I never had the love for Tiki Barber that most Giant fans have had. He's always seemed to me more worried about his image and his next TV gig then on football.
Having said that, he showed tonite why the Giants are never going to be the same. He carried the team on his back and dragged by the scruff of the neck and crying and screaming into the playoffs. The defense nearly folded, Eli was sub-par as usual and you got the feeling of "here we go again down the stretch"
But Tiki was what he is and what he's always has been: Tiki. Three TD's, and a Giant record for rushing yards in a single game. It was marvelous to watch an individual performance of that quality and I can say that the Giants are going to have a huge hole in that backfield without 21 back there.
Still, there's no joy after the victory, no exultation for beating a division rival and basically assuring themselves a playoff spot. The season is probably not going to last much longer, whether they lose this week or the week after. Tom Coughlin's job just got safer and in reality, that's not a good thing. As Bill Parcells once said "They are what their record says they are": an 8-8, inconsistent football team, nothing more than that. They're mentally fragile and it's going to be hard to watch another playoff exit.
Here's why the Giants are pretty much in the playoffs, per ESPN:
• Green Bay clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over N.Y. Giants if: Arizona, Detroit, Miami, Minnesota and San Francisco all win and Carolina, Houston and Tampa Bay all lose.
If you have to rely on the Lions to win to make the playoffs, you're pretty much dead in the water, not to mention all those other teams winning.. The Falcons are done, so expect them to lay down for the Eagles, meaning round 3 of Eagles-Giants down the Turnpike.
As for the Jets, their game against the Raiders is a bit tricky. Sure, Oakland is terrible, but they also have a very underrated defense with some playmakers on that side of the ball. This is going to be a defensive game and as long as the Jets keep it close to the vest, they should win. The Raiders offense is non-existent, especially considering Randy Moss and Jerry Porter won't play, not that they were playing hard to begin with. You would hope the Jets don't fall victim to overconfidence but - I cannot stress this enough - it's the Jets. They made the sports version of tragedy look cool.
Bold predictions: Jets get in, Broncos get in, Eagles win the NFC East. The only things undecided at this point.
Enjoy the regular season finale...
6 comments:
"He's always seemed to be more worried about his image and his next TV gig than on football."
I can't let you slide with that. How? By hitting the gym at 5 a.m. with former power lifter Joe Carini to squat 670 pounds, box and then run up and down man-made sand hills to get himself in the best shape possible? That, before going for acupuncture. That, before practice. He's up doing all that when a lot of other athletes are pissy drunk, high, on/in some lascivious women or combining all 3 in a debauched orgy of indulgence.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b379/Shrimpbutt/t1_tiki.jpg
Check the link. It's a picture of Tiki lifting a bag filled with 300 lbs. of weights. The excercise, as described by Sports Illustrated and the Bergen Record, is him lying down, having the bag laid on him and then he's gotta get off the ground and stand up with it, without using his hands at all to prop himself up. Think he's thinking about TV gigs when he's doing that?
And when he stepped on the field, all he gave was 100%. Remember the last game of 2003, against Carolina? The Giants were 4-11 going in and on a 7-game losing streak with Jesse Palmer at QB and Ian Allen and Wayne Lucier starting on the o-line. The team had collapsed, the roster shredded by injuries, Fassel had already been fired, and the season was done. Tiki had separated his shoulder the week before against Dallas and wasn't supposed to play. But with nothing to play for, #21 was out there, starting the game. Or when he dislocated his finger against the Patriots that year and missed just 1 offensive play. Or when he sprained his ankle on a play where I've seen guys come out of it with broken ankles or torn achilles tendons. He was down for a few minutes...but he missed a series and came back in on the next possession. Those are things he did BEFORE his ascension to superstardom. His toughness and will to succeed can't be questioned.
And for a franchise that's had very few standout offensive players in its history, he is by FAR the greatest offensive player to wear that uniform. Fran Tarkenton wasn't here for that long and wasn't all that good here. Y.A. Tittle only had 2 big seasons for them. Tiki's the franchise leader in rushing yards, total yards, all-purpose yards (punt and kickoff returns), and receptions. He holds every RB record for the organization. The only one I think he didn't have was most career touchdowns (Joe Morris) and he got that tonight.
You don't come into the league as an undersized 3rd down back and accomplish all that by caring more about TV gigs than you do football. He announced his retirement and all he's done is pile up 2,127 total yards in an offense that's sucked. In an offense that fans and the media complained had neglected him too much.
Add to that, he's been underpaid. You look at the money running backs are signing now. Tomlinson got $62 million a couple years ago. Portis, I can't remember the number, but he's the highest paid. Marshall Faulk got $58M a few years ago. Alexander, I think, got $68M. Egerrin got big money from the Cardinals. Tiki, up until before this season, had been playing on the 6-year/$20M deal he signed after 2000. So even when he ran his mouth and was in the wrong for calling Strahan greedy ($54M), it wasn't as if Tiki was being hypocritical.
So what he makes some TV and radio appearances? Sure, I think he leaked the "secret" of his retirement. He wanted the news to get out so he could have his goodbye tour and make his victory lap around the NFL. But it never interfered with what he did on the field. He's the last player on the team you can take a shot at. Week-2-week, you can't count on Eli knowing his head from his ass. You can't count on Plaxico catching passes. Can't even count on Shockey to not drop a few. Can't count on the offensive line to hold up. Can't count on the coaching staff to not screw up. Can't count on the defense to not embarass themselves. Hell, you can't even count on guys not getting injured. Since 1998, Tiki's played in 142 of a possible 144 games. The only games missed were the first 2 in 2001 when he hurt the hamstring in pre-season. You could count on him going out there and you could count on him running hard and doing his job. Hell, he even stopped fumbling.
