Wow!

In the closest, most interesting vote we have had for any of the positions on our Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team, Homer Jones has earned the second wide receiver slot, besting Plaxico Burress by one vote. Yes, one vote.

The final tally? Jones 40, Burress 39.  Del Shofner and Joe Morrison each got 14 votes, and Kyle Rote 12.

I understood the support for Burress, since current and more recent players are better known to most fans. I was gratified to see the support for a player from an earlier era, though.

So, we now have just two positions left -- running back and quarterback. The Tiki Barber situation will be interesting here.

What I want to do first is ask you guys if we should simply give Tiki a slot, as we have done with Toomer and Lawrence Taylor? I know many of us have mixed feelings about Tiki, so I'm interested to see what you guys want to do here.

Respond to that poll.  Once we figure that out, I'll post the full running back poll.

Have a happy, safe 4th of July everybody!

Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team

Coach

Bill Parcells

Kickers

Punter -- Sean Landeta
Placekicker -- Matt Bahr

Defense

Defensive End -- Michael Strahan
Defensive End -- Leonard Marshall
Defensive Tackle -- Roosevelt Grier
Middle Linebacker -- Harry Carson
Middle Linebacker -- Sam Huff
Outside Linebacker -- Lawrence Taylor
Outside Linebacker -- Brad Van Pelt
Cornerback -- Dick Lynch
Cornerback -- Mark Collins
Safety -- Emlen Tunnell
Safety -- Spider Lockhart

Offense

Center -- Mel Hein
Guard -- Ron Stone
Guard -- Chris Snee
Tackle -- Rosey Brown
Tackle -- Jumbo Elliott
Tight End -- Mark Bavaro
Wide Receiver -- Amani Toomer
Wide Receiver -- Homer Jones

Who will the second wide receiver on our Big Blue View All-Time Giants Team be?

The vote has turned into quite a competition between Plaxico Burress and Homer Jones. As I type, Plax leads by two votes, 34-32. If you haven't cast your vote, hurry up! The poll closes tonight.

July is upon us, which means training camp is weeks away, and the title defense will begin. In the meantime, here are some stories making news around the NFL:

• Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan defended the rookie salary system, saying he understands both sides of the story
• Pro Football Weekly tells us the Top 10 free agent or trade pickups for the 2008 season
• NBC Sports looks into why Byron Leftwich and Daunte Culpepper are still unemployed
• Fox Sports has an article about the rookie symposium in SoCal
• From Fox Sports, Michael Rosenberg talks about how Dallas' success would be an NFL Nightmare
• Former Giants receiver Joe Jurevicius had knee surgery yesterday and may not be ready for training camp. I'm a big fan of JJ's, I hope he is able to come back healthy for 2008.
• Finally this week, players from the Bills, Texans, and the "2007 AFC Champion 18-1 beaten in the Super Bowl by your New York Giants"  Patriots are hosting a two-day  sports and education clinic for kids. Heh heh, that never gets old.

It seems that maybe we have another New York Giant star angling for a broadcasting career.

I was shocked to turn my radio to ESPN this morning and find Osi Umenyiora subbing as a co-host -- that's right, co-host, not guest -- on 'Mike and Mike in the Morning.'

In the little that I heard, Osi was actually quite good.

He did say one thing that got my attention. Asked about Derek Jeter's standing in New York he compared him to Michael Strahan, a winner and "very beloved."

As for himself, he said "I'm Alex Rodriguez. All the talent, but no love."

Really? I was surprised to hear Osi express that sentiment. Do we not love No. 72? Is he really A-Rod, forever second in our hearts no matter what he does on the field?

Your thoughts?

Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline is out with his annual list of the players he considers to be the top 50 in the NFL.

There is only one Giant on Prisco's list -- Osi Umenyiora at No. 42.

I really intended to rip Prisco for having only one member of the DEFENDING SUPER BOWL champions on his list. The more I look at it, though, I find myself unable to get really worked up about the indignity of it all.

