GM affairs, perhaps we are a little less off the mark than one would think. Do not let the vitriol and slapstick of the last post confuse the point. Our lack of confidence in Gilbride's ability to get the most out of his players and leverage their talent is well known. (Contrast that with Spags.) But our seriousness in having the best wishes of this team needs to be understood...

The time was November 2002. Just as I was capable of a rant against Kevin Gilbride today, I was equally if not more insistent that Fassel was not the man to get us a title. The Giants had just lost to the expansion Texans, a typical hallmark of Fassel not handling prosperity. Fassel could not handle a lead (his 1997 loss to the Vikings in the playoffs foreshadowed much larger implosions to come) and he could not handle a winning season (in 7 years he never was able to put together 2 winning seasons). So I wrote Ernie Accorsi a letter. Spelling out his deficiencies, I urged Accorsi to let Fassel go after 6 seasons because I did not believe he had what was necessary for the team to go all the way.

Nov 29, 2002
Dear Mr. Furman:

Thank you for your letter. I'm not sure that during my time with the New York Giants I have received a letter like yours. It was so genuine, so well and intelligently written, so perfectly expressed that I couldn't help but absorb the points you made. I can assure you that we share many of your thoughts. I was mortified last week to see this wonderful franchise so embarrassed. But, as you wrote, the problems have been apparent for a long time.

Thank you for taking the time and caring enough about the Giants to write such a thoughtful letter. We heard every word you said.

Sincerely,
Ernie Accorsi

Literally one game later, the Giants snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with another Fassel Prevent gem against Tennessee, only to be outdone by the benchmark of all 'prevent' implosions, the SF playoff loss. It took another year, two more classic 'prevent' implosions (vs Dallas on Monday night and a PHL Westbrook punt return) for the players to lose complete confidence in their coach, losing the last 8 games of the season.

We may not get everything, but we get enough to know when a coach is underperforming.

7 comments:

Russ Wellen said...

Maybe I'm the only one not in on the job. But I just want to confirm that Accorsi's response is a parody. Even though it probably represents how he felt at the time, there's no way he would have put that down on paper for fear it would hit the press.

Then Accorsi would have been the one out of a job.

xtian said...

i did add another comment/reply to the previous blog.

this year will tell a lot about kg. we will see if he can adjust to life w/o plax. i think he and the team will. for some reason, the entire team didn't adjust to plax going down including the coaches. i think maybe it had to do with the way plax went down--self-inflicted gun shot. but this kind of non-adjustment has happened to many teams over the years. if kg doesn't adjust, he will be gone.

fassel was a very interesting coach. players really enjoyed playing for him. his december record was fantastic--his last year the team was so filled with injuries, it shouldn't really count. the ol might have been the worst in history, two fa rookie ots!--but his teams did make some bone-headed plays to lose games. he needed to go when he did. maybe fassel's best left at oc or qb coach, not hc.

Russ Wellen said...

I said: "Maybe I'm the only one not in on the job." I meant joke, not job.

Bob said...

We must put this whole situation in context. We went from the top scoring O in the NFC the first 10 games of the season to a DUD O the last 5 games...all because of the loss of one player. BS, its the OC's job to find a way to keep the ball moving. We have a top OL, great RB's, a good QB, a very good TE and some good wideouts. This was a TOTAL FAILURE by the OC. He should be gone already !

Gillbrown had 5 games to adjust w/o
Plax last year, including a do-over
with the Eagles. Thats more than enough....too many chances already.

Clearly he does not have the flexibilty, creativity, etc., to turn the O in a new direction. He seems to need the "crutch" of the big stud WR like Plax, who the opposition just can't handle. WELL DUH !! So would any OC. Gillbrown has too many underutilized talents that he has wasted while Plax was absent.

I don't see why we should realistically expect Gillbrown to be any better in 2009. He's had his chance and failed. Our hope is either some of the new talent on the O rises to the top quickly, OR the new D just takes over the games.

Don't expect any new ideas from Gillbrown.

Andy F. said...

Russ- Without disclosing any more, there were items in the letter which secured his trust. Indeed, this is the first time I have publicly disclosed it, and I only did so because he is retired.

Anonymous said...

It is a remarkably frank letter.

Mitch said...

Bob...

I couldn't agree with you more!

It has been hashed...rehashed and discussed ad infinitum.

I'm sick of it. We are powerless and I fully expect to be frustrated again this season.

Believe me, I hope to be proven wrong.

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