Big Blue Huddle

Can you tell I'm bored this Sunday evening...babbling about everything

Anyway, splurged and bought a new car...2024 KIA Seltos SX...every option under the sun including the turbo engine and a non-CVT 8 speed transmission...and it comes with a 20-year, 200,000 mile warranty (only get that at KIA East Syracuse) which kind of blows me away. Anyway, this is my first experience with a "smart car" at this level. The first issue I had was driving in Syracuse traffic on 690. I couldn't believe how easy it steered, but how hard it was to change lanes. It took me awhile to figure out that the car was basically driving itself. I got curious and on my way home on route 81, I let go of the wheel to see how far it would go and how well it handled turns. It drove perfectly for about 5 miles before warning me to put my hands on the wheel...so I touched the steering wheel and it drove itself for another 5 miles before warning me again. I got thinking, "if I had a heart attack and my lifeless hand was resting on the steering wheel, I'd either end up in the Thousand Islands or in Knoxville or until the car ran out of gas, and my family would wonder why I went there and died". Sorta like Payne Stewart

Then there's the cruise control that has different modes - one that adjusts your speed exactly the same as the car in front of you...that was different. But just like with the driver assist that keeps you in-line on the highway, as soon as you hit your turn signal, the "driver-assist" as well as the speed of the car in front of me is turned off

That was just the beginning. The entire dash is one long monitor. I can have digital or analogue gauges and can control everything with buttons below the screen, or buttons on the steering wheel, or touch screen, or I can hit a button on the steering wheel that allows me to tell the damn car what I want and what station on the radio I want. It's like driving a computer

When I got home, I got a message on my phone so I checked it out. It was my car calling me to tell me that my door was unlocked and asked me if I wanted to lock "press 1"...dang. I can push a button while I'm in the grocery store so that when I come out with grocery bags and come within 6 feet of the car, the rear gate opens for me. Last night on my way from my Saturday Night watering hole in Binghamton, I was going to dim my lights for an oncoming car, but the computer beat me to it...WTF

I've read that "in general", men are better drivers than most women because they both approach a vehicle differently. For men, they feel as if the machine is part of them - intertwined as one; hence, usually only have one hand on the wheel and do things like down shift to save brakes, etc. Whereas, most women tend to think they are piloting a machine that they don't entirely trust - both hands on wheel 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Don't know if that's true or not, but driving tractor since I was five, and being a biker, I understand how one feels like a machine is part of me. Well, all that is taken away from me with the "smart car". I'm still up in the air how I feel about it. I hate cell phones and only use them to call, take calls, or message...and take pictures or use the flashlight...oh, and I also have one app that I use and that's Shazaam that if I push the app, it will tell me the name and artist of a song being played somewhere. Actually comes in handy. But generally speaking, I hate smart phones...and now I can do anything from my phone from starting the car, adjusting the heat or air conditioning, fiddling with the radio, etc., all from the comfort of my couch and could be ten miles away from my car. The one good thing is if the car was stolen I can track it and even shut it off...friggin weird if you ask me. I guess I'm just getting old, although I like my smart tv

Anyone else like or dislike the "smart cars"??

Anyhoo - here's what I bought

23-year-old kid from Hungary. Name is Peter Buka (sometimes calls himself Alan Walker...or maybe that's the name of the person videotaping...I don't know). Mostly a street musician, but has amassed 1.5 million dollars in wealth, so it must be working for him. Not only is the kid ridiculously talented, but he chooses songs that are perfect for the 21st century. He takes many modern songs and puts his own twist on them

As a pianist myself, I never reached any level worth having an audience, although I can hammer out some fairly difficult songs...never mastered "Malaguena" or "Rhapsody in Blue", my two favorite piano pieces, but not because I failed to log in hours practicing. I tried to mimic Floyd Cramer's "Last Date" and was getting pretty good at that "outside-in chord roll" that has a unique sound. Then I had a stroke that shut down my right side and I no longer have the dexterity or quickness in my right hand to do some of the things I used to do and take for granted

