Big Blue Huddle

They say that 2 Super Bowl runs, 8 games, don't make you HOF-worthy.

Then how do you reconcile the fact that Joe Nameth is in the HOF with a 64-61-1 record as a starter, who threw 173 touchdowns and 220 interceptions? The answer is Super Bowl III and only Super Bowl III.

Quote from: Bob In PA on January 27, 2025, 08:57:09 AMReiterating my PS from above (and eliminating irrelevant portions of it and adding a few words to make my point below)......

PS. IMO, especially in the playoffs, NFL does all they can, within bounds of hopefully fair play, to ensure that (1) the regular season has meaning; (2) as many star players as possible go on to the next round; and (3) ensure that a good team who suffered a key injury or two early in the season gets a chance to be in the playoffs.  Those criteria are not completely "one-sided" (in favor of guys like Mahomes) but they are certainly not adverse to certain players AND TEAMS (ESPECIALLY HOME TEAMS) benefiting from questionable decisions, INCLUDING FAVORABLE SPOTTING OF THE BALL.

The spotting of the ball in the fourth quarter that essentially killed Buffalo's chances to win the game was a really tough call. They ruled there was not enough evidence to overturn the spot (I agree with that). However, the officials running in from the sidelines favored the home team and that was essentially all she wrote. Regardless, I think the Bills' inability to back up their head coach's HUBRIS throughout the game by boldly refusing to settle for field goals at the wrong time, going for two at the wrong time and generally being far too aggressive on 4th down (even by modern standards) was what REALLY lost them a winnable game.

Bob

PS. I believe there was also one instance where the Bills failed to go for two when IMO they should have done so.

Bob, I was at a Finance committee meeting for our HOA just after the last Chiefs Eagles SB a few years ago. One of the members, an Eagles fan, brought up how the Eagles were robbed by the officiating. My comment to him was that the Eagles should do a better job in covering a punt.

My feeling then was that it shouldn't have come down to a judgment call by the officials. There were plenty of chances for the Eagles to put away the Chiefs and they couldn't. They had a good lead at halftime and if they played better during the second half they could of and should have won that game. As you point out, the same could be said of the Bills on Sunday.

You have to look at the draft in terms of its strength. One of the strongest positions in this year's draft is reported to be DT. That being said it isn't that the Giants' defense needs Tackles but what would be more important or more difficult later in the draft? Is adding a shutdown Corner or pass-rushing DE more important?

RIP Weeze.

I remember meeting Weeze for the first time in Albany at a Giants training camp and immediately took a liking to him. He had that personality that could feel at home in his presence. And Drake what a great friend and a great human being. You are to be commended.       

Quote from: Gmo11 on December 24, 2024, 05:16:08 AMThe problem with that is it requires next season to look an awful lot like this season. Meaning Lock or Devito or someone as crappy as them has to be the starting QB and the Giants have to lose at least 13 games.

Because just having 2 first round picks doesn't guarantee you the team with the #1 pick is willing to trade. Look at last year. Chicago Washington and new England were all not trading. Giants could have offered their next 3 first rounders and those guys weren't budging. When you're in position to take a top guy you do it.

From what I've seen so far sanders is more steady. Ward has higher ceiling but also a lower floor. I think both grade out roughly the same and that would have put them right in the mix with Nix JJ and Penix last year. I think they end up going sanders because he's safer and their jobs are on the line. If this were 2023 and they still had job security I think Daboll would look at Ward as a guy he could be more creative with and go that route.

I do think they evaluated the QBs very well last year. So whichever guy they like best works for me. And if they do trade down for a haul I would want them making sure they end up still in the 1st round and taking Milroe who I'm starting to like more and more. Though clearly not as much as the top 2. 

Milroe could be Lamar Jackson in this year's draft, and you may be able to get him late in the first. Like Jacson, you need to design an offense around him, but he does have raw skills.

