The 2007 Super Bowl champs are based in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford, New Jersey. They are lucky in that they have a home game stadium at the Giants Stadium which is also their headquarters. They get to train at a practice field adjacent within the Meadowlands Sports Complex. They do have the share the stadium with the New York Jets, who play their games in the stadium, but that is all. The Jets have their own training complex and headquarters at another location.
The Giants are in the Easter division of the NFC of the NFL. History follows this team in that they were one of five teams that joined the NFL in 1925 and are the only one admitted that year that is still in existence. There is something to be said for a team that has lasted in the NFL for at least 53 years.
The Giants have an impressive history with titles as well as longevity. They rank third among all NFL teams with seven titles. Four titles were garnered in the pre-super bowl era. Those were the years of 1927, 1934, 1938 and 1956. They have gotten three titles since the beginning of the super bowl days. These were in the years 1986 with Super Bowl XXI, 1990 with Super Bowl XXV and 2007 with Super Bowl XLII. Their championship record is only bettered by the Green Bay Packers with 12 and the Chicago Bears with nine.
The Giants have 15 of their players featured in the Football Hall of Fame. These include some very famous players of MVP status. These include Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Charlie Conerly, Y.A.Tittle, and Lawrence Taylor. The Giants won the NFL championship on February 3, 2008, further cementing their place in memorable pro football history.
Many local New Yorkers refer to The Giants as the New York Football Giants. This was done in the beginning history of the team to distinguish it from the professional baseball team that had the same type of name. Even though the baseball team has been long gone since 1957, the team continues to use “New York Football Giants” as its legal corporate name. Some of the nicknames that the team goes by are the “G-Men,” “Big Blue, “Jints,” “Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” and the “Big Blue”.
The ancient history of the team is very colorful. They played their first game against the “All New Britain” in 1925 in New Britain, Connecticut. They defeated the team with a score of 26-0 with a crowd of about 10,000 looking on. They had a successful first season with an 8-4 record in 1925.
In their third season, the team finished with a very good record at 11-1-1 and received the NFL title. There were no play-offs or super bowl in those days. In 1928 they had a bad year and the owner bought the whole team of the Detroit Wolverines and merged the two teams. In those days, college football was all the rage and many did not think that pro players were as good as their college counterparts. So in 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All Stars to raise charity money and to also prove to many that pro players were the superior ball players. Famous Knute Rockne was the leader of the All Stars but they still got beat by the pro team and in fact the All Stars did not even get to score. This is the game that is credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional football game as we know it.
So in my mind, the NFL and America’s favorite sports past-time have a lot to be thankful for due to the New York Giants.
One of the best reasons to love the Cowboys is simply because they are “our” team. Dubbed “America’s Team” by NFL Films editor-in-chief Bob Ryan in 1979, the nickname caught on quickly with adoring fans and has held its place with the team across the US. Whether you actually do love the Cowboys or not, anyone who knows their colorful history will have to agree that they are one of the most “romantic” and flamboyant of all the Professional teams out there. And we are talking about ALL professional teams, not just football.
Just the name “Cowboys” pretty much sums up what the Dallas team means to the USA. If you have ever met a real live cowboy (not the drug-store kind), then you immediately understand the significance of their name. A real cowboy is tough, independent, proud, resilient, smart, and environmentally savvy. (That means he knows what is happening in the immediate area.) These are qualities that are pretty much mirrored by the professional football team out of Irving, Texas. Even when they have a not-so-sterling season, it seems as though their fans are not the fair-weather kind. True Dallas fans stick in there with their team come rain or shine. Not very many sports teams can claim that kind of loyal support. And another thing, Dallas can boast of a fan base that is not just from Texas, but is nationwide.
Another big reason to love the Cowboys is because of the very players that have graced the narrow corridors leading in to the Texas Stadium locker rooms. The first one that steps into mind is the legendary Roger Staubach. Granted, there have been so many football greats that Dallas has called part of the team that it really isn’t fair to pick just one. However, in many fans’ minds still, the phrase “Roger Staubach and the Dallas Cowboys” can bring a tingle to the spine and an overall feeling of good will.
Many feel now that the gutsy 1964 draft of the Naval Academy graduate Roger Thomas Staubach was simply brilliant. At the time, the then 4 year old expansion team immediately needed help and at that time, Staubach was graduating from a military institution with 4 years to go to serve his country. Also, at that time, the USA was in the middle of a war and the future Super Bowl quarterback was called to a tour of duty in Vietnam. Following his stint in the Navy, the 27 year old rookie came home and got down to the business of becoming “America’s Team” Quarterback. The fact that Roger Staubach never played professional football for any other team than the Dallas Cowboys speaks volumes. His famous career spans 10 years and during that time he was Pro Bowl selection 6 times, All-NLF selection 5 times, Super Bowl champion quarterback 2 times, and Super Bowl VI Most Valuable Player. On top of what he did with his Dallas team, he took to Texas the legacy of being the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner.
