I received an email from my Mom last week that I felt sent such an important message that I thought, at least part of it should be shared.  This is A Football Story, but really – the message is much more than that.  In today’s times of judgment and finger pointing,  & constant over-generalization about individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, political party, weight, choice of friends, and amongst other things, even choice of career, I felt this story needed to be shared.

For this blog I will make an example of the extreme generalization of a certain grouping of people that escalated when the country faced the mortgage debacle and crash of Wall Street in 2009.  Every media outlet was all over it, from CNN to NBC to Yahoo!, to YouTube – media everywhere - and the masses jumped on the bandwagon, trouncing all over the popular cry: ‘all these Wall Street people care about is money’, ‘those greedy people on Wall Street looking only for their golden parachutes’… 

But do we really all know the people about whom we speak in such derogatory commentary?  Do we know how they live their lives - each and every one of them?  Have we had an up close and personal view outside of what the media says?  Because everything that is written in the media is always on the up and up, right?  And the weatherman is always right too.  We football fans should know better by now.

As in every single walk of life, granted, there are going to be people who make what many would deem greedy choices, or perhaps, even choices that are downright criminal (we see this in every profession, and in the NFL too).  But for the most part, people are inherently good.  And so the over-generalization that took over our country during the Wall Street crisis in the last few years has been quite painful to many individuals, and to the families of many good people who have given up so much of their life to work hard for their families in their chosen profession; and who have given and sacrificed so much even while working 17-20 hours, 6-7 days a week for decades; those who always answer the phone when their children need them, who volunteer and give back to their communities; who have still chosen the more economical or hybrid vehicles in place of the ostentatious.

So allow me to share a story from one Wall Street executive, a recently retired partner from one of the major firms, now a board member and ‘enjoyer’ of life – finally – after many, many years of sacrifice in her chosen career.  I’ve been around people in her world for much of my coherent life, and I have seen so many who ultimately choose to prioritize family, health and giving before the material rewards that may come.   And some – like my Mom – who also prioritizes something else…

Back to the email I received this last week…  We are a very close-knit, East Coast family – so we like sharing with each other some of our day-to-day experiences.  In fact, as I write this, Mom just texted me to share from a day at Coney Island in Brooklyn with my Dad – a place where we as a family have wonderful childhood memories.  So last week, my Mom sent an email to my Dad, my brother and me, with an interesting transcript of an interview she recently did.  An executive at one of the companies, for which my Mom is now a board member, interviewed her to share a little bit with their many employees about the newest member of the leadership team.  I read the interview.  When I got to one of the questions in what I felt was an incredibly honest and introspective interview, I took pause.  The message was wonderful.  And it was a much bigger message than meets the eye.  So here it is, verbatim:

Interviewer: Tell us something about yourself that usually surprises people

Mom:  “I think my passion about football and the extent it has taken me to is probably something that would surprise people. There have been really crazy things that I’ve done in my life involving football!  I don’t usually talk about this but let me share an incident… A long while ago I was in the process of being recruited by another (Wall Street) firm to come join them.  The CEO of the company I was with at the time found out about the opportunity and called me to his office.  He was known for trying to give people perks to the extent he could - if they made sense – and he asked me what they could do to keep me.  Knowing the business I was in (Wall Street), most people would have probably named a fat salary number… I didn’t.  I said I wanted to meet Lawrence Taylor (from the New York Giants). And what do you know… a few weeks later the CEO called and said he had set it up!  I ended up spending time with Lawrence Taylor and the Giants… and safe to say the company had my loyalties for several years hence!!

Most people thought it was crazy to not quote a salary number… and it’s not that I’m a celebrity-crazy person… but if I see a sportsperson… or specifically a football player … or even more specifically a Giants player, I would go out of my way to meet them.”  

Now that’s a fan.  She always loved LT.

My intent is not to put my Mom on a pedestal here.  She would hardly want that anyway – it’s just not her way.  My intent is to make one example that may represent more people in her chosen profession than the media leads us to often to believe.  So perhaps generalizations aren’t always so fair.  Perhaps it makes sense to avoid making someone guilty merely for the career path they have chosen; the religion they choose; the team they rep; or any other life choice.  Perhaps it makes sense to pause, and think that people may choose a profession, but the stereotypes of that profession hardly define who they are in this world. 

