Can We Play Baseball Now, Please?

Another surreal day. Andy did the right thing. Couldn't be easy to do. Definitely the most I've ever seen him talk, too bad it was about this crap. Did you happen to see Jeter's face during the press conference? That said it all.

Play Ball!

The boys are arriving at Legends Field. Palm trees and baseball sure beats a courtroom doesn't it?

The Best Story You've Ever Heard

Note: This story is from a forwarded email I received from a friend a few days ago. This may be the best story ever to come from a fan, especially a fan whose New York Giants just won Super Bowl XLII. The pics

Hello everyone, I know many of you have heard about my story so far but for those of you that haven't......Take the time to read below (it's long but worth it) and look at the pictures and watch the videos. I had the best day of my life yesterday and it is one of the funniest stories you will ever hear.

So I got home from Arizona late Monday night after seeing the Giants win an amazing Super Bowl. I had an unbelievable weekend and I didn't think it could ever be topped....until yesterday.

Around 11:30 yesterday morning I decided to go and checkout the Giants ticker-tape parade. I figured I would just go for an hour or so and then head back home to get some work done. Little did I know it would turn into an 8 hour affair.

I received a pass to get onto the City Hall grounds (Thanks Mr. Karafiol) which got me relatively near the action. Once I realized that my designated section was actually pretty far away from the stage, I decided to move a little closer. I then snuck into the press section directly in front of the stage. I was sporting my Eli Manning Super Bowl jersey with a Giants hat and around my neck I had my lanyard and ticket stub from the Super Bowl.. That is what saved me all day. The lanyard looked very "professional" so I was able to sneak into the press area.

Once the ceremony was over and the Giants started to move off of the stage, I creeped up to the stage. I then looked behind me and John Mara was there with his wife (the majority owner of the team). I then kind of blended in with his family as they were walking out and next thing I knew I got through the first security checkpoint. There were three more security checkpoints and with each one I got more and more nervous. I simply just walked aside Mr. Mara and his family (which was about 20 people deep) so it wasn't hard for me to blend in really. Next thing I know, they are guiding us to the other side of City Hall where there are four luxury buses waiting. I just kept walking along and next thing I know I had two of the four buses to choose from. I wanted to find the players bus but I didn't want to press my luck so I stayed with what worked. I just kept following Mr. Mara. I actually got on the bus directly in between him and his wife. I then sat down on the bus and just kept my head down. I didn't make eye contact with anyone or speak to anyone, I was so nervous. Sitting next to me was David Tyree's mother (he was two rows back with his son) and one row in front of me to my right was John Mara and his daughter (who happens to be gorgeous)

As we are pulling away from City Hall, the streets are lined with Giants fans cheering for "us" and we had a police escort the entire way to Giants Stadium. That's where things got interesting. We got off the bus and were escorted directly into the Stadium tunnel. This is where I thought I was going to get caught. I had no idea what to do next. All of the players went in the locker room and all the Mara's said they were going up to the owner's box for the ceremony. I had to make a decision. I then saw David Tyree walking in with his little son and decided I would act like I was
with them. I walked right behind him and got right into the locker room.. So now the real fun starts. I'm hanging out as if I'm a player while all the guys in the locker room are just getting each other's autographs on the game balls and on their jerseys. This was my time to shine. I walked around and took some pictures of some of the lockers and then I got to Eli's. I
asked Eli if he could sign my ticket stub from the Super Bowl, which he did. I then asked him to sign my Super Bowl jersey, which he did. I was then ecstatic and didn't know what to do. I even had people coming up to me asking me for my autograph. They must have thought I was Lawrence Tynes (the kicker) or something.

I stopped getting autographs at that point other than Brandon Jacobs signing my hat. By then all of the players were being called onto the field for the ceremony. So I figured...why not go with them. I walked right out into the tunnel with them and as they announced the players coming out, I just stood there shaking, thinking I was bound to get caught. I look to my left and Tom Coughlin is literally about 6 inches from me holding the Lombardi trophy (see great picture). Then I just went for it....I walked out there like I was on the team. I came out and there were probably 20-30,000 fans at the stadium all screaming and going crazy. I tried to take as much video as I could but I was so nervous/scared/excited at the same time. My favorite picture of the whole event can be found at www.nj.com/giants/ where I am directly behind Tom Coughlin running around the field. I watched the whole ceremony from literally right in front of
the stage.

