NFL Playoffs: Eli Manning's Time to Shine

Juan Carlos Plaza — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:18:05 -0500

Eli Manning’s career has been full of highs and lows as well.

Defined by the on-field issues of whether or not he is good enough to lead his team, to the off-field issues with former teammates, Eli Manning came of age in the national spotlight over the past two weeks.

The game against the New England Patriots was a prelude of what was to come in the playoffs.

The playoff atmosphere around that game was a good thing for Eli to experience and give him confidence that he would need to take on the road to a Tampa Bay team that had the No. 1 pass defense in the league.

Eli had a good week in practice as the rest of the team did. The New York Giants came prepared to end their drought in the playoffs. Eli’s performance was excellent in that he managed the game and did not seem out of place in the pocket or when dealing with pressure.

The New York Giants are a team that may be rolling under the radar for this coming week against the Cowboys. Yes, the Cowboys swept the two meetings the teams had this year, but it's playoff time now. The season starts over and with the problems the Cowboys are facing, it’s a strong possibility that the Giants can pull off the upset in Big D.

Eli is full of confidence, and lets not forget the defense that has produced over the past few weeks, and has both Strahan and Umenyiora who can always get pressure and sacks. This weekend’s game will be Eli’s time to shine, and prove the critics that he can in fact come through when it matters most.

Conference Commissioners: Playoffs? You're talking about Playoffs?!

Juan Carlos Plaza — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:26:52 -0500

I've been reading over the past few days about the controversial topic of a college football playoffs system. And, well, after a season like we had this year, maybe it is time to change the system after the current contract expires in 2010.

Today on ESPN.com, the University of Georgia's president proposed an eight team playoff, stating that, “It would make for better competition for the National Championship.”

According to popular belief, it would also prevent such poor performances from certain teams in the championship game like we’ve seen the past two years. The playoffs would in fact eliminate the weak and allow for a highly-contested national championship game.

Of course, one cannot assume that all the BCS games would be close—but it would certainly reduce the number of games that become so one-sided to the point that viewers want to change the channel.

Another article found on ESPN’s web page (Final Four proposal Jan 7, 2008 ESPN.com) states that some of the conferences that make up the BCS system have agreed to make the change—the Big-12, SEC, ACC and Big East. But there is still considerable opposition from the Pac-10 and Big-10.

College football has in many ways been a game for fans, and in order to keep it that way suggestions and public opinion need to be brought up to the NCAA.

The NCAA may argue that it has certain contracts that it has to respect because, after all, there is always the business side of things. We as fans don’t want this to become a monopoly in which the fan is excluded from decisions being made. But instead of solving the problem the BCS has created in recent years over who should compete for the National Championship, they've taken a turn for the worse.

Common ground has to be found on this issue. As the commissioners of their respective conferences meet to discuss this topic over the next coming weeks, we will see what they decide the new method of crowning a national champion will be.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Juan Carlos Plaza

NFL Playoffs: Eli Manning's Time to Shine

Conference Commissioners: Playoffs? You're talking about Playoffs?!