Notes on Giants-Cowboys

I’m real excited about the Giants beating the Cowboys last night so why not start up the blog again. Here are some notes on the game last night.

Eli Manning- How many high difficulty throws did this guy make with the game on the line? He’s going to make 1-2 stupid throws a game but nobody has been better with the game on the line this year. Whether you like or dislike Eli you can’t deny he’s playing at an MVP level this year.

Defense- These teams are pretty much exactly the same on the defensive side of the ball. If they can’t put pressure on the quarterback they just get torched. Outside of Jason Pierre Paul I don’t think another defender for either team had even an average game. It was that bad.

JPP- Speaking of Jason Pierre Paul, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defensive end be an ENTIRE defense like that. He had 8 tackles, a forced fumble, 2 sacks, a safety, and a blocked field goal. Ladies and gentleman, here’s your NFC Defensive Player of the Week. The scary part about JPP is that he’s just learning how to play football.

Justin Tuck- On the other side of JPP and having just about the exact opposite game was Justin Tuck. It might be a bit rash but the Giants have to consider playing Tuck less. He looks out of shape and he isn’t contributing against the pass or the run right now. He used to be a guy known for his motor but Tuck seems to shut it down on half the plays he’s in on now. Not sure if he’s hurt, out of shape, or done but clearly Justin Tuck isn’t right.

Rob Ryan- Can we stop showing this guy before/after every play? What has he done to deserve this kind of coverage? I’m not sure whether the constant coverage is just because he looks like a werewolf or if there’s something I’m missing here. Also, how did he not know the Giants were going to run a draw for the 2 point conversion? They ran the same play last week in the same exact situation. Who on the planet DIDN’T know the Giants were running a draw there?

DJ Ware- Why do the Giants insist on running draws and screens for this guy? Why is he even on the team? What does he do well? I don’t get it. 

Collinsworth Praising Terrence Newman- For some inexplicable reason Collinsworth in the early 4th quarter praised the way Terrence Newman had been playing. I guess if getting burned over and over again is worth praise then Newman deserved it.

Plaxico Burress and the "evil" New York Giants

We have football in just a few days and the top story on ESPN New York is about Plaxico Burress ripping his former team and its’ fans. His reasons for this are because the Giants didn’t treat him properly after he shot himself in the leg and removed himself from the Giants roster. The worst part of this entire situation is that Eli Manning and the rest of the Giants are actually taking criticism from the media and idiots like Stephen A. Smith about how they handled this situation.

Let me start this off by saying the Giants do not owe Burress anything. They paid him millions of dollars and in the midst of a playoff run, he shot himself in the leg. This created an enormous distraction for his team and he wound up in jail. Now he’s complaining Eli Manning didn’t visit him in prison and that Tom Coughlin was mean to him after it happened. I mean this is stuff we should be rolling our collective eyes at but instead it’s “top news.”

Are you freaking kidding me Plax? I know you’re trying to say you were Eli’s biggest supporter now but I clearly remember when you were publicly bashing his play the years leading up to the Super Bowl run. I’m sorry Eli hurt your feelings not visiting you but I know there wasn’t much love between you guys to begin with and you sabotaged his season. What the hell do you expect? The idea that Eli Manning should’ve done anything besides go about his business and be a professional is absolutely ridiculous.

Seriously, I know we love this story of redemption and we want to show that Burress was somehow kicked down by everyone instead of actually shitting all over himself, but we’re taking it a little far when we start criticizing professionals like Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. I mean Burress didn’t like that Coughlin didn’t treat him with respect after he put himself before the team and shot himself? It’s Tom Fucking Coughlin! Did you expect him to be understanding about this situation?

Where in the blue hell was this media when Burress originally shot himself and got a RIDICULOUS prison sentence he didn’t deserve? Where was and where is the criticism of Bloomberg for making all this happen? No one defended Burress then, but now we want to spin this huge revival comeback story so we need the arch villains to be the New York Giants. This is so ridiculous because the Giants are such a professional organization that it works to their own detriment at times. They sat by and let Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, and now Plaxico Burress just rip up their guys and they don’t respond because they always take the high road.

If you really think that Burress was mistreated by the Giants then you’re an idiot. This franchise did nothing but put up with him sitting out practices and games while he publicly bashed his own teammates and coach. Yeah, he was a force on the field and was awesome in the NFC Championship game vs. the Packers, but this is no reason for the Giants to treat a guy with respect who clearly didn’t treat them with any respect during his tenure. So while Plax bitches about us Giants fans not having his back during this maybe he should think about the constant disrespect and bullshit he always showed us as a player for our team.

I know post Michael Vick comeback the media dying for another prison to superstar revival story and wants to make the Giants the antagonists in this one but the fact is they are not. I don’t care how we celebrate Burress’ come back but let’s not act like the Giants are the bad guys here. With that said, let’s just talk about football.

Why Steve Smith?

Steve Smith of the New York Giants recently accepted a one year offer to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a horrific knee injury last season and will likely be in a very limited role for the Eagles this season thus why the Giants had a lack of interest in signing him long term. However, despite the Giants never doing any harm to him, Smith is now talking trash about the team. This hits me hard as Steve Smith was probably my favorite player on the Giants and now I pretty much have no choice but to dislike him.

