SB Nation User Blog: GAgiantfan

Underdog?

GAgiantfan — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:13:51 -0000

Underdog or No Underdog?

One guy says the best the Giants will do in 2008/2009 is 8-8.

Another says that he believes the answer is maybe, but not likely, that
the Giants can extend the legacy began last season.

Still, another says that he thinks the Giants could have a record of 8-8,
but they also could go 12-4. Either way, he says, they'll finish second
in the NFC East.

Here's a quote from an aspiring sports journalist: "New York: Had an
improbable playoff run ending with a spectacular superbowl win. It wont
happen again."

What this leads me to believe is that many out there really do have
"IHAG", which is surely not a new brain condition, but it seems so
prevalent today. For many years, I thought this was some type of myth or
something. "Internalized Hatred about the Giants", or affectionately -
dubbed "IHAG", runs uncontrollably through the veins of many, and it
seems as if that condition will continue to spread with the "Big Boy"
analysts as they step up to make their claims for the upcoming season.

This is nothing new. We saw the emergence and the rise of this
condition last season as the Giants made their amazing playoff run and
went on to win the Super Bowl.

To me, though, it's an awesome thing to see "IHAG" spreading like a
wildfire! All it means is that we've done something right.

Many seem to repsect the great run that the Giants went on, but most
contend that it was a fluke. What that means to me is that we can dress
in our underdog clothing again. Sure, as Harry Carson spoke about
recently, we should beware because each team we play will be out to win
against the current Super Bowl Champ. (still sounds good huh)

I understand about championship teams stumbling after they win, and that's bound to happen to us. However, I don't think we have a fluke on our hands. We have a solid team with a solid coach, and best of all, we play as a team. Those things all bode well for an excellent future.

But to get little respect is a good motivator and allows us to work under the "us against the world" line of thinking. So, we're the Super Bowl Champs and what, we weren't supposed to be? We weren't supposed to win against (insert team name here) ?

Isn't it so lovely to be hated?

The Longer Arm of Big Brother

GAgiantfan — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:02:55 -0000

We live in an age where the government has, for the most part, made
jaded a large number of constituents. I'm speaking of your local and
state leaders and all others involved. For every good politician that you
can name, I'll name five who weren't so good. As a matter of fact, for
every good one you can name, I can name five who were as crooked as
pecan tree limbs (they are rarely very straight in case you were
wondering). Think of it - they use cell phones and ride in limos to go to
places where they could walk in minutes - at taxpayers' expense. They fill
their gas tanks with money put there by the taxpayer. They say that they
will do 'this' or 'that' if elected; many, however, don't follow through
on their promises. Do you need any examples? LOL! It seems as if the only
thing that everyone can agree with every year is to give themselves
raises. It's not hard to realize just how we arrived at a point where
used car salesmen and politicians are thought of as one and the same.
(No offense there, any of you used car salesmen out there). As a whole,
these guys and girls can't take care of their own jobs with efficiency,
so why would they want to branch out to handle something that they know
nothing about?

I say that to preface my disdain of the government's recent involvement
with baseball and their future involvement with football. They sniffed
around baseball for quite some time before they began threatening
baseball regarding players who may or may not have used steroids. As far
as I can tell, there is no reason for the government to get involved here.
What good can come from this? These people, who can't even pronounce the
players' names correctly, or even handle their government-related jobs in
a decent capacity, are now overseeing something well beyond their limits.
It is blatantly obvious that the government is hoping that people will
view them differently, or even more accurately, just view them at all.
And this is my two cents here - but it's all about attention. Just watch
how 'serious' our government is about 'handling' steroids.

There are blips now, here and there, of the government sniffing around
football. Heck, they did it to baseball and 'no one' was overtly pissed
off at them, so why not shoot at a much larger target? The NFL is, has
been for some time, and will be a big-profit operation. Let's see in the
coming days just how excited our own government is at taking pot-shots at the
league. If it gets them on the front page, I can assure you they will do
it.

