Thursday, December 13, 2007

Vindication!

You'd have to be pretty naive to be surprised by this, but it still qualifies as a stunner to see the extent of it in print:

[Roger] Clemens was singled out in eight pages [of the Mitchell Report], with much of the information on the seven-time Cy Young Award winner coming from former major league strength coach Brian McNamee.

"According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him." -- SI.com

Um, wow! Sure, there were those of us who suspected all along that Roger’s "Rocket Fuel" was decidedly less benign than spinach. But who would have thought that Clemens was actually matching Bonds vial-for-vial? Oh, right... me! If I may quote myself:

We all know Barry Bonds is the poster boy for steroid abuse in baseball. Yet how is it that Roger Clemens consistently gets a free pass in the steroids debate? Has anyone noticed that he's a 45-year old power pitcher? That doesn’t send up any red flags?

I love how everyone dismisses Clemens as a user by saying "He's a workout warrior." HELLO! Who do they think are using all that stuff? Do they think players just inject steroids and become magically muscular overnight? Without the work, steroids won't do a damn thing. It’s these very “workout warriors” whom steroids benefit the most by aiding the body in rapidly repairing itself. -- Sports Crank, 9/25/07

Can we now put to rest all the “freak of nature” stories that have surrounded Clemens for the past however-many years? There is now a very plausible explanation for his “late career resurgence” and performance above-and-beyond his much younger peers. Certainly the preceding sentences could have easily been written about Bonds, but now baseball’s #1 pariah has some superstar company. And this won’t be the last time those two will be linked. Assuming neither plays baseball again – which after today looks like a pretty safe bet – in five years Clemens and Bonds will both appear for the first time on the same Hall of Fame ballot. Won’t that be a strange day for every baseball fan?

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Getting Fat on Turkeys

The Giants have made a case for being the worst team ever to reach 9-4. They've beaten no one this season -- in fact, every win they have has come against a losing team. In stark contrast, as of today only three teams on the Giants' schedule (they played the Cowboys twice) have winning records. They account for all four Giants losses. Is anyone surprised?

Sure, you can only play the teams on your schedule, and this season the NFC happens to be littered with awful clubs. But the Giants catch a break by not having Tampa or Seattle on their slate -- the only other NFC teams with winning records to whom the Giants haven't lost. And they also lucked out in the NFL's annual round-robin by drawing the AFC Least, er, East, where the hapless Jets and hopeless Dolphins provided little resistance. Of course, dates with the Bills and Patriots -- the last two teams on the Giants' schedule with winning records -- still await.

So if form holds, and there's no reason why it shouldn't, the Giants will beat the Redskins but lose to Buffalo and New England. At that point, the Giants will have the distinction of being the worst NFL team ever to finish 10-6... only to suffer another swift and demeaning first-round playoff exit. The only suspense will be if another playoff appearance -- however brief -- is enough for Tom Coughlin to keep his job.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Touchable!

"Fearful of the Twins delivering Johan Santana to the Red Sox, the Yankees decided last night to begrudgingly include Phil Hughes in a possible package with Melky Cabrera, and hoped it was enough to bring baseball's best pitcher to The Bronx." -- NY Post
Hughes for Santana? I'm on the fence. Usually I'd have no problem trading a prospect for an established star, but something about this deal seems fishy. For one, how much better do the Yanks get by trading their "potential" #1 for an established one? At the end of the day, all they did was trade pitching to get pitching (and lost their CF to boot). According to my math, 5-1+1 still equals 5. It's not like they were falling over themselves with starters they were pining to deal.

Sure, I was never overwhelmed by Hughes last season, and baseball is littered with "can't miss" guys who, well, missed. But for almost three years, all we've heard from the Yankee organization -- the scouts, the coaches, the players, the management -- is how Phil Hughes is the real deal. And up until last night, apparently, the Yankees had resisted every single trade offer that included his name. Why, suddenly, now? Were the Yankees equally nonplussed by what they saw?

