The Giants visited the White House, but they also visited Walter Reed Medical Center - here's the story about how our Giants interacted with wounded soldiers.
Here's a bunch of quotes from Bush's speech when the Giants visited the White House. To me, this is the most important part:
Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, the team's inspiration this past season, was on hand and stood for the entire ceremony with the aid of his prosthetic legs. Lt. Col. Gadson lost both of his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq.I don't care if you think politics are bad and I hope you think war is bad. But Gadson's story is an inspiring one - plus his inspiration helped the Giants win the Super Bowl..."I'm proud to be on the stage with this man," President Bush said to the team. "To me, it's a symbol of your respect for our country and your patriotism that you let Greg Gadson be a part of this team. He's got the Purple Heart, he's got three bronze stars and now he's got a Super Bowl ring - minted for a true giant."
Matt Walsh is willng to sell out his former employer as long as he doesn't get in trouble. I don't mean that in a bad way. I hope that all the information comes out. Cheating is bad for the NFL. Then again so is its officiating and they don't do much about that...
Matt Walsh is willng to sell out his former employer as long as he doesn't get in trouble. I don't mean that in a bad way. I hope that all the information comes out. Cheating is bad for the NFL. Then again so is its officiating and they don't do much about that...
Seubert should play in the Super Bowl. How can you not root for that guy? And considering that he has so much heart and determination (and his number is 69), I'm surprised you don't see more people wearing Seubert jerseys.
Well more football talk later. This is a story I didn't talk about back when it was timely but I wanted to revisit it now. I think it is the NFL's second biggest problem (the biggest problem is the ridiculously crappy officiating).
Toward the end of the regular season, people were complaining about the Giants Patriots games only being available on the NFL network. Interstingly, Patriots fans have their own owner to blame: "...fans should be less angry at the cable companies and direct their ire at Patriots owner Bob Kraft, who was on the committee that formed The NFL Network."
That game, according to the article, was to be shown on "The NFL Network (with the exception of the Boston market, where it will also be broadcast on Channel 5)." The exception would also include New York though.
Eventually they decided to put it on NBC and CBS. Thanks to that decision, John Kerry didn't have to launch his "hearings on how the emergence of premium sports channels are impacting the consumer."
Mara said that one of the best things about this season was getting Giants fans more enthusiastic. Well hell yeah! Going to the superbowl is pretty exciting!
On the one hand you want management to be honest, but on the other hand you don't want your team's GM to call your (hopefully) franchise QB skittish like Reese did to Eli. Do you think Reese made an error in judgement here or does Eli deserve to hear this from his GM?
Obviously we need a few years to see how Jerry Reese does, but I do have some concerns about the guy who has been orchestrating the Giants drafts. Some of his guys have worked out nicley like Kiwi and Osi. Others haven't worked out as well like Manning, William Joseph, and Corey Webster. Hopefully he'll do an excellent job but I'm not confident that he will.
Anyway, the articles: The Post says this is no surprise and details some Reese history. Newsday has a weak outline of some of Reese's (and the Giants) issues. The New York Times mentions similar things.
Go to the Campbell's Soup click for cans page, vote for the GIants, fill in the number, and submit your vote. Right now we're last in the NFC East and near the bottom of the league so go donate some cans of soup!
After reading comments directed to my proclamation that the Giants would win at most seven games in my last post, I decided to analyze the schedule they will face next year and point out the games I believe will be wins and losses for them. Keep in mind that I am predicting games thinking that both teams will be as healthy as possible. It is true that any big injury can make any good team a poor one, but that is not something that can be accurately accounted for this early in the year.
With that in mind here is the first half of the schedule analysis!
Week 1 – The first game of the season kicks off against the powerful Indianapolis Colts. Despite losing their marquee running back this off-season, expect the Colts to still have a high powered offense and to come out roaring looking to make up for a lost playoff run last season. The Giants are just outmatched at nearly every position in this game, from quarterback to wide receiver. They won’t be in this one after halftime.
My Final Prediction: Giants lose big in a disappointing home opener to the powerhouse Colts.