This is truly something to be concerned about, NFL fans. These people
can't manage their own offices and yet they want to have a hand in
something that was so great LONG BEFORE THEY CAME SNIFFING AROUND.

I'm not saying that the NFL doesn't have steroid issues on some level.
What I am saying, however, is that I hope that the NFL will truly fight to
keep any issues "in - house" and refuse publicly to allow "Big Bro" to
get involved. At the least, go screaming and kicking!

They intensely and zealously pursued baseball. Now I see them sniffing
around football, and it doesn't really relate to steroids necessarily. Now ,if they would only use the same intensity in seeing that gas prices are lowered, I wouldn't be riding a freakin' scooter. Note to NFL - Keep Big Bro at a distance.

CBA

GAgiantfan — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:39:08 -0000

Has anyone heard anything substantial about the CBA?

I think they actually meet Tuesday to decide about things....

I think that if the owners don't like it and oust the plan, then in 2010 there would be no salary cap. At least that's what I've heard. It would be cool to find out some facts that might occur in the wake of a CBA rejection.

Pretty scary thought there with Skeletor Jones over in Dallas just emptying his pockets on anything that might even hint at giving the 'terds a chance at getting to the SB.

Wide receivers : WHEN?

GAgiantfan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:01:54 -0000

Just a few facts regarding receivers and the slot at which they were drafted:

Over the last 10 years, NFL teams have drafted 43 wide receivers in the first round.

TWO (yes, 2) of those 43 had 1,000-yard seasons as rookies, which is the same number of 1,000-yard seasons produced by receivers drafted after the first round.

26 of the 43 first-round receivers never, never,never have had a 1,000-yard season. Of the 17 remaining, only 8 have had a single (A SINGLE) season in which they gained 1,000 yards.

Because of the wide range of defensive styles that the NFL incorporates, it's just too difficult to predict how any wide receiver will fare in the NFL. There is a drastic defensive jump when coming from college and going to the NFL.

With that said, we need to draft a wide receiver. It's just that we don't need to worry about it in the first few rounds. While we could sit here and debate for the next year about when we should draft a wide receiver, it doesn't change the fact that it is nothing better than a crapshoot.

Go with history on this one, guys. Take a receiver or two late in the draft.

Brett Favre retires

GAgiantfan — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:52:45 -0000

Not that it affects us directly, but Brett has hung up the cleats. I think it's odd that this comes on the heels of Randy Moss being signed by the Pats. I think he wanted Moss badly and is probably disgruntled.
I admit I am surprised. I always thought of Favre as being one of those players that they'd have to cart off of the field before he would quit.
Maybe his drive has faded. Maybe he's angry at the Packers.
Regardless, he is an NFL hero of sorts, and I will remember him as being quite the gutsy quarterback with a 'never say die' mentality - even when he was injured. Thanks for the memories, Mr. Favre.

A Giant Underdog

GAgiantfan — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:07:20 -0000

The season begins with no wins and two losses. Oh yeah, and we've had 80 points scored against us in two weeks.Questions swirl around the organization: Will Coughlin be brought back? What in the heck is up with this defense? Why bring Eli back for another season of getting to the playoffs, maybe, only to lose in the first round? At this point there surely are more questions than answers.

Fast forward to the playoffs. First of all, we shouldn't be here by most accounts. We've "stumbled in" to the playoffs - the gift was ours for the taking and we allowed other teams to potentially take our Wild Card spot. We shouldn't be here.

Let's go to Tampa. There's no way that this offense, especially because we're crippled by the absence of Shockey, can move the ball in the air against a top-rated pass defense. We won't be able to win because we used up what emotional gas we had on the last regular season game against the Pats. Three players were also injured in this "meaningless" game. To top it all off, we're playing the game in their house, so that point is yet another strike against us. And we surely can depend on the past as a model that we won't make it past this, the first round of the playoffs. We never have done it with Coughlin or Manning, so it must be an impossible task to undertake. Tiki will be on the Tampa Bay sidelines, too. And my gosh, what Tiki said about Eli's lack of leadership earlier in the year surely is the gospel truth. Is there any positive aspect about this game for the Giants? I just don't see it. How about a win? And therein, the first shock has taken place - a Giants victory. Within the circus of post-game disbelief, we see that we don't get much credit for the win. The opposing team's players would rather blow off the loss by saying that Eli just chose the easy throws and did nothing special.A few sports people notice the win, but they're already focused on the next game - round two of the playoffs - versus the Cowboys.

