Some random thoughts about the NFL for a Sunday.

• I think those of you who are rooting for the Giants to bring in linebacker Derrick Brooks are well-meaning, but misguided. Brooks is quite obviously not the player he once was, and I can't help but think about Carlos Emmons and LaVar Arrington when I think of him. The Giants have built a great team bringing in players with futures, not pasts, and I want to see it stay that way.
• So, the NFL's ultimate drama queen says he will make up his mind about whether or not to play for the Minnesota Vikings by the end of this month. It's to the point where I hope he comes back -- and plays absolutely terrible football. Oh, and I also think the Vikings are seriously overestimating the kind of quarterback they appear to be getting.
• With Derrick Ward now in Tampa Bay, Blogging the Boys is wondering if the Cowboys have the best three-headed running back monster in the league. Today, I can't really argue. I think, though, that Ahmad Bradshaw, Danny Ware and rookie Andre Brown will do just fine caddying for Brandon Jacobs. And yes, I know that would make it a four-headed monster. My math skills stink, but not that much.
  
• I think I need to pass along 'kudos' to our Washington Redskins blog, Hogs Haven. HH says it's clear who the favorite should be in the NFC East -- and they wear blue (when they don't stupidly wear red, that is).

Is it just me or are the Dallas Cowgirls and the Philadelphia Eagles getting way too much press this off-season? The Giants are the class of the NFC East and I don't think it is close. They get Osi Umenyiora back this season to bolster an already violent pass rush. Eli, in all of his toothy glory, is good enough to guide that offense to more than enough points to stake that defense to a lead they can protect. They are well-coached, they have an excellent ground game with a punishing feature back in Brandon Jacobs and they picked up a wide receiver that I fear is going to have a pretty good year in Hakeem Nicks (and let's hope Ramses Barden still needs a LOT of polish.) The potential for major slippage from the last couple years is minimal with this squad.

• We pick on Tony Romo a lot here at BBV, but I have to give him a little credit when it's due. This little spot the Dallas QB did is pretty funny. 'Kudos' to Extra Mustard.
  

• I think new Broncos' coach Josh McDaniels is already losing his team. Seems several Broncos' players don't trust him. If the players don't trust the coach and buy in to what he wants, the team doesn't win. Maybe McDaniels wasn't ready for this job.

Here are a few football-related thoughts for a gorgeous July Sunday. A day, by the way, when we should be thinking about something besides football.

• So, Chad OchoCinco (OchoStinko?, OchoIdiot-o? OchoSelfishJerk-o?) wants to Twitter during games and says he is going to do it whether he has the NFL's blessing or not. What happened to all that dedication Ocho has been blabbering about, talking about helping the hapless Bengals improve on last season's 4-11-1 mark? Or, maybe trying to catch more than 53 balls? Instead, Ocho is going to worry about 'tweeting.' Thank God ge is not a New York Giant.
• I can't stop laughing when I think about Greg Ellis and his claims that DeMarcus Ware would hide from the Dallas coaching staff so he could get more playing time. The Cowboys used to be a football team. Now, they are a circus act. And probably a bad sideshow at that.
• Bleeding Green Nation's JasonB couldn't leave the topic alone after taking a shot at Giants' linebacker Michael Boley the other day. He also had to take one at General Manager Jerry Reese. Boley's actions in allegedly beating his wife are indefensible. Reese, though, I will defend. I am sure he studied Boley thoroughly before deciding whether or not the guy was a troublemaker. He wouldn't be a Giant if Reese thought he was, or that his character was a long-term concern. Boley made a mistake -- a bad one -- and he will be punished for it.
• The UFL will implement some "rule enhancements" for its inaugural season. The one I am interested in is that both teams will get to possess the ball during an overtime. I am curious to see how that works out.
• Congrats to Giants' tight end Kevin Boss, who got married a week or so ago. Oh, and 'kudos' to his new bride, who let him work out (well, yes, that way, too -- but we are talking football here), then cut they honeymoon short so he could get back home and get ready for training camp.
• Nice piece by SI.com summarizing 25 summer sports bargains. Visiting an NFL training camp makes the list.
• The clip below really has nothing to do with football (although it does include a T.O. sighting). I found it on the amazing Joe Posnanski's blog, though, and thought it was too hilarious not to pass it along.

