A Few Observations From Camp

Today marked the annual trek to Albany for Giants training camp, a cherished tradition for the past six years. The weather could not have been any better for an August afternoon practice, but this practice had a different feel than any in the past. Just two days before the pre-season opener, every side of the practice fields were filled with fans. Despite a tough schedule in arguably football's most competitive division, the fans seem to be very optimistic about the team's chances. In just one two hour session it is tough to gauge just how much progress the team has made, but several things stood out:

The injuries are accumulating fast. Our first glimpse of the training facility was LaVar Arrington and Sinorice Moss riding stationary bikes. Despite your opinions on cycling, you don't want to see impact players confined to the exercise bikes. Among the walking wounded doing work on the infirmary field were Arrington, Moss, starting guard Chris Snee, and starting linebacker Carlos Emmons.

If you're wearing a green jersey, you have no chance of making the team. A few defensive players were in green AND wearing the numbers of current starters. Although they got several reps, it's not a good sign if you're wearing someone else's number. My ultimate goal is to see a player cut on the spot after screwing up, but there are no signs of that happening. Speaking of that, no one really seemed to get reamed out. Eli Manning and Shaun O'Hara fumbled an exchange, a cardinal sin, but that merely elicited a "You gotta be careful with the ball" comment from Coughlin.

It is amazing to watch the guys with long odds to make the team as opposed to starters. Prime example was with the receivers. Their intensity level is far greater than any regular. Standing on the sideline during an offense-defense scrimmage, Amani Toomer and Sinorice Moss look like they're playing paddy cake with each other. Next to them, the always chipper Plaxico Burress is just gazing out in to space. On a side note, I have not yet seen Burress crack even the slightest of smiles. For someone urging coach Tom Coughlin to loosen up, he never seems to be enjoying himself. Anyway, in between this set of players locked in to the roster is speedy wide receiver Michael Jennnings who is buried on the depth chart. While he's waiting to hopefully get some reps he's stretching out his legs, doing knee highs in place, and rearing up to go. This can be seen all over the field as the starters and sure roster players seemed pretty lax, while the reserves were battling.

How does Jared Lorenzen play quarterback? Walking out of practice today, he can be easily confused with a lineman. Although he's trimmed down to around 290 pounds, the Hefty Lefty still seems very out of place at quarterback. I couldn't stop myself from asking how Chunk from the Goonies is competing for a roster spot at Quarterback. However, his athleticism can not be denied. He possesses the strongest arm on the team and took a bulk of the reps at today's practice. His throws were a bit erratic, but looked impressive threading the needle between two defenders to Willie Ponder.

Tim Lewis is scheming. With two of his starting linebackers missing action, it seems as though Lewis is getting real creative with personnel packages. At several points during the defensive practice he implemented an interesting personnel package. With only three down linemen, he put normal defensive end Justin Tuck lined up over center. First Round Draft Pick Mathias Kiwanuka played outside backer behind Umenyiora, with Gibril Wilson at linebacker behind Strahan. Taking Wilson's place in the secondary was his primary backup James Butler, and R.W McQuarters also joined the unit as a slot corner. It'll be interesting to see if we get this look during the season. If Arrington joined this package, they could have found a way to put their four rush ends (Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck, Kiwanuka) and the premiere rushing linebacker on the field at the same time.

There is no lack of leadership on this team. This offseason Eli Manning has been criticized for his questionable leadership qualities, but he seemed to be far more vocal today. His understanding of the game looks far improved as he made very sound decisions all day and even checked off several times a la older brother Peyton. Off the field bad boy Jeremy Shockey, who's leadership I heard questioned by (surprise, surprise) Chris Russo on the radio on the trip to camp, seems to cherish his role as the leader at his position. Several times throughout the practice Shockey ran out on to the field to congratulate fellow tight ends Boo Williams and Wade Fletcher on superlative efforts. He seems to enjoy Williams' role in the offense as the pair seems to have their own celebration dance. On the defensive side of the ball, Sam Madison looks to be taking Corey Webster under his wing. Whenever the two left the field, they were together. Although a long time veteran, Madison seemed eager to seek out coaching after poor plays.

