Hey Tiki, Shut Up!

Tiki Barber hasn't even started his new job(s) yet and I'm already sick of listening to him.

After ten years with the New York Giants, Barber has retired from football to begin his career in broadcasting -- landing roles with NBC on both the "Today Show" and Sunday Night Football.

While neither gig has started, Tiki was already offering up some choice soundbytes t his introduction as NBC's newest "star" correspondent:

The "constant grind" of playing for Giants head coach Tom Coughlin had "started to take its toll on me" and that it was an "act of God' that the physical demands Coughlin placed on him did not result in serious injuries. Oh brother ... it's amazing he didn't start referring to himself in the third-person.

"The grind ... really forced me to start thinking about what I wanted to do next. And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing, for me at least. Maybe not for the Giants, because they lose one of their great players, but for me, it is." Very humble, nice touch ...

"My dream has always been to be on the 'Today Show'." Sincere? Not!

ESPN article

Thoughts on (Not So) Super Bowl XL

There have been 40 Super Bowls. Of the 19 that were decided by less than two touchdowns, this was the worst.

Poorly played. Someone tell Ben Roethlisberger that Chad Pennington called and he wants him arm back. It's unlikely any QB will ever again play that poorly and still win the Super Bowl. You know you're in trouble when the best pass of the day is thrown by a wide receiver.

Poorly officiated. The refs weren't favoring Pittsburgh, it just seemed that way because the majority of the calls they blew went against Seattle.

Poorly coached by Mike Holmgren, who looked like a graduate of the Herm Edwards School of Clock Management.

Weak excuses from Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for missing the pre-game introduction of past-Super Bowl MVPs. Tiger Woods demands an appearance fee ... but at least he admits it. Good job by whoever at the NFL made the call to say no to Montana and Bradshaw's inflated senses of self-worth.

Weak commercials. If it wasn't for some gratuitous violence (always entertaining), the ads wouldn't have produced as much as a chuckle all evening. Where is Terry Tate, Office Linebacker when you need him?

Heck, the Rolling Stones can do no wrong in my book and even they weren't 100% on top of their game. At least they got to do their thing (network bleeps notwithstanding) and weren't conned into a lip-synched half-time embarrassment with some no-talent flavor of the week (anyone seen Justin Timberlake lately?).

Big Tackles from Big Bens

Ironically, the two best defensive plays of the NFL divisional playoffs were tackles made by offensive players.

Champ Bailey's interception and 100-yard return of a Tom Brady pass was not only the most important play in the Denver Broncos' 27-13 win over the New England Patriots, but also the set-up to the most entertaining play of the entire weekend. While Bailey was decelerating to enjoy the final yards of what he thought was a clear path to the end zone, Pats tight end Ben Watson continued his own 100-yard dash from the opposite end zone ... only Watson never slowed down to celebrate. Watson hit Bailey like a freight train about one-foot shy of the end zone, separating Bailey from the ball and sending both flying out-of-bounds. Denver eventually scored, but Watson's play was reminiscent of Super Bowl XXVII when Don Beebe - in one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history - came from out of nowhere to strip the ball away from a showboating Leon Lett. Bailey's play may have put an end to New England's dreams of a three-peat, but it was Watson's hustle play that will remain etched in the minds of football fans forever.

The other Big Ben - Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger - provided a season-saving tackle in the most unlikely of circumstances. The Steelers were up 21-18 with 1:20 remaining and the ball on the Colts 2. Roethlisberger handed off to Jerome Bettis expecting "The Bus" to plunge into the end zone and put the game out of reach. Instead, Indy's Gary Brackett knocked the ball loose and Nick Harper scooped it up and took off toward the Steelers' goal line. Bettis had only fumbled once in the previous two seasons so there's no way Roethlisberger could be anticipating a fumble. Plus his instinct in that situation would be to go for the ball or to try and make the tackle right away -- either of which would have been disastrous. Instead, Big Ben showed the presence of mind to immediately begin sprinting backwards to try and get in position to slow Harper down enough that one of his teammates could catch him from behind. Roethlisberger did even better than that -- making the game-saving tackle himself at the Colts 42. Roethlisberger's heads-up play saved Jerome Bettis from the nightmare of having the final play of his NFL career go down as one of the biggest blunders in NFL history. Instead, Pittsburgh gets "The Tackle" to go alongside 1972's "Immaculate Reception" as two of the greatest - and most improbable - plays in NFL playoff history.

