7:08 Trying to type, watch, and make noodles. Was about to type that the Packers look better so far, then Green Bay gets a Pick 6. Time to panic in the ‘Burgh yet?

7:18 Is anyone actually expected to go to GoDaddy.com to see more of Joan Rivers?

Pittsburgh showing life after Big Ben started limping. A touchdown would have been big there, big third down tackle on Wallace. 14-3

7:26 Yeah, another special effects laden extravaganza with no plot and racist characters, brought to you by Michael Bay.

7:32 Reminded why I never manage to blog at all. Is it my kids’ bed time yet?

Love the Star Wars commercial. Probably since I “use the force” with automatic paper towel dispensers.

Pittsburgh converts a 1st and 20, starting to drive. Green Bay reminding me of being up 14-0 on the Giants and then giving up two quick touchdowns.

7:41 Biggest hit of the night so far is a log on Roseanne. 15-yard personal foul on the log?

Fun betting line as Ben throws another interception: Better Big Ben QB rating in Super Bowl 40 or 45?

7:48 Anyone know if Jessica Simpson was at the bar where Ben ran up the huge tab a few days ago?

8:09 Halftime. Green Bay still in command, but the Steelers picked up a big score before the half.

Hey, what happened to the Geriatric Super Bowl halftime show?

I’m typing all of this on my Android. Everytime I swype “Super Bowl,” it comes out as “Super Bowel.”

8:18 Fun stat. No team in Super Bowl history has come back from 10 or more points down to win.

8:35 Got bad info. No team has come back from MORE than 10. Washington trailed Denver 10-0, won 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII.

8:51 Second half has been all Steelers so far. The Packers’ offense has been lifeless, and their defensive line is giving up too many yards. Key third and one coming up at midfield. I’d be shocked if Green Bay stopped them.

8:56 First down.

9:01 Thank God the Steelers got rid of Jeff Reed. I could have kicked that better.

9:10 Kinda lame trying to push a player into a punted ball.

Aaron Rodgers is playing lousy right now.

9:31 Packers have 21 points off of turnovers. Only stat you need.

9:38 Admittedly, the Steelers aren’t giving up. Charles Woodson being out is huge right now.

If Steelers lose, this much is clear. God does not want Flozell Adams (rightfully so) to win a Super Bowl.

And the Steelers score on a pass to Wallace. Get the deuce on the conversion on an OPTION! Three point game.

I think the GoDaddy.com server just crashed.

9:50 Earlier in the game, Buck and Aikman commented on the Packers’ play balance so far. Since then, no balance. The Steelers get pressure every play because the Packers aren’t running the ball.

As I typed this, the Packers ran the ball twice. Damn.

Packers are 8 yards from putting the game away.

9:56 And they can’t close the deal. So here we are. 2:10 left, Green Bay up by 6. Only QB to lead a game-winning drive in the final two minutes when nothing less than a touchdown would suffice… Eli Manning.

10:03 Fifty-six seconds left and fourth down.

10:05 Incomplete pass. The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl XLV Champions!

Again, 21 of Green Bay’s 31 points came off turnovers. Nuff said.

10:17 Trophy presentation on the field. Aaron Rodgers wins MVP. Favre never was a Super Bowl MVP. Poor Brett needs a hug somewhere.

That’s it for me. Promise there will be more posts!

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The Good

Rob Bolden didn’t have a good game, but for the most part, I thought he played with a fair amount of poise. A lot of people expected the true freshman to look and play scared shitless in his second start and first on the road.

Colin Wagner is 4-for-4 on field goals this season, making his only attempt against Alabama on a 36-yarder. He probably would have gotten more opportunities, but the Penn State offense had a bad habit of shooting itself in the foot in the red zone. That said, so far we can’t make any jokes about being in “Kevin Kelly miss range.”

The Bad

Evan Royster had a few decent runs against Alabama, with his best being an 11-yard scant in the first half. But he still only finished with 32 yards on 9 carries. For a running back who’s poised to become the Nittany Lions’ all-time rushing leader, he hasn’t been able to get going yet this season. Now, plenty of that blame does lie with the offensive line, which has done a piss poor job of moving the pile. The line was marginally better protecting Bolden, who had time to pass on most plays.

