Steve McNair and Arturo Gatti: Two Scorned Women and Two Lost Warriors

McNair, Gatti Fall Prey To Domestic Violence

I don’t want to hear “they deserved it.”  I don’t want to hear “that’s what they get.”

We’re talking murder, here. We’re talking about two retired sports heroes who were murdered by people close to them.  No one deserves that, and I don’t want to hear it.

Last week, former NFL MVP Steve McNair was shot to death by his 20-year-old girlfriend. Then, this week former super-featherweight boxing champ Arturo Gatti was beaten and then strangled by his 23-year-old wife. Both men should have been enjoying their retirements after years of punishment in the throes of competition.

Instead, they are both dead. Murdered.

In both cases, the men were in their late 30s and the women in their early 20s.  Is that a coincidence or is it a growing trend?

Statistics are still being gathered as we speak, but society is setting itself up for more incidents like the ones above.  Wealthy, famous men hooked up with young, impressionable women. What happens when things go awry? Violence it seems.

NY Giants: Five Questions Going into Camp

The Giants will convene in Albany in a few weeks.  Although they seemed to have tied up many of their off-season loose ends, there will always be questions that need to be asked.

1. Linebackers—what is the plan should Michael Boley be slow in recovering from hip surgery?

Boley’s recovery time frame is 8-10 weeks. The clock is one week in motion on this already so if you do the math, Boley will not be on the field opening day. The Giants will most likely be forced to put Boley on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list, which will preserve a roster spot for someone else.

The reality is that he will probably need to rehab past that 8-10 weeks. We’ve seen baseball players make it back within the time frame but football is different. It’s obviously more demanding. The thought here is that he might go from PUP to IR, meaning he’s lost until week 9.

In the interim, the Giants will have to hope to get production out of either one or more from the group of Gerris Wilkerson, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn.

Not the worst of scenarios, but certainly not Plan A, that’s for sure.

2. Travis Beckum—how will he be used?

Right now, the H-back is in the offense, although Kevin Gilbride has avoided many questions about its utilization. It is what they are calling it for now.

Beckum did not get a full mini camp in because of a hamstring injury and Gilbride still does not know what role Beckum will play.

The H-back is a limited formation and the Giants do not want to use it just to get Beckum on the field. Gilbride referred to the Colts’ B-back situation with Dallas Clark as being a possible role for Beckum.

The downside of using an H-back or B-back is that they take the place of the fullback. Most teams do not have a solid fullback like the Giants do in Madison Hedgecock. By going to this type of formation, the Giants will limit their options plus lose the aggressiveness that Hedgecock brings to the offense, especially in the running game.

Also, by lining Beckum up in the backfield, they will be advertising ‘pass’. The defense will usually sniff out—and snuff out—that play.

The thought here is that Beckum will not be used as an H or B-back. He will be a slot receiver. The Giants need to get big bodies into opposing secondaries and that is where Beckum will be able to assist. He is not a traditional, full-service tight end so he’s best suited as a receiver.

3. Eli’s contract—when will he sign, and for how much?

Eli Manning isn’t talking contract and neither are the Giants. Everyone knows it is a foregone conclusion that he will sign back with the team rather than wait until he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Money does not motivate Eli and he doesn’t have a shark like Drew Rosenhaus whispering bad advice in his ear. The Giants will move quickly to close the window to put an end to the speculation. By the end of camp, this thing might be all done, even if conventional thinking is telling both sides to wait for a new CBA.

Eli’s current salary is $9.4 million. The new contract will probably be for seven years at $15 mil per year. The completed deal may end up being worth about $120 million. The contract would keep Eli in blue until age 35.

4. Wide receivers—who will start?

Currently Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith are the starters. Sinorice Moss is the third receiver with Mario Manningham getting some serious consideration.

It’s early and the Giants do not want to pencil in or anoint an unsigned player (Hakeem Nicks) as a starter to prolong or complicate his signing. It is believed that Nicks will be a starter at some point early on and his rookie teammate, Ramses Barden, will get lots of playing time as well.

