Wall Street is the place to be right now. Well, it’s the place to be if you don’t have a job or any responsibilities at home, or if you don’t have a home, or if you don’t mind sleeping in a tent in the middle of the city in freezing temperatures, and if you can deal with people protesting everything and anything around you.

New York City is the place to be for football right now. It’s the place to be if you’re a Giants fan with the G-Men at 6-2 and in first place in the NFC East. And it’s the place to be if you’re a Jets fan with Gang Green at 5-3 and in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East. One city with two first-place teams. It’s a glorious thing.

With New York City currently serving as the center of the football world along with the center of the business and news world, I thought it would be a good idea to combine everything going on in the city to help recap where both of the city’s football teams are at midseason.

Last season I handed out some midseason awards for the New York Football Giants, but this year I decided to do it a little differently. Instead of awards, I thought we would use quotes from the movie Wall Street with what’s going on in New York (and also in honor of “Kappo” wanting to be called “Young Gekko” in this season of How To Make It In America) to celebrate New York’s two first-place teams at midseason and analyze the first eight games.

“It’s a zero sum game. Somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another.”

I couldn’t read this quote without thinking about what I wrote on Monday following the Giants’ win over the Patriots.

The perception of New York City right now is that it’s a Giants town (or at least that’s what the Daily News told us on Tuesday). Sure, it sort of swings depending on who reaches the postseason and who doesn’t, and who lasts longer in the playoffs, but hasn’t it always been a Giants town?

It’s actually kind of crazy to think the city would be considered a Jets town because of their two AFC Championship appearances. It would be like the Mets being referred to as King of the City after their 2006 NLCS loss. (I actually know Mets fans who were under this impression). The Yankees hadn’t won in six years and had lost in the World twice and the ALCS once, but one NLCS appearance apparently was good enough for some Mets fans to think that their team was the king. Now Jets fans are under a similar impression after back-to-back AFC Championship Games (despite losing both).

It’s been a miserable three-plus year drought since the Giants last won a Super Bowl. That’s way longer than 42 years.

“Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel.”

There is a whole group of people that loved the Kings of Leon well before “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” were played on the radio more times than Adele is now. That’s how I feel about Eli Manning. Giants fans have known what he is capable of for years, it’s just taken everyone else a lot longer to catch on.

Everyone is buying stock in Eli after beating the Patriots and leading his team to a 6-2 record. It almost seems like the perfect time for everyone to board the Eli bandwagon as the Giants’ gauntlet continues this week in San Francisco, and the football world waits for Eli and the Giants to falter, so they can say, “I told you so.” Maybe the Giants will lose in San Francisco (though I don’t think they will), but it won’t be enough and shouldn’t be enough for any sensible person to give up on the Giants or their quarterback.

“This is the kid. He calls me 59 days in a row. Wants to be a player. Oughta be a picture of you in the dictionary under persistence, kid.”

I said after the Jets beat the Patriots in the playoffs that I didn’t know what Mark Sanchez is. I still don’t. Yes, I root against him and hope he throws five interceptions every Sunday, but he’s still someone you can kind of, sort of pull for even though he’s a Jet.

Sanchez has only thrown two picks in his last four games (the Jets are 3-1) after throwing five in the first four games (the Jets went 2-2). He’s only in his third year in the league and already has four playoff wins (all on the road), which is as many as Tom Brady has since the 2006 divisional round. But the Jets still have the training wheels on him and whenever they take them off to see if he can keep his balance, he rides his bike off the sidewalk and into a bush.

The reason I don’t think Sanchez gets as much respect as he should outside of New York (and I’m not sure he gets that much here) is that he came into the league in a great situation. The Jets were a team built to win when he showed up in 2009. (They were built to win in 2008 before Brett Favre lit their season on fire). Sanchez didn’t take over for a three-win team and wasn’t forced to be part of a rebuilding process. He was given a “now” team and asked to manage the game and to not do anything spectacular, but also to not screw anything up either. He has basically been given the same responsibilities as a 16-year-old babysitting for the first time. “Make sure the kids don’t run away or light the house on fire for the three hours we’re gone and make sure that they’re in bed by 10.” Basic stuff. It’s not Sanchez’s fault, he’s being treated this way, and you do have to give the Jets credit because it’s worked to an extent.

I don’t think the clock is ticking on Sanchez to prove himself the way it ticked on Tim Couch and David Carr and Joey Harrington because those three were in some rotten situations. But Rex Ryan isn’t doing his 25-year-old franchise quarterback any favors by guaranteeing things every time he opens his mouth like Ray Zalinsky in Tommy Boy. Let’s give the kid a few years to learn how to perform at a high level consistently in the NFL without Brian Schottenheimer holding his hand while he crosses the street. It pains me to say this, but I think Sanchez will be worth the Jets trading their first-round pick, second-round pick, Kenyon Coleman, Abram Elam and Brett Ratliff to the Browns for the fifth pick.

“If you need a friend, get a dog.”

There’s nothing really to this other than that I can picture Tom Coughlin saying this to his team in training camp or after a loss.

I have been waiting for Coughlin to give us his patented confused look after the Giants allow an improbable comeback this season. You know the face. The one where he looks like he is trying to solve the equation on the hallway chalkboard in Good Will Hunting. The one he gives Matt Dodge and his special teams after the DeSean Jackson punt return for a touchdown last season. So far we haven’t seen it, and I’m hoping we don’t.

Coughlin entered the season on the hot seat and right now it has cooled off. I still think he has to reach the postseason to come back in 2012. So far, that doesn’t look like a problem for a guy getting a lot of recognition for Coach of the Year.

“I don’t throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.” “Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” Think about it.”

I doubt that Rex Ryan has ever read “The Art of War” or any book that isn’t full of “X’s and O’s” or starring The Berenstain Bears. I realize that Gordon Gekko’s quote is about how properly preparing for battle leads to victory, and while I think Rex does that, I also think he feels he will win no matter what preparation steps he takes.

In Rex’s mind the Jets are a perfect team every season and therefore they have nothing to work on and nothing to improve. At least that’s what it sounds like when he opens his mouth. Then the Jets lose a couple of games, Rex backtracks and makes some wild statements to cover up his original wild statements, and soon enough he’s like a guy on Cops handcuffed in the back of a cruiser digging himself a hole full of fiction. It happened in 2009 when he thought the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs. It happened in 2010 when the Jets were dominated by the Patriots on Monday Night Football and started a late-season slide. It happened this season when they lost three games in a row and he almost went Jim Mora on us.

