My Blue Heaven

A very close friend of mine, DL, passed away last week. He is the reason I am a Giants fan. Before I talk about this upcoming season I will look back for a brief moment.



He was there for the first Giants game that I remember watching. It had to be January 1990. It was the NFC Divisional Playoffs in Giants Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams. DL came over to watch the game and brought me a Giants hat. I still remember how he warned me not to talk too much and that if he did not respond to me right away it was because he was into the game. I was not insulted. How could I be, I was six. I now have a greater understanding of what he meant. I do not think I could watch a playoff game of that magnitude with a six year old, but he did. And I appreciate that. In any event, the game was what I now view as typical Giants. They controlled the whole game and the entire time you felt like they would win it. The Rams tied it late in the 4th quarter, and won the coin flip in Overtime. I am not sure if it was the first play from scrimmage, but if not it was very quick, but Flipper Anderson caught a ball up the seam and ran it in for a TD. I still remember him just continuing to run through the endzone and into the tunnel as if he was going to just keep running all the way back to Cali. I am sure DL took it much worse than me, but that was my first taste of Giant heartbreak. This is a feeling that has followed me through my teens and into my 2o's. Up until now I always had DL to talk through that pain and frustration.



As far as this season goes, all of the prognosticators have picked the Giants to finished under .500. I honestly have some guarded optimism for this team. First of all I am not impressed by the NFC East. Secondly, I have to believe that the QB will improve to the point where he can be a difference maker for an entire season. Lastly, I like the fact that for the first time in a couple years everyone is writing this team off at the beginning and not building them up to something they are not. Last year everyone talked Super Bowl. Now they are just consumed with playing hard and shutting up, which is just what we all wanted from them last year. I like the front seven on defense a lot. The secondary will give up some big plays, but with the help of that front seven they should be able to make a few as well. On the offensive side, if the receivers can stay healthy there can be some big plays as well. Droughns and Jacobs will be bruisers and the O-Line looks solid, but unspectacular. I think a good start will go a long way for the success of this team. They play three division foes in the first four weeks, and are starting at rock bottom as far as the media is concerned. Not to mention the fact that much of the fan base has lost faith in the coach and/or the QB.



Lastly, I just want to remind everyone of one thing. Growing up my friend DL taught me about sports. One of the things I always remember hearing was how the Giants would make him ill for years and years. They went 18 years without a playoff birth (1963-1981). Think about that for a second. That is a long long time to be that bad, especially for a franchise of that stature. So while I have had my fair share of Giants heartbreak and disappointment, how can I bitch that much with the Giants coming off two straight playoff births? I know last year was a uniquely bad circumstance with the division and the craziness in the locker room, but remember that the Giants were tied with less than 2:00 left in the Divisional Playoffs. I know I will be thinking of DL a lot this season, I just hope that it is during more good times than bad for those lovable (often laughable) G-Men.



Picks...

AFC East: Pats

AFC North: Bengals

AFC South: Colts

AFC West: Chargers

Wild Card: Bills

Wild Card: Steelers



NFC East: Giants

NFC North: Packers

NFC South: Panthers

NFC West: Seahawks

Wild Card: Eagles

Wild Card: Rams



A little wacky on the picks, but when you look at the playoffs teams year in and year out there are not many teams that are there consistently. There is always going to be one or two that no one picked in August and a couple that everyone picked that are sitting home. In any event, I didn't throw anything too crazy like a Browns or a Falcons, but I tried to branch out a little. Plus, I am going to be biased for my Giants.



I like the Patriots over the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

Ammendum:
Sorry for the nostalgia/downer for much of this post, but I just could not write about the upcoming season without mentioning him and I was not about to let the NFL season start without some sort of a preview. Basically, I think the Giants will be better than people are giving them credit for. A lot will depend on the QB, and that is a topic I am not going to touch right now. Starting Sunday we will get a chance to see.

STKAFI