Big Blue Huddle

I hope Michael Ghobrial is successful, even with an unimpressive résumé. I see he spent two years at SUNY Cortland, a school where I spent a couple of years before transferring to Binghamton U., and is right in my backyard. They were D3 National Champions last season, which is neither here nor there (just putting in a plug for them) and they've been well known nationally for superior soccer, baseball, and lacrosse teams, winning a number of championships. It's the "jock school" of the SUNY system, and even though it is plugged as an "education and teachers' school", its real focus is on sports

I suspect, if Ghobrial is not pretty successful in a short time period, that he will be replaced. Schoen doesn't seem to have a lot of patience with coaches who don't make good things happen

Quote from: H-Town G-Fan on Today at 10:15:22 AMThanks Jolly. But just would note that Bryce Ford-Wheaton tore his ACL in the 2023 preseason back in August, so he's been recovering. I haven't read anything about him getting back on the field yet.

Thanks for pointing that out as I forgot about that. The story I read was about his desire to become a great STs player while hoping to get a shot at WR in the future. Story must've been old - my bad 

Though it wasn't broadcast in the headlines of news stories, the Giants' ST squad was poor the last few seasons. Fans knew it, but it was a side-note in the news. Apparently, judging by the changes, Schoen decided to fix it...knock on wood

Some of the changes I've noticed:

- Fired STC Thomas McGaughey and hired new STC Michael Ghobrial

- Resigned Gunner Olszewski (and true to his name, is a "gunner") who was our best gunner on STs since the retirement of David Tyree. Olszewski is also our punt returner, but that could change after the addition of WR/RB Tracy in the draft

- Signed Miles Boykin, one of the best gunners in the NFL...but as you know, we need two gunners, one on each side of the field

- Signed former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, on a cheap 1-yr contract. Should promote competition at the punt return spot between him and Olszewski (and probably Tracy)

- Resigned Carter Coughlin, our best STs player who led the team with nine tackles last season and has earned a reputation as a hard hitter https://www.giants.com/video/carter-coughlin-s-hit-stick-tackle-ends-patriot-kick-return-giants-vs-patriots-h

- Drafted shifty Tyrone Tracy as a RB, but is targeted to also be a returner who could be especially effective under the new kickoff rules

- Bryce Ford-Wheaton has spent the year and off-season practicing to make the STs squad as a "jammer" and possibly a "gunner"...he is apparently taking STs very seriously

- Drafted Darius Muasau who is known to be a special teams ace and an "unrelenting" attacker. He also played for our new STC Ghobrial. He is said to be an extremely hard hitter and a "film rat"

- hopefully, Graham Gano is back and in top shape as our place kicker

- Jamie Gillan "the Scottish Hammer" made impressive improvement last season and should be in even better shape this coming season

I'm sure there are other behind the scenes changes being made, but it certainly appears that Schoen and Daboll have not ignored the problem of the "Third Team", for which we have sucked, and have taken it very seriously to upgrade across the board. I suspect the biggest change is probably putting in a whole new system designed by our new STC Ghobrial


 

As I said, it's all subjective, so it's all about personal taste. I'll never forget a word of advice from Simon Cowell to amateur singers trying to make it to the winner's circle. He said, "I cannot emphasize enough, the importance of picking the right song to demonstrate your voice...because the 'catchiness' of the song, is just as important as your voice". Boy ain't that the truth. There are great singers who sang songs that never connected with the audience, and that is what is needed to succeed in the music business. Some women would make this list had they chosen the right song

My ranking:

5) Tie between Bonnie Taylor and Pat Benatar – deep and unique alto voices with a growl. Taylor sounds almost like she gargled with broken glass before stepping up to the mic
4) I really like Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes) as a powerful rocker's voice. Had she not destroyed her vocal cords, it's possible she could have worked her way to number one in my book. Too little released material to fairly judge her. I love her deep alto voice and her switching to falsetto during her song
3) Stevie Nicks – a unique voice that worked perfectly for the music she sang. Very passionate woman with a stack of gold records
2) Gracie Slick – a unique and powerful alto voice with a rocker's heart. I just like her. I remember seeing her on stage at a beach in Ocean City anxious to hear "We Built this City on Rock and Roll", which she sang and I loved it. Later I read that she hated that song...LOL
1) Gotta give it to Joan Jett, a true rock and roller who plays guitar like a rock star and never strayed into pop or country, remaining true to her rock roots and didn't get lost in drugs and scandals. I always figured a true musician not only sang, but also played and instrument like it was second nature. I hope she gets royalties for Sunday Night Football using her song