Hixon is more valuable on special teams and if Moss gets hurt one more time, he’s going to plummet down the depth chart. That leaves Smith, Manningham, Nicks, Barden and David Tyree in the main offense. Of course, Hixon will be used often early in the season to smooth over the transition.

Don’t forget Travis Beckum’s role may end up being more in the WR group than in the TE group.

The starters will end up being Smith and Nicks.

5. What are the expectations for the Giants this season?

The Super Bowl is not an unrealistic goal. They could have made it last season. We’ve covered that ad nauseum, so lets move on.

The defense has been bolstered up front and the secondary is young and hungry. Only the linebackers pose questions—as is illustrated above not many.

The offense is finally devoid of ballhogs and characters. A new receiving corp to go with a solid line, good TEs and a maturing QB spells big things for NYG.

The prediction is 11-5 which gets them a wild card. The Eagles will be the favorites and finally live up to it with a 13-3 record. The Giants will have to deal with Philly in the playoffs. Keep in mind the Eagles do not fare well as favorites.

Can The Giants Bring Calm To Chaotic Albany?

Big Blue’s Presence Could End Stalemate

The last place any non-elected New Yorker wants to go these days is Albany, the capital of the great Empire State, which is in the throes of one of the most chaotic periods of political unrest in the state’s history.

But, that is where the New York Football Giants, their entourage and their accompanying media pool will be heading in a few weeks.

The state senate is in a hopeless deadlock which has virtually shut the government down during a session that has massive tax, education, labor, health and budget bills waiting to be acted upon.

The story up there these days is another one of those that you just cannot make up. The Democrats had a majority until a few weeks ago when two of their senators switched allegiances to the Republicans. They deposed the sitting speaker and claimed their coup was legal.

Before anyone could formally challenge, one of the defectors, Hiram Monserratte—who is under indictment for slashing his girlfriend with a glass bottle—changed his mind and crossed back over to his side of the aisle. 

But the damage was already done.

Now the two sides are both claiming possession of the senate. The governor, David Patterson, who is legally blind and an admitted drug abuser and adulterer, is attempting to mediate the situation to no avail.

The state government is in a stalemate.

Every downstate news agency has set up camp in Albany awaiting any sign of a detente or solution. In the meanwhile, state and local governments are sitting on their hands, becoming more and more impatient as funds in their respective coffers dissipate by the minute.

Enter the New York Football Giants, the unsuspecting dupes driving into this nightmare.

The Giants are in the final year of their commitment to the University of Albany and will open their camp there on July 25th. The question is, will the state senate have come to its senses and gotten back to work? Or will they still be playing musical chairs while the rest of us sit and marvel at the selfishness and ineptitude of our elected officials?

Hopefully, all will be resolved by then, but you never know with this crew. Sometimes they need a show of force to drive home the point.

Thousands of Giant fans make the trek to Albany from all over to visit them at camp every year. Last year, over 44,000 Big Blue fans made the trip.

The senate has to know the Giants are coming. If they don’t, they’ll know soon enough by the extra media presence and the additional protesters in front of the Capitol who will be letting their sentiments be known. The idiocy that has throttled progress in Albany will suddenly spill over onto the sports pages.

These bungling boobs will have to put their best foot forward, bite the bullet and get the job done.

The Giants may be the catalyst that gets the state’s business rolling again.

 

Breaking News: Brett Favre Did Not Invent Football

 

Alright, I’ve officially had it.

How much Disney stock does Brett Favre have in his portfolio? The way their subsidiary ESPN talks, you would think Favre was the company’s majority shareholder.

Enough with this guy already. He’s finished. Ask any Jets fan.

But ESPN won’t let go. NEWSFLASH: He did not invent the game of football. Every day, ESPN dedicates hours to following the Brett Favre “saga.” I say: Who the hell cares?

