NY Giants Recap Week 1-By Dr. Bill Chachkes -Football Reporters Online

NY Giants Recap Week 1-By Dr. Bill Chachkes -Football Reporters Online


The Giants came into yesterday’s opening day match up with several questions still unanswered from this summer’s training camp. By 8pm Sunday night, few of those questions remained open for discussion. Among the three biggest concerns had to be how the corps of talented but youthful receivers would do without at least one veteran on the roster as a stabilizing force. Even though first round draft choice Hakeem Nicks sprained his foot, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, and Tight End Kevin Boss all stepped up and played very well.

There was a reason Coach Tom Coughlin and GM Jerry Reese decided to carry 7 receivers to open the season. Injuries. Nicks’ foot could be worse however, as the x-ray’s were negative. Just how bad the sprain is has yet to be determined. An x-ray can only tell you so much. It could be 2 weeks or 4, as a foot sprain is almost like a bad back, it’s very tricky. One sports medicine expert we speak with who is familiar with lower limb injuries tells us that a severe sprain could sometimes be worse then an actual fractured bone. Now the Giants offense is down to 6 wide outs. The other receiver drafted in 2009, Ramses Barden, was inactive for the game but will most likely now be an active roster move for the next several weeks while Nicks recovers.

The second most important question was how the Giants pass rush would do with the infusion of free agents obtained in the past offseason. We saw that they did just fine up front defensively, putting pressure on Redskins QB Jason Campbell on several long second and third down plays. Osi Umenyiora had a 37yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown, and Justin Tuck, Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard, and the rest of the Giants defense looked like the same unit that has won 22 regular season games over the last two years. The concerns still remain over the secondary however, where there is still work to be done. That being said, Corey Webster’s sideline interception took the “wind out of Washington’s sails” on a key offensive possession.

The final major question was how well Eli Manning deals with the partial turn over in personnel. With the exception of a few skittish moments early in the game’s first half, Manning also looked like the same player who had the fantastic 2007 and most of 2008 seasons. But now, a new set of questions arise like any other Monday morning in the NFL.

Will the Giants continue to have trouble scoring Touchdowns in the “Green” zone? (Something both Coach Coughlin and Eli Manning made note of as needing improvement in the post game press conference). Will Danny Ware’s wrist keep him out of any games? Will Mario Manningham continue to emerge as the big play threat (his 30 yard catch and run touchdown while tight-roping the sideline was a thing of beauty)? Or will Kevin Boss fulfill that role?

While the defense saved the day for NY, there were some shaky moments as we mentioned earlier. Redskins Runningback Clinton Portis seemed to play like a hall of famer at times, running through gaps in the Giants run defense large enough to drive an Abrams tank through. This will need to be corrected at some point if the Giants expect to contend for another trip to the Super Bowl. Overall they played well enough to win and did just that, but they missed out on some scoring chances, leaving at least 14 points on the field, meaning the final score should have been more like 34-17 or 37-17 rather then 23-17.

Next week the Giants will play Dallas on “Sunday Night Football” to open the new Stadium. Dallas beat Tampa Bay 34 21 in Tampa this week, and will pose many more problems then Washington did this week. It won’t be easy for NY to walk away with a victory next week. The fact that Eli Manning was able to spread the football around against the Redskins (Smith 6 catches, Boss, Manningham, and Bradshaw 3 each, Nicks, Jacobs 2 each and Hixon 1) will be the one facet of the Giants offense that the Cowboys have trouble with, and what Coach Coughlin should go after Sunday night.


The other telling stat that signals a problem for the Giants against teams with strong run defenses: Washington held the Giants to just 106 total rushing yards, Plus Danny Ware also left the game with a dislocated elbow and probably won’t play for at least 1-2 weeks. Overall the Giants totaled 351 yards of offense to Washington’s 272, with just 85 of that being on the ground.

