So Long, Bradshaw and Boley

In cost-cutting maneuvers, the Giants released three of their veteran players this week: Michael Boley, Chris Canty and (maybe most surprisingly) Ahmad Bradshaw. After last week's second half of the season it was inevitable that some heads would roll, but few had envisioned one of those heads to be the team's number one running back Bradshaw. David Wilson flipped his way into the hearts of Giants fans this season but it's still unexpected. For his part, Bradshaw's handled the move with class and even hinted that he'd be open to returning for a lesser salary. Whatever ends up happening between now and September, let's take a look at the two most memorable moments in the Bradshaw and Boley era.

Bradshaw's unintentional game winning ass TD in 2011

 

and the greatest moment in Boley's career and worst moment in that poor bastard's life

 

 

 

and here's Chris Canty playing golf

 

 

 

The Giants Are Super Bowl Champions: Suck it, New England.

The Giants pulled off another near miracle tonight, defeating the Patriots thanks to stone handed Patriot tight ends (and a hobbled Gronkowski), terrific play by their receiving corps, and perhaps most importantly, a great performance by Eli Manning, who has put to rest any debate over whether or not he is an elite quarterback in the NFL (something that even we debated not too long ago). Who would have thought that Peyton's little brother would have one more Super Bowl ring than he did at this point? As we now bask in the glory of another Big Blue championship in a season that seemed like it was all but over 2 months ago, and enjoy the toilet paper and horn honking chaos of another impromptu victory celebration in Brooklyn, let's savor the moment. The Giants are world champions.

Hater J's NFC Picks

Like any other major American sport, the NFL playoffs provide men of all ages an excuse to yell at each other, drink tons of beer with our buddies while completely ignoring our significant others , act like we know something after four months of participating in Pick ‘Em Pools and Fantasy Leagues, and of course gamble. With that, here go my picks, thoughts, and probable wagers for this weekend, and an open invitation for Bottle to take his Tom Brady man love to new heights, M@d to make a weird reverse jinx pick, and Mr. D/Snoot/Bagels to figure out a different way we can all lose some money.

I’ll start with the NFC Picks.

Giants (- 3)
This team wouldn’t surprise anyone if they won the whole thing or lost on Sunday. Giants fans have seen them beat Brady, in Foxboro, on a 4th Quarter comeback. However, we have also seen them lose to Rex Grossman…twice.
They’re finally getting healthy, Eli is Manning is playing at the highest level of his career (that includes the Super Bowl run), the run game seems to have found balance, and with the emergence of Victor Cruz, people seem to have forgotten that Hakeem Nicks is a threat to go for six receptions and 100 yards on any given Sunday. The Giants secondary leaves a bunch to be desired, but as they showed this past Sunday, their front four is finally healthy and very capable of getting pressure. The Falcons have deep threats in White and Jones, but Matt Ryan tends to hold the ball for a bit (primed for a sack or three), has struggled on the road throughout his career, and doesn’t look so pretty in the playoffs either.
All of that said, the Giants can still lose this game in an all too familiar fashion. Giants fans across the world can envision a team that comes out flat, allows a 60 yard TD to Jones/White, have a quiet stadium, making a fluky play to get back in it, only to lose and break our hearts again.

Super Bowl Odds:
Atlanta (40/1) - I can’t see the Falcons beating the Packers/49ers/Saints/AFC that plays in the Super Bowl.
Giants (20/1) – They can play with any of the AFC teams. Their road to the Super Bowl would be Atlanta, at Green Bay (or San Fran, should the Saints lose to the Lions), then at San Fran (or at home against the Lions, should they make it that far). Those all sound like winnable games to me. Not that they’d be favored to win those, but all winnable.

Lions (+10.5)
Two dome teams built for speed and offense. None of them can stop anyone. The Saints are the better coached of the two (Sean Payton vs Jim Schwartz is a no contest) but the Lions have nothing to lose and the Saints have all the expectations in the world.

These two teams played to the tune of a 31-17 New Orleans win in a game that opened with the Saints up 17-0. Detroit is very good and accustomed to scoring late. I don’t expect them to win, but they should be able to compete. At the very least this Detroit team is good for some garbage time TD’s to make this close and get you your cover.

Super Bowl Odds:
Lions (50/1) – This young team does not play defense and is very raw. They may be able to be capable of winning a sloppy shoot out, but I can’t see them going very far.

Saints (9/2) – They’ve become a popular pick. Those odds suck for the risk you’re taking though. They have NEVER won a road playoff game. They would have to go out west after this track meet to play a 49ers team that can slow the game with their run/short passing game, and make things tough with their front seven. Then they would have to Green Bay (or host New York) where either team can give them a headache. Through the season, the Saints have only played 5 outdoor games with a loss to Green Bay and Tampa, and narrow wins over Jacksonville, Carolina, and Tennessee. That’s scary…

The BYE Weeks

Packers (8/5) – Pretty crap odds for a team with a banged up front line, a pretty ugly defense, and no real run game to speak of. I still like the Packers to win the whole thing. Having one of the largest home field advantages in all of sports along with the best QB in football with a number of weapons at his disposal will help mask their flaws, but there is no value in betting on them.

