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.