Smith recently told reporters, "I used to hate the Eagles, now I don't like the Giants." He went on further to state how the Giants had 2 ½ weeks to resign him but didn’t make him an offer that he apparently found worthy of his services. Now I understand that ESPN New York is making this out like the Giants screwed over Smith (because they never defend any New York franchise) but the reality of the situation is that Smith screwed himself over.

Steve Smith turned down a multi-year extension that the Giants offered him during the middle of last season that would have made him a very rich man and then had a knee injury that will probably limit his value the rest of his career. He then goes and doesn’t reply to the Giants contract offer and signs with their arch-rivals. How exactly are the Giants the bad guys in this situation? They were supposed to offer a multi-year deal to a guy coming off career threatening knee surgery? The Eagles sure didn't do that.

So while I loved what Steve Smith did on the field for the Giants, I’m a little ticked off at how he handled this situation. This is the last guy I would expect this kind of stuff from considering he always just kept his mouth shut and played football. It's just a very disappointing situation coming from a guy who I know Giants fans liked and had a lot of respect for. I'm just confused to why he would talk trash to reporters regarding this situation. Way to go from a classy guy to classless in a few weeks Steve Smith. 

We Must Trash A-Rod to Sell Sports News!

It’s a slow time for writing stories about sports. Baseball is the only sport going on, football hasn’t started yet, and there’s not much you can say about the NBA when it’s likely there’s not going to be a season. There’s not exactly a lot to draw the casual fans interest so in come these respective articles from ESPN New York writers Wallace Matthews and Ian O’Connor regarding Alex Rodriguez allegedly attending a celebrity “illegal” underground poker game. Clearly the thing to do that requires the most journalistic integrity in this situation is to cut this story from Star Magazine and then use anonymous sources to bash Alex Rodriguez. Brilliant, let’s look at these articles that I would say border on slander.

The story was initially published by Wallace Matthews who apparently has a personal vendetta against A-Rod and a deep hatred for the Yankees despite covering the team for ESPN New York. (Seriously, go through his archive then the stuff Fire Joe Morgan made fun of him for. It’s ridiculous he’s still in this business) He was one of the brilliant media types who were leading the charge saying the Yankees were better off without A-Rod despite his multiple MVP efforts.

So the title of Matthew’s article is “A-Rod Ban for Poker?” as to suggest that A-Rod is actually facing some kind of ban from baseball like Pete Rose. In reality, it would probably be a small suspension if these allegations from nameless people from a trashy tabloid are true. I mean let’s look at the evidence Matthews provides.

The allegations, first reported by Star Magazine, are that the New York Yankees third baseman played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at a record executive's Beverly Hills mansion, where "cocaine was openly used" and a fight nearly broke out when one of the players refused to pay after losing "more than a half-million dollars."

According to the story, details of which were reportedly provided by another player at the games, Rodriguez "tried to distance himself from the game," once the violence broke out.

So this is the top story on ESPN right now and to summarize it for you it’s basically MLB investigating whether A-Rod was at this poker game and the only evidence they have is hearsay about him being there. This “other player” or “whistleblower” as he’s called later in the article is really the only source given of this information. It’s also not even mentioned that this probably happened a few years ago as all the stories I’ve read regarding these poker games all point back to 2007-2008 but those are also from trashy tabloids. Alright, that’s the story so the responsible thing to do at this point would be to bring up a bunch of unrelated incidents to convince you A-Rod is an awful human being.

MLB is also concerned that Rodriguez's name will resurface in the ongoing federal investigation of Dr. Anthony Galea, the Toronto physician charged with smuggling human growth hormone and other illegal substances into the United States. Galea has treated numerous professional athletes, including Rodriguez and Tiger Woods.

Another story completely based on hearsay regarding A-Rod? Perfect. He wasn’t charged, his name wasn’t brought up, and he wasn’t convicted of anything but you’re right this is pretty relevant. How else can we slander his name Mr. Matthews?

"It's like there's something new with (Rodriguez) every day and it's impossible to keep up with it," a baseball insider said.

What exactly is a baseball insider? Does he work for MLB, an MLB team, or maybe cover baseball? If we were even slightly less vague with this would it really compromise this person’s identity? This is garbage journalism.

According to the baseball executive, MLB has yet to positively determine that Rodriguez took part in the games, which reportedly included actors Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The man did not know if baseball's investigators had yet spoken to Rodriguez about the allegations, but he confirmed MLB has at least two investigators working on the case

The “baseball executive” doesn’t know that A-Rod was there and has yet to speak to him about it. MLB has someone working on it though! God A-Rod you’re just so lame with your celebrity high stakes poker games. Nobody wants to do shit like that. I hate you! I wish there was more stuff we could bring up unrelated to this situation that could make me hate you more!

Recently, it was revealed that Rodriguez still employs his cousin, Yuri Sucart, after fingering him as the "mule" who transported his performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 after his steroid usage was revealed in a 2009 Sports Illustrated story, despite being told by the Yankees that Sucart would no longer be allowed in the clubhouse and encouraged to keep his distance from him.