Let's go to Dallas. There's no way that this rag-tag group of future "dirty players" can win in Dallas. Besides, everyone remembers that Dallas has beaten us twice in the regular season. We're playing in their house, so just as it was in Tampa, that's a strike against us before we even walk onto the field. Romo is simply unstoppable according to the medias' standards; he "torched" the Giants in their two regular season contests, so he will do just that again. Eli won his first playoff game, but that's as far as he will go. He's not the typical leader. He's too quiet, he's too reserved, and it's just difficult to fathom Eli leading any team to another post-season victory, because he always has his head down. Dallas is sending a record number of players to the Pro Bowl, and the Giants are sending only one. Not many notable sports people are giving the Giants a chance in this game, so that's another strike against us. Also, Eli is due to have a bad game, and Romo is due to have a great game. The confidence of the Cowboys and their staff is overwhelming at this point. How nice it is to play a familiar foe, especially one that you have already beaten twice! The mental edge goes to the Cowboys. There's simply no way that the Giants can win, especially if the Cowboys get Barber running well early in the game. Oh, wait a minute - the second shock has now taken place. Eli has a banner day. T.O. is in tears, making soggy the popcorn he had prepared for devouring after a Cowboy win. Crayton, who ran his mouth constantly leading up to this game, is unusually quiet now. The Cowboy's coach maintains that the better team lost. And Prince Romo, poised for perfection, closed the final game of his season with an interception. "At least we had a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown", they think," instead of fumbling the field goal snap." A few more sports people notice this win, but again, most have already focused on round 3 of the playoffs versus the nearly unstoppable-at-home Packers.

Now let's go to Green Bay. Man, put on the gloves and sleeves for this one. We can't win this game mainly because it's too cold. History says that since we are playing at Green Bay, and because it is below freezing, we are at a terrible disadvantage. The Packers "dusted" the Giants earlier in the season, so once again, the chance is great for that to happen. There's no way that this dirty defense could cover the Packer's receivers. History always repeats itsself. Brett Favre is such a wylie veteran who has been in this situation before. The crowd noise at Lambeau is, alone, a strike against us. Eli's been good for the past two weeks but everyone knows that is bound to change. We've watched Eli for years and he probably had a lucky two-week run. OK, so he's won two playoff games now. He won't win his third; he's not Payton Manning, you know. And in walks the third shock. This one is the shock-of-shocks. Favre, that same seasoned, wylie veteran, has thrown an interception that seals the Packer's unlikely loss. The Packers have lost? Eli is as consistent as ever, throwing the ball as if he has no idea that the temperature is slightly under 0 degrees. One or two more people notice this win and decide to jump on the bandwagon that has recently formed; surely, however, the streak has to come to a complete dead end in two weeks versus the Patriots.

