An Army of Peggy Josephs

This is your democracy America.  On this is where your liberty turns.
(If you don't know who Peggy Joseph is see here and here.)

Will the way you live your life and the country you hand to your kids rest on the illiterate underclass of Cleveland, Ohio ??  Will you let it?

Welcome Instapundit readers!  So, what goes on here at Now Batting for Pedro Borbon?  Well, for one thing we like to call major international ministers complete ignoramuses - that's fun.  We make the greatest predictions evah.  We laugh at global warmist weenies.  We tell you what rock musicians have extremely small testicles.  And we fisk the media, especially the business/financial media, because we are all about the economy!  And we always let you know when someone finds a shitload of oil, because we LOVE oil.  And we have always (ALWAYS!!! from the get go) said that Eli Manning is one of the best QBs in the league and would sport many SB rings - we even gave Neon Deion the "you can't spell BELIEVE without ELI line.  Seriously, that was our line.

GGGGGGG-Meeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!

Well, I feel a little ashamed of not blogging more about this Giants team...the G-men are after all a part of the title of this blog. One thing was our talisman going down in flames. The second was I was just damned busy. But I always love my beloved G-men and this season was completely reminiscent of 2007, not just from defeating the Tom Brady-led Pats, but from the contribution of nobodies on top of the stalwart performance of stars. It is, as I always maintain, a function of what the Giants organization is all about - the Mara philosophy.

There is so much to say - Victor Cruz, Chase Blackburn (check out where he was at the start of the season), Jaquian Williams, Mark Herzlich, JPP, and Eli shutting up all the Monday Morning Numbnuts (many of my friends will recall numerous late night drunken rants defending Eli to an almost embarrassing degree) - but it is late and I must suck up all the glory and watch Boomer and TJ recap the game.

All I will say, is it was fate...too reminiscent of the miracle team of 2007 and and and AND twenty-five years after this. And let's not forget that the season started off looking grim with the fans losing two emotional favorites in Kevin Boss and Steve Smith and Brandon Jacobs and a few others mouthing off and playing the malcontents. But Jerry Reese is looking like a genius right now.

PS, I counted two awesome 1980s post-punk tunes in commercials - She Sells Sanctuary and Killing Moon (can you name the bands)...dude, we're getting old.

I don't know what I love more, a great Boomer "GGGGGGGG-Meeeeeennnnnnnnn" or a "New York Football Giants"??? Shit, I love 'em both.

Finally, I never watch my beloved Big Blue without thinking about the greatest Giant fan of all time, the man who took me to every game for 15 years during the lean years - when they went 2-14, delivered such wonderful moments as the Herman Edwards thing, and when Joe Pisarcik was, well, Joe Pisarcik.

Congratulations to the Mara family, the Tisch family and the whole New York Giants organization. Congratulations indeed.

Now For What Truly Matters: Family and Football

Well, as of end of day today I am letting the markets sort themselves out without my participation. I will be enjoying some quality family time with the lovely Mrs. Baseball and my three precious Baseball munchkins on the lakes, beaches, and golf courses of the great southeastern United States. I happily leave behind thoughts of Ben Bernanke and subprime mortgages to focus on waterskiing, Kadima, daily cocktail hour, and pandalus borealis on the barbie. This will make the last week or two before football season go that much faster. Indeed the pigskin is almost upon us. In the Baseball household there are only two football teams that matter - the New York Giants and the Oklahoma Sooners (although, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights bandwagon has made a stop at our household and we have signed on for a quick joyride). Expectations are not high for either of our squads, which is just how we like it since neither program has dealt well recently with high expectations. The big key for the G-Men is, of course, 1) not having the defensive personnel break bones like a bunch of matchsticks and 2) getting Brandon Jacobs into a somewhat viable replacement for Tiki Barber. If the running game is not well established, Eli will get pounded and launch footballs with the accuracy of Hezbollah's Kassam rockets. For the Sooners, the big unknown is how a red-shirt freshman will handle not just opposing Big 12 defenses, but a big, national spotlight game in week two (versus the 'Canes in Norman).

See all 20 of you in September. May you labor only in leisure this Labor Day!

4th Quarter Eli Strikes Again

My favorite classic: Tale of Two Elis

It Was That Kinda Game: Gameball to the Punter

Who gets to live out the week next to the Hermanator? Hard to say, there were no true standout performances, everyone did just enough of what they had to do (and some not even that...yes, I'm talking about you Brandon Jacobs). So in times like this we like to go off the reservation a bit and give the gameball to someone a little unexpected. I guess we could give it to Eli for yet another winning Q4 drive or Victor Cruz for more big play heroics, but hey, why not a punter? When will we get a chance to do that again? Steve Weatherford meet the Hermanator.

Belated Big Blue Game Ball...and a Sour Note

There are only a small number of bigger Giants fans than me, but let me be the first to utter these two words..."Dumb" and "Ass".

