Big Blue Huddle

Interesting stuff; however, I'm not giving up my Reese's Peanut Butter Cups 

Bottom line: everything out there is going to kill you sooner or later. Eat right, exercise, and use "self-control" (for which I have none)...and you still end up buying the farm in the grand cycle of life. Helps to have good genes, which no one has control over - that's just the mystery package you're born with

I have a hard time believing I've made it to 71, and it would be a miracle if I make it to my 80's. I'm not giving up beer, cigars, steak, and bacon to stretch it out for another year or so, and then have to get used to soiling myself or losing bladder control or worse, become a walking vegetable that needs full-time care, to keep me from walking into traffic or cutting myself trying to butter toast with a cleaver because I know no better

You know you've made it when Taylor Swift writes a song about you. When she was 14, she had a crush on Tim McGraw and wrote the song, "Tim McGraw"



Tim and Faith heard her for the first time and said, "she's going to be a star". Since then, she's had Tim as a guest in her concert many times...so it's always funny when she pretends to be shocked. But Taylor doesn't usually sing "Tim McGraw" as she's limited to 25-30 songs at her concerts, so if she does sing it, you can bet your life he's behind the stage ready to join her. Tim's three daughters are in their 20's and almost as old as Taylor, and for those who think Taylor and Tim have a thing going on, she is also joined on stage with Faith, who happens to love her and they sing "Tim McGraw" together

Here's a show with 3 songs...Taylor starts out singing about her teenage heartthrob, "Tim McGraw", he joins her and sings his song, "Highway Don't Care" in which in his song he talks of the loneliness of being on the road and turning on the radio, only to hear Taylor's song, "I Can't Live Without You". Finally, Australian country music superstar and husband of Nicole Kidman comes on stage to show off his guitar skills as he is one of the best guitarists in the world

I still think it's all a big ole ruse. He's made up his mind, but Schoen and Daboll don't want him to announce it until after the draft. All part of the pre-draft craze, where wily subterfuge is part of the game to keep other teams guessing as to what is being looked at and considered. There is not a single good thing to come out of it if he was to announce his retirement. It would only inform other teams that the Giants were going to take a TE in the draft (Theo Johnson, Cade Stover, Ben Sinnott???). In short: "why show your cards before the draft?"

Making the announcement would appease fans who are anxious to know what's going on, but in the strategy of trying to outwit the competition, that does nothing of value, and in fact, is damaging information. Thank heavens, we have a cagey GM that understands how to play the game and thinks like a fox

Quote from: squibber on April 16, 2024, 01:33:12 PMChris,

My surgery will be May 6. It will be a laminectomy and a spinal fusion between L3 and L4.

I heard the neurosurgeon and his PA visits patients after surgery so that is comforting to know.

I appreciate the prayers! Thanks!

Good luck with the surgery. It's exactly what I went through, and I've been pain free for over 20 years. What I didn't expect, was the amount of post surgery rehab I was going to have to go through. What I thought would be a few weeks turned into a few months. I could function at work with no problem (desk job), but my golf swing went all to hell and I never got it back. Of course, when you golf 6-10 times a year, no one gets better of course...unless one is such a gifted athlete that it's natural to hit that little #$%^#@ white ball where you want it to go...I think. For me, I was afraid to twist very far in my follow through. I accused my doctor of putting a hook shim in my back. Regardless, it should go well. It's old hat to many orthopedic surgeons in this day and age, with far superior medical equipment. You might be limited for a few months, but the pain is gone...and that's a biggie

Tim Mara bought the NY Football Giants in 1925 for 500 dollars. He became a multi-millionaire...it was passed down to his son Wellington who also became a multi-millionaire, who passed away, and now John Mara is the principal owner worth somewhere between a half-billion and a billion, and the New York Giants are estimated to be worth close to 7 billion

Player wise, he's forced to work within a cap system, but he lives in opulence and splendid luxury we can only dream about and is sitting on a massive fortune that he never earned, but inherited. HE SHOULD SPEND MONEY ON THE FRICKEN TEAM!!! Things like stadiums amenities, quality coaches, and anything to make the team better, and better for the fans. It's not like he ever saved pennies and dimes, and then made smart financial decisions to build a fortune...it was handed to him on a silver platter. Financial struggle is a foreign concept to him and will be for all his descendants, so he better spend where he can. It's the fans who built the Mara's fortune

Quote from: LennG on April 15, 2024, 08:52:53 PMRic

Those Mets were in the 80s if memory serves. The 69 Mets beat the much-favored Orioles.  Sorry.

You are right Lenn. Wasn't thinking, just typing...duhh. And I forgot to add "Woodstock" as one of the "high points", although there were plenty of people that would add that to the "low points".

