T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Perhaps this is better suited to Must Love (Phoning In) Blogs, but I do my part for the non-football stuff.

Joey Fatone is the one with the beard in this vintage photo of 'NSYNC -- I think the blonde kid at the top has done something with his career as well -- and Fatone was also on "Dancing With The Stars." He was just loitering in front of my hotel wearing a Giants t-shirt, which didn't stop a host of Patriots fans from asking for his autograph. Traitors. Where's Ben Affleck when you need him?

Also checking into my hotel a few minutes ago was this noted curmudgeon, who apparently has attended most, if not every, Super Bowl. Mr. Rooney is getting up there in years, but he's apparently a bigger star than Joey Fatone -- a TV crew was filming Rooney checking in.

I would also like to add a plug for the fine In N Out burger joint, because their food is spectacular.

Sporting the Super Bowl XLII version of the "Talk is Cheap, Play the Game!" shirt the Giants had in training camp, Umenyiora decided his last day of media availability would be one without fightin' words. He even extended an olive branch of sorts to Pats T Matt Light, whom Osi labeled a dirty player last week.

"This is my motto from here on out," Osi said, pointing to his shirt. "As a matter of fact, I want to apologize to Matt Light for calling him a dirty player. He's really not a dirty player at all. I apologize, that's my fault. I'm sorry, Matt Light. I didn't mean to cause a whole hoopla or ruckus. It was between me and you and we'll see each other on Sunday. I love you, man."

BY ARTHUR STAPLE

Wanna know how much TC has changed? He took one of the all-time dumbest questions today and made everyone laugh.

The question was whether the Giants would consider kicking off on Sunday if they won the toss.

TC paused. "Let's give the Patriots the ball one more time," he said. "That's what we want to do. They don't do well enough with their drives."

I asked him later whether it was the worst question he's gotten so far. "It's up there," he said.

As for a pre-practice report, G Rich Seubert and CB Kevin Dockery took half the reps yesterday and "should be able to do more today," the coach said.

Plax is still a question mark. "I feel bad for you guys sometimes because I tell you he'll work and he doesn't," TC said. "We just have to see."

BY TOM ROCK

During the final media availability of the week, Pats LB Mike Vrabel was asked by one of those tanned, smiling TV reporters "What's the craziest question you were asked this week?"

Vrabel said he noticed a few wedding proposals during the media day, but said most of the annoying questions hadn't been put to him. Then he spoke about how such antics really degrade the sport. He said that those quirky questions and reporters who are just looking for stunts are an embarrassment. And he said he had a lot of respect for the reporters, particularly the regulars who cover the team in New England and try to keep the focus on football with sharp analysis and keen insight into the sport.

The tanned reporter smiled througout the entire answer, then, I kid you not, said this:

"Mike, just one more question: Who's the funniest guy on the team?"

BY TOM ROCK

As per the NFL Network, the Pats have released their first injury report of Super Bowl week. Tom Brady is on it, but he's listed with a right shoulder injury and not that right ankle that reportedly suffered a high sprain in the AFC title game. Brady had full participation.

WR Jabar Gaffney, also suffering from a shoulder, had limited participation.

BY TOM ROCK

No, it's not broken, the news is.

Here's the Patriots practice report filed by fellow Zell's Angel Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune. Note the line about Brady's ankle not showing up on the injury report. That injury report has yet to be released, but if it does come out and Brady is not on it, it would be the first time in, well, years and years that the QB has been left out. Anyway, the report:

Quarterback Tom Brady's injured ankle was not much of an issue during the Patriots practice Wednesday.

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

Giants coach Tom Coughlin isn't fighting the perception that he's been a changed, more relaxed man this season. He's been asked to address the theme again and again during Super Bowl week. But now that gametime is fast approaching, the coach in him seems to be taking precedence again.

When told yesterday that he seems to be having more fun this season, Coughlin answered as if he had just put some game film on pause and was addressing Eli Manning.

