I just have a few things to say about the Lions because i think that we all learned something this afternoon.

1. This is a classic example of the Lions luck. They get their first win in almost 2 years they're hanging tough with a likely playoff team and their franchise QB is starting to look good when suddenly all hell breaks loose and there back in the gutter. No matter how good life seems for the lions they're always one step away from being a laughingstock again. There is no curse of Bobby Lane, Bob predicted 50 years, the lions are cursed for eternity. No draft pick they make will ever turn out the way they want it (Yes I know Calvin Johnoson is great but apparently he isnt good enough to win a game for you because he couldn't all of last year) no matter how they look at first they will always turn the corner and disgust all of the lions faithful. Barry Sanders leaving in his prime, Billy Sims career ending injury, 3 strait failed reciever picks, Harrington, Stanton, Godser Cherilus.
2. This Lions luck that I'm talking about its not just rndom out of the blue suffering like Kenny from South Park. No the football gods like to oy with the lions and make sure that every tiny insignifacant move that the lions make comes back to crush them under 4000 tons of irony. Matt Stafford had a big body and should have been ready for the NFL beating according to Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, and Mike Maynock i guess not.
3. This is what the lions deserve for starting Stafford without any sort of protection. Let me put it like this, The lions as a team are completely starting over they're like a teenage boy just starting to go out and live on their own and the owners and coaches are supposed to be like their parents. So when your son just learns to drive do you let him drive the porsche or do you force him to drive around some old used car. no matter what he's driving its gonna get beat up so why not drive something that already is instead of something shiny and new and then once you know you can trust him not to break it let him drive it around. The lions have just crashed their porsche into a fire hydrant and its all because of the management hopefully its not totaled.
   
   The Lions stay true to form, misery and suffering, a glimmer of hope shines, more intense misery and suffering

You may remember the Jazz from such hits as "those bastaeds who are gonna steal our top 10 pick next year," but it appears they are in some trouble right now. Boozer and Memet Okur both picked up their options for ext year which leaves the Jaz with virtually no cap space left and would make a Paul Millsap resigning put the well over the Luxary Tax for a team that is a second round exit playoff team at best. See outside of NY teams are not filthy rich and cannot afford to overpay for a sub-par or even a good-but-not-great team. So I think its time to for the Knicks to show them a little love. 

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As we all know, the Spanish sensation Rick Rubio thinks that Minnesota is too cold and maybe he would rather just stay in Spain. Well the Knicksin an attempt to save the NBA from the terrible fate of never seeing Rubio suit up in America, are attemptin to prry him away.

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This doesn't really have anything to do with the Giants this season but I've just had a couple thing on my mind lately related to the giants

1. Tiki - The Giants of the Late 90's and and early 2000's will defintitely be represented by Strahan, a definite first ballot HOFer and a lock to have his # retired, but what about Tiki? he was a huge part of our history, is a career Giant, was a fan Fave when he played (even though he was hated after he retired early), and is top 10 in all time yards-from -scrimage. Should he 1. be in the HOF, and 2. have his # retired* 
2. Harry Carson - I really don't feel comfortable talking about any Giant having their Number retired without bringing up Carson. He did everything you can want in a career, he won a superbowl, made the HOF and is a lifetime Giant. I kind of get why Bavaro's # isn't retired, his Giants career was too short, but Carson played for around 10 years. Do you think that Carson's number 53 should hang with Simms'  11 and LT's 56 as well as all of the other Giants greats

So comment away I really want to know what the Giants community thinks

What I think: Tiki wil get nominated for the HOF and may slip in on maybe the 3rd or 4th try. I think he was a great Giant and should have 21 retired and if the bad feelings toward him ever roll over I think he will. Why Carson's # isnt retired I will never know and it is a crime. But its too late now and harry will unfortunately be left out of our "Ring Of Honor"

*yes I know Kenny Phillips wears 21 right nowbut that doesn't wean it cant be retired later, for example I believe the Knicks do intend to retire Allan Houstons 20 even though Jared Jefferies curently wears it.

Let me clear the air right here. I am not a Utah fan. I am a Michigan Wolverines fan, but for some reason they decided to turn in the worst season in their history this year so I had to find another team or two to follow until they right the ship. I am always a fan of Non-BCS underdog stories and this year was good for that. There was Utah, Ball State, BYU, TCU, Boise State, Tulsa, and East Carolina. I liked to see Tulsa's First Year starter Senior David Johnson be the best QB in college for most of the season but from the begining I knew Utah was the best. Like I said I'm a Michigan fan. Once I saw them beat Michigan in the Big House I knew they were something special.

