New York Post reporter Paul Schwartz all but begged Giants WR Plaxico Burress to make a prediction in the game.

Plex responded with “23-17.” Schwartz even notes that Burress didn’t declare a winning team, but wrote that “he didn’t have to” pick a team; he was predicting a Giants win.

I’m sure it will be pointed out by Patriots and national media alike, Burress used to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, home of the notorious Anthony Smith, who said he guaranteed a Steelers win over the Pats earlier this season, “if (the Steelers) defense plays the way it can.” It didn’t, and the Patriots won big.

Burress didn’t even add the disclaimer. Flat-out, a one touchdown win by the two touchdown dogs.

Gutsy. But hey, perhaps it puts some intrigue on the game. In Plex’s heart of hearts, he knows Bill Belichick with two weeks to prepare is a formidable opponent for Giants coach Tom Coughlin.

Namath wasn’t enough of a quarterback to beat Unitas, either.

It’s probably the only time a fullback will get significant face time.

Giants FB Madison Hedgecock is taking full advantage.

Despite missing practice with illness (like three other Giants, Michael Johnson and Manny Wright), Hedgecock took the time to point out Rams coach Scott Linehan is a His Guy coach. Hedgecock claims that was the primary reason why the former Vikings (and Dolphins) and Louisville offensive coordinator went with H-back Richard Owens (“from….Louisville”) over Hedgecock - who was cut after Week 1 of the 2007 season. Owens played for Linehan at Louisville and in Minnesota. The Giants signed Hedgecock to a five-year contract during the 2007 season.

“They could have at least brought in somebody that was good to replace me,” Hedgecock said. “They brought in a guy that didn’t dress (for games). And he was the coach’s buddy. I don’t need that stuff. I don’t want to play for a buddy. I want to play for somebody that wants to win.”

Ouch!

It got better, though. Hedgecock continued to vent, laying into Linehan’s lack of ability to provide goose bumps in pre-game speeches.

“He’s pretty boring in my book,” Hedgecock said. “I think his players would fall asleep before a game. I can’t even be nice about it any more.”
 

Frankly, it was nice to see the Giants players going after someone other than the Patriots. Defense end Osi Umenyiora seems to be excited to face Patriots LT Matt Light again.

“It was a good matchup the last time. I mean, I think I got him a couple of times; he also got me a couple of times,” Umenyiora said. “It was a war out there, and to be honest with you, I’m not quite sure that he thought he was going to see me again because of some of the things he did and said during that game. But, you know, unfortunately he does have to see me again.”

We’re still not sure if he’s confusing Light with Eagles T Winston Justice, on whom Umenyiora hung six sacks earlier this season (and once in the parking lot), but just like most defensive ends this season, Umenyiora failed to register a sack against the Patriots in their Week 17 match-up.

BREAKING NEWS: Jeremy Shockey seen with a cast on his leg

In case anyone was wondering, yes, that was Giants TE Jeremy Shockey walking around in a cast and crutches. Unlike Patriots QB Tom Brady, Shockey missing practice isn’t the subject of doubt this week. He broke his leg earlier this season.

He does tell everyone, in a rather excellent interview with New York Post writer Steve Serby, not to be surprised if the Giants defeat the heavily favored Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Shockey would know. He’s had a front-row seat in watching the Giants’ dramatic turnaround down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs.

Weis is newsworthy, somehow

Post writer Lenn Robbins talked to Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, a former offensive coordinator for the Patriots, and Giants assistant a long time ago, about his thoughts on the game.

The only interesting piece Robbins really came up with is his guess that Weis was the Patriots offensive coordinator when the Steelers beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

Weis was the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, but New England’s bid for a threepeat came up short. So Weis was reduced to, as his mentor Bill Parcells would say, the status of just another guy.

He wasn’t. He left the Patriots for Notre Dame after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII (February of 2005). Super Bowl XL was Feb. 5, 2006.

Well, maybe this is interesting.

“As a coach, watching a football game [in person] is not a fun thing to do,” Weis told The Post. “I don’t think that I’ll ever go to a Super Bowl again.”

If Weis didn’t get fired after the Irish’s deplorable 2007 campaign, then yes, it doesn’t seem he’s going anywhere for a while.

