N.Y. Giants ~ A Visit to the Big Blue Couch

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  "I Pick Things Up, And Put Them Down."   Get Tony Romo!



The first football team I ever hated in life was the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970's.  I learned to hate them before I ever became a fan of football.  That occurred while I was still a single digit midget.  But I learned to hate them because almost every Sunday we visited my relatives.  There was a certain somebody there who was a teenager at the time and not exactly a pleasant one.  Regrettably, he's a loser today but ultimately was the one responsible.  He wouldn't let me watch cartoons on the one available TV because football was on.  I'd be there and he'd just barge in and BOOM! - it seemed like the freakin Steelers were on every time!  Needless to say, I still hate them today.  It wasn't till later in life that I learned cartoons and Football were incompatible.  And that it was only possible on those Sundays because certain portions of Manhattan had cable TV back then.



John McVay was coach of the Giants in those days.  By the time Ray Perkins became head coach, I was hooked.  The first team I ever grew to hate on my own football terms was the Dallas Cowboys.  And so, I'm with Justin Tuck when he says, "I hate the Cowboys." - Because I do.  I've hated them since Tom Landry and his stupid hat; Roger Staubach; and the Doomsday Defense days.  I hated Jimmy Johnson and hoped the Giants could some how manage to rip off Emmit Smith's arm that one December game in 1993.  The day Bill Parcells returned to the Meadowlands in 2003 dressed in Cowboy chaps turned my stomach.  And every time I come across a native New Yorker who tells me, "I'm a Cowboys fan!" - it assaults all my sensibilities and makes me wanna punch them in the face.  It's not a crime until you act on it folks.


Frankly, I don't need this crap right now.  I believe the Giants have not played up to their potential.  I wasn't with most prognosticators back in August who didn't give this team much of a chance.  The slim chance they did give them awaits the Giants' Sunday night much to many expert's dismay.  But not to mine.  I thought all along the Giants were going to fare better than they have. 



In my Pre-Season Predictions  (first you should know I made them back in April when the schedule came out, and I did it for fun.  But I stood by it), - I gave the Giants one loss against the Eagles, then losses against the Patriots, Saints, and Packers.  I thought for sure we'd beat the Redskins twice.  But oh what failures those two games turned out to be.  And I also believed we were two games better than Dallas.  That remains to be seen.  I was clearly wrong about the 49ers.  But against the Seahawks?  There was no excuse for letting that game A) - slip away, and B) - nor should it have ever been that close.  I gave myself a +/- of one game. - There's your loss to the 49ers.  Otherwise, I expected an 11-5 effort from this team; 10-6 at a minimum.  So there's your season and here we are....staring at a one game showdown against the Cowboys.  The loser goes home for good.


I'm in my forties now so let me tell you what bothers me today.  Tony Romo bothers me.  Tony Romo bothers me because he has a strong arm.  Tony Romo bothers me because he can dance in the pocket and break out with good speed.  He bothers me because even when pass protection breaks down, he still manages to stay a fingertip out of reach; at least when he plays the Giants.  He bothers me because he can deliver the ball with his body contorted in different ways while on the run.  He does all that accurately and improvises well.  The Giants contain Michael Vick better than they do Tony Romo.  That's what bothers me about Tony Romo; and of course the fact he plays for the Cowboys.



Every Giants' defensive player should have a picture of his face sporting that smug smile hanging in their locker.  They should be sleeping with headphones on listening to sounds of crashing helmets, tackles and grunts from Tony Romo sacks of the past.



With a questionable wrist aside, Tony Romo isn't going to be as bad as Marc Sanchez was.  The Jets actually made our Secondary look good.  And last time out against the Cowboys, the lights at Jerry Jone's Palace to Himself  helped the Giants' Secondary out.  Jason Pierre Paul did the rest.



We're going to need a better plan.





Mike.BTB