DrDNP18's Couch

I have stated numerous times on these blogs that I am a Jets season ticket holder, and a long suffering, die-hard fan. I will however, say that I am rooting for our Meadowlands co-tenants, to slice some cheese, in the sub zero temps, expected Sunday Night! What is more fun than having an area team(even if its not mine) play for a World Championship? If they do win, the city buzz will be unbelievable, leading up to the Super Bowl.

What I am am about to say may seem blasphemous to some Giant fans, However, in my opinion, football, perhaps more than any other sport, is a game where the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. In watching the Giants over the last several weeks of the season and into the playoffs, they are clearly a better team WITHOUT Jeremy Shockey!

It is rare that a team can get better when it loses a Pro Bowl player, but that's exactly what’s happened to the Giants. When Shockey was lost for the season with a leg injury, the Giants offense went from inconsistent to highly efficeient, if not a bit explosive. Why?

Much of the credit for the Giants success in the playoffs, and late season, has gone to the sudden maturity of Eli. Is it pure coincidence that this has occurred since Shockey went down? First, he seems to be in complete command of the huddle, for the first time in his career. Shockey, and his brash, overbearing personality which may not work well with Eli’s Lousiana cool, has been absent. Hmmmmm.

Clearly, Eli is no longer forcing the ball, particularly in an effort to keep Shockey happy, and involved in the passing game. I believe Manning feels pressure to get Shockey involved in the game when the All Pro tight end is in the lineup, and that can lead to forced balls down the middle of the field. It seems tha many of Manning’s interceptions this season have come on late throws, down the middle of the field(Shockey’s area). There have been exactly zero turnovers for the Giant offense in their playoff run. Manning is doing a much better job speading the ball around, particularly including the very impressive young receiver, Steve Smith.

There is no questioning Shockey’s remarkable million dollar offensive skills as a tight end, but they are accompanied with a ten cent head! There have also been virtually no offensive penalties during the playoffs, particularly after the play, personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct calls. I can think of numerous instances where Shockey was right in the middle of such unnecessary extra curricular activity. Some Giants fans may defend his actions by stating how "competitive" he is. Spare me such commentary, as he is a highly paid professional athlete. There isn’t a practice squad player under contract in the NFL, who is not "competitive"!

The other thing that has been noticeably better without Shockey is the Giants' pass protection. Shockey rarely stayed in to block, but with Kevin Boss being a lesser threat in the passing game, the Giants have been using him in pass protection. Now when the Giants go to their three-receiver package, Boss often stays in to block, which gives Manning that extra time to feel comfortable in the pocket. When Boss does go on routes, he's been pretty productive in his own right.

The Giants have been a well-organized, smart and very reliable offensive unit over the last 4 or 5 games. They are clearly playing their best ball of the year, and have more than a puncher’s chance to pull the upset in Green Bay. It may have been an injury to an over-exposed, undisciplined, and at times, very selfish player, to give this team the jump start it needed!!! Good Luck Giants!

Since she joined the Fox5 news team, Andy Adler has been somewhat of an enigmna to me. It seems like she has done a bit of everything from blog debate moderator, to entertainmnet news, to human interest stories, to relationship "expert", to high school sports coverage promotion with Myfoxlocker.

In all honesty, I have been underwhelmed. When I got home last night, I turned on the news & saw she was doing Sports, in Reischea's stead.  I just want to say that I thought she did a really fine job!

She had really good presence about her, reported the action accurately, and displayed a lot of enthusiasm about the games, & particularly the Giant playoff game, later today(plus she gets extra points for the little sleeveless dress...LOL!!!). I have no idea if she has been placed permanently in the Sports department, but from what I've seen, I believe she's found a home, in Sports. She showed great potential, & in my opinion, & will only get better with experience. Develop your talent, Fox5, & give Ms. Adler a shot to stay with sports on the weekend. She's already better than Carl Reuter, and numerous other drab but "serious" sports anchors, spread across news desks in this city! She's a breath of fresh air, & unique replacement for a lost star!