Shout out to Janice Joplin who was a total rocker, I just didn't care for her music. But she was one of a kind. Dittos with Amy Winehouse and her ultra unique voice
I really love Johnette Napolitano with her deep rich alto voice, but even better when she jumps an octave in the same song and sings falsetto, which is actually more beautiful (or unique) than her alto voice. The contrast is incredible...and she plays bass guitar
Also, little tidbit about Debbie Harry (Blondie), one of the few soprano voices I like. Adopted at birth, she never knew her real parents. But her birthdate and place of birth coincided perfectly with date/place of stories by Marylin Monroe (where she lived as a teen), who repeatedly told others about getting pregnant as a teen and being forced to give it up for adoption. For years, people (conspiracists) believe Debbie Harry is actually Marylin Monroe's illegitimate child she never knew. They say you can see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice

I am shocked     Commentators are throwing barbs at DJ??? Say it ain't true! 

(that's only been going on since the second he was drafted)

Quote from: B1GBLUE on May 07, 2024, 04:10:11 PMcomes down to perception is reality. those guys are putting up 100/1400/10 seasons. slayton isnt. they could have way more drops but their production outweighs it. not entirely on slayton, but it doesnt help him

Hence the reason I said, "percentage-wise". That list of the top 25 players for dropped passes is "percentage", and includes plenty of names that are considered stars of the game. Slayton has a better percentage average of caught passes. His low number of drops is not due to few passes, but ratjer that he catches more balls than average receivers..."percentage-wise"

But I couldn't agree more that "perception is reality" and perception always trumps facts and data...and Slayton has been called a pass dropping WR, so every drop screams to fans that the player is worthless, damn the facts. And you are also right that Slayton is not targeted as often as the stars of the game. And he will be targeted less now that we actually have a WR room to share the passes...and Nabers will get the bulk of them. Hopefully, some talking head doesn't call him a "pass dropper" or it will follow him throughout his career, even when he has a higher percentage of caught passes than other studs of the game

A lot rides on the season for Jones. Fans tend to think a QB should "take the game over" and become a gun slinging QB, and "make it all happen". The trouble is, the OC makes the calls, not the QB. Jones will do whatever his coach tells him to do as they design the plays based on the defenses he's facing. The last time I remember a QB calling his own plays (before the hike as well as on the fly) was Roger Staubach, who worked so closely with Tom Landry that their minds were like one. Landry let him go and run the team from the field while giving lightly controlled plans...and it worked. It worked because Staubach was athletic, but more importantly, had a very high football IQ that was inate to him

Jones will never be treated the way Staubach was treated, and he'll march to the step his coaches lay out for him. If he doesn't work out, or gets injured, we'll get to find out what we have in Drew Lock, and I suspect Schoen will be wheeling and dealing to get to the top of the draft for Carson Beck next season. We'll just have to watch the games this season and see what works out. My suspicions are that DJ is on a short rope. I'm rooting for him to excell far beyond the legion of negativity from an impatient fanbase. We shall see

There's plus/minus advantages to being a "ball hawk". A true ball hawk is always aware of the ball...more so than the player he's supposed to guard. Those who aren't ball hawks, tend to pay super close attention to the receiver to stop him from catching the ball, it is first and foremost in their repertoire (enter Andru Phillips a "sticky CB")

Last year, I was sold on Emmanuel Forbes Jr., even though he was very skinny and not a physical back. I wanted him for our first round draft pick, but he was already gone to the Commanders when we were on the clock. I remember groaning as I watched his name come off the board. Well, anyway, he was so bad in his rookie year that he was benched halfway through the season. With a PFF grade of about 50, he had a total of 1 takeaway for the year, whilst allowing 37 catches for 598 yards and three touchdowns in an abbreviated season (for him)

Previous write-up on Forbes (before the draft): "Emmanuel Forbes Jr. is one of the best ball-hawking cornerbacks in college football history, as he had 14 interceptions and ran an FBS record six back for a touchdown during his three seasons at Mississippi State...". But (and that's a big "but"), the NFL is a different animal than college. WRs are fully aware of all the tactics used by CBs and know how to mess up "ball hawks" who don't pay enough attention to the receiver's moves and pay too much attention to the ball

Suffice it to say, Dan Quinn was not happy with Forbes' performance. Whether or not Quinn can turn Forbes around is yet to be seen

Finally, a chance to get to meet some of our draftees after the "lull after the storm". Very little news post-draft other than a variety of opinions on the draft. Hopefully, the Giants do a nice job of releasing videos of our new guys. A couple days away (May 9-11)

I'm not sure my heart can take anymore of these games...afraid I'll stroke out or my heart gives out. Regardless, they won again in the last few seconds of chaos and craziness   

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on May 06, 2024, 06:09:17 PMI have a hard time ranking anyone above Stevie Nicks, but that's probably due to how much I like Fleetwood Mac, and I would be the first to say that Fleetwood Mac was never about just one band member.

