Tag Archives: Giants Stadium
Every team in the NFL has assets. Things they can’t live without when planning to have a successful season or franchise. These assets are the cornerstone of every winning team.
I was fortunate to spend a few minutes with one of the New York Giants’ hardest working and most respected players on the team. That asset is wide receiver No. 12 Steve Smith. Steve was in town promoting the Vaseline MEN Keep Your Grip Challenge and I caught up with him to ask about the knee, his rehab, Plaxico and a few other topics that are on the minds of Giants fans everywhere.
It was an absolute pleasure talking to Steve and I can say without question that this guy gets it. He is true professional and for all the Giant fans in the area, Steve Smith without question plays a vital role in making the Giants successful.
Check out keepyourgripchallengegame.com for more details on the Vaseline MEN Keep Your Grip Challenge
Giants Wide Receiver talks to Craig J. Santucci – Click Here for Audio
Tagged Domenik Hixon, Eli Manning, Giants Stadium, Mario Manningham, Michael Strahan, NY Giants, Plaxico Burress, Ramses Barden, Steve Smith |
From the 1986 NFC Championship Game vs Washington
CBS coverage of player introductions at the start of the 1986 NFC Championship Game vs the Redskins. PA announcer Bob Sheppard introduces the Giants’ offense to a raucous crowd before the most important game in the history of Giants Stadium.
Tagged 1986 New York Giants, Bob Sheppard, Giants Stadium, New York Giants |
The Most Familiar Voice in Sports, Bob Sheppard, Passes Away at 99
Public Address announcer Bob Sheppard had a career that spanned over half a century, lending his ominous voice and strategic cadence to New York sports venues such as Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium and St. John’s Alumni Hall. 
It was said by many visiting baseball players that having Sheppard announce one’s name before an at bat was validation that you had made it to the big leagues. Fans also felt that Sheppard’s presence and austerity at a game or event seemed to raise it’s importance. He never wavered in his style.
Sheppard began working for the Yankees in 1951 and the Giants in 1956, For the next 50 years until his retirement in 2006, It is said Sheppard never had a contract with the Giants, just a handshake agreement with another class act – Giants owner Wellington Mara.
Since Sheppard’s retirement, the PA duties at Giants games have been assumed by another St. John’s professor, Jim Hall.
Giants games were something special with Sheppard calling the action. He wasn’t the “Voice of God” as Reggie Jackson once called him (that moniker was hung on NFL Films’ John Facenda), but he was as close as New Yorkers could possibly get.
Sheppard, who would have turned 100 in October, was born in Richmond Hill in Queens and attended St. John’s University, where he would later go on to teach Speech. He earned a Master’s Degree at Columbia in 1933 and during WWII, was a Naval Officer stationed in the Pacific theater.
At St. John’s University basketball games he would announce everything from baskets and fouls to local business ads during games. Sheppard prided himself as true professional but was not above delivering announcements such as ” the owner of a green Dodge…your lights are on and your car is running….”…to the the delight of the audience.
Over the course of time, Sheppard has become the Gold Standard to which all PA announcers will be measured against. His quality of work and the dignified manner in which he carried himself will be remembered always by New Yorkers and sports fans alike.
According to sources…
St. John’s University annually awards the Sheppard Trophy to the most outstanding student-athlete as one of its highest awards.
Sheppard has been awarded both World Series Championship rings, and NFL Super Bowl Championship ring honors in his role with the Yankees and the football Giants. The only other known person to share this honor is the late Bill King, the long-time radio play-by-play voice of the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics.
Sheppard has been honored by having his microphone encased in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On May 7, 2000, in celebration of his 50th season as the Yankees’ PA announcer, the team dedicated a plaque in his honor, to be placed in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him “The Voice of Yankee Stadium.” Former CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite served as the public-address announcer during the ceremony.
Tagged Bob Sheppard, Giants Stadium, New York Giants, New York Giants Blogs, New York Giants News, Yankee Stadium |
“Street Fighting Man”
From The Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge Tour
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey August 14, 1994
Tagged Giants Stadium |
Happy Holidays From The Staff at GFB………Here’s to a happy and a healthy to our readers and their families…..
Aaron Ross’ hamstring may keep him out of this week’s game against Carolina. He is day-to-day, but from what we’ve heard, the situation is not a good one….
No word on whether the league plans to sanction Brandon Jacobs for his role in Monday’s fight in Washington. If it hasn’t happened by now, it may not happen…….
After shattering the franchises’ single season receiving marks, Steve Smith will be seeking a lucrative contract extension. Smith, 24, is currently under contract until 2010 (at 550k per) and has earned a huge payday. Our thoughts: give it to him!
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The Giants’ players are fully aware that this Sunday’s game will most likely the last at Giants’ Stadium. The fans – both young and old – will be out in full force to say goodbye to the old girl, which has housed the Big Blue since 1976. It will be bittersweet to most, but for many – it’s time to move on.
……some random quotes…….
“If it is the last time we play at Giants Stadium,” said Justin Tuck, “we want to definitely go out with a bang.”
Tom Coughlin: “I remember many, many years ago before I ever got involved in professional football. Giants Stadium, I always thought, was the greatest football stadium in the world. It was always an honor, a privilege and an eye-opener to bring a college team, or whatever I was coaching, into that stadium.”