If you were in that similar situation – what would you have asked for?

ALL IN.

Ali

@aliconig

I’ll keep this short.  A week ago I decided it might just be better to just keep my mouth shut on the topic of starting Giants WRs who elected not to show up for OTAs.  I think it’s been made fairly clear what I think: I am disappointed. I don’t really care that OTAs are voluntary.  Leaders should be there with their teams.  Even if they aren’t physically practicing, clear communication is key, and being there to support the unit is critical in any leadership role; be it the military, a team of doctors working on a cancer patient, a corporate team driving to deliver a product on time, or a sports team.  A team is a team, and no one man is more important than the sum of its parts.  

You know, ‘team first, team last, team always’… ALL IN is not about when it’s convenient.

But all of that aside, there is one thing I can say that is going to be a very positive outcome of this unfortunate Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks situation.  The fact is - it’s not like the Giants organization is going to just throw in the towel because a couple of guys are making what I believe to be unsportsmanlike choices…

What I AM encouraged by the that the guys who DON’T typically get practice reps with Eli and the 1st team, ARE getting those reps.  They ARE getting the opportunity to actually BE the next man up, and so no matter what happens with one guy or another before and during the season, Jerrell Jernigan, Rueben Randle, Ramses Barden, Louis Murphy, and number of other undrafted FA rookies, WILL have a chance to step up, stand out, and make an impact when we need it.

So for that reason alone, I’ve decided to say that it is what it is.  Yes, the introspective ‘coach’ in me is disappointed.  And I hope that 88 will be in mandatory camp next week, and 80 soon thereafter.  I hope that when they do come back, the drama subsides quickly so everyone can be focused and not impacted by distractions.

But for now, I’m excited for the other guys; the next in line.  Because at the end of the day, football is fleeting and unexpected things happen fast.  If you’re gonna be the next man up - you gotta be ready.  And this unfortunate set of circumstances presents an opportunity that will make all the NEXT MEN UP as ready as they can possibly be.

So go kick some butt Keith Carlos.  Take some names Louis Murphy.  Rueben on the rise!  JJ - now’s the time to show us why you were drafted.  Go make magic!

Ali

@aliconig

I’ve been biding my time on this one because the media is so over-active, and I had hoped we’d be through the Victor Cruz stuff by now.  The topic so often on my mind, but even more so as we moved past Free Agency and the draft, and as we move in on team OTAs: team unity, team cohesiveness

How critical to the success of a team is the instinctive ability to live, play, achieve as a unified force?

And therefore, how important is it for the TEAM’s success is it for all players to align, and to be in off season workouts, practicing together and working out any kinks before the clock starts to tick on the actual season?

Of course, with all the discussion about Victor Cruz, I just can’t help but to ask these questions.  In my view, team unity is one of the most critical characteristics of a championship team (not only in football, but in business and in life).  Think about championship teams from recent history and tell me they didn’t share this unified quality: Boston Celtics 2008, Miami Heat 2012, San Francisco Giants 2010/2012, Pittsburgh Steelers 2008, New orleans Saints 2009, Packers 2010, Baltimore Ravens 2012, NE Patriots in their winning seasons, and of course – the New York Football Giants 2007 and 2011… and these are a few that stand out in my head.

Interestingly, my personal belief, having closely watched the San Francisco 49ers last season from my Bay Area perch, is that a few player incidents during the 2 days leading up to the Superbowl are what broke the 100% unity on the team, and I also believe greatly contributed to the outcome of the game.  Cohesiveness in a large group is fleeting.  If it can be achieved, it’s amazing the results we see.  But it can be ruptured so easily – so every moment a team has to practice achieving it, can be all too critical.

One of the keys to developing a unified team in football, I believe, is leadership by example – GM, Head Coach, Ownership and QB operating from the same set of rules with corresponding objectives.  The successful teams outlined above, all had that quality.  The Giants have that quality.  But while so important, unity at the leadership level isn’t the only key to success.

