ULTIMATENYG is DRAFT CENTRAL

How often does Ultimatenyg hype itself? With 10 days to go before the draft, fasten your seat belts because this blog is going to be your one and only required stop for

EXCELLENT RELIABLE OPINIONATED draft coverage.

How is this possible? We have a secret weapon.... WONDER.

Who is Wonder? Only the most knowledgeable draft expert around. Some people have a life. The draft IS Wonder's life!

Harold, one of the charter members of this blog from before inception when this was still an email group, is understated in handing out compliments. To anyone. Unless the are deserved. Listen to his comments on Wonder:

"Wonder comments on the draft as it happens, and he is always right. In an example where he preferred a particular team take player A over player B, the WORST Wonder ever was in hindsight is a PUSH, where both end up not making it. Otherwise, he is simply PHENOMENAL. And he is phenomenal every year, year after year. I've heard his draft insights, he knows his stuff, he is unbelievable."

If I told you all the stories about what he said and when he said it, you would not believe it. You would think it is pure hype. Start following this blog now, WONDER IS HERE. In coming days we will give Wonder's pre draft thoughts. And then we will have Wonder's draft commentary piped into the blog on Day 1 (and tentatively Day 2) live. Enjoy the best draft coverage. Tell your friends. Enjoy Wonder-ful commentary on what is the true score on the draft from the best- WONDER. Only on Ultimatenyg.

Myers of the Daily News with more New York Giants post mortem

Gary Myers had a good piece over the weekend which recapped the 4 game playoff run.
It is always easy to relive these moments because the Giants won. But it is also interesting because you get more accuracy about what actually happened. As an example, McCarthy's comments are revealing: (1) Favre made the mistake on his OT INT, not Driver on the route (Favre threw Driver under the bus in his postgame remarks (2) That Eli Manning was singularly praised by McCarthy for playing so well in the cold weather that night. Ultimatenyg pointed out how on the last drive of the Super Bowl, Adalius Thomas was practically living in the backfield, thereby RAISING Manning's score. When you look back and consider how Manning led the team down vs TB to seal the deal (Q4 24-7), was shut off at 9:27 left in Q4 by the Giants coaches vs Dallas, got the praise from McCarthy vs GB and was so solid vs the Patriots, I think the conclusion is that Eli Manning carried more weight for this championship than even we were aware of.

Good to Great

In the past there have been a few football books that Ultimatenyg has recommended:

The GM by Tom Callahan
Sunday Morning Quarterback by Phil Simms
The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam

Today we add a fourth book to the Ultimatenyg Book List-
Good to Great by Jim Collins

What is a business book doing on a football blog's reader's list? Because this book is full of epiphanies about what makes a long term successful organization. There are principles in this book that the Giants use which drive their success. One of the most telling is the Greek Parable of the Hedgehog and the Fox. The Giants are certainly hedgehog and Daniel Snyder's Redskins are all fox. There are lessons in here on all levels. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Jeremy Shockey Part 26

Jeremy Shockey is not on the trading block. We have stated here on Ultimatenyg and will reiterate the opinion that Shockey was not addition by subtraction in his injury helping the team win a Super Bowl, that Shockey should not get traded and that Shockey will not get traded. At previous times people like Manning have shot down anti-Shockey innuendo and this time it is O'Hara's turn to reject any anti-Shockey ideas. NEXT.

Some remarks from Eli Manning and Amani Toomer

1) Interesting take from Toomer on the W17 game...from giants.com... While nobody associated with the Giants felt good about losing the regular season game to the Patriots, some felt there were positives to be taken because the game showed that the Giants could compete with the NFL’s best team. Toomer, however, dissented from that opinion. “I was really ticked off about that,” Toomer said. “I felt we should have beaten that team that time, and everybody was so happy and giddy. I remember being really upset the whole week. I was thinking some people were happy just to be in the game. I must have totally misread (the team's reaction to the New England loss) because everybody came out the next week with just so much confidence,” Toomer said. “I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I felt like we came out and played hard and we knew that we had a tough opponent and we went out and took it to them, so I was pretty excited about that.

Ultimatenyg remark- Toomer's comments are enlightening. We thought that the W17 loss was very positive for all the reasons that were discussed in the media following the game and reflected upon numerous times thereafter. It is fascinating to learn that Toomer was initially upset because he DID NOT GET IT. He misunderstood the optimism. He thought his teammates should not have been happy about a loss. What he missed is that the players were excited about playing their best football of the season. The confidence that came from that clearly carried forward to the next four games in a big way. Maybe we should report Toomer to Antonio Pierce for jumping off the bandwagon!

2) Oh my goodness, another Eli quote. Someone wake me up! "If we stay the same team as we were last year, we are not going to be able to (win a championship) again. We have to become a better team." This guy must be eating his wheaties. He gets it!

Top Ten Draft Steals of All Time

As the NFL Draft moves onto center stage, some fun with draft picks that everyone missed.

10- Roger Staubach
9- Larry Wilson
8- Ray Guy
7- Shannon Sharpe
6- Bo Jackson
5- Dan Marino
4- Deacon Jones
3- Terrell Davis
2- Joe Montana
1- Tom Brady

Ahmad Bradshaw is a long way from getting to a list like this, but as one of the last players taken at the end of the 2007 draft he is off to a good start.

Bottom line- the draft is always an inexact science, so watch every team troll for the 2008 diamond in the rough.