The time has once again come, where I have been eliminated from my Fantasy Football League's playoffs. I probably had one of the worst teams I've ever had this year(and I've been playing for about 20 years), but for the good fortune of drafting Tom Brady, in the 3d Round. America's #1 male model carried my team from Week One, throwing for ridiculous yardage and potentially record setting TD passes.

First Round of my playoffs & Brady is matched against my beloved Jets at home, with personal records & 16-0  perfection, all within his grasp. An incredible conflict of interest is created, because I root for the Jets to the end....regardless. I don't care about this abomination of a season....Screw the high draft pick...it doesn't matter. Beat Belichick, spoil the perfect record, & create doubt in the dynasty, as they head into the playoffs.

So what does Brady do? Lays an absolute egg(on a foul weather day in Foxboro), destroying my 12-2 regular season & #1 seed. My fantasy season is over! The big prize money out the window!. What's worse, the Jets lost the game, despite maybe playing their best, guttiest game of the season! I'm a loser on both ends!!! What a waste of time!!!

Oh well, do you think McFadden would look good in green???

Why are we so obsessed with cheating in this day & age, particularly with regard to sports? Where does the obsession come from? Is it because we ALL have a desire to get an edge, an advantage in life...fair or not, legal or not(of course, whether we act on it is another story)?

What is the line, & where is it to be drawn? I personally could care less that Bonds, Sosa, McGwire etc,  may have taken steroids or HGH. They are marvelous performers, entertaining me with their exploits. Since the MLB instituted drug testing, a decidedly greater number of PITCHERS have tested positive...so who really was looking to gain the advantage, & what impact does it really have on any records? I defy any medical expert to offer an opinion, within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than to say, that they could not really say!!!   

Throughout baseball history, some pitchers staked careers on their doctoring of a baseball, with grease, oil, or other foreign substances, and also masterfully cut/scuffed the ball in places, to increase movement in certain pitches. Why have we drawn degrees of cheating?

Tiger Woods had surgery on his eyes several years ago. He has done commercials on TV & radio, boasting that his visual acuity is 20/15, and perhaps may even be better than that.

It's possible to have eyesight that is better than normal, however, he was not born that way.  In this case, the lower number in the Snellen fraction is less than 20.  For example, if you have 20/15 visual acuity, the smallest letters you can see at 20 feet a person with normal eyesight cannot recognize at 20 feet - they must be closer (15 feet) to recognize them.  Thus, your eyesight is 33% better than normal (20/15 = 133%). Since he needed medical assistance to achieve this degree of sight, can this be considered "cheating" as well? If not, why? Is it because we like Tiger Woods, or we just don't care that much about golf? I'm sure there are numerous other examples of athletes/coaches, looking for whatever edge they can, to gain that competitive advantage.

I believe society is hypocritical with regard to so many social issues, & this has become such an obvious one. I'd love to read your thoughts...

Titans cornerback Pacman Jones officially began his relationship with TNA wrestling on Thursday night, with several video segments played throughout the course of a one-hour show on Spike TV.

Per Jim Wyatt of the Nashville Tennessean, Jones did not wrestle.  Instead, he made five pre-taped appearances during breaks in the "action," and his name was mentioned several times as part of the promotion of an upcoming pay-per-view event called Hard Justice.  (Sounds like the title of a movie that would be shown at a location other than the local multiplex.)

And, predictably, it's during Hard Justice on Sunday night that the plans for Pacman Jones will be announced.

"You don't know me.  Nobody knows me,'' Jones said at one point during the show.  "Nobody knows who I am.''  (Man, he doesn't know how accurate that statement is, especially if the term "nobody" is broad enough to include Pacman.)

During a segment that showed Jones engaging in activities like shadow boxing (which always comes handy in the wrestling ring), Jones said words like "misunderstood, player, team player, game breaker, risk taker, a man, and team player."

The repeated reference to "team player," which Jones also said during a recent NBCSports.com interview, along with his stated goal of "winning" the TNA tag team title tells us that Pacman will be the member of a two-man crew in the ring.