Daily Archives: January 26, 2012

Coughlin to Team: ‘and now there are two’

Here it comes, folks. Let the endless onslaught of redundant questions and answers begin!

Today was the first day of practice for both the Giants and the Patriots. Each team will be trailed not only by their regular local media pools (which includes us) but the national and international media as well. We will try to cut through the grizzle to get to the meat of the news for you.

Here are some highlights from head coach Tom Coughlin’s Thursday media session:

On how practice went today:
“We have been off for a few days, I wouldn’t say the practice was sharp but I believe it was okay. There are a number of guys that were not able to participate today and I think you know who they are but hopefully we will get some of them tomorrow and then as we move along, we will get them all back in preparation to play an exceptional New England Patriot football team who has a 10-game winning streak since the time that we visited there.”

On why seven players sat out of practice….
“We are trying to be smart and not aggravate something that is there that will be able to be managed in a short amount of time and make sure that there is not anything else that happens.”

To read more of this story, click here

Nicks Sits Out Thursday Practice Session

The Giants conducted their first practice in preparation for next Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown with New England.

It was no surprise that RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) sat out as well as WR Hakeem Nicks (shoulder). The guess is both will be taking it easier than normal with no game this week.

S Tyler Sash (concussion) was cleared to practice and DE Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee) was limited as usual.

Also not practicing in full today were CB Corey Webster (hamstring), LB Chase Blackburn (neck), DB Will Blackmon (knee), C David Baas (abdomen) and LB Jacquian Williams (foot).

From the ownership group, two injuries to report: Mrs. Ann Mara fell the other day and broke her shoulder. Treasurer Jon Tisch was hobbling around TIMEX today on crutches in a cast.

Up in Foxbourough, the Patriots’ practice report was exactly the same as it was yesterday. TE Rob Gronkowski (ankle) was the only player who did not participate in practice. No word on when he’ll attempt to get back on the field.

“We’ll just have to see, you know,” Bill Belichick said. “He’s not going to practice today, so take it day by day. I’m not going to try to forecast where things will be 10 days from now. We’ll just take it day by day.”

Eli is the 15th Most Powerful Athlete in World

In a recent study by CSE, Giants’ QB Eli Manning been ranked the 15th most powerful athlete in the world. He is one of five NFL players in the top 15.

Saint’ QB Drew Brees, the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots were ranked 1-2-3 respectively, while Detroit Lions’ WR Calvin Johnson placed 10th.

From CSE….

The 2012 Power 100 ranking of the most powerful professional athletes in the U.S was released tonight by Bloomberg/Businessweek, revealing Drew Brees at the top of the list and 26 football players (including four heading to the Super Bowl) on the list.

CSE’s Analytics team, lead by VP, Analytics, David Newman, evaluated more than 3,000 athletes across a variety of sports, with 50 percent based on “off-field” measurements and 50 percent on “on-field” performance. CSE’s proprietary analytics utilizes a range of industry statistics, including data from E-Poll.

The full Power 100 special report is available on Bloomberg.com at http://bloom.bg/w11d4Y.

DNL: A Conversation With Al Michaels

NBC football sportscaster Al Michaels joined Jonas Schwartz on Daily News Live Tuesday to preview the 2012 Super Bowl matchup between the Giants and the Patriots. Michaels will be in the broadcast booth next Sunday alongside analyst Cris Collinsworth to deliver the play-by-play.

LT: Football is Easy; Life is Hard

Giants’ Hall of Fame LB Lawrence Taylor appeared on Showtime’s Inside the NFL on Wednesday night to discuss the current state of his life.

“As easy as football is to me … is as hard as life is to me,” Taylor told the panel. “I’m just hopeful that life will come easier.”

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A Giants’ Win Could Hit Bookies Hard

The Giants came from nowhere in just six weeks to make the Super Bowl. Green Bay was a heavy favorite at short odds as were New England and New Orleans.

The Giants’ prospects were hanging around 30 to 40-1 to win the Super Bowl most of the year. At one point, you could have bet them at 80-1. If the Giants win next week, Vegas could be hit hard by many who had blind faith in Big Blue.

From Sam Borden of The Times:

Jimmy Vaccaro, head of the Lucky’s Race and Sports Book, said in an interview this week that while he took only a few bets that could reap big payoffs for a Giants victory, he had heard from other oddsmakers who are at significantly greater risk.

“They got hit pretty hard at the high number,” Vaccaro said. “If the Giants win this game, it could do some damage out here, there is no doubt. A lot of guys were rooting for San Francisco on Sunday, I can tell you that.”

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New York Giants Report for Jan 26

Today begins the official run-up to the Super Bowl. Both the Giants and the Patriots will hold regular workouts at their facilities today.

Yesterday, the league issued a practice report, although there was no practices held.

The Giants have very few names on the list:

RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), WR Hakeem Nicks (shoulder) and S Tyler Sash (concussion) were the only three that would not have practiced. DE Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee) would have been limited, but he’s usually listed as such.

New England would have had only one player – TE Rob Gronkowski – on the did not participate list. Gronkowski sprained ligaments in his ankle in the AFC Championship Game and is currently in a boot.  See below article for the full report.

Gronkowski’s health is a huge key to this game. The Pats’ second-year TE set an NFL single-season record for touchdowns by a TE (18) and was second in scoring by behind another Giants’ nemesis – the Eagles’ LeSean McCoy, who had 20.

In the Week 9 meeting vs the Giants, Gronkowski had eight catches for 101 yards and a TD.

GEICO SportsNite has coverage of the Giants and the Patriots as they prepare for their matchup in Super Bowl XLVI.

New York Giants Headlines for Jan 26

Today it begins. Yesterday was an off day for both clubs, so the pickins are pretty thin,but we always manage to fill the palate….