Segue to Spagnuolo

It does provide a great segue to Ryan’s post on Giants Bits about the future of Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Weis said in his autobiography that he basically had the Bills vacant head coaching job offered to him after the 2003 season, but since the Patriots advanced to XXXVIII, Buffalo didn’t want to wait two more weeks to hire their head coach. Instead, they hired Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. He quit after two seasons in Buffalo.

Incidentally, Mularkey was just hired as Mike Smith’s offensive coordinator in Atlanta. Not really sure why.

Anyway…Spagnuolo definitely would have drawn interest as a head coaching candidate - and still could be - but the fact the Giants don’t finish their season until Feb. 3, some teams are shy about waiting that long, just like the Bills did with Weis. By and large, the decision not to wait for Weis was Buffalo’s mistake, so it stands to reason a team would pay attention to that, and if they really want Spagnuolo, they would wait another eight days.

Reports now are saying Raiders owner Al Davis wants head coach Lane Kiffin to quit, and even went as far as to write the resignation letter for him. Seems a bit drastic. But then again, Davis is like 96 years old, maybe he doesn’t have much else to do.

The ESPN report says Davis is considering Denny Green to replace Kiffin, if/when he does quit/get the ax, but Spagnuolo would draw some interest, especially considering Al Davis seems to think Denny Green is their best option.

Hailed as a queen in and around St. Louis, and hated in Southern California, Georgia Frontieri was, to say the least, well-known in the sporting world. She passed away early Friday, succumbing to the battle with breast cancer she had been fighting for several months.

Her philanthropic efforts in and around her native St. Louis were inspiring. Her legacy, though, is that she moved the Rams - based in Los Angeles, she moved the team to Anaheim in 1980, then to St. Louis in 1995 in her tenure - out of California, and into baseball-mad St. Louis.

She rewarded St. Louis with a Super Bowl championship in 1999, and a Super Bowl appearance in 2001.

Frontieri is survived by two children - daughter Lucia Rodriguez and son Chip Rosenbloom - six grandchildren, and Earle Weatherwax, her companion of the last 19 years. Her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, owned the Rams until his death in 1979.

NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell wrote this in a statement released Friday:

“Georgia Frontiere was the first lady of sports in her native St. Louis…Her philanthropic work was legendary and wide ranging, but her special focus was retired NFL players and the arts. She was a talented and wonderful person.”

John Shaw, President of the Rams, said this in his statement:

“It’s been my privilege for twenty-eight years to work for a loyal, generous, and supportive owner who was totally committed to her football team.  This is an enormous loss for me and for the Rams’ organization. All of our prayers and sympathy go out to her family.”

Member of “Steel Curtain” dies in car accident (posted from Die Hard Steel)

Ernie Holmes, a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers famed “Steel Curtain” defense in the 1970s, died Friday in a car accident outside Beaumont, Texas. He was 59 years old.

Holmes (nicknamed “Fats”) played alongside Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene at the defensive tackle position, and L.C. Greenwood and Dwight White, the ends. With Holmes, the Steelers won two of their four Super Bowls during the decade, was a two-time All-Pro lineman, known for his unpredictable behavior, and this somewhat humorous story (depending on your perspective).

Holmes is a paramount example of how the Steelers, much like what the Patriots are doing today, and the Cowboys were able to do in the 1990s, drafted nearly flawlessly. He was an 8th round selection out of Texas Southern in 1971.

In fact, the Steelers fleeced the state of Texas for the bulk of their talent on defense, all from small Texas schools. White attended Texas A&M University-Commerce and Greene went to North Texas State University. Holmes went to Texas Southern University.

Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun is reporting the Ravens will hire Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh to replace Brian Billick as the team’s head coach.

Hensley writes the team will announce Harbaugh at a noon press conference tomorrow.

Harbaugh was the Ravens second choice, behind Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who turned down their offer in favor of Dallas’s offer to remain in his current role.

Stephen at Ravens TD stopped at a McDonalds in Nowhere, Ill., to get a WiFi connection so he could write about it.

The former Miami University defensive back, until his hire, was known as a fast-rising assistant. Harbaugh has had more than his fair share of interest over the past two seasons. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at UCLA, which, incidentally went to Rick Neuheisel, who was Baltimore’s offensive coordinator in 2007, and their quarterbacks coach in 2006. Hensley writes:

Although Harbaugh might not have the typical credentials of some other head coaching candidates, he has been on the radar of several NFL teams. One high-ranking Ravens official predicted last year that Harbaugh would be an excellent head coach if a team took a chance on him.

