According to the poll of other GMs and NFL executives, Thompson received 19 votes to Reese’s 9. This isn’t to take anything away from the superb job of Thompson, whose Packers weren’t even expected to contend, let alone host the NFC Championship Game. But perhaps you’ll recall which team was responsible for the Pack’s run ending right there – you guessed it, Reese’s Giants.
And did we mention that the Pack were led all season by future Hall-of-Fame QB Brett Favre while the Giants were manned by a player in Eli Manning that some were already hoping to run out of town? Or that in his first year on the job Reese produced a draft class that was integral to New York’s Super Bowl success?
While Reese no doubt could care less about this oversight, we here at TGI take this stuff seriously. As a result…the envelope please…Jerry Reese has officially been named The Giant Insider’s 2007 Executive of the Year.
New Prices for All
For once, I doubt any Giants fans are complaining about the price increase of tickets for the 2008 defending Super Bowl champion Giants. Season ticket holders were already alerted of the new price structure, but several Giants fans I’ve come across – on the message boards and otherwise – were looking for a clarification of exactly how the Giants’ new system works.
Here goes:
Sections 301-308, 314-328 and 334-340 will be $80 per seat.
Sections 309-313 and 329-333, as well as 101-107, 115-127 and 135-140 will be $85 a seat.
Sections 108, 114, 128 and 134 will be $90 per seat.
Seats in sections 109, 113, 129 and 133 will be $95 apiece.
Sections 110, 111, 112, 130, 131 and 132 will be $100 per seat.
Mezzanine seats will be $105.
There. Hope that helps.
For the record, the net result of this change in pricing is an average increase of $7.01. Last season, the gross average price of a Giants ticket was $83.29, which ranked 12th out of the 32 teams in the National Football League.
In addition to their NFC East rivals Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, the Super Bowl champion Giants will host San Francisco, Seattle, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Carolina in 2008.
Back of the pack
With the Patriots having forfeited their original first-round pick, the Giants actually will select 31st in the first round, instead of the usual 32nd slot reserved for the Super Bowl victors.
While the Giants have never picked 31st in the first round since the NFL started recording these things in 1961, they have had three occasions when they’ve had the final pick of the draft’s opening round. Following each of their first two Super Bowl victories, Big Blue selected 28th and last in the first round. In 1987, they selected Mark Ingram out of Michigan State. He put together a pretty solid six-year Giants career, posting a remarkable effort play to help New York win Super Bowl XXV over Buffalo.
In 1991, the Giants’ fortunes weren’t as good. The best thing that could be said about former Michigan running back Jarrod Bunch is that he’s an actor these days after a non-descript three-year career in New York.
Two drafts back, the Giants traded down into the 32nd and final spot of the first round where they selected Boston College’s Mathias Kiwanuka. While the jury is still out on the defensive end-to-linebacker transition for Kiwi, it sure looks like he has a pretty promising career in front of him.
* On Monday, the Giants were awarded a compensatory pick in the 6th round, the 199th overall selection.
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