I was in Saudi Arabia deployed to Prince Sultan Air base during Operation Southern Watch in support of the No-Fly Zone over southern Iraq. It was about 3pm in Saudi as I was waking up for another 12 hour shift. I had been in country for about a week and was looking forward to going up to Riyadh for the weekly trips to the bazaar on Sep 12. I remember a guy walking into my room and saying exactly these words to me "Aren't you from New York? A plane just hit one of the Towers". I remember my first thoughts being how does that happen when there's no reason to fly over the city when approaching JFK or LaGuardia. I went to watch the reports after getting dressed knowing somehow that something wasn't right about that.

Once dressed, I boarded the bus with fellow Airmen and we discussed it somewhat in a state of shock. When we got off the bus, the "Giant Voice" came on across the base and told us that our alert posture had changed and we would be in MOPP 2 immediately. For the rest of the four months there, we would have to carry our gas masks and chem warfare kits around at all times.

We worked 14 hour days 7 days a week for those four months and the mission pace was incredible. What struck me the most was the hostility from our Saudi hosts. There were no outward gestures of sympathy from them, just a lot of tension in the air where we were co-located. I had to go to the Saudi gate to work on some comm gear and when I approached, I was immediately surrounded by six troops with their weapons at the ready. During the rest of my time there things remained tense with our "ally".

When I returned home, I remember being struck by the armed presence at the airports. I had some friends/family that thankfully got out of the towers but it's always emotional for me, even now, just to mention that day. Thanks to all who have served and those that served and gave their lives. I feel for all who have lost someone and am thankful for our first responders who are some amazing, amazing human beings.

The short answer is no. There are however, more nuances once you get below the surface. Here's my take on all the huzzah around Tommy RedCheeks..

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I'm over what happened Sunday (yeah, right) and feel that I'm distant enough to give a quick analysis..

1) As much as I hate to write it, until we beat them, Eagles are better. No excuses, no reaching back into the past. It is what it is and I hope they are fired up to do something about it.

2) We did put up 31 points on them, which means we can move the ball on them when we see them again. What bothers me, is that Manning to Manningham was working like a charm and we went away from it. This more than anything else seems to be an ongoing issue. BJ is running well, we pull him. Bradshaw rips off a series of nice runs, we pull him or start throwing the ball. Is there something we don't know or is Gilbride or Eli getting too cute?

3) As frustrating as Manningham's fumble was, his play with SS12 out will pay dividends down the road. As Coughlin said, he's the one player we needed that day because of his skillset to get down the field. Message to Gilbride.. Get this man down the field. Let him blow past defenders and he can be our Mike Wallace. I'm not a big fan of these WR screens, in which for the most part, Manningham is too slight of frame to get off consistently. That's a role better suited for Hakeem.

4) What happened to the run game? Simple. Shaun O'Hara. Not a knock on the guy but I think we get more push with Seubert at the spot. Hopefully the coaches evaluate the film and make an adjustment. If not, we need O'Hara to step it up.

5) Curious why Fewell didn't keep someone to spy on Vick instead of letting him run down the field untouched for 30+ a pop. The ability to go 60+ yards on near consecutive plays taking very little off the clock killed us. I'm not going to bash Fewell as overall, I think he's done a good job using these guys' talents. We had some bonehead moments in the secondary, but our vets MUST have better awareness of the situation.

6) As much as I'd like Quinn to go, I doubt at this point that it will have much effect. New guy may mean new system or at the very least an adjustment very late into the season. Tell the guys that rule #1 is don't hurt the team! We have what we have and we'll have to make due unfortunately.

7) I think TC is the man for the job. He has brought a lot of success to this organization since he's been here and I think we've gotten spoiled. I'm not a fan of his stubbornness at times, but he's always brought us out of tough times (except when he has half a defense) and he'll do it again. If not, it's time to part ways and I won't be thrilled with that but it's the business.

8) How will we play in GB this weekend? I think we win but I would like to see the Giants go for the throat. We need some big plays and to dish out some physical punishment to re-establish confidence. Prove that we can come up big in a big game since for all intents and purposes, this is a playoff game. We need to play like it for all 4 quarters.

This is a tough group of players who at times believe too many of their press clippings. Coaching can only do so much in that regard. The players have to individually get themselves focused and self-police the locker room to get other guys on board. The next few weeks is more about the leaders on the team than the coaches.

Percy Harvin wins the ROTY award of which he is deserving. However, the other WR's on the list, Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace had inferior numbers to Nicks. Here are the splits..

Maclin          55 Rec    762yds      58.6/game     4 TDs

Wallace       39 Rec    756yds      47.3/game     6 TDs

Nicks           47 Rec    790yds      56.4/game      6 TDs (plus the 4 game streak of TD's scored)

Not even an honorable mention? What do you guys think? Fair or not?

It is completely gutless and absolutely asinine that Flozell Adams did not get suspended specifically for his dirty drive-by on Tuck and collectively for what he did during the first three weeks of the season. Let's recap shall we?

Week 2 - Trip's Tuck and causes injury to his shoulder, DIRECTLY impacting our season. Draws a 15 yard penalt and $7500 fine.

Week 2- Trips Osi and draws 15 yard penalty and $7500 fine.

Week 3 - Pulls the same leg whip crap on Julius Peppers. Again draws a 15 yard penalty and lame $7500 fine.

But wait!! The commish gets tough!

"Flozell, if you have any further transgressions (Tiger Woods plug) you will be heavily fined and suspended."

Fast forward to Week 13 - Flozell walks right up to Tuck and pushes him in the back and then like the large turd that he is, runs away!! All caught on camera, mind you. Result?? LAME FINE AND NO SUSPENSION!

Hmm..... Could it be because the league doesn't want to take away a "key" player during the Dallas playoff push? But no, there's no preferential treatment going on in the league!!