Posted in College Football on December 31, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
So if anyone hasn’t heard, the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl was played yesterday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. It was a great game between Kansas State and Syracuse, but there was major controversy in the final minute. With Kansas State down by eight with 1:30 to go, wide receiver Adrian Hillburn caught a touchdown pass to cut the lead to two. After he caught the pass, he saluted the Kansas State fans in the back of the endzone. Afterwards, the referee went up to the player and said to him, “You’re going to regret that.” The ref threw the flag and called him for unsportsmanlike conduct. With Kansas State having to go for two, the Wildcats got the ball at the 17 yard line instead of the two for the two point conversion. The Wildcats failed on the conversion and lost 38-36.
Are you kiddin’ me? You have no idea how much this pisses me off. Personally, I’m not a fan of any touchdown celebrations, but this is absurd. A salute? That’s not a celebration. That’s just acknowledging the fans that have traveled from Kansas. The referee, Todd Geerlings, explained the celebration as, “a choreographed act by drawing attention to himself.” If this is unsportsmanlike conduct, how about the Tennessee quarterback last night giving a choke sign to the North Carolina fans after scoring a touchdown? And the funny thing is that both games were officiated by Big Ten crews. Absolutely unfair.
While we are discussing unsportsmanlike conducts, let’s talk about the NFL. Isn’t the NFL supposed to keep the league classy? Isn’t Goodell supposed to be this big bad commissioner fining people left and right for classless act? So then why isn’t Desean Jackson’s pocket’s empty? The guy is a disgrace to the NFL, and I’m not saying that just because he’s on the Eagles. He is a bad example to fans around the country and should be penalized for it. But hey, I guess that’s how people act when they don’t have rings.
Posted in Islanders on December 30, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
By far, the best game of the season. For the past three weeks, I haven’t had too much to cheer about – Yankees getting rejected by Cliff Lee, Giants packing it in, Knicks losing at home to the Celtics and Heat, and the Isles losing every game. It’s sad to say that last night’s Islanders / Penguins game was the highlight of my 2010 season as a sports fan. With Sidney Crosby’s 25-game point streak on the line, the Islanders denied Crosby and won the 2-1 in a final shootout. Having thought DiPietro was done for the season a week ago, it was awesome seeing him back in goal playing his best since the 05-06 season. To be honest, when I was headed to the game, I had no intention of seeing an Islanders victory. All I wanted was for the team to play hard and not back down against the best team in the NHL. What I saw was the strongest defensive effort all season. The three fights in the game (one which was DiPietro taking on left-winger Chris Kunitz of Pittsburgh ten seconds before the end of regulation) only made the game better. You could see the frustration from Pittsburgh, especially after Crosby’s streak was broken. The Coliseum was out of control, which is weird to think about, given the Isles are second to last in attendance in the NHL. Even though 4,000 out of the 14,500 fans there were Penguins fans, the place was rockin’ at the end. It was a gritty match that allowed the Isles to make the top headlines for the first time since probably the 2001-2002 NHL playoffs. Isles take on the Red Wings tomorrow night in Detroit. Winter Classic is at 1pm New Years Day on NBC.
Also have to admit – Penguins fans are the most respectful fans I’ve ever seen. When I first walked into the Coliseum and saw Malkin and Crosby jerseys everywhere, I said to myself, “Here we go.” I thought they were going to be obnoxious like Rangers fans, who treat the Coliseum like it’s a home game. Pittsburgh fans, on the other hand, respected the Coliseum and only cheered when their team performed well. Definitely my “Shout out of the Week” goes to Pens Nation.
Posted in Islanders on December 29, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
Who ever thought the Islanders would be on HBO twice in one year? Tonight the Isles will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Coliseum. Since HBO is at the tail-end of filming the documentary “Pens-Caps 24/7,” this game will be shot for the final episode. Game starts at 7pm tonight. Since I will be one of about 400 people in attendance tonight, I will probably make in onto the documentary. Last summer, during last season’s “Entourage,” actor Kevin Connolly (who plays Eric Murphy) had some Islanders memorabilia in his office. Connolly, who was born and raised on Long Island, is a die-hard Islanders fan who is one of the team’s representatives during the NHL Draft.
Posted in Giants on December 28, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
I’ve waited a day to post this because I wanted to subside my anger before roasting this team.
There isn’t one New York Giants player that deserves to go to the postseason. That was the most pathetic performance I’ve seen since last season’s season-ending loss to the Panthers. As soon as the Giants return home (which won’t be until tomorrow morning given the weather), I want every player and coach to question their manhood. I want each and every one of them to look down and see if they have a pair of balls. I have never seen a softer team in my life. A Super Bowl hangover is not an excuse anymore. The 2010 New York Giants don’t deserve to be called New York Giants.