49ers (12/1) – They play great defense, they run the ball well, Alex Smith had only 5 picks in their ball control offense, they’re well coached, they have a bye, and they have a home game. What I don’t like about this team is that they’ll be playing against an offense (Green Bay/New Orleans/New York) that can score points and they may get behind by 7-10 points early. I don’t know that Smith can be trusted to bring a team back from that.

Jets Vs. Giants Preview

The Jets and Giants are facing off this Christmas Eve and this time it means something. No, seriously, it really means something this time. This is the first time that the rivals are facing each other with the playoffs on the line for either squad since the LT days, and it's the first time I can remember a Giants Jets game ever having this much importance to both teams. For the Giants, this is practically a playoff game, and for the Jets it's not a must win but it's still huge for their playoff hopes. Over the past couple weeks the trash talk has been flying back and forth and it's shaping up to be a good one. Unfortunately, some of the luster has been lost due to the way both teams shit the bed last week but I expect both teams to play much better tomorrow or at least match each other's ineptitudes.

As the awesome cover above illustrates, New York has always been a Giants town. But there's been a slight shift in the past few years as a younger, dumber generation has been quicker to embrace the brash, cocky Rex Ryan image of the Jets over the stodgy, old Giants. Even though the G-men won a Super Bowl just 5 years ago, New Yorkers have short memories and, to be honest, the Giants have sucked over the past few seasons. Starting up great only to fold in the second half has been their M.O. and is beginning to make their amazing run in 07 look like a fluke. They can make the fair weather (and die hard) Jets fan shut the hell up with a big performance tomorrow.

Some thoughts from Hater J and I:

• The Giants secondary has been consistently terrible all season but that shouldn't matter in this game since Nacho can't throw a pass to save his life. He's only effective out of the play action and the Giants D-Line should rush him into a mistake or knock his ass on the ground.


• -Hakeem Nicks may be trapped on Revis island all day . That means the battle of the talented retards should be on display. Cromartie isn't all that great and Cruz may burn him. Expect some salsa dancing.


• Stop calling it Met Life Stadium. It's Giants Stadium, damn it.


• Rex Ryan is quickly becoming the most annoying person in spo...scratch that in the universe.


• The shit talk between the two teams is refreshing in a sports world where most intra city rivals act all respectful towards each other. The Yankees and Mets never have a bad word to say about each other, even though their fans detest one another. It's all so boring, and you know behind closed doors David Wright wants to knock Derek Jeter's teeth out with a Louisville Slugger .


• In a close game- Do you really trust Nick Folk? Didn't think so.

My pick- Giants 24 Jets 17.

Merry Christmas and enjoy the game, everyone!

Giants vs Saints Preview

Tonight is a statement game for the Giants, they need this win to keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys, and gain confidence as they prepare for their match up with the Green Bay Packers. I look for the Giants to get into Drew Brees comfort zone and sack him at least 4 times. The Giant should win a close one in a dog fight 27 to 20.

Giants vs Rams Preview

A must win game for the Giants already? In order to keep pace with the other 1-1 teams in the division, I think it is. As a Giants fan, I don't want to be the only team in the Division without a win. Also, historically only 12% of teams that start the season 0-2 them make the playoffs (despite the Superbowl team of 07 bouncing back from that slow start, you don't want to press your luck). So, Big Blue, let's beat up on this Rams team that comes limping into OUR stadium.

On the other side of the field the Rams haven't been on Monday Night Football Since 2006. Will they forget how to play football since the game is on a Monday? As I Giants fan I sure do hope so. They have a talented but young Quarterback named Sam Bradford, who will be without some of his offensive weapons. But to be as fair and balanced as I could be in this preview, here are two points that could make things easier for the Rams to win.

1. QB play, Eli doesn't look or play like Micheal Vick so the Rams should have a easier time defending him.

2. The Giants are still hurting on Defense

Overall, I hope its not an exciting game, with the Giants dominating.

PTU 2011 Pundit Predictions: NY Giants

While during baseball season we root for different teams here at PTU (Mad and myself are stupid enough to still support the Mets), we all share a common love of the NY Football Giants. For most of our lives, they've been a very dependable winning team, having played in 4 super bowls in the last 25 years and winning 3 of those. 

We've been debating what we think the Giants record will be for the 2011 regular season. Unfortunately they Giants haven't done much (if anything) to improve the team, losing Steve Smith and Kevin Boss, two security blankets for Eli. If anyone watched the pre-season game against the Jets, Eli was bad enough he almost made Sanchez look like a good QB (see Hater J's previous article for more on that). Special teams in particular looks like a mess both on kick off coverage and returns. While I like Tom Coughlin, it seems like the players don't want to play for him anymore. It's for these reasons that I'm taking a somewhat pessimistic view on what I expect the Giants' record to be in 2011. Some of my other PTU'ers have a more favorable view, so I thought it would be great to publish everyones predictions now and see how things turn out at the end of the season. Also, me and Hater J have a bet on our projections, the winner of which will receive a snooty bottle of Macallan 12 YR, so this is a critical wager.