Time to head to Arizona for the Game of Games. Funny how many of the "in the know" sports people pick the Giants early on, only to recant prior to the Big Game. You know, the Giants should have lost the game two weeks ago. Heck, it took them three field goal attempts, and one of those in overtime, just to win the game. The Patriots may be taping/videoing all our practices (just kidding there, Patriots fans). The Giants are wishing that this game was being played a week earlier, because now the Giants will find it difficult to continue the week-by-week momentum that they had accrued since round one of the playoffs. The opponent has set all kinds of scoring records. This team is undefeated, and once again, we have history to guide us. The Pats beat us in our last regular season game; we let the lead go in that game, so that means that our defense can be beaten. The head coach is a well-known guru. He's like the "Yoda" of the professional football world. The opponent's quarterback is due for a great game, as he didn't play so well in their previous playoff game. There's no way that the Giants defense can get to the quarterback because they didn't do too well at it in the previous matchup. The Patriots missed so many "big scoring opportunities" in our previous contest. They are much older on defense, but that's really a plus for them because it means they have more experience. They have more players going to the Pro Bowl. The weather will be perfect for football, which will allow the Patriots to capitalize on the Giants' dinged-up secondary in the passing game. They haven't lost one single game; we've lost six. It's been forever since they've lost a game. They have too many offensive weapons, so there's no way that they could all be covered consistently. They've already won a few Super Bowls recently. The last Super Bowl that we went to, well, wasn't so good for us. Even after three unlikely playoff wins, Eli is still quiet. Plaxico says that the Patriots will only score seventeen points in a loss, a stupid comment directed at a team responsible for NFL scoring records. Vegas says that we're two score underdogs. They won their division; we didn't. In our last meeting, the only reason why we kept it close was because we had a fluke kick return for a touchdown. Eli is Payton's younger brother. He's a baby because he refused to go play for the Chargers and wanted to play for the Giants instead. Eli's older brother, a better quarterback, couldn't win against the Pats earlier this season. Coughlin is happy enough with the team's progress that he really doesn't care if the Giants win or lose this game. The Patriots have two weeks for the guru to prepare against the Giants. The changes that Coughlin made earlier in the year with regard to players/discipline/etc really elude to how "soft" he has become, which basically means he's letting the prisoners run the prison. The Patriots are a more physical team. David Tyree wouldn't even be a starter on most NFL teams. The past three weeks have spent all of the Giants' remaining emotion. Only two teams starting their seasons 0-2 went on to win the Super Bowl, which is one more checkmark in a long list of checkmarks against us. There's no way the Giants could get another "on the road" win; crap, they've already set the reocrd for that - which is an irrelevant record, by the way. Randy Moss is due to have a banner game, as he has been virtually invisible since the playoffs began. The commercial with Eli and Payton licking cookies is just stupid. The coach for the Patriots was once a coach for the Giants, you know; he knows the Giants very well. A co-worker told me that the Pats would win by at least two touchdowns. Eli would just look dumb at Disney World. The Giants team, as everyone knows, is dirty. The Giants won't be able to pick up the exotic blitzes that the Patriots will bring. Maroney is really coming on here lately. If the Giants are losing at halftime, they will lose the game; history says so. One of those ESPN Radio guys says that the Patriots are better in all categories of the game, except for one. Shockey isn't playing for the Giants in this one. Eli will choke in this game because he has no idea what range of emotions he will experience; there's no way he can prepare for that. Eli isn't too swift on his feet, so that plays into those exotic blitz packages mentioned earlier. Brady will complete a few big bombs in this game, just as he did in the earlier matchup with the Giants. Tom Coughlin didn't get this far with the Jaguars.

I'm sure you get the idea by now, and as incredibly stupid or as plausible as you find these to be, they are ALL reasons I have heard as to why the Giants will lose this game or that game. These either came from fan chatter or incessant rambling by "sports authorities".

And as you might have guessed, enter the fourth shock - the shock that really counted! Eli showed up yet again. There were actually discussions between my Giants cronies and myself about how he looked like Tarkenton on a few plays, uncharacteristically scrambling around to get free to make a play. Tyree, that guy who probably wouldn't start on any other NFL team - the guy who made few catches this season, if any - made (in my estimation) the most important catch to facilitate the unlikely victory that was ours. Plaxico showed up, as well. He made a catch that all but sealed the fate of a previously "perfect" team. The defense stood tall, put Brady on his back when necessary, and didn't give up when the going got rough. We took one of the best offensive teams in NFL history and held them to their lowest point total for the season. As a matter of fact, they had season lows in several categories, all of which escape my thoughts.

