Giants championship DVD Review

Just a quick note on the Giants championship DVD. I eagerly went to a local big box retail chain that shall not be named here to pick it up yesterday because that is how this nerd rolls. After watching the stuff about the NFC Championship game and the Divisional game, I can sum up my feelings so far in three words: Could've Been Better.

They whittled the games down to like 15 minutes of highlights and even though you get the cool NFL Films look to it and the war music that they use, I am wondering why they didn't use the 75 minute NFL Replay shows from the NFL Network instead? I mean, those games are readily available on the NFL Network and to anyone with a DVD burner so why not give the fans a little something extra for their $20? Also, why is there a profile of Mathias Kiwanuka on there? Compelling story, nice kid and all...but he didn't play in the playoffs or in the Super Bowl. He got hurt pretty early on in the year. Just saying.

Addition by Subtraction

With the Giants on the way to the Super Bowl, I beg for a moment for a quick Giants rant.

One of the best things about the Giants going to the Super Bowl is that Tiki Barber is not and the man he said was a laughable leader, Eli Manning, is on his way to the biggest dance in all of sports.

I bet that you're not gonna see any Giants talking to Tiki for the Today Show. I doubt Eli would answer that call at all and why should he? Tiki would be lucky to get the kicker on for an interview at this point. Antonio Pierce has no reason to call Barber and either does the Coach who saved Barber from fumbling his way out of the league, Tom Coughlin.

I also don't think it is just a coincidence that Manning is playing so much better since Shockey has been hurt. Eli doesn't have to worry about him whining and complaining about not getting catches all the time and he doesn't have to worry about Shockey dropping the ball when he does throw it to him. It so would not surprise me in any way if Shockey was cut after the season...if he has a contract coming up or something that makes that kind of move an option. If not, I say trade his disturber ass and get whatever you can for him. Kevin Boss has played well and has made some good catches when he has needed to. He does it a lot cheaper and at a lower decibel level than Jeremy Shockey. The NFL is all about dollars and cents. Let him walk. Giants GM Jerry Reese has already proven that he can pull the trigger on guys who are overpaid and under-producing. He told Luke Petitgout to take his bad back to Tampa and cut Lavar Arrington and Carlos Emmons out of the league. He dropped Will Demps even though the defensive backfield was considered weak. Demps ended up in Houston. Houston!

Over the next few weeks--and yes, it is "weeks"--we're going to hear and read a lot of stories about how Eli Manning "turned the corner" in his career and became the kind of quarterback everyone wants him to be. We're going to hear from Ernie Accorsi, the former GM, who made the draft-day trade for Manning and he'll say that he knew Eli had it in him all along. We'll hear from Archie Manning, a man who is more famous for having two kids that play quarterback than he ever really was in his own playing career. And we'll hear from the so-called experts and other talking hairdos who will claim to have seen the same flashes of brilliance that we all saw in Manning for the last four years and they are all going to be correct in varying degrees.

No one will put their finger on the real reason Eli has been able to play with so much confidence because no one is going to understand simple mathematics: addition by subtraction. Get rid of the me-first element that corrupted the offense for years and undermined the development of your quarterback. Allow him to lead rather than having him feel like he has to placate the problem children. Let the guys who are on message take it to the pinnacle--and let the player you drafted to take the team to the proverbial next level lead the team to the Super Bowl.

Lead them to victory.

The Double-Double: Isles and Giants Win!

The people that are so-called Giants fans have been whooping Eli for years on the radio and in print need to jump on the bandwagon now. Um, sometimes you need to wait until the lights come on before you cam walk on inside, people. Yes, I am talking to you, Mike and the Mad Dog. I've not bailed on Manning before--much to the chagrin of some friends, family, and co-workers. I think being an Islander fan has made me much more patient with sports because with them I was always waiting, wishing, hoping, etc. Eli looks like he gets it now and don't forget: he now has 2 more playoff wins in his career than Tony Romo does!

Speaking of, Fox spent three hours with the cameras on Terrell Owens and talking about Tony Romo. I swear that they just decide to screw objectivity and just let Troy Aikman openly root for the Cowboys in the booth. I mean, it cannot be coincidence that the Fox broadcast booth just happens to be above Aikman's name in the Cowboys Ring of Honor at the stadium. It's just a little too convenient.

