We have no idea what the fine people of El Paso, Texas, do on the average Thursday night in December. We do know, however, that their local cable companies carry ESPN.

Were they watching this?

Rutgers will find out in a few days when the Sun Bowl selects its teams, because the second-best bowl in the Big East pecking order should not pass on the second-best team in the league.

Continue reading "If there was justice in college football, Rutgers would bask in the Sun (Bowl)" »

He had a diamond-studded Super Bowl ring on his finger, one earned from his awe-inspiring performances in the playoffs.

Continue reading "Fall from stardom serves as lesson for New York Giants' Burress" »

Antonio Pierce has always taken pride in being the ultimate teammate and leader during his NFL career. Now the Giants can only hope he didn't take that responsibility too far. Continue reading "Loyal to a fault, New York Giants' Antonio Pierce learning a tough lesson" »

LANDOVER, Md. -- The word of the day was "distraction," and it was a bigger presence in the visiting locker room at FedEx Field than any 350-pound offensive lineman.

How would the Giants deal with the latest distraction with troubled receiver Plaxico Burress? Would linebacker Antonio Pierce be distracted by his own involvement in the gun-shot investigation? Would all the distracting questions about the distractions be a ... well, you know?

The result, of course, was predictable if you have been following this team. The Giants were not remotely distracted by anything, unless that word can apply to only winning 23-7 on the road against a divisional rival that will probably end up in the playoffs.

Continue reading "Politi: In spite of Burress, New York Giants keep eyes on ball" »

Throughout his many indiscretions during his turbulent 2008 season, Plaxico Burress had been the Giants' problem, and nothing more.

Missed meetings. Skipped treatment sessions. Suspensions and fines, a red-faced head coach and annoyed teammates. Burress was a headache, to be sure, but he was a manageable one. The Giants had gotten used to his immaturity and were winning in spite of him.

But now? Burress has graduated to another level. He is the NFL's problem, too, because no matter what happened Friday night, his latest incident involved two things commissioner Roger Goodell is said to loathe more than anything else.

Guns and nightclubs.

Continue reading "Politi: It's time to part ways with Plax" »

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Now you can dare to dream a little bit. Now you can circle Feb. 1, 2009, on your calendar, start stocking up on beer and chips, and imagine what might happen that night in Tampa.

Continue reading "Dare to dream of a Giants-Jets Super Bowl" »

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- This one was not about the quarterback.

Okay, that might be an exaggeration. The quarterback is you-know-who, so it is always about him on some level. Like when one of the Jets' flacks yelled, "Brett Favre is going to the podium!" Sunday, and about two dozen sportswriters ran to get there as if the locker room had burst into flames.

Favre is at the center of everything the Jets do, but Sunday's 34-13 romp over the Tennessee Titans was much bigger than No. 4. And that is the most important development for this team.

The Jets absolutely pounded the Titans. You could picture them coming here and winning, maybe in a low-scoring game, maybe on a late field goal. But this? This was hard to see coming. The Titans were 10-0 for a reason, with a dominant defensive line and running game.

Continue reading "New York Jets' 34-13 victory over Titans about more than just Favre" »

In all the criticism directed at Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez over the past few months - most of it well earned, some of it from me - nobody has ever questioned his basketball acumen.

The guy can coach. We knew that before he came to South Orange, the way his pesky Manhattan teams had played in the postseason. We saw it last season, when the Pirates upset a tournament-bound Louisville team. And now, we see it again in Puerto Rico, where the undermanned Pirates gutted out a victory over No. 20 Southern Cal.

Continue reading "Politi: Nobody ever said Bobby Gonzalez couldn't coach" »

Admit it. You thought you had seen the last of these two old quarterbacks, hadn't you?

Oh, you might have envisioned them wearing a suit in a broadcast booth somewhere, but the only thing they'd be passing is the tapioca pudding at the Shady Acres Retirement Village.

Kurt Warner was a fumble-prone shell of a former MVP, one who had been replaced twice, in two cities, by high-profile first-round draft picks. He was washed up and wiped out, ending a great career as a place-holder for Matt Leinart in Arizona.

Kerry Collins was a cement-footed dinosaur who missed his one chance to win a Super Bowl, one who seemed resigned to finishing his career holding a clipboard. He was as irrelevant as a quarterback could be, backing up a rising star in Vince Young for Tennessee.

Continue reading "Collins, Warner both in top form after getting boot from Giants" »

He was still running when the Giants' latest conquest had ended, only this time, Brandon Jacobs was running his mouth. And nobody could stop him from doing that, either.

"Who can't run the ball?" he yelled to the few remaining fans at Giants Stadium as he jogged up the tunnel. "Who can't run the ball?!"

Not you.

Not your team.