There were incredible odds against us in this game; there were incredible odds against us all season. These were the same odds that made most believe that we didn't have a chance in Hell of pulling this off. Just as in the past games, with all of the ominous predictions against us, we pulled off the upset. This reminds me of David and Goliath, a story fitting for us as underdogs. We are Giant Underdogs, known now to the long line of beaten, unbelieving naysayers as GIANT CHAMPIONS. Our guys wanted it more and decided to just take it outright from the Pats.

Erase the idea for any publication regarding 19-0, unless it reads something like this, somewhere: ".....what could have been...."

We didn't have the perfect season, but we did have the perfect ending.

TO )#%_#)% with the rest. New York Giants, Super Bowl Champions, World Champions - has quite the ring, huh?!

And the unthought of happened

GAgiantfan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:24:38 -0000

Once again, we did it. It shouldn't have taken as long as it did; regardless, we did it. Looks as if, once again, the things that happened earlier in the season were not relevant in this game.
Giants win! Packers lose!

Looks like someone here earlier who said our defense was worse than Seattle's was WWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG. One who was wrong, in a long line of fans who were wrong - and losers.

Keys to pulling off the unexpected

GAgiantfan — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:50:18 -0000

To Eli: Keep warm, son. If you need to wear a glove, so be it. Just make sure you pump fake and shoulder shake enough that you keep the defense off kilter. Don't forget what we've instilled in you the past few weeks - the players wearing the same color jerseys as you are the ones you throw to. Have fun and remember that you have defied logical pro football analyzation in the playoffs and that there's nothing wrong with continuing the tradition. You CAN, as opposed to some peoples' views, DO IT.

To the Offensive Coaches: Put Bradshaw in earlier than you did last week. He will be able to hit the hole quicker and take advantage of the opposing team's quickness. Once they're not quite as fresh from chasing after Bradshaw, let Jacobs run some. Pretty scary if you're sucking in freezing air while you see Jacobs barreling through the line at you.

To the Offensive line and other blocking units: Play dirty, obviously as you always have. Start when the ball is snapped and don't stop until the whistle blows. Or don't stop until they pull you guys apart or off of someone.

To the Defense: Don't forget to play as dirty as normal, guys. Remember, Favre gave Strahan the record-breaking sack, so when you hit him, put him on the ground gently. No one yet has really talked about how the cold affects Favre's arthritis (he is old), so just go in and do your job anyway. It will be a sidebar later in press conferences. DBs, you have, as Eli has, defied any logical analyzation - so continue on that path. And since we all know that the regular season has everything to do with the playoffs, and that we can cross - compare as other people here have, and since Seattle is a better defense by all accounts- Remember that Dallas had how many Pro Bowlers? You did just fine against them, so don't sweat this. Oh yeah, and they beat Green Bay. May as well use that kind of logic if others can.

To the Receiving core: You will be open on many occasions. Don't be surprised that you are as open as you are. Take it down the field and don't look back. And always block well on running plays - even if they say you're dirty.

To the Whole Team and staff: You have outdone yourselves through your journey to this place in history. You have broken a record with road wins; you beat a team that had a record 12 Pro-Bowlers to get to this point; you beat a number one seed, when you were ranked 5th to get to the NFC Championship. Just a few in a long line of accomplishments for 2007-08.

How much more is there to write about within what has already been a historical season for the Giants? Let's just say I'm keeping the pen and paper handy.

Go BIG BLUE and to )%($_)# with the rest!

We weren't supposed to:

GAgiantfan — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:34:14 -0000

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This was originally a diary. It is an excellent entry, so I've moved it here to the main section.]