JETS IMPRESSIVE IN 24-7 WIN OVER HOUSTON

JETS IMPRESSIVE  IN 24-7 WIN OVER HOUSTON
by TJ Rosenthal for Football Reporters Online

The Jets took the field yesterday in Houston on Sunday ready to prove to naysayers,  that they had a top notch defense, a rookie Quarterback who could handle himself in adverse situations and a receiving corps that could help move the chains. Mission accomplished. The Rex Ryan era was ushered in with rave reviews, as Gang Green played a magnificent complete game that they controlled emotionally from start to finish. Bart Scott punishing lick on Texans QB Matt Schaub on the game's first play from scrimmage set the tone for what was to come all day. A physical complex attack scheme led by Scott , LB David Harris, and NG Kris Jenkins that hit the Texans hard and stopped them behind the line of scrimmage more than I can remember a Jet defense doing.

The Jets led 3-0 after a 24 yard  first quarter Jay Feely field goal.  Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer gave rookie Mark Sanchez modest plays early to allow him to gain a solid footing yet showed off the USC star's versatility by allowing him to roll out of the pocket in both directions. This keeping the Texan defense and star Mario Williams off balance from the onset. In the second, after a Steve Slaton fumble deep in Jet territory thwarted perhaps the Texnas best and only drive of the day, Sanchez struck. Moving them to the Texan 30, he found Chansi Stuckey all alone as a result of a failed Texans blitz, for a 10-0 lead. 

The only danger came when Sanchez threw an ill advised interception while nursing a 17-0 lead with 12 minutes to go in the fourth. Ryan was quoted today as saying that looking back on it , it should've been "ground and pound." Sanchez and the Jets did not perpetuate a typical JEts trait of the past and  wilt though. In fact, they came out aggressively and when Dustin Keller (94 yards) caught a 40 yard pass after lining up as a WR in single coverage against formr Jet Nick Ferguson, a win was on it's way. The deal sealed when Thomas Jones broke free for a 30 yard TD knock out punch.

The Jets SHOULD feel good. They entered the building of a team many project as a playoff contender and beat them physically and mentally. Their rookie QB showed resiliency and a sense of calm after the int. Their coach made true on a promise that the Jet defense would be an attacking one. Jenkins controlled the line of scrimmage all day. Harris and Scott cleaned the rest up. The maligned receiving corps who many feel is without a true number one threat, answered the bell. They were led by dependable Jerricho Cotchery (6-90yds) the speedy Chansi Stucky (4-64yds) and emerging star TE Dustin Keller (4-94yds).  RB Leon Washington (15-60yds) and Thomas Jones (20-107 yds) will continue to be the primary focus of an offense that will try and move it on the ground while shortened field provided by a stifling defense.

Next week, the Jets take on hated rivals the New England Patriots in the home opener. Rex Ryan entered Jet nation in March, by saying that he didn't come here to kiss Bill Belicheck's rings. We already knew that in week 2 the pressure on rookie Sanchez would come from one of the NFL's masterminds. After Sunday, we also now know that the heat will be on Tom Brady as well: Perhaps for the first time since the Jets after Mo Lewis knocked out Drew Bledsoe back in 2001 in Foxboro. Leaving Belicheck with no choice but to go his unknown backup, Brady. First place is already at stake in what is shaping up to be a big game in September.

Jet notes: A review of the 3 keys to the Texan game.

Sanchez vs Texan defense. Sanchez threw for 1TD 1 int, 256 yds and answered the call often on third down with crisp tight accurate throws. Mario Williams ran Sanchez down but didn't make any game changing plays.

Slaton vs Jets front 8. Slaton was held to 17 yards and was stopped behind the line on more than one ocassion forcing Houston into second and third and long. Chris Brown looked better for the Texans. Enough said.

Darrel Revis vs Andre Johnson. Johnson was held to 4 catches and 35 yards. He di not have one deep ball thrown to him bacuae of the Jets pressure on Schaub. Domination. Double teams helped Revis but in all, a major playmaker was held to a whisper.

"We don't want the government to do anything."

