Terrell Owens exit explained

Jerry Jones' son Stephen made some candid remarks to Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports on why Terrell Owens was released:

"It’s hard (for Tony Romo) to take over leadership when you’ve got a strong personality like Terrell,” Jones said. “If you look back at our old teams [from the 1990s], a lot of people would say maybe Michael [Irvin] was the leader. Then you might say, ‘He was a receiver. What about Troy [Aikman]? He was the quarterback. Wasn’t he the leader?’ And the answer is, yeah, Troy was a leader. But if Michael wasn’t supportive of him, Troy would’ve had problems.

“A lot of our players thought the world of Terrell – they still do. They loved the way he prepared and how hard he played, and everybody respected his skills and what he’d done in the league. And with him here, I think he was always going to carry that kind of weight.”

For a 1 year contract, all Owens can do is one thing: play football. The Bills did fine. This is a game of hearts- shoot the moon.

Jerry Reese comments

Jerry Reese did Q&A with Giants fans. Bob Papa moderated.

Re expanding the season to 18 games: "Still in the early stages.. a lot of red tape.. Players Union will have to sign off on a lot of stuff. If you go to a longer season you will have to expand your roster a little bit."

"Mario (Manningham) has really come on.. He really looked fast during the minicamps and OTA's. Just talking to Eli, after a couple of practices, you really have to get the ball out quick to get it to Manningham, he comes out of his routes so fast.. We are really excited about him.. We expect him to have a breakout season for us."

First, note how Reese mentions how the roster gets expanded as soon as they go to more games. So now teams would have a ~57 man roster instead of a 53 man roster, so the extra ~4 players you add would be the weakest players the coaches would select, the ones on the fringe. And these guys are going to play LATER in the season when the first 53 can no longer field a team. This is precisely the dilution of the quality of the game we talk about. This is tangible evidence that the game suffers when you increase the length of the season.

Second, strong words from our GM on Manningham. Positive sign.

NFL Network Scam

We may be NFL fans who love the product. But that doesn't mean we have to agree to sit idly by while the NFL sucks money like a leach from the public at large.

In the past we have ripped the NFL Network for making egregious money grabs in their cable deals. This morning the WSJ gives us some hard data to back up our claims.

Estimated Annual Affiliate Revenue divided by average household viewers over a 24 hour period:

NFL Network $6,642
ESPN Classic $3,781
Fuse $2,920
Military Channl $655
Arts & Entrtmt $456
Comedy Central $306
Home & Garden $249
Source: SNL Kagan

Can you imagine what the NFL Network was trying to get from Comcast by putting it on the first tier? Every man, woman and child paying top dollar standard cable money for football programming that most (even us, the football hardcores) do not even watch? Finally we get to see the numbers in their gaudy excess- are we shocked that the NFL Network is the #1 overcharger per eyeball? Of course not!

"But what distorts the picture is the absence of correlation between the size of the fees paid to the individual cable channels and their audiences."

18 game seasons, egregious cable contracts, PSLs... the NFL is after growth THROUGH ANY MEANS and it has a bullseye on YOUR wallet. Hold on tight, here comes the smash and grab.

Burress vs Goodell

Maybe we can see Goodell do the same thing to Burress that Burress is trying to do to the NFL. PB's attorneys are trying to stall the courts for so long that PB plays in 2009 while he waits. Now perhaps Goodell is going to so the same thing... initiate investigations and hold hearings that will last long enough to delay any new team from signing him. End result, a stall where the Jets/Bucs/Bears see PB2009 as distasteful and not worth it after missing camp next month.

Who is Cliff Avril?

The 2009 NFL draft ink is barely dry, and they are already making comments. But it is far-fetched to draw too many conclusions this quickly.

It will still take a while to see just how good Wonder's Draft Analysis was for 2008. But some early returns are in, so we will cherry-pick...