Nice, this is exactly what this article needed, another hearsay story about A-Rod doing nothing illegal just seeing his cousin at a hotel while the Yankees were in town. Seriously, it’s not possible A-Rod would see his cousin without being injected with all kinds of steroids or doing something else equally as sinister.

"You get the feeling that Alex says what he thinks he needs to say to get by, and then goes out and does what he wants," the MLB executive said.

Even though we don’t know when this happened? Even though all the stories we just brought up are hearsay and involve him doing nothing illegal? How dare someone do what they want to do? What a selfish piece of shit. Fantastic piece though Wallace Matthews, you’ve managed to write an article based on anonymous sources and connect it to a bunch of other unrelated stories. How do you write for ESPN? How do you call yourself a journalist? Do we really believe there’s not a systematic effort to sell stories on Alex Rodriguez when a story lacking merit like this one is a top story?

A few hours later fellow ESPN New York writer Ian O’Connor published a piece that is right next to Matthews on the top of ESPN headlines asking whether A-Rod is worth the headache. I can assure you this piece is about of the same quality of Wallace Matthews. Let’s plow through this piece of shit.

"This is classic Alex Rodriguez," one high-ranking baseball official said Wednesday night.

Apparently NOBODY wants to give their name to these journalists. They only work for ESPN.

"In a lot of ways Alex is no different than Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. He's a thrill seeker, and he does everything he can to be overt. He's a classic example of where we are in society, the age of celebrity, where everyone loves triumphs and tragedies."

No No No. A-Rod is talented. He’s one of the best baseball players ever. Just because we report everything he does like those people doesn’t actually make him similar to those people. If an actual MLB executive thinks that A-Rod is like Lindsay Lohan, maybe he shouldn’t work for MLB.

"It's always something with Alex," said a second baseball official. "The amount of energy everyone has to devote to him is unbelievable.”

The amount of energy you guys spend trying to convince us all A-Rod is the anti-christ is what’s really unbelievable. He is a legendary baseball player, bangs hot celebrities, and attends poker games with Matt Damon. I’m sure nobody would do the same thing is his shoes. God, what a horrible human being. Also, all the cheap shots at A-Rod are from anonymous officials and insiders, as always.

Following his steroid admissions and his hip surgery in the spring of '09, Rodriguez was ambushed in a Tampa diner by longtime friend Gui Socarras and Yanks PR man Jason Zillo. They shouted at A-Rod over breakfast, told him he had to change his self-absorbed ways.

On the eve of the World Series, Rodriguez credited that intervention for sending his inner diva to the bench. "They showed me tough love," A-Rod said, "and I thought from that breakfast on I've stayed with the plan and it's been a good plan."

But in A-Rod's world, good plans can only be followed for so long. No, a poker game among ultra-famous friends doesn't amount to the crime of the century, not when poker tournaments are all the televised rage.

Okay, we’re actually reporting this story as if A-Rod JUST did this although ESPN never reported when this took place. All other sources say it took place years ago and that would make it in fact before everything you just said happened. Talk about spinning a story to make it more relevant. Also, poker tournaments are not “all the televised rage” and really never were. Where do they get these guys?

For the sake of my sanity I can’t quote anymore from these articles as I’ve rambled on long enough. I mean, is this journalism? We have two completely negative pieces written about A-Rod without one legitimate source. They all reference other incidents also without sources to basically prove that A-Rod is some kind of villain. It’s just terrible the things they will write and say to get people to visit their website and watch their network. There’s not a shred of integrity in either of these articles and it’s disgraceful. That’s all I can say. This is a total disgrace.

Message to Yankees Fans: Pray for Gardner’s Success

The Yankees need Brett Gardner to go on a tear over the next 15 days. Jeter is on the disabled list and if Gardner can have some success leading off in his absence maybe the Yankees can finally make the right decision and move Jeter down in the order. I know this has been written about over and over again but Jeter at this point of his career belongs nowhere near the top of the order and this is the time to move him down. I know he is close to 3,000 hits but winning and losing games are more important than personal milestones. (At least that’s what Jeter has always said)

The Yankees know at some point they have to do it and Girardi has already stated that it will happen eventually. Jeter has a slash line of .260/324/.324 which is pretty awful in its own right but even worse when you factor in he gets the most at bats on the team. I know he’s a double play machine and how could he not be hitting 66% of the balls he puts in play on the ground. However, this is no excuse to have the worst statistical hitter in your lineup getting the most at bats. This is not just some kind of trend because last year Jeter hit ground balls at the same rate and he obviously isn’t straightening himself out at the plate this year.

Let’s hope Gardner really tears it up and gives the Yankees no excuse but to continue to have him leading off. Gardner got off to an atrocious start but has picked it up over May and June to have a respectable .282/.362/.426 slash line. He’s also been red hot of late hitting .417 this June over 36 at bats. Gardner’s best attributes are his speed and ability to get on base so I feel like having him do anything but lead off is kind of a waste of his ability. Honestly at this point there is really nothing Brett Gardner will not give you that Derek Jeter does. He’s only 27 and I don’t quite think Gardner has reached his ceiling yet as a player.

I’m also in love the idea of pitchers having to worry about Gardner’s speed on base while pitching to the Granderson/Teixeira/A-Rod triumvirate. I know Gardner has been struggling running the bases but there’s no way he doesn’t put more pressure on opposing pitchers than 36 year old Jeter does at this point. He’s also seemingly too fast to continue to have these struggles. Hopefully Granderson will hit a few less solo shots with Gardner at the top of the order as well.