I like Rex Ryan. He’s good for football and good for the Jets, and he’s an easy guy to root for (unless you’re a Patriots fan) as he straddles the line between being a public relations dream and a public relations nightmare. I just wish he would use his back page material for big games and meaningful situations, and not just any time there is a microphone or a camera or a cell phone or a Talkboy in front of his face.

“Just remember something. Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character and that is what keeps him out of the abyss.”

Brandon Jacobs has regressed since his 1,089-yard 2008 season (which he amassed in only 13 games). Back then, Earth, Wind and Fire dominated the NFC, and the Giants were the best team in football. Since then Jacobs has dropped to 835 yards in 2009, 823 yards in 2010 and just 198 yards in 2011. He’s averaging his lowest yards per carry (3.3) since his rookie season in 2005 when he averaged 2.6 yards per carry (but he only had 38 carries in 16 games that year).

Jacobs had to take a $1.75 million pay cut just to stay with the Giants this season, and he will most likely be an ex-Giant this March when he is due to get a $500,000 roster bonus before a $4.4 million salary in 2012. With the drop in production, he hasn’t been able to compensate for his decline by being a positive locker room presence or a team player. Instead he has complained about his playing time, pouted about his use and touches and gone off to the media about his displeasure with the organization. I’m not sure if it’s a bigger upset that Fred Armisen is still on Saturday Night Live or that Brandon Jacobs is still on the Giants.

On Sunday, Jacobs was given a chance to redeem himself and prove to the Giants and the other 29 teams that he isn’t as washed up as we all think he is. Jacobs ran for 72 yards on 18 carries and had four receptions for another 28 yards for a total of 100 yards on the day, including a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. It was his best game in two years. (He hasn’t had a 100-yard rushing game since Week 10 against the Eagles … in 2008!)

If Ahmad Bradshaw doesn’t get healthy soon then Jacobs is going to be counted on and given more chances to prove his worth to the NFL. He will most likely be cut by the Giants in March, but he can use the next eight weeks to try and recreate an image he has tarnished the last two years for potential suitors for 2012 and beyond, and hopefully help the Giants win in the postseason too.

“Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

When Steve Johnson had a 52-yard reception against Darrelle Revis on Sunday, I thought Twitter was going to crash. An NFL team’s No. 1 wide receiver caught a pass against Darrelle Revis! History! That’s what it felt like when it happened. No one does that on Revis Island. No one.

I’m not being sarcastic or joking. I’m serious. No one does that to Darrelle Revis. It’s such a rare accomplishment that people felt the need to tweet about it. Could you imagine if people felt the need to tweet when big plays occurred against the Giants’ secondary?

“There goes Rob Gronkowski over the middle untouched for 27 yards.”

“DeSean Jackson with a 39-yard reception against Corey Webster.”

“There’s Miles Austin behind Aaron Ross for 21 yards.”

“Wes Welker has it for 24 yards before being brought down.”

Revis is so good that it feels like, maybe, he should have held out for even more money last year. I know that the $32 million of guaranteed money is a lot of money, but the guy is so much better than the next best guy at his position and anyone else in the league that he deserves it, and more. With Antonio Cromartie jumping routes and trying to catch balls himself instead of making sure they aren’t caught by the other team, where would the Jets secondary be without Revis, and with Cromartie and with Kyle Wilson? Not in first place.

“It’s not always the most popular guy who gets the job done.”

When the Giants were marching down the field with 1:36 left against the Patriots on Sunday, and Ramses Barden and Jake Ballard were the guys putting together the winning drive, how many Patriots fans turned to the person next to them and said, “Who the hell is Ramses Barden?” or “Who the hell is Jake Ballard?” in the same voice that Verne Lundqvist uses in Happy Gilmore to ask that same question about Happy Gilmore.

Prior to the season the Giants lost Steve Smith (Philadelphia) and Kevin Boss (Oakland) to free agency. They lost cornerback Terrell Thomas (knee), linebacker Clint Sintim (knee), defensive tackle Marvin Austin (pec), cornerback Bruce Johnson (Achilles), cornerback Brian Witherspoon (knee) and Jonathan Goff (knee). And on top of that, cornerback Prince Amukamara (foot) still hasn’t played in a game.

Even after all the injuries and the season-opening loss to the Redskins and the embarrassment at home against the Seahawks, the Giants are 6-2 and have a two-game lead over the Cowboys in the division. And when Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeen Nicks and Kevin Baas were ruled “out” for Sunday’s game, the Giants turned to Barden and Kevin Boothe and D.J. Ware to play significant roles, and the Giants came away with a win.

The same way the Patriots have amazed everyone with their ability to replace proven stars and long-time Patriots with new and unproven names, the Giants have done that this season by getting production from guys who most of the league doesn’t even know exist. Last Sunday, it was Ballard and Barden. Who knows who it might be this Sunday?

“Wake up, will ya, pal? If you’re not inside, you are outside.”

I will never get over what happened to the Giants in 2008 and what could have been if Plaxico had just stayed in on the Friday before the Giants’ Week 13 game. I have little doubt that the Giants would have reached the Super Bowl and probably won it. Forget probably. They would have won it. The final four teams in the postseason were the Cardinals, Eagles, Steelers and the Ravens. The Giants beat all four of those teams in the regular season. But they lost in the divisional round to the Eagles because they were relying on Domenik Hixon to be their deep threat and became one-dimensional because of a lack of receivers.

I thought Plaxico Burress was going to have more of an impact with the Jets than he has. Sure, he’s 34 now and hadn’t played in an NFL game in almost three years when he came back, but the man who gave me one of the best sports moments of my life has just 322 receiving yards this season (he had 1 catch and 16 yards combined in Weeks 2 and 6). He does have five touchdowns, but three of those came in one game, and his season high for receiving yards in a game is 79.

Maybe Plaxico isn’t going to be the safety blanket for Mark Sanchez the way he was for Eli Manning and maybe the two won’t ever build the same chemistry he had for the other New York team, and that’s OK with me. I’m over Plaxico.

“Well, you’re walking around blind without a cane, pal. A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place.”

Did anyone see Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker on Sunday? They were Tom Brady’s only two targets and they ran around the middle of the field like streakers trying to evade security guards and police officers. Their presence somehow caught everyone by surprise and caused the Giants secondary to have delayed reactions as if Zack Morris called timeout to give the Patriots receivers a head start.

This is a problem for the Giants. Yes, it’s more of a problem for some of the other teams in the league, but when Aaron Ross (you might know him by his birth name of Fumbles Magee) is tracking down open receivers like it’s a game of two-hand touch, and when Deon Grant is leaving Gronkowski open on fourth down for potentially the game when the whole world knows Brady is going to Gronkowski in the end zone, you know things are bad.