One player touted in EIGHT POSTS was Cliff Avril. Wonder wanted the Giants to take him at the end of Round 2 (one of four players that were acceptable) and he went out of his way to remind everyone how well the Lions did by getting the LB/DE. IN APRIL 2008. Fast forward to June 2009:

Defensively, Lions pass rusher Cliff Avril tied for the rookie lead in sacks (five) and led all first-year players with four forced fumbles, but was only a third-round pick. The two defensive linemen who tied Avril with five sacks were drafted in the second (Tennessee's Jason Jones) and sixth rounds (Oakland's Trevor Scott).

Boley out 8-10 weeks, Part 2

Yesterday we learned that Boley had hip surgery and is out 8-10 weeks. Is this the death of this LBer's 2009 season? I'm feel like I am going through the 5 stages of grief.

Anger- What the brown? Browning LBers!?!!! Let's blow them all up and start over.

Denial- How can he need SURGERY WHEN HE HASN'T EVEN HAD CONTACT WITH ANYONE YET?

Bargaining- I'll trade you a Boley hip, a Sintim hamstring and a damaged goods Wilkinson for ONE healthy LBer.

Depression- What I am going through right now. I thought having a FAST LBer behind this potentially awesome DL would have meant a possibly dominating defense. How can this defense be dominating if Boley is barely going to get enough reps to be out on the field, nonetheless making an impact?! Everything is predicated on TIME. It simply, realistically takes TIME to get this player acclimated to a NEW system so that he can be at the full speed the defense will need. Such a bummer.

Paul Schwartz echoes these thoughts(see Part 1 yesterday): "This is a blow to the defense, because Boley, after four years with the Falcons, needed all the time he could get getting acclimated into the new scheme."

Acceptance- Well, it is June, so it is hard to be completely down about anything related to football. It could be worse, we could find out about this in camp and not get this guy back until the end of October. Here is to hoping he is a fast learner so that he is playing well by the end of the season, which is realistic and perhaps fortuitous for a playoff run.

SINTIM, WILKINSON, GOFF, KEHL .... heeellpp! SOMEONE PLEASE STEP UP AND SAVE OUR LBer crew.

Boley out 8-10 weeks

Boley had hip surgery. Uggh.

Problem here is that Boley needed the reps in training camp to get comfortable with the defense... ie stop thinking and start playing. Barrow and Pierce both were very intelligent linebackers and both took ~ half a season to get in synch with everything to the point where both were making an impact. Between the injury and missing camp, this means Boley will likely not make the kind of impact we were expecting in 2009. He'll be out there but it just means LBer is still a Giant weakness.

Osi Umenyiora

Michael Eisen on Osi Umenyiora: "(Gushing, embarrassed, laughing) He's the quickest defensive end I've ever seen. He looked very..tremendous. Very quick. Tremendous boost to the DL. Osi looks like he is primed for a really good year."

Bill Sheridan, DC of the Giants on Osi Umenyiora:
Q. How has (Osi) Umenyiora looked coming off that injury?
A. "Super quick, quick as a cat. He looks like he has always looked. He is a dart. He is a great enthusiasm guy to have around the practice field, but he looks fantastic. It is funny, Jim Herrmann, who joined our staff, mentioned after one of the first OTAs, gosh, Umenyiora, he is really fast. He is probably the quickest guy in the NFL. He has looked great and I think he is feeling good, too. We are going to keep track of him and make sure he doesn’t get worn out in the preseason. We have a lot of guys coming into camp that can spell him."

Glauber of Newsday: "Osi is downplaying his comeback from a knee injury, but I'm told he's possessed in his training in hopes of having a monster year."

Nice to hear he's coming back. Sometimes they are controlled in the way they describe a player's recovery. But in this case when the coaches are gaudy with the comments, you have to imagine he is better than good. It is worth remembering that we were told by the media that Umenyiora may have been ready by late Dec/playoffs had he not been placed on season-ending IR. That should give us a hint that he will be ready.

Matt Ryan

Eli Manning is a good QB, cool under pressure, he won us a championship. He enters his 6th year with the confidence befitting a veteran. He had a good offseason and (generally speaking) makes improvements each year. WITH ALL OF THIS SAID... I trade him straight up for Matt Ryan IN A HEARTBEAT.