Indeed, anyone can write volumes about why the Dallas Cowboys are loved and beloved by throngs of dedicated fans. They play football with a total dedication and purity of devotion that is rarely matched by any other team in the professional football league. These are traits that are being passed down by each generation of Cowboy owners, coaches, players, and staff. Of course, by adding true American heroes to the team roster on a regular basis, the job of passing on their great legacy is just made easier.
On any given day, one can simply state that The Dallas Cowboys is one of the most outstanding professional sport teams ever put together. And that is stating an obvious truth. But if you really want to describe the Texas team, they are “our” team, they are “America’s Team”, they are the” team you gotta love”.
Willis McGahee, Baltimore Ravens running back, has a rib injury. It is unknown if he will play in the game against the Titans Sunday. The Ravens fans are sure to bring extra Baltimore Ravens merchandise to the game to support their team.
He got the injury Monday night at the Pittsburgh Steelers game. He only got one yard in his second-half carry. He injured his ribs in the final minutes of the first half. Maybe if he had played the whole game, the Ravens wouldn’t have suffered a heartbreaking 23-20 loss.
“He’s got a rib issue,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday. “We think he’s going to be OK. We’ll just have to see how the rib goes this week.”
McGahee carried the ball 12 times for 41 yards. He left the game with serious pain and got assistance from trainer Bill Tessendorf.
McGahee left the game after a run up the middle in the second half. He played in the second series of the second half.
“He was in pain,” Harbaugh said. “He wanted to play.”
McGahee anticipates being ready for the undefeated Tennessee Titans. He was the Ravens leading rusher last season with 1,207 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I got a little injury, but I’ll be all right,” McGahee said. “I took a helmet right on the side. It was real aggravating. From here on out, I’m getting ready for Tennessee.”
Kurt Warner was the Cardinals’ starting quarterback in the preseason finale against Denver.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt still hasn’t said whether Kurt Warner or Matt Leinart will start against San Francisco in the team’s season opener. Kurt doesn’t even know if he will be the starter or not.
“We all want to know,” Warner said after practice. “For Matt and myself, it’d be nice knowing what the situation would be and be able to move forward with it. The way I look at it more than anything, the sooner it can happen, the sooner we can get past everybody, and you can prepare for the game.
“We know it’s getting close and you get that anxiety and excitement knowing the decision has to be made soon. I am sure coach understands that and he’ll make the decision as soon as it’s necessary.”
Whisenhunt gave a hint on who the starter would be. He said Warner started Friday because of the amount of playtime that Warner and Leinart had in the preseason.
Warner didn’t play in the preseason opener. Leinart took 57 preseason snaps and Warner took 30. There were many people in the stands with Arizona Cardinals merchandise on.
“Hopefully we’ll get in enough snaps with the first offensive line that both can play,” Whisenhunt said. “I just wanted to make sure Kurt gets his timing with the ones for this game, much like we did in Kansas City.”
Peyton Manning just started his workouts on mechanics, timing, and rhythm. You shouldn’t expect him to show off too much in the Cincinnati Bengals preseason game.
Coach Tony Dungy increased Manning’s workload after he returned to practice. He didn’t show any effects from the knee surgery he recently had.
“We didn’t have him in team work, but he did fine and hasn’t experienced any problems,” Dungy said. “So far, so good. He’ll get a little more work today.”
Peyton has never gone without playing in all of his 10 years in the NFL. Recently he had surgery to remove a sac from his knee.
Colts’ officials first said that Manning would miss about a month. Then, they said he would miss more time. In other words they really didn’t know. Also, the Colts didn’t want to release too much information. It didn’t stop people from asking questions about Manning being hurt worse than first feared. Also, it didn’t stop the speculation about whether his streak of 160 starts would end or not in their first regular season against the Chicago Bears. Whether or not the Colts do well this season, they still expect people to sell the Indianapolis Colts merchandise.
Lincecum had an 18-5 record. He was a serious candidate for the National League Cy Young Award because he made a big difference in the Giants season. Even though they finished 72-90, he won most of his games. Without him they would have had a worse record than that. Lincecum seemed to be the star of the team but you wouldn’t have guessed that by the lack of San Francisco Giants merchandise with his name on it.
