I guess there's no way to prove anything conclusively, but I can certainly vow for Best's thriftiness.
And Laveranues Coles can speak to Favre's unwillingness to part with a buck.
In fact, Coles said Favre is the cheapest quarterback he's ever been around.
The Final Score's very own Anthony Rieber was on hand at the Jets' practice today to find out that Eric Mangini's wife, Julie, had the couple's third child this morning and named him Zack Brett Mangini.
Hmmm.
All this on the same day that Brett Lorenzo Favre turned 39.
Nice day in the Mangini household.
Sorry that Rieber had to miss a day of golf, but we appreciate his efforts.
Congratulations to one and all.
Just in case you reacted like Best did to our previous post about motivational words, we'll give you an equally powerful saying from Best himself. He has some interesting advice for those of us concerned that our lives as we know them are about to change forever as the result of the continued meltdown on Wall Street and in other financial markets around the world.
Best, responding to a recent e-mail suggesting the end of our culture might be at hand, wrote:
"Geez, dude, it's only friggin' money."
With the Giants poised to play the Browns in a much-anticipated Monday Night Football matchup, it's as good a time as any to segue to a book we're now reading called "Playing For Pizza."
It's a novel by best-selling author John Grisham, and it's about a third-string quarterback for the Browns who suffers a fourth-quarter meltdown against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game (hey, is that really fiction??). Anyway, Rick Dockery is chased out of Cleveland and eventually hooks up with a semi-pro team in Italy.
It's a breezy read, especially compared to the intense Grisham courtroom dramas we're used to . But it's certainly a refreshing story. Of course, any self-respecting Browns fan might cringe at the prospect of yet another playoff game disaster - even if it's only in Grisham's imagination.
So please don't tell Boland about this one. Might bring up too many painful memories.
Please indulge me on this one, because look-a-likes freak jeffp has been after me for months to do this one. I see a slight resemblance, but nothing that would drive a man to continually push for this to reach the blogosphere. But jeffp has been good to us, so I will grant his request.
The former Mets' player and manager, and the former Paul Simon sidekick.
Ok, that's enough. After 2,000 words of blogging today, I think it's time I pay a little more attention to the 3,000 words I need to write for Sunday's newspaper. Go read Neil Best.
The five biggest storylines for NFL's Week 6:
Are the Cowboys imploding? One week it’s Terrell Owens complaining he isn’t getting the ball enough, the next it’s Adam “Pacman” Jones getting into a scuffle at a Dallas area hotel with a Cowboys security whose job it is to make sure he stays out of trouble. It is a volatile concoction of personalities inside that Cowboys’ locker room, and we might be seeing the beginning stages of some combustible times in Big D. This week, it’s on the road in Arizona, where the newly confident Cardinals are coming off a huge win over the previously unbeaten Bills.
Is the NFC South the NFL’s surprise division? Looks that way. The prevailing sentiment had the Saints running away with the division. But as of now, they’re in last place. With Carolina enjoying a resurgence, and Atlanta and Tampa Bay hanging in a 3-2, this division has far more intrigue – at least for now – than anyone thought possible. That’s why Sunday’s Panthers-Buccaneers game in Tampa is filled the huge implications. Bucs fan “Sandy” will no doubt fill us in on all the goings-on, since it looks like Jeff Garcia will be filling in for the injured Brian Griese, while Jake Delhomme continues his comeback player of the year bid for the Panthers.
Is Matt Ryan really this good this soon? I thought rookie quarterbacks taking over last place teams were supposed to struggle for a year or two before the dividends started paying off. Not so with Matt Ryan, whose Falcons are coming off a road win against the Packers and host the equally surprising Bears, who have their own quarterback success story of sorts. Kyle Orton has quietly settled the position down after the roller-coaster ride that was the Rex Grossman era.