The other part of this deal that makes me leery is Santana himself. If this was 2006, I'd probably be screaming for this deal to get done. But 2007 was a very different year for Johan the Great. In roughly the same number of starts that he'd made through his astounding 2004-06 seasons, Santana pitched about 13 fewer innings and had his fewest wins since his days as a part-time starter. More glaringly, his strikeouts were down (235 vs. an average of 249 for '04-'06), his ERA was a half-run higher and over 3 for the first time, and his remarkable WHIP also crept past 1 for the first time since '03.

To be fair, if you just looked at his 2007 numbers, Santana was one of the best pitchers in the game. But were the numbers just an aberration, a blip, a "down" year on a lousy team in expectation of being traded? Or are we seeing the first inevitable slippage, the fall from the heights that no pitcher can expect to maintain forever?

My faith in the Yankees brain trust is starting to wane, too. After starting out this off-season with a series of great moves -- dumping Torre, hiring Girardi, saying goodbye to A-Rod and bringing back Posada -- things are starting to take an unfortunate turn for the worse. There was the laughable and potentially debilitating turn-around with A-Rod (more money does not equal more hits in October, folks) and now this.

As I said, I'm really undecided on what the Yanks should do. Santana could win a Cy Young for the Yanks next season... or he could continue his downward trend to the point that the Yankees will be paying Barry Zito money but getting Barry Zito numbers, too. On the other hand, Hughes might turn out to be nothing more than a serviceable if unspectacular starter destined for the middle of the rotation... or he might earn a Cy Young of his own in a year or two, if what everyone's been telling us has been true. I guess only time will tell...

Monday, November 26, 2007

Eli's Biggest Fan

Well, after me, anyway, no one has been harder on Eli Manning than SI’s Peter King. Mr. King didn’t waste any time piling on Eli in this week’s MMQB:

a. This is not the negative New York media speaking. This is the impartial New Jersey media speaking. The more I see Eli Manning, the more I think he'll never be a championship quarterback.

b. I mean, taking a 26-yard sack in the fourth quarter? Ridiculous. And could he please get mad once? Punch the ground, kick the dog, cuss out his linemen, something. You know what the Minnesota game plan for playing Manning was in part? Hit him a couple of times on his first few dropbacks, and the book on him was he'd start throwing off his back foot. Which he did.

Okay, aside from the fact that this is what I’ve been saying for years pretty much verbatim, it’s also absolutely true. Eli is just one of those QB’s who’s good enough to play in the NFL (sorry, Dave Brown) but not good enough to take his team anywhere. Just too many mistakes waiting to be made; too many bad throws waiting to happen. And that Vikings “game plan” ties in exactly to the SI player’s poll that ranked Easy Eli as the 2nd-most easily intimidated QB in the league. I half expected him to wet his pants at some point.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything that the Giants can do. Unlike Dave Brown, who didn’t belong in the NFL, and to a lesser extent, Kerry Collins, whose negatives ultimately outweighed his positives, Eli doesn’t merit an out-and-out ejection. He’s good enough to play in the NFL, but if you look at the current QB landscape in the league, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.

I think the lack of consistency we’ve seen from Eli – good game, average game, awful game – is how it’s going to be with him. After 50 games, it’s time to stop talking about development and improvement. For that matter, there hasn’t been any. They showed a stat during last week’s Giants-Lions game comparing Eli’s first 9 games in 2006 vs. 2007: they were virtually identical. And that was before yesterday’s debacle.

You look at almost any starting QB and three years should give you an accurate picture of what you get. Guys like Roethlisberger, Palmer, Peyton, Brady, etc. have what it takes and showed it early on, if not from the start. On the flip side, guys like Carr, Couch, Akili Smith, etc. made it clear before too long that they weren’t up to NFL standards. From what we’ve seen, Eli falls in between these two groups. However, I don’t see him in the Trent Dilfer / Brad Johnson category of guys who also fall between those groups but ultimately won championships despite their shortcomings. Eli just makes too many mistakes and is too easily intimidated to lead his team where it needs to go, even if he had a great running game and defense as compliments.