He failed to have 2 good starts in a row only one time this year. He had 26 good outings. Only Johan Santana of the New York Mets had more. He had a total of 28 outings. Lincecum usually does better than the base requirements for a quality start. Baseball defines a quality start as allowing three earned runs or fewer in six innings or more. Lincecum has worked at least seven innings in 20 of his 33 starts, and he gave up more than three earned runs just six times. He had a 2.62 ERA and 227 innings. That ranks second and fourth in the Majors, respectively.
Some people think that quality starts are a bad statistic. If you look at Lincecum, he limited both left-handed and right-handed batters to a low average. Managers aren’t going to be stupid enough to fill the batting order with left handed batters against Lincecum.
The Giants only managed about 5 runs in Lincecum’s games. They got about 4 when he didn’t start.
Monday was a tense day for the Twins as the gathered in their clubhouse. They were rooting for Detroit to win the game against the White Sox so they wouldn’t have to play a one game playoff. After seeing the White Sox beat the Tigers, the Twins were frustrated. The Tigers lost their 88th game of the year but the Twins wanted to sit pretty until the playoffs and not have to play again.
Chicago beat Detroit 8 to 2 and that caused Minnesota to have to play a one game tiebreaker against the White Sox. The American League Central division crown will be given out on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on many different channels. It seemed like Minnesota’s momentum had been lost because of the White Sox win. Had Detroit won, they could have been popping champagne and not played the one game.
”It was a little nerve-wracking, like all the fans out there watching the game tonight,” Nick Punto said. “But it’s a lot more fun to celebrate when you have your uniform on and you’re in that clubhouse — you earn it. We have to go earn it, and we’re looking forward to going out there and beating Chicago.” Either way, there will be white and black Chicago White Sox merchandise in the stands because they want to use home field to win that game.
Most of the team left without speaking to the media. It was obvious that they were frustrated.
The Dodgers blew another chance at a win. They had several missed opportunities while batting. They didn’t lose any ground in the standings when they lost at the Nationals, which is a very sorry team. Every road game in that series seemed like they were blown chances.
They only were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position in that game. In the four game series, the Dodgers were 5-for-50 with runners in scoring position. The Diamondbacks appear to be in control of the division but anything can happen. The Dodgers are three games back in a division and it seems as if nobody wants to win. “I look at it as missed opportunities,” said manager Joe Torre. “Sure, we could be farther behind, but we could be ahead, also.”
The Dodgers have lost eight straight road games. This was the ninth of the last 11 that they lost. It should have been motivation when earlier in the day they watched rival Arizona lose its fourth game in a row and fifth out of six. In other words the Dodgers have a reason to keep their head up. They have only lost one game in the standings despite having a 0-6 road trip. Well Los Angeles Dodgers merchandise will be seen all over Dodger Stadium when they get back home because they now have a chance of winning the division.
Frank Francisco was glad that he helped his team to beat the Royals. He saved the game. He celebrated that first save in the big leagues with a twenty minute workout after the game was over in the weight room. The Rangers fans celebrated just as hard with their Texas Rangers merchandise.
He didn’t get sweaty at all while out pitching for nine innings. Apparently he didn’t work up a sweat in his nine-pitch outing against the Royals.
“No, no, no,” Francisco said. “That’s my program. I’ve been doing it all year.”
He’s not going to stop now that’s he been promoted to a new role and Francisco handled it well in his first attempt, closing out the Rangers’ 3-2 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Francisco struck out two and got a first-pitch groundout to finish off the Rangers’ three-game sweep of the Royals.
The Rangers went to Kansas City having lost 14 of their last 17. Their pitching allowed them to earn their first sweep of three games in Kansas City. It was the Rangers first three-game sweep of the year.
Texas got back to two games under .500, despite playing without Josh Hamilton. He had a root canal before the game.
The Timberwolves gave a good offer to Ryan Gomes, Chris Richard, and Craig Smith. Sebastian Telfair and Kirk Snyder will become free agents after the deadline. The Timberwolves can still sign any of them to a deal after the deadline. If another team makes an offer to either player, then they don’t have to stay in Minnesota if they don’t want to.
Now that the Wolves have made qualifying offers to Gomes, Richard and Smith, Minnesota can match any offer received by Gomes, Richard, and Smith because they offered them money and a reason to stay.
The NBA collective bargaining agreement states that any offer made must be given on or before the deadline. If the team doesn’t give an offer before that date, then the team doesn’t have the same power regarding restricted free agents.
The Timberwolves have a week to match other team’s offers. Teams can negotiate with free agents after the deadline but no contracts can be signed until a week later.
The Timberwolves merchandise has been among the lowest selling in the past years so they need to find a way to shake things up so they can become a serious contender for a championship. Since this deadline has not passed yet, then it’s hard to say if they want to win it all or not.