Unless you’ve been living in a deep dark cave and the
wireless connections in the cave are poor and your I-Phone 26 wasn’t
sufficiently charged for three days and after you jumped into the pool to
continue your workouts for the American Ninja Warrior tournament, you didn’t
put the phone in a box of uncooked Minute Rice for a week to dry it out, you
don’t know that the New York Football Giants – yeah, those guys – currently own
a 1-5 record and appear to be a bunch of dead men walking.
And yes, if all of those factors have played a part in not
understanding that Big Blue could actually be so damn dismal and piss poor this
season, then you didn’t hear all the theorists offer their incredible expertise
as to the reasons why the Giants are dead in the water.
Most of the finger pointing has been directed at one man –
Eli Manning.
And we know that Eli is the easy target. After all, he’s
been the signal caller, the head honcho, the main man, since 2004. He’s
survived the purge of Coughlin, the ascent and subsequent dismissal of that
fiery genius Ben McAdoo and the first six games of new head coach Pat Shurmur
and like Sir Elton John once warbled, “He’s still standing after all this time.”
Sure, Eli has slowed down considerably since his Super Bowl
MVP days and he’s not nearly the signal caller he once was. That’s totally
understandable and verifiable.
But to think that Eli is the main reason why the Giants are
so awful right now is ridiculous.
Sure, he’s the easy target. He’s the face of the team (well,
he should be, but really isn’t now) and he’s the one taking every snap, so it
would make sense to blame him for the mess that the Giants have become.
Honestly, Eli may be somewhat at fault. But he’s not the
main reason. Not by a long shot.
If I’m doing finger pointing here (and that’s why I get paid
the REALLY big bucks to write this blog), I will start with people not even in
uniform.
I have to start my blame with general manager Dave
Gettleman.
Now, I know it’s pretty low of me to slap a man when he’s
down. Gettleman is battling cancer these days and that should be his main
concern. I applaud Gettleman’s courage in facing the hideous disease head on,
the way anyone who gets that kind of diagnosis should. Gettleman has been
steadfast and strong since he was diagnosed and that approach deserves all the
credit in the world.
However, Gettleman didn’t fully address the main problem the
Giants had – namely a weak offensive line. More on that later.
So Gettleman decides that the best way to address the
problem is to move the brutally awful Ereck Flowers from left tackle to right
tackle, to sign former New England Patriot standout Nate Solder to a gigantic
$62 million contract with $35 million guaranteed (I definitely missed my
calling) and then draft the highly regarded Will Hernandez to play left guard.
It all looked good on paper.
Well, it’s been a disaster. Solder has not been as good as
advertised, Hernandez is really not as good as anticipated and Flowers has been
released, only to be signed by Jacksonville, where incredibly he may start this
weekend.
So there’s the reason I blame Gettleman. He knew that the
offensive line was the biggest area of concern and he really didn’t fix it,
because every time Eli drops back to pass, he’s running for his life.
Now, the second layer of blame has to fall on the new head
coach.
Shurmur is already better than McAdoo, no doubt, but he’s
made his share of mistakes thus far. His clock management skills leave a lot to
be desired. His recognition of down-and-distance is sometimes mind boggling.
Off the field, Shurmur seems to be on the defensive ever y
time he’s asked a question by anyone. It’s taken him all of two months to
become as paranoid as McAdoo was. That approach doesn’t work. To be successful
as a head coach of any sport in New York, you have to have the same even keel,
the same demeanor win or lose. It took Tom Coughlin almost two full years to
realize that. The same can be said for Terry Collins with the Mets. If you
think the media is the enemy, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble here,
because as it has been proven over the years, the media can be blood thirsty villains.
I can’t say that I’m one of those, because I don’t have the
same avenues as others. But the pressures of coaching in New York can swallow
you like Orca if you allow them to. Shurmur arrived with the positive approach.
It has disintegrated with the first five losses he has endured here as the
Giants head coach.
I have to include the bleach-blond media superstar as
someone else who deserves blame. Odell Beckham Jr. now has a gigantic contract,
to the tune of $95 million, some $65 million of it guaranteed, in his back pocket.
He got his money. His talents were rewarded, even after some of his ridiculous
antics like making it look like he was peeing in the end zone after a touchdown
in Philly and proposing marriage to the kicking net on the sidelines.
So now Beckham has been rewarded and he will be here for a
while, so he should do one thing right now. Shut up!
There’s no room for him to air out his grievances with a
reporter (with the rapper Lil Wayne sitting alongside nodding his head in
affirmation the whole time) on national television. There’s no room for him to
throw his quarterback under the bus by saying that he’s just no good anymore.
You see, the last time I checked, to be a successful
receiver in the NFL, you have to have the quarterback throw you the damn ball.
You can’t go get the ball on your own. You need that quarterback that you’re
blasting.
So the whole interview that Beckham did with Josina Anderson
of ESPN made no sense. He then tried to say it was done to fire up his team and
make them play better. Well, if Beckham wanted to inspire his teammates, he
should have found a better venue than national television. It would have been
more efficient to go into the locker room and lock the door behind him, making
it players only. Or do it during lunch time in the cafeteria. But not airing
out your problems on national TV.
I said from the first time I laid eyes on the kid in rookie
training camp after he was drafted four years ago. I came away from that first
time, saying that the Giants drafted Jerry Rice. I knew right away he was that
talented.