Peyton Manning, say hi to Ray Lewis. If Manning’s struggles continue on Sunday at home against the Ravens, this one could get ugly. Bal’More’s defense is almost at the level of the glory days of 2000, and Peyton’s offense has been wildly inconsistent through the early going. In fact, had it not been for Sage Rosenfels’ epic fourth-quarter collapse last weekend, the Colts might have been in some serious trouble by now. Heck, they still might be in some serious trouble by the time this one’s over.
Will the Patriots enjoy their West Coast vacation? Ok, so it’s not a vacation in the typical sense. But the Patriots made a fairly unusual decision to stay out in California after playing the 49ers in San Francisco. Now it’s on to San Diego and a rematch of the AFC Championship Game. The Bolts are coming off a woeful performance in Miami, so they’re sure to give New England their best shot in this one.
Our picks (straight up, pick against the spread in parentheses)
Bears over Falcons (Bears)
Texans over Dolphins (Texans)
Colts over Ravens (Colts)
Vikings over Lions (Vikings)
Jets over Bengals (Jets)
Bucs over Panthers (Bucs)
Redskins over Cardinals (Rams)
Jaguars over Broncos (Jaguars)
Cowboys over Cardinals (Cardinals)
Eagles over 49ers (49ers)
Saints over Raiders (Saints)
Seahawks over Packers (Seahawks)
Chargers over Patriots (Chargers)
Giants over Browns (Giants)
Adrian Wilson was slapped with a $25,000 fine earlier this afternoon for his hit on Bills quarterback Trent Edwards. The hit caused Edwards to suffer a concussion and miss the remainder of last Sunday's game.
Some Jets fans might be wondering why Wilson wasn't treated like Jets safety Eric Smith, who was given a one-game suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin the week before.
Here's the difference: Wilson was fined for unnecessarily driving the quarterback into the ground after making the initial hit. Unlike Smith, Wilson's head was up when he made contact. Smith launched himself into Boldin with his helmet down, causing both players to be injured. Smith eventually walked away, but Boldin was immobilized and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan for observation. He suffered a concussion and a broken sinus that was surgically repaired.
Here's a look at both plays. You decide:
Here's Wilson's hit.
And here's Smith's hit.
... and skate in the wake of his latest brush with trouble.
Here's what we know:
There was some sort of incident on Tuesday night, when Pacman Jones got into a scuffle with a security guard hired by the Cowboys to monitor Jones' behavior and whereabouts.
A 911 call was made, and police responded.
No formal charges were filed.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will not pursue team-sanctioned punishment of Jones, who was reinstated before the season after being suspended for the entire 2007 season.
The NFL is investigating the matter.
Will it result in a league-mandated suspension? My hunch is it will not.
Does Jones need to not make another public peep for the rest of the season to avoid further punishment?
Absolutely.
I'm always looking for expressions that have meaning - just as Tom Coughlin does with his players, something I wrote about on the eve of training camp - and I found a great one this morning.
Actually, I didn't have to look very far. It was printed on a tote bag my daughter uses to carry her music sheets and other stuff she uses for her high school marching band. It was an expression from Mary Anne Radmacher and it went like this:
"Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.”
... ok, we now return you to our macho football blog.
Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson has been fined $25,000 for roughing the passer in last week's game against the Bills.
Wilson was fined for his hit on Bills quarterback Trent Edwards, who suffered a concussion on the play and did not return to the game.
According to the NFL, Wilson was fined for unnecessarily driving the quarterback to the ground, violating Rule 12, Section 2, Article 12 (2) of the NFL Official Playing Rules, which states that "a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down and land on top of him with all or most of the defender's weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to wrap up or cradle the passer with the defensive player's arms."
In the league's letter to Wilson, it was noted that he was fined twice in 2007 -- for a late hit and a "horse collar" tackle -- and that future infractions can lead to increased disciplinary action.