I put Stevie high on my list of best rocker female. Lately, she's been palling up with Taylor Swift and some country music stars. She wrote a poem for Taylor Swift in her last album released a week ago and Stevie said Taylor's song, "You're on Your Own Now Kid", helped her deal with the loss of her close friend Christine McVie...hence, the poem Nicks wrote for Swift. They sang together at the Grammy's and to be honest, it wasn't good LOL. However, they've become close. Stevie looks and sounds her age. Aging is such a cruel bitch https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/10/03/stevie-nicks-references-taylor-swift-as-she-discusses-the-future-of-fleetwood-mac/?sh=92def8d2f249

Anyway, I didn't include (or didn't mean to) country music in the rock genre, but there's a lot of crossover going on these days. Guess who the number one country music singer is right now...drum roll please...Beyoncé! Go figure. And recently, Stevie Nicks and country singer Ingrid Andress teamed up to sing a country duet

Regardless, supposedly country music is the hardest genre of music for women to get into. And if you make it, you tend to go really big. It's how Taylor Swift got her start before switching to pop. And now we have Beyoncé switching to country...makes my head spin keeping up with this stuff LOL

Can't make this stuff up! Who's next? Cher?

I have to admit, Shania puts a lot of energy and theatrics in her performances. It's just her personality...very upbeat in performances and can't stand still...it's who she is. She's definitely not the stand at the mike and sing type. She has a great story though. Grew up in Canada in extreme poverty. Her father left her mother and Shania and her two younger sisters. Her mother married a full-blooded Cree, and he raised her like a father would. They were so poor that Shania would pretend to eat at school because she was afraid Social Services would take her and her sisters due to lack of food. At 8-years old, she would sing in bars late at night after alcohol was no longer served. She would make about 20.00 a night doing that and give it to her parents so they could have food. In her teen years she joined a kid's band and got recognized for her songwriting and singing as was courted by big producers (similar to child star Swift), but Shania's mother and step-father were killed in a car accident about the same time she graduated from H.S. So she put music on the back burner to raise her younger sisters until the youngest graduated. After that, she went all out into music and only sold over 100 million records, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time and the best-selling female artist in country music history. A rags-to-riches story if there ever was one. She's called the "Queen of Country Pop". But as I was trying to point out, I don't think of her as a "rocker", just a country girl having fun performing

Let's hope   

Quote from: Ed Vette on May 06, 2024, 02:27:22 PMI loved Karen Carpenter and Mama Cass.

I agree they had great voices (Mama Cass was in a league all her own), but I didn't think of them as "rockers". My list wasn't "complete" as I pointed out. Completely forgot about Ronstadt...loved her. she should be on the list. The others mentioned aren't really my idea of "rocker" differs from others

I mean, Shania Twain rocks more than Karen Carpenter by a thousand miles...and I didn't include her because even though she rocks the house down...I don't think of her as a "rocker", but she is cool 

And believe me, if you've never been to a country concert and compared them with a rock concert, country tends to be louder and rockier at concerts

Quote from: B1GBLUE on May 06, 2024, 10:15:14 AMproblem is they are HUGE drops. 50 yard perfect throws for easy td drops. they stand out more than an 7 yard out route

I hear ya...it's just that every good WR does the same thing and no one concentrates on that...only Slayton because a pundit pointed it out, and it stuck on everyone's mind. When Justin Jefferson or DeVonte Adams drops an easy catch, fans just say it's all part of the game. But when you are expecting it, you look for verification of your mindset. As I pointed out earlier, Slayton doesn't even make the top 25 NFL receivers in dropped catch percentage...nowhere near the percentage of Stefon Diggs or Garrett Wilson drops. Yet fans of those guys, take a sip of their beer, brush it off, and say "we'll get them next pass". I've seen OBJ drop perfect passes when he's wide open. The response, "he took a peak to see where he was going before the ball was in his grip"...xxxx happens. Not so with Slayton. Fans want him to drop passes so they can say, "I told you so...cuz I'm smarter than you"

And the reason Hyatt hasn't overtaken Slayton is that Slayton runs better routes. Hyatt is catching up, but not there yet. I just hope some pundit doesn't say that "Hyatt drops too many balls", or it will become the gospel of the NFL, just like the pundits who have claimed DJ throws too many interceptions. Hard to shake a mindset once a player has been accused of something by a talking head or an anonymous typer on the internet

My advice,"trust the coaches and ignore the bloviating chatter", they know far more than fans about statistics and the reality of what goes on inside the game