Written by: O

   Nothing can take away the Super Bowl for the New York Giants.  Their improbable title run will be talked about for decades to come.  How they won 3 playoff games on the road in order to just get to the Super Bowl, including Brett Favre’s last game in Lambeau Field (at least that’s what he told us).  Then holding the league’s greatest offense to only 14 points by doing the most important in football, pressuring the quarterback and scoring the game-winning touchdown on a drive that included one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history.  Beating the undefeated Patriots was one of the biggest upsets in the NFL history and the exciting way in which it happened, people started wondering if a repeat could happen.

    Looking at the Giants now, one may wonder how they are going to make it to the season.  Their star tight end, Jeremy Shockey, was in a ton of trade discussions, mainly because of the Giants’ success without him last season and the play of his replacement last season in rookie tight end Kevin Boss.   Then Michael Strahan, one of the best defensive ends of the last decade, decided to retire, taking away one of the greatest pass rushers ever.  Their star wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, has been holding out waiting for a new contract.  Ahmad Bradshaw, one of their running backs, who really emerged at the end of last year, was caught driving while intoxicated.  This was not exactly the type of offseason the Giants were aiming for when preparing for this upcoming season.

    The thing is that the New York Giants are still the champions and means something.  Their quarterback, Eli Manning, ridiculed mercilessly for most of last year, ended up being a Super Bowl MVP and one has to believe that his conference and his burden of being “Payton’s little brother” has been lifted.  Last year’s rookies, all of whom seemed to have a role in the Super Bowl win, now have experience to go with their talent, which should make them a little better at least.  This year’s draft looks to be successful as well as they addressed their issues at defensive backs with 1^st round pick Kenny Phillips, a free safety and their 2^nd round pick Terrell Thomas, a cornerback.  Talent looks like it will not be a problem.

    The biggest plus for the Giants may be their fans.  They have to be tired of their rivals up north in Boston winning title after title in one sport or another.  The Giants made sure that the Boston area did not have the trifecta of winning a title in the three major sports in the United States.  This means that the Giants should have a loyal following this season, which looks like it could be another one full of adventure, nothing new for the New York Giants. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Random Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.