In a book on the 1958 Championship game, Frank Gifford stated that Roosevelt Brown was the best athlete on the team. He played left tackle in that game but when DT Roosevelt Grier was injured, Brown went into the game and played both offense and defense for the better part of 3 quarters. It seems that they could only carry 35 men on the roster so there was no backup defense tackle to go in for Grier. Brown was his backup.

Rich, that was a great read. You got some great insight into how they look at the league and the pro game. The 5 men that the book revolved around, (Halas, Mara, Marshal, Rooney, and Bell) looked at each other as competitors on the field and business partners off. Gerat read.

Dave was a friend and fellow tailgater. Along with Ed and his brother, my son Dan, Tommee and his crew, Brian and sometimes Rich and Jim from Maine we had a great crew. Three of this group has passed away over the last year or so. Never a bad word about anyone. A nice guy and a good friend.

His family had season tickets in the upper deck around the 40-yard line that were handed down to the kids, Dave, his brother Vinny, and his sister Joyce, from his father. My condolences to Cyndy and his family.

Dave and Vinny

 

Quote from: MightyGiants on August 05, 2023, 04:36:06 PMIt would be a bold move to have 2 rookies at the boundary CB positions

Yes Rich I agree, but it would be nice to eventually have Jackson covering lamb in the slot.

This is sad news to say the least. Tomeee lived in Yorktown Heights, NY only a few miles from where I lived in Somers NY. When we had group get togethers we would carpool to the event. I got to know his family.  One of his daughters went to school with my niece. I had a small group, Ed and Linda, Tomeee and his wife, and Rich over to my house for a Sunday Barbeque. I really enjoyed his company at the tailgates before a game.

RIP Tomeee we loved you; you will be missed.

I just saw this. I knew that Jim was sick but didn't know that he passed away. I remember the Ramses Barden bet and the steak that Jim totally enjoyed, and Dave given a wonderful Peter Lorre impersonation. Lenn is right, Jim's favorite Giant was Gifford. Every time One would mention Gifford in a conversation Jim's eyes would light up.

For a 1 PM game we would begin the tailgate at about 9AM. Jim would come down from Maine which meant that he had to get up real early in the morning to get there at about 10 AM. He would bring down Maine Lobsters for the tailgate which we totally enjoyed.

Jim came over from the Patty Traina site when she had to close it down. Has anyone notified her about Jim passing?

Rest in peace Jim, you were truly respected and loved by the members of this Giant community.

In our group get together once a month, a lot of the discussion on composition relates to how we want to lead the viewer in the photo naturally with leading lines, contrasting colors, and tone variations like Dark to light. You want to direct the viewer to a specific location in the picture. Another thing is the eye of a person or animal or bird. If the eye is not sharp than the picture is not good. Some of the new cameras like the Sony a1 or the A7rV have an auto focus system that is really sophisticated. It has focus modes that can recognize the difference between a human and say a bird. It even has a mode to recognize and focus on an insect's eye. Imagine being able to get a tack sharp picture of an ant's eye.

Ozzie, thank you for your comments. Much appreciated.

I was worried about this one. I took in on a raining day at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. He was just standing on a stump and wouldn't move. I just love his mad or angry look. Something pissed him off.

I got close, within 100 ft and used a 300 MM lens, but I still had to crop. My camera has 42.4 MP but I had to crop it to get in as close as I wanted and when you crop you lose megapixels. As a result, I ran it through Topaz Denoise AI and Topaz sharpen AI. 

At the last meeting of a meeting of a Photography Group that I belong to I received a comment that the feathers on the back were too sharp. I took it into Photoshop and put a blur on the feathers and also blur the background to soften both. It worked and I think that the bird looks better than before.

We read from left to right while this bird was looking from the right to the left. As a result, I flipped the photo so that the bird was looking from the left to the right the way our eyes are trained.

Here is one that I've been working for the past couple of weeks. Let me know if this works haven't done this in a while.
I just clicked on the link and it brought up the picture.
[https://i.postimg.cc/6pqPgYJg/Prime-Hook-Blue-Heron-Flip.jpg]

Some Sunset from Duck NC in April.