Tiki's Burnt Bridges Coming To The Forefront
Monday, January 28, 2008
A ton of you emailed me after the Giants made the Super Bowl asking for me to take Tiki Barber to task, and I've basically been waiting for the right moment to do. The Monday of Super Bowl Week seems like the right time.
I always complain when the ESPNs and FOXs of the world bring on current athletes and coaches to do analysis because most of them would never dare say anything bad about the teams, coaches and players they are covering (see Herm Edwards). This same line of thinking applies to recently retired athletes and coaches and it's borderline annoying when these individuals take to the mic. While I commend Tiki Barber for taking a shot at providing honest commentary in the beginning of the season, he went about it the completely wrong way.
It's one thing to say Eli Manning is not a great leader and is a shaky Quarterback, but to go on a radio show with your brother and completely degrade the kid is another. And now that the New York has ascended to the biggest stage in Sports sans-Tiki, it's Manning and the Giants that appear to be getting the last laugh.
As the television networks scramble to snare exclusive interviews, Barber, who also is prominent on "Today," would seem to be NBC's key player because he knows the Giants players and coaches so well.At this point I'd be surprised if the Giants even looked at anyone from NBC, and I wouldn't blame them for it. I think we saw Tiki Barber's true colors at the beginning of the season and we're even seeing it today on his own radio show. When asked by his brother if he was upset he wasn't playing in the game this was his response....
Problem is, Barber is persona non grata now. Based on media reports, he stands a better chance at scoring a sit-down with Osama bin Laden than with Eli Manning or Michael Strahan. Barber is on the outside looking in at a very bad time for NBC.
"I'm not, dude. I'm really not. And I'm happy for them. I really am. A lot of people assume, and this has been somewhat of a source of consternation for me, mainly because of the media-driven, for lack of a better word, B.S., that gets put in the New York media and then picked up around the country about me being overly critical of the New York Giants. I said what I said because it is my job to say what I said about the New York Giants but that doesn't mean that I'm not a supporter of an organization that was part of my family for years."I can't even believe the guy anymore. If you are even the slightest bit competitive I don't know how you couldn't be upset. Just another reason not to hire every single ex-athlete you can just because you think their name will get you ratings.
NBC's Barber is a lonely man at the Super Bowl (Market Watch)
11 Comments:
"If you are even the slightest bit competitive I don't know how you couldn't be upset."
I suddenly have the image of Tiki running out of bounds to avoid contact popping into my head.
"I'm not, dude."
What do they pay him at NBC?
Dude?
Cowturd is adding some sort of blog or chat feature to his website. That should end well.
I don't get it...when he made those comments about Eli and the Giants in the beginning of the season, weren't they doing awful? Didn't the Giants start out 0-2?
So now you want to crush a guy for being honest, after crushing announcers for candy-coating analysis of players and teams? I don't get it.
Also, last time I checked, Tiki was in a super bowl, so why exactly would he be jealous of the Giants' success?
that's what happens when you're trained by the media to be a media person. "jazz it up a little Tiki say Eli's a poor leader". that'll get fans talking, the media writing and you'll be king."
sure they were 0-2 but he kept saying it during the 12-2 follow until NBC had no more games. LOL
now NBC is being shut out because their whore can't get a date.
i highly doubt the old ladies who watch the Today show care about the Super Bowl. or that NBC wants to promote it that much since it airs on Fox anyway.
Tiki said what everyone said about Eli all year - he was inconsistent, he wasn't a leader, yet Tiki is the only one getting heat over it?
Give me a break. Tiki's definitely not a great sportscaster, but he said as a mainstream media guy what every sports follower knew - that Eli was maddeningly inconsistent, that he had no presence, and that the Giants wouldn't be a winner until Eli stepped up and became a leader. Guess what? Eli has done that in this run up to the super bowl, and now everyone wants to slurp him without acknowledging how poorly he played during the regular season.
Eli's passer rating for the regular season was 73.9! He led the league in interceptions, completed barely 56% of his passes, and Tiki's the one who is blamed for calling out a bad quarterback?
Talk about a no-win for Tiki: either he comes off like a pansy or he admits to being proof of Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory.
Tiki was a terrible teammate and a team cancer 'nough said.
I'm a diehard Giants fan, and until a month ago, I swore up and down the living room at Eli's caliber of play.
I loved Tiki as a player, even when he had a horrid case of the fumbles. So to the guy who doesn't understand the Tiki hatred...
This is NOT about a single comment Tiki made about Eli being inconsistent. If it was, you would be correct in wondering why he's taking all of the heat for it.
This is about Tiki's extensive list of abuses against the Giants. Including, but not limited to:
- blaming the coaches publically after a loss... multiple times
- breeding mistrust within the locker room with his "me-first" attitude
- using personal information about his teammates to further his own career
- refusing to give Coughlin any credit for helping to turn his career around
- publically calling out other players for things that are none of his business when he was playing (Strahan's contract, etc)
- waging war against media/announcers last year for discussing his decision to retire, saying they don't know him and shouldn't infringe on his personal space, and then insisting he has a right to do the same to the Giants organization now that he's retired
I'm sure there's more, I just don't care enought to put serious thought into this.
I'm GLAD he's getting the shaft, and if the Giants win it all I hope Eli thanks Tiki first and foremost for quitting last year. His retirement and Shockey's injury have finally gotten the Giant offense diva-free.
I agree with ya man! Without the drama Giants have gotten their shit together.
How about this? How about they just don't hire every former Giant or Cowboy five seconds after they retire? There are other teams to talk about, you know. And by that, I don't mean to find the ex-Minnesota Viking who went to USC or Notre Dame.