Anyhoo, getcha popcorn ready, Terrell. The Giants are going to Green Bay! You have to wait until next year to make a fool out of yourself by wearing big R. Kelly shades while you're crying at a post-game press conference. (See how I tied this all into the picture with this posting. I a genius! G-N-U-S!)

What a game. I can honestly admit that I did not breathe very much in the fourth quarter. And yet, I felt strangely confident. So there you go, America: the Giants finally got me to make a full-out emotional investment!

All of the Fox guys and all of the ESPN guys picked Dallas to win. I think they are all in love with the whole idea of a Celebrity Quarterback. Whatever, dudes! No one cares or thinks you're too smart, Sean Salisbury. Your Grey Cup ring doesn't make you an expert. Besides, we all know you're gonna pick Green Bay to win next week!

Now for the Isles. Wasn't it nice to hear that the Isles were actually getting some zebra love for a change? Ottawa coach John Paddock was complaining about the "soft" calls in the Ottawa papers this morning. Boo-freaking-hoo. The Isles had nine power plays last night--that's an average week for them most of the time. Marc-Andre "The Enigma" Bergeron scored a pair of power-play goals and former short-time Senator Mike Comrie added some unassisted insurance late on a great end-to-end rush.

The Isles played Ottawa again without Radek Martinek and Brendan Witt. Is it me or does it seem like Radek has been out forever? Ted Nolan had some very interesting pairings for the Senators, in my mind. Andy Sutton paired up with Bryan Berard to start the game. Campoli and Bruno were split up; Chris playing with Bergeron and Gervais teamed with Freddy Meyer. Ricky almost had an empty-netter at the end of the game as well. That would have been cool for him.

Good news for the Islanders means bad news for the Senators. Jason Spezza got disconnected by Freddy Meyer last night and had to leave the game after the first period. He was caught at the Ottawa blue line with his head down. It's a familiar story. A separated shoulder will also keep Dany Heatley on the shelf for six weeks. Heatley was fixing to be in some select company as he was on pace to score 50 goals this season for the third year in a row. Being out 4-6 weeks is going to hamper that. Mike Bossy did it nine times in a row, Dany. I am just saying.

The Islanders come home to face Montreal on Versus Tuesday night knowing that they won in Ottawa for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Please, Versus people, if you read this, please please please no Bruins announcers for the game on Tuesday. Andy Brickley annoys the heck out of me and Jack Edwards' own family tunes him out at the dinner table. Hear my call!

Devils still can't beat the Islanders

'Howe' huge was Andy Sutton on Saturday night? Sutton scored his first goal as an Islander with a booming slapshot past Martin Brodeur with 8:17 remaining in the third period. Sean Bergenheim's hard work was rewarded with a late tally and Mike Comrie had an empty netter that sealed the Devils' fate as the Islanders picked up two big points in a fight-filled contest at the Coliseum.

And yes, Andy Sutton had the Gordie Howe Hat Trick: a goal, an assist, and a fight.

Wade Dubielewicz played a fine game filling in for Rick DiPietro. Dubie must love playing the Devils. Remember, he beat them in the shootout on the last day of the season to put the Isles in the playoffs last season. Not only did the Nassau Faithful have a great time chanting for "Dubie", they also got to dust off last year's Ranger chestnut, "You can't beat us!" in the waning moments of the game on Saturday. The Devils have lost four games to our boys this year.

The Isles' website is reporting that Mike Sillinger and Rick DiPietro didn't make the trip to Carolina for tonight's game that starts at 8PM. Sillinger, according to Ted Nolan, has been gutting it through a variety of injuries and by missing tonight's game, he'll have four full days off to rest.

I just want to comment on the Giants-Patriots game from Saturday night if I could.

How funny was the commish in that interview before the game. Whenever they say "it's about the fans", it's really about the money. At least the NFL woke up enough to understand that it's on their shoulders to get the games to the fans, not the TV networks. So much was made of this allegedly momentous simulcast of the game on CBS and NBC that people aren't even seeing it for what it really was--a three-hour infomercial for the NFL Network.

Bryant Gumbel was exposed to wider audience and man is he ho-ho-horrible. He's the reason cable operators are keeping the NFL Network off of regular cable! They all know how bad he is! Gumbel simply has to be fired. I never thought I'd say this, but his lack of ability to recognize down and distance had me longing for (of all people) Paul Maguire. And did anyone else notice that he said Domenik Hixon had "crossed midfield" when Hixon was closing in on the Patriots' 30 yard line?