Week 2 - Playing in Philadelphia is never an easy thing to do, especially when the Eagles boast one of the top quarterbacks in the league. When healthy McNabb has practically owned the NFC East, and the Giants, in almost every season of his career. It’s hard to bet against the Eagles playing at home.
My Final Prediction: McNabb takes advantage of a Giants team still feeling the sting of a blowout loss the week before and pushes them to 0-2.
Week 3 – The gamers simply do not get easier for the Giants. After the Eagles they travel to Seattle to face the defending NFC Champions. The Seahawks are a great, let me repeat, great home team. They have gone undefeated in Seattle in two of the last three seasons. Something about playing at home just makes the Seahawks seem unbeatable.
My Final Prediction: This loss is going to be devastating but there is no going against a home team like Seattle. It may be hard to imagine after last year’s run, but I have the Giants starting 0-3 going into their bye week!
Week 4 – Bye week should allow the team to refocus on their next game.
Week 5 – Three straight losses and an extra week to think about where they are should have the Giants ready to play this game. Washington is a good team but not a great one. The Giants, like many NFL teams, do play well at home and should have enough firepower and motivation to win this one.
My Final Prediction: New York comes out angry and frustrated and finally wins a game, taking it straight to the Redskins.
Week 6 – After a disappointing start, New York should begin to excite the fans again while playing in Atlanta. Michael Vick is a tough task for any defense but looked human last season and the Falcons were a very inconsistent team overall. New York should have enough offense to outperform the good defense of Atlanta.
My Final Prediction: Look for the Giants to build off of last week’s win with a second straight win over the Falcons on a road.
Week 7 – The Giants will simply run out of steam in their visit to Dallas and first game versus division rival Cowboys. Their momentum from the last two weeks will allow them to stay in the game, but the Cowboys just seem too strong with the addition of Terrell Owens to their roster.
My Final Prediction: How good can the Giants be on the road? I chalk this game up as a loss because the Giants don’t have the defensive stoppers to hold Owens back.
Week 8 – Playing back at home against a playoff team after a road loss should get the G-Men feeling good about themselves again. Tampa Bay is not a bad team, but remember that their main quarterback now is Chris Simms. I really don’t see how the Buccaneers will be able to repeat last year’s success, and this should be an easy win for the Giants.
My Final Prediction: The Giants take this game and continue to do well at home since their first week loss.
Week 9 – Will Reggie Bush be playing for Houston? Probably, but it really won’t matter. The Texans simply are not a good team and do not have enough talent to keep up with too many teams in the NFL just yet. The Giants should have their second straight easy win with huge days from Manning and Burress.
My Final Prediction: Playing a bad team sure will help a mediocre team out in the wins column, this game should be the Giant’s gateway to a .500 record halfway through their season.
So that concludes my analysis on the games the Giants will win and lose for the first eight games the play this season. As you can see I have them starting out with a 4-4 record even after starting a disastrous 0-3. The second half of my analysis will be up next week, for now lets hear what you think of these games!
The Giants 2006-2007 schedule was released by the NFL recently. The Giants season opener will be against the Indianapolis Colts which will be televised nationally on NBC. This game is a rivalry of the “ Manning’s” as superstar Peyton Manning of the Colts squares off against his little brother Eli. This will be the first ever NFL contest between the two brothers. The Giants have a relatively difficult schedule as they will face teams that made the playoffs last year in eight games. They face NFC East rival Washington twice, as well as Seattle, Chicago, Indianapolis, Carolina and Jacksonville once.
“This challenging schedule will allow the New York Giants football team to compete and hopefully succeed at the highest level in the NFL,” Coughlin said. “Our goal is to be the best football team in the National Football League. In order to be the best, you have to play the best. And this schedule certainly provides us with the opportunity to do that. With the quality of this schedule, our offseason and our training camp preparation has now taken on new emphasis. All that we do in our offseason, our spring OTAs, or mini-camp and our training camp has obviously been directed toward the quality of the schedule.”
The Giants have a bye in Week Three before they will face the Redskins for the first time. The Giants also face the Skins in Week 17 to close out the regular season. A full schedule can be found below:
http://www.giants.com/gameday/schedule.asp
The Giants have raised season tickets $5.00. The team's new ticket prices are $75 for the upper and lower tiers and $85 for mezzanine seating. Last season the Giants gross average ticket price of $73.57 ranked 11th out of the 32 teams.