Snoot:               8-8   (No playoffs, Coughlin loses job)

Hater J:             10-6 

Bottle:               9-7   (Make wild card despite the fact that 10-6 wasn't good enough last year)

Mad:                10-6  (He secretly loves the Dolphins but is ashamed)

Johnny Bagels:  10-6  (Also commented that Bottle will eat a turkey sandwich)

The consensus is that the Giants will end up 10-6. This is overly optimistic based on what I've seen, but either I get a bottle of Whiskey or the Giants make the playoffs, so I win either way.

Is Eli Top 5?

We do a lot of lists on here (mostly because Blacky loves them so much) but we're not the only ones. Sports fans are constantly keeping a running tally in their head of who's in the top tier of athletes at their sport. Ask any fan who's a little more than casual and he could tell you off the top of his head the top 5 or 10 players at any position, with a little variation depending on team allegiances or if the fan in question is trying to be a little show offy and throw out some obscure player, but there's a general sense of who belongs on the list. I know because I had the same conversation last Thursday while watching the first preseason game of the year at the Slob Den (preseason games leave a lot of time for conversation) and I've had this argument probably 700 times, or however many games that I've watched with people. Next to who's the hottest girl, what are we ordering to eat and who belongs in the Hall of Fame, it's what I talk about most with other dudes when watching sports. Unfortunately, Eli Manning never creeps into the top 5 during these debates.

He's taking a little heat in the papers and on local sports radio over his assertion that he's as good as Tom Brady and belongs in the top 5. I don't have a problem with him saying this, since he was just answering a reporter's question. It wasn't like he called a press conference to claim his greatness. And like he later told WFAN, what is he supposed to say? "Aw shucks, nah I suck, Tom Brady would kick my ass". I could actually hear him saying that, but I'm glad he stuck up for himself and showed some balls for once. Unfortunately, these types of leading questions get even the most modest country boy in trouble. And we all remember the flak that Stephon Marbury caught for saying he felt he was the best to a reporter's question a few years ago. However, by the unscientific findings of the Slob Den, Eli's number 7 or 8 when talking about top 10 QB's currently in the NFL (and we are all more or less Giants fans). The list that we came up with.

1. His brother
2. Brady
3. Brees
4. Vick
5. Rogers
6. Rivers

Then we can put Eli at 7, and that's even a stretch. I'm not sure if we could put him ahead of Roethlisberger (despite what a douche he is) and Matt Ryan and Schaub are creeping up on Eli as well.

Either way, lay off Eli. He's led a team to one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, and despite his various screw-ups in recent seasons (that slide against Philly last season being one of the worst) and his somewhat high interception count last year (a good many of those were due to receiver butter fingers) he's still in the top tier of play callers, albeit not the very highest tier. Glad to see him showing a little life as the Giants have been kicked around by everyone before the season even starts. Top 10 isn't all that bad anyway.

Baseball Betting Time

It’s baseball season! For the degenerate gambling community that means 180+ days of opportunity to give your hard earned money to the bookies. Throughout the season, I will try and pick a few games and based on pitching matchups and team history. I will rarely pick a heavy favorite given they are too expensive. An example would be the Cards -200 tonight. For those new to gambling, that means you have to put down 200 to win 100 in that game…a bit expensive unless you want to parlay it with another game. With all of that said, here are my picks for tonight…

Yanks (-145) Tigers – I typically stay away from Yanks games. Partly because I’m a fan and my judgment may be clouded, but mostly because Yankee fans and front runners come out in droves to bet on them, often screwing up the line making the Yanks “expensive”. Today isn’t one of those days. Sabathia and the underdog Yanks have a little to prove and the gambling community is still in awe of how awesome Justin Verlander has looked. Reasons for taking the Yanks are as follows:

CC is an animal at home posting an 11-2 record at the Stadium last season -In his last three starts versus the Tigers, he is 2-1. All of those starts come against Verlander. The one loss comes from a bad outing in Detroit where he allowed 6 runs. The two wins were at the Stadium. He pitched 7 innings in both those games allowing a total of two runs while racking up a total of 13K’s

Giants (-110) Dodgers – It’s an even line with two great young pitchers facing up against each other in an opener. Tim Lincecum has pitched very well against the Dodgers (5-1 with a 1.19 WHIP). It’s also worth noting The Freak’s teams are 7-2 in games he starts against the Dodgers. When you add those solid numbers with the fact that Timmay is way too much of a stoner to give a crap about pitching a nationally televised season opener, you start warming up to the idea of placing a moderate wager on the boy.

As for the other dugout, Kershaw is an impressive young lefty with some gaudy numbers against the Giants. In his 5 starts against the Giants he has posted a 1.46 ERA, 6K’s/game, and a 0.83 WHIP. However, he has only one win to show for those efforts and his team is 3-2 in those games. As for opening day jitters, Kershaw pitched the Dodger home opener last season in a 4-3 loss to the Pirates and failed to get out of the 5th inning.