With any team, each player has his own critical role that he plays in effort to make the team the best that it can be, and to help win championships.  That’s what the saying (made so popular during the Giants 2011 run): ‘ALL IN’ is about!  If every one man on a team is without ego, playing and practicing for the next guy to win, that team has the highest likelihood of being ALL IN – and winning championships.

As far as contributing to building a unified force, it’s part of the job responsibility for each player to do whatever it takes to participate in offseason drills, scheduled team workouts and activities.  No matter how good of a player may be, walking onto a team at the last minute, after all of the practice has happened, after all of the planning and preparation is in the rearview mirror, after all of the connections are made between the new and old players, and the choreography is set… you are likely to break the cohesiveness of the unit, and it could effect the entire team.  I also believe that during the season, it’s important that TEAM comes first, and while I don’t think ALL off-the-field business dealings should be curtailed (family, community giving and some other life-defining activities are important and not to be forgotten), there should be limits, and they should never get in the way of giving everything it takes to achieve the goal – in the case of football, each week it’s about achieving the W, and each season, the championship title.

To illustrate, lets look at my business in sales in the high pressure Silicon Valley.  If I had to lead a meeting with a huge and important global account to land a multi-million dollar deal for my company; one that required weeks or even months of advanced planning and preparation with a team of contributors… and one of those contributors decided not to show up for any of the prep meetings… how could I know if he is going to be walking into that meeting on the same page as the rest of my team, for our one day to shine with this customer? Would the outcome be different and better if he did show up for the prep meetings with the rest of the team?  Is that a risk worth taking?  Will it cost me the deal I’ve worked so hard for?

Last season I began to have some questions – as it related to our beloved Victor Cruz.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, what he has delivered to the Giants organization and to his community, and I see the amazing on and off field potential he brings. But we had a guy named Tiki once who had a similar on and off field potential to go as far as he could imagine.  We also had a guy named Mike (Strahan) who also fit this mold.  Tiki made certain choices.  Mike made others.  We know that one of them continues to fly as high as the moon – and hopefully next year into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The other is trying desperately to pull himself back up.  My point here?  While Victor Cruz clearly has all the qualities that can make him a star during his football career and afterward, I am concerned he may be showing a few chinks in the shiny armor.

By the way, my intent is not to single out Victor Cruz here.  Again – huge potential on and off the field. There are other players who I believe contributed more to the lack of unity we saw in the 2012 team.  But since Cruz is such a topic of conversation, I can’t help but focus on him.  I do believe he continues to make mostly solid choices in his public communication – it’s really the media that translates things in such a way that makes us question his intentions.  Believe me, there are players in recent history that I can single out as having made some very poor and public communication choices – Victor isn’t really one of them.  I do, however, believe that some of the extracurricular activity that has come along with Victor’s success and celebrity, has gotten in the way of team focus – and that needs to be more in check. 

I think as OTAs begin, it’s so important to Victor to be with his team at the Timex, demonstrating leadership and knowledge to the newbies, and working with Eli and all of the other players to make sure we’re ready to go into camp as one unified front (working to become one Giants personality, not many individual personalities as we enter the season).  Lets not forget – he could also use the work to make sure the dropped balls of last year as a thing of the past.  He could stand to practice with Hakeem back in full gear, and the other WRs, so that opposing teams are challenged figure out who to double cover.  He could contribute to the defensive backs when they’re practicing how to cover some of the best receivers in the league.  He can contribute to Eli’s practice, to the practice of the new tight ends that will certainly be playing a role in the passing game….

It’s fairly easy to make comparisons to teams that have not found a way to act as one cohesive unit.  Just look at the bottom of the standings.  Were these teams missing key pieces in their communication with one another?  Were individual egos flying high?  Were there breakdowns in the hard-to-measure, interpersonal relationships built in the locker room?  Did the leadership seem to be acting from different playbooks instead of seeing eye to eye?  Was everyone out for their own selves, instead of playing the best possible game for the benefit of the other guy in the huddle?  These are all key questions to ask.  I venture to suggest that with championship teams, the answers to these questions will be ‘no’.  Where the answer is yes – it’s important to take a deep look in the mirror at where shifts can be made, or you may risk becoming the 2012 New York Jets (who I am pretty sure could answer yes to all of the above).