For Ryan to make a big leap his second year, not a surprise here at all. We are going to have our hands full (we play ATL after the bye), this kid is the real deal.

Some interesting comments from Gilbride

Gilbride spoke with the media Thursday after minicamp was over.

He had some cautiously positive spin on where the team is.

He singled out 4 players by name:

Bradshaw and Ware- "..we feel pretty good about some of the guys that have been given a chance to step up, whether it is Ahmad Bradshaw at running back or Danny Ware."
WRs– "so many young receivers look good"
Manningham- "he's showing some things that we thought he could do which we never saw last year, now all of a sudden he's doing it"
Beckum- "you miss this whole time, it certainly sets him back and you don’t want to say he can’t do it, but he will be one of the unusual ones if he can"

It is very good info on the margin to hear that Manningham had a good minicamp. It means he is getting an understanding of the offense, and will be in a position to start playing instead of thinking. We keep hearing this from the coaches and the players... how when you are rookie the playbook is so immense that you are too busy just trying to learn the plays and not screw up your assignment instead of going out there and hitting the ground running. This is why each season you have to pay attention to which rookies are doing well early- it means these guys are keepers. Guys like Gibril Wilson and David Diehl, fifth rounders who came in, started their first rookie game... they can have very nice careers. These are the exception, the notable exceptions, but it gets you excited. So when we hear that Manningham is doing much better, that Nicks is doing well, that Bomar has a great release... it means these players have half a chance of doing something. And when Beckum is in the trainer's room as a rookie, he needs to make sure he is healthy for ALL of training camp because he is already behind.

Gil Brandt Q&A

From Gil Brandt Q&A:

1) "I think Eli Manning will do well, though I'm not sure he'll have an MVP-type year. In rookie Hakeem Nicks, I think he has a very good young receiver. Overall, his young corps of receivers will help him more than people think."

2) "My Super Bowl pick as of now is New England in the AFC and the NY Giants in the NFC. Pittsburgh is my second-ranked team -- ahead of the Giants and behind New England."

3) "I do think (Burress will) end up with the Jets."

4) "The Cowboys are ranked 10th on my current list. I'm going to watch them at their minicamp tomorrow, so I'll have a better feel. It's been quiet out there and they are getting a lot of work done, which is a good sign. They have probably the best trio of running backs in the league and the best duo of tight ends. They do have a chance to get into the playoffs, and they do have a chance to advance from there. Dallas doesn't have great depth, but they do have some very good players."

5) "Historically, rookie receivers don't have a huge impact -- and DeSean Jackson dispelled that last year for the Eagles. I can see Maclin catching 50 passes, and being a threat to make a big play every time he touches the ball."

Tom Coughlin speaks to Francesa on the FAN

Coughlin spoke to Mike Francesa yesterday afternoon. Audio linked.

Just call him #89

12/25/08: Gilbrown, wake up and exploit your TE

6/18/09: Star Ledger, courtesy of the man HIMSELF, none other than Mark Bavaro...

Folks, I'd like to think that we are smart, but that isn't it. It's that Gilbrown has the freaking hand dealt to him, Toomer knows it, Banks knows it, .. BAVARO KNOWS IT. This is not rocket science. If you are a good coach you leverage what you are given. The vacuum that was Burress had answers, don't let them fool you. Do you want Bavaro to spell it out in any more blunt terms than he already has:

"I don't think he needs to improve, I think he's very good now," Bavaro said. "If he was back with us, (offensive coordinator) Ron Erhardt and (quarterback) Phil Simms, he would have my numbers and more. But a lot of it depends on the game plan."

Sinorice Moss- June 2009 edition

Sinorice Moss has had some trouble with injuries bogging him down. On Tuesday, Day 1 of a 3 day minicamp, he pulled his hamstring in the afternoon practice. He will sit out of the rest of minicamp but says he will be fine. With hamstrings, they linger and just when you think a player is ok, a week later he is bogged down. But with 6 weeks off before training camp, this does not rate to be a big problem.