"That's a decent read," Coughlin nodded.

On two now.

Ha ha.

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

Giants quarterback Eli Manning didn't seem all that anxious to put the man in manicure yesterday after a reporter told him that the day spa at the Giants' team hotel had named its manicure service after him this week.

"Oh, really, I haven't gotten a manicure yet," Manning said, looking slightly flummoxed.

Pause.

"I probably won't get one, either."

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

You don't cover the Super Bowl as much as you're embedded in this sort of inside-the-ropes world where buses take you from the hotel to the media center to the security lines to the press conferences to the security lines to the media center to the Starbucks, to the Starbucks, to the Starbucks, then back to your hotel again.

But you know you've already been at the Super Bowl too long when you find nothing remarkable about seeing a middle-aged man in a kilt and knee socks walk by and ask Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes to put on a fright wig and a plaid beret, then pose for some cameras outside the Giants team hotel while also wearing a green-striped rugby jersey.

Poor Tynes. "You can say no," I thought.

The spot will presumably be sent back to Scotland, where Tynes spent part of his childhood. But such over-the-top sights are so ordinary at a Super Bowl, no one stopped to ask.

Starting with the head coach, obviously, since TC coached at Boston College and his son-in-law, Chris Snee, played there... Snee, by the way, loves questions about his family ties to the coach, and was bombarded with them today.

He was on his way out the door when former NFL coach Jim Mora, working for the NFL Network, stopped Snee and introduced himself.

"Can we talk to you for a few minutes, Chris?"

"Sure."

As the camera folks set up, Mora said, "So, we're going to talk about your relationship with your coach."

"Great!" Snee said. "That's my favorite thing to talk about."

It was humorous.

Anyway, TC's coaching staff is quite an array of New England-connected guys. Kevin Gilbride is from New Haven, Conn., which is technically New England; Steve Spagnuolo is from central Massachusetts and has a thick accent, even after eight years in Philly.

And on it goes. Secondary coach Peter Giunta is from Salem, Mass.; assistant O-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo is from Lexington, Mass., and played and coached at Boston University.

He was a diehard Pats fan growing up. "I remember the run to (Super Bowl XX), I was a senior in high school," DeGuglielmo, known as "Gooch," said. "(Hall of Fame Pats guard) John Hannah, the greatest O-lineman to ever play the game, was my idol."

Gooch has a family full of Pats fans who have been giving him grief these last two weeks. "That's a tough thing to take," he said, "but the family that's closest to me is rooting for my team, the Giants."

Straight from TC: Rich Seubert was going to try and do some limited work, but the trainers needed to see how his sprained knee would look after 10 days off.

Kevin Dockery has "looked good" the last couple of days with treatment for his hip flexor injury and TC was hopeful Dockery would participate in at least half the practice reps today.

And Plaxico Burress' ankle would be another "wait til we get out on the field" situation... Burress, as my esteemed colleague Erik Boland noted, said on Monday that he hasn't missed a day of practice since the week of the Vikings game on Nov. 25.

That would be, uh, incorrect. Burress, as TC noted during the season, only started doing his limited work prior to the Pats game. But Plax is never one to engage in hyperbole... Anyway.

BY TOM ROCK

Tom Brady was named Esquire magazine’s best dressed man of 2007, so he knows a thing or two about fashion. And what he doesn’t know, he can just ask Gisele about.

So when the Patriots quarterback was asked about the Giants’ black suit look coming off the plane earlier this week, he turned into that cranky guy on Project Runway.

“I think they looked terrible,” Brady said. “Especially Strahan. He looked awful. I thought he looked like Jet Li in ‘Fearless’.”

Then Brady chuckled.

“Michael’s gonna kill me for that.”

BY SHAUN POWELL

One of my pet peeves is when people feel the need to self-promote. It's all about ego and selfishness and a deep sense of insecurity. Unfortunately, self-promotion is all the rage in sports these days.