Now I’m not saying team cohesiveness is EVERYTHING.  I am saying it’s one of the hardest to measure, and at the same time ONE of the most important attributes of becoming a championship team.  And it’s not to say it can’t be achieved if a key guy is holding out and then shows up at the last minute – adversity comes and goes and great teams have to figure out how to deal with it.  But why make it harder on everyone else by not being there 100% committed to playing your role? 

So Victor, it seems to me you have not only a significant amount of money being offered by the Giants organization, but you are YOU.  And playing in New York, the most visible city in the world, if you keep being the YOU we have seen, and you show up 100% committed to the team’s success, there is no question in my mind that many more dollars, above and beyond what your player contract says, will come – through sponsorships and auxiliary business opportunities.  And if you’re there, ALL IN, and helping to build that cohesive unit called THE New York Football Giants, the likelihood of winning another championship is that much higher.  And players like YOU who win championships… well, your opportunity beyond football skyrockets.

Something to think about.

Hope to see Victor Cruz at OTAs.

ALL IN!

Ali  :)

Well, we are finally here – draft day 2013!  While I’ve been a little on the busy side in the job that pays my mortgage, I’m super excited!  But I have to say I am also going a little bit nuts.  First of all, this morning I received a lovely email from my amazing Dad.  He mentioned that the guys in his building were really hoping I would post my pre-draft thoughts about the Giants potential picks.  I’ve definitely been mulling this over, going back and forth, reading, studying, listening to too much media commentary…  Here’s the problem: I am having a very hard time drawing a hard line in the sand and saying THIS IS THE GUY!

And a couple things continue to taint my thinking:

While a MLB is certainly a need, and Alec Ogletree and Manti Te’o are on the board as top player options, I am not so sure I am convinced with the off-field issues (and for totally different reasons on either of them).  I still stand firm in saying that after his DUI charge, I did NOT like the interview Ogletree did with Pat Kirwan at the NFL Combine.  It was juvenile, and it was irresponsible.  He did not come off as gracious or team-oriented.  So while I am totally willing to put an off the field incident in the background and move forward, I hesitate with this one. 

As far as Manti Te’o, I do think there is just so much paralysis by analysis on the fake girlfriend incident.  I doubt that Sigmund Freud could unravel it, so I am done being the judge of this kid’s life.  But being in New York, with the media as crazy as it can be, is that really the place for Manti to be able to stay focused?  Eli Manning, yes.  Manti?  I’m not so sure.  Is that a risk the Giants should take?  I am not (yet) convinced.

And by the way, speaking of interviews I did not like pre-draft, in 2009 I heard an NFL Radio interview with a certain player who was about to come out in the draft.  I was listening to WRs carefully that year because we needed them badly.  And while I don’t want to put this interview anywhere near the same category of the one I heard with Ogletree (because I wouldn’t want to offend this player), I just was not on board with what I heard in the interview – and I was pretty opinionated about it in the chat rooms.  I am willing to say that my first impression can be wrong (sometimes), because that player turned out to be one of my very favorite Giants: #88, Hakeem Nicks.  Team player?  Yes.  Hard worker?  Yes.  Focused on doing what it takes?  Absolutely.  Killer smile?  That too. :)

Meanwhile, I have mostly talked myself into the fact that I want a 1^st Round Offensive Lineman. We have very little true starter depth there.  With the strength at this position coming out, will some of the key guys like Warmack, Cooper, and Fluker still be around by 19?  Could we get a Kyle Long in Round 2, because I would definitely be very happy with that bloodline to join the ranks of the men in blue (maybe Howie will start to pick the Giants with Stray more often).  Hey, I am happy with any of those 4.

Defensive End and Defensive Tackle are question marks for us.  We had a statistically poor performance year in 2012.  And I will also say we had a mentally poor 2012.  Historically, we picked Michael Strahan 1^st in the 1993 draft (albeit 2^nd round), Kiwi in 2006 (DE and OLB), and JPP at 2010 (not such a great year last year).  But Giants greats, no question. We lost Osi during free agency (but don’t get me started on that topic  because I am not happy with his comments after signing with the Falcons). 

