Let The Word Go Forward
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- October
- 28
from this place and time that American football should never touch European soil again. And let us hope the British stand in the forefront of the movement.
Those folks who paid for their seats got to see a muddy mess that should have the Wembley Stadium groundskeepers on strike for the next year and a half. That’s what the NFL gets for putting a football game on a soccer field. It’s not a durable grass, and it showed as soon as the rain started falling, which it did in varying degrees for most of the game.
Which brings us to another point. What in the world was Tom Coughlin doing calling pass plays for Eli Manning? It was obvious early on that he was not going to adapt to the conditions, but the plays kept coming in. A good arguement could be made that Manning should not have thrown even 17 or 18 times in weather like that. Reuben Droughns should have gotten more than eight carries for 27 yards, especially in that he was running fairly well. Brandon Jacobs did a super job, though, in rushing for a career-high 131 yards on 23 carries.
Lawrence Tynes’ job should be squarely on the line now after missing a 29-yard field goal that would have all but iced the game. And Manning nearly cost the Giants points with some major gaffes in a perfectly horrible passing game. He did look good, though, as he ran one scramble in for a touchdown from the 10, and took another 18 yards. He was the three of the three-headed monster this week.
Cornerback Kevin Dockery was the only major injury to come out of the game, as he injured his shoulder in the second quarter. Michael Strahan was also seen getting what looked like a cramp stretched out on the sideline, but he continued playing.
As for the concept of playing overseas, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It wreaks of arrogance, pure and simple. Just another chance for an empire to grow richer through sale of jerseys. Let the rest of the world have soccer and rugby, and leave American football where it belongs—in America.
I will now descend from the soapbox.
Ciao for now.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 9:27 pm by Ernie Palladino.
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Ernie Palladino
Ernie, You have a lot of company on this soapbox.
This was all about greed, nothing else. “God
Save The Queen” doesn’t go with the NFL.
I am not giving Eli a “pass” on his bad performance.
Wind is much worse than rain, and even Coughlin
said the rain stopped now and then.
A tricky and wet field slows the game down, but still
should favor the offenses. You’d never know it
by watching the Giants’ offense yesterday.
Back to games outside the US…can you imagine
the furor if this had been a Giants home game
taken away, or if the Dolphins had been 6-1 going
into the game and their fans lost a home game?
The entire idea stinks.
Ernie – the horror show yesterday could have been much worse, unbelievably! I was expecting at least 4-5 twisted knees and ankles on each team due to the field conditions.
BTW – yesterday was the very first time I saw Eli remind me of his dad Archie. That 10 yard scramble into the end zone. If he had a #8 on his back circa 1973, it would have been Archie running for his life as a NO Saint….he runs the same way.
Given that the field conditions were the same for both teams, the Giants should have won the game by more than three points. Thank goodness the Dolphins had an ex-Giant kicker to miss a field goal and kick the onsides attempt out of bounds.
I’m also disturbed that the Dolphins seemed to adjust better to the conditions after halftime. If the game had been five periods long they definitely would have won. I was going to excuse all of the drops and the poor throws until I watched the Dolphin QB throw accurately and effectively near the end of the game. The fish TD catch, with the receiver stretched out in the air, demonstated that good catches were possible (Did the receiver have stickum on his gloves?).
If the Giants don’t get it together, Dallas will thrash them again.
Have to agree with you about the play-calling. I could not believe they kept throwing, throwing, throwing. Dolphins couldn’t stop Jacobs and Droughns, and the Giants could have just chewed up the second half on the ground.
Back to games outside the US…can you imagine
the furor if this had been a Giants home game
taken away, or if the Dolphins had been 6-1 going
into the game and their fans lost a home game? ...
Del85, you’d best get used to the idea. You are going to see more of it, even though I am with you. I think it’s a lousy idea, and it penalizes the home team and the fans who pay for games they won’t see.
Ed, You’re right. But I’m souring on this
entire “NFL Experience.” Too many teams,
not enough good players, and many players
just “pass through” waiting for their
next free agency offer.
It’s hard to tell who is with who in
the League anymore, and sometimes on your
own team. I’ve had Giants
season tickets a long time, but if they
put that seat licensing thing into the
new stadium, I’m outta there.
Flex scheduling also is done for TV money.
It hurts the fans, especially those who
go to the games.
Enough is enough. Greed will kill the
Golden Goose before too long—that and
an inferior quality of play in much of the League.
And don’t even get into baseball or basketball.
Baseball playoff games ending at 1 a.m.? No thanks.