I guess a SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP can make you kind of immune to some self-proclaimed expert's list of players he thinks are the best.

Having a handful of superstars doesn't win you a championship. It takes 53 contributing players, sometimes more, and a coaching staff that is on the same page with its players.

That is what makes lists like this so unimportant. Really, just something to talk about on a July day without football.

Sure, it would have been nice to see a little love thrown to Plaxico Burress, Eli Manning or Chris Snee.

Sure, it annoys me a little that there are more members of the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals on this list than there are Giants.

But, the Giants have the ring. So, who cares? Let somebody else get all worked up about this list. It really doesn't matter.

NOT SURE if this one will make you laugh or cry, but it seems Carolina Panthers fans are upset that new Giants backup quarterback David Carr was ONLY named the third-worst quarterback of all time by Pro Football Reference.

Oh, and I had no idea that Carr's not-so-nice nickname was 'Mr. Mittens.'

-- Hat tip to The Sporting Blog.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called rookie contracts "ridiculous" the other day, and I couldn't agree with him more.

"There's something wrong about the system," Goodell said Friday. "The money should go to people who perform."

Goodell was reacting largely to the $57.75 million contract No. 1 pick Jake Long, an offensive tackle from Michigan, signed with the Miami Dolphins.

"He doesn't have to play a down in the NFL and he already has his money," Goodell said during a question-and-answer period at the end of a weeklong sports symposium at the Chautauqua Institution. "Now, with the economics where they are, the consequences if you don't evaluate that player, you can lose a significant amount of money.

"And that money is not going to players that are performing. It's going to a player that never makes it in the NFL. And I think that's ridiculous."

Goodell hinted that he will push for a change when he opens labor negotiations in the fall, and I would think that would be a welcome one.

Nothing against Long, or any rookie, but I agree with Goodell that players should earn their big payday on an NFL field before they get it. Not get paid before they have earned.

The NBA has a salary scale for rookies. Major League Baseball does not, but it does have a 'slotting system' where the commissioner's office issues recommendations for how much each draft position should be paid.

A rookie salary scale makes sense in the NFL. Financially, it gives the money to those who have already earned it. Also, it would get rookies to camp on time and end some of the ridiculous holdouts by guys who need to be on the field.

Your thoughts?

It should be noted that while all of you are busy voting on an All-time Giants team and its head coach, Big Blue View has been working behind the scenes on a special project we know all of you will enjoy. I am proud to stand here on stage at the Motel 6 in Weehawken, NJ and present to you The All-Time Worst Giants Team. This was no easy task to assemble all of these players, but we've managed to do it.

When naming a head coach, there seemed to be only one man for the job, and that would be former head coach and famous card-counter Ray Handley.
Ray couldn't be with us tonight, but when BBV called to congratulate him, upon hearing the good news, he remarked "Who the @*^& is this? How the @%$* did you get this number? What the  $%$@ is Big Blue View? &%$# off!!!!!!" Ray's a big kidder, always with the jokes. We know he is proud of the team we've assembled

Here are some of the guidelines we followed for putting this team together:

1. This list is based solely on the player's performance as a New York Giant. What they did in Washington, Denver, the defunct World Football League, the XFL, or Pop Warner had no bearing. Some are great players who left their talent at Newark Airport when they came to the Giants, and some are players who left the Giants and found success in other places. But they were all bad as Giants.

2. Much to Mr. Cronin's chagrin, these players are all "Wilderness Years" and later, because quite frankly, those are the players we know best. But as always, BBV welcomes any suggestions of names from the 30's, 40's and 50's, there is always room for more on this team, we have no roster limits

So without further ado, or in this team's case, adon't, let's get right to it!