Relax Giants Fans, Eli is Still the Man

It's been less than 24 hours since the New York Giants suffered one of the worst home playoff losses in NFL history, so it's understandable that the team's fans - as well as the media - are using today to rip into the team ... and they deserve it. The final score of 23-0 isn't even indicative of just how dominant the Carolina Panthers were in every single facet of the game. Consider these incredibly one-sided stats:

* Carolina held a staggering 42:45 - 17:15 advantage in time of possession

* Carolina ran 71 plays to only 35 for the Giants

* Carolina gained 335 total yards to only 132 for the Giants

It was – in every way – an embarrassment for the entire team, including the coaching staff. Yet – rightly or wrongly – the NFL is a quarterback league. Quarterbacks get a disproportionate amount of credit when a team wins ... but they also get a disproportionate share of the blame when their team loses.

Don’t worry, this is not where we start to explain how Eli Manning really wasn’t all that bad yesterday against the Carolina Panthers. He was that bad. In fact, he was awful. He looked like exactly what he is -- a 25-year-old, second year pro who was playing in the first NFL playoff game of his career. And that is what Giants fans – and the media – have to keep in mind. Sure, it would have been great if Eli Manning had played with poise beyond his years and carried the Giants to victory against a team that was much better prepared to win yesterday ... but it didn’t happen. Get over it.

Before the season began, the Giants would have eagerly signed up for an 11-5 regular season, an NFC East title and steady signs of progress from their neophyte franchise QB. Well, that’s exactly what they got. [Question: Does Walt “Clyde” Frazier actually own the rights to word "neophyte" or does it just feel that way?].

However, the feeling around New York today is that the Giants might actually have a problem at quarterback ... or at least cause for concern. Maybe Eli Manning will never develop into the QB everyone – and we mean everyone – expected he’d develop into. Relax. It was one game.

While there are no guarantees in sports, here's a scenario that will put things into perspective. You're starting an NFL franchise and can pick any player in the game to build your team's future around. Who's it gonna be?

Sure, Peyton Manning (age 29) and Tom Brady (28) are #1 and #2. Put them in any order you like, but if you're picking at number three, they're both off the board. So who are you going to take at three? Not easy, right? But as you start to consider the names, it's impossible NOT to include Eli Manning in the discussion ... even after yesterday's disaster. Ben Roethlisberger (23) and Carson Palmer (26) would certainly be in the mix (assuming Palmer comes back 100% from yesterday's knee injury). Maybe even college superstars Matt Leinart and Vince Young, though most likely not as early as number three. But that's really about it.

Matt Hasselbeck, Trent Green, Jake Plummer, Jack Delhomme, Kerry Collins, Steve McNair and Brett Favre are all competent QBs ... but they’re all at least 30 and would not be selected ahead of Eli Manning to build around.

There are also a number of other under-30 QBs would may have bright futures in the NFL, including:

Kyle Boller, 24 Drew Brees, 26 Marc Bulger, 28 David Carr, 26 Daunte Culpepper, 28 Byron Leftwich, 25 Donovan McNabb, 29 Kyle Orton, 23 Chad Pennington, 29 Philip Rivers, 24 Aaron Rodgers, 22 Chris Simms, 25 Alex Smith, 21 Michael Vick, 25

Admit it Giants fans, wouldn't you rather have your team's future tied to Eli Manning than any of these guys? Even the great (and by great we mean vastly overrated) Michael Vick? Yes you would.

So what was the point of this exercise? Simply to point out that if you're building around a guy who would arguably be the third overall pick in an expansion draft of the entire league, then things really aren’t all that bad. Just ask the fans of the 25 or so teams who have their Super Bowl dreams pinned on a quarterback whose future remains less promising than that of Eli Manning ... even is he did stink up the joint yesterday.

If Herm Edwards Wants to Leave ... Let Him

The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly interested in hiring current Jets coach Herm Edwards to take over for the retiring Dick Vermeil. One problem -- Edwards still has two years left on his contract with the New York Jets.

