The Giants had to report to Albany today, which basically means myself and my colleagues stand around in front of the players' dorms, watch them drive up in nice cars, unload their stuff and give us some platitudes about how excited they are.
That couldn't possibly be true once I saw the conditioning drill -- 10 sprints back and forth across the width of a practice field in the high afternoon heat. William Joseph cramped up, TE Boo Williams doubled over a few times and QB Jared Lorenzen -- "The Pillsbury Throwboy" -- had some trouble too. Williams had insult added to injury when LaVar Arrington called out, "Come on, Boo!" as the poor tight end was on the verge of puking. Arrington did so from the stationary bike, no less, as he was excused from running due to his Achilles tendonitis.
Some highlights from two hours of watching the guys unload their stuff:
Best Entrance: Michael Jennings. The diminutive WR rolled up in his "Pimp My Ride" Chevy that features 26-inch rims and a very, very, very solid stereo system. He posed for pictures as he drove through, flashing his gold teeth. I'm quite pleased that he's back for a second camp, even if his chances of making the active roster are slim.
Jennings also earned Best Exit for a similar departure -- more posing, more gold-plated grinning -- and Best Moment From 2005 That We Never Saw: He had a silk-screened t-shirt made up with himself in uniform on one side, Tom Coughlin on the other and a word bubble over his own head that says, "Put Me In Coach!" He wore this around the locker room during the season!
We're going to try and have a Michael Jennings Moment of the Day in every camp blog.
Best Entrance (runner-up): Arrington rolling up to his dorm... in a Segway, the electric personal scooter that failed miserably in its attempt to become a household item a few years back. "Gas prices are high," noted Arrington. Maybe there's an endorsement deal in there.
Worst Entrance: Sam Madison's Mercedes was in bad shape due to a run-in with a deer on the way up early this morning. Madison and Gibril Wilson drove together, got a little lost and bounced a deer to its demise before finding their way here. The front left bumper of Madison's car was crumpled, but both guys were fine.
Nicest car: Michael Strahan's black Bentley was impressive, standing out from the BMWs and Hummers.
Best Typo: In the daily clips the Giants' PR department prints out each day, there is a table of contents that lists each story and its author. In the list today was a Newsday story by "Bob Blauber." Always knew that guy talked too much. Now everyone else does. There's your new nickname, Sparky.
Fourth-round pick Guy Whimper and seventh-round pick Gerrick McPhearson both signed yesterday and were on hand, so the Giants have all of their picks under contract. Whimper was a close call though -- Accorsi told the Associated Press yesterday morning that "We've reached agreements with our top four picks, negotiating with some of the guys on the Mount Rushmore of agents -- Tom Condon, Drew Rosenhaus -- and this guy (agent Eric Metz) is going to hold out Guy Whimper. He's the second of two fourth round picks. It's amazing."
Within minutes, Whimper was signed.
Practice starts tomorrow. We'll have an update by 1 p.m.
Comments (2)
Dear Arthur,
It's about friggin' time! For the Blog, that is. By the way, nice article the other day; but we thirst for more information - Who? What? Where? When? How? Why and Why not? I'd also like to hear details on every rookie in camp. How are they doing? Do you think they'll make the team? Normally, I wouldn't give a rat's tail what a sports writer thinks - but this is the time for you to espouse your opinion – hey! it’s a blog, am I right? I'm not just interested in Kiwanuka and Moss - but ALL of the drafted and undrafted rookies in camp. How are they contributing?
And what about the offensive line? All of the superstars on offense won't translate into points without an effective line. I want to know about the o-line and the d-line. As you mentioned in your article, the defense is full of questions. Who is going to stop the run? And what’s the outlook on special teams?
In order of preference, I'd like to see you write about: 1) What the PLAYERS are DOING. 2) What the COACHES are SAYING. 3) How things look to you. On the flip-side, I’m completely uninterested in the following: X) What the players are saying (Player talk is cheap. Trash talk is cheaper yet. For trash talk I’ll go down to the playground). Y) Anything about the player's wives and/or marital status. (Again – who cares?) Z) Anything about the player's family, ancestors, or distant relatives. (That’s just filler. Leave those stories to People Magazine).
Keep the focus on football.
The NFL completes me,
-Big BB (Not my real name.)
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