That's the mindset of some folks, despite the fact the U.S. Constitution actually calls for government to manage things such as defense, domestic tranquility, etc. In a way, it's interesting - it's utopian:

I don't need anybody regulating the food I buy, I don't need anybody checking the efficacy of the drugs I use, I'm never going to need a fire-fighter or a policeman, I don't need roads and bridges maintained by some big agency, no not me, I'm fine with private "free market" solutions to everything, including education, defense, and immigration.

Call it a little naive, maybe, but... the sound bites seem appealing until you ponder little things such as: who deals with pollution in the streams you fish in, or how a family living in a hut copes with forest fires, hurricanes, or immigration (at least there'd be no more illegal immigrants.)

Read more... and Digg it!

Miley Cyrus, Susan Boyle, Erin Andrews push Zennie62 on YouTube over 8 million views

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Thanks to the popularity of Miley Cyrus, the new buzz around Susan Boyle, and the peerhole video scandal around Erin Andrews, and the outspoken Megan Fox, President Obama, politics, celebrities, Oakland, and the NFL Draft, My YouTube channel Zennie62 is now over 8 million video views (not channel views) at 8,133,111 views as of this writing.

Today we are at between 18,000 and 24,000 views a day and earlier this year we hit over 100,000 views daily.  Even at low end of the current view rate, that's 760 video views an hour each day.  It's not my objective - I am aiming for the 100,000 view mark we were at - but its a sign of progress. 

My channel was established in 2006, (and its not the only one I have as I'm on several more video systems thanks to Tubemogul) but its grown by 6 million views in just the last year, with my video "Susan Boyle: Who is Susan Boyle" gaining over 1 million viewers in its first month of life.  Since then my blunt focus on hollywood and scandal (and tracking Miley Cyrus, Susan Boyle, and Erin Andrews) has paid off: we have several videos of over 100,000 views in the last three months alone. 

Zennie62 from 2006 to 2009

All of this growth is due to a decision I made to cover celebrities and Hollywood news and gossip and to the good fortune of having my videos on more blogs like SFGate.com.

My objective has always been to "surf the wave of the Zeitgeist" (or the sprit of the times) and in fact my blog was originally called "Zennie's Zeitgeist".   All of this started because I was trying to get more traffic to promote the sim games I created but it turned into this monster that you see now.  (Ok, well, that's stretching it!) 

But one day in September of last year I elected to move away from that name and to the more easily "brandable" Zennie62. Part of the reason was too many people were misspelling Zeitgeist and the other reason was I wanted to embark on a plan of developing a personal brand.  "Zennie62" at first was a little used name, but as I thought about it, the name defined me and the fact that I'm between many generations at once. 

CoLoursTV

The other main reason was my new TV show "The Blog Report With Zennie62" on Denver-based CoLoursTV that features the use of my videos on their network at DISH Network 9407. I'm proud of my relationship with CoLoursTV and Art Thomas and Damon Purdy and believe we've only scratched the surface of what we can do.



The show takes my videos from online to TV and has really made me pay attention to the craft of storytelling beyond just talking to the camera.  I think our fall shows will refect that.

Zennie62's direction

I want people to think of Zennie62 as following "what's happening" in industrialized culture. As I say on the TV show, we focus on politics, news, sports, and tech.

Now if you consider what I just wrote that's a tall order. But it's the objective. I want to grow my blog network and Zennie62.com and The Blog Report with Zennie62 TV show into a place to go to find out what's happening from my perspective and regardless of country.

Eventually, I want to have bloggers from different languages here and selected videos that have me and someone else who speaks Russian, for example. And what I already have is an integrated media presentation that's video blog, blog, and social network based to carry that content.

Being a YouTube Partner helped

I could not have gotten this far were I not a YouTube Partner. I can't say enough about this program where the video maker is paid for the views generated by their videos. The YouTube staff, from founder Chad Hurley to folks like Hunter and Heather (you know who you are), have been incredible to work with.

It's too bad that out of the millions of videos uploaded on YouTube there are only about 600 YouTube Partners. I crack up whenever someone writes "get a life" as if I'm not generating income from this activity.

