Manning vs. Barber Round II

So in case you haven’t heard, Tiki Barber former RB for the NY Giants and current NBC analyst openly criticized his former QB Eli Manning during Sunday’s game.  The Giants all-time leading rusher stated that it was “comical” the way that Manning tried to lead offensive meetings.

Barber also questioned whether or not Manning could be a leader and make the important plays when things weren’t going well. “His personality hasn’t been so that he can step up, make a strong statement and have people believe that it’s coming from his heart,” Barber said on the show.

Barber then told the story about Manning being uncomfortable talking to the offense in Week 12.

“He didn’t feel like his voice was going to be strong enough and it showed,” Barber said. “Sometimes it was almost comical the way that he would say things.”

 Well today Eli Manning fired back. For me it was the first time I really hear Eli get fired up about anything. He’s always been the “quiet brother” and Peyton has been the more vocal.

Eli’s statments were as follows:

“I guess I’m just happy for Tiki that he’s making a smooth transition into the TV world,” Manning said. “You know, I’ll be interested to see if he has anything to say (about a team) besides the Giants, and what his comments will be on that.”

“It’s just one of those deals. I’m not going to lose any sleep about what Tiki has to say,” Manning said. “I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year with calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season, and he’s lost the heart (to play).

“As a quarterback you’re reading that your running back has lost the heart to play the game and it’s about the 10th week,” Manning said. “I can see that a little bit at times. But I’m not going to get concerned. I’m going to go out there and play ball.”

Barber’s comments have apparently come as  a surprise for his friends and former teammates and many came to Mannings defense.

Head Coach Tom Coughlin had nothing to say in regards to Barber’s comments other than the fact he was happy that Manning defended himself.

“Well, he thought about what he was going to do, and he decided he would say exactly what he felt,” Coughlin said. “More power to him.”

I have to say I find this whole situation a little bizarre and for numerous reasons it reminds me of something you might see in high school. On one hand I think it’s great that Eli Manning stood up for himself and that it was unprofessional of Tiki Barber to call out a former teammate on national TV.

On the other hand, it might have served Eli better to just not say anything, let Tiki’s comments roll off your back and keep doing your job. Sure people are probably pressing him to respond but sometimes you might just need to leave well enough alone.

In other Manning news, this is the current commerical featuring the Manning’s including this bloggers favorite, dad, Archie. Clearly the Manning family has a great sense of humor, or maybe it’s just good script/ad writing. 

Manning NFL Ticket commercial

Being A Georgia Bulldog

Growing up a Georgia Bulldog hasn’t always been easy. But when you’re the daughter of not only two UGA alums but one also being a former linebacker on the 1968 SEC Championship team loving the Dawgs is just in your blood. 

During my grade school days I was relentlessly teased by my Tennessee Volunteer loving classmates. My one ally was a South Carolina Gamecock. The Ray Goff years from 1989-1995 were pretty bleak with the 1991 and 1992 seasons being the brightest. The Jim “Donnan of a New Era” wasn’t much better. Sure the Dawgs were over .500 every season but his first but the amount of talent he squandered is just painful to remember.

Then came Georgia’s current coach Mark Richt. A good man and a successful coach. I hesitate to use the word “good” because there has been a lot of talk about just how “good” he actually is. While Richt hasn’t experienced one losing season since coming to Athens there have been moments when Georgia fans have questioned his decision making and at times very predictable playcalling. Additionally, it seems every year there are a slew of players who are forced to miss the first several games due to stupid and usually alcohol related mistakes which while I’m sure it’s always happened it has seemed to have increased (or at least the Athens-Clarke County cops have gotten tougher).

In Richt’s tenure Georgia has been to the SEC title game three times and has been crowned the SEC champion twice. He’s led the Dawgs to a 4-2 bowl record, including wins in the Sugar Bowl, the Capital One Bowl, and the Outback Bowl.

Mother of Jason Witten involved in Bank Fraud

So while sitting on the couch getting ready to watch Jeopardy with my husband the local news flashed on and since I hardly ever listen to the news all I heard was Jason Witten, bank fraud over $1000, at 11p.m.

After exchanging a blank/confused look with my husband, who went to high school with Witten, I frantically googled to see if I could find the story. Apparently this hasn’t hit the AP wire just yet and nothing was available but I was able to find this brief blurb on the website of one of our other local news stations.

I have to say I’m rather surprised that a woman who has a son in the NFL and another who was just named the head coach of a local high school football team would commit bank fraud after falling on hard tiems financially. While I have never met Jason or Shawn Witten I’ve heard from numerous people locally that they are good and kind kids. Why would a parent not turn to one child who is worth millions for financial assistance. The money she has admitted to taking only ads up to $5500.

I will post any further news that pops up about this.

Pacman will never learn

Once bitten twice shy?  Not in this case.  Once again, Pacman Jones has caused a scene at a strip club in Atlanta.  Showering the runway with dollar bills and causing another shooting, why can’t he just have the strippers come to his house?  Bring your buddies over and have an entire entourage of strippers and coke heads get naked for you, and if you get into a brawl at least you’ll bust up your own place.

The following article points out why he should be banned from the NFL, in case you haven’t been following the story.  This is one ‘player’ that needs to be removed from the lineup.

Yahoo Sports Article