This wasn’t only a problem against the Patriots. The Giants let Rex Grossman (who isn’t good enough to start over John Beck) throw for 305 yards against them in Week 1. They let Sam Bradford go for 331 yards in Week 2. Charvaris Whiteson (the combination of Charlie Whitehurst and Tarvaris Jackson) threw for 315 yards in Week 5, and Tom Brady put up 342 on them in a losing effort. The good news: They are 6-2 despite this. The bad news: Drew Brees in Week 12 and Aaron Rodgers in Week 13.

“When I get a hold of the son of a b-tch who leaked this, I’m gonna tear his eyeballs out.”

Remember when Derrick Mason complained that there were “cracks” in the offense after Week 4 against the Ravens? Then before Week 5 against the Patriots, Mason, Burress and Santonio Holmes reportedly went to Rex to complain about Schottenheimer’s play calling.

And then after losing to the Patriots, Plaxico said, “Whoever wrote that story, they’re just making up stories. I would like to get the name of the guy who wrote it, because that never happened. Whoever wrote it … is just trying to make himself look good, but it’s all rumors.”

When asked about the meeting, Rex Ryan said, “If [the meeting did happen], then maybe I got hit in the head or something. I don’t remember that.”

And Santonio Holmes said, “I honestly have no idea where that came from [or] who could’ve said it. Me, personally, I have no issue with Coach Schottenheimer and I didn’t go and talk to Rex about anything.”

Two days later the Jets traded Mason to the Texas for a conditional seventh-round pick.

Mike Tannenbaum talked about the trade by saying, “What he said after the Baltimore game had nothing to do with the decision we made last night.”

Everyone believes you, Mr. T. No, really, we believe you…

“You’re on a roll. Enjoy it while it lasts, ’cause it never does.”

Jerry Reese was on top of the world after Super Bowl XLII. Then he went down a few notches after the divisional loss to the Eagles in 2008. Then he went down a few more after the 2009 collapse. Then he went down even more after the 2010 collapse. Then he was at rock bottom of his time as Giants general manager when the Giants preseason looked like a controlled demolition video. But now at 6-2 and in first place, Reese’s stock is slowly climbing back up as the Giants have shown exceptional depth on both sides of the ball.

Mike Tannenbaum has watched the Jets transform themselves from the “Same Old Jets” into an elite team in the league with back-to-back AFC championship appearances under his reign. He has made some questionable decisions and some exceptional ones, and has earned his self-proclaimed title as “one smart SOB” at times. But with Rex continuing to guarantee rings for a team that last won 42 years ago, Tannenbaum’s approval rating is going to mirror the success of the Jets in the second season.

“Well, life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them.”

Three years ago this weekend, the Giants were 9-1 (on their way to 11-1 and then 12-4), Plaxico Burress hadn’t gone to the Latin Quarter with sweatpants on and a gun in those pants, and everyone expected the Giants to appear in the Super Bowl for a second straight year.

After missing the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, the Giants returned to the playoffs in 2006, and 2007, and 2008, and it felt like they weren’t going to miss the playoffs again. Then the collapse of 2009 happened after a 5-0 start to the season, and then the collapse of 2010 happened with 7:18 left against the Eagles in Week 16, and they haven’t been back since losing to the Eagles in the 2008 divisional round.

Things can change in a second in the NFL. Right now the Giants are coming off their biggest win since beating the Panthers in overtime in Week 16 in 2008, and New York Football Giants hype is selling better than Four Loko was at this time last year. The G-Men survived one week of the nine-week gauntlet, but have to travel to the West Coast this weekend to face the 7-1 49ers, and then they get the Eagles, Saints, Packers and Cowboys. A loss against the 49ers will get the collapse buzz brewing again like it would have if they had lost in Foxboro. The stench of late-season failure will follow the Giants until they can reach the postseason again, and right now they are set up for that to be this year.

But, once again, things can change and they can change quickly, and once they begin to change, it’s hard to stop them. It happened in 2009. It happened in 2010. The schedule has the Giants facing a perfect storm of devastating events that could make it happen again in 2011.

The NFL season comes down to a few moments. This Sunday is one of them for the Giants. Next Sunday will be another one, and the Monday after that, and the five Sundays after that. I have desperately wanted the Giants to get back to the postseason and with eight games left in the regular season, they are already there.

The Patriots never lose to the Steelers. The Patriots never lose at Heinz Field.

They did and they did.

The Patriots never lose to back-to-back games. The Patriots never lose to NFC teams at home. The Patriots never lose at home, period.

They did and they did and they did.

The Giants took care of their own business on Sunday in Foxboro and picked up the slack for the Jets too, doing Rex Ryan’s dirty work and keeping the Patriots from taking over first place in the AFC East. The Giants did something that no team had done between Weeks 1 and 17 since 2002 when the Packers became the last team to beat the Patriots in Gillette Stadium. (However, I don’t think this is that much of an accomplishment since the Patriots have lost their last two playoff games at home.)

I said the Giants would beat the Patriots on Friday and NESN.com’s Mike Hurley agreed with me, and so did the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn. But as the week progressed and Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeem Nicks and David Baas were declared “out” for the game, I began to have my doubts. Those doubts were erased yesterday and now I can’t help, but think about what the Giants would have done to the Patriots if they had their No. 1 running back, best wide receiver and starting center.

The Giants’ 24-20 win felt like a game that the Giants are supposed to lose and a game that Patriots are supposed to win.

The Patriots were supposed to be the team to go down the field with 1:36 left and score the game-winning touchdown.

The Giants were supposed to be the team that went up with 17-13, making their fans prematurely celebrate a win, only to allow the opposition to go down the field and then commit a stupid pass interference penalty and lose the game.

That’s how it would have ended for the old Patriots and for the old Giants. (I say old Giants in hopes that their sloppy play over the last decade-plus will finally come to an end). But that’s not how it ends in 2011 with these two teams.

If Eli Manning doesn’t orchestrate a game-winning drive with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter and two timeouts, and if Rob Gronkowski’s touchdown holds up as the winning touchdown, this column takes a whole different approach, as does the sports world. Here are some storylines we’re looking at today if the Giants lose 20-17 instead of winning 24-20…

a. The Giants have completed Phase 1 of another second-half collapse.

b. The Giants let the Patriots off the hook with missed opportunities and undisciplined penalties.

c. The Patriots still don’t lose back-to-back home games or regular season home games.

d. The Patriots are the best team in the AFC. Actually that isn’t a storyline, that’s just what Peter King would be saying.

e. Tom Brady is still the man of the fourth-quarter comeback.

f. Aaron Ross and Devin Thomas should find other employment. They should still do this. I have already created a Monster.com account for Thomas (no responses yet) and have forwarded Ross’ resume to a few job placement companies. (This is just something that needed to be addressed and this is the spot that made the most sense.)