Wellington Mara had legislation passed in his honor by the House of Representatives. The Giants.com press release I've linked to also has some biographical data on Wellington Mara.
I just finished taking a survey online for the Giants marketing department.
The purpose of the survey is to explore your opinions on certain key questions and priorities regarding how the stadium should be configured and the amenities that might be offered. Similar to other new stadiums across the NFL, the new stadium in the Meadowlands will have a range of amenities and pricing options.
As you may know, the Jets and Giants have entered into a 50/50 partnership to build the NFL's premier stadium in the Meadowlands. The new stadium will open in 2010. It will be a state-of-the-art facility with new fan amenities, better sightlines, wider concourses and improved luxury suites.The questions were related to club seats and whether you would buy season tickets at certain places and prices. So they showed some seats on the 50 and quoted a price and asked what the chances are I would buy. Same thing for seats at the 20 and seats behind the endzone.
Profootballtalk.com states that the Giants have 3.02 million avialale under the 2005 cap. The smart thing to do would be to extend a couple players now and use up that extra cap space sooner rather than later. Here are some choices:
Allen, Will UFA
Carter, Tim UFA
Hasselbeck, Tim UFA
Greisen, Nick UFA
Clancy, Kendrick UFA
Lewis, Kelly UFA
Whitfield, Bob UFA
Morton, Chad UFA
Shiancoe, Vishante RFA
Ponder, Willie RFA
Walker, Frank RFA
Tyree, David RFA
Allen, Kenderick RFA
Duckett, Damane EFA
Ward, Derrick EFA
I would say the priorities have to be Ward, Tyree, Ponder, and Griesen. Probably at least one of the defensive tackles on that list also. It would probably be cheap enough to keep Shiancoe around as well.
TICKET POLICY
New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints
Monday, September 19, Giants Stadium
7:30 p.m. Eastern Time
1) Saints Season Ticket Holders and those people who purchased tickets to the originally scheduled Giants at Saints game will be allowed to purchase tickets for the September 19 game beginning Thursday, September 8 at 12 Noon.
a. Saints season ticket holders and those people who purchased tickets to the September 18 game in New Orleans should call 201-372-7928. Saints season ticket holders must provide their account number.
2) Giants Season Ticket Holders will have an opportunity to purchase tickets to the game from Thursday, September 8 at 3 p.m. through Saturday, September 10 at 10 p.m. Season ticket holders must have their account numbers and will be allowed to purchase the same number of tickets they have on their Giants account, up to a maximum of 8 tickets.
a. Ticket sales will be best seat available. Due to the quick turnaround required for this game, the Giants are unable to sell season ticket holders their normal seats.
b. Please note that account information will not be given out over the phone. Those season ticket holders who do not have their account number should go to the Continental Airlines Arena box office. Account information will only be given to the person who holds the account. The account holder must provide a photo ID for verification. Box office hours are: Thursday, September 8 from 3 p.m.-8 p.m.; Friday, September 9 from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Saturday, September 10 from 12 noon-6 p.m.
c. Giants Season Ticket Holders can purchase tickets on-line, by phone, or in person. Your account number will be required to make the purchase.
i. To purchase tickets on-line, go to ticketmaster.com. Delivery of tickets will be through either ticketFast or regular mail.
ii. To purchase by phone, call Ticketmaster at 201-507-8900 or 212-307-7171. Again, delivery of tickets will be through either ticketFast or regular mail.
iii. To purchase in-person, go to the Continental Airlines Arena box office. Box office hours are: Thursday, September 8 from 3 p.m.-8 p.m.; Friday, September 9 from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Saturday, September 10 from 12 noon-6 p.m.
3) The Giants season ticket waiting list will be allowed to purchase tickets on-line or by phone from Sunday, September 11 at 10 a.m. through Monday, September 12 at 10 p.m. To make the purchase, the wait list member must have their account number. Again, no account information will be given out over the phone. There will be a limit of 4 tickets.
a. To purchase on-line, go to ticketmaster.com. Delivery of tickets will be through either ticketFast or UPS.
b. To purchase by phone, call Ticketmaster at 201-507-8900 or 212-307-7171. Again, delivery of tickets will be through either ticketFast or UPS.
c. Waiting list members will be limited to on-line and phone orders. There will be no waiting list sales at either the Arena box office or the Giants ticket office.
