Big Blue Domination

We have exceeded unchartered waters with the New York "football" Giants. At the moment, most Big Blue fans are in state of complete shock and amazement at the season the team is having the year after unexpectedly winning the Super Bowl.

If you took a trip down memory lane, you could start after week two last season when the Giants defense had given up 80 points to the Cowboys and Packers, and resorted to avoiding the media's questions by blowing air horns in the locker room. This stunt was meant to deflect criticism of the team's awful defensive performance in its first two-games, and midway through Week 3, with the team trailing 17-3 against the Redskins, most Giants fans were resigned to the thought of a season without a first-round playoff loss, a mid-season firing of coach Tom Coughlin and the dream of benching our quarterback Eli Manning. Most fans were ready to quit on defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and could not wait for the season to end. But than a funny thing happened to this team. They started playing with an "Us against the World," mentality and went on to beat the Skins in that game with the famous defensive stop of Gibbs' Skins on the one-yard line for four straight plays.

Since that emotional victory, the Giants have gone 24-5 which includes their playoff victories last season, and their "loss" to the Patriots in week 17 of last season. They are doing what the last two unexpected Super Bowl Winners could not do; repeat. The 2001 New England Patriots were the unexpected AFC representative in the 2001 Super Bowl in Tom Brady's first full season. We all know the magic they displayed against the greatest show on turf and Vinatieri's kick could have propelled them the next season to greater heights, but instead they crashed back to earth (albeit for just one season) going 9-7.

The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers were led to the Super Bowl with a superb running attack, stellar defensive play and the mistake-free execution of rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They went on the road and defeated the 3,2,and 1 seed in the AFC (all on the road) before dismantling the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. Most figured Big Ben would be able to replicate the success they had in the playoffs with the core nucleus returning the next year. What transpired, though, was an 8-8 season with no playoff berth for Cowher's crew.

Why bring these two teams up as examples? They personify the difficulty level of repeating the next season the way the Giants have at the moment. Only twice in the past 18 years have teams posted a record of at least 10-1 the season after a Super Bowl Victory. The 2004-05 New England Patriots and the 1998-99 Denver Broncos, both of whom went on to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

Not much is certain in today's NFL, and parody runs amuck week in and week out, but ths year one thing has remaine constant: Even with the losses of Strahan, Umenyiora, Wilson and Mitchell on the defensive side of the football, the Giants as a unit have had the depth and consistency to withstand these losses and are in a position to do what has been done just seven times prior; Repeat as NFL Super Bowl Champions.

Half Jewish Sports episode 10

We regret to inform you loyal listeners that our show today will not start until 4:30 today due to Production maintenance taking place at the station.

We will though spend the majority of the afternoon previewing the GW Basketball season, giving our final predictions and discussing the baseball hot-stove, the upcoming NFL week and finally some discussion of the NBA which we have not done yet this year.

We will be hearing from Steve "Herve" Hadley at 5:40 to give his final take on both the Men's and women's season as well as all other things GW basketball.

Please tune in at the SPECIAL TIME: 4:30 p.m. for a shortened version of Half Jewish Sports at gwradio.com

Yankees Offseason Plan

Obviously, the Yankees had a down year. Of course, 89 wins is nothing to scoff at. Chien-Ming Wang missed more than half the year, as did Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy (who struggled when they were up anyway). Andy Pettitte pitched the second half of the year with a bad shoulder. A-Rod had a down year and missed a few weeks, Hideki Matsui missed much of the season with a balky knee. Johnny Damon crashed into the outfield wall and missed a few weeks. Brian Bruney missed much of the season. Joba Chamberlain missed a month. Robinson Cano had a terrible season, as did his BFF Melky Cabrera. Let's put it simply; Sidney Ponson, Darrell Rasner, Dan Giese. They started 38 games for this team combined. So with all that said, 89 wins isn't too bad. But missing the playoffs is inexcusable and it's time for this team to retool. With that said, here is my realistic expert plan to fix the team for next year and beyond.

Lineup

LF Johnny Damon

SS Derek Jeter

DH Hideki Matsui

3B Alex Rodriguez

RF Xavier Nady

C Jorge Posada

1B Nick Swisher

2B Robinson Cano

CF Melky Cabrera/Brett Gardner

Bench

Melky Cabrera/Brett Gardner

Jose Molina

Cody Ransom

Nick Punto

Starting Rotation

C.C. Sabathia

Chien-Ming Wang

Derek Lowe

Joba Chamberlain

Andy Pettitte

Relief Pitchers

Mariano Rivera

Brian Bruney

Damaso Marte

Edwar Ramirez

Jose Veras

Jonathan Albaladejo

Dan Giese

Knocking on the Door

Phil Hughes

Phil Coke

Ian Kennedy

Alfredo Aceves

Sergio Mitre

Chase Wright

Kei Igawa

Chris Britton 

David Robertson

J.B. Cox

Mark Melancon

Humberto Sanchez

Steven Jackson

Juan Miranda

Justin Christian

Austin Jackson

Francisco Cervelli

Additions

C.C. Sabathia

Nick Swisher - Trade w/Chicago

Derek Lowe

Nick Punto

Subtractions

Mike Mussina - Retired

Jason Giambi - Oakland

Bobby Abreu - Chicago (NL)

Wilson Betemit - Trade w/Chicago

Ivan Rodriguez - Houston

Carl Pavano - Florida

SIGN SABATHIA!!!!!!!!!!!

With that out of the way, the Yankees will take a gigantic leap forward if they can get C.C.. Give them each 6 years and blow them out of the water with the offers. 6 for 150 for Sabathia. Derek Lowe would also be a nice piece for the next few years. Give him 3 for 48. I am not married to the idea of Lowe if he wants more than that. I am just as willing to plug in one of the young starters we have in AAA. The amount of money they are going to gain from the new stadium and the contracts that they will be rid of this offseason should leave more than enough money for these players. These simple moves must be done in order to create a new dynasty. The core is there. There are very few spots open on the 25 man roster. It's time to return to glory.

P.S. I wrote this 2 1/2 hrs before the Yankees traded for Nick Swisher. Some changes have been made accordingly.

Star Studded Episode 9

In the spirit of the presidential election, all of you will want to vote for Half Jewish Sports tomorrow and tune in as we have a star studded show.

For the first hour tomorrow, we are pleased to join former GW President Steven Joel Trachtenberg for a discussion about his new book "Big Man on Campus," as well as discuss what it was like to preside over the University during the Jarvis era as well as the Hobbs era and what his take is on athletics in college.

We than will be joined for the second hour of the show by GW's Associate Athletic Director Dominic Perno who will discuss the upcoming GW season as well as the schedule, Smith Center renovations and any question we receive from listeners during the second portion of our show.

Please email any questions you have for either guest to jayg33@gmail.com and tune in tomorrow at 4 PM at gwradio.com