Beginning with the Offense:

QB: The Bachelor, The Fumble, and The XFL MVP (also known as Jesse Palmer, Joe Pisarcik, and Tommy Maddox)

RB:  Rocky Thompson, Herschel Walker, Brian Mitchell, Larry Csonka

WR: Emery Moorehead, Thomas Lewis, Odessa Turner, Brian Alford, Herman Moore

TE: Derek Brown, Aaron Pierce, Al Pupunu

OL: Luke Petitgout, Scott Gragg, Jeff Hatch, John Hicks, Trey Junkin

Giants football has always been about the Defense, with these guys being the exception

DL: Cedric "Cyclops" Jones, Kanavis McGhee, William Joseph, Frank Ferrara (Sopranos stunt work notwithstanding)

LB: Carlos Emmons, Barrett Green, Coleman Rudolph, Mike Croel, Lavar Arrington

DB: Jeremy Lincoln, Dave Thomas, Ralph Brown, Elvis "Toast" Patterson, Thomas Randolph

P: Matt Allen, Mike Horan ( a team this bad needs two punters!!!)

K: Bob Timberlake (he was 1 for 15 in FGA's in 1965, including 2 misses from inside 20 yards)

So there you have it, the All-Time Worst Giants team. I'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight, and please, help yourself to a can of Pabst and a corn dog, there's plenty of both!

The thing that amazed me when putting this together is how many of these guys, whether they were draft picks, free agents, walk-ons, or radio contest winners, never played for another NFL team after they left the Giants.

By popular demand (an overwhelming 52-3 vote) we are conceding a spot on our All-Time Team to Amani Toomer.

So, now we start the vote over again for the second wide receiver on the team.

Vote in the poll for the receiver who will join Toomer.

This discussion has been brought up before in other forums, but I'm not sure if it's hit here at BBV.  There's obviously a little bad blood and hurt feelings between some Giants fans and players regarding Tiki Barber, but looking back at his career I think it's valid question to wonder whether Tiki Barber is worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  This might even seem like a crazy premise, until you consider Eric Dickerson has already been enshrined, so really anything could happen. 

In full disclosure, I was and still am a huge Tiki Barber fan.  I was rooting for him while he was a Virginia Cavalier, and I was thrilled when he was picked by my hometown NFL team.  So, you already know which side of the fence I stand on.

I think the first hurdle to clear is what the player meant to his team.  Tiki Barber owns a bevy of team records, from career rushing touchdowns (55) to Most 1,000 yard seasons (6).  Tiki Barber is also only the third player in NFL history to be the career leader in both rushing yards and receptions with their respective NFL franchises.  To me one of the most impressive stats to discover was he actually led the Giants in rushing for every game from the beginning of the 2002 season until end of the 2006 season.  That was an NFL record 80 consecutive games.

The next item to note is how he stacked up against his contemporaries.  It might surprise you to know for more than half a decade he was one of the most prolific backs in the league.  From 2000 through 2006 Tiki Barber gained the most yards from scrimmage by any NFL running back in that seven year stretch.  He also led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.  Tiki named to the pro bowl and all pro roster three times as well.

Now lets get into the serious number and stat crunching:

Tiki Barber is one of only ten running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing.  Tiki is the fourth player in NFL history to have four 2,000 total yard seasons.  Not exclusive enough for you?  He joined Marchall Faulk and Marcus Allen as the third player in NFL history to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards.  He is also one of three players ever to have at least three 200+ yard rushing games in a single season, adding to his total of five for his career.  Tiki Barber is the first player in NFL history with 1,800 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in one season.  There's more, of course, but that all puts him in some pretty rarefied air.

There are some things that hold him back.  Tiki Barber earned a reputation for fumbling early in his career.  During a rough four year stretch (2000-2003) he averaged 8.75 fumbles per year (losing 4.25 on average).  He played in only one Super Bowl, but never managed to be part of a world championship.  Tiki was never league MVP.  His trophy room is just pretty bare in general.

That's all I've got for now.  I'd love to hear what you think.