Good morning fellow Giants fans. I'm tired of writing that most of the country is sweltering, but I feel like there is sweat dripping from my PC right now. It's also really quiet NFL-wise, but here are a few items to start your Friday as we head into the weekend.....
Michael Strahan reportedly a finalist to succeed Regis Philbin on 'Live' | NJ.com
Former Giants star Michael Strahan is a finalist to succeed Regis Philbin and co-host "Live With Kelly" according to Showbiz 411. Along with Strahan, the other two finalists are Seth Meyers of "Saturday Night Live" and singer Josh Groban. Strahan has been as a guest host on the show previously, including last week when his "Magic Mike" stripper dance went viral. Showbiz 411 reports that the frontrunner to land the gig is Meyers, who will be a guest co-host all next week -- the show's first Monday-to-Friday co-host since Neil Patrick Harris late last year.
Go Mike! But I really don't want to see that stripper dance.
Position series: Giants safeties - NFC East Blog - ESPN
Our position-by-position look at the teams in the NFC East is checking out the safeties today, and here we examine the safety position on the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
New York Giants breakout candidate Domenik Hixon : New York Giants
Is it hard to quantify a 27 year old as a possible breakout candidate? Maybe. In the case of Domenik Hixon though, its not so far-fetched. Hixon has only played in two games the past two seasons due to torn ACL’s and will be 28 years old this season. He has been prominently used as a kick returner since the New York Giants claimed him on waivers back in 2007, however this season may be the time to prove himself as a receiving option.
If he can stay healthy, I've always liked this dude. And we sure did miss him on returns last season.
Coach Coughlin keeps faith with his Brockton scrapper | Dorchester Reporter
But away from the sidelines and the clubhouse and the glare of cameras, the hard-nosed "Iron General," as some staffers have been known to call him, carries a torch for one of his BC boys from the ’90s, a scrapper from Brockton, home of the real "Rocky" of boxing, named Jay McGillis, whose untimely death from a fast-track leukemia left all who knew and loved him bereft and questioning. Last weekend, as the McGillis family waited on the 20th anniversary of Jay’s passing, the Daily News of New York published a 3,000-word, four-page account of the continuing Coughlin-McGillis relationship. Written by Daily News sportswriter Kevin Armstrong, himself a BC graduate, it is a story about football, constancy, loyalty, life and death – and about Tom Coughlin’s commitment to the memory of an athlete whose very being seemingly touched the inner heart of this austere, demanding man.
I know a Boston area music journalist, and he knows the McGillis family...and went on and on recently about what an amazing person TC is. I mean, the story's origination is very sad, but who among us doesn't love to hear stuff like that about our head coach?
Packers: Williams says defense is ready to turn the corner : Sports
As Eli Manning ran out the clock on the Green Bay Packers' once-indelible season one kneel-down after another, Tramon Williams didn't need any reassurances. Sure, the loss — a 37-20 heartbreaker to the New York Giants in the NFC divisional playoff round in January — may have been the epitome of a season of struggles for the Packers' defense, but Williams believed deep down it wasn't the true measure of the unit.
All of these stories about the playoffs from the "other side" keep coming up in my Google alerts, and since it's slow news-wise, I will pass them along for a few more weeks.
O'Day adjusting to his new role
Receiver Sinorice Moss, a former member of the NFL's New York Giants and whom the Riders signed as a free agent this off-season, is represented by well-known sports agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus has more than 150 clients on his list, including NFL standouts Terrell Owens, DeSean Jackson and Chad Ochocinco. O'Day found Rosenhaus to be very professional.