A Heck of a Time to be a New Yorker
Friday
On Friday I spoke with my inner circle about the Spy. Will Tommy come back or will he go to Atlanta?
In a sports world filled with dirtbags and egos, Tom Glavine appears to be the classiest of the classy. He has carried himself with a level of professionalism like few of his contemporaries and has been an integral part of the Mets resurgence. While we thank Pedro for starting the chain of big names that would call Shea home, it was really Tommy the Spy that was the first.
So now Tommy has a decision. The Mets or Braves? $28 mil or $20 mil? Contender or Pretender? No trade clause or potentially shipped to Seattle?
Using strictly baseball logic, this should be a no brainer. Tommy should be a Met. He would make more money on a better team with the guarantee that he would not be shipped off.
But Tommy isn't your typical baseball player. He is also a good guy.
And while all the talk is about Tommy's family being in Atlanta I do not believe that this is the real reason Tommy would want to go. Family is the perfect excuse, but I believe that Tommy will go to the team where he wants to win his 300th game.
Glavine is a baseball historian and loyalist. He spent the better part of two decades with the Braves, dominating the National league and staking a claim as one of the game's all time greats.
It may just be that in his heart of hearts, Glavine wants to win his 300th game in a Braves uniform. That the picture of him in Cooperstown has his Braves teammates hoisting him on their shoulders as he wins his number 300.
Either way you could not fault the guy.
But in MY heart of hearts I believe Glavine will be back. What is happening at Shea is too special for him to leave. And at the end of the day, this guy craves another ring. Next Stop Shea.
Saturday
Saturday was a treat. My favorite E! correspondent and Y2K author of Section 423 scrounged up some purple seats to check out the Bricks at the Garden.
I root for the Warriors now. I admit that. A buddy of mine is slowly being hidden on their bench and if he goes I would soon follow, but for now, I remain on board.
At the same time, the Knicks are family. I often compare them to my mom. The woman drives me absolutely nuts and there are times when I wish she would just spend all of her time in Connecticut, but at the end of the day, I will always love her and she will always be my mom.
I will always love the Knicks. But man are they a joke.
After going down by 20 points in the first half to the White Hot 3-9 Bulls, I found myself sneaking to the bar to watch the ND-USC game.
The second half was a different story.
I got to see 24 minutes straight of Renaldo Balkman -- I AM SO ON BOARD -- and about 21 more of my blackjack nemesis David Lee -- he cool too.
The Knicks have a ton of holes, they are a bad basketball team and have ZERO future for the next three years.
But on Saturday I found myself in a weird place.
It was my first moment since his arrival that I had something nice to say about Isiah.
Assuming Isiah understands that this team is going nowhere, I really believe he is handling the '06 Knicks decently.
That is, he is letting his kids play. We are seeing a ton of Lee, Frye, Balkman and Robinson but not in the way we see saw them under Coach Brown.
Isiah is letting these kids make mistakes and more importantly, he is letting his kids play through their mistakes.
David Lee had about 14 turnovers on Saturday, but Isiah stuck with him.
Renaldo Balkman was chucking 3's when he has less range than a 14 yr old Sip. But Isiah stuck with him.
It may just be that Isiah is too dumb to realize these mistakes. That is a strong possibility. But assuming this is not the case, then tip a bit of your cap to Zeke. He is doing SOME developing.
And with a team with absolutely no shot, that is the best thing he can do.
He is getting the Knicks one step closer to being a decent team in 2011.
More importantly, Isiah is NOT the worst coach in New York.
Sunday
Oh Man!
Let me say it again.
Oh Man!
What happened in Tennessee was the last straw. It is not like me to go with the public. I hate the public and more so, I hate it when the public jumps to immediate and impulsive conclusions.
(Remember guys when the Giants were 6-2 and the whole world had them in the NFC championship game?)
But like the rest of the world, I am on board.
FIRE COUGHLIN.
I got about 92 calls after the Giants loss last night. There were a ton of unhappy people that I have a ton of respect for.
I was pissed.
But this loss belongs to nobody buy Coughlin.
Everyone will highlight two key plays. The Pacman Jones interception where Plax gave up on his route and the "sack" by BC alum Mathias Kiwaunaka.
These were bad plays. Plax's more so.
I was telling my father after the failed sack that Kiwaunaka must have thought he heard a whistle.
If this were the case, and he threw Young into the ground then there is 15 yards and an automatic first down.
But as my cousin Dan put it, this was a team that gave up on its coach. There wasn't a person on the sideline that rallied behind their headman, who was shown prancing arond the sideline like a high school cheer leader.
In hindsight you can doubt the guys playcalling in the second half. That is pretty easy.
But this is more of a bigger picture. Giants players hate the Giants Coach.
While we heard our typical annual sound bytes out of Jeremy Shockey earlier in the year, last week Tiki spoke out.
Has Tiki ever spoken out?
The answer of course is no. Which infers how bad this situation is.
Amazingly, the Giants are a win at home against Dallas away from being atop the NFC east. There is a Giants fan in the area that likes our chances against the Mr. Jessica Simpson led Cowboys, but still, this game is in our hands, in our stadium.
My solution.
Fire Coughlin today!
It is the only way to spark up this team.
With Strahan and Osi coming back soon and the eventual (hopefully?) return of LT Luke Pettigout, the Giants could get healthy at the right time.
But this team needs something more. We need Plax and Shock playing for their coach.