Harbaugh will become the third head coach in Baltimore Ravens history, behind Ted Marchibroda and Billick - who was fired after the Ravens’ 5-11 season in 2007.

Harbaugh, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (former Vikings defensive coordinator), Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (former Ravens defensive coordinator) and Browns coach Romeo Crennel (former Patriots defensive coordinator) rounds out the AFC North’s head coaches, all of whom have a defensive background.

Harbaugh is the only one without a Super Bowl ring, however. Tomlin was the secondary coach in Tampa Bay when they won the Super Bowl in 2003. Crennel won three titles with New England, and Lewis was Billick’s defensive coordinator in 2000 when the Ravens last won it all.

Harbaugh rose through the coaching ranks fast enough to be able to skip the traditional ascent. While most NFL coaches have at least a season as a coordinator, Harbaugh was the Eagles’ special teams coach for nine seasons, before being named the secondary coach just this past season.

He is the brother of former NFL QB Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at Stanford.

It was 21 degrees when the Packers last beat the Giants in Green Bay in the playoffs. That was in the NFL Championship game Dec. 31, 1961, with the Packers routing the Giants 37-0.

The Packers also defeated the Giants in the same game the following season in New York. Temperatures were said to be around 12 degrees, and with 40 mph winds, the Packers again prevailed, 16-7.

Sunday, in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field, it will be colder. The forecast in Green Bay for Sunday shows a high of 11 degrees, Perhaps the coldest playoff game the Frozen Tundra has seen since the infamous Ice Bowl in 1967.

Is it a coincidence the Packers won that game as well? It’s worth mentioning, with all the mystique surrounding Green Bay in January, the Giants are 9-1 on the road this season, winning both their playoff games to get to this point away from the Meadowlands.

The Steelers won all three of their conference playoff games on the road en route to the Super Bowl championship in 2006.

Granted, Pittsburgh didn’t have to play in arctic conditions. In typical midwestern fashion, the predicted temperature gets colder the more the weather is discussed. Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Gazette says the National Weather Service calls for a high of seven degrees, and Packers Chairman Bob Harlan said it would be six degrees. Either way, Tampa Bay and Dallas, the Giants last two opponents, carried with them tropical paradise compared to what Sunday will have in Wisconsin.

It should come as absolutely no surprise that Neal Coolong, the Sports Cartel’s resident Steelers expert, is going to live blog the Steelers/Eagles game this evening on Die Hard Steel.

The game is on NBC in glorious High Definition. Telestration never looked so good!

You may remember Neal’s last preseason live blog - the Hall of Fame game on August 5th. Believe it or not, he actually made it through the entire thing, from opening kick to final snap. He has quite the stamina to make it through the games that feature players who won’t make the first cuts.

Join him tonight, keep refreshing, and enjoy. Nobody does preseason games quite like Neal!

Neal Coolong from Die Hard Steel, our Pittsburgh Steelers blog, is set to live blog tonight’s Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New Orleans Saints at 8pm EST on the NFL Network.

Make sure you check often - and don’t forget to refresh your browser. Neal will keep you in the loop from the first pre-season snap to pre-season injury.

You can also follow the action in the Sports Lounge Forums.

Aaaaah, football. The sport of the Gods!

Today’s featured blog is Bucs Blog, our Pittsburgh Pirates blog.  Josh Taylor breaks down the Buccos as they sail through the rest of the regular season, looking to ravage booty along the way (okay, so maybe not).

He weighs in on Jason Bay and Ian Snell:

Well, I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.  The good news is: Jason Bay has started to show signs of life after a much-needed breakout performance.  The bad news: Ian Snell dropped his third game in a row and gave up six earned runs — including a home run for the fifth start in a row and the eighth in that span — in an 8-4 loss to the Mets last night at Shea Stadium.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love Ian Snell, and I think he’s a talented pitcher with tremendous upside.  He’s done some things I’ve never seen a young pitcher do when taking the mound as far as his tenacity and his bulldog mentality.  However, recently he’s done things you see young pitchers do during their first call-up.  Snell said after the game, “I’m starting to break. I’m getting stressed out. I don’t know about these other guys, but I just want to win. I don’t want to be called a loser. Man, even my family calls our team losers, and I don’t want anyone to say that about our team.”

If you’re looking for great insight about the Pirates, look no further than the Bucs Blog!