Assuming Moss recovers quickly, the early returns are very good. If it comes together for the 4th year player, it will not be too late. Everyone knows that the Giants need- one or two of these young WRs to step out and make an impact.

We never understood why Moss did not get more playing time last season. Then again, there are a lot of things we do not understand about our coordinator. In limited action Moss did really well, and we noted his impact vs Seattle and Minnesota.. assuming he can stay healthy, more touches will help the team. Give him a chance in 3 or 4 games and see how he does. He deserves that much.

Day 1 of Minicamp

First the bad news, Moss has a hamstring injury. Vacchiano was concerned.

Garafolo had raves for Carr ("Awesome"), Moss ("Big practice"),

and the good news...

"Wait til camp and the preseason, when you see how fast the ball comes out of QB Rhett Bomar's hand. He flicks the ball and it's out. It's quite something. He did it again Tuesday on a great ball over the middle for an incompletion. Yes, I said incompletion because TE Darcy Johnson dropped it. But that's not the point. The point is Bomar got it out and up the seam so quickly that the LBs didn't have a chance to get their hand up. I'm really impressed with Bomar so far."

There it is, the first official "gush" about Rhett Bomar from Mike Garafolo. No, he has not done anything as a Giant, not yet at least. But let's give a little credit to Wonder, who

targeted him here at Ultimatenyg NY Giants blog on Monday April 13th.

Just do me a favor guys, if this 5th rounder ever starts for the Giants, remember where you heard his name first, 13 days before he was picked by Reese.

That bitter taste in their mouth

Eisen of Giants.com talks about the consensus aftertaste of 2008:

"A lot of the players still talk about the playoff loss to Philadelphia and how much they want to atone for that, how they did not play their best football at the end of last season. They were very disappointed last year. This is a team that is very eager to get started... half the guys would get in the car and go (to Albany for training camp)."

You have to know and expect that the maturity and experience of this team will make a difference in 2009. They expect to win, they have a great deal of confidence, and did not like finishing poorly last year. We'll be surprised if the Giants are not able to play at a consistently high level this season. The bitter aftertaste of last year that we keep hearing about is a very good thing.

Who said this about Nicks?

From Friday June 12: "I like the way his attitude is. I like everything about what he's trying to do here. He's planning on staying here all summer so he can throw and catch with Eli [Manning]. He's spending extra time in his playbook. He's watching film. He's doing things that veterans do. It's awesome to see. That's how you succeed and that's how you make a splash in the NFL."

These are the things you like to see. To have your #1 embrace the work ethic and NOT rest on his laurels of being selected #29, it is a VERY good sign. People turn their television on for week 1 and see a rookie make some good plays and they think it is his ability. But we here on this blog watch the Giants 24/7/365 and know enough about football to be aware of the fact that it takes a tremendous amount of dedication and effort to succeed. This rookie can push Moss to get more time in the slot. Is it crazy to think he can take the X and be next to Smith? If he works hard enough it will only be a matter of time. At the very least, it is simply an encouraging sign to see a rookie with special gifts who is willing to work. It shows a great deal of self-respect, respect for his teammates and coaches.

More OTA review

Boley

Thursday OTA Recap

Beckum

17 postponements

Plaxi-shmoe delays his fate until September. Time is NOT on this guy's side. Sure, if he pulled a Keith Hamilton, kept delaying AND KEPT PLAYING while he delayed, he would be doing something that is effective. But the delays in this situation mean he does not necessarily play. Why do the Bears/Jets/Bucs sign him to a deal when he is a question mark with the court system and the league? It is challenging enough to get involved with a player that has a troubled past. Why get involved with a player that has a troubled present and/or future?

