Will NY Atheletes Ever Learn?

So Plaxico, tell me, how did it feel when the bus ran you over?

Once again, a New York area athlete has thrown a teammate under the bus. This time, the bus was driven by the (notso)Giants Michael Strahan. After a god-awful loss on Sunday, where there was plenty of blame to go around, from the offense to the defense, Team "Leader" Strahan went on WFAN on Monday and called Plax out. The quote was as follows:

"You're judged by your actions on the field and you can't give up, you can't quit, because you're not quitting on yourself, you're quitting on us."

Now, for some reason, Mike got a tad annoyed that people thought he was calling Plaxico Burress a quitter. Where would anyone get that idea? As reporters from all the major NY Dailies, as well as ESPN started asking questions, Strahan, who had been asked for comment earlier by a female ESPN reporter and declined, decided it was time to answer the questions. Only, the "Leader" decided to make things worse by claiming that he spoke to Burress, who denies that the two have spoken. Who is lying, I don't know, and I don't care. The best was this question, that Strahan posed to Kelly Naqi from ESPN:

"Look me in the eye and ask this question the way you want to ask it. Look a man in the eye before you try to kill him or make something up."

Overreact much Mike? "Try to kill him?" Is that what she was trying to do? Let's see, the defensive leader of the team calls out a teammate on the radio, and when a reporter wants to ask him about it, the reporter is trying to kill him, or make something up? No one made anything up Mike, your words were not taken out of context from a interivew that was for print, you said it ON THE AIR.

Now, the papers today have more fuel, as they claim Strahan was trying to intimidate Naqi. I don't know if that is the case, though given the reports from his divorce, it does seem like Mike is not exactly a great guy when it comes to dealing with females. At the same time, he appears to be the type of guy who would do the same to a male media person as well.

Now, this year has seen a lot of players calling out teammates. We had the Yankees fighting amongst themselves, and the Captain sitting idly by. Then Sheffield called out Joe Torre, saying the Tigers were more pumped up because Torre moved A-Rod to the 8 spot in the lineup. Yep, that worked out well for them. With the Giants, Jeromememe Shockey called out the coaching staff, as did Tiki Barber. Now Strahan calls out Burress.

Here's the thing, in most instances, the players were right. The problem is that you need to do this stuff in PRIVATE, or let the coach do it. Torre tried to shake A-Rod up. It did not work, but it could have. Other star players have been dropped in the lineup before to great effect. After Schockey mouthed off, the (notso)Giants went on a nice 5 game win streak. Barber did not have the impact. Strahan was right, Burress appeared to give up on the play, a week after doing a similar thing. However, it is not right to do the calling out in the press. The closed door meeting on Monday was the forum. Let Coughlin call him out (by the way, I thought he was a disciplinarian?)

The Jets have had there share of bad games, but I don't see anyone calling other players out in public, and they are better for it. When the Mets had issues with Milledge, very little was said by teammates, and what was said was generally supportive. I'm sure the vets spoke to him in private.

So you're asking yourself, Ed, why are you talking about the Giants in the BOG? Well, they do where Blue, albeit a different shade, but mostly because this type of stuff just keeps happening, and the players never learn. Strahan is right, the media tries to play up bad news to sell papers. I've railed about this here many times since I started the BOG. That is what the media does, from the papers to His Pompousass and the Hyena. I know it, and you would think the players would be smart enough to know it. It's one thing for a fan to get pissed off about it, it's another for a player. They need to be smarter, cause if they react, it is only going to get worse.

The lesson here for the players is to watch your mouth, and stop trying to blame the media when you mess up. Strahan messed up. He compounded it by saying he had spoken to Burress, who claims they had not spoken. The (notso) Giants locker room is not a happy place right now. You've got a QB who is regressing into Browning Nagle territory. A running back who is mouthing off, but averaging like 3 yards a carry his last two games. A Wide Out who doesn't appear to play hard every down. If these guys can't get along, kiss the playoffs goodbye.


Weekly Observations Addendum:

1. So last night I go to a book fair at my 1st graders school. While looking for some books to buy, I came across "Home Run Heroes - Big Mac, Sammy and Junior". I'm thinking to myself, wow, are any of the three really seen as "heroes"? Griffey can't stay healthy, and the other two, well...

2. Last night, while watching the news, there was a report that a planned three way meeting between President Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Makiki and King Abdullah II of Jordan was cancelled. The wife opined "What, Bush doesn't like three ways?"

3. Albert Pujols is upset that he lost the MVP race to Ryan Howard, feeling that only members of a playoff team should win the award. Bitter much Albert? Just keep solidifying that reputation as a crybaby. You'll overtake Bonds as the biggest malcontent yet.