Fire McAdoo, Fire McAdoo And Fire McAdoo!

 I am not a New York Giants fan, I have nothing against the team though, but I whole heartedly believe that Ben McAdoo needs to be fired today, not at the end of the season…today! His treatment of Eli Manning all season has showed he has little respect for the 2-time Super Bowl Champion QB and his unceremoniously benching of Manning is just the final straw. Forget Manning’s streak, this has nothing to do with how I feel about McAdoo, this is all about McAdoo’s ego and blaming others for his shortcomings.

McAdoo has never been a head coach prior to the Giants giving him the opportunity last year after the team ran prior, and successful, coach Tom Coughlin out of town. A move that has turned out to be a huge bite in the ass for owner John Mara. Sure, the team went 11-5 last year and made it to the playoffs but there is no question that was Coughlin’s team, not McAdoo’s. This year is McAdoo’s team, the 2-9 team (yes, I know there have been injuries) that is as dysfunctional as that one drunk uncle you see every Thanksgiving that the whole family avoids.

Eli Manning is 36 years old and has had a very tough season, the O-Line hasn’t been stable and injuries to key receivers has added to it, but to bench Manning with the claim of “Wanting to evaluate backup QB Geno Smith” is full of shit. This is the act of a desperate man trying to keep his job. Smith has been in the league since 2013 and has played 33 games prior to signing with the Giants. There have been plenty of opportunities of evaluating him from prior seasons plus there is off season training camps and the preseason.

Straight up and down, McAdoo is throwing Eli Manning under the bus, blaming him for the failure of the season and using the claim of “I had to use a backup QB” as his reason for tanking in hopes that the front office will give him one more season with a high draft pick.

The team should have finished the season with Eli where he belongs, under center, and then look at the opportunities. You don’t bail on the face of the franchise, this is what happened to Peyton with the Colts.

Mara should also consider letting go GM Jerry Reese too, the man's entire career is based on Eli's success and if Eli is being blamed for the season and being benched then McAdoo and Reese also need to be part of that blame and be shown the door. 

/rant

Say It Ain't So Eli

I read a story today that has me a bit surprised in regard to a racketeering suit filed last week against Eli Manning, the NY Giants, Steiner Sports and others connected to a sale of memorabilia to three collectors.

Eli Manning had a contract to supply his game-used equipment to Steiner Sports in 2010 and apparently knowingly Manning and the Giants supplied equipment that had not been used. Initially the Giants were trying to play innocent but Manning turned over emails supporting the claims.

In April 2010 the Giants marketing manager Alan Zucker asked Manning to supply 2 game-used helmets and 2 game-used jerseys. There was a communication between Manning and the Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba where Manning asked Skiba to supply him with 2 helmets that can pass as game-used, which Skiba in turn supplied.

Prior to the lawsuit being filed last week one of the plaintiffs had an email exchange with Skiba where Skiba admits that he created “BS” versions for the game-used equipment because Manning didn’t want to give him the real items.

The Giants official response to the lawsuit is “Eli Manning is well known for his integrity and this is just the latest misguided attempt to defame his character.”

So even though both Eli Manning and the team’s equipment manager Joe Skiba have turned over emails and have admitted to submitting fake items the Giants are standing their ground that this is all a smear job.

This isn’t the first time that the team has been accused of selling fake memorabilia either. Barry Barone, who was one of the Giants team dry cleaners, has said that in 2001 he was asked to “beat up” unused uniforms from the 2000 season to make them appear as game used. In 2008 Skiba was ordered by a team VP to doctor up a helmet to appear as Manning’s Super Bowl helmet so they could send it to the Hall of Fame. It has come to light that included in this lawsuit is a claim that in March 2016 Michael Strahan requested his Super Bowl XLII jersey from the team and they sent him a fake altered jersey.

This is a travesty and I will go out on a limb and say that the Giants are NOT THE ONLY TEAM doing this, I am sure this is a common occurrence in all sports. I don’t believe this is always the case, I am sure many teams sell plenty of game used jerseys but it is no wonder collectors are left wondering if the dime-sized white jersey relic in their card is real. The generic “Not any specific game or season” guarantees do not help alleviate any of the collector’s fears.

Some Things Will Never Be Explained

Following Eli Manning’s 5-INT day against the 49ers stunned NFL scientists have committed more of an effort in determining how Eli is the Manning with more Super Bowl wins. At this rate he may be looking at taking over QB duties for New York’s other semi-pro football team (not so sly dig at the NY Jets).