So let’s hope Gardner continues his hot hitting in June and gives the Yankees no option of putting him back down in the order. The Yankees need to put wins before legacies and milestones and I fail to see how it would be less special for Jeter to hit his 3,000^th batting 7^th rather than 1^st. I know ESPN and the New York media will play Jeter being moved down as some sort of insult to him just as they did with his overpriced contract in the off-season, but anyone who follows the Yankees knows this needs to happen. This is the time to do it. But hell, even if Jeter comes back to leadoff at least it makes more sense than this guy doing it.

A-Rod and Lebron are nothing alike

I’m listening to Colin Cowherd yesterday and during his rant of how Lebron disappeared in the Finals he stated that, “the only player I can even think of that compares to this is Alex Rodriguez.” I was confused by this statement but not terribly offended because Cowherd says baseless and stupid things just about daily. It’s kind of his job. Then I started to hear this comparison thrown around elsewhere in the media and by some of my friends, so I decided to write about it. Listen, Alex Rodriguez isn’t anything like Lebron James.

A-Rod struggled in the ALDS in 2006 and the media made a big deal out of it so of course, he’s the only guy we can compare to Lebron. This is an absolutely ridiculous argument. The most valuable player on a baseball team isn’t nearly as important as the most valuable player on a basketball team. That’s just how it is. Baseball is a series of individual match ups at the plate and A-Rod could have hit 400. in that series and the Yankees still would’ve lost because just about EVERYONE on the Yankees struggled in that series. A-Rod was the scapegoat of the series but “Captain Clutch” was even worse and he failed in every big situation.

I never bought this argument that A-Rod isn’t a clutch player because he’s one of the more clutch players in baseball. He hits very well with runners in scoring position, has several walk off hits in his career, and is probably the best bases loaded hitter of all time. Also, remember that time had one of the best post-season performances in baseball history in 2009 that carried the Yankees to a World Series title? Where’s the argument here?

It’s a fallacy to begin with saying A-Rod isn’t clutch and it’s even more ridiculous to suggest that what Lebron went through in the NBA Finals is even remotely the same. Lebron looked like he was going to poop his pants in the 4^th quarters during the Finals and A-Rod had big hits and crushed the baseball in the 2009 World Series. Lebron averaged 18 points a game in the Finals after averaging almost 28 during the season. Compare him to the other players who’ve choked in the NBA Finals before you compare him to one of the best baseball players ever who has absolutely no problem hitting in the clutch.

Just because both these players have been over scrutinized by the media doesn’t make them remotely the same. The scrutiny of A-Rod was unfair when it was happening and continues to be unfair if people actually think this guy isn’t clutch. Lebron wasn’t the same player in the Finals and A-Rod put the World Series away with his clutch hitting, again, what’s the comparison here? Really, if you know tell me.

Lebron and Wade Blew It

Usually the media gets a little carried away with criticizing great players in big moments. (See Alex Rodriguez) In the case of the NBA Finals though, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade blew the series. I know you can argue they don’t have the supporting cast or that Chris Bosh is really ugly and difficult to play with, but the fact is the Mavericks didn’t have anyone who should’ve been able to stop these guys. It’s pretty obvious that the Heat only go as far as Lebron and Wade take them and they just didn’t show up in the Finals.

Give credit to the Mavs, they outplayed, outhustled, and outcoached the Heat. It’s pretty simple, the Mavs were a deeper team that not only wanted it more, but just executed a game plan much better. I want to give the Mavs all the credit in the world but I just keep coming back to the fact that the Mavs used Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, Deshawn Stevenson, Jason Terry, and JJ Barea to guard Wade and Lebron and it worked. I mean there’s so much to say about it. How the hell does this happen?

Let’s start with Wade. I half expected Lebron to disappear because I’ve seen him do it before but the fact that Wade didn’t just dominate this series shocked me. I remember thinking “if the Mavs think they can put Kidd on Wade this series, they’re crazy.” I kept waiting for that point where Wade just realized nobody could guard him and would just go on to torch the Mavs. It never happened and it made me realize something that is probably the most neglected story of the “Big Three Seven Championship Dynasty”. Dwayne Wade is past his prime.

He is. He just isn’t the same player he was in 2006 and he just isn’t the same player he was a few years ago. I kept expecting him to just explode to the basket but it just wasn’t there. Time after time Wade drove past Jason Kidd but just couldn’t use his patented 3-4 step athletic burst past the help defense he’s known for. I know the Mavs played some great team defense and Wade might have been hurt, but that only furthers the point. He’s not the same guy. He’s not a top 3 player in the NBA like everyone says he is. Not anymore.

I’m not saying he’s not an amazing player but we’re talking about a guy who’s a step slower, injury prone, doesn’t have a jumper, and isn’t really that effective of a passer. If he’s not beating guys in their 30’s to the basket at 29, how is he going to be when he’s 32-33? I know Wade is a crazy athlete but he certainly looked physically run down in the Finals and even at times in the Conference Finals. You can argue he’s hurt but I’d argue that he’s not going to stop getting hurt unless he stops playing 40 minutes a game. Unfortunately for the Heat when you have 3 guys making 17 million on your roster you don’t have that luxury.