In the end, as you all know, Utah finished undefeated and, thanks to the BYU and TCU for making the Mountain West seem stronger this year, they were the highest rated in the BCS and earned themselves a trip to the Sugar Bowl.

That was all great until I figured out who they were playing, ALA-FREAKIN-BAMA. This is a team that were so close to the championship that they could taste it. A team that has probably the best coach in the NCAA. A team with no superstars, that wins because they do everything perfect. This is a team that will come into the Sugar Bowl Looking for revenge and will just systematically destroy the team on the other side.

The kind of team that a Non-BCS team would want to see is one that would maybe take them lightly or think that after all of their hard work through the season, all they get is a game with Utah and see it as a slap in the face. Or a team that gets by with star power. There are ways to contain star power but usually no one can think of a way until it counts the most. Alabama is none of these things they're a sick warped demented collegiate version of a Poor mans New England Patriots.

What I am trying to say is that Non-BCS teams win in Bowl games because they sneak up on teams and there is no sneaking up on Bama. I am not ruling Utah out completely, but they better have a ton of magic left in them, and if they do that would be some way to end a season, beating a team that is flawless.

UPDATE: Saban has resently suspended Andre Smith from the sugar bowl.

For Utah this is really great for 2 reasons.

1) he is their best player and he's not playing.

2) he was suspended for trouble with the team involving his agent. This shows that the attitude of the team is not what I expected. It seems that Saban is not really motivating them as I thought and that the good juniors and seniors on the team are looking past the game and ahaed to the draft

I know, I know no one wants to here anymore news on Plax but this is the boggest story aound right now.

Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Plaxico Buurress and I would hat to see him go, but if I were in the Giants shoes heres how I would go about this.

First off, after the season I would call him in for a meeting. I would tell him exactly whats going on. Let him know that its a privlege to play on the Giants, not for the reason the Yankees and Knicks use (you know "Come on who doesn't want to play for the Yankees / in MSG"), no because we are the best team in the league, have a good quarterback, an excellent running game and an outstanding O-Line, all we need him to do is come in and catch TDs. They have to get a reading on his attitude here, if he seems sorry and truly wants to come back and is committed than I keep him. Anything less than that he is gone. If I do keep him he is on a very short leash and one more F' up he's gone.

The past 2 years have had trade deadline that have seen Pro-Bowl recievers moved. What says that we can't move Plax at the Deadline. So we can keep him without risking our whole season next year.

Now if we do get rid of him in the off-season I would NOT by any circumstances cut him unless he was indicted and cannot play. The Redskins or Eagles will swoop him right up. He would be exactly what they both are looking for, another weapon for their young QB (Campbell / Kolb, McNabb if he stays even though he's not young), and a tall WR to complement their smaller, quicker ones (Santana / DeSean). Hell even the 'Boys would sign him, just to prove that they are the largest collection of assholes on the earth. The only way to get rid of plax is to trade.

I would look for a first rounder, nothing less than a what the Cowboys gave up for Roy Williams (I think a first, third, and fifth). If that goes through I would take all the picks I got for Plax and Shockey and our first rounder and trade into the top ten. The Bengals and Lions both need more than they can get with one pick. Their I wouldn't really LOOK for Plax's replacement, I would just take the best player available*, who would probably be Michael Crabtree.

I said above that I wouldn't really LOOK for a replacement in the draft, thats because I think there are better options in free agency. The 2 best free agents are among the best WRs in the NFL Marques Colston and TJ Housh... I happen to like Colston, he is younger and should come at a lower price. However he is a Restricted FA that means the Saints can stick a tender, thats why I would pull some type of sign and trade for him. The Saints were able to play without Colston For alot of the seson. They have an arsenal of a ton of recievers, but their defense is a absolutely awful. the Giants have Osi coming back next season to play next to Tuck. Kiwi will probably be switched back to linebacker. Trying to make him learn LB again after a whole year off would just be too much I think so I would show him some mercy and trade him to the Saints, where he can play DE, in a a sign and trade for Colston. If Kiwi is on the block the Browns may also be interested, Kiwi is an ideal fit for a 3-4 LB and woul look great next to Kamerion Wimbley. They could try to get Braylon Edwards from the Browns for Kiwi and some picks, but I think Colston is more likely because of their surplus of recievers and the fact that they have the best QB in the league compared to the Browns shallow corps and First Year Starter.