Which reminds me, I forgot to award the NBfPB game ball this weekend. It's tough, there were so many elements that came together to rescue this game against the Jags - Eli came through as he mostly does in the clutch, Mario Manningham filled in for Nicks like it was nothin', Jacobs was like the Jacobs of old before he became a bitter bear, the defense that came out of the locker room for the second half was simply thrilling to watch (that goes for big name guys like Tuck and Osi to lesser knowns like Terrell Thomas and Jason Pierre-Paul). Tough. Very tough. A good rule of thumb though is that when everything comes together, when it all clicks like it ought to, the guy with the ultimate accountability should get the credit...so game ball by default to Tom Coughlin.

Go Big Blue, Er, Red...Anyway, Beat Dallas!

At little break from markets to discuss what us more intelligent males like to discuss...

The Giants could take the NFC East lead from the loathesome, repugnant, detestable, vile, odious and abhorrent Dallas Cowboys this Sunday. By all accounts the Giants are heathy and playing their best football right now, so the odds are good that we will not see a repeat of the miserable performance against said vile football team from Dallas earlier in the season. In fact, Eli & Co. put up 35 points in that game, it was only due to the swiss cheesiness of the defense that Dallas notched the victory. Since then though, the Spagnuolo scheme has sunk in and Hall of Fame DE Michael Strahan has shaken off his holdout-induced cobwebs. Much room for optimism. Less substantively, the G-men will be sporting their alternate (not throwback) red jerseys for a little sartorial flair.

Finally, WR Plaxico Burress returned to practice this week, sadly weakening the relevance of the rhythmic, punning nickname Plaxico "No Practice Go" Burress.

Why Not Eli Manning, Too?

Why do the Vikings need two star quarterbacks...?

Eli Lilly Reacts Rationally to Being Crapped On

Here you go America, here is the fruit of the political class's incessant demagoguery of the pharmaceutical industry. The article doesn't say where the job cuts are happening, but you can bet your molecules that the US will feel the brunt of these cuts (the article hints that Japan might actually get new jobs). This is job shifting. It's fine by me (I even advocated it) and we deserve it - this is what happens when you crap all over our leading business institutions that provide that can hire anywhere in the world.

Side note: Lilly has kept mum on the specifics perhaps to retain some leverage within Congress over the pending healthcare legislation - 'wouldn't want to see your district loss 300 jobs would we now Congressman?'

Better Late - Gameball to Manning & Nicks

I regret being late with this, but, as I mentioned, it was a tough call. So tough that I've decided to split the difference and have co-game ball recipients. The decision to join the Hermanator reflects, not both sides of the ball, but the combo that did the dirty work and sealed the V in racking up 31 points - Eli to Hakeem. Gents, enjoy your spot next to the Hermanator!

First Giants Post of the Year!

So North Korea has the bomb. Should we be scared? Who knows. The Giants, however, have Tiki Barber. Should opposing NFL teams be scared? Up until recently the answer has been "not really." For the first three games of the season, even the Philly win, Tiki was either ineffective or just plain average. The last two games, against the hated Skins and the Falcons, however should begin to reinstill the proper level of fear for those remaining on the Gints' schedule. Against Washington, Tiki had a sub-par game for Tiki but a better than par game for the average NFL back. In yesterday's game, Tiki played at the Tiki level - 185 yeards on the ground and 40+ more catching the ball. The cascading effect of Tiki's effectiveness is amazing, i.e. Eli isn't forced into boneheaded mistakes trying to thread the needle and Brandon Jacob's legs stay fresh so he can contribute more when he does run, and Jay Feely's contributions become icing on the cake rather than must-haves.

So, we head to Dallas for a Monday night showdown with the hated Cowboys. Of course, the focus will be on T.O., which is fine, but the betting should be on T.B.

On an additional note, I don't have the data yet to make any conclusions, but anecdotally, a noteworthy story might be the D-line rookie tandem of Barry Cofield and Mathias Kiwanuka. These two are putting in good performances and making a very good line better. While it is early, Cofield and Kiwanuka could emerge as two of the best bang for the buck draft choices on the defensive side of the ball. Add Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck to the picture and you may conclude that Ernie Accorsi has an uncanny eye for undervalued defensive linemen.

Religion of Brotherly Love?

After a 30-24 overtime loss to the Giants yesterday in Philadelphia, enraged Muslim Eagles fans called for the beheading of Eli Manning...

The Manning Bowl Effect on the Bottom Line

OK, maybe it is not quite a "buy" signal for GE, but NBC has alot riding on Sunday Night Football, and the Manning Bowl augurs well.

"This Sunday night, NBC has arguably the most marquee regular season game of the year: the Indianapolis Colts versus the New York Giants (Go Big Blue!). That game pits the Colts' star quarterback Peyton Manning against his little brother, Giants' quarterback Eli Manning."

Then there is this:

"And later in the season, NBC will have the option of cherry-picking marquee games from Sunday afternoons and moving them to Sunday nights. That's a huge plus for NBC since it means fans won't be forced to watch games featuring a great team against a complete patsy or two mediocre teams playing each other like they did in seasons past."

Hmm. Maybe NBC should promote "Rematch: Bush vs. Gore" on Dec. 3rd? Smart marketing if you ask me.

I Don't Know Who I Like More Right Now...

...Sen. Tom Coburn or Eli Manning.


UPDATE: Alright then, let's have some pictures!