• One other non-football note. Best wishes to Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy. Mickelson is skipping the British Open to be with his wife, who recently had breast cancer surgery.
  

Here are a few of the things I am thinking about on this glorious Father's Day. Of course, we'll skip putting the dock in at camp and that nice, marinated steak that is going to be on my barbecue grill later on this afternoon.

We are. after all, here to talk sports.

• I think I am not going to worry about those Eli Manning contract talks. They will get done eventually, and eli will sign a gargantuan contract that will make him the Giants' quarterback for the rest of his career. Then everyone will scream that he is overpaid. So, who cares?
• I think I got a chuckle out of some writers being concerned about the Giants cutting Rashad Barksdale when they signed Stoney Woodson the other day. Yeah, Barksdale had a great impact on the practice squad in 2008. Reality is, I like Barksdale and I root for him since he went to UAlbany. But, the Giants are a good football team. A very good football team. By the time they are down to a 53-man roster they will cut a lot of very good players who will wind up on the rosters of other NFL teams.
  
• I think the stuff about the Cowboys asking tubby Tony Romo to lose weight, and the job our man Jim did in dealing with that in the Wednesday Walk, is funny stuff. I know you hate the Cowboys, but you have to admit they are great entertainment.
• I think The National Football Post is the best football Web site on the planet. If you claim to be a football fan and you aren't reading it, I am questioning your football fan membership card.
• I think all this conspiracy theory stuff about why Alex Rodriguez is taking a couple of days off while the Yankees are playing the Marlins -- in A-Rod's hometown of South Florida -- is just a bunch of foolishness.
• I think I don't care how many shots behind the leader Tiger Woods is heading into play today at the U.S. Open. If the world's greatest golfer makes a couple of birdies early in the round everyone will be paying attention. If he doesn't everyone -- especially network TV execs -- will be disappointed.
• I think that when an agent like Scott Boras thinks he is within his rights to publicly criticize a manager's lineup decisions it's an example of how screwed up sports has become.

More photos » by Seth Wenig - AP

Plaxico Burress

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If Plaxico Burress gets what he wants, which is to keep delaying punishment for the gun charges he currently faces, and ends up able to play in the NFL this season, that will be an injustice.

Now, I know I call this particular weekly column 'Valentine's Views,' but John Rowe of The Record recently summarized exactly how I feel about the Burress situation. So, I am going to let him speak for me here.

The latest example of how celebrity players are treated differently from you and I is the speculation that Plaxico Burress' attorney could have a deal in place by as early as Monday in which the wide receiver's trial on charges of possessing and illegal discharging a handgun will be delayed until after he plays the 2009 season.

This isn't about him being guilty or not guilty. Let a jury decide that.

This is about special treatment that Burress doesn't deserve. If one of us was charged with the same offense, the case would have been long decided. Burress was arrested last November, not last week.

After all the tough talk by Mayor Bloomberg that the talented wide receiver would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, we have another player trying to milk the system to his advantage.

Burress has only so many seasons left in him and delaying the trial will be to his benefit, especially financially.

And don't expect NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to step in and suspend Burress. How can he if Burress has not been found guilty of anything? If you don't count complete stupidity.

Now, ultimately, I understand that the primary thing Plax is guilty of here is stupidity. Ultimately, he didn't hurt anyone but himself -- at least physically. You can argue that he put a bullet in the Giants' chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but that really has nothing to do with this whole mess.

I just hope Plax doesn't end up manipulating the system and getting what he wants. He shouldn't end up being rewarded for being unwilling to be a grownup and face his punishment.