For most of the game on Sunday it looked like these things might happen. The Giants kept getting solid starting field position and not doing anything with it. They fumbled a punt return and threw an interception in the end zone and took an unsportsmanlike penalty after scoring the go-ahead touchdown. Aaron Ross had shot the Giants in their left foot and Eli Manning had shot the team in the right foot. I assumed the Manningham penalty was the “Finish Him” move that I was waiting for to end the Giants’ chances, but for as bad as the Giants were, the Patriots were equally as bad. Actually they were worse.

I have this weird relationship with Tom Brady (I talked about this last year here and here). I like him, but I hate him. He’s the Derek Jeter of football. He’s a winner. He says the right things (minus that Plaxico Burress defense comment). He wears a Yankees hat away from the football field and is married to a smokeshow. But he is a legend and an icon in Boston and has brought immense happiness three times to the sports city I hate more than any other.

On Sunday, I planned on using every ounce of my body toward hating Brady. It wasn’t going to be hard with him playing against the Giants and trying to begin the process of making me go another football postseason without my team in it. Aside from his drive that led to the Gronkowski touchdown, I didn’t even really need to pull against Brady because he pulled against himself. Outside of that drive, Brady looked human the entire game. Actually he looked less than human. He looked like Carson Palmer. Two interceptions? One in the end zone? What happened to the guy that stands in the pocket like a statute and goes down the field with relative ease? Where is the best losing streak stopper that football has ever known? Was that even real life yesterday?

Instead of the Giants losing a game they had many chances to put away and win, well … they won. And instead of sitting here and giving my step-by-step guide on How To Build A New York Football Giants Late Season Collapse Shelter And Survival Kit, I can sit here and talk about what was an important (and necessary) win for the G-Men.

Thanks to Eli Manning and Jake Ballard, I don’t have to go to Wal-Mart today and start stocking up on bottled water and canned foods and batteries like it’s Y2K in preparation of another Giants collapse. I don’t have to avoid the Internet or TV for fear of seeing Gronkowski catch the go-ahead touchdown on a continuous loop. I don’t have to shut my phone off or stay off Twitter because of harassment from Patriots fans. I don’t have to do any of these things because the best fourth-quarter quarterback in the NFL plays for the Giants.

I would take Eli Manning over any other quarterback in the NFL in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half or at the end of the game. That might sound like saying I would rather eat a No. 6 at Wendy’s over a filet mignon, but that’s for people that still view Eli as Mr. Aw Shucks and the goofy No. 1 pick who would throw four picks at home against the Vikings and shrug his shoulders walking off the field as if to say, “It’s not that big of a deal.” There is still part of that Eli that exists. We saw it when he was intercepted in the end zone from the five-yard line on third down when the only open receiver he had was the back wall of the end zone. Eli gave away the chance for three points and gave away the momentum. It was a brain fart that we have tried to eliminate from his career, but he does relapse from time to time.

These untimely relapses cause me to tweet things like “Omaha! Omaha!” and make me understand why my friend Heff lit his Manning jersey on fire in the Giants Stadium parking lot after his four-pick game against the Vikings game I just mentioned on Nov. 25, 2007 (Heff still claims this sacrifice led to the Giants winning the Super Bowl.) But I support Eli like he is my younger brother instead of Peyton’s even though Eli is actually almost six years older than me. I have had his back in countless arguments as if I were the third of the four Manning sons, and gone to bat for him against his critics for really no reason whatsoever other than to not have the name of the franchise quarterback of my football team dragged through the mud. It’s games like Super Bowl XLII and Sunday’s win that let me know I wasn’t wrong in those arguments and have the same “I told you so” thoughts that I know run through Ernie Accorsi’s mind after the same games.

Right now everyone is all over Eli for his gaudy stats and for his third-best QB rating and his fourth quarter QB rating. He’s getting the attention he has deserved for a while and the credit he hasn’t been given before by leading a very banged-up Giants team to a 6-2 record despite losing what seemed like the whole team in preseason. (The man won the game on Sunday without his center, best receiver top running back!) This isn’t anything new though. Giants fans have known what Eli is capable of for some time now, and we have known what he can do in clutch situations. The rest of the world is just catching on now.

I feel like I discovered a band seven years ago and have been listening to them nonstop as a die-hard only to find out that they are now being played on the radio, have a video on MTV and are opening for Dave Matthews next summer. I get my irritated that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman kept talking about Eli’s season and that FOX kept showing graphics of his placement behind Aaron Rodgers and Brady in terms of quarterback rating, as if to finally say that he is part of that class. Everyone is ready to buy tickets for the Eli bandwagon, but it’s these newcomers that will be asking for a refund is he another multi-interception game in a loss over the finals eight weeks of the season.

Last year in my Just-Past-Midseason Awards for the Giants, I gave The Rudy Award for “No One Believes In Him Because They Can’t See It Every Week” to Eli. He was getting unfairly blamed for the team’s turnover problems because his receivers were tipping and dropping passes on nearly every play. I said that Eli reminds me of the quote in Rudy where Rudy says, “My father loves Notre Dame football more than anything else in the world. He doesn’t believe I’m on the team … because he can’t see me during the games.” Eli is better than the numbers suggest. He always has been.

Sunday’s win was eerily similar to the win from that glorious first Sunday in February in 2008. From the final score to the final drive to the Manningham touchdown in the corner of the end zone to the most important catch of the game being made once again by No. 85, yesterday felt a lot like Feb. 3, 2008.

Today I get to read about another hit to the Patriots “dynasty” (I use quotes because it’s a dynasty that Champ Bailey ended on Jan. 14, 2006) and the incapable Patriots defense. There are columns calling for the end of Chad Ochocinco’s tenure with the Patriots and Julian Edelman’s too. There are those questioning Bill Belichick’s coaching and general managerial tactics and whether or not the Patriots, at 5-3, are good enough for the postseason. I have read them all with a smile.

I know that it’s only Week 9 and the Giants only survived the first week of the nine-week gauntlet that will determine whether we are talking about their first January football game in three years or talking about Tom Coughlin’s job status in January for the third straight year. I also know that the Cowboys are now back to .500 and the Eagles have a chance to get there on Monday night, and despite a two-game lead in the division, the Giants aren’t going to run away and hide with a playoff berth like it’s 2008.