To his credit, Edwards had the Jets playing hard right to the end of the season ... even when it was costing them a shot at Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Herm Edwards is not a special coach. Good motivator. Terrible game coach. Good results when Chad Pennington is healthy and Curtis Martin is productive. Terrible results when the Chad/Curtis combo is not available to him.

Edwards says he wants to stay with the Jets. Don’t believe it. Edwards wants a raise and an extension ... from whoever is willing to give it to him. And Jets owner Woody Johnson would be foolish to give Edwards either after a 4-12 season.

Jets fans should prepare themselves for a new coach. If Edwards was committed to remaining the head coach of the Jets, then all the speculation over him leaving for Kansas City would have already been silenced. No one benefits when the head coach wants to be somewhere else ... just ask any owner that has continued to sign paychecks for Bill Parcells or Larry Brown while they were busy lining up their next jobs.

If Edwards really wants to leave, then let him ... but accept nothing less than a first-round draft pick as compensation. The Chiefs would be foolish to offer a first-round pick for Herm Edwards. The Jets would be even more foolish to turn it down.

Final 2005 Grades for New York Teams

2005 is over. Time to hand out grades to the professional sports franchises in New York. By New York, we include the football Giants and Jets (which are really New Jersey teams) AND the Buffalo Bills (which really is a New York team). First a look at each team's winning percentage [and record] during calendar year 2005 (including playoff games, if any):

Team Giants Rangers Yankees Nets Mets Islanders Devils Bills Knicks Jets	Winning Pct. [W-L] .706 [12-5] .667 [22-11-5] .581 [97-70] .563 [49-38] .512 [83-79] .486 [17-18-2] .471 [16-18-5] .313 [5-11] .296 [24-57] .222 [4-14]

Collectively, New York teams went 329-321 for an entirely uninspiring .506 winning percentage. Five teams had winning records, while five others lost more games than they won. Three teams (Yankees, Nets, Jets) played post-season games. One other team (Giants) played well enough in 2005 to qualify for the playoffs in 2006. Three other teams played a sport (hockey) which - through its own stupidity - didn't even have any playoffs in 2005.

GRADES:

Yankees: C+
For most teams, a 95-67 regular season, a division title and a trip to the playoffs would merit a significantly better grade than a C+ -- the Yankees aren't most teams. With the highest payroll and winningest tradition in sports history, nothing less than winning the World Series is truly acceptable ... and for the last five years the Yankees' final game of each season has been a playoff loss. Not acceptable. Maybe Johnny Damon can help change that in 2006.

Mets: B-
How do the Mets finish 12 games worse than the Yankees and still get a better grade? Lower expectations. New-additions Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran led the Mets to 83 wins and a third-place finish -- a 12-game improvement over 2004. After adding Pedro Delgado and Billy Wagner, it will take another 12-game improvement and a trip to the playoffs to earn better than a C+ in 2006.

Giants: A-
Rebounded from a disappointing 6-10 season in 2004 to capture the NFC East with an 11-5 mark. Tiki Barber was the New York sports MVP of 2005 (sorry A-Rod). Eli Manning may never be the best quarterback in his family but he's the best in the New York ... by a wide margin (sorry Chad). Note: 12-5 record for Giants includes winning final game of 2004 regular season, which was played in 2005.

Jets: D+
Why not an F? It might seem like ages ago, but the Jets actually started 2005 with a two-week playoff run which - with better coaching and placekicking - could have easily lasted at least another week. The 2005 season began with high hopes but - like so many other season in J-E-T-S history - quickly disintegrated into frustration ... desperation ... embarrassment ... and, finally, talk of rebuilding from scratch. Not pretty.

Bills: D
Finished 9-7 in 2004 and seemed to found a stud running back in Willis McGahee, so Bills fans were not prepared to go 5-11 this season. McGahee proved to be a workhorse but it turns out replacing Drew Bledsoe was harder than expected as neither Kelly Holcomb not J.P. Losman distinguished himself at QB.

Nets: B
Finished the 2004-05 season with a 32-22 run to make the playoffs, only to get swept in four straight by the Miami Heat. Started this season 9-12 before winning eight straight to end silly speculation over coach Lawrence Frank's job security and Vince Carter's value to the franchise. If these Nets played at Madison Square Garden, New York would once again be the great basketball city it still considers itself.