Continue reading this post »

If you read the Antonio Pierce-Mike Garafolo exchange from Friday's OTA carefully, you can see plainly that AP gave a pretty testy, snide interview.

It's really all Twitter's fault. From recent experience we know all too well that AP is big into the hottest new form of social media.

Seems like at Friday's OTA he was delivering the same message to the mainstream media that he delivered to me when I sent him questions a couple of weeks ago. The message? You want to know what I think, check my Twitter page.

And what does AP think? He obviously thinks he has very little use for the media. Here are a couple of his recent 'Tweets.' (God, I hate that word. We are going to go around from now on communicating with each other via 'Tweets?' Ugh!!)

Anyway, here are a couple of AP's Tweets about the media.

First ...

Media day today always looking forward to some of those amazing questions!

This one, too ...

Funny how the beatwriters follow me on twitter and they claim they can not understand what i am writing about. Arent they around all thetime

Unfortunately, I think mainstream media members and bloggers are going to have to get used to athletes using Twitter the way Pierce is. Witness what Shaquille O'Neal did the other day, using his Twitter page to poke fun at Dwight Howard and Jeff Van Gundy. Now, I'll admit that the Howard and Van Gundy's baby picture is hilarious. even if it makes Shaq look shallow and spiteful.

What I don't like is this idea that athletes like Pierce are using Twitter to put themselves above reporters and bloggers, forcing us to go decipher their thoughts from their Tweets.

Sports Illustrated looked at this whole new phenomenonn the other day. Here is some of that piece, largely offering the athletes' perspective.

Twitter lets athletes speak on their own terms. "It's going to be useful during the season, because after a game, I'll be able to say my piece instead of just allowing different media outlets to portray me how they want to portray me," said St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson, one of football's prolific tweeters. Talk to any athlete or coach about the benefits of Twitter, and they'll put message control at the top of the list. "In this world we live in now, everybody becomes media," said Shaquille O'Neal, whose enormous following of more than 1 million has fueled Twitter fever in sports. "If something is going to be said, hey, it's coming from me, it's coming from my phone." Journalists may lament athletes passing over the middle men. But honestly, what's more interesting, a "we gave 110 percent" from the postgame podium, or a tweet like this from Shaq: "Dam manny ramirez, come on man Agggggggggh, agggggggh, agggggh."

Maybe this is actually a good thing for bloggers like myself. I guess, in a way, it is another nail in the coffin of mainstream sports reporters. Who needs locker room access when you can just get the players' thoughts from Twitter?

I'm not sure I like it -- in fact, I know I don't like it -- even if it has some beneift for me. I'm too traditional, and I guess I still believe in properly spelled and constructed sentences. I don't have to like it, though.

Whether I do or not, this is how it is going to be. So, I will have to get used to it.

Continue reading this post »

Here are some random thoughts on the Giants and a few other topics for this week.

• I really hate to agree with the Eagles' fans, but I think this whole 'Domenik Hixon is better than DeSean Jackson' argument is silly on the part of Giants' fans. Our man 'cjmulrain' nailed the reasoning in his comment on the post (I knew there was a reason I hired the guy). If you missed his comment, here it is. It's dead-on accurate, even though I love Hixon.

Hixon is 4 years older than Jackson. If we’re talking about who’s going to be better this season, I’d say it’s probably a 60/40 bet that it’s Jackson. If we’re talking about who’s going to have a better career, you’d be absolutely crazy not to go with Jackson. I don’t like it, but the guy produced more in his rookie year than Hixon has in 4 years. I know a big part of it is b/c he got more opportunities than Hix did, but there’s a reason for that, you know.

• I think everyone should thank former Giants and Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton for his Brett Favre-ripping rant the other day. If you haven't seen it, here is some of it.

