Eli strikes back, and Big Blue View Nation rejoices!

by potroast on Aug 21, 2007 1:36 PM EDT Comment 7 comments

In case you missed it, Tiki criticized Eli during halftime show of the game Sunday (he did have some nice things to say too). Basically Tiki claimed that Eli was uncomfortable being a leader and that he wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to "be a leader of men".

Well, Eli responded:

"I don't always believe everything Tiki says. You know I feel very comfortable and I saw the deal last night and it seemed very rehearsed, kind of like his pre-game speeches."

He then went on to say:

"I feel confident in what I'm doing in getting the team ready and if you ask any of the players around here who the leader of the offense is they're going to say me."

This is good stuff. 1st, I'm glad someone spoke up about Tiki's B.S. Enough is enough with Tiki throwing his old teammates and coaches under the bus. It's obvious that his TV persona is more important to him than his friendships. 2nd, I love the confidence Eli is showing. It appears that he's making big steps this year both in his play and his leadership.

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Also, I meant to put up the link where I saw this, since they deserve the credit:

http://mvn.com/nfl-giants/

If I'm going to break them, I'm going to break them both. - LT

by potroast on Aug 21, 2007 2:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yippee!!

I love it when one of my readers beats me to posting something! Damn! If it wasn't for this work thing.

Anyway, this is great stuff. ELI GROWS A PAIR and tells Tiki to stick it! Yessssss! Here's a little more, from Ernie Palladino of the Journal News:

"I guess I'm just happy that Tiki's made a smooth transition into the TV world," Manning said. "It's one of those deals, I'm not going to lose any sleep. I could have questioned his leadership skills last year, calling out the coach, retiring in the middle of the season, that he'd lost the heart.

"You hear your running back has lost the heart to play the game in the 10th week, you can see that a little bit. But I'm not gonna get concerned. I'm just going to go out and play ball."

Here are a couple of other links to the story, and to beat writers comments on it. Albany Times Union
From Mike Garafolo of the Star Ledger:

Giants fans of America and around the world, take a moment to stand up on your office chair and yell at the top of your lungs, "It's about time, baby!" This is the moment you have all been waiting for. Your quarterback does have a little bit of fire in his belly after all.

by Ed Valentine on Aug 21, 2007 3:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

atta boy eli

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Aug 21, 2007 8:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Way to go Eli

Enough is enough! Borrowing a comment I read on another blog" I used to think Tiki was a class act, now I realize it was all an act." I would much rather have our quarterback being true to himself and leading quietly by example than trying to invent a persona in effort to appease anyone. Eli got his point accross showing a pretty good sense of humor in the procees that he and the team is tired of hearing this crap!At this point any show with Tiki(& Collinsworth) is basically unwatchable. If I'm forced to listen to his "but enough about ME " routine during a Giants game so be it, in all other venues I'm jst going to change the channel. Tiki you really dropped the ball on this one "PLease just go away"!!!

by big blue wrecking crew on Aug 22, 2007 8:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

tiki is dead to me

he is not going to last as a tv personality. he's going to piss off the nation's largest market. how hard is it to dance around questions about your former teammates the first year after you controversially retire? what an idiot. like people wouldnt cut him any slack if he let eli off easy when asked about his leadership last year. i hope eli backs it up now. and i hope the rest of the team fights thier ass off for him.

by DieEaglesDie on Aug 22, 2007 9:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm of two minds about Tiki

On the one hand, I can't forget his tremendous play, especially the last couple of years, without which the Giants would have never made the playoffs.

On the other hand, I can't believe how little courage he's shown in standing up to his media peers. It's like he's actually always been working for them, deep down inside, so he's unwilling to piss off a loser like Chris Collinsworth and tell him to tell some tales about his own locker room.

Throwing Eli under the bus was something he did, but it also is something that he might easily have predicted would fire Eli up. Maybe he wanted that to happen, and so held himself out in a more self-less fashion than it seems at this moment.

I actually agree with Tiki that Coughlin is not the right coach for the Giants, though I disagree with his public statements to that effect.

I also agree with Tiki that Eli needs to be more of a leader, and here he has given Eli an opportunity, which Eli has seized, to his (Eli's) credit.

I also think that Tiki has acted quite self-absorbed and suck-uppy to his new media friends at the expense of the G-men for quite a while now.

All in all, I'm still grateful to Tiki as a football player. He was inspirational and really one of the best Giants ever to take the field for us.

At the same time, I don't care much for him as a broadcaster so far, since all he's done is talk trash about the Giants. If he's able to spread his wings and cover other things besides Eli and Tom Coughlin and the rest of our players, then more power to him, but he still neads to earn my respect as a broadcaster.

by Mr Met on Aug 22, 2007 1:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

2 minds

Well put. I agree that there is 2 sides to my like/dislike of Tiki as a player/media person. As for Coughlin as coach of this team, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt this year. It might work out for him without Tiki & Strahan backstabbing him. From the looks of the Ravens game, they may actually play like a (gasp!) team this year.

If I'm going to break them, I'm going to break them both. - LT

by potroast on Aug 22, 2007 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs