Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on Today at 11:11:51 AMI do, and thank you for the recommendation. I will check them out this weekend.

Please follow up with your thoughts and any highlights worth mentioning in addition to what Rich @MightyGiants has shared with us thus far. I have always enjoyed reading your analyses and this is a subject of great personal and professional interest to me.

Thank you, as always!

Peace!

Quote from: MightyGiants on Today at 07:32:23 AMWhy do I feel like they are operating light-years ahead of the oft-injured Giants?



https://x.com/clt_ny/status/1786571195623538845

Thank again for posting this, Rich @MightyGiants . THIS is what I refer to when I cite the Rams' method for evaluating players' risk for injury, and the development (injury risk mitigation) plan they put in place for each player. It has merit, although a couple of years ago the injury bug hit the Rams above and beyond what this program could mitigate. But, last season, their metrics fell back in line with the norm.

This is a good example of a player management plan for safety AND injury avoidance.

Peace!

To all.

Go back and get a copy of Dave Klein's paperback, "Giants Again" which tells the most complete story of how the Giants worked through "The Wilderness Years" all the way to the other side with George Young, AND Ray Perkins getting the Giants into the 1981 playoffs. A gutsy call in the 1979 draft to pick Phil Simms, and luck on their side, in the 1981 draft, when the Saints took George Rogers with the first pick, which opened the door for the Giants to select Lawrence Taylor, and the rest is history.

Peace!

Quote from: Uncle Mickey on May 03, 2024, 01:38:00 PMI keep saying this but Brillo might have been the most important acquisition of the off-season. And I'm not a jokin' 

We know you're not a jokin' 'cause neither are we! 

Peace!

Quote from: y_so_blu on April 30, 2024, 04:01:03 AMThe least excited I've been since I started following the team in 2020. No more Saquon (the real face of our franchise), no more Xavier, still no real quarterback or apparent plans to get one. Hello to another year of ranking 30-something on offense and the defense having to do most of the work. That's definitely a "meh."

I think the "meh" season for the ages was 1996 with a lame duck head coach, an even more broken quarterback and a former super-star running back run down to the steel walls of his tires, and hardly a WR to throw to.

Peace!

Quote from: katkavage on April 29, 2024, 04:39:25 PMThe schedule folks. Don't forget the schedule. In 2022 the schedule was easy. They played the AFC South. Last year they had to play the NFC West. Lost 3 out of four. This year they play the AFC North and NFC South. NFC South can go either way. Carolina is the only team as of now they would be favored against. In their division, they need to prove finally that they can beat Dallas, until they do, they are underdogs. Philly...we shall see which team shows up. Washington will be better. Don't count on the two easy wins. So go through the schedule. Of course there are injuries to other teams that change the dynamic. But right now, on paper, I don't see more than 7 wins. That's being generous.

+1

I continue to ask the age-old question:

What have the Giants done to close the gap between them and their division rivals (i.e. Dallas and Philly)? The rest of the schedule is a crapshoot after that.

0-41 and 17-49 are the two tangible results from last year which stick out like a sore thumb. What have the Giants done so far that makes them better than that?

In case you forgot, check last year's season's results. Better yet, burn last season's record book! But there MUST be tangible results demonstrating improvement. Until then, my vote is ...

I'll believe it when I see it!

Peace!

Quote from: PSUBeirut on April 29, 2024, 10:13:24 AMHe absolutely needs to show more fire and passion.  I definitely question whether Daboll and Schoen really need to send that message through the media, though.  If they feel they need to do it that way they're pretty shitty leaders and have been way too soft on DJ.  It's time to suck it up and perform or go home, simple as that.

I'm afraid I have to agree with this. It's kind of hard to show fire and passion after getting the daylights beaten out of you, game after game, and then have your knee shredded like southern BBQ.

But, maybe some QBs get fired up over that stuff; heck, I don't know! But, if they do, I can promise them, when they reach my age, they'll be popping and clinking around with their replacement knees and their hips on borrowed time ... take it to the bank!

Hoorah ... hips replaced tomorrow, my brain the following week ... I feel just as great as just before that first ACL tear ... I'm a rarin' to go!!!

Let's have a reality check on the fire lighting, unless you've brought the marshmallows!!

Peace!

Quote from: TDToomer on May 01, 2024, 04:13:12 PMI watched all 5 games and we did almost nothing to tenderize them. They skated all over the Islanders and made them look like they didn't belong in the playoffs. The one win was a miracle. I think you are underestimating them.

The rest of the Eastern Conference contenders should have put a claim in on Kuznetsov when he was waived. Brilliant move by the Canes who got home pennies on the dollar.

No. I've watched enough Carolina games this year and your boys worked hard during your series with them. Just a lot of pressure goals, as well as lucky bounces off the boards, when it counted made it seem easier than what it was.

Don't underestimate what Patrick Roy did for your team this season. Your boys still have a talent gap, no question about it, but they came to play and fought hard. They made the Canes sweat a few out and they're about to get hit with another level of intensity and talent where lucky bounces and goals 30 seconds apart won't be happening.

Your Isles now have to go and get some talent and they're going to be dangerous as long as the boys buy what Roy is selling them. Develop some leaders who can translate his fire into results on the ice. As a Ranger fan, even I can see  the foreshadowing of the New York rivalry coming back to life again. Roy planted the seeds and now it's time to get more talent and cultivate that team into a winner. When they played "never say die" on Saturday afternoon, it was beautiful to watch. It was too much to ask for yesterday's game but not for lack of trying.

Folks on the Island should be optimistic about the future as well as pushing the "paper champions" around, even if only for a little while; the Rangers and their fans appreciate it sincerely.

Peace!

Blame Vegas, I guess, for the "paper champions" (NOTE: lower case intended):

1st-place Rangers open as 2nd-round underdog against Hurricanes

Still makes no sense. But it will make even less sense when the series winner is decided.

Peace!

Quote from: MightyGiants on May 01, 2024, 08:48:01 AMSchoen talked about Nubin being a "culture setter".   This is exactly how you set a culture, calling out behavior that hurts the team rather than helping it.  I can't wait to see how he is in a couple of seasons.  I have a feeling the Giants have found themselves a true team leader.

He's won my vote with that one! If he follows through, I can't wait to see the cultural development of the defense and, in particular, the secondary.

Peace!

Quote from: Gmo11 on May 01, 2024, 09:55:20 AMIt's a combination of a couple of things but the gist of it is he's just fun.  He make his debut in the outdoor stadium game and fights a guy in 5 seconds.  Wins the fight.  And the fans go nuts.  Then he goes on a tear fighting everybody and winning just about every fight he's in to the point that they almost had to tell him to tone it down because you can't keep fighting every single day.

His actual play is not skillful by any means but he does set a tone.  I have to admit, for the last like 5 years or so I've agreed with you that a guy like him probably isn't necessary anymore and the team would be better off with another skill guy instead taking that roster spot.  But after watching the impact that Rempe has on the team with his energy and bone crushing hits and the way the fans get going every time he's on the ice...he does provide value to the team that another 4th liner with more skill like say a Goodrow wouldn't. 

Tom Wilson, noted jackass, has terrorized the Rangers in these playoffs games for years with all of his nonsense.  Picking on guys smaller than him regularly and just being a scumbag of the highest order.  But Wilson didn't do much of anything this series besides shove Adam Fox around after the Rangers scored a goal in Game 4. And I don't know that Rempe being around had anything to do with it or not, but I know I kept waiting for Wilson to do something dirty so Rempe could put his fist through his face and it just never happened. 

+1

Rempe adds a very necessary physical factor the Rangers have lacked for a long time. When Laviolette unleashed him, during the regular season, he took on the league's best goons for a reason; to send a message that the days of intimidating the Rangers, during the playoffs, are over.

Bring on the "paper champions" and thank you, Isles and their fans, for tenderizing them up, a bit, for the home cookin' at the Garden next week!

Peace!

There is no guarantee that any of those quarterbacks, even if they demonstrate "success" on their current teams, would accomplish the same with the Giants.

You want the QB, you lose the WR. Slayton remains your #1 for better or worse. The talk about everything else remains the same.

So, it comes down to the same old argument. Is it one of the QBs available at pick six (NOTE: not just McCarthy) or is it Nabers?

You've got your chocolate in my peanut butter! No!!! You've got your peanut butter all over my chocolate!

And, as the legendary Chris Allen would say ...

"And the beat goes on!!!"

Goodnight Gracie!

Peace!

P.S. Joe Schoen revealed his draft strategy and went with plan 1B (Nabers) after taking a crack at 1A (Trading up with NE for pick 3). I think his intent was clear regarding Jones' replacement vs. giving him a real receiver plus fixing the offensive line this off-season.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on April 30, 2024, 07:27:15 PMIsles have played hard in this series. Obviously, they had the big collapse game when they were up 3-0 and lost, but they haven't had one game where they have been blown out for three periods. Have to give them props. Hopefully they win tonight, but even if they don't, they have given Carolina more trouble than the Caps gave us.

I agree. The one thing I will say, as a myopic, one-eyed Ranger fan that, as much as I hate the Isles, I have truly grown to admire, and even respect, the work of Patrick Roy whom I've known only as a winner and a champion from the old days. Further, I don't even mind dropping the "hating" part of it, as I get older, because I appreciate players who wear their heart on their sleeve and put out an honest effort in their endeavor to succeed. The Isles of today do that and, when they add more talent to that roster of theirs, then the rivalry will kick into a gear not seen since the early 80s; I look forward to that!

But back to Carolina, as hard as they've had to work in Round One, many conveniently forget that the Rangers are one of the few teams who love to play in Raleigh and have been very successful there. While their crowds are parochial, my hope is to hear the Rangers close out the series there to the sounds of "I-gor!!! I-gor!!! Let's go, Rangers!!!" It would be quite the joy to hear the deafening silence of all the pre-season prognosticators who picked the Canes to go all the way. Quite frankly, They aren't good enough to make it out of the East and I have a funny feeling an old-fashioned Boston-New York match-up is coming before the dream final between the Avs and Rangers. Let the prognosticators chew on THAT!

Peace!

I suspect midnight will fall on the Isles season tonight and, although their season would end exactly as it did last year, I have to give some due respect to Patrick Roy for putting some character and spirit into his team that has been lacking for a long time. His players' battles against the Rangers, to close out the regular season, infused new energy into a series which lie somewhat dormant since the 1980s. It's good for the northeast if the two Metro New York teams bring back their rivalry to match the old days. It will make for better hockey for the league, as well.

One thing that is really starting to irritate me is this so-called coronation of "paper champions" many are so quick to bestow on Carolina. For starters, they didn't even win their own division. Second, they ended up on the short side of the stick against the Metro Division Champs. Finally, the team which knocked them out last season just sent packing the one team nobody, not even the Canes, wanted to play this playoff season. So, why are so many pundits convinced the Canes are going to make short work of the Rangers when, in the final analysis, all this talk about everyone's "Paper Champion" is merely adding more pressure in their camp, not the Rangers. I just do not understand it at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Maybe I should continue to pull for Patrick Roy and the Isles to pull off a huge upset tonight and send the series back to Long Island.

Peace!

I wouldn't be surprised if Phil wanted it that way. Look at Jim Boeheim up in Syracuse right now. After 47 years as a head coach, he moved into talk radio and is killing it big time with his encyclopedia of knowledge and experience of the game. Phil offers very much comparable credentials that are relevant in today's NFL and he can do these podcasts and radio bits either from his home or minutes away at the local radio station. We have been privileged to have our first Giant Quarterback Hero of the Super Bowl era still with us after all these years. He deserves additional downtime to do whatever he wants to from this point onward.

Fox is Fox and we all know what they are. Actually, not the aughts but since they started in 1994, Bradshaw and Howie Long celebrate 30 years of service on Fox NFL Sunday while James Brown and Jimmy Johnson started in 1994, Curt Menefee took over the lead in 2006, when Brown moved back to CBS, and Johnson left in 1996, to coach the Dolphins, and didn't return until 2002 (NOTE: Ronnie Lott and Cris Collinsworth filled his role in the interim).

The pre-game shows, both Fox and CBS, have become unwatchable because there's too many loudmouths trying to talk over each other and neither are informative as pre-games were in generations' past before the internet. There's nothing better than Brent Musburger starting the show with "You are looking LIVE at Giants Stadium in The Meadowlands!" Irv Cross whose segments were well researched and integrated perfectly with NFL Films back in the day to make outstanding team, player, coach, owner profiles that were meaningful and contributed to the wholeness of the people inside and outside the game. Even NBC's NFL Live! pre-game with Bob Costas had a comparable effective format, although his supporting cast wasn't as talented, in my opinion, as the CBS team (NOTE: I mean, come on, the "Ax" versus the "Greek?").

Fox did more to break up the traditional format of TV presentation of the National Football League with over-sensationalism which was the beginning of the downfall of the romance of watching the NFL on TV. But the internet really opened the Pandora's Box, with the Advent of Fantasy Football, and the latest strides to make gambling in sports easier than ever, it is now what it is and the purists who watch for the love of football, and love of their team, have to endure all of that extraneous "non-value added" fluff to get to what really matters. But, when they finally do, it is there that Phil Simms will be, as he always has been, since he was drafted 45 years ago.

Peace!