I know Bob in PA is also a pianist, but he's never let on how accomplished he became. One of the things I did while raising four kids, was to make them take an instrument, but they had to take a year of piano first...they should at least be able to walk up to a keyboard and know where middle-C is and should be able to know which keys are which, which is a flat or sharp, a chord, getting the timing down, etc. I never expected them to become concert pianists, but if they are anything like me... trying, struggling, and coming to the conclusion that I'm never going to be another Liberace makes me appreciate those who have mastered an instrument. I'm not sure I could ever have such a deep appreciation for talented musicians had I not tried to be one myself...and failed 

Surprisingly, people walk by - and those who stop, tend to ruin it by getting out their phones as if they are going to relive a magic moment. As for me, I'd stop in my tracks and just soak in the moment. I put a play list together of Buka's playing that I play on the computer (has a great sound system attached) when I'm cooking or working around the house

Check him out:





He does Carol of the Bells about as good as anyone I've ever heard


Another Christmas song (medley)


And for those who don't know who Floyd Cramer is (may he R.I.P.), he was a country music star and developed a unique sound with the piano. Song is fairly easy to play, but getting that unique sound is not as easy as one would think

Name this famous person...picture taken last week

This is a story of my family's business for several decades

It starts with my 13 yr old younger brother who started selling and trading guns at school (yup, back in the 60's, guns in school were common, and we even had a rifle range in the school and a rifle club...those days are long gone). By the time he was 15, he had all kinds of shotguns and rifles that he got from trading with other kids. At the same time, my father knew one of the executives at Ithaca Gun Company and they offered to give my brother a hundred guns on consignment. So my father turned our old "milk house" into a temporary gun shop with bars on the windows and a security door. It actually looked like a real gun shop

Back at school, dozens of kids were getting off the bus carrying their long guns to school and heading for classes. So many kids brought their guns to school that the Principal in the morning message over the loudspeaker advised, "If you bring your guns to school, make sure they are unloaded and keep them in your locker. Do your trading between classes". Within a few months, my brother had amassed about 20,000 dollars. He talked my father into tearing down the barn and extending the milk house over the width of the old barn and he would pay for it







Meanwhile, my father had gotten a federal firearms license in order to make it a legitamate and legal business, but we started getting pressure (more like harassment) from the ATF who said, "we cannot allow a 15 year old kid sell guns" (as he was selling several guns a day and signing the application for each sale). So my brother would sell a gun, then have my mother sign the paperwork as my father had a full time job in Syracuse at the time. The business grew and we had hundreds of long guns and hand guns in the shop (which was about 1,500 sq. ft.) as well as archery equipment, thousands of boxes of ammo, reloading equipment, etc.

We had grown to becoming a major seller in Upstate New York. Our only real competition came from a gun shop in Binghamton (Dick's Guns) who would run Sunday flyer deals and cut prices. So we would undersell him, and then when we had deals, he would undersell us. This went on for several years. Buyers would go back and forth between us to work the best deal they could

Then...one day, we read in the Binghamton paper that Dick was going to start selling clothing, sneakers, golf clubs, ball gloves, etc. We cheered...we high fived...we celebrated and said, "WE WON!!!"

Well, Dick changed the name of his shop to "Dick's Sporting Goods" which is now a multi-billion dollar business with over 750 stores across America and Canada and are dabbling in other countries. Dick passed away a few years ago, but when he sold out his ownership, he became rich beyond his wildest dreams. He was a good guy and a respected competitor. But we "didn't win"...he did

After that, my brother continued to get us in trouble with the ATF. First, he accidentally fired a .38 Colt in the house that ended up shooting me in the leg. They wanted to know why a kid was carrying a handgun in the first place. They let it slide. Then later, he loaned the high school drama club a handgun for a play that was loaded with blanks. As most know, when shooting blanks from a real gun, there is a cardboard plug instead of a bullet. Anyway, to make a long story short, the first time they used it with blanks was during a play, and it was pointed at a girl on a couch and the plug hit her leg causing it to bleed. She panicked, the play was closed, and the ambulance took her away. ATF was furious and threatened to close us down for good, but they didn't

A couple of years later, my brother sold a can of FFF Black Powder to some kids on bicycles who had a note from their father. My brother (who only cared about money) sold it to them, knowing it was illegal. The next day, we read an article in the paper and said, "oh no...we're done". The story was about two kids who drilled a hole in a can of black powder and put a fuse in it. They made a bomb out of it and blew a door off a car in front of the police department. The article went on to say, "authorities are looking into the ease at which the children acquired the black powder". Long story short - the ATF shut us down

I was going to college at the time and applied for an FFL and got it. My brother meanwhile, decided he needed to get out of the gun business and went to college to become a pastor. So my Dad and I ran the business for a while before I went my own way and my father ran the business by himself. He was also an excellent gunsmith and always had 15–20 guns in queue that needed fixing. He also had built blueing tanks and reblueing guns had become big business for him

Fifteen years later, a group of crazy survivalists who lived in the woods of Pennsylvania, broke into the shop by cutting through the back wall, avoiding the security doors that could not be opened. They brought tools to cut through wood, insulation, and sheet rock and stole every single gun, all the ammo, reloading equipment, etc., essentially putting the shop out of business for good

Several of the thieves were caught, and over the years, a gun or two comes back...even 30 years later. But the handguns have the serial numbers ground off and we turn them over to the police. My parents turned the gunshop/barn into a Bed and Breakfast and ran that successfully for the next 25 years. The end

This in only my opinion...and we all know what that means

I'd move Evan Neal to LG next to Thomas. Neal excelled on the left side of the line in college, so his natural instincts fit well on the line (he could also be the backup LT where he excelled in college). I don't think he's quick enough with his feet to play tackle at the NFL level at RT, besides possibly backup LT, but he's talented and has rare size, strength, and athleticism...just maybe not a perfect fit on the right side and as a RT. We probably should have drafted Charlie Cross in the 2021 draft who was not a bulldozer/run blocking type of OT, but heads above all others in pass protection. He only has a PFF grade of 64 for his first two years, but he's done pretty well in Seattle

We need an agile RT who can pass protect at the NFL level. This is a loaded draft class for tackles, none better than Fashanu, but someone like Kingsley Suamataia [6-6 / 324] is incredibly agile and quick, yet is ranked 10th among OTs, and still in the top 30 overall (tells you just how stacked this years OT class is). From Walter Football: "In 2022, Suamataia transferred to BYU, where he broke out, including not allowing a sack all season. Suamataia has shocking speed and athleticism for an edge blocker of his size. Another big season could make Suamataia a high first-rounder in his draft class." Walter Football has Suamataia ranked 2nd best OT behind Mims, and ahead of Alt and Fashanu https://walterfootball.com/draft2024OT.php

But look at how absolutely stacked the OT class is: https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/positions/OT/1/2024 and   
https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/big-boards/2024/consensus-big-board-2024?pos=OT

This is also a stacked class of OGs, and we could probably get a Zac Zinter, Tate Ratledge, or Christian Mahogany in the first three rounds (https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/positions/OG/1/2024)

LT Thomas / LG Neal / C Schmitz / RG Zinter / RT Suamataia

With such a loaded class at OT and OG, it would inexcusable for the Giants to not finally fix that line!

Nice article in today's NY Post

https://nypost.com/video/giants-young-defenders-get-recognition-for-being-elite-in-key-area/

Thanks to AI, and some master technicians, they were able to piecemeal an old non-professional singing of Lennon playing piano and singing his latest idea...more than a quarter century ago. Then they found Harrison's playing of the song (again, a practice piece and an unprofessional recording), and mashed it up with Lennon's piano and singing. Then they had McCartney play bass with Ringo on the drums to create a professional new release from none other than the Beatles. We live in amazing times

So far I don't love the song, but I am really impressed that they (the technicians) could actually pull a song out of two dead guys and a couple of octogenarians to release the first new song by the Beatles in about 50 years

Here's the song:

Injured for the Jets game:

Starting QB Daniel Jones out
Backup QB Tyrod Taylor out
no.1 TE/Receiver Darren Waller out
no.1 OT Andrew Thomas out
no.2 ER Azeez Ojulari out

It's amazing to me we were even close to winning the game with an undrafted QB and crappy play calling

Imagine Kansas City playing with Mahommes and his backup out, Travis Kelce out, and LT Donovan Smith out...in the pouring rain. I understand the "next man up" rule, but some players are irreplaceable with a weak bench

8-year-old girl is very talented...not to mention, cute and sweet-hearted

https://nypost.com/video/train-station-pianists-surprising-duet-with-8-year-old-violinist/

First off...let me explain what I'd like from the Giants. To put a competitive team on the field so I can be entertained. Win or lose...at least entertain me! I'm not one who believes winning the Super Bowl every year is entertaining, but it is nice to get one now and then, even if only once a decade. Trouble is, right now the team is not competitive, nor is it exciting, nor is it entertaining. But hope springs eternal...or so they say. The only sport where hope never dies no matter how often one fails is "fishing". You cast a hundred times and not even a nibble, yet with the very next cast, we have absolute renewed hope as great as our first cast. Unfortunately, it feels like we're fishing in a fish-free zone in a backyard swimming pool with the current state of this team

So I'm trying to put a list of positives together (short as it may be), especially considering we don't get many breaks in the upcoming schedule (at Miami [coming off a smarting defeat], then at the Bills, etc) so there could be more than a fair share of bitching on here for the next couple of weeks. I'm prepared for that anyway

Okay...the list

1) I still believe in Schoen and Daboll to execute corrective measures (that might include dumping Bobby Johnson and bringing in a proven OL coach). I guarantee that Schoen and Daboll are more upset that any of us fans...and a lot smarter
2) We have a lot of young players that are going to be getting valuable field time, and they will be better next year and the year after...barring serious injuries...knock on wood
3) Our draft position will most likely garner a top ten pick and put us near the front for each round
4) If I understand correctly, we are going to have plenty of cap room to fix some serious problems
5) I expect some coaching turnover (although Wink might not be so hot a candidate if he doesn't get our defense turned around) which should bring a less predictable game plan...knock on wood
6) "At least we ain't the Cowboys". I had a technician at my house a couple of weeks ago, and we got to talking football. Low and behold, he was a life-long, die-hard Cowboy fan, and this was on the heels of a complete ass-whooping on our own field, under the lights for the whole world to witness. He asked me if I wanted to compare records. My response, "only if you want to talk Super Bowl victories in the last quarter-century"...which made him laugh. He said, "HA...nooo!...best comeback I've ever heard from a Giants' fan...let's not go there...LOL"

I was on the bandwagon for little heralded WR Puka Nacua that I figured would be a late round pick if drafted at all. Lo and behold, he went in the 5th round to the Rams and they got a steal!

From ESPN:

"Nacua has emerged as one of the league's top receivers. He etched his name in the record books with a 15-catch, 147-yard performance that set the NFL's single-game record for receptions by a rookie and the overall league mark with 25 catches through the first two games of his career"



And of course: "I told you so"   

Wouldn't that be a hoot for the Giants to have to tear up their new field and put in grass. They are blaming Aaron Roger's injury on MetLife Stadium's new turf 

https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/09/13/nflpa-calls-for-universal-grass-fields-after-jets-aaron-rodgers-tears-achilles/?lctg=D50294C3B408F5A2D5F9E513FE

Thoughts by a homer 

After fighting the urge to puke last night, I tried to settle down. Couldn't.    Still nauseous this morning from the worst game I've ever watched in my life. To top it off, a beating by the only team I truly despise. Try as I may, the only "positive" (if I dare call it that) is that this is a wake-up call for the team to come to the game prepared to punish the other team, instead of going through the motions of a play and trying to finesse it

Disappointment doesn't even begin to express my feelings, and I suspect I speak for everyone on this board. As pointed out by Nick Falato, this was "Murphy's Law" personified. Anything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong. Almost every single play from JSM sliding the ball on the ground to DJ, to failing (over and over) to block rushers that included an easy blocked field goal attempt turned into a TD for Dallas...to Saquon coughing up the ball for a TD for Dallas...and on, and on, and on, it went for nearly 3-hours of grueling agony

So: the good 

1 - it's only one game (not much consolation)
2 - coaches now know what exactly the team is missing and what they need to fix
3 - a wake-up call to the players to find their warrior mentality when going into games
4 - 

In the end, it still comes down to, "I want to hurl"

I have a 9-year-old granddaughter who is a catcher on the boy's baseball team. Try as I might, I cannot turn her into a Yankee fan as her father has ruined her by raising her as a Mets' fan...but I digress. Anyway, here's my question. She adores Mets' catcher, Francisco Álvarez (she does not think he's "hot") but loves his style of catching and she does everything to mimic the way he catches, right down to the tiniest detail

As I try to put a list together of Christmas gifts for my grandkids, it dawned on me that the best gift I could give her would be a personally signed autographed picture addressed to her that she could hang on her bedroom wall. I would frame it and wrap it up. But try as I might, I have not figured out a way to contact him or his agent in order to ask such a request. Do any of you guys have a clue how this could get done? It would blow her away more than tickets to a Taylor Swift show. I think that if he knew there was a little girl out there that copies his every move as a catcher, he'd be happy to do this. The issue is "how"

The game just got over this morning and USA lost 104-110

Why this matters? or "Who Cares?"

I do...because the Knicks' Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart play for the USA team and even more interesting, Lithuania's team has PG Rokas Jokubaitis, a 2nd round pick (34th overall) for the Knicks in the 2021 NBA Draft right after taking Quentin Grimes, and before taking Miles "Deuce" McBride and Jericho Sims. Both Deuce and Rokas were 20 years old when drafted...Grimes was 21 and Sims 22

So we got to see Brunson go head-to-head with potential future teammate, Jokubaitis for the first time ever. Even though the Knicks are overloaded at guard right now, it is conceivable that Rokas could end up being Brunson's backup PG. The reason Rokas hasn't been brought to the US, is because he hasn't been needed and Thibs wanted him to get more seasoning in Europe before being brought over. It's been delayed because of our plethora of options in the back court. But it could happen soon, or maybe later. Or he could end up being a trade piece 

Final stats

Jalen Brunson: 14 pts - 3/7 (2pt); 1/3 (3pt); 5/6 (FT); 4 rebounds (1 O / 3 D); 7 assists; 1 steal; 0 turnovers

Rokas Jokubaitis: 9 pts - 2/6 (2pt); 1/2 (3pt); 2/2 (FT); 3 rebounds (2 O / 1 D); 6 assists; 1 steal; 2 turnovers

https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1697623072474640658?

ACC has added Stanford, California, and Southern Methodist University (SMU) to the conference

https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2023/09/meet-the-3-new-acc-schools-what-do-stanford-cal-and-smu-bring-to-their-new-conference.html

If my math is correct, we have signed 14 players to the PS and we're allowed 16. That means two players will be picked up at some point...hopefully today because I'm impatient 

I suspect Schoen and company are scouring the leftovers with a magnifying glass and a fine tooth comb and, like Brown likes to say, "we're doing our due diligence". I also suspect they want a slot corner and an OG and/or OT to groom

How soon will we know? 

Who do you think they are looking at? 

Darian Kinnard seems like a no-brainer, but I trust our staff far more than my limited knowledge of players

This guy (Braulio Perez) thinks Schoen should be all over this. OT Connor Galvin is available right now, but won't be for long

https://gmenhq.com/posts/ny-giants-should-sign-recently-cut-lions-ot-connor-galvin-01h9113mwqk0?sc=be165671da3b347e2b57f31b3de62ada4335dd4eb041bc409f5188d150192a90

This is something I've asked myself a hundred times, but just going to throw it out there and see what you guys think:

If Saquon Barkley was signed before the draft took place, does Schoen draft Eric Gray, or would they have made a different pick like maybe Andrew Vorhees (top guard in the draft, but injured) or perhaps Moro Ojomo (fiesty DT who went to the Eagles) or maybe OT Warren McClendon, all who were still on the board?

Just thinking off the top of my head and the issues we had last year and just how far we've come since the season ended. I don't think fan optimism is unwaranted   

- 2022 starting WRs (Slayton, Golladay, CJ Board, Rickey James, Won'Dale Robinson, Alex Bachman,Austin Proehl)
- 2023 starting WRs (Slayton, Hodgins, Campbell, Hyatt, Shepard, Beasley, Won'Dale Robinson,Bryce Ford-Wheaton)

- 2022 starting TEs (Daniel Bellinger, Chris Myarick, Ricky Seals-Jones, Jordan Akins)
- 2023 starting TEs (Darren Waller, Daniel Bellinger, Larry Cager, Tommy Sweeney, etc.)

- 2022 starting OL (Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, Jon Feliciano, Mark Glowinski, Evan Neal; backups: Ezuedu, Bredeson, Josh Rivas, Max Garcia, Garrett McGhin, etc.)
- 2023 starting OL (Andrew Thomas, Ben Bredeson, John Michael-Schmitz, Glowinski, Neal: backups: Lemieux, Ezuedu, Peart, Cunningham, McKethan, etc.)

- 2022 starting DL (Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Jihad Ward, backups: Justin "Jelly" Ellis, Jayln Holmes, Nick Williams, Ryder Anderson, etc.)
- 2023 starting DL (Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, A'Shawn Robinson, Nunez-Roches, Jihad Ward, Jordon Riley, etc.)

- Edge (pretty much the same...Thibs, Ojulari, Fox, Ximines, except newbie Baldonado [Isaiah Simmons])

- 2022 starting Safety (McKinney, and Love, bkps: Belton, Andrew Adams, Yusuf Corker, etc.)
- 2023 starting Safety (McKinney, and Pinnock, bkps: Belton, McCloud, Owens, etc.)
Look at this position:

- 2022 CBs (Adoree' Jackson [??? Aaron Robinson, Rodarius Williams, etc.])
- 2023 CBs (Adoree' Jackson, Tae Banks, Trey Hawkins III, Oruwariye, etc.)


My favorite move, but have to wait and see:

- MLB (went from Tae Crowder and Jaylon Smith .... drum roll....to Bobby Okereke and Isaiah Simmons  )

Schoen has been extra strategic with trades so far
Trades made:

3rd round comp pick for Darren Waller
7th round pick to move up for Tae Banks
4th round pick to move up and get Jalin Hyatt
7th round pick for Isaiah Simmons

I could go on, but what I get out of all this is that we finally have a hell of a front office, coaching staff, and unseen analysts digging through gravel like panhandlers in a muddy creek finding a nugget of gold here and there. They have been great!

Not a big deal or an enticing comment or question. But looking at a team photo, McCloud (no. 44) looks much bigger than the height mentioned on the internet in which some sites say he's 6-0, and others say he's 6-1. This photo makes him look taller than JMS and taller than 6-5 Chris Myarick (no. 85) standing next to him. Has anyone ever seen him in real life and is he really as tall as the picture shows? Or...maybe it's not McCloud and numbers have changed 

Pre-draft, millions of armchair GMs put together a mountain of mock drafts. One company (www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/big-boards) collect data from tens of thousands of individual mocks in order to give a consensus of fanboys, beat writers, and talking heads and make an easy searchable database

Looking back, I can't help but notice that:
- Tre Hawkins III is mocked at 542nd best player in the draft
- Jordan Riley is mocked at 567th "      "      "       "
- Gervarrius Owens is mocked at 247th  "     "     "      "

None of these guys except Owens gets rated as even a "priority free agent"

All teams scout each other's teams, including practices, pre-season games, etc. These three guys are no secret around the league anymore, to the people who matter in NFL decisions anyway (they are not fanboys). With that said, how would you think "Hindsight Mocks" would look like today if our last three picks were mocked and all the armchair GMs knew what most actual coaches know. As a reminder, no mock had these three guys as even draftable or in some cases, even worth taking a UDFA flyer on

For me:

I can't see Hawkins III getting out of the 3rd round and possibly a 2nd round (maybe even early 2nd rd)

For Riley, I can see him getting snatched early on day three of the draft, even though he was on no one's radar. I was hoping with my fingers crossed that the Giants would use a day three pick on Brodric Martin who the Giants apparently liked because they had multiple visits with him including a private workout. Expected to be a sixth rounder or later, he went on day two to the Lions. It pissed me off. Martin was called "the poor man's version of Jalen Carter", who was ranked anywhere from the no.1 to no.4 best player in the entire draft (sucks that the Eagles got him  ). What I loved about Martin, was his sheer size (6'5"/335 lb) with the quickness and athleticism of a dancing bear. As far as I was concerned, there was no defensive lineman left on the board with Carter/Martin type size, strength, and athleticism. Now I see Riley (6'5"/330 lb) as a "poor man's version of Brodric Martin" who apparently went completely unnoticed by the millions of mockers (including myself)

As far as Owens goes, I think the book is still out on him, but he seems to be worthy of a pick earlier than the 7th round

Here's what the talking heads in Detroit are saying about Martin. I think Riley has some similar traits and his willingness to take to coaching and his God-given gift of size and athleticism, makes him a steal. Also, after watching these two jokers and their podcast, we can be thankful for guys like Bobby Skinner and Justin Penik, and Nick Falato and Dan Schneier. As a side note, I saw an old youtube when Skinner and Falato were a team 