Viking fans? They should be protesting the signing of this guy! Do they think he is actually going to get them to the next level? They better think again. He’s done!

For years, Favre tortured Viking fans as a Packer. Now he will do it as a Viking.

Think of it this way, they’ve played 43 Super Bowls in NFL history. Favre has been to only two, winning one. That was way over a decade ago, by the way.

He ain’t goin’ back to another, either. He should have hung up his cleats after that piss-poor pass in the NFC Championship game vs the Giants that was picked off.

Even if Favre is right, he’s still too much of a maverick, still deviates from the playbook, and still has the propensity to lose games by trying to win them all by himself.

Those days of heroics are over for Favre.

He should walk away now. I would hate to see something bad happen to him physically. He already has begun tarnishing his legend.

 

NFL: It’s TIme To Stem The Tide On Player Misconduct

The NFL is an enterprise that has an estimated yearly revenue of $6 billion. The owners of the 32 franchises that make up the league are some of America’s wealthiest and most prestigious captains of industry.

The Commissioner, 50-year-old Roger Goodell, who was voted to the top spot in 2006 upon Paul Tagliabue’s retirement, has inherited a burgeoning business that is oozing with complicated issues, primarily an impending labor fight over the expiring Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Goodell will have to mediate between the owners—who opted out of the CBA two years early, and the players union—who are being led by a new director, DeMaurice Smith, who has vowed to put up a valiant fight.

Other issues Goodell has had to table are the future of the beleaguered NFL Network, which has yet to find a consistent national audience due to pricing, placement, and tiering issues with several major cable carriers, and the continuance of NFL Ventures, which is the exploratory wing that is actively testing new products and markets that recently came under fire for proposing overseas Super Bowl locations.

This would be enough to make any CEO grey around the muzzle. But wait—it doesn’t stop there.

There is that other minor task the commissioner must perform—disciplining the players.  This, unfortunately, is the task that the media and the public will judge Goodell on.

Since Goodell took office, he’s had to face quite a few dilemmas regarding player misbehavior. Thus far, he has been consistent in his decisions. He lets the legal system run its course and then takes action based upon league and union rules.

This has gone unnoticed in this society that tries defendants in the media. Goodell has shown patience in the cases of Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress, and Donte Stallworth, just to name a few. His immediate action upon a legal decision is to suspend the player indefinitely and have them go through a reinstatement process.

The reinstatement process is not just lip service, either. Many players that have had patterns of criminal activity and were suspended have applied and been accepted back into the league. Goodell meets with the player and—after a period of groveling and contrite admissions—are granted a provisional reinstatement.

Adam “Pacman” Jones, Tank Johnson, and Chris Henry are some of the players that Goodell reinstated after suspending them. It is widely agreed that he will do the same with Vick, Burress and Stallworth at some point as well.

That is what has happened until now. But the paradigm of the NFL is changing. The public is calling for harsher sentences to be administered by Goodell. They want players to be treated like common citizens and not get special treatment. The Stallworth case has infuriated many because of its lack of substantial jail time.

That is beyond Goodell’s purview. His policy is to allow the courts to process the cases first. He will suspend the player without pay in the interim. Should the charges be false (so far we haven’t seen that), the NFL will reinstate and compensate the player for lost wages.

Goodell is being pressured to exact more stringent penalties because the court of public opinion apparently is wiser than the courts of many municipalities. It seems that the courts are afraid to prosecute athletes at the local level for some odd reason. 

The Feds never back down because they don’t have to, but local and state courts have phobias when it comes to prosecuting celebrities. That may not seem like a fair statement, but the results support it.

Goodell, in my opinion, should not compensate for the ineptitude of these local courts. That will not prove anything. The reality is that you will see an increase in lawsuits brought upon the league by players.

That is too much bad publicity. These cases give the league a bad enough black eye as it is, lawsuits would only compound the problem by drawing massive media over-coverage.