Anyway, it was in the 60's when Tug McGraw excited fans and made history with the "Amazin Mets", and he was a showman on the mound for sure. Funny thing, most people under 50 (young snots) have no clue who Tug was, but they know his son Tim extremely well. I saw Tim in concert back in the day when I had no clue Tug was his father. And Tim did a pretty good job in playing the role of James Dutton in the "1883" series a couple of years ago, along with his wife in real life, Faith Hill



Like Tug, Tim is not unfamiliar with being the center of attention and raising hell...like riding off on a policeman's horse (when the cop wasn't paying attention) in Buffalo and getting busted. He had a lot of run-ins with the law. I saw him in concert before he found love, and it was rockier than any rock concert I've ever been to...swinging from a rope across the stage 40 feet in the air. Then everything changed...he was headlining a concert and the undercard was the prettiest girl in country music at the time, young Faith Hill...and she had a weakness for "bad boys", which Tim reveled in - scary how that happens. However, once he married Faith Hill, he really settled down to become a highly responsible and dignified man. Most football fans know Faith Hill as she introduced Sunday Night Football for years before the younger Carrie Underwood took over that role

This song is funny because at the part where he sings "...gathered round my teepee just to catch a peek at me..." and hundreds of girls would throw panties on the stage requiring a group of people with brooms to sweep the stage after the song...LOL. Also, at the end of the song he steals the lines from Paul Revere and the Raiders, "Indian Reservation", which was a big hit in the 60's. My boss was also at the concert and started studying the structure of the arena, wondering if the building (solid concrete) could withstand the music and the out of control crowd. Fun times...and at the time, I had no clue he was Tug's son, but obviously old enough to remember Tug well...


At the concert he introduced a song he had never played before and depending on the crowds' reaction, he said he would release it as a record. The crowd in Binghamton loved it, and it went on to be a big hit in the country music world...it was "I Like it, I Love it". He was a rock star in the country world and his live concerts were louder and rockier than any rock concert I had ever attended...so much so, that the live showings hardly resembled the song that was released on the radio


In short, for older guys (especially Mets fans), Tug was the man, but in reality, his son was (and is) much bigger on the world stage

He could play the "spy" position if facing a dual threat QB, while in other games with a pocket type QB, could rotate with SS or one of the Mikes. He's very fast, big and strong, can take down a TE better than most safeties or even linebackers. And of course, he can be part of a rush package. I hope Bowen and him click and they both find a niche they're happy with

Quote from: LennG on April 15, 2024, 12:48:33 PMNice story Chris. Since you lived in what we are referring to, as the '60s, you are accepted even if you are a young squirt to some of us.         

Too bad you were a bit too young to live thru what was then, the miracle Mets of 1969. Being from NJ, you would have caught that 'fever' as the entire NYC metro area were all Mets fans.

I can see Baby Chris doing a disco dance and everyone thinking it was so cute.       

It was an exciting time though also with a lot of pain.

Apart from the low points: Cuban missile crisis, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination of our President, Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X, the hippie revolution, rampant drug use (three main musicians died at 27 yrs old - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison), the Vietnam War and tens of thousands of deaths of our soldiers, the magnitude of protestors burning buildings and creating havoc, kids on college campus getting mowed down by the National Guard, Charles Manson and his horrifying murders, there were some high points

Yankees were in 5 world series during the 60s 
Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record in '61
Man flew to the moon, walked on it, flew home
And yes, the Miracle Mets had a year to remember (I doubt Billy Buckner sees it the same way) 

The 60's were a decade like no other in U.S. history

Quote from: Ed Vette on April 15, 2024, 10:19:37 AMFor anyone who has closely followed Bowers, does he primarily run TE Centric plays? Or is he just a big Wr mismatch?

A little of both. He can go out like an X-receiver, go down the middle of the field, or take short dump offs the way Witten used to do when he single-handedly beat the Giants in years past. He can block (and is willing), but that is not his forte. He's basically a unique/super offensive weapon to be used in any scheme, and is very valuable as a decoy to open up other WRs. He is not injury prone and the only injury he's had over the years is a high ankle sprain and had "tightrope surgery" in which he returned to the field 2 weeks later. Tough guy who isn't fragile

DJ will do what he's told. Two years ago, he was told, "you can't throw so many interceptions", and lo and behold, he had one of the least number of interceptions of any QB. Then last year, was going (supposed) to be, "throw to Waller", but the OL was worse, and he spent a lot of time running for his life...Waller got hurt...then DJ got hurt, and the Giants sucked

If DJ is healthy, he will do exactly what he's told to do and if we get Odunze, and he's told to throw at him, he will...providing he's not running for his life again and injuries piling up, as seems to be the nature of our team

An article posted today about him: https://gmenhq.com/posts/ny-giants-hosted-draft-best-kept-secret-massive-ot-01htz4x5eeb0?sc=be165671da3b347e2b57f31b3de62ada4335dd4eb041bc409f5188d150192a90

Nice find Lenn. Looks like he's the biggest climber on the big board for OTs, so he's not a secret

Quote from: Ed Vette on April 13, 2024, 01:22:12 PMI see that Tyre Phillips is an UFA still.

I suspect that Schoen/Daboll are letting Bricillo have free rein to build the OL as he sees fit. I imagine that Bricillo has spent hundreds of hours going over past film and doing his own analysis on each player. I'm sure he has a strong opinion on Phillips and if he wanted him, he'd be signed

Those two have a big future in Giants' blue...as long as they stay healthy. Great to build camaraderie, and great that they are honing their skills on their own time. Love it!

It's a crap shoot most of the time. To me, most early drafted QBs have all the physical tools to be great. What they end up lacking is self-confidence, quick mental acuity, a good offensive line, a good supporting case, great play calling, and most of all, the inherent attitude of a winner. In my opinion, which means nothing in the grand scheme of NFL style player analysis, I think JJ McCarthy seems to show that necessary confidence and that winner's mentality. However, those rather obscure aspects are tough to measure, and it's a huge step from college to the NFL so I go back to my original premise, it's a crap shoot