So one could make a case for picking a DE in the 1^st round if some of the best are available, and a case for waiting until a later round and getting a solid value player who we can make great.  I like it best when we have the quickness to get to the QB, and when we can give more options so that JPP and Tuck can also be at their strongest without too many guys covering them.  If Ziggy Ansah (DE) is available for some reason, he’ll be best available, and I’d definitely go that route.  It probably won’t happen.  I also like Bjoern Werner (DE) a lot.  He’s quick, and seems to have great potential.  We also like German guys.  Some good options there.  But remember: we do have Ojomo wating in the wings at DE, who didn’t get to play last year after being a beast in pre-season, and we also have Kiwi, who could move back to DE.

Then there is DB/CB.  This has recently been injury centrale for the Giants, so a lot of risk at that position as far as the current team looks, even post Free Agency.  CB is the biggest concern since Corey, Ross and T2, while we would love to see them all succeed again, they are question marks after injury and age.  I love Xavier Rhodes (CB).  This kid has good size, and he knocked my socks off on his Sirius NFL Radio interview.  If he is available and Ansah, Fluker and Werner are not, I would be thrilled to have this guy on the Giants.  When it comes to the GMen, I look for a well-rounded, team-oriented, hard-working player.  I also like Desmond Trufant at CB.  He’s quick, a risk-taker, and I liked what I saw at the Combine.

So where are we on this 1^st Round prospect list Alison has for the Giants:

Cooper

Fluker

Ansah

Werner

Rhodes

Trufant

Long (2^nd round hopeful)

Ogletree

Te’o

Warmack

The fact is?  I have no idea how this is going to go, but I’d be pretty happy with the OL, DE, CB choices I have here.  So many crazy things happen on draft day - I wish I could sit down with Pat Kirwan or Gil Brandt and learn how to effectively build a mock draft list!

And if Jerry decides to go with an LB – hey, maybe he just turns out to be as good as one of the last 2 LBs we selected in the 1^st round: Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks!  In Reese We Trust, right?

But knowing Jerry, (known to successfully go out on a limb with talented guys who have made some off-field mistakes), he has something up his sleeve and could totally surprise us with a Honey Badger. ;-)

We will soon see!

Happy NFL Draft everyone!  Can’t wait!

Ali  

I know, I know - I’ve been missing from here lately.  You’ll have to excuse me as my other life (the one I get paid for) has taken a bit of a priority of late.  But I have hardly been absent from the news, and there have been oh SOOOO many topics during this Free Agency period that I have wanted to discuss with anyone who will listen (or take me off hold - and inside joke:).  For now, I just want to make a short comment on a very popular topic: Victor Cruz, or… this man:

First, Who is the absolutely winner of Free Agency?  No question in my mind: Tom Condon!  Talk about messy situations that ultimately landed him 2, new stellar clients in Victor Cruz (bank for someone like Condon who reps majors Peyton and Eli, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Romo, Matt Stafford and many more), and Elvis Dumervil.  Bravo sir.

And the smart agent (and player) comes out ahead.  Instead of going for the half of a salary the Broncos were planning to offer before the fax machine debacle with the old agent; Condon managed to help Dumervil land a $35M ($12 guaranteed), 5-yr deal with the SuperBowl champion Ravens.

And so that brings me to my comments on Victor.  Of course, as a Giants fan I want Victor back in 80, and in blue.  And I certainly think he will be.  But for those who wonder why he isn’t immediately signing the dotted line on the $7M per year apparent offer from the Giants, I say - why should he?  If he is being a smart businessman, and certainly he is NOW being coached on the business side by a smart businessman in Condon (not so sure about the tactics of his previous 2-tier agent), why would he sign so far away from the RFA deadline date of April 17th?

If I have this correct, it seems to me that signing now would just be leaving potential money on the table for Cruz.  If he waits until we get much closer to April 17th, at least he is still available for any better offer that might still come (the likelihood is slim, but still, the option is there), and then the Giants will have 5 days to counter the offer.  If he signs today, that door is closed.