Goodell needs the hammer. He needs the authority to kick players out of the the league for good with no possibility of reinstatement.

Goodell is basically hamstrung in the penalties he can levy on players, but he can rectify the player conduct policies in the upcoming CBA. He himself will not be able to implement any forced changes in regard to player behavior, but he can ask the owners and the union to table it and then make his case.

The financials will be argued to exhaustion by both sides during the negotiations. That will be hammered out, no doubt, considering the increasing revenues. The new conduct policy must be a rider on this deal. Here’s why:

Multi-billion dollar businesses such as IBM, Exxon, GE and Citibank all have conduct policies that are basically non-negotiable. Even civil service unions have strict conduct policies. The NFL, as a major American industry, must upgrade theirs as well.

Goodell is the steward of this interconnected conglomerate. He has to act like a CEO.  That encompasses implementing a policy on employee conduct that includes mandatory enforcement and includes terminations—not just suspensions.

Currently, he has the power to ban a player for life, but it is an arbitrary power. The ante on his powers needs to be upped.

I say, cast that in stone. The public is clamoring for these millionaire union members to be held accountable for their actions. Give Goodell real authority to kick these scumbags to the curb once and for all.

Once a few get booted for life, you’ll see more walking the straight and narrow.

Mini Camp Opens For NY Giants

The Giants held their first day of mini camp today at their new facility adjacent to Giants Stadium.

Some quick hits …

Everyone was there—not everyone practiced fully.

The team is still keeping an eye on Osi Umenyiora, who is coming off knee surgery.  Osi said in an interview the team should have won the Super Bowl without him last year and that getting back to the big game is the team’s goal again this year.

Brandon Jacobs said that having Osi back is “like having another first round draft pick.”

Coach Coughlin continues to praise the efforts of two wideouts—Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss.  Both are looking like they are possessed.  Manningham and Moss were returning kicks and punts along with Domenik Hixon and Ahmad Bradshaw.

For more info visit insidefootball.com.

Some Blurbs From Day One Courtesy SNY/Giants Football Blog

The Best NY Giants Sites in the Blogosphere

There seem to be an increasing amount of blogs and online journals dedicated to covering New York Giants football these days.  Some of these sites have really stepped up over the years in production value, content, and newsworthiness.

Let me start with my blog—blogNYG.com.  This is the place where many of the BR Giants community contribute (Kyle Langan and Vinny Yeager just to name a few). There are plenty of embedded videos, newsfeeds, and links to the outside world on this blog. Worth a visit in my book, but I’m partial on this one.

I also contribute to Big Blue 101—part of the Most Valuable Network and Giants Football Blog, which is sponsored by SNY (SportsNet NY). Both are worthwhile efforts.

Inside Football is where Giants beat writer Pat Triana gives you the straight dope on what is happening in East Rutherford. Triana is a credentialed member of the media and has total access to the Giants’ workouts, events, and games. She’s the one in the know around here.

Giants 101 is under the Screaming Sports umbrella of sites. Written by four dedicated Giants fans, they offer excellent analysis and do a good job culling the Giants blogosphere for interesting tidbits.

Big Blue Interactive has been around a long time and is a very reliable source. The site isn’t pretty and doesn’t try to do anything fancy. It’s been one of my bookmarks for many years now—you should make it one of yours.

NYGMen is a blog by a young Giants fan, Greg Hanlon, who appears to be wise beyond his years.  The content may be overly analytical at times, but it’s always enlightening. Good stuff here.

Giants Gab, run by Jeremy Fuchs, is a great site for Giants fans. The writers are informative and ambitious. They tend to cover the same ground as the rest of us, but on occasion they have some quality original stuff.

Bluenatic is not updated very often in the offseason, but it is a site with some entertaining reads.

NY Football Giants Talk features life-long fan Glenn Warciski’s valued observances and unique analysis on NYG football. Glenn is like me – he’s been around the block a few times with the Giants……bookmark this one, too

Ultimate NYG is not an elaborate production, but it is updated almost daily year-round.

