Plaxico durress

By now, you've probably heard about New York Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, stupidly shooting himself in a New York nightclub this weekend. Not surprisingly, the Giants announced today that they're placing Plax on the reserve non-football injury list, which means he won't be back for the postseason, either.

This move comes a day after the wide receiver was charged with illegal weapons possession, for which he could receive between 3 and 1/2 to 15 years in prison if convicted. Burress is due back in court March 31, unless he reaches a plea agreement.

Burress shot himself in the right thigh in the VIP section of the nightclub about 1 a.m. Saturday, police said. He did not have a permit to carry a handgun in New York.

A witness reported hearing a popping sound before Burress' legs began to shake, according to a criminal complaint. It said the person saw a bloody pistol fall out of his pant leg and land on the floor before Burress said, "Take me to a hospital."

Apparently, Giants receiver Steve Smith also had a run-in with guns this weekend, but he was on the other end of it.

Police in Clifton, N.J., said Smith was robbed at gunpoint in the early hours of Nov. 25. The second-year receiver had returned to his townhouse in a chauffer-driven car when he was approached from behind by man who held a gun to his head, Clifton police Capt. Robert Rowan said. Smith turned over his jewelry and money and cell phone, the captai said, and the man is still being sought, he said.

Well...if Burress is out, I guess it's a good thing nothing happened to Steve Smith. Maybe if Smith had a gun, no one woulda messed with him, haaaa. Actually, I shouldn't joke about that. I don't want anything to screw up the tear the Giants are on right now.

The Brady crunch

I had a good laugh at work today: There are four of us reporters that sit together--Anthony and I are often talking about the latest in sports, while Stef and Geoff like to scoff at our pitching matchup discussions and fantasy football gripes.

Amidst today's weekend wrapup discussion, Stef (who had never been to a professional sporting event until two weeks ago) says, "The only thing I care about in football is Tom Brady... because he's hot."

Well, I hate to break it to ya, Stef -- and New England fans -- but your golden boy's season is dunzo.

The team announced today that Brady, who suffered a left knee injury in the first quarter of yesterday's opener, will need surgery. The exact injury hasn't been disclosed yet, but all signs point to a torn ACL.

"It will all be OK. I’m excited to see what our team is made of … I still like our chances." - Tom Brady, in an e-mail to NBCSports.com.

Matt Cassel stepped in Sunday and guided the team to victory, and he will start Sunday versus New York Jets. A friend of mine last week told me he was stoked about the upcoming Favre v. Brady matchup he had tickets to, mmm...not so much.

Brady brought the team to three NFL titles since 2001 and led them to a perfect 18-0 record in the regular season last year before one GIANT loss in the greatest Super Bowl to ever have been played (I'm a bit biased).

The Patriots should take a page out of Ocho Cinco's English-to-Spanish book and say adios to the Bowl de Super.

RELATED LINKS
Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset
Perfect, Schmerfect
For your perfect viewing pleasure

BAM - Perfect!

I'm sorry. I swear I'll stop talking about the Super Bowl soon, but this commercial is fantastic. I can't believe I missed it.

Best (and worst) of the 'Bowl

*Note: This is the second of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is everything but the actual game. For more game coverage, see below!

• Paula Abdul's pre-game performance: No one was more psyched than me to see the "Spellbound" songstress make her comeback, but man oh man...Paula's performance was more of a pantomime than a 'straight up' hit. Lip syncing worse than Britney and moves as bad as, well, Britney on MTV circa six months ago. And what was with the New Years Eve-looking hat? I couldn't have been the only one in American hoping that that weeble-wobble microphone would smack her in the face. [In case you missed it...]

• Paul Brogan's Super Bowl Rap: Soup or bowl? Soup, soup or bowl? This was the greatest part of the pre-game show, in my opinion. This guy is a freaking genius.
  
  

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers halftime show: I'm all for the 'Freefallin' and the 'American Girl,' but it's no coincidence that my friends and I spent the length of the halftime show in front of our cooled hors d'oeuvres, discussing tax rates and competitive eating. Every year, the halftime show is but a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more (thanks, Shakes). I'm sure some day, when I'm older, I'll enjoy performances from my childhood heroes -cough Spice Girls cough- but for now I'd rather load up on unnecessary cards for the second half than watch the streamers and strumming.

• Bawk, bawwwk: No one did the Chicken Dance in the end zone, so no-go on KFC's charity promise. Guess they were too chicken to pay the fines.
  

• Celebrity sightings: Perhaps Giants fans should be thanking Gisele Bundchen for the Patriots' choke; it's that Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson curse, praise the Lord! There were more blond bombshells in attendance last night too: We got a glimpse of a somewhat shy Pamela Anderson, who covered her face with straggly, bleached hair. And half the room 'aww'd' at the Jenny McCarthy/Jim Carey shot...and the other half said, 'Wait, what?' Yes, they've been together for a year and half - wake up! And of course, we had Mr. Peyton Manning watching over baby bro. Not gonna lie - as a superstitious Giants fan, I was a bit worried.