It's also a sad statement on our economy that so many people don't "get" how our society is changing and are stuck in a position where they can't get out of their own box of thinking to try something new.

Being a YouTube Partner is that something.

The Vloggers who made me

I have been influenced by many vloggers, starting with Amanda Congdon and Andrew Barron, the founders of Rocketboom who I met in 2006 at Vloggercon:



And my friend Irina Slutsky and Schlomo Rabinowitz who established that "Vloggercon" event:



Of course, I've mentioned Renetto, or Paul Robinett, many times. His simple conversational style made me realize that authenticity of message was better than presentation of message. That is, I really didn't need a studio set like that of Rocketboom; the World was my studio.



Sometimes Paul does things with his camera I would not do..

Others who fall into this "Renetto style" are Kenrg, who I still plan to get together with and make that video...



and who was a co-founder of Vloggerheads.com - the coolest site for hardcore vloggers ever made.

Sarah Austin, who's welcome back party I attended and is here with Ashton Kutcher, has the business of vlogging down and I've learned a lot just observing her...



Another person who influenced my work is Josh Leo, who's video of his trip to San Francisco for the 2006 Vloggercon is still fresh in my mind.

Finally, Michael Buckley of the "What The Buck" show, who's drawing a six-figure salary from vlogging, has great advice for vloggers and I refer others to this video:

On being African American and vlogging

I have to discuss the matter of being a "black vlogger" because let's face it, there aren't a lot of us who do this. There should be, and the number's growing, but it's not reaching critical mass - yet.

I'd like to think CNN's featuring my iReport video work encouraged African Americans to vlog who'd never have considered it before. In fact, I got a call from someone who said just that several months ago. Her 11 year old daughter was happy to "see a smart black man on TV". That made my day.

What disheartens me are those few who just don't want to see someone black stating an opinion in this format. It reminds me of the movie Nixon by Oliver Stone, and a scene where the actor James Woods played HR Haldeman saying "There's that Negro saying those Negro things." I seem to draw the HR Haldeman's of America.

But with that, people have changed and frankly I've done this so much the concern I have for those types diminishes daily. Plus, over the last three years, I've been helped by folks like Owen Thomas, who was editor of Valleywag.com and now runs NBCBayArea.com, and a number of people in the Tech community who just give a "thumbs up" once in a while.

I hope more women, blacks, and minorities become vloggers and get over the "self-promotion" tag that others - who are trying to find work and can't pay the bills - might tag one with.  If you don't stick your neck out there and present yourself to others, you'll go broke waiting for someone else to do it for you. This takes work; do it.

Vlogging's here, but that community...

While vlogging's certainly grown I have the feeling that the once-close community has splintered. I think part of the reason is many just could not make enough money to do it consistently, others didn't want to do what it took to make money, and still another set didn't care to make money. Whatever the reason, we don't have that one yearly gathering that defines the community. We're all just sort of out there doing our thing.

That needs to change, and soon.

The reason is we have a lot to show the sponsorship industry, but we've got to get them to look at us as a viable community. We can't do that if we don't present a united front.

ACORN, Ecuador, Chevron, and the hidden video camera

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Readers and viewers have asked me to offer my opinion on the discovery by a couple of conservative activists that a couple of workers at the Washington DC office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN were giving advice on how a pimp and a prostitute can hide themselves from IRS scrutiny.

The "pimp" and the "prostitute" were "played" by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, she a columnist at TownHall.com in Washington, D.C, he a filmmaker and activist.

What they reportedly did was go around America on a tour of different ACORN offices posing as pimp and prostitute. According to CNN, most ACORN offices called the police on them with the exception of the Washington and Baltimore offices. Here's the video of what was said in the ACORN Washington office:



Now, what do I think? Well, the ACORN workers were wrong of course. Do you think I'm going to defend someone giving tax evasion tips to a pimp and his, well, you know. (I can't help but wonder if O'Keefe and Giles were sleeping together during their tour posing as people who were in the sex business. I mean all that talk and travel had to make them horny at some point, right?)

