New York Giants

Grab your wallets Giants fans!

Giants season ticket holders, welcome to the new age of unrivaled greed in professional sports.The Giants have announced that they are the latest club to charge fans with a PSL (private seast liscense).Fans, all fans, will be charged prices ranging from $1,000 to $20,000, depending on seat location for the PSL.

The Giants may be the only team that is charging all of their fans as most other clubs do it with selected seats only. Make no mistake, PSL's are a gimmick designed to take away more of your hard earned dollars.The Giants say this is being done to defray costs of building the new stadium. Fine, if the fans help pay for it do they also get to share the revenue???Obviously, the answer is hell no.

Super Bowl Champs to visit the White House today!

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The Super Bowl Champion New York Giants (God, I just love saying that!) will be honored by President Bush at the White House today.

In an interesting footnote, Jeremy Shockey will not be in attendance. Very poor decision  Jeremy.

The last time Coach Coughlin met with a politician he had an interesting  exchange:

Look coach, pretty soon I'll be making these

Look coach, soon I'll be making these!

Giants draft needs/Safety

Today we look at the Safety position. With the loss of Gibriel Wilson to the Raiders in free agency, the G-men are thin here. We have only two players returning from last year's Super Bowl Championship (I just have to work that in whenever possible) squad. Rookie Michael Johnson who showed a lot of promise, and James Butler who also played well. Veteran Sammy Knight was signed in the off season to replace Wilson and provides quality experience, not to mention his numbers were comparable to Wilson's.  R.W. McQuarters while  a  Cornerback  also  has experience  at Safety  if  needed.

However, we still need more depth.

There are some standout Safeties coming out:
Dajuan Morgan, N.C. State

Kenny  Phillies,  Miami

Tyrell Johnson, Arkansas St

Thomas DeCoud,  California

Josh Barnett, Arizona St.

The problem though is several teams also have a need at the position.  Thus, while I first thought Safety would be addressed in round two, Jerry Reese may very well have to use the first round pick here. It all depends of course on how things play out, who comes off the board when, trades, what happens on the Pro Day's remaining, etc.

Of course the Giants scouting staff has shown a knack for finding those late round, small school gems who end up contributing greatly to the team (just look at last season's Super Bowl team...sorry, did it again). 

Next, we will look at the Linebacker position, historically a Big Blue strength.  Please  check  back and feel free to comment, we really welcome your opinion.

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Giants draft needs/Cornerback

As we near the annual NFL draft, we plan to cover the Super Bowl Champs position by position. We will give our humble opinion of their strengths, weaknesses and overall needs. In addition we will give our opinions (lets face it, guesses on who Big Blue might actually pick in each round). So please check back daily to see  what we have to say and feel free to comment. It's all part of draft time fun.

Anyhow...   

We start today with Cornerback. As defending Champs there aren't a lot of glaring needs, but you certainly need to improve. While I think the secondary was a bit unfairly attacked by the media during the season, there were instances where opposing receivers ran wild. In Coach Spagnolo's attacking Defense, the Cornerbacks must frequently play man to man. Add to that the fact that 3, 4 and even 5 wide receiver alignments are becoming very popular, quality depth at the position is essential. The Giants do have some talent at the position; rookie Aaron Ross was very impressive and should continue to improve. Corey Webster, after starting the season in Coach Coughlin's dog house, came on late and was a vital part of the Super Bowl run. R.W. Mcquarters contributed in a big way as did Sam Madison and, to a lesser extent Kevin Dockery.

However, we are in a division with Terrell (get ya popcorn ready)Owens, and other talented Wideouts. Further, there is a definite need to beef up a pretty good but not great CB squad to give Spag's confidence to turn our great pass rushers loose on opposing QB's. Just ask Marsha (sorry....Tom) Brady what they are capable of.

That is why my guess is Jerry Reese will use the 1st round pick on a Cornerback. Here are a few possible candidates:

Mike Jenkins  South Fla  6'0" 200   4.42/40

Brandon Flowers  Va Tech  5'9' 190  4.4/40

Dominique Rodgers-Cromertie  Tenn St 6'2" 186  4.45/40

Lets face it, with the NFL draft it is all a crap shoot, but this is what we expect. We will know soon enough. Check back tomorrow as we look at the Safety position.