By the way, did you catch me on JIM ROME IS BURNING yesterday?

Yes, live from Scottsdale, yours truly was a guest, talking smack with Rome. It's something I do from time to time. I happen to be a regular member of the "Forum" segment of the show, where we sit around and fire away at various topics. I should also mention that I'll be on JIM ROME IS BURNING all next week, starting Monday, rehashing the Super Bowl. JIM ROME IS BURNING airs at 4:30 p.m. New York time, so there's time to set your Tivo if you're working at that time.

Anyway, on the ESPN set I happened to run into Terrell Owens, the diva of football self-promoters. Evidently he has stopped crying about Tony Romo because there wasn't a hanky in sight. I'm not a big fan of Owens because it's all about him, him, him. I didn't treat Owens too kindly in my book, SOULED OUT: HOW BLACKS ARE WINNING AND LOSING IN SPORTS. The book is available at bookstores everywhere and Amazon.com; please pick up a copy today.

Owens was on the set to tape some other show, and our paths crossed briefly. I thought, for a second, to ask Owens if he read SOULED OUT: HOW BLACKS ARE WINNING AND LOSING IN SPORTS, which is available at bookstores everywhere and Amazon.com. But then he reached for his cell phone and began talking, or maybe self-promoting. knowing him.

Well, it was a productive day anyway, having appeared on JIM ROME IS BURNING, the show in which I will appear on next week. A few months ago, when I was on JIM ROME IS BURNING, he graciously mentioned my book, SOULED OUT: HOW BLACKS ARE WINNING AND LOSING IN SPORTS, which is available at bookstores everywhere and Amazon.com. And I appreciated Jim's gesture, because self-promoting just isn't in my blood.

Which means the Giants will practice today at the Cardinals' state-of-the-art facility in Tempe, but not before we get to chat with the team again this morning at their hotel.

Only one national reporter gets to watch practice and update us all on it. ESPN's John Clayton will be your (and my) man on the scene at practice, so we'll eagerly await his update and pass it along.

Rich Seubert told me at media day that he planned on practicing today, so that leaves only Kevin Dockery and anyone who's been felled by the illness going around as iffy for working today.

Oh, and one update I forgot yesterday: Aaron Ross does not have the bug. He puked on the plane, delaying its departure from Newark Airport on Monday, because he took a pill to stave off a cold and it made him sick. Go figure.

More, way more, in a bit.

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may have a celebrity girlfriend, same as Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who dates singer Jessica Simpson. But Brady seems to be determined to stop his relationship with supermodel Gisele Bundchen from becoming the same sort of issue that dogged Romo before the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the divisional playoff round. Especially after the papparazi staked out Bundchen's Greenwich Village residence last week and caught Brady off-guard as he limped into her home wearing a walking boot on his sprained ankle.

Today, when one of the goofballs typical of Super Bowl media day showed up in a gold turban and eyeliner and predicted Brady would get two rings this year -- a Super Bowl ring for beating the Giants and a wedding ring -- Brady turned toward the man and said, "I like the Super Bowl ring.

"I'll settle for just one."

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

When Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was asked today what it says to him that Plaxico Burress predicted the Giants would win Super Bowl XLII, Wilfork said he didn't take any offense at all.

"To me, that's confidence," Wilfork said. "When you have somebody making predictions and all that, you can't fault them. They're a very confident team....Everybody in the game talks. We talk. I talk...As a team, we truly believe we don't do our talking before the game. We do our talking on Sundays. The game is between the lines. It's not what you say. It's not what you think."

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

Wide receiver Plaxico Burress isn't among the Giants who will concede, even for a moment, that injured Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey hasn't been missed while rookie Kevin Boss plays well in Shockey's absence. Burress says he's so close to Shockey, "When I pick up the phone and call him, I always tell him, 'Hey man, tell your mom she has another son over here.' "

"I talked to Jeremy three or four days ago, and I'd rather him be here than me," Burress added. "I've always said when he goes out and plays well, he's the emotion of our offense. We feed off his energy. ... When he gets up and spikes the ball, we love that...It gets the whole team going."