Anyway, Lions talkin heads doin Martin

I am just getting back to fishing in a big way. I live alongside the beautiful Tioughnioga river and live just a few miles from a big reservoir teaming with walleye, bass, and tiger muskies. Also, I like fishing Oneida Lake which is a premier walleye lake in the country because it has a sand bottom and shallow (about 20' on average which also makes it treacherous when wind picks up) for drifting with Jixie spinners or jiggin, as well as it has the largest Walleye hatchery in the world on its shoreline that dumps 150 million Walleye fry in the lake each year. The hatchery also stocks lakes from here to Minnesota with Walleye. I'm close to the Finger Lakes (17 miles from Cayuga Lake, 14 miles from Skaneateles Lake), but rarely fish them, although I used to go at night to Owasco Lake for smelting, but haven't done that in 40 years. For fly-fishing for trout, it's about a 40-mile jaunt to the West Branch of the Delaware, and if I want to travel for another hour, I can fish the Beaverkill or Willowemoc near Rosco, NY (the best trout fishing in the world). I used to fish for Salmon on Lake Ontario when my father-in-law had a big boat up there, but he no longer does, so my buddy and I go up to Pulaski or Oswego with our noodle rods and fish the Salmon River or Oswego River

Anyway, there are two things in my arsenal that are changing:

First, I've picked up two bait casting reels along with a light and a medium rod (thinking bass with these). I've never cast a bait casting reel, so this is new to me

Secondly, I've re-lined most of my spinning rods (I have 9 set-ups) with braided line instead of Monofilament (stronger, no twisting or line memory, etc.). I have discovered that braided line is really a bitch to work with when tying off and especially getting knots to keep from slipping. Some articles insist you put a drop of superglue on the knot... Now, instead of my old faithful clinch knot, I'm learning how to tie the vaulted Palomar knot

I'm a catch and release guy except for Walleye and Perch, which are downright delicious. And in the rare occasion that I actually reel in a Salmon...I eat it!

So...any advice on bait casting reels and dealing with braided line would be much appreciated. I hope to show some nice catches on here before winter sets in

He just looks like a monster https://nypost.com/2023/08/07/ashawn-robinson-bringing-blue-collar-mentality-to-giants-defense/?itm_source=parsely-api

When the Giants drafted Hawkins, I had to dig into my notes to find something on him (nothing). The NFL Mock database had him listed as 67th ranked CB and the 542nd ranked player in the draft (not even a priority free agent), so I came away a little unimpressed. Even after searching the internet, I could find little. I thought, "well, maybe Schoen and the scouts know something others don't". I was too happy with our first three gets that I wasn't disappointed for the late round picks anyway.

In hindsight, Hawkins might end up being the biggest surprise the Giants have had is a long time.

PFF's assessment of Hawkins:

"The New York Giants spent a good chunk of their 2023 NFL Draft capital retooling their secondary, with first-rounder Deonte Banks at the center of the transformation. The Giants had seven total selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. Three of those picks — nearly half — were spent on defensive backs.

Early on, special teams will be big for both Hawkins and Owens. Schoen is on the record saying that both players have the physical talent and edge that projects well to special teams...

Hawkins is tough, physical, and incredibly talented as an athlete. He scored a 9.82 RAS — a top 50 figure all time among all CBs ever to have testing data. At 6'2″, 188 pounds, with arms over 32″ long, Hawkins put up a 4.42 40-yard dash, a 37.5″ vertical, a 10'9″ broad, and a blazing 6.74 three-cone.

Those numbers do well to encapsulate the all-encompassing athleticism that Hawkins shows on tape. He's fast, explosive, athletic, and incredibly rangy as a playmaker with his reach. As he continues to hone his technique and NFL IQ, Hawkins has the athletic foundation to become a gem on defense.

In a press conference, Schoen echoed those exact sentiments on Hawkins: "Height, weight, and speed prospect that has high upside. He's a physical kid, not afraid to tackle. You see a trend with some of these guys that we took at that position. Good developmental prospect for Wink's defense and projects well to special teams due to his physical traits and toughness."