Since their devastating loss to the Seahawks that made it seem like they were still destined for 8-8 at best despite a 3-1 start, the Giants have won three straight games by a combined 10 points. They have had their “Ladies and gentlemen, the New York Football Giants!” negative moments this season and had several of them against the Patriots. But for a season that looked over before it started, thanks to some questionable decisions from the front office and then a never-ending slew of injuries, this is a team that Giants fans can be proud of through eight games. (I say through eight games to give myself an opt-out clause if this season starts to take on water at a 2009 or 2010 pace starting San Francisco this Sunday.) I came into this season with absolutely no expectations because of the way the team was banged up during preseason. All I wanted was for the Giants to be competitive and give me a chance that they would stay in it and would be playing meaningful football in November and December. I have gotten that chance.

A week ago the Patriots were coming off a loss to the Steelers and the city of Boston had started to panic. Yes, it was insane for a fan base to be that distraught over one loss to the defending AFC champions on the road, but those are the kinds of unrealistic expectations that the Patriots created at the beginning of the last decade. If Patriots fans were quick to question their team at 5-2 after one eight–point loss in Pittsburgh, what would they do if they suffered a second straight loss, at home, to the team that destroyed their chance at perfection?

Thanks to Eli and the Giants we get to find out.

After taking a full day to become emotionally stable following the second game in a row that looks like it will kick off the annual second-half collapse for the New York Football Giants, I am ready to look back at the Sunday night debacle. It was the darkest day of the 2010 season, and not just for the Giants and their chances at reaching the postseason, which now sit at 30 percent, but for me personally as a Giants fan, and as a football fan.

On Sunday I had to watch the Jets pull off a miracle win against the Texans. Then I watched the Patriots pick off Peyton Manning one less time than he had been picked off in the first nine games of the season, as the Colts teased me almost their second 31-14 comeback against the Patriots in as many years. The Cowboys? Not like they matter anymore this year, but they won too. The Redskins? Victorious. As the day went on, every NFL team I hate was watching their win total change, and the only two teams left to play that I despise were the Eagles against the Giants and the Chargers on Monday night. Give the Eagles a W, and the Chargers one too. And remember November 21, 2010 as Black Sunday.

The storm didn’t stop there. Nope. On Monday we found out that Hakeem Nicks would be out for three weeks, and that the Giants would be posting their latest wide receiver job opening on the team’s official site and Craigslist. The only actual wide receiver left on the roster that anyone thought would see playing time in 2010 is Mario Manningham, who becomes the No. 1 receiver against Jacksonville on Sunday after being the No. 2 receiver against Philadelphia and the No. 3 receiver before the bye week. When it rains, it pours around here. And it usually starts to pour in the second half of the season.

All week I heard about the Giants’ second-half collapses during the Tom Coughlin Era. And with each time it was mentioned, I said the same thing: “Sure it’s happened before, but those seasons are irrelevant to this season and this team.” Who was I kidding? How could I be so stupid?

Sure this year the Giants have a defensive coordinator that actually understands the concept of “defense,” but it’s virtually the same team. Justin Tuck can keep saying, “We don’t like to lose around here,” but just because you don’t like to lose and didn’t like it last year, doesn’t stop it from happening again. You actually have to do something about it.

Two years ago when the Giants were 11-1 and making a mockery of their competition, I actually thought it was stupid that no one thought we would ever see another dynasty in the NFL under the current system with too much parity in the league. I was certain the Giants were a dynasty in the making, but since Plaxico Burress decided to go out for the night in the city with a gun, the Giants have gone 16-16 including their only playoff game. What hurts even more is knowing that the Giants beat the final four teams in the 2008 playoffs during the regular season (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Arizona). After the first 12 games in 2008, I never would have believed that the Giants would be on the verge of missing the postseason for the second straight year with this team. Then again, I didn’t think that after the Mets lost Game 7 of the NLCS to the Cardinals that they still would not have played another postseason game. Though that doesn’t really bother me.

Here are how the Giants have started and finished each season during the Tom Coughlin Era (minus the 2007 season for obvious reasons):

2004: 5-3 in first eight games, 1-7 in last eight games.

2005: 6-2 in first eight games, 5-3 in last eight games and a first-round playoff loss.

2006: 6-2 in first eight games, 2-6 in last eight games and a first-round playoff loss.

2008: 11-1 in first 12 games, 1-3 in last four games and a first-round playoff loss.

2009: 5-0 in first five games, 3-8 in last 11 games.

2010: 6-2 start in first eight games, 0-2 in last two games.

You could probably take 2005 off the list since they didn’t really stumble down the stretch as badly as other years, but that 23-0 loss at home in the first round to the Panthers needs to be included somehow. The idea that in five of Coughlin’s first six seasons with the Giants (2004-06 and 08-09), the team has played consistently bad in the second half and has never made it past their first postseason game except for 2007 is remarkable.

I don’t know if this is my attempt at a reverse jinx or if it’s just me being down on the team and then if a reverse jinx happens I can take credit for it, but I just don’t know what to think of the 2010 Giants anymore. I am fully prepared for a second-half collapse. I have stocked up on canned foods and bottled water like it’s Y2K and I am ready to take this second-half meltdown head on. In the past the Giants were always able to sneak up on me with their horrific second-half play. I was always too high on them in the past to see the reality that they were just getting ready to rip my heart and stomp on it, but not this time. Not this year. A second-half collapse won’t come out of nowhere over these next six weeks. So bring on your five-game losing streak, Tom Coughlin! Finish the season 8-8! Miss the playoffs for the second year in a row! I’m ready!

But seriously, I am down on the G-Men because I have seen this story too many times to think it is might end otherwise. No matter how many times I watch Dumb and Dumber, I always hope that Lloyd and Harry will get on the bikini tour bus at the end of the movie, even though I know they don’t because I have seen the movie probably close to 100 times. The same goes for the Giants. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that they will torture me and test me as a fan over the next six weeks, and they will undoubtedly lure me back in to believing in them only to pull the rug out from underneath me right when I let my guard down. I’m used to it by now, and it’s my own fault for getting drawn back in time and time again, but I let them pull me back in because I experienced in 2007 what it’s like to keep believing, and I know how rewarding it can be when they play to their potential.

What makes the Giants losing even harder is having to watch the other team that plays at New Meadowlands Stadium come back in the most improbable ways like they’re the 2009 Yankees, and then having to listen to their head coach ramble on about apologizing for wins or not apologizing for wins or whatever he is rambling on about, pretending like winning in overtime or on pass interference calls or in the final seconds of a game was in the game plan all along. It’s hard to watch my Jets friends enjoy winning even if it’s only regular season winning, while the Giants give away games by giving away the football.