The defense did a crappy job of tackling in the first half, allowing Alabama to move the ball at will. When the Crimson Tide wanted to run, there found open receivers over the middle with ease. When they wanted to run, Trent Richardson breezed through countless holes and broke a countless number of tackles. The worst offense was the Crimson Tide’s third series, which started at their own 3 but three plays later was at the Penn State 37 after runs of 11, 16, and 33 yards. The only thing stopping Alabama was Alabama, who occasionally tried to convert third-and-shorts with short passes that missed their targets. With Alabama running at will, throwing on third and short was just trying to be cute. The only thing keeping the defense out of the ugly section was they were respectable in the second half, as they forced two punts and stopped Alabama on a fourth and two on the last play of the game.

The Ugly

Penn State really should have made the game look more competitive. Three times the Nittany Lions drove the ball down into the red zone, and they handed the ball over with two interceptions and a fumble. Both interceptions came with Bolden getting pressured and unable to step into his throw. On the first interception, with the score just 7-0, Bolden got hit as he threw, and the ball was essentially a jump ball for Alabama to come down with. On Penn State’s first possession of the second half, Bolden threw a wounded duck that got picked off. With Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger commenting on Penn State still hanging around at 17-0, there was a fair amount of optimism for Penn State before the interception. There was this pipe dream of taking the ball in for the touchdown and being down 10 and back in the game. The interception pretty much killed those dreams.

Penn State’s fumble in the red zone was actually a gift from the officials, and I still don’t understand what happened. Down 14-0 and a 2nd and 6 on the 16, Bolden completed a short pass to Chad Powell, who fought to get to the sticks. Instead of getting the first down, he coughed the ball up, and Robert Lester scooped the ball up for Alabama. Lester looked like he was heading for the end zone, until he was brought down at the Penn State 2. Lester fumbled as he went down, and Penn State recovered. However, at least one official (thought it was the referee) signaled a first down for Alabama, leading me to believe that Lester was ruled down by contact before fumbling. A replay seems to confirm that, and the officials confirmed the ruling on the field. BUT THEN THE PENN STATE OFFENSE WENT OUT  ON THE FIELD. I still don’t understand this.

Rankings

Penn State dropped to #20 in the coaches poll, and #22 in the AP poll. The Nittany Lions amazing are ranked BEHIND Michigan in the AP Poll, after the Wolverines won in the final minute to glorified mid-major Notre Dame.

Next up

Penn State goes back to patsies, as they host Kent State, then Temple. They’ll be 3-1 entering Big Ten play, but they it’s on the road at Iowa, which smacked around Iowa State 35-7 on Saturday.

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So… here is the 2010 version.

In the past, I used Tom Coughlin’s training camp slogan on the bottom of the schedule. This season, I did something different. I read an article by Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger, which was titled “Redemption is a common theme throughout Giants organization as camp begins.” I googled for a good quote about redemption, and this was what I found.

So click on the image below to get the full version of the schedule. It’s sized for 8 1/2 x 11 inches (letter-sized).

Enjoy!

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Right?

Belcher was the 153rd player chosen in the 1983 NFL Draft, the draft that is well-known for having possibly the best crop of quarterbacks ever in one draft. Belcher was an offensive lineman coming out of Texas-El Paso when he was selected in the sixth round by the New York Giants.

Belcher saw action in all 16 of the Giants’ games in 1983, a season where the team went 3-12-1 and nearly cost new coach Bill Parcells his job. Belcher was the starting center in 1984, and even had a four-yard pass reception in a 31-21 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Dec. 9.

But before the 1985 season, Belcher’s career ended when he got in a car accident that exposed nerves. The Giants struggled to replace him until they acquired Bart Oates from the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL.

Belcher’s brief career is relevant today because history may be repeating itself. The Giants recently acquired safety Chad Jones in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Jones, a two-sport star out of LSU, was hyped as a talented player who would bring much-needed depth at the safety position, a luxury the Giants sorely missed in 2009.

“I think right at the end of the OTA’s, (Jones) was starting to emerge and doing things very well on special teams and in the secondary,” Giants coach Coughlin said after New York’s recent mandatory minicamp.

But Jones’s career met the figurative and literal obstacle, as his SUV crashed into a pole Friday morning in New Orleans. Two passengers in the car walked away with minor injuries, but Jones wasn’t as fortunate. He reportedly fractured his left leg, and left arteries and nerves exposed. He underwent surgery in the late morning to return blood flow to his foot, and doctors now believe that he won’t have to lose the foot.

It may seem insensitive to speculate on Jones’s career at this point, but let’s be honest. Hundreds or thousands of people get in accidents every day, yet you’re reading about this one because who he is. Whether you’re a LSU student or alumni, a Giants fan, a football fan, or just a sports fan, you’re reading this because it’s Chad Jones.