As we have all seen throughout this Free Agency period - it’s a business, a virtual game of chess or poker played by GMs who have a certain number of moves (amount of cap space) they can work with.  I would say the entire Victor Cruz story (after the Tom Condon signing), has been a masterful game played by both sides.

In the end, I am pretty sure he will remain a Giant, but they’ll play until the last hand is drawn.

All In.

~Ali

And on that last note (something about a woman’s intuition - see previous blog entry), I remember when Will Beatty was getting ready for draft day coming out of UConn.  I first heard him in an interview on Sirius NFL Radio, and he was speaking to the hosts about his diet and focused preparation for the upcoming 2009 NFL Draft, as he headed to Las Vegas for some family event, I believe…

He wasn’t full of himself.  He was humble.  He was focused on his family, and those who were close to him.  I don’t recall all of the details, but he was talking about this diet that was so new to him, to help him get to whatever weight he needed to be, in order to be at his best.  Seemed to me he was doing what it took to be the best he could be… to be as prepared as he could be for whoever might take him.

So when they called his name in the 2nd Round in 2009, I was thrilled that he would be a New York Giant.  It’s this type of well-rounded player on and off the field who fits the mold when he wears BIG BLUE on his back!

Coming off injury, he quietly rose to the occasion in 2012 to be our most important focus in Free Agency.  I mean - why would protecting Eli Manning not be more important than anything else?  It seems like some people think differently, but I’m thinking protecting #10 is a pretty big deal for the Giants.

Today, I was thrilled to see Will Beatty signed to a monstrous to a five-year deal apparently worth (according to NFL.com) ‘as much as $38.75 million overall, according to a person who has seen the deal. Beatty will earn up to $19 million guaranteed.’ 

Allow me to gloat for a minute.  Since the moment Andy Reid got hired as the new Head Coach, I have had a strong feeling that Alex Smith would be traded to the Chiefs.  Some very wise men tried to convince me otherwise, but what can I say, a woman’s instinct is a valuable commodity.  Today, the 49ers and the Chiefs agreed to the trade - which will be final on March 12th when Free Agency officially begins.

Going with my gut seems to pan out, so stick with me.  Many congratulations to Alex Smith.  Still in red, this time I hope he gets the opportunity and the credit he deserves after so many years. 

Last week there was so much fuss over some innocent, off-the-cuff comments by Terrell Thomas, surrounding Coach Coughlin’s ‘impending’ retirement.  I mean seriously folks!  Can you say BLOWN WAY OUT OF PROPORTION?

Let’s just put this to bed:

“I approach each year the way I’ve always approached it,” Coughlin said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I mean, the energy’s flowing good, I’m excited about it, and looking forward to this offseason, getting our football team together again. Maybe at some point I’ll get the message, but it certainly isn’t right now.” (source: NFL.com)

A short note to underscore the importance of yesterday’s championship game outcomes with the Niners and the Ravens heading to Super Bowl XLVII:

First, I will have you know that I picked both teams that played yesterday to make it.  And thank goodness for that! 

Ya see, IF the Patriots had won yesterday, it would have made my Super Bowl weekend very difficult, because I have already rationalized that if the Patriots were in it, they would HAVE HAD TO WIN!!!  It was the ONLY possible choice for me.  Because you see, IF the Pats had made it to Super Bowl XLVII, regardless of the other team playing, if the Pats had lost the game, I couldn’t say, “Ya see? The Giants are STILL the ONLY team who can beat the Pats in the Super Bowl!” “We are STILL the ONLY team that has their number!”

And with the Niners heading to the Super Bowl, and living in the Bay Area with half my household, my family and friends being hardcore Niners fans, I HAVE to root for the Niners (and frankly, when it doesn’t effect the Giants, I quite like the Niners).

So if the Pats had made it, I would have had some serious problems… 

…mental problems.

Congratulations to the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens for a great year, and for making it to the BIG GAME: Super Bowl XLVII!