This is why whether he likes it or not, Lebron has to be the man on this team. What I saw in the Finals was a team that was just begging Lebron to take over but he just refused. He kept deferring to Wade and Wade kept taking 9 steps to a crazy shot and complaining he got fouled. It was one of the more interesting dynamics I’ve seen on a court and probably the most interesting story in sports over the next few years.

So Lebron needed to be the man and he decided to soil his pants instead. Yeah I know his numbers don’t look that terrible but one of those two guys had to dominate for them to win that series. That’s how they beat the Sixers, Celtics, Bulls, and it’s how they had to beat the Mavs. The point I knew that Lebron wouldn’t be the man in this series is when the Mavs put Kidd on him in Game 4, just daring him to play like he always does. He should’ve simply dominated that situation and he just choked. There’s no other way to put it. How can he go from playing well against Paul Pierce and Luol Deng then not just dismantle 38 year old Jason Kidd? He wanted no part in that situation and I just don’t get that. Did he really think coming to Miami was going to give him a pass from these situations?

Lebron needs to work on his game and I am not convinced that he does. I’ve always suspected this considering he’s the exact same player he was 4-5 years ago but during his postgame press conference he kind of took it upon himself to talk about how hard he works when the camera’s aren’t there.  It almost looked like he was trying to convince himself that he has worked very hard. He also made it clear to say he listens to no one and this is very obvious considering he hasn’t fixed any of the flaws in his game. Maybe he should be listening to some people. Maybe he should learn how to play in the post. Maybe if he had a go to style in crunch time he wouldn’t be scared shitless when it came around.

Quite frankly, if Lebron James is not hitting 3’s at the end of a game he has nothing else. He can’t shoot mid-range, he has no post game, and he has TERRIBLE footwork.  I do mean terrible footwork too. This is something I watched closely this series and it was even worse than I expected it to be. He shuffles his feet just about every time he touches the ball, takes at least 3 steps every time he drives, and changes his pivot foot constantly. It appalls me every time I see Lebron drive out of control, travel, and initiate contact and get bailed out with a foul call. In the Finals Lebron was so scared of the moment that he didn’t even do that.

It all comes down to the fact that Lebron is a one of a kind athlete but he doesn’t have the basketball fundamentals or the mental toughness to lead a team to a championship right now. Miami has very little roster flexibility after stupidly signing Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem to long term deals so this team is probably going to be very similar to the one next year. Bosh is good but not great, Wade is breaking down, and if Lebron doesn’t improve these things we’ll be talking about the Heat as the most disappointing team of all time. Lebron didn’t show up in the 4^th quarter of the Finals once the entire series and until that changes there won’t be a championship for Miami. Miami’s window for winning a championship is much smaller than people think too. Wade won’t be this good for much longer and if the Heat want to win Lebron has to elevate his game crunch time.

It’s all on him and it will continue to be until he gets a ring. Just following his career and his postgame statements throughout the years it’s pretty obvious he’s not a very mature guy and that’s probably why he folds in these situations. He actually thought it was a good idea to make a statement about everyone who hates him having to continue on with their lives instead of just saying, “I blew it and I’m going to work as hard as possible to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He’s clearly not over The Decision and clearly not over everyone hating him. Until he is we might never see a title in Miami.

Did anyone actually watch Plaxico Burress play?

Plaxico Burress is returning to the NFL from his “made an example of” prison sentence and the speculation of where he is going to go has been mind numbingly stupid. This is sport media now though, making predictions without any kind of basis or evidence. It’s highly likely the Eagles will sign Burress according to ESPN because Andy Reid likes rebuilding projects. He’s also been linked with the Giants and Jets. The Giants obviously because he played their and the Jets because a couple people in ESPN think he might sign there too. I don’t understand the point of this pointless speculation without actually interviewing or talking to anybody involved.

But this article by Ian O’Connor takes the cake. It’s an article that is essentially a warning to NFL teams to be wary of signing Burress. Is this an article that needs to be written? The guy just got out of prison and had some character issues on and off the field before that, I don't think we need to state that there is some risk in signing him. Thank god you and all your infinite wisdom realize this could be a potential risk for a team.

My biggest problem with this "no duh" column is the way O’Connor described why the Giants were unlikely to sign Buresss.

Burress already blew up their shot at a second consecutive championship, perhaps even a dynasty, when the loaded and unlicensed Glock he carried into the Latin Quarter that fateful November 2008 night went off and blew a hole in his leg.

Really? Burress blew the Giants shot at a championship that year and a potential dynasty? Did you watch the Giants in 2008? Plaxico Burress had 35 receptions in 10 games before he shot himself in the leg. Not exactly what I’d call Jerry Rice like. The reality of that season was that he was struggling and had been battling injuries all season. Not that losing Burress was a good thing for the Giants but he wasn’t a fixture of their offense at all. The Giants lost in the 2008 playoffs not because of losing Burress but because they no longer could rush the passer or run the ball, something they did better than just about everyone all year.

