A picture of me this morning
Here are some final thoughts on the 2008 Giants:
-As much as I wanted to buy into the Tom Coughlin team thing - and I still want to, and I still think it's important - it cannot be ignored that without Plexico Burress running around out there we finished our season at 1-5. As I said before, Plexico is a monster and a game-breaker and it seems all too clear now that he took Eli Manning, a very average quarterback, and made him into a "good" and, on rare occasion, a "very good" quarterback just by being on the field. Take away Plexico and it's back to average. Take away Plexico and put some wind in the meadowlands, and you are left with a duck-launcher, whom I'm tempted to call "Duck Master" forever more. (On a similar note, how funny is it that one of today's NFL headlines on ESPN read "Giants open to bringing Burress back next year". You think?)
-To me the G-men just seemed flat in this game. It's funny how much things come full circle. The Eagles just wanted it more. Last year the Giants just wanted it more, every time. Anyone who saw the Cardinals play on Saturday, THEY wanted it more too. It's funny how important that ends up being. There's just an intangible energy about the teams that are more fired up. The Giants looked flat; they seemed cocky, which hadn't been their style. And now they're done.
-If Eli hadn't thrown that awful pick in the first half the Eagles would have come away with just 3 points for the half and would have been in some trouble. Also if John Carney hadn't missed two field goals we still might have uglied our way into a win.
-In response to that last bullet: Scoreboard.
-What saddens me most about this loss is two things.
1)You only get so many years where you are "really good" and in a position to take it all. So even though we won it last year, which theoretically should keep me pleased regardless for several years, I can't help but feel that we squandered one of our potential "really good" years. Those windows can close remarkably fast.
2)Had we won it all this year, we would have been on the verge of being one of those "Decade" teams that people keep talking about. The 70's Steelers. 80's Niners. That sort of thing. We wouldn't have been there, but we would have been on the verge of being there. Too bad.
-I will be interested to see what the G-men do with Ward and Jacobs, two of their higher profile unrestricted free agents. If I'm running things, and I can only keep one, I keep Jacobs. He's one of a kind - there are other Wards out there. Especially with the Giant's sweet O-line.
There were other football games this weekend, and here are my thoughts on those:
Titans/Ravens
-I thought the Titans played better and should have won.
-I find it funny that the Titans ended up losing despite Kerry Collins making only a single mistake. He really played a great game.
-I thought the Titans lost a lost of steam when Chris Johnson was out of the line up. Going from the lightning quick "Light Blue Jesus" to the pear-bodied and waddly Lendale White isn't just a downshift in the running game; it's more like pulling the E-brake on the autobahn.
-The most disturbing thing about this game were the constant close shots of Chris Johnson' face on the sideline after he got hurt. These happened seemingly every two minutes the entire second half. What made them disturbing was the fact he was constantly twitching. After a while the twitches really started freaking me out. Maybe the producers too, because they started showing him less after a while. After seeing these for several minutes, I thought briefly Chris Johnson might actually be an android on the verge of going haywire. Which would also explain his freakish speed.
-I continue to dislike the Ravens. After that Super Bowl in 2000, I will never like them.
Cardinals/Panthers
In case you missed it, here's a good recap of the Panther's performance, specifically Jake Delhomme's: (Only slight less applicable to the Giants and the Titans.)
-I can't believe how bad Carolina crapped the bed. They were simply mauled. I enjoyed watching this game.
-The Cardinals actually impressed me for two weeks in a row now. Their defense is really flying all over the place. The Eagles better not let up for this team.
-This game was on Fox and was called by Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston, and the godawful Tony Siragusa. "The Goose" is a field reporter who is constantly saying dumb things, tripping over his own words, and basically sounding like an ass every time he opens his mouth (remind you of anyone leaving their current position in politics next week?). Anyway, on a replay of an interception in the endzone (one of Delhomme's fifteen picks in this game) early in the fourth quarter, I saw that Goose, despite being a mere seven yards away from the action (standing at the back of that very endzone where the action was occurring), had his BACK TURNED and was instead watching the game on a flat screen TV right there. On the screen was the same telecast that we at home were watching. I found this absolutely ridiculous. Fox is paying this idiot hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his on the field "analysis" and he doesn't even watch the live action right in front of him - he prefers the TV!
I can't get over this. I even sent the Sports Guy (link to the right) a real snarky email hoping to get him to comment. I mean what an awesome perspective to watch NFL football - right there in your wheelhouse - and there's Goose with his back turned watching some monitor instead. This kills me. I thought briefly it might have been hilarious if the pass sailed out of the back of the endzone and hit him in the back of his gigantic non-field watching head.
-I hate the Goose.
Chargers/Steelers
-True to form, once the Giants got beat up I couldn't even bring myself to watch this game. Instead I opted to head over to the computer to play Team Fortess 2 for two hours and murder some strangers online with a flamethrower. Seemed like the appropriate course of action at the time. Cathartic somehow.
Now football is nearly gone, and I will sort of relish the break. Here's how I'm rooting the rest of the way:
1)Steelers
2)Cardinals
3)Ravens (grudingly)
4)Eagles
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