Why I am rooting for the Giants to win Super Bowl XLVI

I am not a big football fan.
I don’t DISLIKE football. I enjoy a good football game. But I don’t follow it like I follow the NBA. (Obviously not like I follow baseball.)

But I do get into the playoffs. And I don’t really have a dog in the fight (insert Michael Vick not in the playoffs this year joke here.)

I am supposed to be a Patriots fan and if they win it all I won’t mind.
But the Lions have never won a Super Bowl… Neither have the Falcons nor the Bengals.
The Texans have never won a playoff game.

Another title would mean so much to Denver, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Green Bay and Baltimore fans.
And a new generation of San Francisco fans can experience a 49er title.
I would have no problem with literally none of those scenarios.

And yet I am rooting for the Giants.

Why?

1. I actually was a Giants fan when I lived in New York all those years.

2. I like the idea of the Giants being the first team to win a Super Bowl in 4 consecutive decades.

3. Tom Coughlin has been rumored to be fired all year long. It would be cool to see him go from “Fire his butt” to “He’s delivered multiple Super Bowl titles to the Giants” in one month.

4. I love that nobody can predict this team. One minute they look awful. One minute they look great. They are like the St. Louis Cardinals of football teams.

and finally…

5. I’d love to see Eli have 2 rings to Peyton’s 1. That would make the Manning BBQs more entertaining.

So, for old time sake (like this picture of me at Candlestick Park cheering the Giants winning the 1991 NFC title) let’s go Giants.

Prince Fielder… Just accept arbitration

Seriously… it’s time to punt.
The market isn’t there right now.

It must stink to know your big payday isn’t here yet. But the Marlins have spent their money. The Cardinals have closed up their payroll. The Rangers are focused on Yu Darvish and pitching. The Nationals wasted their dough on Jayson Werth and have too many options at first. The Cubs are going to try and see if Anthony Rizzo can cut it. The Red Sox and Yankees have first basemen and the Dodgers and Mets are a mess.

Take arbitration with the Brewers and have a kick butt season and try it again next year.
The fans might boo you. Smack a few homers and they’ll love you.

The Mariners will have money to spend. Rizzo might not have worked in Chicago. The Nationals could be ready. The Dodgers might have a new owner willing to spend and the Mets could have their act together and the Blue Jays might have taken a step towards contending.

Try again next year… put up awesome numbers as usual.
You might have to wait a year for that 9 figure deal.

It’s a nice problem to have.

The 1977 Topps Dave Duncan card is a sight to behold

Seriously… take a good long look at this card.
I was about to write a post about Duncan and why I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame as a brilliant pitching coach.

But when looking for a picture for the post, I stumbled across this amazing card.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, when a player switched teams in the off season, Topps would issue cards where a player’s new team uniform and cap painted onto a picture.

Even as a 7 year old kid, I thought this practice was strange and I wasn’t fooled.
The pictures often looked a little off. Like someone with a chive stuck in their teeth, you can’t help but notice that it wasn’t right.

This one of Dave Duncan is astounding for so many reasons.

First of all the paint job sucks.
If you painted it and are reading this blog, I’m sorry. It wasn’t your best work. Everyone has done something that sucks. Kubrick had Eyes Wide Shut. Paul McCartney had Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time. You had the Dave Duncan 1977 Topps card.

It wasn’t your finest hour.

Duncan, who was on the Orioles in 1976 was dealt to the White Sox for Pat Kelly in November of 1976. The editors of Topps dug up a close up of Duncan and started painting away.

The S-O-X on his cap is too squished. There is a strange attempt at a shadow on the hat. And of course the White Sox uniforms had lapels. So the artist slapped on fake lapels.

And let’s face it, the blue neutral background looks kind of fake too.
So the only thing in this card of Dave Duncan that looks remotely real is his head.

It looks as real as when you stick your head in a hole to take a silly picture like I did at Pea Soup Andersen’s last month.

And here’s the kicker for me.
All that effort was made so when fans collecting cards could have Duncan on his current team.

Do you know how many games he played for the White Sox?

That would be zero.
He was cut in spring training and never played another game in the majors.

He went on to be the greatest pitching coach in my lifetime, turning around staffs and making mediocre pitchers into aces and multimillionaires.

He is leaving the Cardinals as a World Champion to take care of his ailing wife. I wish them both all the best and to get well.

And I hope Dave NEVER has to have lapels painted on a picture of him again.