Big Blue View is perhaps the best Giants blog on the net. Managed by Ed Valentine and hosted by SBN (Sports Blog Network), you’ll get just about everything you need on this site. I hate to admit it, but I’m actually jealous of this site.

If I missed anyone (I’m sure I did), drop me a line and I’ll add you….

New York Giants: 2009 Schedule At A Glance

Good and Bad, But Not Ugly

The Giants’ 2009 schedule bears much similarity to their 2008 schedule. There are a few differences, some welcome, some not.

The Good

The BYE week was in Week 5 last year. This year it is during Week 10, giving the team a much needed strategic break later in the season.

No jet lag this season: The furthest road opponent geographically is Denver (on Thanksgiving Night).

Between October 25th and November 22nd, the Giants have only one road game, and that is in Philadelphia (November 1st).

The Bad

Even though the Giants are scheduled to play in the Eastern time zone 11 times, only 7 of those games are slated as 1 PM Sunday starts. The flex schedule kicks in beginning Week 13 and two of those games (vs Carolina; at Minnesota) may be changed to later times if needed.

The Giants are on the road three consecutive weeks between Weeks two through four (at Dallas, at Tampa, at KC), come home to host Oakland in Week five before heading back on the road to New Orleans.

Notes

The last five games of 2008 were: @Was, Phi, @Dal, Car and @Min. This year’s final five games are almost identical: Dal, Phi, @Was, Car, @Min.

In the spotlight…..

The Giants are currently scheduled to play in prime time 5 times:
9/20 at Dallas
10/25 vs Arizona
11/26 at Denver (Thanksgiving night)
12/13 vs Philadelphia
12/21 @ Washington (Mon)

Other possible national games (the 4:15 starts):
9/13 vs Washington
11/1 @Philadelphia
11/8 vs San Diego
12/6 vs Dallas

*The Giants appeared in prime time five times last year and played three 4:15 national games.

For those interested….

The Giants will see Jeremy Shockey for the first time since they traded him in 2008, when they visit the Saints on Sunday, Oct. 10th.

Philip Rivers will make his first appearance in the Meadowlands to face the team that drafted (and traded) him in the 2004 NFL Draft, when the San Diego Chargers come in on November 8th.

Six 2008 opponents ended up in the playoffs. Six 2008 playoff teams are on this year’s schedule as well (Phi, Ari, Atl, Car, Min, SD).

Full Schedule

Preseason
Mon 8/17	Carolina	8:00 pm
Sat 8/22	at Chicago	8:00 pm
Sat 8/29	NY Jets	8:00 pm
Thu 9/3	at New England	7:30 pm
Regular Season
Sun 9/13	Washington	4:15 pm
Sun 9/20	at Dallas	8:20 pm
Sun 9/27	at Tampa Bay	1:00 pm
Sun 10/4	at Kansas City	1:00 pm
Sun 10/11	Oakland	1:00 pm
Sun 10/18	at New Orleans	1:00 pm
Sun 10/25	Arizona	8:20 pm
Sun 11/1	at Philadelphia	4:15 pm
Sun 11/8	San Diego	4:15 pm
	bye
Sun 11/22	Atlanta	1:00 pm
Thu 11/26	at Denver	8:20 pm
Sun 12/6	Dallas	4:15 pm
Sun 12/13	Philadelphia	8:20 pm
Mon 12/21	at Washington	8:30 pm
Sun 12/27	Carolina	1:00 pm
Sun 1/3	at Minnesota	1:00 pm

T.O.: Please, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Owens can’t find a house in Buffalo.

This is one of those ‘non-stories’, one of those bonuses you get as part of the Terrell Owens package.

According to USA Today, Owens has been snubbed by several Buffalo-area landlords because they do not want the added attention that he brings to the neighborhood.