Eli Manning:
24 interceptions? Are you kidding me? I don’t care if ten of them were tipped passes. You have been the softest player in the NFL since the Eagles game at the Linc. Last Sunday, you couldn’t throw an accurate pass if you life depended on it. Your best pass was a lucky touchdown catch by Manningham. It was a soft toss that easily could’ve been intercepted if Mario didn’t make a play. You threw five picks. FIVE! I officially don’t trust you as a quarterback. Everytime you drop back to pass, I’m expecting an interception. Figure it out next year, or your career as a Giant could be over soon.
Kevin Gillbride:
That was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen from an offensive coordinator. What’s the strongest part of the Giants’ offense? The running game. How many times did the Giants run the football in the first half? Nine times. NINE! Makes no sense. A fireable offense indeed.
Terrell Thomas:
The Giants gained momentum by cutting the lead in half with a Manningham touchdown, and what do you do? You bash Donald Driver’s head into ground and receive a 15 yard penalty on a crucial defensive stop. You want to play like that? Go play for the Eagles. That’s not what this team is all about. You better apologize to the Mara family for your unsportsmanlike actions.
Justin Tuck:
You talk all weekend about how the Giants are going to bounce back. You tell Strahan to shut up after he badmouths the defensive effort against Philly. Guess what Tuck? Strahan was right. You guys quit– starting with you. Aaron Rodgers had all day in the pocket. You didn’t give our secondary a chance. You got humiliated against a sub-par offensive line. Have a nice January resting in your redneck Alabama town.
Perry Fewell:
What did you do all week? Did you even come up with a defensive scheme? Sometimes you look like a genius (the Bears game back in October) and sometimes you look like the most clueless coordinator in the league. You are the definition of an inconsistent defensive coordinator. You are coaching a franchise that has a proud reputation for having dominated defenses. You show no pride when coaching this team.
Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs:
Every time the ball is handed off to you guys, I catch myself saying, “Hold on to the ball!” How do you fumble the ball on a draw play when no one touches you? Pathetic. Bradshaw- you have cost us three games because your fumbling problems. How many games back are we from making the playoffs? Think about that during your long off-season.
Osi Umenyiora:
Did you make the trip to Lambeau? Didn’t see you on the field at all. Don’t worry about it though. I’m expecting that from the most inconsistent defensive player I’ve ever seen.
Antrel Rolle:
You guarantee a playoff birth, then how do you back it up? You blow every coverage when Rodgers threw down the field. I almost feel bad for you. Must be embarrassing after being cocky in press conferences then show no effort during the game. That sucks! Try explaining that one to the media.
Tom Coughlin:
I would like to thank you for all you’ve done for this organization. I wish you the best of luck in the future.
Giants need a win in Washington and a Green Bay loss to make the playoffs. But trust me, there’s no chance in hell the Giants will win against the Redskins. This team has packed it in. As much as Coughlin said that the team was over the Eagles loss, they aren’t. The season ended after those last eight painful minutes. As Giants fans, we shouldn’t want to see this team in the playoffs anyway. This is not a team that’s ready to make a post-season run. If they make the playoffs, the Giants will most likely have to play at Philadelphia. You want to watch the Giants get embarrassed in Philly again? Didn’t think so.
Posted in Giants on December 24, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
(ESPN) EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck is “upset” over former teammate Michael Strahan’s critique of the Giants in the wake of their 38-31 meltdown last Sunday against Philadelphia. Strahan, a Fox studio analyst, skewered the Giants after their collapse against the Eagles, calling his former team “soft and relaxed” during an interview on the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio. Strahan added that the Giants “should be ashamed of themselves” after allowing Philadelphia to rebound from a 31-10 deficit with a little more than 8 minutes to go in the fourth. “I’m not ashamed and I don’t think anybody in this locker room should be ashamed,” Tuck said. “We played a great 52 minutes and it just wasn’t for us. Sometimes things happen and you have no explanation about it. And I don’t have any explanation. “I’m not making any excuses. We played like crap those last eight minutes, but I would never start saying things like that ain’t never happened to anybody else. I’m sure we lost a lot of games when Strahan was here too.” One reporter joked that the Giants were undefeated when Strahan was on the team. “You’re right. We didn’t lose not one,” Tuck replied facetiously. “He always sacked the quarterback every pass play, too.” “I’m not apologizing for that, they should be ashamed of themselves,” the Fox football analyst said. “You look at that game and wonder how it got out of hand for the Giants. They got soft and relaxed. They thought ‘We got it.’ With 8 minutes to go, they’re up by 21 and give up an easy touchdown to Brent Celek and all of a sudden the blitz’s looked like ‘whoever gets there gets there’ [lackadaisical] instead of ‘I’m going to make that play and not wait for someone to make that play.'”
