Home Opener to be played Thur night @ 9:30 EST

Opening Night Tailgate @Meadowlands:  Me, Howie, Kimmy & John A.

Can't wait for the home opener.  After destroying the Skins in our nation's capital it's time to meet up with our old friend Spags.  Thursday night @9:30 pm I will be playing against "Mike C" from the SAT Forum.  I'm not sure who Mike C is.  I only know his Forum handle.  Wouldn't it be funny if I actually knew him as someone else ???

Until then I'm going to get the burgers and dogs fired up on the grill and dig deep into my memory of how that win played out in real life.  It was 6 months ago that the game was actually played, but it feels like it was a lifetime ago.  I think we were all expecting a near .500 team that was in a rebuilding process.  What we got was a near .500 team that peaked at the right time down the stretch.

If anyone is interested in coaching one of the Giants future opponents, please let me know and I will put you on the schedule.

Week # 2 - Preview: Giants host Rams on MNF

Crowd shuffles in for the MNF Home Opener on 9/19/2011

The home opener is upon us.  In real life the G-men had a disgusting loss to the Skins, but that wasn't going to discourage any of us.  Howie and I met up with John A. and Kimmy for a SI Dodgers mini-reunion / opening night tailgate.  Donny and Camille were supposed to meet up with us, but they didn't get there until just before the half since they took NJT to the game.  Food was a plenty for all.  John A. made his world renowned ribs, which are second only to his marinated lam.  Side note:  John is a Jet fan, but he's not a Giant hater.  Kimmy is a Bills fan, who going into the season doubted that Eli was really an Elite QB.  We will see how her opinion comes around as the season goes on.  The home team did not disappoint winning 28-16 over Spags' Rams.  I think we wound up getting home around 2-2:30am, but it sure was worth it.  I was so pumped I had to watch the game play by play off of my DVR.  Oh, did I mention that 9/19 is my birthday and once again the Giants gave me a great present !  Last time they played on my birthday was 9/19/2005, which was that road home game vs New Orleans thanks to hurricane Katrina.  The G-men won that game too.

Key question:  Anyone want to coach the Rams h2h vs me online this week ???

Week # 1 - September 11, 2011 - @WAS (Fed Ex Field)

New York 34, Washington 10

20-38 for 375 yards and 3 TD w/only 1 INT = Eli-te !!!

On an emotional 10th anniversary of 9/11 the teams representing the two cities hit the hardest by the worst terror attack on US soil, prepared to do battle on the gridiron to kick off the 2011 season.  New York is coming off 2 disappointing seasons in a row where they stumbled down the stretch and missed the playoffs.  Some say that this is a win or leave year for 66 year old coach Tom Coughlin.  Others put the bulls-eye squarely on the helmet of Eli Manning, who made the major mistake of being baited into saying he was an "Elite" QB, by ESPN radio's Michael Kay.

After a sluggish first quarter the high octane Giants passing attack got itself going in the 2nd quarter and never looked back.  Eli Manning threw for over 375 yard (20-38) and recorded 3 TD tosses to just one tipped ball INT.  Manning spread the wealth around as 10 receivers caught at least 1 pass.  Victor Cruz caught 4 for 93 yards and 2 of Hakeem Nicks' catches were for 6 points.  Ahmad Bradshaw had a nice 22 yard TD run to finish the day 12 for 61 with a 5.1 YPC average.  JPP recorded the defenses only sack of the day.  Cornerback Aaron Ross had 2 picks with Kenny Phillips and Corey Webster each grabbing one as Rex Grossman was purely gross.

Click here to see a brief slideshow that includes:  scoring plays and game stats

REAL LIFE RESULTS:  WAS 28, NYG 14 (Loss)

REPLAY (1-0) vs REAL LIFE (0-1)

The 2011 Giants Season Replay Project

After going through the emotional 2011 New York Football Giants season and attending 6 games in person I decided to replay the season using SAT (Second and Ten) Football software.  As you know I attend at least half of the Giants games each season including a road trip game.  Some road trips have been far (St. Louis) and some, like this year's road game (vs Jets) are close.

I will chronicle a week by week replay of the season and see if I can equal Tom Coughlin's results.  The reason I say "equal" is pure and simple, Tom won the Super Bowl.  How can I do any better ?

I just figure it would be fun to re-live it all and compare it to real life.