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

Giants quarterback Eli Manning took some good-natured kidding today for being the first New York player to arrive at his podium for NFL media day at his first Super Bowl.

Manning has been noticeably happy and more expansive since arriving here. Acknowledging at how eager he must have looked as teammates didn't straggle in for quite a few moments after him, Manning joked, "Maybe it means the Tom Coughlin five-minute [early] rule is paying off."

BY NEIL BEST

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Trent Dilfer is in Arizona working Super Bowl XLII for the NFL Network, an indication he is “possibly transitioning’’ to life as a former quarterback.

“As a player you don’t ever want to come here unless you’re playing, or at least I didn’t,’’ Dilfer said Tuesday during the Patriots’ portion of Super Bowl media day.

Thus this is Dilfer’s first visit to one since his Ravens defeated the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV seven years ago in Tampa.

Being here reminds Dilfer of those Giants, but also of the current Giants. “I still feel [Oct. 21] when they beat the crap out of me,’’ he said, recalling his experience as the 49ers’ quarterback in a 33-15 loss to the Giants.

Dilfer predicted a 27-17 victory for the Patriots Sunday, but said, “I’m actually a huge Giants fan. Jeff Feagles is one of my best friends, and I’m a huge Eli fan, so I hope they do compete.’’

Tight ends coach Mike Pope is at his fifth Super Bowl, fourth with the Giants, which is pretty impressive considering he left the team after Super Bowl XXV to join the Bengals staff and didn't return to the Giants until 2000 -- in time for Super Bowl XXXV.

"I remember in '86, media day was a little different," Pope said. "We were all on the field and they opened the gates and the media folks just came flooding in (to the Rose Bowl). Like rats deserting a ship. Or trying to board one."

He said there are some similarities through his Super Bowl trips (he was on the Patriots staff in 1996).

"I remember in (Super Bowl XXI), (John) Elway just whipping the ball all over the field on us in the second quarter, driving them to the 2. They had first and goal and we stopped them three straight times on running plays, and (Rich) Karlis missed the field goal," Pope said. "That turned the momentum. Then it was (Scott) Norwood missing in (Super Bowl XXV).

"Now, we have a kicker who hasn't really been tested all year, and he hits the biggest one to get us here."

Rich Seubert got his welcome-to-the-Super Bowl moment last night, when his QB took the entire O-line out to dinner. Eli took the linemen to Firebirds Wood Fired Grill in Chandler, near the team hotel.

"He usually just has (Shaun) O'Hara and (Dave) Diehl out when we're at home," Chris Snee said. "This time, he took us all out. And we took him, too." Let's just say the bill was, uh, sizable.

Among the other Monday night goings-on in Giant land was an unlikely group at Six, a club in Phoenix. Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and... Steve Tisch? Apparently. Guess you can't say no when the owner wants to clubbing.

BY TOM ROCK

I'll post this on the Jets blog also, but since it's Super Bowl and Patriots related, it can go here as well:

The Pats' play-making cornerback Asante Samuel will be one of the biggest free agents on the market this offseason. Any chance he could wind up with the Jets? They were one of the teams reportedly interested in luring him last year before the Pats slapped Samuel with the franchise tag.

Samuel said he and Eric Mangini have a close relationship. Mangini was his position coach when he first came into the league and then because the defensive coordinator before taking the job with the Jets.

"We spent a lot of time together, so we built a good relationship," Samuel said. "We all knew he had the ability to be a head coach."

Glauber will be checking in on Plaxico Burress in a bit, seeing as how Burress has taken up the mantle of talking confidently about his team's chances on Sunday.

Brandon Jacobs, never one to shy away from some self-confidence, didn't make any guarantees at media day, but he didn't sound like he thinks his team is going to lose, either.