I realize this might not pass the Jeffp sniff test in terms of dead-on accuracy, but I appreciate the effort of Dennis T. in his look-a-likes suggestion debut. It's the New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro and admitted Glauber Nation member and the NBC political commentator, who is somewhat busy these days what with the Presidential election less than a month away.
Side note on Vaccaro: He is one of the most gentlemanly members of our profession (an Al Arbour of sorts), but he invariably ticks me off whenever I see him due to the brilliance of his prose and the speed with which he produces it. That is just not fair.
Vaccaro:
And Todd:
As far as I'm concerned, this is the second most exciting opening to a season in New York sports, surpassed only by opening weekend of the NFL schedule for your Giants and Jets.
The puck drops tonight for the Islanders, Devils and Rangers (who actually dropped the puck in Prague a few days ago, which was admittedly weird). Isles at Devils as the Scott Gordon era begins for the Islanders and the Brent Sutter era continues for the Devils. And the Rangers host the Blackhawks after their Prague two-step over the Lightning. 
I grew up with dreams of becoming a New York Ranger, with Rod Gilbert my idol - thus, my preference to wear No. 7 as a lad playing at the Ebersol Ice Rink in White Plains, N.Y.
I decided that the pursuit of a degree in English was more important than pursuing the NHL (partly because I loved reading and writing, but mostly because I sucked as a hockey player), but I did have the pleasure of mixing both areas when I covered the Islanders during their Stanley Cup years. Brent Sutter was a player back then, and Al Arbour was the coach, easily the most gentlemanly coach I'd ever have the pleasure of covering.
(I went from Arbour to Bill Parcells in 1985, so that was somewhat of a culture shock, to say the least.)
Nowadays, I find it difficult to remember the names of all these Islander coaches who seem to come and go with the speed of a Mike Bossy slapshot.
Enjoy the pucks.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones won't punish Pacman Jones over a scuffle he had earlier this week with a Cowboys' security guard during a hotel party at which Jones was allegedly drinking. So it's up to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to mete out punishment - if any - in the wake of this latest episode involving the troubled cornerback.
In the meantime, Jones and the Cowboys are taking a fair amount of heat over their handling of the incident.
My hunch is that there is just enough wiggle room in here that Pacman will skate, although it's difficult to find anyone who thinks that Jones will remain "incident-free" for the remainder of the season. Heck, it's a toss-up if he can make it to the end of the month without something else happening.
Anyone care to establish an over-under for when the next brouhaha will occur?
The NFL told Jets safety Eric Smith they upheld his suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit of Anquan Boldin in a Week 4 game against the Cardinals. Smith was also fined $50,000.
I just didn't see that Smith had a case for a reduction in either penalty. It was an awful hit, where Smith lowered his head and launched himself into Boldin.
The argument that Boldin was knocked into Smith by safety Kerry Rhodes simply didn't hold up. In fact, I think there is a reasonable chance that Boldin might have been hurt worse had Rhodes not been there. Smith might have launched himself, helmet first, into Smith's upper chest, which could have caused intense whiplash that might have injured him far more seriously.
I'm a little more worked up about this hit than usual, because there was just no sense to it. I'm sure Smith didn't mean to hurt Boldin. But the tackling technique went against everything that coaches teach players at every level: keep the head up when making the tackle.
Smith lowered his, launched himself and then hit Boldin.
The penalty was just.
... but we will pass along this latest - and hilarious - JibJab video of the Presidential campaign. 
With all the problems now confronting our country and our world, and with so much riding on the outcome of next month's election, it's a refreshing break from all the madness to see this stuff.
Very clever.
Thanks to loyal Glauber Nation reader Poppy - also the champion of a recent picks contest - for passing this one along.
(UPDATE: For some reason, this song struck a very interesting nerve, so much so that we had to confirm that it was a takeoff on the Bob Dylan song "The Times They Are A-Changin.'" It is indeed. The song has stood the test of time. It is nearly as old as Neil Best.)
Joe M. hits a homerun on this one.