Although realtors say that this is an exagerration, there is some credence to it.  His reputation for ‘drama’ precedes him—that cannot be disputed. He is also being followed around by paparazzi and a VH1 camera crew that is taping his ridiculous reality show, which will air in July.

If the rumors of him being shut out of housing are true, can you blame the people involved? This guy chooses to live in a fishbowl, and in Orchard Park, one of the smallest markets in the NFL, that fishbowl will be like Sea World.

Owens’ life is like a travelling circus with some football thrown in here and there to remind you why this guy is famous. Already, the non-football distractions are starting. Just wait until the season begins, and if the Bills struggle, look out….

What will he do then, go over Niagara Falls in a barrel?

 

 

David Tyree: The “Forgotten” Hero Returns

 

There are few times when Giants GM Jerry Reese reveals his poker face. This past spring, after the Giants released Plaxico Burress and cut ties with Amani Toomer, that face was showing.

The Giants needed a receiver, or two, or three. The fans became frantic, and the media fed into that panic creating a frenzy.

Reese decided to solve his problem with overkill. He went to the draft table in April and grabbed as many highly touted receivers he could get his hands on. Hakeem Nicks, the one with the magic hands; Ramses Barden, the towering, Plaxico-like scoring machine; and Travis Beckum, an explosive tight end.

Before the draft, Reese’s team had no veteran receiver on its roster. His starters were journeyman Domenik Hixon and slot receiver Steve Smith, who are both capable players but hardly the caliber that instill fear in opponents.

The other receivers on his roster were two high draft picks who have yet to make their mark: Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss.

But, upon further perusing there was one other receiver on the roster: 29-year-old David Tyree. Yes, the same David Tyree who made the greatest reception in franchise and Super Bowl history. He missed all of 2008 with a knee injury. He is now back and he is healthy.

That leads to this question: what are Giants going to do with all of these receivers?

My answer: let the rest of the NFL figure that out. Tyree is wandering around the Giants’ new facility in basic anonymity. That is, unless you’re one those young receivers. They all look to him for guidance. Tyree has assumed the role of elder statesman, so to speak—a role he openly admits he never expected.

Of all the players on the roster, G Rich Seubert has been with the Giants the longest (nine seasons). Tyree, Osi Umenyiora, David Diehl and Jeff Feagles are the only other pre-Tom Coughlin Giants still with the club.

Tyree does not let his tenure do his talking. He is genuinely excited about returning to action. He stated in a recent interview that he “was having fun” in his new leadership role, citing he learned a lot from Toomer and planned to use his experience and knowledge to help the younger players.

He claims they will need little motivation.

“These guys are hearing that they’re not good enough,” said Tyree. He went on to intimate that the group was determined to change the public’s perception of them. He himself has been looking sharp in drills. According to my colleague Pat Triana of insidefootball.com, Tyree “was back working and had no limitations whatsoever.”

With all these new faces, the roster math has begun to work against Tyree. He may be the longest serving WR on the club, but his name does not appear high on any offensive depth chart that I’ve seen. Only on special teams, where he is a Pro Bowl level talent, are the Giants considering placing him.

If you follow the Giants and Tyree’s career you know he’ll end up making a play on offense somewhere, somehow and sometime this year. And you know it will be in a big spot, too.

No situation is too adverse for this man. He’s overcome so much in his life and his career that he will not go away that easily. When the chips are down, it is Tyree the Giants turn to make a play. In the fourth quarter of games he suddenly appears on the offense. He usually comes through, too. He’s kind of a secret weapon of sorts.

Right now, he’s enjoying his low-key comeback. When asked if people recognize him in the street, he smiled and said, “Not really. Thank God for the helmet. They know the guy who made the catch, but they don’t know David Tyree.”

But the Giants and their fans haven’t forgotten. They are just like Eli Manning after Super Bowl XLII when he said, “David Tyree. That’s all you gotta know— David Tyree.”

 

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