Remember to check our homepage at   www.myteamrivals.com 

 

Can the G-men repeat?

Like most fans of the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants (sorry it's just so much fun to say), I am still loving every minute of it.  Having been fortunate enough to witness all 3 Giants Super Bowl triumphs (and even that little mishap against Baltimore in the 2000 Super Bowl)  I can honestly say this was easily the sweetest one yet. I thought heading into the season we were at best a 7-9 team (never happier to have been wrong in my life). Lets be honest, I had a lot of company in my pessimism at the end of the 2006 season; Eli looked shaky, the coach appeared to have lost control of the team, the mouth, sorry Tiki retired, and the defense just caved in to end that depressing Playoff game in Philly when it counted most. After the first two weeks of this year's season with the "D" yielding 80 points against Dallas and Green Bay, new coordinator Steve Spagnolo's scheme didn't exactly inspire confidence. It was not a happy time for Big Blue.

Then something funny happened; they ripped off six straight wins! How did that happen, I mean, if you listened to the critics (yes including me), the "D" was terrible, the coach stunk, the Quarterback was lost, and we couldn't possibly find a way to replace Today Show Tiki....could we??

Evidently, the answer is yes! Lets look at it. The defense certainly needed a bit of time to adjust to Spags aggressive scheme. They looked tentative and out of place those first few games, not to mention Michael Strahan was by no means in game shape after sitting out training camp. However, in my opinion, the turning point came in week three against the Redskins (I know....not at all the first person to point this out), but it is soooooo true! Think back Giant fans...half time score, Washington 17-3, staring at 0-3 and a lost season, coach fired, QB traded, being laughed at by Jets fans (maybe not). Then the G-men came roaring back in the second half, aided by a goal line stand late in the game that will live forever in Giants history. It showed what this Championship team was made of.

Late in the season, there were struggles; an ugly 4 interception loss to the Vikings, an even uglier loss at home in hurricane like conditions to the Skins, down 14-0 at Buffalo (before coming back strong to win). At each turn people said "here we go again" ," same old Giants", "  gonna blow it again", you get the drift. Unlike years past, they didn't fold like a cheap tent, they showed poise , character and toughness.

I remember the regular season finale, (what Giants fan doesn't?). With absolutely nothing to play for, a road Playoff game in Tampa Bay set in stone for the next week regardless of the outcome, the Giants came to win! They fell short, but as we all know they gained something. Confidence!

Playoffs; Tampa Bay....2nd best defense in the NFL. According to the mouth's twin brother, Eli could be had. What happened? Ronde was had, Eli was great. 24-14 Giants.

Dallas; "bring your pop corn". T.O. should have bought his game instead. Giants 21-17.

NFC Championship game, Lambeau Field, Packers, Brett Favre. Poor little Eli couldn't possibly deal with the bitter cold. Brett was supposed to destroy the Giants, right? Giants 23-20.      

Super Bowl. The 18-0 Patriots, golden boy at QB, greatest coach ever, 12 point underdogs. Everybody knew the Giants couldn't possibly win. Giants 17-14, Eli MVP!

Now that I am through the brief overview of last season, back to the original question, can they do it again? The answer....yes!

I know it is extremely difficult to pull off but I have my reasons for being optimistic. First, look at last year, this is a special team.  Second, Eli has arrived. If he can play the way he did in the Playoffs (no reason to believe otherwise) they are hard to beat. Third, the "D" will be in it's second year in Spags scheme. Fourth, last years incredible crop of rookies, (Bradshaw, Ross, Boss, Jennings, Alford, Smith, etc) all  have a valuable year under their belt and figure to improve. Fifth, we get Jereme Schockey (don't buy the hype....we are better with him) and Mathias Kiwanuka (arguably the best pass rusher) back.  Finally, Jerry Reese.  After the job he did  last season, I have no choice but to believe he will once again improve the  team.

I look forward to watching our guys defend the title, and hopefully bring another home!

Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention David Tyree?