Rich Seubert: “I was fresh out of college, coming here for that rookie mini-camp,” Seubert said. “We came on a bus with all the other rookies, I didn’t know anything, I came from Western Illinois, when we walked down that ramp, I walked out that tunnel and took a little peek, it was special.”
Eli Manning: “I have only been here six years, but I have a lot of fond memories and great wins. Obviously for the fans and the ownership, it’s a special game for them. You think about how many great teams and great games have been played in Giants Stadium. It will be a special day for us.”
John Mara on his father’s decision to move the team to the Meadowlands in the early ’70′s: “I think people forget that at the time, it was about as controversial a decision as we have ever had in our history, and he was vilified, both broadcast and print at the time for “abandoning New York” and moving the franchise. But somebody pointed out at the time Giants Stadium was actually closer to Times Square than Yankee Stadium was…..”
Notes
The Stadium has hosted everything from pro and college football to professional soccer and landmark concerts including multiple tours featuring U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, The Grateful Dead, Green Day and Bon Jovi.
In 1995, Pope John Paul II held mass in the Meadowlands.
This Sunday, the team will have available approximately 60,000 programs that will sell for $1 – the price of game programs when the stadium opened in 1976. I have a copy of the original, btw……
At halftime, the crowd will be treated to a taped performance of Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball”, a song he wrote specifically for his last Giants Stadium appearance in October.
Tagged Giants Stadium, New York Giants News, The Meadowlands |
Final Regular Season Game At Giants Stadium This Sunday
Yes, it seems like just yesterday that the Giants had THE state-of-the-art football venue out in the Meadowlands.
I recall my first first game at the new Stadium. It was the second home game – October 24th, 1976 vs Pittsburgh. My brother selfishly took the tickets to the opener two weeks prior, so I had to wait. I recall it took us awhile to get there because no one really knew any of the short cuts yet. Plus everyone was tuned up.
The place was the best thing we had ever seen. Although it wasn’t winter yet. my father predicted the new digs would be a like a cold, windy tunnel in the winter. He was right.
The Giants rewarded us by getting slammed 27-0 by the defending Super Bowl champions. We didn’t care. We finally had our own place. The winning would come soon. Suuuuure, it will…..
Looking at the box score from that game, QB Craig Morton was 11-26 for 97 yards. What a bum….
Best memory ever.……the 1986 Championship Game vs Washington….confetti, paper were everywhere and no one left early even though the game was one-sided…grown men were crying, some of them real tough guys, too…the Giants were heading off to the Super Bowl in a surreal atmosphere……
Tagged Giants News, Giants Stadium, The Meadowlands |
Now that the Giants’ off-season conditioning program is over, it’s now time for the team to kick off their OTA program tomorrow.
For those who don’t know, the OTAs (Organized Team Activities) is the first chance for the rookies and veterans to get together and begin learning the fundamentals that they’ll work on during the mini camp and then training camp.
For those curious, the media access days are June 1, June 5, and June 9. The OTAs end on June 12 and are followed by the three-day, mandatory mini camp (to which the press gets full access).
Don’t forget to let me know what players you’re interested in hearing about. Your feedback will help me plan my blog entries and my “Tweets” accordingly.
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Speaking of your feedback, I’m looking for your memories of Giants Stadium. As you probably know, the building is set to close its doors forever after the 2009 season concludes (though hopefully the Giants will still be playing in January 2010.)
I’m going to be running a chronological list of my memories (both professional and personal) from the place starting the week after the veteran mini camp and leading up to the start of training camp. I have begun reading some of the submissions that have come in from the fans and I’m really enjoying the different stories people have been sharing. I hope you’ll consider sharing your stories with me as well.
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I posted a new edition of Letters to the Editor in my blog earlier this evening, and one letter in particular inspired me to do some further research on the current Giants roster. I’m currently developing an article about it, so I don’t want to say too much about what I’m writing, but I will share a couple of interesting facts that came from my research.
As of this writing, the average age of the Giants’ roster is 25.5 years old. That number will probably go up slightly once the free agent hopefuls are cut throughout the summer, but let’s say for argument’s sake the average age goes up one full year. That’s still a great average age for a football team because it means that most of the guys have at least four years of experience, which is around the time most players come into their own as far as making contributions.
Here’s even more good news. Of the 11 players currently on the roster who will be 30+ by the start of training camp, their average age comes out to 32, which means they’re still young enough to make at least another 2-3 years of contributions while the youth behind them develop. THAT is how you plan your football team, folks.
Further, if you look at the talent on paper, the Giants are loaded. I know you don’t award the Vince Lombardi Trophy in May, but unless massive injuries wipe out the depth on this team, I can’t see any reason why come January 2010 they’re not still playing ball.
Want another statistic to help you over hump day? This is a team that in four years under head coach Tom Coughlin has made the playoffs four times and has won two NFC East Division titles, one NFC Conference Championship, and one Super Bowl. That’s impressive!
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Last but not least, I received a very cool e-mail earlier today advising me that the book I edited on behalf of Inside Football, “Giant Journey: The Story of the New York Giants’ Road to Super Bowl XLII” is now available on Amazon.com! The book, which is a compilation of articles, tells the story of the Giants’ rise to Super Bowl XLII Champions.
Tagged Giants Stadium, Roster Notes |
