Saturday’s Giants News
I still feel like the Giants need to stop talking. They aren’t really saying anything wrong, but the media has been spinning it out of control. On Thursday night, the Rangers retired Brian Leetch’s number, and the local press took what Plaxico Burress said about the Patriots’ receivers and put it on the back page after fabricating the story. That’s what the Giants have to deal with. So Brian Leetch didn’t end up on the back page after a Hall of Fame career with the Rangers, but Plaxico did for complementing the Pats and saying that the Giants’ receivers can play with them. If the Giants say nothing then there won’t be any problems. The media should be ashamed of themselves, but that will never happen.
Super Bowl Profile: TE Kevin Boss - Keith Karlsson wrote an article about how much Kevin Boss has contributed to help get Big Blue into Super Bowl XLII.
Super Message - Michael Eisen covered a story about the Super Bowl message that Michael Strahan delivered to the team.
Manning Support - Michael Eisen had another interview with Peyton Manning regarding Eli Manning.
Transcript: LB Antonio Pierce - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Antonio Pierce regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Transcript: C Shaun O’ Hara - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Shaun O’Hara regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Transcript: DE Michael Strahan - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Michael Strahan regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Transcript: Colts QB Peyton Manning - Michael Eisen chatted about Eli Manning with Peyton Manning.
Transcript: Coach Tom Coughlin - Michael Eisen discussed the status of various players with Tom Coughlin.
Transcript: Various Patriots Quotes - Michael Eisen obtained quotes from various Patriot players.
Transcript: Patriots WR Donte’ Stallworth - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Donte Stallworth regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Transcript: Patriots WR Wes Welker - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Wes Welker regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Transcript: Patriots Coach Bill Belichick - Michael Eisen had a Q&A Session with Bill Belichick regarding Super Bowl XLII.
Newsday:
Giants’ Umenyiora:Comments won’t fire up Patriots
SUPER BOWL XLII: GIANTS VS. PATRIOTS: Magic includes a vanishing act
Release and catch: Hixon, Hedgecock have shined - Katie Strang pointed out how Domenick Hixon and Madison Hedgecock got released by their former teams, and now they have their turn to play in a Super Bowl.
Peyton Manning pours on the praise for brother Eli
SUPER BOWL XLII: GIANTS VS. PATRIOTS: BIG BLUE ZONE - Donte Stallworth responds to the comments Plaxico Burress made on Thursday.
Giants’ good-luck charm: Tight end Jerome Collins - Arthur Staple believes that backup TE Jerome Collins is a good luck charm for the Giants because he is a Notre Dame alumni. Also, Collins hasn’t played a down in his 3-year career. He was on the Rams last season, but he ended up on the Colts for the final two games of the regular season and sat on the bench throughout the Playoffs and won a ring. Staple believes that Collins on the bench in the Super Bowl is another good luck charm.
New York Daily News:
Peyton Manning: Eli has ‘what it takes to lead his team’ to NFL title
Two Mannings are better than one against Tom Brady and Patriots
Giant curfews loom large for Big Blue
If Antonio Pierce & defense can help it, pressure will be on Tom Brady
Patriots respond to Plaxico Burress’ boast, don’t take Giant bait
Osi Umenyiora tries to explain comments about Matt Light
Michael Strahan glad he didn’t follow Tiki Barber’s lead and retire
Late teammate Marquise Hill isn’t forgotten by Patriots - Hank Gola revealed the feelings of the Patriots regarding the late Marquise Hill.
Jeff Feagles has talent to boot
Super Bowl prediction? Nah, just stuff of ‘Legend’ - Ethan Sacks revealed how the movie “I am Legend” predicts the final score of the Super Bowl, and it didn’t pick the Giants.
New York Post:
JEREMY: DON’T BE SHOCKED BY WIN - Steve Serby interviewed Jeremy Shockey who has been MIA since being placed on IR.
OSI WANTED TO SHINE LIGHT ON DIRTY TACTICS
WEIS GUY GAME PLAN - Charlie Weis discusses the game plan for the Giants and the Pats.
A LONG TOM AGO - Mike Vaccaro wrote an article about Tom Coughlin’s playing days at the RIT.
SHULA WILL BE ‘JUMPING’ IF GIANTS WIN - I bet he will. Don Shula will be at Super Bowl XLII to congratulate the Patriots if they win jump up and down if the Giants win, according to Steve Serby.
PEYTON: THIS WON’T BE ELI’S LAST SUPER BOWL
VACANCY SIGH STILL OUT ON BRADY’S LOCKER
PATS BOWLED OVER - According to Mark Cannizzaro, the Patriots were very impressed with the Giants after they met in Week 17.
A FAMILY THING - Steve Schirripa, of The Sopranos, feels like the Giants are having all of this success because they are like a family.
TIKI REACHES OUT TO CONGRATULATE EX-’MATE STRAHAN - Towards the end of the article, Paul Schwartz included the prize money that will be allocated to each team based on winning or losing the Super Bowl.
OPEN & SHUT - Paul Schwartz decifered how differently Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick handled the reporting of injuries.
New York Times:
Giants’ Tuck and Patriots’ Thomas Linked by More Than Blood
Reprising Anonymous Role in Another Super Bowl - Bill Pennington wrote about the Jeremy Collins story for the NYTimes.