So for a moment, let's assume he would not return to football until after his legal issues are figured out. His value and his return to football drop with every postponement. You do not just turn things off and turn them back on at this professional level of athletic commitment. Michael Jordan went to baseball for ~1.5 years and it took another year after his return before he could play at the level he was at before he left. Plaxico Burress has been out of football since November of last season. Now he misses training camp and if he has to serve time it is 2010 before he sees football again. He would probably have an uneven 2010 season, 2011 he would return "to form." But here is the kicker- he would be THIRTY FOUR YEARS OLD BY THAT POINT in 2011. This guy does not have the time he thinks he has. He has just burned 5 months in postponements.

Let's also remember it takes time for ANY WR and ANY QB to get the rhythm and communication necessary to succeed. Not only is this guy going to have to get back to max football output, he is also going to have to learn a new playbook and a new QB. Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison happens after many years of each player knowing exactly what is going on. The only way out for Burress would be if some team like the Bears were to do make the leap now, take future risks and have an experienced QB like Cutler shorten his communication curve. And then of course we are talking Burress, who would be in Florida in the offseason, not working on his timing with his new QB.

As the story goes, Burress would like to play for the Jets so that he can "stick it to the Giants." Too bad that this shmoe is too busy sticking it to himself first.

To Headcoach or Not to Headcoach

Your team has just gotten another losing season, the head coach has been fired and it is time to pick a successor who will hopefully turn things around. Who do you hire? Do you hire a new head coach who has previously been a head coach with another NFL team, OR do you hire a head coach who does not have any previous experience as an NFL head coach?

The answer from this blog- take the rising assistant head coach. Roll the dice on the new and unproven. Why? Because the goal is championships, and the data shows that NEW head coaches have won many more Super Bowl championships. If your goal is to restore your franchise to respectability, by all means get a retread. They will win you games and give your fans a playoff appearance. But if you are playing to go all the way, get the coordinator who has done some very good things, give him the keys to the car and let him drive.

HC Super Bowl winners w/ no previous NFL HC experience
Lombardi
Stram
McCafferty
Landry
Noll
Madden
Flores
Walsh
Gibbs
Ditka
Parcells
Seiffert
Johnson
Switzer
Holmgren
Billick
Cowher
Tomlin

HC Super Bowl winners w/ previous NFL HC experience
Ewbank
Shula
Shanahan
Vermeil
Belichick
Gruden
Dungy
Coughlin

18 out of 26. 69%. 72% if you count them by total titles.

Here is where we editorialize also. In this blogger's not-so-humble opinion, Coughlin does not win a Super Bowl unless he is ordered to CHANGE and start communicating better with his players by John Mara after a contentious implosion in 2006. Strahan, Burress and others all noted the difference that Coughlin had made. He changed(see minute ~6:30). He was available to players. He listened to them. In fact, we cited here that one of the reasons why the Giants pulled it all off is that the players asked Coughlin for more rest (more sane practices) as the season wore on, Coughlin gave it to them, and the Giants became the road warriors, winning 11 straight on the road. In short, Coughlin bonded with his players in a way that he never would have done when with the Jaguars OR the Giants in 2005 and 2006. Asterisk.

Belichick had an absolutely horrible situation with an imploding franchise that packed up in the middle of the night to escape town. Every former head coach who is interviewing for a new chance is going to tell you they have the extenuating circumstances that makes them the candidate to come in and win a title. But the numbers say you are better off with a new face.

Some of you are thinking- but what about the fact that in the last 12 years, 6 out of 9 of those coaches had previous HC experience. That this is the new era of free agency... Perhaps it is true that there is less patience on behalf of owners, who see teams like the Rams go from worst to first. The turnover of free agency makes life in the NFL far more volatile. The Raiders fire Gruden (more attributable to Al Davis literally losing his mind) when they are knocking on the door. Every HC that wins after losing elsewhere has a story of redemption. Maybe it is true that you have to pay attention to the extenuating circumstances more, because franchises may be making more mistakes in letting guys go too early. Steve Spagnuolo, Ken Whisenhunt, Rex Ryan... these are the types of guys who will give you the fresh start, the best shot. Mangini with prev experience as a head coach? No.