As you can see, the only knock on his RAS score was his weight (same concern last year with Flott), but for his light weight, he doesn't appear to be a stick, and in fact, looks pretty muscular as shown by the picture taken of the draftees at rookie camp



Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but the more I see, the more I like. I'm thinking we got ourselves a steal in the draft

Older brother has a chance to get Josh Allen's autograph, but instead tells Josh that his younger sister is in love with him and told him what she was wearing and asked if he would give her a hug. Allen did. A nice moment

https://twitter.com/whec_jlewke/status/1684226012073062403

One of the pressing problems that Barkley faced during negotiations, was he made a huge mistake (like many NFL players) by taking his entire 2021 salary (10M) in bitcoin. It dropped 5.9M so he only got 4.1M for the season

I have to believe that he put himself in a financial bind with a poor decision and is trying to recoup a huge loss that is probably irredeemable and should just be chalked up as "big mistake...hard lesson learned"

Crypto has burned a lot of high-end athletes looking to make a killing while their talents are at their highest level (albeit for a short time). Getting burned playing the "high risk / high reward" game is NOT the fault of teams who agree to payout salaries (and portions thereof) to their players

And it's not just NFL players, others like NBA's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (who lost 20M for his investment in crypto) have been hit hard. Even Michael Jordan lost at least 10M, but for him that's not big deal...like me dropping a penny and not bothering to pick it up

In short, bad investment choices are part of life. Trying to recover those losses NEVER work, but that's not going to prod players to try. I've always felt Saquon's crypto loss has been the driving force behind his standoff with the front office

https://frontofficesports.com/crypto-crash-costing-nfl-players-millions/

https://cointelegraph.com/news/7-nfl-players-that-chose-crypto-over-cash-salaries

So little news, so many issues discussed to the nth degree. Thought I'd share these along with my comments on them. Sometimes pictures say more than words

Check out rookie Riley. For a guy who is 6'5" and 338 pounds, he doesn't seem to be carrying any fat to speak of. For a guy pushing 350, he's friggin buffed! Looks like the poster child for that dancing football transformer they show on TV when prepping the audience before the start of the game


Compare with Danny Shelton basically carrying the same weight at 340 pounds - arms rather weak looking, too much fat, could stand to use a bra, etc



This picture put a smile on my face. It appears Daboll and Thibs have a great working relationship, and they really like and respect each other. Great combination for getting the most out of a player and building a winning culture. I can't picture in my mind, Belichik looking at one of his players like this, LOL

Since it's kind of the dead time for reading material for Giants' fans needing a "fix", here's a story that is one man's opinion

This includes all New York teams, not just the Giants. Interesting, but not carved in rock of course. This according to the "Fansided" website (link at end)

Ranked best in order:

• QB (Buffalo Bills) Josh Allen
• DT (NY Giants) Dexter Lawrence
• DT (NY Jets) Quinnen Williams
• WR (Buffalo Bills) Stefon Diggs
• LT (NY Giants) Andrew Thomas
• CB (NY Jets) Sauce Gardner
• LB (Buffalo Bills) Matt Milano
• RB (NY Giants) Saquon Barkley
• LB (Buffalo Bills) Von Miller
• QB (NY Jets) Aaron Rodgers

Something to read for those who are bored
https://gmenhq.com/posts/ranking-best-giants-jets-bills-players-2023-season-01h0zkcnr8b2?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email&sc=be165671da3b347e2b57f31b3de62ada4335dd4eb041bc409f5188d150192a90

Need help from sleuths on this board

This is a fuzzy photo of rookies, ufda's, and tryout players that I grabbed from the video of "Giant's Life"



The guy in the middle with long blonde hair standing behind JMS, is huge. He's in a blue shirt (offense) with a number that starts with "7", hence, an offensive lineman

Things to consider: JMS is no twinkle toes...he's a big man, 6'3½" with a wide neck and larger than average head. Also, subjects closer to the camera tend to appear larger than the subjects further away. It's why fisherman sometimes hold their fish way out in front of them with their arms extended so that the fish looks much larger than it really is; hence, guys in back will appear somewhat smaller than they are compared to the ones in front

So, whoever this guy is, he has to be between 6'8" and 6'10", and he has a bigger neck and bigger head than JMS. In short, the guy is frickin huge!

I just wonder who the heck he is, what school he went to, where he came from, is he a guard or a tackle, etc. Any help would be welcomed