Not that it should have to be commended, but with today's athlete, you kind of have to: Tiki ain't never been locked up. You've never even heard about him being involved in any crap.
For you to say that he seemed more focused on his image, I think, is baseless and unfair and it's spitting at everything he's done. And then to say it "always" seemed that way. Like it took 234 yards and 3 TDs for you to overlook what you perceive as selfishness or lack of focus and appreciate him. He isn't a Randy Moss. A super-gifted freak who half-assed his way and skated through because he was 10x more talented than anybody lining up across from him. He worked to become the player he became and he scrapped for those yards. As Tiki's unofficial d*** rider, I took offense to you saying that. It's bad enough they won, now you go top it off by getting me heated in the early morning.
Oh, and I forgot to mention him playing with the broken arm in 2000 and leading them to the Super Bowl. Was he focused on his image then? And we forget, he's been playing with a broken finger this year, in addition to the regular wear and tear of the running back position.
I never said that Tiki doesn't work hard at all, I agree, Tiki is the best offensive player the Giants ever had and to be fair, perhaps saying that he cared more about his image was a rough shot.
However, I will say that I personally was not a fan of the whole retirement deal and how it was handled. Could he have waited to at least the end of the year so it didn't have to be a distraction for this already mentally fragile team? I think so. Look, it's nothing personal at all, I think Tiki's one of the true classy guys in a sport that needs classy guys (see Bengals, Cincinnati)
I'm not saying I hate him at all. I just thought the TV and Radio stuff could have been overdone a bit.
I've calmed down. The e-mail got me off it. But I think you owe Tiki an apology. Send him a letter, I have his address.
The announcement wasn't a distraction. They went on to win 5-straight. The ship capsizing had nothing to do with Tiki's impending retirement. These losers just couldn't sustain it, nor could they deal with adversity. The defense, after a couple injuries, became a joke and fell apart, like they always do. Eli, following the Falcons game, went into about a 10-week funk and became his usual unreliable, inconsistent, inaccurate self. If anything, Tiki's goodbye tour should've been motivation. The Steelers all had that "One for the thumb; one for The Bus" mantra going for Bettis' last games. But these chumps get the emotion knocked out of them easily and role over quicker than a $50 hooker after [censored because it's a family blog]. Can't blame that on Tiki.
I think that if a guy gets the job done, what he does off the field, if it's legal and doesn't hurt him or the team, is fine. If he's gonna get it done and put in work like he has, Tiki can sign on to do Tampax commercials for all I care.
btw - How many games has Bryant Gumbel called for NFL Network? And nobody has told that fool that it's not a "turnover on downs" when the team is forced to punt?
btw 2 - Why the hell were they in 5-wide/empty backfield on 2nd & 10 on that last drive? That would've been the perfect time for play-action, if they were gonna pass. Empty set just lets the defense know what's coming. Gilbride called a sensible game. The left side of the Redskins d-line has been a weakness for years (I recall looking up the numbers last year when doing a game plan for the first meeting - the 36-0 game - and teams were averaging close to 5 yards per carry running off left tackle against them; and Tiki wound up going for 200+ in that game) and the Giants kept exploiting it. But that 5-wide nonsense was awful.
btw 3 - You know Plaxico was probably seething in the locker room after checking the final stats. He finishes with 988 yards. Had he caught that last pass - or had he not been interfered with - it would've given him exactly 12 yards. He might've got at Gilbride like, "Yo, why you ain't lemme get my numbers? I thought you was my man, homie. That's what, one or two mo' catches. I couldn't get a screen pass?"
On a positive note: Burress finishes the season having caught 54% of the passes thrown to him, a career-high. Up 8% from last season. See, he and Eli are making progress.
T.J. WhosYaMama leads the league with 72%. And it's been a down year for your boy Ocho Cinco, despite the numbers. He's been thrown to more times than any receiver (146) and he's caught just 57%. Terrell Owens, by the way, is at 55%.
Also, the way his retirement came out wasn't Tiki holding a press conference or something. He was hanging out with Ronde and mentioned it to him and some New York Times writer got a hard-on realizing that he had an exclusive story. With a different guy, maybe we don't know that Tiki is retiring even today.
And I don't think it's been a distraction. What, because Tiki is retiring Shockey is going to drop passes? Or Amani Toomer is going to get hurt?
Jeez, it's I went after your dead puppy or something.
I'm not going to apologize for writing something, it's your job to stand up for what you believe in. I'll say it's a mistake and I probably was sleep deprived. Actually, I was sleep deprived. Anyway to answer some questions, I don't blame Tiki for any of the problems that the team, coaching staff et al. And I said it in the entry, the Giants will miss 21.
Housh is really underrated and if I could trade him for Plex, I would. Ocho is still the man and much more talented than Plaxico.
Gumbal and Collinsworth were a good announcing team because they weren't afraid to question things happening on the field.
Gilbride wasn't great but good enough. I heard Hufnagel is applying at 7-11 for a new job.
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