Preseason ticket extortion, etc...

1) From Sunday, Phil Mushnick: NFL Extortion, KC Chiefs-style.

If you have an opinion to share, write a letter to

Commissioner Roger Goodell
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

All that is necessary for the forces of NFL evil to win in the world is for enough good fans to do nothing.
Edmund Burke Ultimatenyg

2) Sintim and Beatty signed, one left.

3) Andrews and Peters hurt at Eagles camp. Not major, but not a help either. Everyone has injuries, deal with them.

4) Rich Seubert:

Q) What are your individual goals for this upcoming season?
A) My personal goal for this season is for the team to win. The only way you have fun in this business is if you win games, and my goal is for the team to do well. At this stage of my career, it's all team goals. My personal goal is to stay healthy and play well, but it's really for the team to win games, and a lot of them.

Q) Who's going to be the breakout player on the team this year?
A) Everyone can predict a receiver. You know, I think everyone has proved themselves, so you have to pick a rookie probably. So yeah, one of the rookies. It better be one of the rookies.

We just love the wisdom of a lineman. Anonymous team effort. Meat and potatoes. Win.

David Tyree

Someone please tell us.. how does David Tyree get a roster spot? If Smith, Hixon, Moss, Manningham, Nicks or Barden get hurt badly and go on season-ending IR, okay, we know that one. But let's assume those 6 stay healthy. How does he stick? Everyone knows his special teams play, but at his age, he needs to be doing more. I am not so sure he would have made the team last year either- w/o the PUP he was likely the odd man out last year as well. This year he'll likely be a roster casualty. Some team short on WRs and specials will pick him up.

Pierce distraction

Pierce to be indicted by DA for involvement in the Plaxishmoe debacle.

John Mara defends Pierce and spars with the DA.

I am not trying to spread rumors. My only logical guess for where this could come from is that Pierce was the one who asked the hospital employee to not report the gunshot wound. It would be the only reason why the DA is not charging the worker, instead letting her roll on Pierce. "Morgenthau did specify that no New York-Cornell medical personnel would be charged for failing in their obligation under state law to inform police about Burress' gunshot wound." Why? I would have to believe the DA is after someone else. With Plaxico Burress not mentioned at all in this light, the next person would seem to be Pierce. This is PURELY CONJECTURE. We have no evidence to suggest this other than what you are reading here.

Misc

1) 5 days till camp, 6 days till first practice.

2) Morgenthau wants as many as two years from Plax.

3) The NY Post says Pierce is 'still on the hook' for his involvement in the Plax mess.

4) Vick has been reinstated, and Myers thinks he will become a Redskin.

5) Westbrook out until mid August. He went under the knife June 5th.

6) The Giants top 3 picks have not yet signed. Here is a link to keep track of all of the first round signings.

7) ESPN's lack of coverage of Roethlisberger's civil rape case and Marvin Harrison alleged gun shootings?!!! The parade continues.

Ralph Vacchiano is back

Ralph Vacchiano is back and he has given his training camp preview.

Just as interesting, if not more so, is Vacchiano's 5 issues:
1. "Top of the Heap"- the state of the WRs with Plax and Toomer gone.
2. "Money ball"- the state of the defense after the free agent $ignings of Canty, Bernard, Boley and Brown.
3. "Ahmad's touches"- Ward's touches last season were double Bradshaw's the past two.
4. "Rookie roles"
5. "End of the line"- make or break seasons for Sinorice Moss and Gerris Wilkinson.

The Ultimatenyg 5 issues:
1. LBer LBer LBer
2. Lack of depth at OL
3. Boss touches
4. Hixon on kickoffs
5. Lack of depth at S

Please note that we specifically did not mention WR. Two years ago we did not mention RB despite the fact that everyone and their mother was worried about the loss of Barber. We knew the Giants were loaded at RB. And that happened to be the August where Ryan Grant was traded to the Packers because of the quality overload (normally he gets cut). No, WR is not overloaded. But between Manningham and Moss having a good offseason, Tyree fighting for a roster spot, Nicks showing good hands, Hixon and Smith simply extending their play with more consistency, this will not be the bugaboo everyone worries about. #3, Kevin Boss getting the touches from Gilbride-- this is the issue to be concerned about. TE needs to make the PASSING game work. By getting Boss more involved in the passing game, the WRs will have less pressure, less Safeties and more opprtunities. Not to mention helping the crowded box running game.