The only game the Giants have left against a team out of playoff contention is in Minnesota in Week 14, and even though the Vikings are 3-7, that is anything but an automatic win. The other five games left for the G-Men are against Jacksonville (6-4), Washington (5-5) twice, Philadelphia (7-3) and Green Bay (7-3). The last easy win the Giants had on their schedule (in a league where no win is easy unless you’re playing against Charlie Whitehurst) was against the Cowboys in Week 10, and the Giants blew that game.

There were four main problems for the Giants on Sunday night, and four seems to be the magic number at this juncture in the season. Four turnovers in the loss to the Eagles (technically, there were five turnovers, but the last one came on an Eli Manning interception when the game was over and didn’t have an impact on the outcome). Four losses on the season for the Giants. Four wins away from basically guaranteeing themselves a postseason berth. Four division games left. Here are the four problems from Sunday in order of importance:

1. Ahmad Bradshaw’s Best “Tiki Barber”
It’s hard to win any game when you lose in the turnover column. It’s hard to ever win when those turnovers are from your running back consistently putting the ball on the ground. Tom Coughlin called it “a callous disregard for the football.” I called it something else that I can’t write here.

I’m not sure what Ahmad Bradshaw doesn’t understand about holding onto the ball or protecting the ball, but there is never a moment when he is rushing with the ball that I don’t envision him putting the ball on the ground. That shouldn’t be the case. A fumble from your running back should be a shock and unexpected. It shouldn’t be a normal occurrence.

Bradshaw’s biggest strength also happens to be his biggest weakness in his second efforts on runs. It’s his second efforts that make him dangerous to defenses and unpredictable on runs, but it’s those same second efforts that prevent him from initially going down and those attempts to gain that extra yard or two while being tackled is when the fumbles happen. It’s up to Coughlin now to get Bradshaw righted for the remainder of the season the same way he helped Tiki Barber overcome his fumble problems.

There was talk on Monday that Bradshaw might be in jeopardy of losing his starting job to Brandon Jacobs, and if that happens, the Giants can pack up and go home for the year now because the last thing this team needs is Brandon Jacobs getting more carries. I would take Ahmad Bradshaw, who is capable of breaking off game-changing runs, fumbling left and right as my starting running back over rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ Brandon Jacobs who hasn’t been the same since 2008 any day of the week.

2. Offsides, Defense, Number 90, Five-Yard Penalty, Replay Third Down
If the offense doesn’t turn the ball over four times in the game (and another time with the game over), then the defense probably doesn’t need to stop the Eagles on third-and-1 to hold their 17-16 lead with 4:38 left in the game. And if Jason Pierre-Paul doesn’t go offsides on what was initially a third-and-5 that the Giants did stop the Eagles on, then we are probably sitting here talking about how the Giants rebounded from an awful loss to the Cowboys and have sole possession of first place in the NFC East. But the offense did turn the ball over times, and Jason Pierre-Paul did go offsides and the Giants didn’t stop the Eagles on third-and-1 and they didn’t win the game, and they aren’t in first place.

Jason Pierre-Paul went offsides and it was a big play in the game and a devastating turn of events, but what are you going to do? The offense could have bailed him out on the next drive if not for No. 3…

3. Whatever Eli Manning Calls The Way He Went To The Ground
At what point during his 16-yard run, did Eli Manning think, “I’m going to stop, drop and roll for a first down!” And when did he think it was a good idea?

I could understand if someone was diving at the back of his legs and his only play was to dive head first to go down, but there wasn’t a green jersey anywhere near him. Yes, the defense was closing in him, but he could have slid to the ground and stood up and gone into the grand roll that Gene Wilder performed as Willy Wonka (1:20 mark), and the defense still wouldn’t have gotten to him yet. That’s how much time he had to go to the ground properly. Instead, Eli went with the “Should I slide? Should I dive? Should I slide? Ahhhhh! I can’t make up my mind! I’m going to do both at the same time for an awkward fall!” routine. And it ultimately cost the Giants the game.

On Friday, I said this about Eli:

“No, 13 interceptions in nine games isn’t good, but if you have watched every minute of Giants football this season and you have seen how those 13 picks have been compiled, then you would understand Eli a little better. The majority of his picks have been tipped by his receivers on balls that should have been caught. He isn’t throwing picks directly to the opposition the way that Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb do, but the box scores don’t provide the video necessary for those who can’t watch Eli to see exactly why he has thrown as many picks as he has this season. Eli is better than the numbers suggest. Much better.”

If you read that, and decided to watch the Giants-Eagles game on Sunday because of what I wrote, well I apologize for wasting three-plus hours of your life.

4. Matt Dodge
You could make the case that a lot of things could be in the No. 4 spot, but I saved this spot for the man, the myth, the legend himself … Matt Dodge. After the Giants went three-and-out to start the game because they thought running on the first two plays of the game for no yards was a good idea, Matt Dodge punted the ball 25 yards and out of bounds. On another punt, Cris Collinsworth talked about how shaky Dodge has been, only to be rewarded with a perfect setup when Dodge dropped the ball before getting his punt off.

No Matt Dodge wasn’t really a problem or a factor in the Giants’ loss, but I wanted to include him in this because over the next six weeks the Giants will need him to come up in a big spot, and he has done nothing to prove that he will come through in that spot. We keep hearing about how Dodge kicks bombs in practice, and that the Giants are just waiting for it to consistently happen in games. The problem is the Giants’ season is taking on water and when you are asking Dodge to pin the opposition deep in an effort to help save the season, well don’t be surprised when he assists in causing the season to come crashing down.

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column, Peter King said, “Matt Dodge is a disaster waiting to happen.” I’m pretty confident the disaster has already arrived, and if it hasn’t yet, I’m not sure I will be able to physically, mentally or emotionally handle anything worse than we have already seen from him through 10 games.

The same way I can’t understand why the Yankees are deciding to be tough with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, the two faces of the team for the last 15 seasons when they were basically handing out money to anyone in need of a contract the last three years, I can’t understand how the Giants didn’t just tell Jeff Feagles they would give him whatever he wanted to come back this year. Why not tell Feagles he could go home during the week and only show up to games? Maybe the Giants did offer him some lucrative deal to try to entice him to punt for one more season, but if they did, I didn’t hear about it. There are still six games left. Please come back, Feagles. Please come back.

As the game ended on Sunday, Cris Collinsworth said in reference to the Giants, “They had their chances in this one, they just gave it away.”

