New York Giants Training Camp Report 8/2/10

August 2, 2010

Hello Giants Fans,

I had the pleasure of going to the New York Giants training camp today for the morning session. It was a cloudy morning but the rain never came. The Giants actually started their training camp yesterday but I was unable to attend because of a previous commitment I had made. But I was there today and it was a great experience. I suggest every single Giants fan within driving distance attend at least one and cross it off of your life list. If I were to guess, I would say there were between 500-750 fans at the morning practice today.

The day started in a pretty cool way too. A couple of buddies and I pulled into the parking lot and began walking towards the field, then we noticed a car pull in and park right next to us. Can you guess who it was? It was none other than Mr. John Mara himself. He looked like he was in a hurry, so I didn’t want to try and talk to him but it was cool to see him. So if you read this Mr. Mara, please except my belated hello and best wishes.

Next we walked to the fence surrounding the field, where we remained until the practice was over. Two things that I noticed about the practice was how vocal and involved new DC Perry Fewell is and the other was how natural LB Phillip Dillard appeared to be as a leader in the MLB spot. It was also good to see CB Aaron Ross and RB Andre Brown running around. The rest of the players who you expect to play well, did. I had a really clear idea of who I wanted to keep an eye on and those mentioned stood out the most. Kenny Phillips dressed for practice but did not participate.

The practice this morning was extremely loose and the coaches were in very good spirits. As elusive as the white rhinoceros, I may have captured a photo of Coach Coughlin smiling, I’m not sure yet. The players were practicing at a good pace that was set by the coaches and they hung out in the end zone while waiting their turns. The players were about 35 feet from where I was standing at one point during the practice, so I got a lot of good photo’s (No more concerns with using pictures on our site here, since I took them all myself) of the players and coaches close up. I took roughly 600 photo’s in all today. A lot of good action shots while the team worked on their drills.

Please be sure to come back and check out a new photo series, the first being posted is called “New York Giants 2010 Camp Photo Album”.

RD – nygreporter.com

PLEASE SUPPORT THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT!!

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Posted by robdomaine

Giants Training Camp Begins in Less Then 24 Hrs

July 31, 2010

The wait is almost over Giants fans. The 2010 training camp begins tomorrow in Albany. This is a very exciting time to be a football fan because you get to actually see what the players look like on the field. All of the number crunching and debates are over, it is now time for these guys to perform.

Training camp is extremely fan friendly and open free to the public. Do not bring camcorders (according to Pat Hanlon) but still photo cameras are fine. Be ready to pay $5 bucks to park your car or $15 for the full day parking during two a day practices. You can check out Giants.com (link in my blogroll to the right) for the full schedule and directions. They also sell team merchandise at the field but I would bring your own water and snacks.

I am going to take a look at three types of fans. I chose the number three because I could micro manage the personalities into dozens of categories but people have things to do on the weekends (including me) so I will make this brief. Here are three types of fans you may encounter in Albany.

There are cooks who cook to eat and then there are cooks who consider making a meal an art form. The same goes for the fans of the game. Some fans want to watch football on Sunday and root for their team to win and that’s it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these types of fans and I’m sure they make up a huge part of the television viewership that the front office is now accustomed to. This could be the guy you see on his cell phone at the stadium, watching a game his friend brought him to.

Then there are other types of fans who dig a little deeper into the team. They watch the sports shows and check out the sports sites. They go to a game when they can and watch their favorite team on TV every Sunday. These fans make up the largest portion of the fan pie or flow chart. These fans are the backbone of the organization and the ones who will not hesitate to purchase a team jersey or other merchandise.

Next you have the serious fan who we will call Type A. These are the ones wearing the authentic football jersey and cooking on a grill while tailgating at the stadium. Season tickets in hand and hanging out with other Type A fans. You will see both fan types above peppered into the group but the Type A fan does the planning and arrangements. These are the fans that have worked their favorite football team into the daily routine. They check the sites regularly, even multiple time per day and watch the shows, knowing what time they come on. They are the writers and bloggers and fans who attend training camp and preseason games. These are the 15,000 people who will show up to events outside of the game for the team such as a draft day party of charitable event. They are simply known as the die hard fan.

My point is that you will see all of these types of fans at training camp this year. The thing to remember is, we are all Giants fans and that is the one bond every Giants fan shares. I recommend going to a training camp at least once in your life for the experience and checking it off your life list for the true blue fan.

RD – nygreporter.com

PLEASE SUPPORT THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT!!

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Posted by robdomaine

New York Giants Are 30 Days Away From Day 1

July 2, 2010

The New York Giants are now officially 30 days away from the first day of training camp. The 2010 training camp dates for Big Blue are August 1, 2010 – August 20, 2010 and will be held at the University of Albany once again. This is going to be a particularly exciting off season with some incredible battles expected on the defensive side of the ball. There will be a brawl at the linebacker position between ten guys looking to start. There still isn’t a clear leader in the middle linebacker group. This is one of the most important jobs on the team and a slot that most thought would have been filled already by a free agent at this point in the year.

I would not be surprised if our readers saw another article from us by the end of the day, discussing a new free agent pick up or player signing.

The defensive end position will be next on the list with four quality (three proven) defensive ends and only two starting roles. Giants DC Perry Fewell has been experimenting with four down defensive ends and I applaud him for it. I would not use that as a standard formation but it might not be a bad idea to mix it into both, first and third down situations. Great start versus drive killer. We have seen this before with Coach Spags back in the day and it works. Both equally good elements to throw into the game and the G-men certainly have the talent to use this set up.

The defensive tackles are solid players and getting DT Jay Alford back this year will bolster an already strong group. The rookie DT Linval Joseph might contribute right away I’ve heard and  I’m anxious to see him on the field. I talked a lot of junk at this point last year about the Giants defensive line having the talent to be the best in the NFL. The team as a whole performed below expectations and I was wrong about the d-line. That was mostly due to the injuries the team had to endure. In 2010, I think this group can perform beyond the bar I set for them in 2009. The Giants defense is stacked.

The defensive backs are going to have their own little skirmish going on back there. The Giants prize signing of 2010, Antrel Rolle, will be a starting safety but who will be the other? Michael Johnson and Deon Grant will be battling it out for that role now that rookie safety Chad Jones is out for the year. If safety Kenny Phillips is healthy, all bets are off and he gets the starting role but questions still remain about his health. We all hope that Phillips can start but nobody knows for now. CB Aaron Ross participated in minicamp on a limited basis and will be returning from an injury plagued year that had him sidelined for almost all of 2009. It would not surprise me to see Giants GM Jerry Reese sign a cornerback, safety or linebacker within the next week or two. Possibly even tonight. What do you think?

Will you be attending any of the 2010 New York Giants training camp practices? Which position do you think will have the biggest battle?

RD – nygreporter.com

THE NYG REPORTER WISHES EVERYONE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!!

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Posted by robdomaine

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