Here are some stories of interest for New York Giants fans as Super Bowl XLV approaches.
U.S. shuts down 10 websites accused of illegally streaming live sports events - latimes.com
Just days before the Super Bowl, government authorities in New York shut down 10 streaming websites accused of illegally showing live and pay-per-view sports events.
Content on popular websites such as Rojadirecta.org, Channelsurfing.net and ATDHE.net was replaced by a note saying that the domain names were seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials through warrants obtained by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.
The other sites shut down Monday were HQ-Streams.com, HQ-Streams.net, Firstrow.net, Ilemi.com, Iilemi.com, Iilemii.com and Rojadirecta.com.
Piracy threatens "the leagues' ability to sell game tickets and secure local television and radio carriage, and the value of advertising revenue generated by broadcast, radio and new media partners," the affidavit said. "Sports fans are also victims, as the costs expended by sports leagues in an effort to address online piracy are passed on to fans when they purchase tickets or subscribe to sports networks," the document said.
I know some of you have utilized these streams. To be honest, though, I'm surprised they weren't shut down long before this.
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has filed a defamation lawsuit against a Washington newspaper. A Washington Post columnist who happens to be a New York Giants fan has written an open letter to Snyder in response to the lawsuit. It is the most enjoyable thing you will read all day. Here is a small piece:
The point I want to make - and I think I can speak not only for myself but for all Giants fans - is that you have been very, very good to us, and we appreciate it. It's not easy being an ardent supporter of a football team. In this sport, the cliche is mostly true: On any given Sunday, any team can defeat any other team. Such is the nature of this game, which is so often influenced by injuries and so often subject to the effects of intangibles like momentum. This keeps the devoted fan in a constant state of stress. You can't take any win for granted.
But thanks to you, twice a season we can. Nothing is certain, of course, but when a Redskins game approaches, we at least know that we will be facing a team in spiritual disarray, whose players have been assembled largely by whim and impulse and ego, coached by a person as insecure as a teenage girl at a prom, with a nose zit.
The Atlantic wonders if Sunday's Super Bowl will be the last football game of 2011, and breaks down all the essential elements of the NFL's ongoing labor dispute.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been named NFL Coach of the Year for the third time.
The Philadelphia Eagles went way, way outside the box to hire a defensive coordinator. The Eagles gave the job to Juan Castillo, who has been the team's OFFENSIVE LINE coach for the past 13 seasons and has never coached defense in the NFL.