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New York Giants Notes: Tiki Booed, And That Is OK With Me

By Ed Valentine
Getty Images

Tiki Barber was lustily booed during the New York Giants Ring of Honor ceremony at halftime Sunday night.

Gary Myers of the Daily News said this morning that this was New York fans showing support for their team and coach, and telling Tiki to stuff it.

If the fans had one voice, they were telling Barber that they had Coughlin's back. And that they feel he has betrayed the organization with his critical comments of Coughlin over the years and again last week, when he said the coach had a crisis, his job was in jeopardy and his control of the team was slipping away.

Had the players tuned out Coughlin? Had he lost the locker room? He's always talking about Giants pride, but that's been lacking early this season. And Barber, the Giants' all-time leading rusher, took the opportunity to declare open season on Coughlin.

The fans let Barber know they didn't appreciate it. Coughlin led the Giants to the Super Bowl championship in 2007, the first year of Barber's retirement. The booing stood out because each of the other 29 members of the Ring of Honor received loud ovations. To accentuate their point, the fans gave a huge ovation to Amani Toomer, who was introduced right after Barber.

My take: In a way, it's too bad the ceremony had to be marred that way. In reality, though, I wish Barber had politely declined to show up. This torching of Tiki was inevitable, and I'm more than OK with it. I would have been booing, too, if I had been in the stands at New Meadowlands Stadium. Tiki was a great player, but he needs to stop trying to resuscitate his derailed TV career by trashing the organization that made him a household name.

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Carnage was like sadist's sick daydream :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Rick Telander

Here is a little taste of how they are feeling in Chicago today. I think you will enjoy this. Immensely.

The first-half carnage was like something from a sadist's daydream, with Cutler as the victim. It was cheap. It was perverse. It was wrong.

But you could not help wondering, here in the midst of the huge flashing video screens and pink shoes and chin straps afield, when Cutler would be counted out.

This was an embarrassment to the Bears' organization from top to bottom.

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz is complicit in the beating. As is offensive line coach Mike Tice. As is Bears general manager Jerry Angelo for not picking better blockers. As are the blockers themselves. (Talk about the blind side?) And of course, coach Lovie Smith, the great stone face, gets an ''F'' for tactics and a red ''F'' for leadership.

The Giants Looked Like the Giants Again Last Night -- New York Magazine
At times this season, the Giants have displayed some very un-Giant-like characteristics: In Week 2, for example, they were unprepared for the Colts' offensive scheme. And last week, they were unusually undisciplined, beating themselves with penalties. But last night felt far more familiar: an effective running game and one of the more impressive displays of pass rushing you'll ever see.

The Giants stumbled upon a neat game plan in the first half last night: Hit the opposing quarterback over and over again, until one of those hits inevitably gives said quarterback a concussion, knocks him out of the game, and forces Todd Collins into action. (And then, for good measure, knock him out of the game, too, later on.) Perhaps the Bears made it easy for them, and perhaps someone ought to tell Jay Cutler not to hold onto the ball for so long, but the Giants' defense in the first half — and in the second quarter in particular — was as impressive as we've ever seen.

Giants punter Matt Dodge drops a ball, botches a hold but rebounds in second half vs. Bears | NJ.com
"I was so focused on, ‘Kick it there, don’t let him catch it,’ and then you forget yourself to catch it. "It’s just a case of it slipped out of my hand. I guess I just lost a little bit of concentration."

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