Knicks: F
The reason New York City can no longer be considered a truly great basketball town. Finished last season by losing 36 of their final 53 games. The arrival of Larry Brown raised expectations but the team has done the inconceivable -- they'll actually gotten worse under the tutelage of the Hall of Fame coach. The Knicks receive New York's only failing grade for 2005 ... and they've earned it. While the Jets were nearly as bad [excluding their playoff run that began the year], there are two big differences:

1. The Jets always played hard ... unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Knicks.
2. The Jets still own the high draft pick they earned through their losing ways ... the Knicks dealt their pick - maybe a #1 overall - to Chicago in the Eddy Curry deal. Oops.

Rangers: INCOMPLETE
Devils: INCOMPLETE
Islanders: INCOMPLETE
Sorry, but when the hockey pucks that are in charge of your sport cancel an entire season, you don't get a grade. Check in again next year.

For Giants: Back Door IN = First Round OUT

The New York Giants had a chance to enter the playoffs for the first time in three years via the front door but stumbled against the Washington Redskins, falling 35-20 in a disturbingly flat, uninspired effort. One day later, the Giants were handed a gift when the Baltimore Ravens upset the Minnesota Vikings 30-23 -- securing a wildcard berth for the Giants.

Makes no difference how you make the playoffs as long as you make them, right? Wrong. At least in the case of an inconsistent team with an inexperienced quarterback. Had the New England Patriots backed their way into the playoffs - which they haven't - they would still be a feared opponent once the post-season began. Not so for the fledging Giants. The Redskins game was a test for the Giants. They failed the test.

The Giants face another test this coming Saturday and need to deliver a passing performance if they hope to make anything other than a cameo appearance in the playoffs. A road win against the Oakland Raiders will earn the Giants the division title. A loss and their only shot at the division title is - once again - via the back door. A Redskins loss on Sunday in Philadelphia - unlikely but far from impossible - would hand the Giants the division title.

Wild card teams can still win the Super Bowl, right? Right ... but forget about the Giants adding their name to that short list if they need to win all their post-season games on the road -- which is exactly what they'll need to do if they fail to win the division. The Giants are 3-4 record on the road season -- really 2-4 if you exclude a bogus "road" win over New Orleans at Giants Stadium at the beginning of the season. And those two wins came against a rotten San Francisco team and an injury-depleted Philadelphia team.

The good news for the Giants is that Oakland is bad news. In fact, they're a complete mess -- losers of five straight, scoring a total of three touchdowns in their last four games. At 4-11, Oakland has nothing on the line ... except the opportunity to play the spoiler. And what could be sweeter for Kerry Collins, the QB the Giants pushed aside to make room for Eli Manning? Collins has received too much blame for Oakland's wretched season, but - in what will likely be his final game for the Raiders - he'll try to prove the Giants made a mistake in letting him go. Collins won't be able to prove that because - in the long-run - the Giants were correct to hand the reigns to Manning. However, that doesn't mean that Collins can't be the best QB on the field this Saturday. And if he is, Giants fans better prepare for a one-and-done post-season -- regardless of what favors the Philadelphia Eagles might do for them on Sunday.

Tiki Barber: MVP

Tiki Barber is the NFL's Most Valuable player. That's not to say that he will win the award ... only that he deserves to win it. Logic suggests that the sheer volume of media coverage in New York would insure that the accomplishments of an athlete playing in New York would never be overlooked. Nevertheless, Barber - for some strange reason - continues to be underrated outside of New York. Two possible explanations for why Barber will not receive the MVP award:

1. The insistence of the NFL, the media and the fans to focus on rushing yardage as the key statistic when evaluating running backs rather than total yards from scrimmage (combined rushing AND receiving yardage). How overlooked is yards from scrimmage? You can't even find it on the National Football League's official web site. After 14 games, Shaun Alexander has rushed for 91 more yards than Barber ... but Barber has 421 receiving yards to only 72 for Alexander. In terms of total yards from scrimmage, Barber is an impressive 210 yards ahead of his nearest competitor (Edgerrin James). In fact, Barber is on pace for the seventh most yards from scrimmage in a single season EVER!