I also think it's a lot like the Chevron Ecuador case, where Ecuador Judge Juan Nunez was secretly caught on video in a meeting talking about the Chevron case and how he could rule and what the cost would be - $27 billion. Even though the Judge picked his words carefully, it was clear he knew about "that other thing" (because he used those words) which were the bribe arrangements where two environmental consultants would pay $3 million for the right to get a part of the remediation work the $27 billion was to pay for, in part.

Here's that video:



The cry in that case was that the consultants worked for Chevron; actually that's not exactly true but I'll deal with that in another blog post. The whine in the ACORN case was that the videos were made without the knowledge of the workers. In both episodes my response is if the subjects know that they're doing the right thing, they don't care if a camera or camcorder's in the room.

The simple fact that being secretely filmed is an issue for both the Judge and the ACORN workers means they knew they should not have been in those situations saying what they said.

Period.

The ACORN workers on camera were advocating a corrupt practice. The Judge and his friends in the Chevron video were caring out a corrupt practice.

I tell everyone I know this: if you're always in the right, you can't fear the use of a camera or camcorder because it will show that you were correct in your actions. The video made by O'Keefe and Giles doesn't damage the overall intent of ACORN at all; but it does call into question the ethics of some of the workers hired to staff the offices in certain cities, like DC.

The best action for anyone is to have their own camcorder. It's a good idea to have video evidence of one's actions anyway. But the bottom line is to just be on the right side of an ethics fight and to use the Golden Rule: do onto others as you would have others do on to you.

Kanye West apologizes to Taylor Swift's mom and on his blog

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The MTV VMA's were marked by an unfortunate event where Kanye West came out and took the mic from Taylor Swift, who was giving her thank-yous for winning Best Female Video of The Year, and said that Beyonce should have won it.

As I wrote here, that got hoots and calls from the audience and threatened to inject a racial divide into a show that was to be a celebration of Michael Jackson's music as Swift's a popular country music singer, Beyonce is African American and a pop / hip hop singer.

Kanye's move was classless and just plain aweful.

He was asked to leave Radio City Music Hall. So he went back to write this apology on his blogg after talking to Swift's mom:

“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!…………….. BEYONCE’S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I’M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I’M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN’ THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE … WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I’M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME… THAT’S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I’M NOT CRAZY YALL, I’M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I’M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!”

MTV VMAs - Beyonce shows class to Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga dazzles, Kanye West: classless

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The MTV Video Music Awards.

As I write this we're watching Beyonce, who just won Best MTV VMAs Video of The Year, really show that class still exists in America by asking Taylor Swift to come out and take a bow that she really should have been able to have before.

What happened was that Kayne West really showed how little class he (surprisingly) has by storming the stage, grabbing the mic and saying, as Taylor won for Best Female Video..

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!,”

Taylor was shocked. My jaw hit the floor. The Radio City crowd hooted and screamed. And over the next segment of the show, it seemed as if the mood was racially divided, and there was no need for that at all. Kanye really did a bad thing. I can't think of any other sane way to put it.

What somewhat made up for Kanye's butt-showing moment was the awesome voice of Lady Gaga. That chick, and yeah, she's all woman, can rock the house. Amazing talent. Beautiful woman. Focused and talented.

And now, Jay-Z's riffing a new song that's a tribute to New York City to end the show.

I've got to give Janet Jackson a real big thank you for opening the show with an incredible number celebrating the music of her brother Michael Jackson. You could see the emotion just pouring from her and his soul was in every second of the music she produced.

Show host Russell Brand was just ok. I didn't like the way Brand stopped to make fun of Megan Fox's comments on her mental condition, which I blogged about yesterday. No one laughed at all. He could have left that out.

In all, a great show. But I also give MTV a a load of credit for a website that integrated Twitter and Facebook in a way that will change the way I look at how such efforts should be designed for events like this. Check out the site.

Now, I can't wait for the new clip of the movie "This Is It" about what was to be Michael's concert tour. I have mixed emotions about this, which I'll share later. They're playing it now. I'll have it here later.