Beat Tampa Bay. The talk leading up to that game was all focused on how bad Eli had played prior to the New England game, and how good of a pass defense that Tampa Bay had. We all heard of how Eli might have a good day at throwing because it would be warm, and then there were those that thought Eli would go back to bonehead fumbles and interceptions as soon as the game started. At the end of the day, were were victorious and few gave Eli due credit; the Tampa Bay defense tried to blow off the fact that they were burnt many times by making comments that eluded to how simple the Giant's passing game was.
Beat the Cowboys. Their vaunted offense, according to prior meetings, should easily put them in front of the Giants early. Their swarming defense should cause Eli to fumble and mumble and poke his lip out. Hmmm, not much pre-chatter about our defense, except how they wouldn't be able to get to Romo in time to make him mess up. Plus, we're in Dallas - so they have the advantage all around. No one will be able to cover T.O. and Witten should eat the Giants up. It's time for Eli to have a bad game. Did anyone hear similar crap? I'd be willing to bet so. And what do we do? We go in, score when we need to, get ahead of the Cowboys, and hold them to an end-of-the-game scoring opportunity that turns into an interception. We take a 13-3 team and send them home. Wait a minute, this wasn't supposed to happen! Eli has a strong showing and I don't think he had his head down in this one. And turns out that TO had no catches in the second half and Barber had 5 or so yards in the 4th quarter. And what happens in the Cowboys' post-game interviews? They elude to how the better team lost. They talk about all the opportunities that they had left on the field. They still believe that they should be in the NFC Championship, even after we sent them home with T.O. crying. Eli gets a little more respect and the defense gets props as well.

I say all of this to say LISTEN - we've heard it all before. The pre-game chatter this week has been mainly about the weather, which by the way, both teams have to play in. There's been a little about how people would like to see Brett Favre win another one. A few blips about Eli and watching Seinfeld. And now we're hearing about how dirty the Giants players are. What's the story gonna be tomorrow? Who knows, but you can bet there will be a new one soon. Maybe someone will write something about the odd similarities between cast nets and the Packers defensive backfield. Maybe someone will say that the Giants can't win with the injury bug hitting them hard in the defensive backfield.

Maybe, just maybe that next big story will be of an unexpected Giants victory propelling them to the Super Bowl.

We've gone against the grain since week one in the playoffs; now is not the time to turn and run.

A couple of notes

GAgiantfan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:12:43 -0000

The past doesn't have much to do with the 'here and now', or does it? A certain frequent troll here told me that the past was very relevant and that I would be very sad on Sunday (based on 'shredding' the Giants defense previously, according to that individual). Really? Not so much. Apparently, the previous Cowboys' wins were not so relevant. Maybe they were relevant, maybe the Cowboys were trying to live off of the past. Either way, troll, your two regular season wins didn't equal a playoff win, did they? I'm not so sad afterall, popcorn boy.

I love the fact that Crayton dropped a few passes. Wow, way to run your mouth all week - only to choke when it counts. Couldn't happen to a bigger sack o' poop with corn husk in it....lol Maybe, as Strahan eluded to, Crayton and TO can eat their friggin' popcorn and WATCH the Giants play in the NFC Championship from home.

Our D-line didn't pressure too much during the first half, but they really came on after halftime. Just hitting Romo rattled him enough to cause errant and hurried passes, among other things.

The only thing that bothers me, and it has for some time is - too much predictability at times during the games. When you have the lead in the 4th quarter with little time left, opposing teams are going to play the run. And what do we do? We run, run, run, punt. Run, run, pass (duh on that pass call, predictable), punt.

This was a great win for us. Period. So many "couldas", "shouldas", and "wouldas". So what if the Cowboys beat themselves, as someone here eluded to. The end result is the same - a loss for the Cowboys and a chance for the Giants to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

T.O. cryin' was priceless. What happened to the big talker everyone has come to know? Maybe that popcorn was stale. Everyone has talked about Eli's demeanor (inlcuding me) but I don't think I've seen Eli cry.....lol

Did Jerry Jones look like "Skeletor" on the sidelines or what? I've said it before, I'll say it again - the Cowboys lost their best asset when they lost Parcells.

#1 seeded NFC teams are now 17-1 in divisional games since 1990, thanks to that historic loss by a 13-3 Cowboys team.

And I don't care to see or hear any 'kudos' from that other team. They were beaten, what in the hell are they gonna say?

Anyway, a great win. Nothing sweeter than beating the 'boys to get to the NFC Championship. On to Green Bay.