Jim Johnson

Competition makes you better. And taking it one step further, when the competition inside your division is raised to another level, it provides AN OPPORTUNITY for your team to win it all.

We used to think that if there were a few easy games in the season/playoffs, that this route was preferred. STOP! Think about it- since when have the Giants ever gone all the way and won a Super Bowl title with an 'easy' route?!

In '86, the Giants lost to division rival Dallas in Week 1. The 49-3 playoff win vs the 49ers was against a very good team. They also played three games of WAR vs the Redskins. That which does not kill you makes you stronger.

In '90, it was the Eagles who stopped the Giants unbeaten streak. And it would be two teams the Giants had lost to during the regular season (49ers, Bills) that the Giants would need to go through for the title. Championships are earned.

In '07, the Giants had lost to the Cowboys TWICE during the regular season. So it took a win vs Dallas in arguably their toughest playoff contest that year to get over the top. I thank the heavens for giving us a Flozell Adams injury in Q3 or else I do not think that game is won.

Contrast this with the adversity given by the Eagles last season, where they drew up the blueprint in W14 for the post-Burress recipe on how to beat the Giants. That ugly day was only made worse when the Giants were not able to answer 5 weeks later in the playoffs to the same divisional rival.

It may seem simple and almost trite, but if you cannot get past your division, you aren't going anywhere. You might as well have a tough division because championships are the goal, not the playoffs.

It is with all of this said that we have to truly respect the job that Jim Johnson has done for the Eagles defenses over the years. Nothing ever came easy playing against Jim Johnson. Those blitzes were going to come and you were going to have to earn your way when you played against him. He is fighting cancer and has stepped aside as DC. We dislike (okay, hate) the Eagles, but Jim Johnson makes the NFC East what it is by giving the division 60 minutes of adversity every single game. You may not want to admit it, but the NFC East will miss him.

Tisch and Mara speak to their customers

Earlier this week the Giants reduced ticket prices on their remaining unsold tickets. Yesterday morning Tisch and Mara sent a letter to the waitlist. It was a grim reminder of how much has changed. The takeaways:

1) "Once you purchase a PSL, you will control your seat for as long as the Giants continue to play in the new stadium." Yes, that's right, suckers. In 30 years when this stadium is no longer state of the art, we'll come at you with hat in hand and do this all over again. Can't wait.

2) "We have attempted to convey from the beginning of the PSL sales process that great thought and care has been given to the pricing of the PSLs and tickets in our new home." How much can we get out of this group of people without an insurrection?

3) "After literally sitting in many of the seats, we have decided to reduce the ticket price of the outer two sections in all four Mezzanine Club B corner areas from $400 to $250 per game." These seats smelled, so we had to lower the price on them.

4) "As a reminder, the approximately 70,000 non-club seats have been sold out in the new stadium." The Club Seats are selling as fast as those Yankees seats behind home plate.

5) "Please note that the ticket prices in our club sections will remain the same for at least the first three seasons in the new stadium." The economy browns, we can't sell all of these PSLs at the current price, so we are spinning this as well as we can. Aren't we great for holding the line on ticket price increases?

6) "As waitlist members, we hope you take advantage of this opportunity to experience Giants Football in one of our new clubs." Waitlist member? What's a waitlist member? That list disappeared along with the generations of goodwill that we threw down the toilet. Oh, did we mention how many toilets there are in the new stadium that you are paying for with those PSLs? Alert- new money-raising idea: Maybe we can have naming rights for the urinals.

One Giant fan who also received the letter yesterday emailed Ultimatenyg: "Gotta love them. They are so caring and compassionate." A little sarcasm there? Ya think?!

Who's going to have a breakout year?

Mike Garafolo of NJ.COM has been conducting a summer questionnaire for departing Giants players after minicamp OTAs. A lot of it is human interest, but one thing we felt was info on the margin (especially when aggregated together as a group) were the answers to the same question...

"Excluding yourself, who's going to be the breakout player on this team this year?"

Justin Tuck> "Jay Alford"
Michael Johnson> "Aaron Ross"
Danny Clark> "Sinorice Moss"
Chris Snee> "Domenik Hixon"
Kevin Boothe> "Osi Umenyiora"
Chris Canty> "Hakeem Nicks"
Mathias Kiwanuka> "Domenik Hixon"
Adam Koets> "Steve Smith"
Corey Webster> "Michael Johnson"

"The rookies" enter their 3rd year

A little while back I went to check a particular play from the Super Bowl, something jumped out at me... the first TD drive of the Giants at the beginning of Q4. With the exception of Tyree's TD catch culminating the drive, every play was handled by a rookie!