That’s a nice way to sum up what the Giants have been in the second half during the Tom Coughlin Era minus 2007, though I would probably sum it up a little differently. But once again, I can’t write it here.

For now, I am forced to sit and wonder if I will be without playoff football for the second year in a row. If that’s the case, I’m ready.

For a team tied for first place in their division, the Giants are in trouble. They are in trouble because they couldn’t win at home against the Cowboys, a team that had nothing left to play for. They are in trouble because now they head to Philadelphia to face the hottest team in the league – in a tie for first place with the Eagles rather than a game up. They are in trouble because their final seven games are all against quality opponents.

I wouldn’t be thinking like that if the Giants didn’t go out and lay the equivalent of an A.J. Burnett egg last Sunday, but they did. And they did in typical New York Football Giants fashion, by making sure they were always within reach of turning the game around only to come up short. It was the type of Giants tease that I have grown accustomed to over the years. The type of tease they displayed last year when they beat the Cowboys and then trailed the Eagles 14-0 early the following week – only to take the lead and then blow the game and their season. They did it the year before that when they lost Plaxico Burress, went on a losing streak only to come back against the Panthers and win in overtime in the best game of the season before losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Aside from those four magical games in a row in the 2007-2008 playoffs, I am used to the Giants getting my hopes up and then crushing them and then getting them up again and then crushing them even harder. I can’t even imagine what Jets fans have had to deal with over the years.

The Giants suckered me in again on Sunday. They had me telling my friends that they were the best team in football for an entire week only to lose to the 1-7 Cowboys who were just looking to close up shop if they got behind. And when the Cowboys got a commanding lead, the Giants began to creep back to make sure you stuck around to see what would happen. And when the Cowboys failed to put the Giants away with interceptions and missed field goals, you thought “Hey, maybe they will win this game after all.” It never happened.

The Giants’ embarrassing performance on Sunday can be directly correlated to the fact that the media started to believe in the Giants. They took over in Vegas as favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and many of the sports outlets had them sitting at or near the top of their power rankings.

In the second episode of Friday Night Lights this season, the East Dillon Lions are coming off a 2-8 season and no one believes in them. Then in their first game, they knock off the No. 8 team in the state and they open eyes around Texas. But the following week, the Lions are nowhere to be seen on the state rankings, and it has the whole team flustered and annoyed that even though they beat a top team, they aren’t being recognized. So Coach Taylor (played by Kyle Chandler, who I still believe is really a high school football coach and would like to make him an offer to coach the Giants once Coughlin retires) flips out on his team for caring so much about what a stupid poll says rather than the results on the field. His team finally understands him and they go out and win again.

So that’s what I believe frequently happens with the Giants. They are always so concerned with how they are viewed by the public, and it can be traced back to 2007 when Antonio Pierce used to make a point to mention to the media that no one believes in the Giants.

Last season the Giants started 5-0, and were a unanimous choice as the top team in the league. Then they went down to New Orleans and the Saints embarrassed them and the G-Men never recovered. In 2008, Trent Dilfer said on ESPN before the start of the season, “The Giants would be the biggest disappointment in the NFL,” after winning the Super Bowl the year before. The Giants started out 10-1 and everyone was riding high on them, then Plaxico brought a gun out with him one night, the season fell apart and they lost to the Eagles in the playoffs once again. In 2007, no one believed in the Giants. After they lost to the Packers in Week 2, I told my friend Red that the Giants might not win a game all year. Then they had the goal-line stand against the Redskins in Week 3 and things began to come together. But once they made the playoffs, no one gave them a chance to win on the road in Tampa Bay or Dallas or Green Bay or in Arizona against New England, and they went out and ran the table. The moral of the story is that the Giants just aren’t good when everyone is so high on them, but when no one pays them any attention, they go out and shock the world

Following the loss on Sunday, Justin Tuck made some comments that at first I was upset about since the Giants were just embarrassed, and I had to watch this loser in a Jason Witten jersey dance around at the bar where I was watching the game. But the more I thought about what Tuck said, the more it made sense.

“I’m not mad, and I’m not sad about this game,” Tuck said. “Actually, I’m kind of glad. Maybe this is a wake-up call that we needed. This is a chance to look at ourselves and say that maybe we aren’t as good as we thought we were.”

Tuck is right. It’s a good thing this loss happened because it reminded the Giants that people telling you you’re good doesn’t make you good. And people predicting you will win, doesn’t mean you will win. Not in this league of parody where the consensus top team seems to get knocked off every single week and an unusual amount of teams are currently in playoff contention.

I’m not sure what will happen this Sunday night in Philadelphia. When I get too down on the Giants they prove me wrong and when I get too high on them they do the same, but there is no in between and there is no balance for me as a Giants fan.

I did midseason awards for the Yankees, so I thought it would be a good idea to do them for the Giants as well. (Yes, I know we are a game past the midseason point). These aren’t your standard awards and not every member of the Giants received one, but for those who didn’t receive one, there’s still seven games left to prove yourself.

The Rudy Award for “No One Believes In Him Because They Can’t See It Every Week”

“My father loves Notre Dame football more than anything else in the world. He doesn’t believe I’m on the team … because he can’t see me during the games.”

That quote is from Rudy, and when I think of Eli Manning, I think of that quote.

I am always defending Eli Manning against the haters (and there are a lot of them), who see the numbers at the end of the day, but don’t realize how good he is. No, he is never going to put up the numbers that his brother puts up or the numbers that Philip Rivers puts up because the Chargers lack a running game, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t an elite quarterback in the NFL.

No, 13 interceptions in nine games isn’t good, but if you have watched every minute of Giants football this season and you have seen how those 13 picks have been compiled, then you would understand Eli a little better. The majority of his picks have been tipped by his receivers on balls that should have been caught. He isn’t throwing picks directly to the opposition the way that Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb do, but the box scores don’t provide the video necessary for those who can’t watch Eli to see exactly why he has thrown as many picks as he has this season.

Eli is better than the numbers suggest. Much better.

The Robbie Cano, Don’t Ya Know Award for “Being The Smoothest Player There Is And Having All The Talent In The World But Making Mental Mistakes”

Robinson Cano might very well be the AL MVP for 2010, but it took him long enough to finally put it all together and limit the amount of times he would make fans scratch their heads and wonder what is going through his mind. These instances still happen, but at a much lesser degree than they were happening two and three years ago.