Like Belcher, it’s hard to imagine Jones playing another down in the NFL. His foot is/was in danger of being amputated, and his had ARTERIES and NERVES exposed. Frankly, it’s a miracle he’s not dead.

Which brings us back to Belcher. In 2003, 18 years after his accident, Belcher passed away due to “undisclosed reasons.”  It may have been something completely unrelated, or perhaps it’s due to complications from the accident. We really don’t know. But it’s curiously coincidental enough to state that while his career is probably over, we can only hope and pray for Jones’s continuing recovery.

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The loss of Hixon as a receiver is probably minimal. He’s clearly behind Steve Smith and Mario Manningham on the depth chart, and could have easily been the fourth receiver behind second-year player Hakeem “Don’t Call Me Hicks” Nicks. In addition, the Giants also have Derek Hagan, Ramses Barden, and Sinorice Moss. There is a lot of excitement about Barden and his size (the Giants have been without a tall receiver that Eli Manning can throw a jump ball to since Plaxico Burress went to the slammer), and this injury may force the Giants to give Barden more of a chance.

Yet as minimal as Hixon’s  impact as a receiver is, the loss of the Giants’ kickoff and punt returner can’t be overestimated. Hixon was a player who gave Giants’ fans a surge of excitement every time he made a return. Even when he wasn’t returning punts for touchdowns (like in East Rutherford against Dallas last season), he could be counted on to give the offense good field position with an impressive return.

The Giants could go back to Moss as a return man. Early last season, the Giants took Hixon out of the return rotation, feeling his value as a receiver was too great to risk injury on returns. The 1998 preseason injury to Jason Sehorn continues to haunt the Giants and affect strategy (it was recently reported that cornerback Aaron Ross wanted to return kicks. Fat chance at that.) Anyway, Moss was pretty terrible as a return man.

Hixon’s injury has led to a lot of panic about the new stadium’s artificial turf. The New Meadowlands Stadium uses FieldTurf and a lot of the players (as well as coach Tom Coughlin) commented that the turf was loose and wasn’t very good. Nevermind that the old stadium used FieldTurf as well, and people weren’t tearing their ACLs left and right.

The turf is like a pair of new shoes. You have to break it in first. Once the turf gets a little more usage, it will tighten up and the “What’s wrong with the turf” questions will go away. In fact, it’s possible all these other events at the stadium (for example, college lacrosse was the first event at the new stadium, not football) are being used to help break in the turf.

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Yes, i”m joking. But this isn’t a joke. Online dating site AshleyMadison.com has submitted a formal offer to the New York Giants and New York Jets for the naming rights for the New Meadowlands Stadium. The offer is for five years and totals $25 million.

Now this alone isn’t that interesting, and I wouldn’t normally blog about this, except this isn’t your run of the mill dating site. The site’s motto is “Life is short. Have an affair.”

Yes, that’s right. A site that promotes adultery wants to have their name on the new stadium. Can you imagine? Stephen Weaver at Examiner.com has an awesome take on it.

“Dad, where are we going?”

“To Ashley Madison Field son. We’re going to watch the Giants play.”

“Oh, who’s Ashley Madison?”

“Oh, it’s that great site that split up me and your mom when she found I was cheating on her. Remember, when you cried for a couple days?”

“Oh. Can we go home?”

I think an approval would result in drop in attendance for the Giants, as married women refuse to allow their husbands to attend games in fear of a cross promotion. But it might help the Jets finish selling their PSLs.

Obviously, this has no chance at being accepted. The Maras and Tisches have a family image that would be shattered by accepting such a bid, and the Johnson & Johnson company wouldn’t be too happy if the founder’s great-grandson was openly promoting adultery. But it’s a great way to get your name out. Tons of people (like me) will write about it, and refer to the website (although you may notice there isn’t a link to the company’s website; this is intentional).

This isn’t the company’s first attempt at silly advertising, as they tried to buy ad space in the Official Super Bowl XLIII Game Program, but were rejected by the NFL. Back in February, they offered the city of Phoenix, Az. $10 million to rename the airport. The strapped-for-cash city declined the offer.

Another reason the offer will almost definitely be declined is that it’s too low. The Giants and Jets are reportedly looking for a deal of $20-25 million a year for the naming rights, and a $5 million a year deal isn’t going to cut it.