"We damn sure didn't fly all the way from New York to just give them a football game," Jacobs said. "People act like we're supposed to come out here and hand them the game."

Informed that The Boston Globe is pre-selling a book about the 19-0 Patriots on Amazon, Jacobs added: "If people go out and buy that book before (Sunday), they're going to be pretty pissed off."

BY TOM ROCK

It's a strange week to be Jared Lorenzen. He's happy to be at the Super Bowl, but he realizes that if he actually gets to play in the game as the third-string quarterback, things will have gone terribily wrong for his team.

Still, the hefty hurler said he'd much rather win a championship than actually play in one. At least this year. Besides, he said, where else could he be and have a reporter from Fox News come up to him and ask about the presidential campaign? (Jared's an Obama Backer, by the way)

Lorenzen also said that the only change he's seen in Eli Manning lately is that he's more of a prankster. He said he and Eli managed to dye the shoes of some of the offensive linemen purple so they would come off the plane yesterday wearing bright footwear.

Not sure if anyone noticed the prank of not. I guess if it's not a walking boot, no one really notices around here.

BY TOM ROCK

Randy Moss was asked about Tom Brady's ankle.

"He's hurt," Moss said, shrugging matter-of-factly. "I mean, what do you want me to say?"

Actually, Randy, that's exactly what we wanted you to say. That's what we've wanted anyone from the Patriots to say for the last week and a half.

Was that so hard?

BY TOM ROCK

A bit of an awkward silence at the podium of soft-spoken Amani Toomer today. Deion Sanders -- not the guy you hink of when the term silence is used -- was standing by with his NFL Network microphone while reporters asked questions. When there was a bit of a pause, Toomer turned to Sanders to see if he had any questions.

No, said Neon, he was waiting to go live.

So the two just stared at each other blankly.

BY TOM ROCK

Who says Bill Belichick doesn't have a sense of humor?

During media day the coach was asked, essentially, what would be the harm of being forthcoming with injuries (in particular one ankle injury to a certain starting quarterback). Belichick's answer was that they comply with league rules. Yes, the question asker continued, but why not give a percentage. Brady is 80 percent, 90 percent?

Belichcik said it's because he doesn't know and would never be able to give an accurate answer to the percent question.

Next question for Bill: Sounds like you have a little bit of a cold?

"Yeah," he said, "I'm at somewhere between 40 and 92 percent."

BY NEIL BEST

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Not surprisingly, the first question Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was asked at Super Bowl media day on Tuesday morning was how his ankle feels.

Answer: "The ankle feels good. It feels great. I practiced a full day (Monday). I think we had one incompletion in practice. It was a good day."

After that, the dozens of reporters surrounding Brady at the University of Phoenix Stadium lapsed into the usual Super Bowl silliness. About 20 minutes into the session, someone asked him for the silliest question he has been asked this week.

"Someone have a dumb question for me?," Brady asked.

A reporter asked him for his favorite band.

"My favorite band of all-time?," Brady said. "U2."

Later, a woman dressed in a bridal gown shouted to Brady, "I'm in love with you. Marry me!"

Brady declined.

BY ARTHUR STAPLE

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork acknowledged he made a "stupid mistake" when he jabbed a finger into Brandon Jacobs' face mask back on Dec. 29.

"I'm a man, I can own up to my mistakes and that was a stupid mistake on my part," he said. "We shook hands after the game. There was no blood lost."

I think he meant no "love" lost, but I guess it's good there was no blood loss either. Just the 15 grand Wilfork was fined for the finger poke.

BY JIM BAUMBACH

For my Web column today, I'll be updating with the sights and scenes of what happens at media day, everyone's favorite media circus. You'll be able to find the link on Newsday.com's sports page. And while you're waiting, feel free to check out my blog! (Yes, this is very blatant self promotion. But we're at the Super Bowl, so anything goes, right?)