Kansas victory over Memphis: it is all in the legs

No hard core analysis. No intense research this time around. Just an observation that Memphis clearly lost because their legs went dead at the end of the game. People can blame it on Calipari (I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on his substitutions during the game) or the players for choking. All I saw was guys who lost their legs and that was the whole story. In baseball, pitching is all in the legs. In football, the Giants 'road warriors' 11 game road win streak was all about more rest for the players, less arduous practices late in the season. These superhuman athletes are not robots that just get wound up like toys and play for 40 (or 45 or 60) minutes. They still get tired. The game is less complicated than many would believe.

John Fox

What is all the fuss about? ESPN's John Clayton writes about a few coaches who are the hot seat this season, one of which is John Fox.

What is going on here?!! Fox totally turned around the franchise immediately after becoming head coach, his team's biggest losing season is 7-9 and the Panthers have been hit by major injuries the past two years. So looking at the aggregate won-loss record of his stewardship as head coach is utterly ridiculous and Neanderthal. Oh, and I forgot to mention that he is 5-2 in the playoffs, having lost to Brady and the Patriots by a bleeder FG at the end... not that anything like that outcome could have POSSIBLY happened to US!?! Do you see where I am going with this? If this guy were around and we needed a head coach, I would pounce on him faster than a ...well, a panther. And one more thing- when Spags is plucked from the Gmen at the end of this season, and if the rest of the league is clueless about Fox, I would grab him as our defensive coordinator and let him know that he has the inside track (of course, no guarantees) with the organization to become the next Head Coach. Considering how well-liked he was by the Giants in 2001 (he was almost offered the Head Coaching job if Fassel blinked), this could be a decent setup- the Giants like hiring people who they know. Buy the Fox.

Jeremy Shockey and Kevin Boss

Giants.com has a good wrap-up on the TE position for the New York Giants as we go into the draft and the 2008 season. Some have speculated that because Boss is not nearly as adequate a blocker as Shockey, that Boss was used in routes more than Shockey so that his blocking would be less exposed. What this implies is that Shockey ironically ended up being a victim of his own success; he was held in to block more often because he was doing it so well.

For 2008, what would be a good development is having Boss become proficient at blocking so that the Giants could be more flexible in sending out either TE for a pass or keeping either in for pass protection. One thing is for sure- the Giants are in an enviable position at TE.

Michael Jennings, Wide Receivers and the draft

Eisen revisits with Michael Jennings. This kid is why the Giants do not need to press early for WRs in the draft. Reese preaches getting good competition at each spot so that training camp turns out a stronger roster, so you never know with him. Between guys like Jennings and Smith (and Moss on the outside looking in) I feel like there will be enough improvement and opportunity for the Giants at this position. I will be disappointed if the Giants go high (picks in first three rounds) with a WR, all else equal. Defense wins championships. Our biggest loss in the offseason was on defense. So I want the first two picks to be defense. The only exception to this thinking on offense is at Left Tackle. Diehl is now that unit's weakest link.

Another perspective on Coughlin's Renaissance

Very good article about the relaxed and happy Tom Coughlin. Who is this man and what has he done to the coach?
What a difference a year makes. Coughlin changed enough to make a BIG difference. He gave a little and got back a lot. The early word is that Strahan will renegotiate and come back in 2008. Some of this is because of Coughlin's willingness to listen to his players. All the players to a man remark in stunned surprise as they revisit memories from only 1-3 years prior when it was Tom Coughlin the taskmaster who would never smile and never bend. Plaxico Burress' comments (See post also from Jan 26 for this Jan 18 video, specifically minute 1:20 time) offer the most contrast between old Tom and new Tom. There is simply no way that old Tom makes that concession earlier in his Giants tenure. Considering that this interview took place before the Green Bay game (and perhaps earlier), it foreshadows the continued success of the team. The team did not tire, and it had the legs and lungs to survive a -10 degree windchill game that went to OT.

Do you tire of looking at this picture?

Like fine wine, it gets better with age.

The New York Giants Super Bowl XLII Ring

Video Recap of 2007 Season at the NFL Spring Meetings at Palm Beach FL

Spygate and the New England Patriots, Installment 29

Spygate continues, and nobody likes that more than the New York Times. They have been at this story when everyone else gave up on it. They do not want it to die. They have enough unanswered questions for it to deserve continued coverage, especially when the owner chimes in on the subject.

What is interesting is that Matt Walsh claims he signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) while under the employment of the New England Patriots. The Patriots do not even bother addressing such an issue. My guess is that (1) Walsh did sign an NDA (2) he does not have a copy anymore (3) New England has a copy (4) it is filed away in some place they do not even know exactly where and (5) this is more than awfully convenient for the Patriots and the NFL. It is obvious that without Specter this would have died a quiet death many moons ago. In fact, it did EXACTLY that! But the pot got stirred up again a few months ago; Specter/Comcast and the media are clearly the only ones who really care about it coming out.

I will never forget that Patriots run. The Patriots proved me dead wrong that season. I kept saying they were going to get unmasked, that other teams would knock them off. Remember, this was the year of the infamous tuck play, where a Brady fumble versus the Raiders was ruled a non-fumble. And of course this was the year where a resurgent Greatest Show on Turf Rams team was two touchdown favorites over the seemingly weaker Patriots. This is how the Belichick Genius Legend began. Until the allegations of cheating, I was always quietly impressed by how they engineered that victory. If it was cheating, it would answer a lot of questions for me. And for many others.