• Commercials: Of course. What would the big show be without a collection of exorbitant, over-hyped and underwhelming advertisements? This year, there were several forgettable commercials and a few memorable because they were so terrible (yes, I mean you, hideous girl dabbing Planters nuts on your hot spots). Here's a look at my top three:

• Mice like Doritos--Mickey's revenge.

• Chris Kattan might get sick of Diet Pepsi Max--what is love?

• Donkey Lips makes a comeback better than Paula--ahh, push it!
  

Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset

*Note: This is the first of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is just about the game. More about commercials, segments and specials to come tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The result might have been an upset, but Super Bowl XLII was the most perfect I'd ever seen.

The New York Giants tonight beat Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 --against all odds--to make history.

"Offense wins games; defense wins championships," and the New York defense held the New England "dynasty" to just one touchdown until the last three minutes of the game. They also sacked, hurried and hit Tom Brady all game, forcing a less-than-perfect showing for the 'untouchable' quarterback and leaving the door open for Eli Manning to step up and lead his team to victory.

"That's a position you want to be in. You can't write a better script." - Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII MVP

The first three quarters--close as the score was--paled in comparison to the last 15 minutes of the game. I'll do the play-by-play no justice, so check out this write-up, but when biggest Super Bowl upsets are discussed in years to come, no doubt you'll see the Eli "Houdini" Manning escape/insane off-the-helmet combo that came in the middle of a 12-play, 83-yard drive. Or the two consecutive long bombs Tom Brady let loose to Randy Moss that looked like they would be completely devastating to Giants fans (and Pats haters) everywhere. [when videos of the game are posted, I will most definitely be linking to them.]

The fate of the Patriots' perfect season on their shoulders. The pressure on Eli to live up to big bro Peyton and show some emotion. The 11-game on-the-road winning streak. Tom Coughlin's job on the line. The need to prove that the more you underestimate a team, the sweeter the win will be.

My emotions are getting the best of me here as I'm writing about this--almost as much as the teary-eyed Plaxico Burress in his post-game interview. But he doesn't deserve the same ridicule T.O. got a few weeks ago because Burress' presence in the end zone during the last minute of the game sealed the deal tonight.

There is an incredible amount to say about this game. And while it might have made for great bragging rights to say that the Giants blew the Pats out of the water 56-3 tonight, I wouldn't have changed a gut-wrenching, edge-of-my-seat, hands shaking, knot in my stomach moment for all the money in the world.

In the words of my brother, "This one's for Tiki."

Don't be chicken, bawk-bawk-bakawwwk!

Just as they hatched a marketing plot on the heels of Stephen Colbert's presidential bid, KFC has set up a Super Bowl marketing campaign centered around the most loathed song and dance of all time: The Chicken Dance.

The fast food restaurant has offered $260,000 to charity in the name of the first Patriots or Giants player to do the damn dance in end zone during next week's Super Bowl showdown.

This could also be made better if KFC offered free sauceless wings during an obscure time frame on some idle Tuesday when the players does the dance, following in Taco Bell's World Series speedy footsteps.

The player would need to do the "flapping part" of the dance for at least three seconds. (And the $260,000 is what it would cost for three seconds of advertising time during the Super Bowl, with the going rate for a 30-second segment at $2.67 mill.)

Click here for instructions on how to do this chicken dance. No, seriously, there really are instructions available.

But leave it to the NFL to not have a sense of humor. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said that players can celebrate as they normally would during the Super Bowl, but if anyone busts out that chicken dance, they will be subjected to fines.

He made some obscure American Idol reference to try to be funny, but really, don't you think they're getting just slightly bent out of shape over this? I mean come on, it's for charity. They're letting freaking Paula Abdul perform during half-time - they must be fans of charity.

"I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"

Even though a Green Bay television station decided to have a little fun at Eli Manning's expense this weekend, I'm pretty sure he won't be crying like a baby...unlike some other football players we know.

After discovering Manning's favorite television show is Seinfeld, execs in Green Bay decided to pull the networks regularly scheduled 5:30 p.m. Saturday episode while the Giants were in town for today's NFC Championship game.

Somebody should be the Jerk Store's best seller...

This is a feeble attempt to 'disrupt the player's comfort level'. If Manning doesn't do well today, it's not because he couldn't watch the episode where George gets sexually aroused by fruit--it's because it's freaking 3 degrees in Green Bay right now...and that's without the wind chill.

But at least Eli had the man himself - Jerry Seinfeld - in his corner. The comedian caught wind of the situation and offered Thursday to send Manning an entire Seinfeld DVD set and a partial set of Hogan's Heroes for inspiration.

Viewers voted for the programming to air instead of Seinfeld: Of about 3,700 votes cast, some 60 percent were for a 30-minute special about former Packers coach Vince Lombardi called "God, Family and the Green Bay Packers," according to the Associated Press.

The game is on at 6:30 tonight. "The loser gets fired. The winner gets a Water Pik." Go Giants!