Boss 45 yd pass play
Bradshaw 4 yd run
Bradshaw 2 yd run
Smith 17 yd pass play
Bradshaw 7 yd run

These guys are now entering their 3rd year, if they can all make the jump, it will be a very good year. It also underscores how all hands have to be on deck- in today's NFL you need your rookies to hit the ground running, to be able to help the team out later in the year. Rookies who start at the beginning of the year get tired by the end because they are not ready for the grind, which can be twice as long as college. But the three rookies featured above are noteworthy for a few reasons.. (1) they all saw limited action for the first ~3/4ths of the season and (2) were all on the list of players who needed more playing from Gilbride last year and certainly need it this year in order for the team to make the jump. Everyone here knows full well that the jump from 2nd year to 3rd year pro in the NFL is usually a make or break proposition. We see no reason why the tremendous rookie class of 2007 cannot and should not make a quantum leap in production for this team.

In descending order of confidence:

Boss- once Plax went down, this man needed to be the center of the offensive passing attack. We argued for it late last season, it did not happen, but we do not see any reason (other than Gilbride neglect) why this kid cannot have a huge year. HUGE. But you don't have to listen to us, just listen to Bavaro, get him the damn ball.

Smith- he'll be taking Toomer's spot at the possession wideout. Looking for big camp and big year.

Bradshaw- protect the ball and the rest is all downhill. There are no excuses for him or the coaching staff this year. NONE. Ward is gone, the snaps will be there, carry that ball high so that it does not get stripped. Run for daylight every single snap. Stretch opposing defenses the way it was done in the 2008 playoffs.

Johnson- surprised? It is more about bodies back there than anything else. Losing Wilson after 2007 and Butler in 2008 leaves a fulltime starter spot open for this guy with less rotation than the past two years.

Ross- ??..did he have a sophmore slump? Is it me, or did he come on like gangbusters early in 2007, only to get more yawns than impact thereafter? Yes, the Giants use a lot of press coverage, so without the DL to keep up the pressure as last season wore on, we saw Ross exposed. Time to make that big jump. At stake is nothing less than a Super Bowl, because with the superior depth of our DL in 2009 and the potential for bookend corners in Ross and Webster, this defense can be awfully stingy. At this point, it is not clear to me whether Thomas can offer even greater upside, given how he came on. So let's see Ross do it, but we'd take either. Or both.

Alford- That sack of Brady still has us worshipping this guy! What can we say. We did not see a lot last season, and with Cofield and Robbins playing hurt, he had an opportunity and did not exactly bust the door down. With the depth this year, does he make the team?

DeOssie- Specials guys get cut if they are not competing for starting jobs by their 3rd season. But this guy is a long-snapper; is that enough to keep him on the roster? By the numbers, he is in trouble. Alford is a long snapper too, so one of them likely stays. With Boley hurt, Sintim hamstring(?), LBer is not exactly teeming with competition for roster spots. So it is up to DeOssie to stay on the field.

Rhett Bomar

How many of you saw this little nugget from June 16th?

Garafolo: "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."

Wonder told us about him ~ two weeks before the draft, his #1 offensive Day 2 gem. NOT because he is going to be a great QB. Because of value. Wonder loves upside. He loves potential. Bomar has the potential to be a franchise QB. Will he realize that potential? Anyone's guess. But Garafolo sees the arm, the release, he likes what he sees. He'll have the opportunity to be groomed, and then we can see what we have. No guarantees. Although Wonder the psychopath football nut believes that Manning could be out of football from injuries in 5 years and that Bomar could be the Giants' #1. With camp and preseason rapidly approaching we'll get to see first hand what he looks like.

NFLN previews the Giants

NFLN video link previews the Giants for 2009.

Jamie Dukes smartly downplays the issues at WR. Between all of the talent they have, there is no reason why they cannot get it done this year. If they do not, it is either because of injuries, Gilbride or a combination of both. Moss is playing better, Manningham is playing better, Boss needs lots more touches, Nicks looks like he make a significant rookie contribution, and Hixon and Smith have already proven (when healthy) they have the game.

What is missing is a serious discussion of two items.

1) LBer. The injury to Boley sets this unit right back to 2008. Where is the speed? Where are the impact plays? Where is Pierce after midyear when he slows down? Sintim pulled a hamstring in OTAs, so he better be very healthy and very active in camp. Kehl? Waiting for GodotWilkinson?