4) Following the sale to the Giants waiting list, any remaining tickets will be put on sale to the general public on Tuesday, September 13 at 10 a.m.
a. To purchase on-line, go to ticketmaster.com. Delivery of tickets will be through ticketFast only.
b. To purchase by phone, call Ticketmaster at 201-507-8900 or 212-307-7171. Again, delivery of tickets will be through ticketFast only.
c. To purchase in-person, go to your nearest Ticketmaster outlet. There will be no sales at the Arena box office or the Giants ticket office.
5) Ticket prices will remain the same for the Saints game as they are for a regularly scheduled Giants home game. Upper and lower level: $70. Mezzanine: $80.
6) All ticket sales will be 밷est ticket available,?including those purchases made by season ticket holders.
7) For more information, please call 201-372-7928.
8) Method of payment: when ordering tickets from Ticketmaster or the Continental Airlines Arena box office, acceptable methods of payment are: MasterCard, Visa, American Express or cash.
9) An explanation of ticketFast: ticketFast is the most convenient way of receiving your tickets. When you select ticketFast as your delivery method during purchase, you'll receive your tickets via email. Not only will you get your tickets right away, but you can print them out anytime before the event.
NFL.com is just reporting that Mara (the older one) had an operation 3 weeks ago to remove cancerous lymph nodes. He has been battling skin cancer for 25 years.
Neil Best interviewed Ernie Accorsi without getting any new information. The free agents come up and EA talks about their age a bit. He doesn't give a straight answer on the retirement question either.
No question where Jerry Izenberg's loyalties lie, is there?
What complicates it for Zoffinger is the fact that Xanadu has put roughly $121 million in escrow that the authority can't touch until the Giants approve certain things Xanadu wants to do.Because of that, he privately demands that the Giants give Xanadu what it wants before he approves a deal with the football team. Meanwhile, Gov. Codey wanders in large concentric circles on all of these issues.
Some say this is because Gov. Codey can't make up his mind. Some say this is because Zoffinger has not played it straight with him. And some say this all is because this is New Jersey, where politicians watch "The Sopranos" on TV and think they are part of a reality series.
Ken Palmer writes about how the Jets and Giants go about luring free agents to New York. I like how they got Pierce:
Antonio Pierce certainly didn't need to be wined or dined. A simple trip across the parking lot to see the Nets play the Heat was enough. After meetings at Giants Stadium, Lewis and Giants LBs coach Bill Sheridan took Pierce to see Shaquille O'Neal vs. Vince Carter."That was more than enough for me," Pierce said. "I'm not like that. I don't need all that extra fancy stuff."
The Giants want to know that Xanadu will be closed on game days before they invest in a new stadium.
Another problem is that the Jets may not get their stadium in Manhattan so what happens if they stay in NJ?
That's how much the Giants want a sponsor to pay for getting Giants stadium named after them. This would help the Giants pay for a new stadium with more luxury boxes and the like.
Clark Judge from Sportsline notes that the Eagles are the winningest team over the past 5 years and says that them and the Patriots have followed the same model: draft well, lcok up the good ones long term and cheap, let the old expensive ones move on, fill in holes with free agents.
Can the Giants do that? Clearly they weren't drafting too well in the late nineties, but the last two years have been encouraging with good players taken in later rounds (think David Diehl and Gibril Wilson, both fifth rounders - if you can fill your roster with good players who come nice and cheap like a 5th round pick, you're doing pretty well.
Only 7 players remain on the Giants from the '96 thru '01 drafts. They are:
Amani Toomer (Let's hope he comes back stronger next year when he's healthy), Ike Hilliard (I'm not sure he needs to come back next year), Tiki Barber (nice one!), Shaun Williams (should have taken Faneca instead and shouldn't have overpaid to keep Williams around), Luke Petitgout (decent left tackle so decent #19 pick - may be slightly overpaid now but left tackles don't come cheap), Ron Dayne, the Wills (not so crazy about Will Allen but the Wills are good), and Jesse Palmer.