The silver lining is that Eli's continued struggles will likely spell the end of General Coughlin's reign of error in the Meadowlands. Not so great, though, is the fact that at least one more coach is going to have to suffer the Eli Experiment before he’s through (or at least through with the Giants)…

Monday, October 29, 2007

Scott Boras is an Idiot

Okay, so that's not news. But Boras did make some news over the weekend by announcing (to no one's surprise) that A-Rod has opted out of his contract with the Yankees. But that's not why Boras is an idiot. In fact, I've been in favor of getting A-Rod out of town since last year's playoff meltdown. It's just that even when doing the right thing, Boras comes off as an ass.

As we all know, A-Rod had until 10 days past the World Series to make his call. So Boras makes the announcement last night during the World Series. His rationale? (And believe me, it's Boras' rationale; A-Rod is just along for the ride.) With the identity of the Yankee manager and the contract statuses of Rivera, Posada and Pettitte still undetermined, there were simply too many question marks in Yankee-land:

"Alex's decision was one based on not knowing what his closer, his catcher and one of his statured pitchers was going to do. He really didn't want to make any decisions until he knew what they were doing."
Umm, so let me see if I'm following this. A-Rod doesn't want to make any decisions until he knows what the Yankees are doing. So he makes the decision to leave the Yankees. Ten days earlier than needed. Right. Thanks, Scott.

Of course, this whole charade makes it that much easier to part ways with Mr. O-fer-tober. Not that I needed convincing, but there were plenty of folks who thought A-Rod should stay, no matter the cost. Instead, we're left with all his empty pronouncements, including this gem, from not even a month ago:

"I've always said it: I love New York. For me, as a player, to come full circle in New York, it's the most comfortable I've felt. Hopefully, things work out."
Well, Alex, when you're content to let your ego-maniacal agent pull all the strings, you pretty much know how this one is going to "work out". Good night, good luck, and good riddance.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hanging Chad

Finally, it looks like the Chad Pennington Era has come to an end. Please don't start about how Kellen Clemens looked even worse, or that he didn't look ready, etc. The bottom line is that the future for the Jets starts now. 2007 is but a memory; it's all about 2008.

Barring injury, Pennington shouldn't take another snap in a Jets' uniform. He's proven, time and again, that his days as an NFL signal-caller are no longer. Regardless of what Clemens does from here on out, he needs to play. Clemens should take the reps with the first team all week. Sure, he'll make his share of mistakes, but there's nothing that gets you prepared to play quarterback in the NFL better than actually playing QB in the NFL. The Jets need to know now if Clemens is the real deal. A half a season at the helm should tell them just that.

And even if Clemens proves to be no better than Pennington, at least the Jets will know. Besides, if Clemens plays poorly, the Jets, more than likely, are going to continue to lose. And with losing, comes a pretty good shot of landing a brand new stud QB in the upcoming draft.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Who's the Bad Guy Now?

There's been an awful lot of fallout concerning the Yankees' handling of the Joe Torre situation. Much of the media angle has been to slam the Yanks, but I'd say there's widespread support for what the team did, too. The irony, though, is that I don't think what the Yankees did actually affected anyone's opinion. If you thought Joe should stay, then you were offended by the Yankees non-offer and applaud Joe for turning them down. On the other hand, if you thought it was time to turn the page on Ol' Joe, then you thought allowing him to remain the highest-paid manager in baseball while expecting a little success in return was more than fair. It fit each scenario nicely, which I suppose is as well as the Yankees could have played this.

I, for one, was staunchly in the "Joe Must Go" camp and felt the Yanks offer was more than fair. Look, is it so wrong to ask the man in charge of baseball's highest-paid collection of talent to win something every once in a while? All I keep hearing is "12 playoff appearances, 6 World Series, 4 Championships." Very nice. Joe's a Hall-of-Famer, but as the "What have you done for me lately?" crowd will exclaim, Joe's success has been very much front-loaded. Three straight first-round losses, not to mention the historic 2004 collapse that preceded them, is a cause for concern.