"You write about that!" he barked to a group of reporters gathered near the locker room. A team official was pulling on his arm, trying to drag him to a TV interview, but Jacobs was still moving in the other direction.

Continue reading "New York Giants prove they can run the ball in victory over Ravens" »

Giants vs. Ravens wrap-up

TAMPA, Fla. -- Rutgers emptied the playbook at times against South Florida, with 325-pound tackle Anthony Davis lining up as a fullback and quarterback Mike Teel catching his first career pass.

The tricks received mixed reviews, but ultimately, they were unnecessary. Rutgers returned to the smash-mouth running game that had carried this team to most of its victories over the past few years, and it was freshman running back Joe Martinek leading the way.

Martinek finished with a career-high 98 yards on 21 carries, including two touchdown runs, in the 49-16 victory over South Florida. His best performance was a nifty 19th anniversary gift for his parents, who turned the trip to Tampa into an extended celebration.

Continue reading "Martinek rushes for career-high 98 yards in Rutgers' 49-16 victory over South Florida" »

TAMPA, Fla. -- The question had to pop in the mind of every Rutgers fan Saturday during this 49-16 butt-whooping of South Florida: Where the heck was that team all season?

The big plays on offense. The six turnovers on defense. The pounding running attack. The utter domination of a conference rival, on the road, for a fourth straight victory.

Here is some free advice before they pull all their hair out: Let it go. Yes, if the Scarlet Knights complete this turnaround with two more victories and end up in another bowl game, there will always be the "what if?" about the 2008 season, especially with the Big East up for grabs.

Continue reading "Rutgers' season not perfect, but looking good" »

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- He looked like the coolest person on earth when it ended, like Frank Sinatra strolling on stage in Vegas.

Everyone else? We were trying to figure out how the Jets had survived what was nearly an epic, season-ruining choke. We were still running on the adrenaline from this amazing 34-31 overtime victory over the Patriots, one that left this team all alone in first place.

We were a sweaty, sloppy mess.

Not Brett Favre. He slipped on a thin leather jacket, flipped up the collar, and draped a striped scarf around his neck. "Like my outfit?" he asked a couple of reporters. "My wife picked it out."

Continue reading "Favre returned to do it his way, just like that" »

Eric Mangini does not believe in statement games. His players do. His fans certainly do. The media? We love them so much, we have about a dozen different names for them.

A showdown. A defining moment. A must win. Or, if you prefer simplicity, a big game. Even Mangini has to acknowledge this trip to New England at least counts as a big game, right?

"I don't think one game ever defines a season," the Jets resident party pooper said Tuesday. "It's the consistency, regardless of (it being a) a division game, a non-division game, or what the opponent's record is. That consistency to me defines a team."

Continue reading "It's time for New York Jets to send a message, Politi says" »

PHILADELPHIA -- The grump of a head coach has had his share of sideline theatrics with the Giants, but this was a first. Tom Coughlin heard the good news from the referee that his game-changing challenge was a success, then turned back to his team and did a little dance.

All right, so this move wouldn't earn him a spot next season on "Dancing with the Stars." It was short and sweet, but still so utterly uncharacteristic. Coughlin is a fighter, not a dancer, but the coach is on such a hot streak now, who could blame him for doing a little jig?

His team is 8-1 after this 36-31 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night, boasting a comfy two-game lead in the NFC East. His decision to throw the red challenge flag on a too-close-for-the-naked-eye play in the third quarter changed this game's outcome.

Continue reading "Coughlin's challenge means happy feet" »

The first time the NFL put its most fearsome foursome of teams together 40 years ago, the league called it the "Capitol Division." Not exactly a formidable name for the meanest division in football, was it?

The league was trying to be cute back then, giving each of its four divisions a name that began with a "C" and was seven letters long. The experiment was such a rousing success, the Giants were pulled out the following year in 1969 and replaced with New Orleans.

Just imagine if that combination had stuck: Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia ... and the Saints.

"That was probably done for travel purposes," Giants CEO John Mara said last week with a laugh. "But we always felt very, very strongly about being in the same division with Dallas, Washington and Philadelphia because the rivalries we had with those three teams were so strong."

Continue reading "Rivalries built on intense dislike fuel NFC East, as Giants and Eagles know" »

One of the most improbable stories in Super Bowl history might have reached its end Wednesday.

Or, maybe, that story will get even better.

That's up to David Tyree -- again. He was counted out before, of course, the troubled kid who was wasting his talents on drugs and alcohol, the special-teams player who would never make an impact on offense.

Then, he made The Catch, fastening that ridiculous heave from Eli Manning onto his helmet for all of eternity. He could never play another down in the NFL, never even step on a practice field, but nobody can take that moment away from him.

Continue reading "Tyree on injured reserve, but Super hero won't quit" »