If anyone wants some homework, find out who the Eagles drafted during the same years and how many of them are still with the team. Or the Patriots.
The good news is that since our more recent drafts seem to have been better, we should improve moving forward. But there are problems looking forward. Shockey should be entering his prime, but who's are next running back? Our next wide receiver tandem?
Mark Maske and Thomas Heath have written an interesting article about money in the NFL.
One argument is that revenue sharing makes small market teams more competitive, which in turn makes the NFL more interesting, which leads to greater profits. Indianapolis thinks along these lines:
“It’s an important, critical time,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “It’s like a freight train that is starting to go in the wrong direction. It’s hard to stop, especially if it gets too far down the tracks. Are we headed where baseball is? No. But it is trending in that direction.”Gen Upshaw takes the argument further:
NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw warned owners in Detroit last October that eight franchises were gaining an unfair competitive advantage because of their revenue growth. He said the union intended to make revenue sharing a major issue in negotiations over a new labor agreement. Although Upshaw did not name the teams, they are widely assumed to be the Redskins, Cowboys, Texans, Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears.It's interesting that the Giants aren't listed there. Maybe their entrepenurial spirit is lacking. The article mentions the Eagles cheerleaders bringing in some income with their lingerie calenders while the Giants don't ahve any cheerleaders...
If you're going to the game Sunday, bring some new school supplies:
The Giants are encouraging fans to bring school supplies to Sunday’s game as they host their first Stuff the Bus school supply drive in conjunction with the New Jersey Resource Center. Fans attending the game are encouraged to drop off new, unused school supplies at any one of the four school buses that will be parked at each of the stadium entrance gates prior to the start of the game.All school supplies collected during the Giants Stuff the Bus school supply drive will be donated to the New Jersey Resource Center. The New Jersey Resource Center is a program of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and provides brand new school and office supplies to teachers in New Jersey schools and after-school programs with 70% or greater participation in the Free & Reduced Price lunch program.
The Center is in its third year of operation and currently serves 136 schools and after-school programs with total enrollments in excess of 52,000 students grades Pre-K through 12.
School teachers and instructional staff members at qualifying schools in Newark, Elizabeth, Irvington, and Hillside are currently able to visit the FoodBank each school year to “shop” at the free store. Each teacher is allowed to go shopping at the Resource Center twice during the school year – once in the fall semester and once in the spring.
Some of the most needed items are:
• Pens
• Pencils
• Glue & Gluesticks
• Notebooks (single & multi-subject)
• Composition Books
• Crayons
• Markers (incl. dry erase)
• Filler Paper
• Copy Paper
• Staplers & staples
• Rulers
• Backpacks
Interestingly, Fitzgerald seems to have gooten a huge contract from Arizona. Rivers, Roethlisberger, and (surprise) Winslow are proving difficult to sign.
This interesting article about how the Manning name equals endorsement money talks about the difference between Eli in NY and Peyton in Indy:
To illustrate the difference between markets, Peyton hasn't signed a radio or TV deal in Indianapolis because the offers have not been substantial enough to justify the time investment. Eli already has a "six-figure" offer from WEPN-AM radio in New York City that requires him only to conduct a weekly 10-minute phone interview on Mondays during the season.However, they won't go for the big bucks right away:
"In that first year, the inclination is to go out and get all these endorsement deals, but that's really setting up something bad," Archie said. "The first year is going to be a struggle. In Eli's case, he has a couple of arrangements in Mississippi, and that's fine. But for him to jump out now and accept a bunch of deals in New York, that's not very smart. It's better to let those relationships develop. We want him to become a veteran before he jumps out there. That's what we did with Peyton, and it worked well."
Giants stadium is 28 years old and the Giants want to renovate or replace it. What kind of money are we talking about?
A new stadium would cost about $600 million, compared to renovations of about $300 million, The Record of Bergen County reported Thursday.Wellington Mara might justify the extra 300 million for a new stadium based on a potential increase in revenue from more luxury boxes and suites.