I mean a potential dynasty? This is the team that came out of nowhere to win the Super bowl in 2007 and you’re saying that they had a potential dynasty? You can even make an argument that in 2007 they got hot at the right time and beat three teams with better talent than them. So while the Giants were good in 2008, to say Burress, derailed a potential dynasty is just a ridiculous thing to say.

So here’s my hopefully accurate analysis of Plaxico Burress. He’s 6'5 with good hands, unreal leaping ability and is a pretty solid route runner. This comes with the price that he takes plays off, has a history of fighting with his teammates and organizations, is inconsistent from game to game, and is frequently injured. Having watched him his whole career to me he looked like a guy on the downside of his career and now has been out of football for 3 years. Unless prison rejuvenated him I can’t see him being a game breaker for a good NFL team. This isn’t to say he won’t be useful but he’s certainly going to get more attention than he deserves this off-season.

Tom Ford: 2011’s Biggest Douche in the Universe

Fashion mogul Tom Ford released his five commandments to being a modern day gentleman and they’re shockingly shallow and pretentious. So let’s break them down.

1. You should put on the best version of yourself when you go out in the world because that is a show of respect to the other people around you.

The refined way of saying if you do not dress well then you are not a gentleman. I mean clearly you are incapable of being a gentleman towards other people if you’re not dressed appropriately.

2. A gentleman today has to work. People who do not work are so boring and are usually bored. You have to be passionate, you have to be engaged and you have to be contributing to the world.

Well isn’t this vague. I guess it doesn’t matter how you contribute or what you work on but as long as you’re well dressed, engaged and passionate about it you’re a gentleman.

3. Manners are very important and actually knowing when things are appropriate. I always open doors for women, I carry their coat, I make sure that they're walking on the inside of the street. Stand up when people arrive at and leave the dinner table.

SHOCKER!!! Gentlemen use manners! How is this any different from our preconceived notions of being a gentleman?

4. Don't be pretentious or racist or sexist or judge people by their background.

Yeah, it’s not even slightly pretentious to make a list of commandments men can follow in order to be a gentleman like you.

5 A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach.

Don’t ever judge people by their background unless that background includes wearing shorts and sandals when it’s 95 fucking degrees in a city. Shorts are for upper class athletic activity or the beach, all gentleman know that! This is probably one of the more ridiculous things I’ve ever read in my entire life.

So obviously I’m not a fan of Tom Ford’s commandments but who could honestly read those and not make fun of this guy? To think you’re the authority on being a gentleman to begin with makes you a douche. When you use your own self proclaimed authority to construct a list of commandments on being a gentleman you become a super pretentious douche. When one of those commandments tells men to not be pretentious you are a totally self-unaware super mega douche. When the last commandment makes an arbitrary claim men can’t wear shorts and sandals in cities you win 2011’s Biggest Douche in the Universe award.

So congratulations Tom Ford, you are 2011’s Biggest Douche in the Universe! Enjoy this honor sweating in your pants and shoes all summer.

People who care about steroids in baseball are stupid

It’s clear that we’re going to discuss steroids and baseball for the next 40 years and there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s really no avoiding it as players associated with P.E.D’s are either voted into the baseball hall of fame or excluded from it. If “cheating” players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are let in it will lessen the integrity of the hall of fame and if they’re not let in some of the best baseball players ever will not be in the hall of fame, also lessening its integrity. So while I am so sick of debating something as trivial and stupid as steroids, I better get ready for another half century of arguing about it.

It seems people either fall into two camps regarding this issue. You either think steroids have somehow ruined the integrity of the game or you just don’t see what the big deal is. I personally fall into the not giving a shit about it camp and mostly because I’m just sick of the “debate” over it which I pointed out before, will never end.  Before I lose my sanity completely let’s just stop caring so much about something we can’t change.

That’s the thing about the whole mess that makes absolutely zero sense to me. Why investigate it at all? What will it prove and who will benefit from it? I think the answer is that clearly no one benefits from it.  Let’s look at this, baseball takes a credibility hit for allowing players to use “cheating” substances, the players of this era lose all credibility, and the fans get reminded everyday that for the last 15 years we watched “tainted” baseball. The worst part is that because of this stupid debate I will have the mental picture of Jose Conseco injecting a needle into Mark McGwire’s ass for the rest of my life.

I apologize, but not allowing the best players I have ever watched play into the hall of fame is not going to help anything. I will always remember Roger Clemens as the best pitcher I’ve ever seen and Barry Bonds/Alex Rodriguez as the best home run hitters I’ve ever seen. Who gives a shit if a plaque gets put up at the boring baseball hall of fame in boring Cooperstown, New York? Seriously, I grew up outside of Utica, New York and Cooperstown makes Utica look like metropolitan area.

Let’s just stop pretending that it’s steroids that are lessening the integrity of the game as if the MLB has any integrity to begin with. We’re talking about a league that instead of putting in some kind of salary cap decided to implement a luxury tax to apparently give incentive for bad teams to not spend money on their players. Then the media makes the Yankees out to be evil for spending money yet cheers on the signings of other big market teams like the Phillies and Red Sox while ignoring that the Pirates make money purposefully screwing over their fans and not putting a competitive team on the field. It is a ridiculous and a totally unfair system but most people just think it’s just the Yankees who make it unfair.