2. The other key statistic that can make or break a running back's season in the eyes of MVP voters is touchdowns scored. Again, the emphasis is wrongly placed on rushing touchdowns rather than TOTAL touchdowns. Shaun Alexander - with an amazing 24 rushing touchdowns - has a shot at the single-season record of 27 (Priest Holmes, 2003). Barber is at a big disadvantage in this category with only eight rushing touchdowns (plus another two receiving TDs). However, it's Giants coach Tom Coughlin - not Barber - that is to blame for Tiki's relatively low TD production. Alexander gets all the goal line carries for Seattle - as he should - and has responded by scoring 24 of his team's 26 total rushing touchdowns. In contrast, Barber has only eight of the Giants' 15 total rushing touchdowns because of Coughlin's irrational insistence on force-feeding rookie Brandon Jacobs the overwhelming majority of the short-yardage carries near the goal line. Such a strategy would have some merit if Barber's backfield teammate was someone like Jerome Bettis ... but to deny Barber the opportunity to register the TD in favor of a rookie who - so far - hasn't even demonstrated any aptitude for the role makes no sense whatsoever.

So, when the NFL MVP Award for 2005 is handed to Shaun Alexander (or Carson Palmer or Peyton Manning), Tiki Barber can thank the ignorance of the voters (for failing to recognize yards from scrimmage as the key stat for running backs) as well as his own coaching staff (for failing to do what's best for the team and give him the ball at the goal line) for costing him the award. Tiki's so classy and media-savvy that he'd never complain publicly but that doesn't change the fact that he'll have every right to feel slighted.

Losing is NOT Good for the Colts

The Indianapolis Colts have lost to the San Diego Chargers 26-17 -- ending their quest for an unprecedented 16-0 season. The automatic response from many cliche-lovers will be that "this is what's best for the Colts" ... because "now they can focus on winning the Super Bowl" ... and "in the big picture it's more important to win the Super Bowl than to go undefeated in the regular season". Nonsense. Every year somebody wins the Super Bowl ... and a few years later hardly anybody really cares or remembers anymore. No team has EVER gone 16-0. Plus, it's not like it was an either-or proposition. The Colts could have gone 16-0 AND won the Super Bowl ... in which case they'd have to be considered one of the greatest teams of ALL-TIME. With the undefeated season no longer an option, the Super Bowl now remains as the only thing left to shoot for and - judging by their loss to San Diego and their performance in post-seasons past - it's by no means a sure thing that Indianapolis will even be in the Super Bowl, much less win the thing. So appreciate what the Colts have accomplished so far this season, but don't pretend that there's a silver lining in losing a bid at immortality ... because there isn't.

NFL Playoff Thoughts ...

It appears you need to be a self-promoting jerk like Randy Moss or Terrell Owens to be considered an elite wide receiver -- otherwise Hines Ward would be mentioned in the same breath with those guys ... Ben Roethlisberger had a great season but he's still a rookie -- and he finally looked like one against the Jets and the Patriots ... Michael Vick is an absolutely incredible athlete but has a long way to go before he can be considered a great quarterback ... Peyton Manning is to Dan Marino and Dan Fouts as Tom Brady is to Bart Starr and Troy Aikman -- the former had great stats and no rings; the latter, great coaching and lots of championships ... The Jets find themselves in an awkward position -- Herm Edwards does a good enough job in the regular season to keep his job but the team will NEVER win a Super Bowl with him as the head coach. He's a good rah-rah coach Monday through Saturday but is among the worst game coaches in recent memory -- wouldn't most head coaches be embarrassed (or insulted, take your pick) by needing an assistant in charge of clock management? ... Marty Schottenheimer and Herm Edwards subscribe to the same coaching philosophy – don’t play to win, but rather not to lose. A somewhat subtle distinction, but one which explains why the two never have and never will win a Super Bowl. It’s no coincidence that both the Chargers and the Jets had their respective seasons end on long, missed field goals. Both Schottenheimer and Edwards immediately stopped trying to advance the football as soon as they reached the outer limit of the their placekicker’s range. Both were content – almost eager – to transfer all the responsibility and pressure (AND the potential for post-game criticism) to their kicker, rather than playing to win. Of course, playing to win requires the coach to make some difficult decisions and take some risks and – when those risks don’t pan out – to face the inevitable second-guessing by the fans and the media. Neither Schottenheimer nor Edwards was willing to make those difficult decisions and take those risks ... and, once again, both have the extra vacation time to show for it.