But here’s my gripe. Never in his storied career as the best
receiver in the history of the game did you hear Jerry Rice ever throw his
quarterback under the bus like that. Never. Jerry went about his business
catching passes from Joe Montana and Steve Young and every other Schmeldrake
that threw him the ball and never said a peep. Beckham goes on national TV.
There lies the difference.
Now, I’m not saying Eli is guilt free here. He’s obviously
not the same player he was 14 years ago when he was drafted. He’s also not the
same player he was when he led the Giants to the two Super Bowl victories.
But anybody and everybody thinks that Eli is the biggest reason for the Giants’
dismal 1-5 record. Hey, even Eli’s numbers support my stand. He’s completed 68
percent of his passes, has more than 1,600 yards passing with six TDs and four
INTs. He had a nearly perfect game in their lone win against Houston. If he’s given the time, Eli could still be a
very effective QB.
The Giants did not do the wrong thing in drafting Saquon
Barkley. The kid is the most gifted combination back I’ve ever seen in terms of
running and pass catching. People want to coronate Todd Gurley right now as
being the best. I’m convinced Barkley is better. The kid has it all.
But there’s no way all the blame has to be thrown at the
feet of Eli Manning. Giants fans cannot second guess drafting Barkley ahead of
Sam Darnold. As good as Darnold has looked with the Jets, Barkley is a better
player.
The Giants screwed up by
overvaluing Solder and Hernandez and thinking they could solve all of the
offensive line’s woes. That’s where the
blame has to fall before Eli gets the short stick.
If you’re a movie fan, run, don’t walk, to the theater to go
see “A Star Is Born,” with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
If you haven’t seen it already, the movie is tremendous and
it will be an Oscar winner. I can’t say it will win Oscars for Best Picture or
even for Best Actor/Director for Cooper and Best Actress for Gaga. It wouldn’t
shock me if nominations come for them in all categories. Their performances are
that worthy, especially Gaga as an actress and Cooper as a first-time director.
Cooper’s attention to detail as a director is incredible, like
camera angles on emotional scenes and concert footage. Cooper did a masterful
job and is definitely worthy of earning an Oscar nomination in his first movie,
much like people like Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Kevin
Costner and Mel Gibson did as rookies before him. Not joking here at all, but
the late and great Jerry Lewis was a genius when it came to being a director
and that side of his talent is so grossly overlooked. Redford’s work in “Ordinary
People” was astounding and earned him the Best Director Oscar. Same for Costner
with “Dances With Wolves” and Gibson with “Braveheart.”
But where “A Star Is Born” is a lock to win an Oscar is with
the Best Original Song. Pick one, but there are three that will get nominated
and one of the three will most definitely earn Gaga her Oscar as the
singer/songwriter.
If we’re giving out four stars
for a movie’s excellence, well, this one gets five stars. It’s that powerful of
a movie and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
On the TV scene this season, I’m already hooked on “God
Friended Me” on CBS on Sundays and “A Million Little Things” on ABC on
Wednesdays. Both series are beyond excellent and have joined “This Is Us” on my
must-watch list every week.
I’m still watching “New Amsterdam” on NBC, but not totally
crazy about it like the other two. It’s
good, not great.
As for the “Murphy Brown” reboot, I say “Eh.” I was excited
to see if it had the same juice as the “Will and Grace” and “Roseanne” reboots,
but it’s really not the same. I still watch “Will and Grace” but I’m not
experiencing the same belly laughs that I used to have. Maybe because there’s a
lot less belly these days. I watched “The Conners” the other day and I will
give it a few more tries, but it’s really hard to watch that show without
Roseanne. As stupid as what she Tweeted was, she still was the lifeline of that
show and without her, it’s going to take some getting used to.
OK, I know, here come the darts
at me. Hey, Hague, stick to sports. I get it.
Two things about Hudson County high school football: One, if
you get a chance to catch the exploits of Jamar Casey of Lincoln play, do so.
Go to www.hudl.com and watch some of the kid’s
highlights. He’s electric when he touches the ball. He’s not the biggest kid in
the world, but he does some amazing things with the ball in his hands. And he’s
one of the most respectful and considerate young men I’ve ever interviewed. He’s
a credit to Robert Hampton and the Lincoln coaching staff, but he’s more of a
credit to his parents for raising him the right way. He has excellent grades
and it’s hard to determine if he’s a better student or a better football
player.
And I’m telling you this: Jamar Casey is one of the most
electrifying football players I’ve ever seen in my nearly 40 years of covering
high school football.
Secondly, kudos go out to Union City and head coach Wilber
Valdez, who now own a 6-1 record after manhandling North Bergen, 49-7, Friday
night in what was dubbed as “The Battle for the Boulevard.”
Well, thanks to standout running back Jean Alvarez, who
scored an incredible five touchdowns, the Soaring Eagles soared their way to
the top of their divisional standings in the New Jersey Super Football
Conference (please don’t make me look up which division it is – OK, it’s the
Liberty White Division) and have pretty much sealed the deal on a divisional
title.
The Soaring Eagles lost a lot of players that went all the way
to MetLife Stadium for the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group V championship
game last year, so one might have thought that this would be a rebuilding year
for Valdez and his team.
But the Soaring Eagles are right
in the hunt for another push towards MetLife in December and that’s a credit to
Valdez, who has done an absolute masterful job this season.
You can read more of my stuff at www.hudsonreporter.com and www.theobserver.com