• First, my observations from yesterday on Friday’s preseason game.
  • Ernie Palladino writes that Colonel Tom was not pleased with the run defense, particularly the interior defensive line. Gap control needs to improve, and the Fred Robbins’ 2006 honeymoon may have come to an end. Expect an open competition between Robbins, Seawright, and Duckett for that Nose Guard spot. Note: This is one of many articles on the subject of Coughlin’s displeasure with the Giants run defense, which he characterized as “soft.”
  • Also from Palladino’s article, it turns out the Giants actually suffered a couple of very minor injuries during Friday’s game: David Tyree mildly sprained his ankle, and Rich Seubert came down with turf toe.
  • But Chris Snee (knee) is making faster progress than anticipated, and will return to non-contact work in today’s practice. Carlos Emmons (burner – when did a stinger become a burner?) has also been cleared for non-contact work, with hopes of returning to full-contact later in the week LaVar (knee) has been cleared for one practice per day, and Sinorice Moss (quad) hopes to get back to practice later in the week.
  • A detailed, comprehensive look at the first preseason game by Eric at Bigblueinteractive.com. I suggest you read it – really good stuff for the advanced fan.
  • Mike Garafolo points out five issues facing the Giants after their first pre-season game. One of these issues is effort: Colonel Tom says the team must “do a better job just flat-out getting after it, being more aggressive.”
  • Antonio Pierce is angry and embarrassed at the way the first team defense played, writes Mike Garafolo. Good. Any good defense needs a leader like Pierce.
  • Paul Schwartz on Michael Jennings electrifying punt return, with a great photo of him emerging from the pack and trying to keep his balance. Also in his Giants Notes, Coughlin praised Mathias Kiwanuka’s work habits: “His game was very typical of the way he practices,” said Colonel Tom. “He’s resilient as can be. He keeps it coming.”
  • Great article on Kiwanuka by John Altavilla in the Hartford Courant. For those who don’t know, Kiwanuka is the grandson of Benedicto Kiwanuka, who served as the first Prime Minister of Uganda from 1961 to 1972 and helped the fledging country gain its independence from England. When Idi Amin came to power, Kiwanuka angered Amin by refusing to ignore the human rights atrocities that characterized brutal Amin’s regime – it is believed that he ordered the killings of over 300,000 people. For his insubordination, Amin tortured and murdered him, and his body has never been recovered.
  • Richard Sandomir on Monday Night Football’s Tony Kornheiser experiment, which smacks of the same ill-advisedness as the disastrous Dennis Miller experiment. Now, I like Kornheiser and P.T.I. as much as the next guy, but can’t a football game be just a football game, announced by professional football announcers? Or are we so impatient that we need a witty guy interjecting his comedic everyman opinions every few plays. Please. It’s distracting.
  • Extremely interesting article by Aaron Schatz in the Times’ “Keeping Score” section. According to Schatz, the amount of penalties that a team accumulates might have as much to do with the refs that are assigned to their games than the discipline of the team in question. He points out that while the Giants had the second most penalties in the league with 167, their opponents actually had more penalties than they did with 170. As it turns out, the amount of penalties called varies wildly from crew to crew. Larry Nemmers’ crew (who, incidentally, officiated the Seattle game) averaged 20.6 penalties called per game, tops in the league. Bill Vinovich’s crew, on the other hand, called only 12.3 penalties per game. Interesting stuff.
  • And finally, some disturbing news. Keith Hamilton, the beloved “Hammer” of the Giants interior line for almost a decade, pleaded guilty to beating his 12-year old son after seeing poor grades on his report card.