Truth is, I didn't love the Giants' first preseason game even though it started with a bang.
Okay, so WR Odell Beckham Jr. didn't play, and notably, the Giants threw twice to Stewart and ran him outside at least once while trying to pound Barkley between the tackles. That's obviously not playing to either guy's strength, and anyway, Barkley finished with just 4 carries.
No problem. It's the first game of the preseason.
What's more alarming is that Webb, who really needs to play well in order to stay in the League, overthrew everybody last night, especially in the first half. He wound up 9/22 for 70 yards on a night when most folks, including me, tuned in to see if he could be The Man after Eli retires. Reports out of camp had been quite encouraging. By comparison, current 3rd string QB Kyle Lauletta went 6/9 for 48 yards. I didn't watch Lauletta play much, but from what I saw, he was at least somewhat accurate with the football.
The Giants' defense looked good, especially against the run, but man, that offense really needs guys to catch balls that hit their hands if they want to win ballgames. This was a bad problem last year, and unfortunately, we don't seem to have made as much progress as I might've hoped over the offseason.
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 9, 2018After that, things slowed considerably. The Giants' revamped O-Line looked maybe a little better than they were last year, but their second stringers were terrible, and backup QB Davis Webb, would-be star of the preseason, was not good at all. Starting QB Eli Manning wound up 4/7 for 26 yards. He took a sack, made a terrible pass via miscommunication to TE Rhett Ellison that should have been intercepted, and was victimized by two really egregious drops. One went to a backup wide receiver on a quick out; the other came on a well-timed screen play to RB Jonathan Stewart. Both should have been first downs.
Okay, so WR Odell Beckham Jr. didn't play, and notably, the Giants threw twice to Stewart and ran him outside at least once while trying to pound Barkley between the tackles. That's obviously not playing to either guy's strength, and anyway, Barkley finished with just 4 carries.
No problem. It's the first game of the preseason.
What's more alarming is that Webb, who really needs to play well in order to stay in the League, overthrew everybody last night, especially in the first half. He wound up 9/22 for 70 yards on a night when most folks, including me, tuned in to see if he could be The Man after Eli retires. Reports out of camp had been quite encouraging. By comparison, current 3rd string QB Kyle Lauletta went 6/9 for 48 yards. I didn't watch Lauletta play much, but from what I saw, he was at least somewhat accurate with the football.
The Giants' defense looked good, especially against the run, but man, that offense really needs guys to catch balls that hit their hands if they want to win ballgames. This was a bad problem last year, and unfortunately, we don't seem to have made as much progress as I might've hoped over the offseason.
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1. Disney's Streaming Service Starts to Come Into Focus (NY Times)
A live-action “Star Wars” series coming to the platform from Jon Favreau, the director of films like “Iron Man” and “The Jungle Book,” is expected to cost roughly $100 million for 10 episodes…
So here’s the problem: CBS also has a service, All-Access, that offers Star Trek: Discovery and another just-announced Star Trek show about the further adventures of Jean-Luc Picard. Plus, DC Comics just launched a service for $75/year around a new Teen Titans show and a new season of Young Justice. And you’re already paying for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. I mean, we can probably skip ESPN+ (unless they pick up Watch Stadium’s suite of Patriot League contests), but even so...
Also, a new Sir Patrick Stewart show? I mean, I think *I* can see the appeal of Star Trek: Retired Admiral Gets His Groove On, but I’d probably write it a little differently than they’re thinking. Really, the only questions in my mind are 1) who’s going to play the Fat Leonard character, and 2) how much will it cost to get Stewart to go full-monty on Internet television? But I’d put that on Playboy TV or maybe Vivid.
Eh. I suppose there could be a market for that.
The Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints will have male cheerleaders dancing on their squads for the first time.
Dancers Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies have been preparing for the NFL season since they made the Rams cheerleading squad in March…
Other teams, like the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens, have stuntmen, USA Today reported, but Peron and Jinnies will be dancing alongside their female teammates and doing the same moves.
Still can’t belive I’m one of the first males in history to be a pro NFL cheerleader! Everyone’s support and love has been insane! 😠thank you and GO RAMS! @RamsNFL @LARamsCheer #LARams pic.twitter.com/srpkYiVmEI— Napoleon Jinnies (@NapoleonJinnies) March 27, 2018
This shit is long overdue. Long overdue. The NFL has had cheerleaders forever, but the routines their folks do are nothing compared to what you see from collegiate squads, and at least part of the reason is because they’ve just not been taking it seriously. They’ve been using their squads as largely unpaid eye-candy.
I like eye-candy as much as the next guy, but this is a multi-billion dollar business. They are supposed to represent excellence in sport. If they’re going to have cheerleaders, they need to have excellent cheerleaders. That actually matters.
3. ‘Last Chance U’ Season 4 will remain at Independence CC, but it might be more fun the 2nd time (SB*Nation)
While there was a mix of opinions regarding the show’s new season, and specifically brash Indy head coach Jason Brown, the folks at Netflix believed it was received well enough to give it another season. Brown touched on his relationship with his players in an interview with SB Nation’s Bill Connelly...
The interview with Connelly is well worth a read. Season 3 was as much about Coach Brown’s growth as it was about the players, and all told, it was terrific.
There’s room for discussion about whether a powerhouse like EMCC, host of Last Chance U’s first two seasons, is actually “Last Chance University”. But if a kid winds up in Independence, well… Yeah. That is legitimately his LAST chance.Last Chance U returns to Kansas!— Last Chance U (@LastChanceU) August 8, 2018
INDY: Part 2 is coming to @Netflix - Summer 2019. pic.twitter.com/jR5F32aBow
4. College football rankings: Alabama opens 2018 CBS Sports 129 at No. 1 for third straight year (CBS Sports)
Alabama sits in its familiar spot at the top… followed by Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State.
I’ll save you looking up the rest:
7. Oklahoma
46. Duke
47. Navy
65. Army
47. Navy
65. Army
87. Buffalo
93. Air Force
93. Air Force
95. Miami (Ohio)
100. Eastern Michigan
5. Bradshaw officially completes Army football career (Record Online)
“He’s scheduled to graduate,” Monken said. “He’s been told he’s going to graduate this summer. I don’t think there’s anything that is going to keep that from happening at this point. I’m excited for him.”
Monken said Army will have a commissioning ceremony for Bradshaw in front of the team.
Army Football at Giants' camp:
If that’s not enough, take a listen to the Forgotten 5 podcast previewing Army’s season. Alex Funderburke is already the best beat writer covering Army Football as a UCF freshman, and he’s not too bad on the radio, either. Looking forward to seeing how his work matures as he gets further into his craft.
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That's all I've got, folks. Enjoy the weekend!
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