As for the offer itself, I understand, on the face, the notion of the pay cut being an insult. If my employer (with whom, by the way, I don't have a contract) told me he was going to cut my salary from $75,000 to $50,000 next year, that would definitely irk me. If, however, he said I could earn $10,000 bonuses based on hitting a few milestones, to the point where I might actually exceed my original salary, then maybe it's not so bad. And really, isn't winning a playoff series or two a reasonable expectation? If it's good enough for Les Moonves, then it should be good enough for Joe.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Why Athletes Should Not Be Role Models

I can’t take credit for compiling this list, nor can I verify whether any of the following was said by any of the following individuals. But it’s still funny…

· New Orleans Saints RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."

· Upon hearing Joe Jacoby of the Redskins say, "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl,” Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."

· Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann in 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

· Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes."

· Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle."

· Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson again hooking up with promoter Don King: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton."

· Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."

· Shaquille O'Neal on whether he had visited the Parthenon during his visit to Greece: "I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to."

· Shaquille O'Neal, in 1994, on his lack of championships: "I've won at every level, except college and pro."

· Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is."

· Pat Williams, Orlando Magic general manager, on his team's 7-27 record in 1992: "We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I just can't figure out where else to play."

· Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt."

· Steve Spurrier, Florida football coach, telling Gator fans that a fire at Auburn's football dorm had destroyed 20 books: "But the real tragedy was that 15 hadn't been colored in yet."

· Jim Finks, New Orleans Saints General Manager, when asked after a loss what he thought of the refs: "I'm not allowed to comment on lousy, no-good officiating."

· Alan Kulwicki, stock car racer, on racing Saturday nights as opposed to Sunday afternoons: "It's basically the same, only darker."

· Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care."

· Torri Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."

· Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, it looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."

· And the gem: then Houston Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Screw Mariano, Too

Well, this was inevitable. Now Mariano Rivera is throwing his two cents into the Save Torre / Ditch Torre debate:
"I don't feel good about it," Rivera said Wednesday, two days after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs. "I don't see why they're even thinking (about letting Torre go). I wish he's back, definitely. If you ask me what I would want, I want him back."
OK, fine, defend your manager. I get it -- players love Joe, he's the only major league manager Mariano's ever had. But here's where the story turns south for me:

Rivera's contract also is expiring and he is eligible to become a free agent. He said whether Torre returns will help determine whether he remains with the Yankees.

"It might do a lot of it," he said. "I mean, I've been with Joe for so many years, and the kind of person he has been for me and for my teammates. It's been great. The thing is that I don't see why they have to put him in this position."

So not only is Mariano demanding a new contract on his terms, but now he's running the team, too? If that's his attitude -- and frankly, I haven't been too fond of his attitude in recent years -- then Mariano also should start looking for new houses. Maybe he and Joe could share a place in St. Louis. (I hear they may be looking for a new manager, soon.)

After all, Mariano started whining about this in spring training, when he got all uppity about the Yankees refusal to offer him an extension:
"The Yankees always knew that I wanted to be with the Yankees and finish my career with the Yankees," he said. "If they don't want to do [anything] with me, I'm not go home crying. I'm going to move on."
Really, Mariano? Seeing as how you haven't had to close out any World Series wins lately, I'm thinking that if you're so flummoxed with the Yanks then maybe it's time to part ways. Closers have a limited shelf life; while Mariano has certainly extended his, there's going to come a day when he goes from extraordinary to just plain ordinary and the Yankees shouldn't be stuck with the bill. (Thank you, Roger, you can put your hand down now.)

I'm all for players getting paid. Okay, I'm not all for it -- to me, there's something unseemly about fleeing a city and the fans that have embraced you for so long over a few extra million, considering the utter largess these athletes command. There's something refreshing about the "home-team discount", a player realizing that he's made more money in his career than anyone who plays a game for a living has a right to, and that maybe taking "only" $12 million per year is worth more in goodwill than the $14 million he might get elsewhere. If Mariano wants to play the field, more power to him. Just don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Housecleaning in the Bronx

Here’s a question: if King George doesn’t threaten Joe Torre’s job, are we all still sitting here today wringing our hands, pleading for another go-round for good ol’ Joe? All sentiment aside – and really, what is the defense for keeping Torre other than that? – shouldn’t someone be held accountable for “leading” the world’s most expensive collection of baseball talent to three straight first-round losses? Coaches have been fired for less.