After the ceremony, I had to try to sneak back in to the locker room. I then saw a couple people of the Mara family (there were so many of them) that must not have gone up to the luxury box and once again I just acted like I was a family member. Next thing I know, I make it through two more security checkpoints and I'm right back in the locker room. This is where it was awesome. All the players were just dancing around and having a good time. Many of them were cleaning out their lockers and throwing things away. This is where I took all the pictures with the players. I could care less if I got caught at this point. I was just a lucky Giant fan that happened to sneak his way into the press section, then on to the owners bus, onto the field and into the locker room, all while going unnoticed.. I then walked around the locker room and got every single player to sign my hat and I even got Gibril Wilson's game sweatshirt from him that he signed
for me.

So I walked away with an Eli Manning signed Super Bowl ticket, an Eli signed Super Bowl jersey, a hat signed by the whole team, my City Hall access pass signed by Strahan (which is going to Mr. Karafiol as a thank you) and Gibril Wilson's signed game sweatshirt.

All more importantly I walked away with the great memories of the entire weekend and I was lucky enough to live them first hand. Thank god I have the pictures to prove it because I knew none of you would ever believe me.

I had an angel looking down on me yesterday making sure I had an unbelievable day and I know that angel was my sister Jaime. I can just picture her now...........smiling from ear to ear and being so happy for me.

Enjoy the PICS.

Joe

We Kick They Booty

Party Time

Wow.

It's more exciting than ever expected. The New York Football Giants are the Super Bowl Champions. Say that again. It sounds oh so nice. The New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII. HAHAHAHAHA.

I can't stop from smiling, or laughing, or being downright giddy. It's funny what it takes to turn a grown man into a teenager again. Just a little offensive execution and some of the nastiest Defensive line work seen in quite some time. Excuse me while I giggle a bit.

It's funny to get these text messages from my friends saying "Holy fucking shit." The best part is that none of them are coming from Giants fans. These are from the Jets fans.

Did Giants fans expect to win this game? No. Did we think that we COULD win this game. Absolutely. But I still cannot believe that the Giants won this game. I was 15 years old when the Giants last won a Super Bowl. 17 years later it is just as sweet. Let's hope this taste lasts for a while.

See you at the Parade!

The Giants Can Win This Game

Today is the day. After 2 weeks of ankles, spies, and parties, Super Bowl XLII is finally upon us. Now, it's time to get down to business. The New York Football Giants are going to ruin everything today. This Boston Sports Domination has got to stop, or the Apocalypse may be much closer than we think it is.

Will the Giants have to play a great game in order to win today? No Doubt. Do they have to be perfect? Nope. Really? Yes, really. You cannot expect a team to play a perfect game as it does not happen. You also do not want your team to feel that they are not aboe to OVERCOME any mistakes that may be made. This is football, where the team that makes the best adjustments will raise the Lombardi Trophy 9 hours from now.

Can the Giants take advantage of the Patriots defense? They should be able to get their WR's and Backs in the flat in a foot race with the Pats LB's. I believe that Ahmad Bradshaw along with Steve Smith will have a big part of the offense today as we try and exploit some weaknesses.

Can the Giants Defense slow down the Patriots offense? Before I went to bed last night I prayed that they could do so. As we know all to well, the key to slowing this offense is to get to Tom Brady. Easier said than done, right? Well, the Giants need to do what they have done the past month. Change up their blitzes and where they are coming from. Aaron Ross has shown the ability to get to the QB, as can Gibril Wilson. They need to come from everywhere today.

The Giants have an advantage on Special Teams and will need good field position to keep the Pats from scoring. Jeff Feagles will have to play his best game, as well.

What does all of this mean? All I know is that 98% of the predictions I have seen so far have picked the Patriots. Perfect. This is how the Giants (and their fans, ahem) like it. New Yorkers are not used to being the underdog but I must say, it is a bit fun.

If the Giants win this game today I think the MVP will be one of two players. Eli Manning, or Justin Tuck. America will soon learn why the Giants just locked up Tuck for the next 5 years even if he has only started 2 games in his short career.