But it was, you know, one hell of a game. I have to admit that. Most fun I've had watching a Giants game in years. Cris Collinsworth (ugh) actually made a good point about Eli Manning; which was that sometimes Eli gets robotic in his mannerisms and does what he thinks he is supposed to do rather than rely on his instinct as a football player. That's why he is so successful on two-minute drills and in the hurry up-offense--he is just reacting, not thinking. Good stuff.

Anyway, a week into my sinus infection, I want to wish everyone a happy New Year. Stay safe tonight and we'll have some more stuff regarding the Isles in Carolina and the Winter Classic tomorrow.

All Over The Place

First, a Quick Giants Rant--It just dawned on me that the Giants are
playing the Bears this week. If Tom Coughlin kicks it to Devin Hester
even once he should be fired on the spot. I think I am close to
advocating blowing up the Giants Miami-style and starting over from
scratch. Just get a do-over. If there's one anything worse than being
a fan of a consistently-average team, I don't know what it is. I
suffered (and so did my friends, who showed patience listening to me,
sorry 'bout that) with some truly heinous Islanders team that were an
affront to professional sports but at the very least I could blame inept
management and coaching for the crappy teams. With the Giants, they are
always middle ground. They aren't exciting when they win and they
aren't exciting losing either. Since that Niners playoff debacle, the
Giants are a hard team to summon any emotion for. I never get too
excited or too bummed out watching them. The organization has to do
something to change the collective feeling of antipathy coming from the
fanbase.

Giants Rant, the Second--How ugly are those freaking sideline caps the
Giants wear? With that round white stripe in the middle, it looks like
a Kleenex dispenser.

WWE 24/7 Review--November was a good month. We all know I am not a huge
huge fan of the Monday Night Wars-era but the channel did give us one of
the best shows from the past, the April 21, 1997 edition of RAW. You
may know it as the one where Stone Cold went Stone Mental and attacked
Bret Hart in the ambulance after he had injured him earlier that night.
The show ended with Brian Pillman attacking his former WCW partner and
trying to break his ankle until HBK made the save.

Overall, a great show with the Bill Watts-esque storytelling playing out
through the whole show. WWE did something similar with Ric Flair's
retirement angle this past week on RAW and when they decide to get
behind something, they can really deliver. Let's see if they keep it up
until Wrestlemania, where it is speculated that the Nature Boy will
retire.

December's Hall of Famer is Jesse Ventura. Yawn.

Now, to the Islanders--Can I say it again? We need to get some goals.
Shawn Bates is expected to get some spot minutes tonight against the
Senators, but does that mean more goals? I am thinking that Bates will
instill a bit of life into the team because he is a popular player with
his teammates and with the fans who really busts his backside. Whether
this translates to the score sheet, we will have to see.

I know that the Islanders have DiPietro and Guerin on the All-Star
ballot, but don't we all have to make the case for Brendan Witt to be in
the game? Witt has been just great all season long blocking shots,
marking every team's top players, and playing big minutes. The entire
Islander defense corps has been off-the-charts so far. Radek Martinek
is playing some outstanding hockey with Witt as his partner. Andy
Sutton has found his niche on the team and knows his role well. He's
been blocking shots and clearing the crease all season long. Mad props
to the Islanders pro scouts who again came up with the right men for the
jobs this summer.

Saying that, Ricky absolutely has to make it to the All-Star game this
year. Witt deserves to go as well. And if Mike Comrie can rediscover
the game he had at the beginning of the season, he could be a candidate
too. My guess is that once he picks it back up, guys like Tank and The
Captain will be scoring more as well.

How come it is so hard to beat Ottawa? I could see the pressure for a
guy like Alexei Yashin playing against his old team with the vitriol
between player and fans and all but that should not affect the rest of
the team. Besides, Yashin is gone counting his rubles.

Hopefully tonight is the night that the PP gets fixed because we all
know what is happening tomorrow night: more Rangers.

It's Actually About The Money

Whenever anyone says, "It's not about the money," it's most certainly about the money. Doesn't matter if you're an athlete; a desk jockey; or a bank teller. So, you know, someone needs to tell Michael Strahan that we already know that no matter what he says publicly, it's about the money.