And if you’re one of those who believe that it’s the players who play the game – and who can argue with that? – then what role, exactly, does a manager play? Shouldn’t the man in charge of a $200 million roster get more out of his players than Torre has gotten in the last three years? The last seven years?

Joe Torre has cemented his place in Yankees’ history. No one can ever take that away. There will be a Joe Torre day at the Stadium, probably sometime soon. But today it’s time for a change.

And speaking of changes, the manager won’t be the only one. First and foremost: so long, A-Rod. As Mr. O-fer-tober has proven at every stop he’s made, you don’t need the best player in baseball to win a championship. Would the Yankees have made the playoffs this year without his offense? Probably not. Does it matter now? Not by a long shot. I know the Yankees don’t have a budget like other teams, but can you imagine to how much better use the Yanks can put that $30 million than tie it up in a ridiculous contract for A-Rod? For a third of that money they could sign Mike Lowell and use the rest to shore up the pitching staff.

Ah, yes, the pitching. Never has so much been spent on so little. Igawa. Pavano. Farnsworth. Mussina. Clemens. Good riddance, all. Unfortunately, among the ones they should keep, Chin Mien Wang is not a #1 pitcher. The Indians made that perfectly clear. But I’d have no problem with him as the #2. Andy Pettitte pitched well enough in spurts to be invited back as the #4 starter. Between them I’d stick Phil Hughes, and maybe throw Ian Kennedy at the back. Of course, that leaves a rather gaping hole at the top. But that’s why we have George. And his money. Grab that broom and have at it, Boss...

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Why NOT Fire Willie?

So Willie is coming back to the Mets in '08, thus ending the rampant speculation he would take the rap for the Mets' epic collapse. According to his GM, Omar Minaya, Willie's done a heckuva job:

“I think that what Willie Randolph has done the last three years speaks for itself. I think, on the other hand, my relationship with Willie is very good, but I do believe that the way we lost, I have to sit down with ownership and tell them how I think.”

Ahh… So if we understand Omar correctly, he thinks Willie is keen, but if those Wilpons want him outta there, well, far be it from Omar to tell the boss what to do. All it really means, of course, is that if Willie’s Mets don’t get an invite to the post-season party in 2008 then Willie can pick up his check at the front desk on his way out.

But that leads to the inevitable question: why not just fire Willie now? What, exactly, has he done over these “last three years” that makes him so special? The Mets have the third-highest payroll in baseball so winning is sort of expected, no? It’s not like he led the Pirates into the playoffs... once.

As for the rest of his résumé, this is a guy who was placed at the helm of a franchise in the country’s biggest market without a single day of managerial experience. Not in Kansas City, not in AAA, not even in A-ball. I’ve heard time and again about all the experience Willie gained from his time as a Yankees coach. Let me tell you: sitting next to the guy driving the bus is not the same thing as driving the bus. I’m sure any Mets fan would have no trouble rattling off a dozen or so questionable moves Willie has made, especially during this slide of all slides. Can the Mets really afford a manager who's learning on the job?

Look, if you think Willie is a good manager who's only getting better, keep him. If, on the other hand, you're among the many who could go either way, who think that 2008 will tell the Willie Randolph story -- redemption or recrimination -- then why not cut bait now? As Joe Torre proved, a manager is generally only as good as his players (See his early-90's Cardinals vs. his late-90's Yanks). Willie had arguably the National League's most talented roster and managed to grind them into the dirt. That's potential? When we're back here in October '08 reading all the post-mortems on Willie's managerial career, remember where you heard it first.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Tie-break This!

Major League Baseball has a potential nightmare on its hands. Oh, it’s not like a steroid scandal or anything; in fact, it would be great for baseball and the fans would love it. This nightmare would be purely logistical.