So, do you go with the last 9 datapoints? Or the first 25 (23 out of 25, pretty scary, eh?). We'll choose to look at all 34 and say that the new guy gives you the fresh blueprint and supports Rule #11. Of course there are exceptions. If the Giants had a vacancy and John Fox was let go by the Panthers, I would want Fox back here BECAUSE of the work he has done in Carolina. Fox + Reese would be scary good.

Summary: All things being equal, take the new head coach, not the retread. Only take a HC with former HC experience if there are very strong circumstances arguing for why the candidate deserves another opportunity.

6 Parts, ONE GREAT SHOW

Back by popular demand. The first repeat post. Not good.. A GREAT SHOW.. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Strahan, Manning and Coughlin. 6 Parts. One great story produced by the NFL Network.

A classic from Friday September 12, 2008

America's Game Part 1- The 2007 Giants

America's Game Part 2

America's Game Part 3

America's Game Part 4

America's Game Part 5

America's Game Part 6

Jeremy Shockey

Fictional conversation overheard...

Brees: Are you coming to the voluntary OTAs?
Shockey: Maybe, I'm not sure.
Brees: Whadya mean, maybe???!!
Shockey: Well, I am supposed to be in Miami when..
Brees: Miami? MIAMI!! Do you play for the freaking Dolphins?
Shockey: No, but I like practicing at Miami with all the Hurricane players.
Brees: McFly?? McFly?! Hello McFly. Here, let me help me you out. I'll give you some geography. You show up at all the OTAs, voluntary or mandatory. In LOUISIANA. Or else I am not looking your way.
Shockey: I'm going to be healthy this season and I'll be able to help the team much more than last season.
Brees: You're not going to help anyone here if you dare miss even a single practice. You're on my s*** list if you miss a single practice, you hear me pea brain?
Shockey: I get it, I get it.
Brees: Good. Now tell me what happened in Vegas.

Terrell Thomas

Terrell Thomas video. This guy came on well as the season wore on, which is exactly what you want to see from a rookie. Quietly we have big hopes for Year 2.

Some of the OTA recap

OTA = Offseason Training Activity. When reading about OTA's it is like you are wandering in the desert and every tidbit is supposed to be a meal. It isn't. We are ready for training camp already at the end of July, but in the meantime we have to discuss how a second string player looked good versus a third string defender and presto- success! I do remember Amani Toomer showing up for his third year, having done karate in the offseason, and really separating himself from the pack. So you want to see players who can turn heads. It's still June. These stories are probably at magnification level 3 and need to be toned down. Just a warning not to be sucked into any early hype...

Manningham

Ware

Barksdale

Hixon and Woodson

Busy day in OTA land, plaxi-shmoe

Ralph Vacchiano reports that

Cofield "may" have had micrfracture surgery too. Read the note by Ralph that says how the Robbins blog deleted the word "microfracture" from the Robbins site. Too late, the cat's out of the bag. I always find it stunning how people try to delete history. Saturday Night Live had a great skit back in November of last year with the Big 3 automakers on C-Span in front of Congress asking for 10's of billions of dollars. The plan was to get more and more money every few months with no end in sight. These comedians (and the public) had this one figured out well before we pumped in 50B-60B to see GM still go to bankruptcy anyway. Why mention this? Because you can no longer find the video on the SNL website. NBC pulled it. The truth (be it to the gov't or to the ad clients) hurts.

Lots of passing at Friday's OTA

Antonio Pierce lost a gear last year. 31 in October? Ouch. This is what happens to ALL LBers. A few are able to sneak by until 33, but most get to 31 and the downhill slide is unforgiving. Boley will help his game, but remember that Boley will probably be thinking too much to be making an impact, at least in the first half of the 2009 season. Pierce's days are numbered. If he is able to find the fountain of youth and play effectively for one more season, it would be a huge gift. This was why we were so keen on beefing up LBer. I really hope Sintim can help this team, but his hamstring certainly does not help. At least he'll be able to rest it from mid June to the end of July.