We need Eli to all of a sudden believe. (He really does look like the kid who gets mugged on the 79th street crosstown bus right now)
As my good pal KFC pointed out, Charlie Weis has an out in his contract that lets him become the coach of the Giants. Can you say "bringing sexy back." Could you imagine what he could do for the Giants offense with all of these weapons. And so we pray.
Either way. We need a fresh start.
Monday
Surprise, surprise. Sip is wearing warmup pants and a hooded sweatshirt, sitting in his sleek red chair.
It's a new week. We can finally say, Next week is now.
Apparently Yankee fans are complaining about Saturday's column on ESPN message boards.
As much as we here at Y2K write for you guys, our NYC brethren who love the Mets and hate the Yankees, I really get a kick out of pissing off Yankee fans.
Trapped in the bubble that is the YES Network, Yankee fans just don't get what is going on in the rest of the baseball world.
If just once we get the chance to remind them of that, then this is all worth it.
Happy monday all.
Vaya con dios.
Sip
posted by Sippy Momo at 1:00 PM
6 Comments:
At some point in the fourth quarter, when I was actively rooting for the Titans despite being a Giants fan for as long as I can remember, the key was something needed to change. Immediately.
Anyway, I hated Coughlin from day one, so I'm probably a bit biased. But while I obviously won't root for the Cowboys on Sunday, I can't promise that I can maintain my focus on this team that is just so hard to root for right now.
I blame everyone in a Giants uniform. and some who are not, Ernie A gets the middle finger for giving up the farm to draft a kid whose stats were no better in a marginal league at best than a dude of a better conference. I blame Mathias for not being an evil brute like Haynesworth who slid into third base to tackle Bitch ass tiki (who in all his years of good football never once became a crowd favorite like Mr Shockey because he throws his teammates(ie. Strahan, any special teams member who makes more than one mistake a season)and coaches under the bus as often as he does those gay ass Snack Wrap commercials.)
I aslo blame Eli for being a homo and recitinbg the same Groundhog day line after every game. ("I'm sorry I did not execute properly on the plays I messed up". When has a number one overall pick been giving so many outs by the public and media before we officially claim him a bust?? This dude is days away from being 26....Everyone(Most) keeps saying he is still a youngster, give him time...But none of those guys were saying 'be patient' when Kent Graham/ Dave Brown was putting up similar completion %s with straight bums on offense. It is time guys. Stop treating him(Elijah) with kid gloves.
He cannot even carry his brothers jock strap, I think Cooper is the 3rd best athlete in this family, not bum ass Eli.
Has anyone ever heard of a compound dislocation before?
Plaxico is a bitch ass too, please dont think I forgot. Can we please let Mr #58 hit Plaxico a few times in practice this week?
Coughlin is a bitch too. Great job with the prancing reference. How about we try split back sets with both Tiki and Jacobs in the backfield?
Im a tad bit upset on this glorious late November day.
Holla @ a playa when u see me in the street trick.
I think it would have been worth the jail time for me to break a bottle over Eli's head friday nite when he was out drinking instead of getting a good night sleep as an awful bust of a quarterback should be doing, when he has a game in tennesse two days away.
...and I was just drunk enough to do it.
Sippy - a.) who's your hockey team?
b.) What article on ESPN? I don't think I saw it.
I never get this down on one of my teams - but I hate the Giants right now. I hate every player on this team - except Kiwanuka (and Brandon Jacobs - who can hate Brandon Jacobs):
I don't think he thought he heard a whistle, i think he thought the ball was thrown. His only mistake was keeping his head down, but I don't think he quit, I think he feared getting the 15 yard penalty. Give Vince Young credit for not (slash - never) going down. Matthias isn't a quitter - his play on the previous down was one of the more athletic plays you'll see a DE make. It was a rookie mistake - it sucked, but it was a mistake.
The rest of the team? They blow and they're quitters and they look for excuses.
Eli...jesus. I hated the draft pick years ago, but I'll give anyone a chance. I was as high as any Giants fan was on him - fooling myself into believing that those few, sterling fourth-quarters were the real Eli - but he's not the real thing. I hope we're smart enough to take a shot on a 3rd or 4th round QB next draft - just to put some pressure on Eli. I don't want this to be a David Carr situation - 5 years as a failure who's never been challenged. I'm not saying give up on Eli (cause the Giants wouldn't and, of course, they shouldn't just yet), just let him know that we're not operating without a Plan B.
But, in the end of the day, a 21 point collapse, total team mutiny, predictable play calling and an unispiring atmosphere all fall at the feet of Coughlin. After losing to the Bears, I couldn't have cared less. We lose to the Jags - well, they're an alright team at home and everyone loses to an inferior team here and there. But losing to the Titans the way we did - just unacceptable.
The NFC is so bad right now, though, that the Giants will likely only need three more wins to get to the playoffs, and Coughlin's job is probably safe if that happens. Which is too bad - we'll never win with this guy.
In other news - anyone else buying Vince Young?
Coop, my love for hockey died when Adam Graves left the Rangers. Funny too, the first pro game I think I ever went to was a Rangers v Sabres game with old chip and the fam.
It was just on some ESPN message boards, nothing too exciting.
As for Vince Young. Yeah, if he is making something with Travis Henry, Bo Scaife and Drew Bennett as his weapons, then watch out.
As for the whole Eli thing.
Lets take it easy guys. Remember how perfect Marc Bulger was a month ago. Then his Left Tackle went down and things started changing.
You should all read Michael Lewis'the Blind Side for more on that.
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