It goes beyond just the salary structure though. I watch games nightly with wildly different strike zones and see numerous blown calls on the base paths that could easily be corrected with a replay system. The outcome of games being determined by the umpires lessens the integrity of the game far more than steroids. We should not have to guess what the strike zone is every night and there is no way in hell we should have to deal with blown calls on the bases, especially not in 2011. Between this and the salary issue baseball has far bigger issues to take care of to strengthen baseball’s integrity than a wild goose chase trying to figure out what players did or didn’t take performance enhancing drugs.  

What’s truly amazing about the entire thing is that NOBODY has empathized with the players and when I say nobody, I mean nobody. Like if we were all in the same position we wouldn’t have done the same thing? Also, in most of the cases we’re looking at, the substances in question were legal when they were taken, so we’re really going to punish players for that? It’s just insanity that we hold athletes who for the most part are uneducated to this super high moral standard. Politicians, CEO’s, and Wall Street investors knowingly cheat us out of our own money every single day but we feel more cheated because baseball players hit too many home runs in the late 90’s and early 2000’s?

It just doesn’t make any sense, none of it. It doesn’t make sense we’d care about steroids in baseball when it’s pretty obvious that they play a far bigger role in other sports. It doesn’t make sense that we’d care about it more than we care that some teams spend 200 million on their players and some 25 million. It doesn’t make sense that we think steroids effect the games more than umpiring. Let’s just be rational about this, steroids are not an issue, we are making them one. In no way does investigating players who’ve taken them in the past prove anything or benefit anyone and not allowing some of the best players ever into the hall of fame certainly doesn’t solve anything. If you feel you’ve been that cheated by these players just trying to get better at the sport they entertain you by playing, then get over it because you’re most likely being cheated in ways that have actual impact on your life. So yeah, I’m a little down that we have to talk about it for the next half century. 

Call of Duty Fucking Sucks

This is supposed to be somewhat a golden age for videogames. There are three consoles that all have perks and supposedly the next big videogame innovation with motion control. However, while we’ve upgraded our televisions to HD and 3D and use a motion sensitive controller or ourselves as a controller now, the games we play have stayed almost identical. The most blatant example of this is the Call of Duty franchise, which has set the standard in being total crap.

I know this kind of talk gets COD fans furious and I’ll agree with them that Call of Duty 4 was a pretty sweet game. This was mainly because of its innovative multiplayer, not because it was remotely innovative anywhere else, i.e. see the bajillion other first person shooters or the previous iterations of the series. Now after Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 4: World War II, Call of Duty 4: Again, and now Call of Duty 4: Cold War, I’m officially spent with this series. Activision couldn’t manage to remotely change the game play from any of these editions? I think adding a mode where you shoot zombies was about the biggest change from game to game and this itself was ripped from another game series.  Also, don’t you think we’ve reached the quota on how many games you can charge people 60 dollars for that involve killing zombies?

The current reiteration of Call of Duty 4 is called Black Ops but I’m not really sure why. I refer to it as Cold War because killing everything in sight during the Cold War is not what I’d call covert or secretive. The title implies that it is something different but it’s really the same shoot everything illogical pile of garbage. Unfortunately, this repetitive and uncreative game is the best selling game in the history of United States videogames.

Maybe I’m missing something here, but did or did not Activision release the same game with a new setting, a new unacceptably short and illogical campaign, and a slightly tweaked multiplayer 4 times with higher sales numbers each time? It’s unbelievable and the worst part is because these games are selling so well companies are copying Call of Duty’s shitty and uninventive format so they can get a bit of these stupid American’s cash.

Maybe it’s just that I’m tired of virtually shooting things for no reason or maybe it has to do with the uncivil people you have to deal with on Xbox Live. Either way, I’m sick of paying 60 dollars for a game that clearly doesn’t have a single bit of creativity put into it and won’t be purchasing Call of Duty 4: Again 3 when it comes out this fall. I recommend you think about doing the same, or at least think at all at some point in your lives because god knows a lot of Call of Duty fans could benefit from some thought once in a while.

Rick Jackson and the All-Big East First "Team"

Are any other Syracuse fans as outraged by the All-Big East First Team as I am? This is the first team roster.

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM
Kemba Walker, Connecticut, G
Austin Freeman, Georgetown, G
Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame, G
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh, G
Marshon Brooks, Providence, G-F
Dwight Hardy, St. John’s, G

How is Rick Jackson left off this team? He averaged 13.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks a game leading the conference in both rebounding and blocks. Jackson was undoubtedly the most valuable player on Syracuse and was awarded Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Despite this Jackson was left off the first team in place of 6 guards who also happen to be the top 6 scorers in the conference. I am unbelievably frustrated by this. I don't understand how you can make an all conference "team" and not put any forwards on it. Why even call it a team in the first place if it isn't going to actually have all the positions filled?

This is really just a shame because a guy like Jackson in all probability will not be an NBA player, so this really is his basketball legacy. I have to feel for Jackson because the guy plays his ass off and really deserved to be on this team. Not to knock any of the other players on the list, but I just can't figure out how you keep the best forward in the conference off this team for guys who just score like Austin Freeman or Dwight Hardy. Also, isn't it pretty much saying that defense and rebounding aren't as important as scoring when the top 6 scoring guards in the conference are picked?