"I think it’s despicable. What he put the Packers through last year was not good," said Tarkenton, who played for the Vikings from 1961-66 and again from 1972-78. "Here’s an organization that was loyal to him for 17, 18 years, provided stability of organization, provided players. It just wasn’t about Brett Favre. In this day and time, we have glorified the Brett Favre’s of the world so much, they think it’s about them. He goes to New York and bombs. He’s 39 years old. How would you like Ray Nitschke in his last year [playing for] the Vikings, or I retire, and go play for the Packers? I kind of hope it happens, so he can fail."

"He told the Packers [after 2008 that], ‘I’m retiring,’" Tarkenton said. "They’ve got to move on. They’ve got to go through their offseason plan, their workouts, they go with the other quarterback [Aaron Rodgers], who is a good player, and then [Favre] comes back and says, ‘I think I want to play.’ … You build your team in the offseason. Everybody knows that. It’s about team. It’s not about Brett Favre. So he goes and runs up to the Jets, doesn’t even dress in the locker room with the players. Has a separate facility. Playing quarterback is about the relationships you have with your coaches, with your players, with your trainers, with your managers. How can you do that if you show up on gameday and you haven’t put the time in. And now he’s trying to do it again in Minnesota. And if Minnesota bites, God bless them."

Amazing, amazing forthright slam job on Favre. Good stuff, Fran!

• I think, no, I know I am less than thrilled with Tarketon's calling Eli Manning "just a guy." Yep, just a guy with a Super Bowl ring you were never able to win, Fran!
  
• We talked about new Giants' defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan last week. I think there is only way Sheridan can screw up the Giants' defense in 2009 -- and that's by putting the shackles on that immensely talented group and not letting his front seven attack the quarterback. I don't think that is going to happen.
• The Eli Manning-Tony Romo comparisons got tossed around at BBV last week. I think for their to be a real comparison Romo will first have to accomplish something -- other than being a celebrity, that is -- for their to be a valid comparison at all.
• If you're a sports fan I think you have to love the story of Kevin Laue, the one-handed young man who recently accepted a basketball scholarship to Manhattan College.
• Hot girl comment of the week: I love 'House,' but Olivia Wilde (Thirteen) as No. 1 on Maxim's 'Hot 100?' Are you kidding me? Especially when the gorgeous Jennifer Morrison (Cameron) is No. 69? I have a major problem with that.

Here is this week's installment of 'Valentine's Views,' where I share thoughts on the Giants, Yankees and a host of other sports-related topics.

• I think you have to wish Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson well, and say a prayer for him. Yes, he works for the Eagles. But the man has cancer and he's fighting for his life. You can't think about that in football terms. And, yes, 'GMen69' I'm chiding you a bit here for your 'Fanpost' on Big Blue View about Johnson.
  
• I think I love watching how speed can change a baseball game. Look at what we have seen from Brett Gardner of the Yankees recently. A mad dash to home plate from second base that resulted in an out on a great play by Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer, one of the best and most exciting plays you will ever see no matter how long you watch baseball. Gardner also victimized Minnesota for an inside-the-park home run. And, don't forget Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury stealing home off Andy Pettitte. That stuff is baseball at its most beautiful.
• I think the most fascinating, and probably the most important, part of the upcoming New York Giants' season will be watching the work of the team's coordinators. Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride doesn't have Plaxico Burress, but he does have a host of new receivers and running backs. Whether or not he is able to find ways to maximize their abilities will be critical to the Giants' success. Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan is a rookie replacing the highly successful Steve Spagnuolo. If the Giants, who loaded up on defense in free agency and the draft, don't play well defensively Sheridan will take a lot of heat.
• I think it's going to be a sad day when the Giants part ways with David Tyree. Barring a rash of injuries, though, I just don't see how Tyree makes the 2009 Giants' roster.
• I think I agree with this statement from SI.com's Jon Heyman. ""The problem with the new (Yankee) Stadium isn't the wind tunnel to right field or the expense. It's the quiet. It's a pricey library."
• Speaking of Yankee Stadium, I think I also agree with this statement from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "Every time there's a fly ball here, I think it's going out of the stadium.
• I think the amazing season being enjoyed by Kansas City's Zach Grienke is all the evidence Yankee fans should need that giving up on Phil Hughes would be stupid. Grienke, 25, has been looked at as a potential star ever since he broke into the league as a 20-year-old in 2004.
• I think I am wholeheartedly in Peter King's corner when he bemoans the movement toward expanding the NFL season. This will not help the game at all. I think it will only shorten careers and water down the product on the field. Oh, and put more money in the pockets of NFL owners.
• I think you have to wish former NBA player Brian Grant well in his battle with Parkinson's Disease.
• I think the coolest thing about the Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA playoff series is Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant are guarding each other. Super stars rarely go mano-a-mano like that, and it is a treat to watch the two of them go at each other.