The Dolphins' loquacious linebacker and the equally loquacious rapper.
A reader e-mailed a very interesting point about the Plaxico Burress suspension and his cavalier reaction to it upon being reinstated to the team.
Here it is:
"One thing gets glossed over, amidst all the focus on how one player can't be above the rules, and how Plax let down his teammates.
What about how Plax let down the fans who pay increaslingly more money to see these guys? If a father takes his two sons to the game and tailgates, I'm being conservative by estimating it could cost him $300 for the whole afternoon.
Plus, picture this scenario.
Year 2050: "Grandpa, I was in Canton Ohio at the Football Hall of Fame yesterday and I learned about a great player named Plaxico Burress. I knew you were a Giants fan; did you ever see him play?"
"I was supposed to see him play back in 2008, but he got suspended from the game because he didn't show up for practice, or call to say he was showing up. So I never got to see him on the field."
Fans matter too"
Yes, they/you do. Excellent point. Thanks for sharing.
He underwent reconstructive knee surgery on Monday in Los Angeles, and all indications are he'll be ready for the start of training camp next year. Knowing Brady, it might even be sooner.
Bob Glauber answers your NFL questions in a live chat today at 2 p.m.
Any questions about Brett Favre, with whom I just spoke a few minutes ago?
Plaxico Burress, with whom I spoke on a very bizarre conference a couple days ago?
Broncos?
Patriots?
Packers?
Why is NKR still so bitter about the Bills?
Does Islander505 have a job, and if so, how does he find all this time to make pithy comments on this blog? Same with Black N Gold?
See you at 2 p.m.
Last time we heard from the ESPN.com blogger, he was linking to a competitor's column about something or other, even though I thought I'd out-written said competitor that day.
But Mosley gave us a shout-out today for our Plaxico Burress column, so it's better late than never.
Mosley also pointed out that it is sometimes quite difficult to find this and other Newsday blogs, but as he says, that's a story for another day. We'll pass along his concerns to the complaints department.
....
On another matter, it was suggested by loyal Glauber Nation reader "Sandy" that Boland's use of the word "solipsistic" to describe Cubs' fans whining about their plight indicates a future for EBola at a place like the Wall Street Journal or some other high-brow publication.
Well, what do you know, the great WSJ - well, a blog on the site - linked to our Plax column, too. It's the WSJ's "Daily Fix: A daily look at the best sportswriting on the Web."
In a word: thanks!
Wall Street is in freefall.
The most interesting Presidential race in recent memory is nearing its conclusion, with an important debate scheduled for tonight at 9 p.m. eastern.
So what is the most widely read story on the Newsday website, as we speak? It's Dancing With the Stars' Kim Kardashian insisting she does not have gluteal implants.
Of course!
"All the butt implant rumors are just so not true and now just silly to me," Kardashian writes on her blog.
(If you think Kardashian has nothing to do with the NFL, think again. She is the girlfriend of Saints running back/returner Reggie Bush, who had two punt returns for touchdown in last night's loss to the Vikings.)
... as for the Wall Street collapse, I have been interested in seeing what advice the financial experts are espousing, especially in light of the fact I have a daughter about to go to college. It's all very interesting, but not very useful. So far, the best thing I've heard is what Best told me in response to an e-mail I'd sent to him that said of our country: "Oh, well, we had a good run."
Best's response: "Geez, dude, it's only friggin' money."
Intrepid reporter Jim Baumbach caught up with Jets legendary quarterback Joe Namath at a charity golf tournament today and got some good nuggets from the only quarterback to lead the green-and-white to a Super Bowl title.
The Jets hope B. Favre can do the same.
I hope to speak with B. Favre tomorrow, although the last time I said I'd hoped to speak with Brett F., P. Burress was in the news for missing out on a team meeting.
I cannot wait to see the Ernie Davis story when it comes out in a few days.