There’s a possibility – a somewhat remote, statistically slim possibility, but still – that as many as five teams could end up with the same record in a fight over three playoff slots! The Mets, Phillies, Rockies, and Padres are within two games of each other, and the West division-leading D’Backs are only one game better. Now while it probably won’t happen, what if it did? The “tiebreaker scenario” machinery might blow a gasket trying to figure out how to solve that logjam.

It’s much easier when only a few teams are involved. Say, for example, the Mets, Phillies and Padres all finish tied. The Mets and Phillies would hold a one-game playoff to determine the winner of the N.L. East. The loser would then face the Padres for the Wildcard. But what happens if the Rockies join the party? Suddenly, three teams are left vying for the Wildcard. How would that work? A round-robin?

It’s worth rooting for such a scenario if only to see how MLB would solve it. I don’t have the inclination to whip up a spreadsheet to figure out who needs to win or lose and when to make this crazy scenario play out, but I’ll certainly be following that ticker as the season reaches it dénouement.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Rocket Fuel?

We all know Barry Bonds is the poster boy for steroid abuse in baseball. Yet how is it that Roger Clemens consistently gets a free pass in the steroids debate? Has anyone noticed that he's a 45-year old power pitcher? That doesn’t send up any red flags?

I love how everyone dismisses Clemens as a user by saying "He's a workout warrior." HELLO! Who do they think are using all that stuff? Do they think players just inject steroids and become magically muscular overnight? Without the work, steroids won't do a damn thing. It’s these very “workout warriors” whom steroids benefit the most by aiding the body in rapidly repairing itself.

Also, as a player without a contract every year -- and ostensibly retired -- Clemens isn't subject to off-season drug testing. In fact, he can "train" however he likes and wait until it all passes through his system before he rejoins the league. Talk about a "competitive advantage"!

Perhaps, though, it’s all finally catching up with him. Clemens follows a solid outing by getting cuffed around by the likes of the D-Rays. Hamstrings, groins, elbows, menstrual cramps: too many starts missed from too many ailments in just half a season. Simply put, forty-plus players off their cycles shouldn't be counted on for too much consistency. Maybe we'll all get lucky and 2007 will be end of the road for that fat, bloated mercenary and his never-ending career. Good riddance.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Just what DOES it take to get fired around here?

Tom Coughlin shouldn't be the coach of the New York Giants. He was a bad hire and has lived up (down?) to my meager expectations for him since. Last year, the Giants collapsed before our eyes and nearly faded away. Somehow they squeaked into the playoffs but the Coughlin-watch lived on. Again, against all logic, the Giants decided to bring back the Colonel for another go-round. Which brings us to the 2007 season.

The Giants have been arguably one of the worst teams in football. Their 0-2 record is certainly emblematic, but their non-existent, sieve-like defense has actually been football's worst. (Coughlin's personal hire to fix the defense, former Eagles coach Steve Spagnuolo, looks like a great move so far.) The offense -- sparkling in Week 1, sputtering in Week 2 -- faces a stern test in Washington this Sunday.

Let's say, for argument's sake, the Giants turn in another miserable performance. Just what does is take to get fired around here? If the Giants go 0-3, it's a safe assumption that they're not making the playoffs, even in the mediocre NFC. The coach, who was nearly fired last year, will take on instant lame duck status. Coughlin won't be coming back -- you know new GM Jerry Reese wants to put his own man in charge -- so why
waste time as the life drains from the team for the next 13 weeks? Let Kevin Gilbride run the club (he can't be any worse than Coughlin... okay, he can, but that's not the point) while the Giants conduct a season-long audition of coaches around the NFL and NCAA.

How many times have we seen the Giants drag their feet, delaying the inevitable coaching change until all the best prospects have been scooped up by others? (That's exactly how they ended up with Coughlin in
the first place.) Let's be proactive, for once. Being the coach of the New York Giants should be a marquee job in the NFL. Coaches should want to coach there, not turn their noses up in disdain. Show 'em the Giants mean business, that winning actually matters.

Bottom line this Sunday? Go 'Skins...