I have been wanting to do something a little different for a while, and since I am both here and at Pinstripe Alley these days, I thought I would try my hand at a Sunday column offering thoughts on the Giants, the Yankees and sometimes the sports world at-large.

'Valentine's Views' will, I hope become a regular Sunday morning staple at both sites. So, here goes.

• I think the primary difference between the Giants and the Yankees is management. The Giants, with a Super Bowl and four straight playoff appearances, are managed by the very stable Mara family and are always consistent in what they do. The Yankees are managed, of course, by the mercurial Steinbrenner clan. With The Boss in declining health, the last few years have seen a power struggle, resulting in some stupid decisions and affecting the product on the field.
• 
  I think another difference between the teams in their general managers. Giants' GM Jerry Reese cut his professional teeth as a scout, is a brilliant evaluator of talent, and hardly ever makes a personnel mistake. I love the philosophy Yankee GM Brian Cashman has brought to the organization the past few years. Cashman, though, is at best a very questionable talent evaluator. Right philosophy, wrong choices and your team suffers.
• I think anyone who tells you the Giants are not, on paper, a playoff team is not living in reality. Yes, I am talking about you, Mike Florio. Our man 'cjmulrain' did a great job a few days ago calling out Florio for predicting that the Giants would miss the playoffs in 2009. That IS possible, certainly. Injuries happen. So do funny bounces and inexplicable losses. But, heading into the season the Giants are undeniably one of the league's 5 best teams, and one of the two best in the NFC. Saying flat out that they will miss the playoffs is folly.
  
• I think I am finding it impossible to decide which guy is the best Giants' beat writer -- Mike Garafolo or Ralph Vacchiano. MG leads right now, but only because of our recent interview with him. Of course, I haven't gotten around to asking Ralph yet this off-season.
• I think Roger Clemens should follow Mark McGwire's lead and simply quit talking about the steroid allegations he faces. I also think it is sad how he has consistently thrown Andy Pettitte, and what used to be a great friendship, under the bus.
• I think relaxing the batting practice policy and allowing fans without field-level tickets down by the fences before games was a smart decision by the Yankees. They have created enough anger amongst fans already this season, and it's about time they did something right.
• I think I owe 'FrankDiscussion,' a PA regular, a huge 'thank-you' for the two phone calls he placed that helped me get through my first radio show last Tuesday.
• I think the 10-game homestand the Yankees started Friday night is huge in many ways. They need victories to get pointed in the right direction, and they need big crowds and energy in the Stadium to soothe some of the ill feelings that have been generated by The House that George Built.
  
• I think my pal 'jrs' is doing a great job at Blueshirt Banter. But, I also think there is still no way he turns me into a hockey fan.
• I think when I watch Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic I wonder how anyone else ever gets a rebound when he's in the neighborhood. I also think the Celtics win their Game 7 with the Magic tonight, just because I don't think Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo will let them lose.
• I think I really, really want the under-manned Rockets to send the arrogant, play hard only when they feel like it Los Angeles Lakers, home for the summer this afternoon.