Someone is going to have to explain why it all of a sudden has dawned on plaxi-shmoe that he needs to do a deal NOW to keep him in the 2009 season. He had this at the end of March and passed. Two more months have gone by and he is NOW figuring it out? For his sake the grass better be greener with the Jets/Bucs/Bears.. in 2010?

Brian Westbrook gets the knife today

Trivia question: Brian Westbrook is 29 years old. How many seasons has he started all 16 games for the team? Answer- NONE. And we just found out a few days ago that Westbrook will be having his second surgery of the offseason TODAY. He had arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in the offseason, and now ankle surgery to clean out bone spurs. This is not going to help him stay on the field in 2009 because his offseason preparation is going to be impaired. Westbrook is a great player who absolutely kills the Giants when he is healthy. But the good news for the Giants is that he cannot stay healthy for very long.

Fred Robbins

Fred Robbins mentions in his blog on Tuesday and Ralph V picked up that Robbins had microfracture surgery. Oh brown. You cannot have enough depth at DL. How many of you realistically think this guy is going to make the final roster? This has PUP list written all over it.

It is a very sad moment for Giants fans. Fred Robbins is a warrior who time and again delivered for the gmen. When you think about what he played through all season? And the Eagles playoff game, he was playing on guts, and almost ran that INT into the endzone! We hope this guy has some gas left in the tank, but this is sobering and realistically we cannot expect that much more. He was in the trenches for us and got us a championship. Fred- whether or not you play for the Giants again, thanks for all you have given us.

Crime of omission

Sal Paolantonio of ESPN writes an NFC East blog entry on Eli Manning and the Giants receiving options.

Which name is missing from this analysis?

KEVIN BOSS!

Not a word on his motherbrowning TE, all 6'6" and 270 lbs. of him! Yes, technically speaking, Boss is a TE, and not a WR. WHO CARES?! Win games. Go tell that to the Atlanta Falcons, who gave up a #2 for Tony Gonzalez, who "only" caught for 1000 yards and beat out approximately 6x32-9= ~183 other WRs in this league. (Not to mention the other 60 or so TEs too!) USE YOUR TE.

Trust us, we still have scars from a decade of Howard Cross killing our offense because of its INABILITY to have a TE as a weapon to pull away that SS. Kevin Boss has all that is necessary for 800+ yards from scrimmage. You think THAT can help Manning and this offense move the ball more consistently and get an identity?!! We just better hope Boss is more on the radar of Gilbrown than that of Paolantonio.

PSL Update

Myers of the Daily News updated us on the PSLs this weekend.

1) Apparently since all of the NON-CLUB ("non-premium") seats are sold, blackout rules do not apply. The NY Metro area will not be blacked out. Pathetic and embarrassing that such a topic should even have to come up.

2) On the subject of embarrassing, Myers points out that these overpriced club seats behind the Giants bench potentially will be empty for home games, creating the same gaffe that the Yankees have behind homeplate. Ironically, this is only partially true. The TV cameras are on the opposite side of the field behind the visiting team, and when they want crowd shots they usually spin around to get those close ups. You can bet your sweet bottom that if the Clubs remain unsold (doubtful, they'll find some sucker corporates to mop up the rest) the Giants will instruct the NFL and networks to MAKE SURE that they turn the camera to soldout Field 1.

3) We said a long time ago that the waitlist was inflated with many people who had to be on it to register for the ticket exchange program. Kudos to Myers for getting those numbers on just how bad it was.

4) Between the search for people who will pay for these tickets and the ones who stretched to buy PSLs and need to resell tickets to others to lower their costs, you have to expect the crowd and character of the stadium is going to change. How much of the homefield advantage will be lost? We re-link the article written by Simmons of ESPN, a very good read and reread.

Boomer speaks to Manning, Nicks

MSG moments from ~last week. (We see these things faster than they get posted, but in the offseason you have to string'em out a little bit or else you can go for days without anything.)

Boomer interview with Manning. Nice comment on Andre Brown.

Hakeem Nicks shows up at minute 8:00 of the video segment.