More soon,

Ali

PS: I would like to thank the San Francisco 49ers, who yesterday made me unpack the heart rate monitor I had put away after the Giants decided it wasn’t going to be their year.  I thought I was done having heart attacks for the season.  Thanks Niners for making like Giants and representing!

Also find me on Twitter @aliconig

This is definitely the kind of weekend ya gotta love in playoff football.  It was the kind of weekend that you hope for as a fan – even if your team, like mine, has already been eliminated.  Unlike last weekend’s Wildcard week, from which my only stand-out memory is RGIII wincing, this one saw at least 6 teams playing til the very last second, and then some (well, with one, BIG, 31-second exception).  This weekend had every fan at the edge of their seats, and it showed us what the playoffs are all about: the best teams still standing, playing for their life.  (For the sake of this blog entry, I am just going to ignore that bore that was the last game.  Sorry Texans – many props to what you accomplished this year.  I wish you had been able to turn things around today.)

And with that, here are a few things we know for sure after this divisional round:

The NFC WILL be wearing RED to the Super Bowl.That’s just a fact.

Old guys definitely still got it!Tony Gonzalez, and Matt Bryant stepped up for the Falcons when they needed to most; and Ray Lewis brought his special brand of fire to the Ravens defense to help carry his team over the top in a game everyone thought would be his very last.

Colin Kaepernick is here to stay (and he’s a bad a—).  Okay, I still feel for Alex Smith. Allow me to remind everyone that he did have top QB stats when Kaepernick replaced him as the starter for the 49ers after sustaining a concussion in Week 10.  But after yesterday’s convincing and record-breaking win over the Green Bay Packers, Kaepernick not only convinced me, but he showed the rest of the US, and many fans worldwide, that he is not to be taken lightly (well, most of the US, because I have one Giants fan friend who insists on dissing the guy because he celebrates after a score, because perhaps the salsa, the rhino and the backflip don’t count).

Peyton Manning is just a star.  In the first half of the game, to see the command he has of his offense, and the connection he shares with his receivers – on his twilight team – is just awe inspiring.  And the class he showed after such a huge loss as he stayed to congratulate Ray Lewis in his retirement run, is exactly why his legacy in the NFL will be so much more than the number of Super Bowls he wins.  Archie and Olivia have got to be just so proud of their kids.

By the way, who doesn’t agree that both Ray Lewis and Tony Gonzalez will both be giving speeches in the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame Ceremony?

You almost have to believe that Torrey Smith’s little brother is kind of a 12^th man on the field.  I mean, talk about impressive and inspired play - in only his sophomore NFL year, since that awful weekend in September when he carried the Raven’s to their win over the Patriots - Torrey Smith has an angel by his side.

Eating Vegan is NOT only for wimps and crunchy people!  Tony Gonzalez was first introduced to Veganism when he sat next to someone on an airplane who told him about The China Study.  “The China Study reviews a decades-long science experiment done on the people of China who eat very few, if any, animal products. What the scientists found is that people who eat the fewest animal products are the most protected against serious illnesses, and conversely, people who eat the most animal products are most likely to develop degenerative diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and numerous other illnesses.”*  It’s a very powerful, eye-opening study, and definitely a great value to anyone eating the unhealthy, traditional American diet.  I happen to be a huge believer in a diet that’s primarily plant-based.  Wanna be more like Tony?  Try his book: The All-Pro Diet: Lose Fat, Build Muscle, and Live Like a Champion

*On Tony Gonzalez and The China Study: http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/tony-gonzalez-vegan.html

And last but not least… 

The Patriots ‘are who we thought there were’: a pain in the a—.I know, I know – I sound bitter.  I mean, ya kinda put a damper on the end of a great football weekend.  It’s boring already!  I beg of Miami, the Jets, and the Bills – give these people some competition!!!  And MY team still has their number!  But unfortunately my team isn’t in it this year.  And as we saw so many new people rooting for the Giants in the Super Bowl last year, I can guarantee that 96.8% (that is the same as 31/32) of fans in the US will be rooting for the Ravens next week.

Okay, that’s it for now.  More soon!  Until then, enjoy your week.

ALL IN!

Ali

Also follow me on Twitter @aliconig