Now I’m not going to take sides on this argument. Strahan is a Giants legend and has a right to express his frustration. He was embarrassed about how his former team performed, and as we all know, Strahan loves to speak his mind. But I also completely agree with Tuck on standing up for the defense. As much I love Strahan, this isn’t his defense anymore. Tuck controls the d-line and I have full trust in him that the defense will bounce back on Sunday. I also can recall countless games when Strahan was captain and the defense fell apart. In 2002, Giants fans will never forget the “game that shall not be named.” Or how about in 1997 when the Giants were up 19-2 in the fourth quarter against the Vikings on Wild Card Weekend…and blew it. This stuff happens. I always preach about the importance of momentum in the NFL. Strahan and Tuck both understand that importance.
Strahan’s comments aren’t even close to the unnecessary daggers Tiki Barber said back in the beginning of the 2007 season about Eli Manning. Those comments were personally directed toward Eli, which is one of the many reasons I have no more respect for Tiki. It seemed like Tiki was rooting for the Giants to fail after he retired. Strahan, on the other hand, didn’t stab anyone in the back. Expressing his anger about the game last Sunday is perfectly understandable. He is a true Giant who takes pride in the team’s success.
Posted in Jets on December 23, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
How could this story possibly make the front page of the Post? You kiddin’ me? Ok, I get after his wife’s “foot-fetish” video hit the internet, there would be some laughs about it. But now it’s getting completely out of hand. If you are a Jets fan, you should be pissed at the media for blowing this story up. Everyone is saying how this is another distraction for the Jets during a week before a crucial game against the Bears. This should’ve been out of the headlines yesterday. Michael Wilpon on “Pardon the Interruption” said it perfectly, “Probably 10-15% of Americans have foot-fetishes so why are we getting on Rex Ryan’s case?” Nothing bothers me more when stupid off-field news about athletes and coaches makes the front page. I don’t care what Rex Ryan does when he leaves the Meadowlands.
This is very similar to the Tiger Woods situation last November. As a golf fan, I don’t care what Tiger does off the golf course. Do we know Tiger for being an excellent family fan? No, we know him as a fantastic golfer. Let’s have the media get off these players’ and coaches’ backs when it comes to personal matters. If the Jets lose to Chicago on Sunday, the media should bury Ryan with questions about the team’s performance, NOT about his personal life.
Posted in Giants on December 23, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
Coming into Week 16, the Giants are 9-5 and need a victory in Green Bay to clinch a playoff birth. When was the last time the Giants were in this situation? 2007 – and we all know what happened after that. I’m going to go ahead and say that if the Giants win this weekend and the Eagles lose, I would much rather be the Giants than the Eagles. In the NFL playoffs, it’s all about momentum. One of the reasons the Giants played so well in 2007 playoffs was because of their Week 17 matchup against the undefeated Patriots. They lost, but they proved to themselves they could play with anyone in the league. If the Giants march into Lambeau and defeat the Packers, the GMen will regain some much-needed momentum.
The Eagles have the division in the bag. There’s no possible way the Vikings beat Philly at the Linc. But if the Eagles lose to Dallas or Chicago wins one of their next two games, the Giants would possibly have a showdown against Philly come Wild Card Weekend. As a Giants fan, I would prefer to play Philadelphia more than any other team in the NFC. The hardest thing to do in football is beating a team three times in one year. In 2007, the Cowboys destroyed the Giants twice in the regular season. But in the playoffs, the Giants upset Dallas on the road. So give me the Eagles in Philadelphia!
But then again, this all wouldn’t matter if the Giants don’t take care of business at Lambeau. As Big Blue heads to Green Bay tomorrow, let’s all remember the last time they headed up to the land of the Chesseheads:
(Anyone hear the disappointment in Joe Buck’s voice? Biggest New York hater of all-time.)
Posted in Islanders on December 23, 2010 by EAST SIDE RYNO
When you’re in last place, you have to celebrate every victory you get. Last night, when Tavares scored the overtime goal to beat the Lightning, I celebrated as if the Islanders clinched the playoffs. The Isles haven’t had a comeback victory all season, until last night. Coming into last night’s game, the Islanders were 1-13-3 when trailing after any period. In the past three games, the Isles have earned five points. In the previous 24 games, they had an outstanding record of 3-17-4. So as an optimistic fan, I’m going to disregard those 24 games and look to the future. Trust me, I’ll be the first to say that the Isles have a zero percent chance of making the playoffs. But maybe if they keep up with this strong play, the Islanders can have a mediocre/respectable record. Tonight’s game is at 7pm in New Jersey. Watch it on MSG Plus.
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