Of course, I probably won't see it until it comes out on DVD, because we don't get much spare time around here during football season. I suppose if we treated life a little more like Plaxico Burress, we could find a little more time to enjoy the family. But I cannot afford a suspension.
All joking aside, this looks like it will be a terrific film about the first African American Heisman Trophy winner. I remember seeing previews of the movie when the wife and kiddies saw a flick during the off-season. It was many months ago, however.
Any questions about the Giants?
Wonder what it's like to be Tom Rock?
Join TR for a chat today at 2 p.m.
Just spoke to TR, and he is anxiously awaiting your questions. He shooed me off the phone so he could psychologically prepare for the chat. I think he has his wife hit him in the shoulder pads or something.
(Ranking, team, record, last week's ranking)
1. Giants (4-0) (1): That 44-6 win over Seattle might have been their most dominating performance since the 2000 NFC Championship Game. 
2. Titans (5-0) (2): You knew it was going to be ugly against the Ravens’ brilliant defense. But in the end, Kerry Collins got it done to keep the Titans unbeaten and keep Vince Young on the bench for the foreseeable future.
3. Redskins (4-1) (3): No more waiting for the Redskins to come back down to earth. They’re legitimately good.
4. Cowboys (4-1) (4): Now the Cowboys know how the Giants felt when the Bengals took them to OT a couple weeks ago. Dallas nearly blew it against the winless Bengals.
5. Steelers (4-1) (6): Hats off to Big Ben for a fine performance under difficult circumstances on the road in J’ville.
6. Panthers (4-1) (8): Carolina fattens up the record with a blowout win over hapless Kansas City.
7. Broncos (4-1) (10): Finally, the defense does something worthwhile. Broncos win a nailbiter over Bucs.
8. Bills (4-1) (5): Our beloved NKR took delight in seeing the Bills go down in Arizona. J.P. Losman did nothing once Trent Edwards went down with a concussion.
9. Bears (3-2) (12): Bears clobber Lions in Detroit, as Kyle Orton has his way against a pitiful defense.
10. Buccaneers (3-2) (9): Brian Griese or Jeff Garcia? It all depends on how quickly Griese heals up from elbow and shoulder problems he suffered against Denver.
Continue reading "Power rankings: Giants still No. 1, Eagles fading fast" »
The Cardinals' quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP has contemplated retirement in recent years - all the way back to 2004, when he was benched in favor of Eli Manning. But after seeing receiver Anquan Boldin get pummeled by Jets safety Eric Smith in a Week 4 game, the thoughts of retirement only increased.
Then again, after lighting up the Bills' defense in a blowout win on Sunday, Warner felt like he could play forever.
That was my sense in listening to Burress explain his reaction to being suspended by the Giants.
I wrote about this solipsism in today's newspaper.
I did not agree with Mr. Burress' rationale for missing work.
(I tagged this entry below with the word "solipsism" on the off chance it might get caught up in the Google jetstream ... you know, in case a lot of people Google the word because they might have heard it during a casual conversation ... or in a Boland blog post.)
The referee who was at the center of the controversy over a botched call near the end of a Chargers-Broncos game last month oversaw another questionable performance during last night's Vikings-Saints game.
The NFL hasn't yet handed out assignments for the Super Bowl, but my sense is Hochuli will not be refereeing that one.
Boland never did get back to Cleveland during his bye weekend for that Velveeta cheese dog, but he appears to have re-charged his batteries anyway. 
In a throwaway line in today's crisply written Jets' report that was clearly designed to prompt me to give him credit for the word of the day, he described Cubs fans wallowing in their misery this way: "I’ve heard just about enough from solipsistic Cubs fans – including those in the media – about how miserable their sports existence is. Please. Stop. Not like they grew up in Cleveland or something."
"Solipsistic: extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption."
Not sure why EBola would use the word to describe Cubs fans. Sounds more like something to describe Neil Best.