2) Lack of depth at Safety. Knight and Butler are gone. Johnson and Phillips should be fine. But this unit always had rotation, and now there is CC Brown and that is about it folks. If they stay healthy, okay. If they do not, trouble.

And as a footnote Giants fans, if #10 can play at a consistently high level for an entire season, the Giants can collect a title 'EASY.' In 2007 Manning played at that consistently high level for 5 consecutive games. It was the right 5 games. So let's start putting some pressure on Eli Moneybag$. When he signs that contract to be the highest paid player in the NFL, he better know the responsibility needs to be there. Jerry Reese said so.

Tom Watson

We watch as Tom Watson, a 59 year old player, is allowed to compete in the same tournament as the best professionals in the world. In a major championship. The British Open.

After 1 round he is in first place with a blistering 5 under and everyone is polite. Tremendous accomplishment. And everyone is thinking.. he'll fade tomorrow. Instead, he shoots another great round of golf and is tied for the lead going into the weekend. He is 59!!! Tiger Woods, the OTHER golfer from Stanford, doesn't even make the cut!

Enter Round 3 yesterday, and the winds are typically savage. They humble the best players in the world. This'll be the day that Watson crumbles. He is 59!!! He had his hip replaced last year!!! But once again we saw yet another brilliant performance from Watson. On a day that few (try 5) golfers in the entire field could break par, Watson shoots one over and takes sole possession of first place after 54 holes.

If Tom Watson wins the British Open, it will be the #1 story of 2009 in all of sports. That is why we have to acknowledge it here on a football blog. When Nicklaus won at Augusta in 1986 at the age of 46, it shook the world. To put this in perspective, it was here at Turnberry THIRTY TWO YEARS AGO that Watson was busy fending off Nicklaus in an epic battle for a major championship. It is 2009. What is Watson doing here?! I'll tell you what he is doing- he is trying to make MORE history.

We have already seen three amazing feats. Can he hold it together and pull it off?

Ray Handley

I love telling the story of a dear friend.. his name was Garo Hampar. Gary, as we called him, was walking with us after lunch one afternoon, and the subject of the new Giants head coach comes up. Gary: "I don't know about this guy Handley. He said if he did not get the (offensive coordinator's) job he was going to go to law school. Now if I am calling the shots, that is not the guy I hire. Where is his commitment to the sport, to coaching? This smells of trouble."

Prescient. Two seasons later we saw the franchise take 50 steps backward. What talented players, wasted. And then I remember the words of Bob Trumpy, color analyst broadcasting one of the final Giants games of that ill-fated second season of disaster. The Giants were now playing for jobs for the NEXT head coach, so they played proud and played well vs the Chiefs. It was their only win in the last 7 games of the season. And then Trumpy makes some comments that make my stomach turn:(paraphrased)" I don't understand what the complaints are about Handley. He's a good coach, and he is getting a bum rap." Trumpy was upset at how everyone could pass judgment on a member of the football fraternity so quickly and not give him the benefit of the doubt. There is not a single Giant fan who has any positive memories of the Handley years. I like to juxtapose Trumpy's sloppy and misinformed defense of Handley with George Young's candid summary of the hire: "My worst decision."

The Meeting Room

Giants.com gave us a look into one of the meeting rooms where coaches and players can use state of the art video for teaching.

Tom Coughlin used a little bit of hyperbole, claiming that the team is "in the meeting room twenty times more than we are on the field." Obviously that is a stretch, but Coughlin made his point. If the new facilities enable the team to review 5% more plays in the same period of time, then maybe that converts on the field to one more play being executed precisely by all 11 players in a game... and maybe, just maybe, that is why the Giants win. Every little bit helps.

Andre Brown

"In his third year, ANDRE BROWN will be the featured back of the NY Giants," says Wonder. "He is a Giant STEAL."

Strong prediction for Andre Brown. Wonder is on record. One caveat of course whenever making a football prediction- he needs to be healthy. Brown had an issue with his foot in 2007 and 2008, but he put that behind him and finished strong in 2008.

Back to the present, it is 2009 and we're still the Bradshawlics, eagerly awaiting to see if he can make something of his opportunity as the #2 back NOW. Glauber and I (and many commenters here on the blog) are looking for a breakout year from #44. breakout year from #44. breakout year from #44. Oops, broken record.

Here is to Andre Brown's future- if Wonder is right in 2011 we are going to have to rename the official curse word.