Sadly, the Meadowlands Stadium hasn’t had the best luck with the naming rights. A previous offer of $25 million a year by Allianz was canceled amid protests that the German-based financial services had ties to Nazi Germany.

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Then John Mara, team owner and son of the late Wellington Mara, stepped up to the podium. And he was PISSED. Here are some comments from Mara about the team.

“I’m probably as disappointed as I’ve ever been in my life at this team.”

“There are 8-8 seasons … but this one felt a lot more like 2-14 to me.”

“We did have some injuries but I don’t think we had catastrophic injuries.”

“The status quo is not acceptable on any level. We need to do something. And I will be expecting them (Coughlin and Reese) to give me their recommendations.”

“I’m sure I’ll cool down at some point, but obviously I’m not very happy right now. And they know that.”

“When you have that many games where you get blown out, there’s something wrong, and it means that something has got to be done.”

Mara also said that he would wait to cool down before making any decisions, but there is a lot of get over from the last two weeks. The Giants organization prides itself on its toughness, but there was a “lack of mental and physical toughness, and frankly a lack of effort the last two weeks. It was something I never expected to see from these players.”

Mara did not address the players at all during the season’s turmoil, but looking back, perhaps he should have.

He said he’s not going to tell Coughlin how to coach the team, but the team needs to do something about the coaching staff. When asked how he would react if Coughlin wanted to keep the staff intact and assured better results, it would still be a tough pill to swallow.

Mara said he felt the Carolina loss more than any other loss before. He’s been around a long time and thought he’d seen everything. But he said he didn’t see this coming, especially not the last two weeks. He couldn’t understand how the team collapsed after the Mario Manningham fumble in the first quarter. he said the score was still 0-0. Just stop them.

Mara acknowledged that the Giants spent a lot of money in free agency and didn’t get the results they expected. Perhaps the team wasn’t as good as they thought it was.

He said there was a definite lack of leadership. There were a couple of players capable of stepping up, but was disappointed that no one really ever emerged.

He thought the receiving core was the best part of the team, but nothing was more disappointing to him than the lack of pressure the defensive line got on the opposing quarterbacks.

Regarding Osi Umenyiora’s comments after the Carolina loss, where Osi basically suggested he might be done as a Giant, Mara stated that he didn’t take much stock in the comments. He joked about how he used to be in the locker room when Harry Carson suggested he would retire and going into Iran to rescue the hostages. He said that Osi was a competitor and he expected Umenyiora to be a big part of the team in the future.

Finally, Mara stated that Coughlin and Reese’s jobs are safe. There had been some speculation, especially from ProFootballTalk.com, that Coughlin might be on the hot seat. But it would appear that Coughlin will be the head coach in 2010.

As a fan, it was a very uplifting response from the team’s owner. Coughlin and Reese sounded very business-like with their comments, but Mara spoke like a fan. He was the fan’s voice in all of this. He demonstrated more passion in a 10-minute conversation with the media than the Giants did in their last 120 minutes of football this season. It’s good to see that someone is taking this seriously.

Based on Mara’s comments, it sounds like defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan is a goner. No idea on the rest of the staff, however. For the record, I would be shocked if the Giants responded everything like the Buffalo Bills, who fired their entire staff today. But if the Giants bring in an established coach as a new DC, and he wants to bring in his own position coaches, there could be a big turnover on the coaching staff. Two hours ago, I would have said that the Giants’ habit of being loyal to their players and coaches migght prevent a big name from coming in as the DC, but after hearing Mara’s comments, I don’t see that being a problem anymore.

There is speculation that offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride coming get the axe, but I don’t expect it. While I disagree was some of Gilbride’s decisions, you can’t argue that Eli Manning had flourished since Gilbride took over for John Hufnagel as OC. However, Al Davis reported was very interested in Gilbride last offseason before finally deciding on Tom Cable, and Steve Corkran of the Silicon Valley Mercury News has reported that Davis may be about to fire Cable.

The Giants have historically been a praise publicly, criticize privately, kind of team. So this is out of character, but appreciated by the fans. And I have to wonder, if Mara said this publicly, I wonder what he’s saying behind closed doors. I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that…

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The Giants’ offense showed some life in the second half, but by then it was far too late. I went to the game with my father, and we started into the fourth quarter, as the Giants drove downfield, trailing 41-9. The last play I saw of the Giants at Giants Stadium was a fourh down play where Manning executed an excellent play fake and found Hedgecock all alone in the end zone. In the spirit of the afternoon, the Giants’ fullback treated the ball like a live grenade, allowing to bounce off his hands and fall harmlessly to the turf a few yards away.

