I'm currently on the last bus out of the Giants hotel, called the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, feeling very wasteful. The bus could probably seat 100 people and I'm the only one on it. Everyone else must have driven or left already, but I'm glad I didn't try because the G-Men are staying in the middle of nowhere, out near the Cardinals Stadium in Chandler, Arizona. It felt very far from downtown Phoenix, but rush hour traffic had something to do with it.
Perhaps I've just lived in New York too long, but it was amazing pulling up to their hotel, passing cactii, open spaces for miles, and an Indian Reservation golf course. There is some crazy waterboat racing lake without speed limits nearby.
The Giants will have to travel a long way to go to any parties this week, but that doesn't mean "distractions" are far away. There is a casino across the street, and the bus driver tells me it has the worst slots in the desert.
Five thoughts from the Giants press conferences, held deep in the middle of the desert on an Indian Reservation.
1. Men in Black
In a display of well, something, the Giants organization nearly all wore black-on-black suits to their press conferences, with only Eli Manning and Jeff Feagles going with white shirts. Eli Manning mentioned something about it coming from Michael Clayton, the movie, not the Bucs wide receiver. It led to the most annoying line of questioning from the huddled masses of the afternoon, just behind “How do you avoid distractions this week?” and “What does Peyton think about all this?”
Continue reading "Live from the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass" »
Headed down to the Media Center in the Phoenix Convention Center this morning to pick up my credentials. First, as Hashmarks pointed out this morning, Phoenix is very spread out and the majority of the media hotels aren't close to the media center (and the game itself is another 30 minutes away).
On the way here, Tom Curran noted that we passed perhaps the longest stretch of used car dealerships in the country (no credit required!). The former BOB, home to the D-Backs, just erupts out of nowhere, then palm trees, some Arizona State downtown campus buildings, and we're downtown.
Continue reading "Setting the Scene" »
I'm probably the only person here more excited to see some of the media members than I am to see the players. With the players, everything is forced. You see them in a press conference setting, just like you would on television.
I get to see the media in their element. I'm one of them, although that will take some getting used to. Sitting here illegally at the Albuequerque sports radio table on radio row, Rich Eisen of NFL Network stands five feet to my left chatting up Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, then a swarm of local television and radio microphones circle around Eisen to get a sound bite. Eisen's "smarminess" causes considerable debate among the NBCSports.com crew, with me firmly in his corner as the perfect host for NFL Network. He won me over sometime around the first NFL Scouting Combine when he ran the 40 in laced up Zengna crocs. Okay, back in a few minutes where I'll set the scene at the media center.
Early on my flight to Phoenix, I faced the first decision of my Super Bowl trip. Watch the appropriately themed in-flight movie, The GamePlan or finish re-reading The Education of a Coach, picked up again this week for something I’m writing on Bill Belichick.
It was almost as if Belichick was beside me, eyebrows-raised, at the thought of choosing “The Rock” over him. I quickly sacked the movie (insert Drew Bledsoe joke here).
Continue reading "The Eagle has landed" »
January 27, 2008
I have the best job in the world. I know this, have known this long since before NBC bought Rotoworld, and have hung on for dear life since the day they started paying me to write about fantasy football. Like going to college in New Orleans, its something I struggled to initially believe was encouraged.
Now I’m headed to the Super Bowl, arriving in Phoenix late Sunday night. My first press box experience is going to be this game. That my hometown Patriots are in the game, with some history on the line, well … I’m going to shut up now before I get too obnoxious. I'll probably have to leave my Troy Brown throwback jersey behind.
Continue reading "Super Bowl blog ready for liftoff" »
January 25, 2008
Spending the day preparing some things for next week, but here are a few stories of note from a calm-before-the-storm Friday.
Another article pointing out that Chad Johnson isn't going anywhere. I trust Mark Curnette here, who is always on top of the Bengals. There might be a lot of ink spilled this offseason about Ocho Cino, but he should be back. Now if he could only learn his routes...
Continue reading "Friday quick ones" »
The Patriots aren't looking ahead to the offseason yet, but I can for them. They are going to have a lot of transition. The team is built around Tom Brady and both lines, and they are all young and signed long-term. But there should be a lot of change in the defensive back seven and in the skill positions, especially at wide receiver.
Continue reading "Last days of the Nicco era?" »
January 24, 2008
I wrote about Ryan Grant being a first-round pick few weeks ago, and his struggles in the second round of the playoffs don't change that.
With that said, today's article in the Journal-Sentinel answered a number of questions.
Continue reading "Packers running game answers" »
More than two weeks after Joe Gibbs' resignation, the Redskins coaching search is a greater mystery than ever. Honestly, that might be a good thing for Redskins fans. Washington was apparently trying to get a packaged combo of Jim Fassel, Rex Ryan, and Jim Zorn to be their top three coaches.
Continue reading "Redskins search wanders on" »
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