Making this team as a wide receiver is a very, very tough task. There should be six receivers selected and five appear to be locks. Starters Toomer and Burress, rookie burner Sinorice Moss, and special teams ace David Tyree are absolute guarantees. All reports have indicated Tim Carter has been the star of camp thus far and was rewarded a two year deal in the offseason. That leaves one roster spot for a handful of guys. At this point Willie Ponder and Anthony Mix should be the favorites, but there are a lot of guys vyiing for this spot. Ponder has been with the team for several years since being drafted in the Seventh Round by the Giants. He's shown ability as a kick returner, but this camp has been very impressive at receiver. Mix is a special blend of size and speed who could become a very solid receiver in the league. Coughlin likes Michael Jennings' speed and rookie free agent Harry Williams has been solid.

Why is Rob Johnson allowed to wear the number 3? Let this article serve as the pioneering efforts to get the #3 retired, formerly worn by standout backup QB Jesse Palmer. He was already denied deserving Golden Globe nominations for his work on the Bachelor, how can the Giants give up his number so soon? Granted Johnson's former #11 is actually retired by the organization, but couldn't he have found something else? Very tough to see the #3 on a redshirt not belonging to Palmer.

A few things to look for as the countdown to the season counts down. There are a few position battles that I'm very interested to see playout. Boo Williams looks like he's pushing incumbent second TE Vishante Shiancoe for the role of Shockey's understudy. As mentioned earlier, Tim Carter's impressive camp combined with Sinorice Moss' extended absence could make him the opening day number three receiver. With so many question marks surrounding the defensive tackle position, defensive end Justin Tuck could see some work there. He got reps there in practice and has the size to line up inside in passing situations. Several key players have already been ruled out for Friday's preseason opener so Giants fans are going to have to wait before making a judgement on this team. However, there's plenty of reason for optimism looking at the talent Ernie Accorsi has assembled for this season.

USA Demonstrates Dominance

Asked before the game what he thought of the USA's newest dream team, Dwyane Wade emphatically stated this is not a dream team. At least for one night, they certainly looked like it. In front of a large crowd in Las Vegas the newest members of team USA dominated Puerto Rico in a tune up for the World's Championships later this month. Avenging an embarassing loss at the hands of the Puerto Ricans in the 2004 Olympics, three of the holdovers from the '04 US Team lead the way in last night's rout. Carmelo Anthony paced the team with 18 points, including seven of the first nine to jump out to an early lead. LeBron demonstrated the versatility that experts believe will be the key to the U.S success with a great all-around effort including a highlight reel swat. Fresh off his MVP performance in the finals Wade played suffocating defense and chipped in fourteen points, two coming on a jaw-dropping breakway dunk followed by a salute to the troops in attendance. The '03 boys started the game along with fellow draft mate Chris Bosh and Chris Paul ran the point. Much has been made of the lack of playing time Anthony, James, and Wade got in the 2004 Olympics and they all seem to use it as motivation. In several interviews LeBron has re-iterated that they felt they could have contributed more in the past Olympics but now cherish their roles as the faces of the new team.

The most impressive part of last night's game was the defensive intensity brought by the Americans. They employed full court pressure for much of the night and hustled to every loose ball. Guards Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul put a ton of pressure on the Puerto Rican backcourt and the bigger guys did a great job of helping out on drives to the basket. Early in the game Carlos Arroyo got to the hoop with relative ease, but was really shut down in the second half. The guys really seem to be responding to Coach K and showed intense pride in wearing the U.S uniforms. Although it was only an exhibition, this could be a great sign of things to come for the Americans.

Listener Rips the Mad Dog

Several weeks back I described my increasing lack of patience with WFAN's famed duo Mike and the Mad Dog. However, with nothing remotely interesting on TV during the day, I find myself tuning in to YES to see if they can redeem themselves. After watching Chris Russo, "the mad dog", rip in to the first three callers I knew there was very little shot of redemption. Arguing over Billy Wagner's blown save last night he unleashed on a caller with his trademark high-pitched ranting voice. Although I quickly lost patience, I flipped back just to see if he would handle an interesting topic. No sooner do I arrive on the YES network do I hear a caller returning the favor. He referred to former WFAN employee Sid Rosenberg's assessment of Russo as a whiny brat and proceeded to assert that this evaluation of his character was spot on. But a funny thing happened to me hearing this. Although I've wanted to call in and say the same, watching Russo take the criticism as a man was a sight to behold. He simply told the caller he was entitled to his opinion and carried on with the show. I still hold to my convictions that the two men have developed larger than life egos that have negatively affected the show, but I did gain a lot of respect for Russo's ability to handle the criticism.