New York Giants News and Notes: Feels Like Summer Edition

Good morning fellow Giants fans. It's Monday, so we won't tell you how many weeks until the start of the NFL season today, but suffice to say it was 90 degrees here in Wisconsin over the weekend and probably in many places in the country. So summer is pretty much here. And that means a few things--the least of which is that with each passing weekend, football season gets closer and closer. It also means that pundits are anointing the Eagles and Cowboys as NFC East champs already, all the while as the Giants put more jewelry on their fingers. Let's see what else is going on this morning....

Giants great Lawrence Taylor's Super Bowl ring sold; auction fetches $230K - NFL - Sporting News
Lawrence Taylor's championship ring from Super Bowl XXV is in new hands, reportedly for the price of $230,401. New York Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora was among the failed bidders, according to media reports.

Is it bad that the first thing I thought of when I read this was, "How old is LT's kid and has he ever tried playing organized football?" It also bums me out that every time there is something about LT in the news, it's not really football related.

Tom Coughlin hosts 17th Annual Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic | firstcoastnews.com
Former Jaguars head coach and current New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is back on the First Coast this weekend to host the 17th Annual Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic. Several Giants players are joining their head coach for Monday's golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass including Eli Manning and Hakeem Nicks. Current Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier were among the celebrities who attended Sunday night's dinner and auction.

Eagles' renewed inward focus will lead them back to top of NFC East - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy
Defensive end Justin Tuck says the New York Giants are talking "dynasty," but they should be talking the Philadelphia Eagles instead. Because while the Giants are the defending Super Bowl champions, they're not the team to beat in their own division. The Eagles are. I know, here we go again. That's exactly what we said about last year's "Dream Team," and look what happened -- nothing. The Eagles were a monumental disappointment that turned high expectations into mediocre results, with the club forced to win its final four games just to finish .500.

Blah blah blah.

Ravens-Giants Among Best Interconference Games of 2012 - Baltimore Beat Down
In addition to playing what is known as a 1st place schedule, the Ravens play the NFC East next year, with their game hosting the New York Giants at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium ranked among the league's most anticipated interconference games. A story on NFL.com has this game rated the third-best of all the interconference match-ups.

Free agent safety Deon Grant says Detroit Lions have shown interest | MLive.com
In an interview with NFL Radio, free agent safety Deon Grant said the Detroit Lions are one of the teams that has expressed interest in his services.

Apparently the Lions, Broncos, Cowboys and Giants are all interested, but there is also the chance that Grant will just retire.

Hudson Reporter - Cueto to coach Secaucus boys’ hoops Hill signs with Giants Keller named Felician top female athlete
At the New York Giants’ rookie mini-camp last week, former St. Peter’s Prep superstar Will Hill was among the participants and the chances of him hooking on with the defending Super Bowl champs didn’t look promising, especially after he was demoted during one session on Friday and scolded by assistant coaches after another on Saturday, told to "get off the field." However, the former University of Florida safety must have done something to impress the Giants’ staff, because he was one of only three free agent rookies to earn a contract after the camp concluded last week.

Weekend mailbag: Beatty faces pressure - NFC East Blog - ESPN
questions do still remain about Beatty after he struggled in his first season as the Giants' starting left tackle. The Giants still believe in Beatty and will continue to give him the opportunity to show he can do the job, but they're not convinced yet, and if he struggles again it could be a position they have to address moving forward beyond 2012.

'Battleship's' real-life soldier Greg Gadson is action tested - latimes.com
While promoting the movie"Battleship"in Tokyo last month,U.S. ArmyCol. Greg Gadson found himself face-to-face with a stunned reporter. "He thought I was computer-generated," said Gadson, a burly former West Point football player who walks with the aid of futuristic-looking titanium prosthetics. "He thought my legs were movie magic." There was no CGI needed for Gadson's performance as a wounded combat veteran in "Battleship" — both of his legs were amputated above the knee after he was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007. "Battleship" director Peter Berg cast Gadson in the movie, which opened in Los Angeles last Friday, after seeing an imposing photograph of the soldier in a National Geographic article about advances in artificial limbs.

This is a great story, and hopefully one that inspires everyone just a bit to kick off the week.