Like Cano, Hakeem Nicks has all the talent in the world, and has the potential to be the best wide receiver in the league. The only problem is that he has these brain farts where he stops his route short, tips or drops a pass or just flat out misses a wide open catch for a huge gain. All three of these things happened to happen in the same game on Sunday and it’s no wonder that the Giants suffered their most embarrassing loss of the season.

I am a huge Hakeem Nicks fan and I think anyone that likes the Giants would say the same. But for all the talent the abilities he has, he needs to minimize the mistakes. If he does that, it’s scary how good he will be.

The Dennis Green Award for “He Is Who We Thought He Was”

Before the season began, I talked with Ralph Vacchiano, Giants beat writer for the New York Daily News, about Jacobs taking the backup role, and we both assumed there would be trouble on the horizon for Jacobs and his bad attitude. So far, there hasn’t been much complaining from the man who once made Giants fans forget about Tiki Barber, but he has been as ineffective as we thought he would be. Sure, he has a handful of TDs from the goal line that make his numbers look somewhat decent, but he has rarely made the necessary play to extend a drive or get the first down, and there was never a better example than in Sunday’s loss.

Jacobs was given the ball on fourth-and-1 and instead of moving his legs and plowing to get just three feet, the big back sort of just fell forward and the Giants turned the ball over at a crucial point in the game. It’s not all Jacobs’ fault though. You can’t put Jacobs into the game on a fourth-and-1 and not expect the defense to just clog the middle knowing that he isn’t going anywhere. With Jacobs in the backfield on fourth-and-1, there is one option and that is to drive his way straight forward. If Bradshaw had been in that situation, he could have gone to the outside if the middle was clogged or stayed up the middle if the defense was worried about him going to the outside. With Jacobs in the backfield, the Giants are one-dimensional when he gets the ball, and three years ago that wasn’t a problem, but he is nowhere near the same player he was three years ago.

The Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Award for “It’s A Mystery As To How You Still Have A Job”

This award could have easily been called the Sergio Mitre award because like Jimmy Fallon, no one is sure how Mitre is able to keep his job with the Yankees. I always figured that Mitre had dirt on Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman or compromising photos, and maybe the same goes for Jimmy Fallon and the NBC executives. The man ruined every Saturday Night Live skit by uncontrollably laughing to the point where Will Ferrell would give him the look like, “Hey stop ruining my show,” and then NBC gave him his own show to take over for Conan O’Brien. Fallon’s version of Late Night is so bad that my roommate and I will do my Jimmy Fallon Test a few times a week in which we put his show on at a random time and watch for five minutes to see if either of us laugh. We have never laughed.

I never understood why NBC didn’t just give Conan the same money he was making on the Tonight Show to go back to Late Night in New York, and then everyone would have had a show that had one before the Tonight Show debacle began, except for Jimmy Fallon. But no one would have cared.

Anyways, back to Reynaud. Now that he is hurt, the Giants actually have a chance to gain somewhat decent field position without him returning kicks and punts since I think the most yards I ever saw him get off either was maybe three yards. It’s pretty amazing that the Giants were winning the way they were when Reynaud was healthy given the terrible field position they would start with whenever he actually attempted to a run a kick or punt back.

The Chad Gaudin Award for “It’s Never Good To See You In The Game”

Another case of possibly blackmailing the front office, Matt Dodge is still a Giant after nine games. I had the under on three, so I lost a long time ago, but if this man keeps his job throughout the season, a lot of people will be surprised, including me.

I couldn’t believe that after how bad he was to start the year that the Giants didn’t just call up Jeff Feagles and say, “Hey, a blank check is going to be arriving in your mailbox today. Fill in the amount you want and cash it, and we’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”

I am scared that what we are seeing with Dodge after having Feagles for so long will be like life without Mariano Rivera (still hoping that never happens). Because when you have someone as good as Feagles who was just automatic and now you have a kid who basically rolls the dice every time the ball is snapped to him, well it’s just hard to watch. Nothing is automatic anymore. Nothing.

The South Park Award for “Being Wildly Popular And Then Falling Off The Face Of The Earth Only To Become Wildly Popular Once Again”

When I was in sixth grade, South Park took the world by storm. It was as big as Jersey Shore, Four Loko and Lady Gaga combined. Then over the next few years, the show began to fade and was ultimately forgotten about even though it was still on the air. Once it became an afterthought and pretty much a non-factor in pop culture, it slowly climbed back into the spotlight with its comedic take on current events and then grew so popular again that it made everyone wonder why there was ever a gap in success for the show since the talent and abilities were always there.

The same goes for Osi Umenyiora. Following Super Bowl XLII, Osi became a household name with sack after sack; he was dating Victoria’s Secret supermodel Selita Ebanks and was basically just living the dream as a Super Bowl champion. Then he was forced to miss all of 2008 when he tore his ACL in preseason and never became the same player in 2009 after fighting with defensive coordinator (not sure if putting that title in front of his name even makes sense) Bill Sheridan and eventually became a bench player for the Giants. Umenyiora made it public that he wanted out of New York and no one knew if he would be the a Giant in 2010, and if he was, which Osi would we see?

Well so far this season, Osi has been every bit as good as he was before the season-ending knee injury in 2008. He has nine sacks in nine games, which is already more than his 2009 total, and he is on pace to have a better season statistically than he did in 2007. It’s good to see the old Osi back along with his old attitude.

The Tom Coughlin Award for Undergoing The Scrutiny That Only Tom Coughlin Could Undergo

Only Tom Coughlin could have an award named after him in the midseason, and only he could win the award named after him. Mike Francesa likes to talk about the terrible treatment and injustices Coughlin has had to deal with since becoming head coach of the Giants, and I would have to say I agree. No other coach in the city that has had the type of success Coughlin has had and has had to deal with as much as Coughlin has. It seems like his job is in question multiple times a year, and he always seems to deflect the questions with wins (except for the 2009 meltdown).

This season Coughlin’s job security became the topic of discussion after the Giants started the season with a 1-2 record and Bill Cowher’s name began to come up in Google searches for New York Giants. But Coughlin got the Giants back on track with the help of Perry Fewell (aka the anti-Bill Sheridan), and now the Giants are tied for first place in the division after nine games.

My relationship with Tom Coughlin is an odd one. It’s a love/hate relationship I guess, but I think the hate end of the relationship is a lot more extreme than the love. If I were to write about Coughlin on Sunday night or Monday morning after the Dallas loss, it wouldn’t have been pretty. But when you’re a fan and you watch a man decide to go for some 4th-and-1’s and not others, despite being exactly the same situation, well it will make you a little angry.

Coughlin was the head coach of one of the best days of my life, so he will forever get a pass in my book. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get angry with him from time to time.