I guess in the end all conference teams and all-star teams a like are kind of a joke, so there's no use getting too worked about it. I just feel it was a blatant injustice that I can't figure out the reasoning behind. Rick Jackson shouldn't feel too bad though because he's one of the best forwards to ever attend Syracuse, and that's saying something.

This is not sports news

ESPN has a habit of posting totally unimportant news stories on its front page. The example today is this: Jerry Reinsdorf senses Bulls title run. Yes, breaking news to ESPN is the Bulls chairman in a random interview saying that his team has a chance to win the title this year and a chance to potentially win more in coming years. Conference tournaments are going on in NCAA Basketball and this is what we're reporting on? I'm sure if you interview an executive from any contending Franchise he's going to tell you something along those lines.

This is only an example of the maddening problem that ESPN has with blurring irrelevant articles with real news articles. This is just so aggravating because there has to be actual sports news to cover. I'm sure you could've interviewed Jerry Reinsdorf before the season and the interview would've been pretty similar so what is the urgency in letting the nation know about this? At least a few times a week I find articles on the front page of ESPN that are clearly not sports reporting, especially if it deals with the personal lives of Lebron James and Alex Rodriguez. I will start posting articles like this I find on this blog more often.

Hulu Plus Sucks

Hulu Plus is terrible. I signed up for a free trial expecting there to be more shows available and to not have commercials during them. Not only is there just about nothing available that's not available on the regular Hulu, there are still commercials during the shows! So you're basically paying 7.99 a month to have the ability to use Hulu on a Playstation 3, Iphone, Android, etc and watch things in HD.

Maybe this service wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't for Netflix, which is the same price, has more TV shows and movies, and streams in HD on basically any device you can think of. Even Hulu themselves knows this service sucks as they admitted in an e-mail response to an angry user.

In the ideal world, we would absolutely love and want nothing more but to be able to get every popular show out there that users love, and acquire the legal rights to stream them across every fancy device imaginable at the price that everybody wants. Unfortunately, due to stringent contract agreements on how content can be shared through certain devices, we are not able to have all of the content that everyone wants at this time.

So in an ideal world Hulu Plus wouldn't suck, but unfortunately it does and Hulu is sorry they're making you pay 7.99 for a bad service.

Unfortunately this is just beginning as Hulu will most likely take away their free service after this "preview" period is over. I really was on board with Hulu because it seemed like a win for everyone involved. The television networks were advertised, more people were able to watch shows they like, and the advertising made it relatively profitable. Obviously, something mutually good for the consumer and service provider would be too much for a company created by NBC and NewsCorp.

While Hulu is doing this to become more profitable it needs to be put in perspective that it still generates around 10 million dollars a year in profit. So really what we have here is a company trying to make you pay more for a service that is already making money. Of course the bottom line for Hulu is not pleasing its' millions of customers but making more money off them. Shame on you Hulu.

The Atrocious Seattle Seahawks and the Stupid Division Playoff System

The Seattle Seahawks are the worst team to ever make the playoffs and it’s not even close. You could even make the argument that they’re one of the least competitive teams in the entire NFL. They have been absolutely blown out in all nine of their losses and have a staggering point differential of -97. To put this into perspective only 4 teams have a worse point differential and they actually lost to one of those teams (Denver) by a score of 31-14. Simply put, this is one of the worst teams in the NFL this year and they are hosting a playoff game.

This means we have to watch a team that doesn’t do a single thing well in the playoffs. They are 27^th in total offense, 28^th in total defense, and in all probability will be starting Charlie Whitehurst with his 65.5 quarterback rating against the Saints. There are legitimately 5 teams that should go to the playoffs before the Seahawks in the Giants, Buccaneers, Chargers, Jaguars, and Raiders and I would even say it’s safe to argue that they’re not even a top 20 team in the NFL.

Despite somehow beating the Chargers, who are an anomaly themselves in missing the playoffs despite leading the league in both total offense and defense, the Seahawks were massacred by the Giants and Bucs who both have 10 wins in the NFC compared to the Seahawks 7. In those games the Giants beat the Seahawks 41-7, possessed the ball 42 minutes, and had 487 total yards compared to the Seahawks 162. The Buccaneers game was just as bad as they won 38-15 and had 439 yards compared to the Seahawks 174.

I know some may argue that this is just a freak year and the current structure doesn’t have to be changed, but I disagree. If there is any possibility of a team this bad ever making the playoffs then the current system is flawed. They didn’t even win half their games and were thoroughly dominated throughout the season how can we even remotely suggest that this is fair?

I don’t agree with a division system in any sport that rewards the winner of that division an automatic playoff spot. Why create a system in which the best teams don’t make the playoffs? Let’s not ever reward a team for mediocrity just because their mediocrity happened to be better than 4-5 other terrible teams. This is not just an argument for football but all sports as this has happened in the MLB several times.

So I hope we enjoy watching the Saints destroy the Seahawks in what should surely be as unentertaining a game as every other game of the Seahawks have played thus far. Sadly instead of watching the Saints play the Giants or Bucs we’ll be subjected to watching Charlie Whitehurst try to beat a far superior team. Hooray for the 2011 NFL Playoffs!