Peyton Sees Success in His Brother’s Future
The Star-Ledger:
Fathers’ legacies nurtured by sons - Matthew Futterman explains how the sons of the late Giants owners feel about going to the Super Bowl.
O’Hara is Giants’ shining Knight
The Brady mystery keeps rolling on
Into the sunset - Steve Politi thinks that Michael Strahan can go out on top like John Elway or Jerome Bettis.
Osi just wants Brady to be dirty - So do I, but Osi and the crew need to make it happen.
Is it Sunday yet? I wish. I’d even take Saturday right now knowing that two games are on. I am a bit concerned about the big play ability of the Cowboys. I can see the Giants trying to put as many points as possible early. I can also see them taking the lead. I can also see the Cowboys starting out slow after the miserable month that they’ve had, and then start clicking, and give up the lead to the Cowboys like what happened a few years ago against the 49ers. All week, I’ve been listening to people say that Romo is like a better version of Garcia. If that’s the case then Romo can hook up with T.O. like Garcia hooked up with Romo. Big Blue cannot give up the big plays. The secondary has to step up and stop all of their weapons which are much more than there were in Tampa Bay last week. 
As each day passes, I’m trying to figure out all of the advantages that the Giants have on Sunday. There are some, but there needs to be more. The number one thing they got right now is their ‘MOJO’. We need to hope it carries through to the Superbowl. Say that the Giants are Austin Powers and the Cowboys are Dr. Evil. We need to hope that Dr. Evil does not take away Austin Powers’ mojo. Think about it this way. Do you remember the goal line stand against the Redskins in Week 3? Sure you do. Betts was stopped and the Giants got their mojo during that game. Big Blue went on to win 6 straight before the bye week. After the bye week, the Cowboys came into the Meadowlands and beat the Giants. Since then, the Giants lost their mojo. The Giants won some, lost some since then, but they never won in the same fashion as they did on that 6-game win streak. Now, the Giants have recaptured their mojo. So how far will it take them? I hope Dallas doesn’t take it away again. They are an offensive machine, but they are not playing like they did in Week 9 either. The Giants are on a one-game winning streak now, and they only need to win 2 more to make it to the Superbowl.
The big game is getting closer and closer. It’s hump day…so we will start discussing the matchups between Big Blue and Big D. Did any of you make it to Tampa Bay? If so, please comment on your experience. Same goes for Dallas if any of you are going down there. Also, we are constantly looking to add pictures of fans to Die Hard Giants Fan. So if you got any good ones while tailgating or at the stadium then you can email them to me. Feel free to impress us with painted faces, crazy haircuts, tattoos. We want pics of pets too. Click on any of the pictures pages on the header bar for instructions and my email address.
Now that felt good! It’s been a longtime coming for our Giants, but our boys have finally won a playoff game. It was a throwback of sorts to the glory days of the eighties and nineties. Eli looked like Simms out there, took what the D gave him and played smart. The Giants didn’t abandon a running game that struggled in the 1st quarter and the Defense was everywhere.
I’m in the process of watching the games as I write. You already saw that Die Hard Giants Fan picked the Giants to cover the spread, but we also believe that Big Blue will win outright. The Giants/Bucs pregame will be coming out next, and I will be telling you how and why the Giants will win this game tomorrow. Enjoy the games!
Happy New Year to all you Die Hard Giants Fans! 2008 has creeped up on us, and we have a big game this weekend against the Bucs to kick off the New Year. Is 2008 the year of Eli Manning? Will Eli get past the first round of the Playoffs? Will he be able to get further and further into the Playoffs each year like Peyton did? I sure hope so.
On the final day of 2007, we would like to thank all of you who have stuck with Die Hard Giants Fan throughout the 2007 season. We had a lot of fun in our first year doing this. We enjoyed all of your comments during the season and we hope you make even more noise now as the G-MEN head into the Playoffs. We also hope you stick with us in the offseason, in 2008, and in years to come. It also makes it easier writing about the Jints when they finish the season 10-6 and make the Playoffs. It was also special to go through a game of such magnitude like the game against the Patriots in Week 17. It was a meaningless game for the Giants, but it was everything for the 15-0 Patriots. We all know that the Patriots have to win the Superbowl to make this perfect season really perfect. However, I hope we face them again in a month and beat them. For now, we know that we get to watch at least one more game next weekend when the Giants face the Bucs down in Tampa Bay.
This is by far the most news I’ve ever seen in one day. Yes, the Patriots went 16-0 by beating the Giants last night. It was aired on every channel. The newspapers published a billion articles about it. I enjoyed the game, but we’re down 3 men. As soon as the Giants release a statement on their health, I’ll let you know. Hopefully, it will have no impact on the Playoffs. Center Shaun O’Hara is a critical loss. The mis-snap by his replacement to Manning last night wasted a first a first down at a critical moment for Big Blue. If O’Hara is out or not 100% next week then that’s advantage Bucs. Sam Madison could be out next week, and we all know we need him back there. Kawika Mitchell is another guy who has been playing well lately. As far as the freshness factor, Gruden rested his starters two weeks in a row. I believe that is too much. So the momentum gained by the Giants without rest might wash out the fact that the Bucs are going to play with 2 weeks off. 1 week off is perfect, in my opinion. Definitely stay with us as we get ready to go for a Superbowl run.
