Good morning, Giants fans. As we get ready for the first preseason game Saturday night in Carolina, the Giants and fans alike are suffering from a Steve Smith hangover. You don't just lose an integral part of your team to your hated rival and not have backlash. Jerry Reese felt that backlash, and now Senior VP of Communications Pat Hanlon is getting into the act. I think we're right for feeling nervous as the Eagles make bold move after bold move and seemingly have an endless supply of cap space. Our heads are probably going to hurt for a bit, but let's see what the preseason games tell us.
Giants PR chief lashes out at disgruntled fans on Twitter - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
There are generally three schools of thoughts on how to respond to Twitter critics: ignore them, passive aggressively retweet the comments while throwing in a bon mot to sound intellectually superior or pull an Ochocinco and resort to name calling. New York Giants vice president of communications Pat Hanlon subscribes to the last one.
I'm not going to post every tweet on here, but you guys HAVE to read this. It's far worse than Hanlon and Rex Ryan going at it. I think these guys all need to step back and look at this as we fans might look at it, and I don't think they are doing that right now. And they should get used to the fact that in this information age, we're going to react and they are going to hear it faster and more furiously than ever. Just my take.
Politi: Does Giants general manager Jerry Reese have a plan? | NJ.com
It’s telling that Smith signed with the Eagles without giving the Giants a chance to match the deal, and anyone who has had a job offer knows what that means. He didn’t want to stay. Smith felt the Giants slighted him in the process and decided it was time to move on, and that reflects poorly on the man in charge.
Giants GM Jerry Reese promises playoffs but can't stop Steve Smith from going to Eagles 'Dream Team'
It's misguided in the frenzy of free agency to assume anything. It's hard to say in August how a team will be doing in December, but right now, the Giants are a mess. And they have only themselves to blame. As the Eagles continue to add to their "Dream Team," the Giants are getting outbid on their own players.
Ouch. But if the Giants do not make the playoffs as Reese is promising, he's going to face a crapstorm way worse than this.
Smith: Birds wanted me 'much more' than Giants | Eagletarian | 08/10/2011
An interesting sidelight: Dogra is also the agent for Nmandi Asomugha, whom he brought to the Eagles for less money than Asomugha could have gotten elsewhere. Dogra did not return a message seeking comment last night.
After everything that's been said, this is the fact that really hit me--that Dogra represents Nnamdi too. And the fact that he could have received more money for his star cornerback and did not give the Giants the chance to match the Eagles' offer is, um, curious, to say the least.
And hey, if you guys are interested and need a break from the Steve Smith-Jerry-Reese-Pat Hanlon fun, here is an interview Plaxico Burress did with Michael Kay on ESPN Radio New York.