The week after the game was another concern. Hall of Famer Harry Carson commented that he watched Giants players going into the tunnel at halftime, trailing 24-0 and being booed mercilessly by the fans. They were laughing and chatting with the Panthers’ players. Carson called the players out, saying they didn’t play with any pride. Linebacker Michael Boley responded by saying that he didn’t care what anyone outside the locker room said about the team.

Well Boley, maybe you should listen. Because you and your defense are an embarrassment to the New York Giants organization, the National Football League, Giants fans, and football fans in general. The team’s performance was a travesty (or at least it was…until the Minnesota game, which was even worse).

Eli and Coughlin apologized to the press after the Carolina game, but most players just refused to talk to the press.

With the season over now, we look to the offseason. Will Sherdan be fired? Well, this Giants’ defense gave up the second most in team history, so I don’t know they can reasonably not can him. Will the season be uncapped? If so, expect the Giants to cut some players without worrying about the cap.

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The Giants’ lost 41-9, but the game wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated. The Giants were in the game for one possession, as the offense took the opening kickoff and marched downfield. It appeared the drive had ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Steve Smith. But that was nullified by a holding penalty by Madison Hedgecock. A few plays later, a big third-down conversion was cut short when Mario Manningham fumbled and the Panthers recovered at the Carolina 20.

That was that. The Panthers marched downfield, kicked a field goal, allowed just one first down before a Giants’ punt, marched downfield again and got in the endzone.

Now at that point, it’s 10-0. Prior to this game, the Giants biggest comeback was being down 10-0 to Dallas three weeks earlier. It’s sad when the game is less than 20 minutes old, and you can already feel the game slipping away from you.

Meanwhile, Carolina scores two more times before halftime. The Giants’ offense got close enough to try for a hail mary right before the half, but that didn’t actually happen. Manning couldn’t find anyone to throw to, had to move up in the pocket and kept looking for someone to throw to until he must have realized he was five yards past the line of scrimmage. And so, Eli runs.

This play could only be considered high comedy. The clock is reading 0:00, so getting a first down, or even just running for as much as possible, is pretty useless. So Eli is trying to run for a touchdown. Of course, the Panthers will never allow that to happen. So Eli is running, and us fans in the stands are screaming while also thinking, “This can’t end well.” Of course it doesn’t. Eli gets hit, fumbles and the Panthers recover. At least the defender got tackled. The play was followed by a rain of boos from the Giants’ faithful as the professionals ran to the locker room with their tails between their legs. Or so we thought.

I’ll be back for Part 2 of this debacle. I promise.

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So I was wrong about the Giants last Monday night, New York was playing like a desperate tiger cornered, and Washington played like they were trying to schedule their tee times.

Tomorrow is the next step for the Giants, as they host the Carolina Panthers in their home finale. To commemorate the game, the Giants are going to play a video tribute at halftime that will feature a song by Bruce Springsteen (nope, the Boss won’t actually be there). Although I haven’t heard officially, you can expect the Giants to bring back some former greats as honorary captains. I heard a rumor that Lawrence Taylor will be one of them. Unfortunately, Phil Simms will be working for CBS, otherwise he probably would be there as well. I would also expect to see Harry Carson.

The Panthers will be starting Matt Moore at quarterback again, after Jake Delhomme went on injured reserve earlier this week in a move that could end his career in Carolina.

I’ll be there, so I’ll post the crappy pictures that I get.

BACK TO THE FUTURE?

The New York Yankees seem to be embracing past seasons as of late, signing Nick Johnson and trading for Javier Vasquez. Both players used to play for the Yankees.

I like the Johnson signing; I’ve long been a fan of him, even while he was playing in Washington for the Nationals.

As for the Vasquez trade, I’m not sold on him. First of all, we had to give Melky Cabrera to the Braves, and I liked watching the “Melk Man” in New York. But more importantly, Vasquez was unimpressive last time he was on the roster, posting an ERA just under 5.

But wait! Vasquez said he was injured most of the season, but kept it to himself. Well, that’s a little bette…WAIT A MOMENT!!! So he was hurt and didn’t tell anymore? In 2004? So we could have shelfed him for a while in the regular season, gotten him back for the playoffs, and maybe would not have had to star Kevin F***ing Brown in Game 7 against the Red Sox? THANKS A LOT, A**HOLE!!

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