I was doing more loitering in the lobby than listening to Antonio Pierce talk about the turning point of the Giants season (hey, whaddya know -- it was the goal-line stand against the Skins, among others). Eli actually provided the best line, when someone prompted him to talk about fellow Southerner Joe Namath's Super Bowl III guarantee:

"Joe Namath was a great, confident man. That was then, this is now. I'm not going to guarantee anything."

Hey Eli, Broadway Joe ain't dead yet... And he likes your chances. Read the paper, son.

The whole black-on-black thing was a nice touch -- Pierce may do that guest shot on Project Runway next year rather than Tiki (that's for you, LaMonica!) -- but some of the guys just didn't pull it off.

Chase Blackburn looked like a busboy. Feagles looked like a funeral-home director.

Eh, I'll leave the fashion critiques to the experts.

BY TOM ROCK

Here's a little bit of the difference between the Giants and the Patriots.

Michael Strahan went an extra 20 minutes during media availability, answering as many questions as he could even though the moderator of the event continued to announce that the session had ended.

Meanwhile, Wes Welker stopped his answer to a question in mid-sentence when the moderator made the same announcement during the Patriots' time under the microscope. He just zipped his trap, stood up, and walked away.

I suppose it would have been a little move devestating had Welker's answers been any good to begin with.

BY TOM ROCK

Heard this entertaining anecdote over dinner on Monday night.

The beginning of the Giants' media availability on their first day in Phoenix was delayed, and not just because the team's flight was late. Turns out that the NFL had promised not to start the procedings until the shuttle bus that took photographers from the airport to the hotel had arrived.

Well, apparently all of the photographers who took pictures of the great airplane dismount and then made their way to the hotel did so with either their own cars or a news truck or some other form of transportation. All except one. Newsday's own Tom Ferrara, who said he was the only working media on the bus ride over.

So essentially, Super Bowl week came to a grinding hault for a little while so we could all wait for Ferrara to get there.

Sigh.

I don't know whether to be impressed or mortified.

Not sure if this gives you all a sense of the two teams' mindsets, but Inside the Giants strives to give you everything this Super Bowl week:

The Giants watched "Michael Clayton," the George Clooney shady-lawyer flick that just got a slew of Oscar nominations, on their flight here today.

The Patriots watched "Miracle," the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Not sure if they were rooting for the Soviets or not, but it is amusing that they were watching a flick about the ultimate underdogs in sports history.

BY JOHNETTE HOWARD

From the Can't You Just Make Something Up Dept: As NFL officials know, you can go from happy to sad very quickly at the Super Bowl. Take yesterday.

The league suits had to be thrilled when a reporter asked Belichick a softball question at his press conference about his view on how the rest of the world tunes into the Super Bowl. (Even Icelandic Broadcasting Co. is listed in the NFL media guide). But they had to sag when Belichick -- clearly deep into his game-planning bunker-- essentially said, What world?

"I'm just here preparing to play the New York Giants," Belichick shrugged.

Antonio Pierce called for a little team unity and, presto -- nearly all the Giants, from VP of communications Pat Hanlon on down to Chase Blackburn, were wearing black suits. Some, like Pierce and Michael Strahan, went black-on-black; Eli Manning and Jeff Feagles went with the red ties and white shirts.

I mentioned the Johnny Cash line -- when he first wore black, a record exec said, "You look like you're going to a funeral." Cash's reply: "Maybe I am."

Pierce didn't get it. Ah well.

As for Tom Brady, who practiced today with a heavily taped ankle, Plaxico Burress called the injury "a joke." Pierce was equally doubtful about Brady's being less than healthy for Sunday.

"He's going to be ready, we know that," Pierce said.

Tom Coughlin informed the assembled group here at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, the Giants team hotel, that a couple of Giants have the bug that's going around. Someone asked Coughlin about Aaron Ross throwing up. We'll get back to you on that one.