As everyone probably knows what happened with Plax Last night. For those who don't, he accidentally Shot himself in the leg at a Night club Last night. Reports have been flying around speculating the end of Plax's time in the Big Blue. That is why I am here now, to beg and plea for Reese to spare him.

Through Reese's tenure as the Giants GM he has showed how he operates this team very clearly. He doesn't care about name value, he believes in having a solid draft and keeping young talent circulating, and he has no problem cutting ties with anyone. he's done nothing to hide that. One of his first moves as the GM was cutting LaVar Arrington, Carlos Emmons, and Luke Pettigout. He didn't pursue anyone on the market that year, Joey Porter was available, and he ended up adressing his problems from the inside as well as the draft. That turned out pretty well, Super Bowl Champs. He did the same thing this year when he traded Shockey, who was a huge distraction, and let Kawika walk. So far so good, same method: drafting and replenish from the inside. 

Now that we are well aware of the inner workings of Reese's mind it should be a no brainer that he will let Plax go. I mean, the team is doing fine now without him and they did they same thing to Shockey last year. This is a TOTALLY different scenario. Last year the Giants started off 6-2 and started to falter toward the second half. In the Minnesota game it seemed we were in for another second half meltdown and first round exit, by the Washington Game are fates were supposed to be sealed. Then something happened in the meadowlands that night, Shockey snapped his leg and was gone for the season. Next week, the Giants played the Bills and clinched a playoff spot, after that they played down to the wire against the Perfect Pats before they suited up for a playoff run. The Rest is history. Eli played great throughout the playoffs en rout to the SB XLII MVP.

Getting Rid of Shockey was a no brainer, Eli actually got BETTER without him in the hudle being a dick. Also they had Boss ready to step up as he did in the playoffs.

Burress is different. He has been missing for streches of the season, the Giants were great, and he has been there too, still great. The only thing you can say is that Plax's first game back from suspension was Eli's worst game of the season, Browns on Monday night. You can also say that Hixon or Smith, like Boss, is ready to step up into a bigger role, and the Giants would be ready for life without Plax. This would be a big mistake.

The Giants, with or without Plax have won because of Running Game and D. Plaxico gives opposing D's something to fear in the Passing Game. Without that fear there's nothing stopping them from stacking the box on Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward or Bradshaw. The games that Plax was out were against: Seattle (Terrible D), Pittsburgh (Running Game was shut down), and basiclly the whole Cardinals game (OK D). I dont really think that Eli, Hixon, Toomer, and Steve Smith are enough to stop Ds from stacking the box on our backs, None of them can Kill you, Plax can kill you.

In the end I dont think that Plax should be dumped until the Giants can convince themselves that the team is better off without him. So far the team has been able to ignore it so I think that you must give him a second chance.

The trades are done.

The Knicks roster has been completely mutated.

Wlsh stuck to his guns, and ignored the hot start and improved play, by trading Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford. Walsh's plan all along was to clear up space for the 2010 free agency and if thats what the man wants thats what the Knicks are gonna get.

So what does this mean.....

The immediate thing that comes to mind is simple, LBJ - MSG, LeBron (more on that later), but this trade actually helps the Knicks in their playoff push now.

Walsh traded away Jamal and Randolph, the teams top 2 leading scorers, leading rebounder, and the lone Big Man not named Malik Rose. Thats lot to lose in one day, if we're only thinking about this season. but when you think about it, Al Harrington replaces Randolph's presence in the post as well as adds a much needed shooter. Cuttino Mobley may not be the player he once was, nor can he match Crawford's scoring output, but he makes up the difference in scoring with his hustle and Defense. So it is an almost even swap and than throw in Tim Thomas.

The Knicks also found great fits for D'Antoni's running system in these players. Al Harrington was the true prize for now and should have a lot of success for the Knicks. Thomas was able to revive his career under D'Antoni with the Suns in 2006 maybe he can do it again. Also Randolph and Crawford weren't great fits for the Knicks system anyway. Seriously Randolph may be like RAmbo in coparison to his rotund team mate, the one and only Eddy Curry, but in reality he is not in great shape. I really doubt he could handle a whole season in D'Antoni's sprinting system. Crawford recebt success can possibly be attributed to his hot shooting which I think will eventually even out. Also he likes to hang on to the ball and create for himself, something that is frowned upon by D'Amtoni. The Knicks were really in an awful position before, to bad to compete for a ring to good to draft a franchise player, no cap space, so The Knicks were really stuck in Basketball Hell but no onw realized it because they were looking good for the first time in years.

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