This site is always interested in the quantitative side of sports.  When you look at one of the books we feature, Money Ball, that is pretty much all you need to know about how we think. We like to know the odds, and how Vegas handicaps the next game. 

Where do you get odds and data online? Here are two places- one has a list of top online sportbook sites, and the other features how to play at wagerweb.  

I love the information that these sites provide.  As an example, tomorrow's NBA Game 5 in San Antonio has the Heat favored by -1.5.  That tells me a lot about what the public's dollars think about the game and the Series. 

Closer to home, the Giants are seen this year as having the most likely chances of winning the NFC East in 2013.

Most important, there was arguably the biggest news of the Giants offseason when Victor Cruz signed a 1 year tender.  It would have been pretty hard to imagine the Giants as contenders this season without Cruz.  Add that Hakeem Nicks (who held out of 9 OTAs) seems to be injured or playing hurt all of the time, and the picture at WR was murky to say the least.  We like Louis Murphy a lot.  But having guys like him and Randle giving the Giants depth is infinitely better than having them as starters.  One last note: Victor, we luv ya, and we think you need to get paid (not the #s you're asking, fwiw), but if you hold out at training camp, you'll piss us off.

Last week I read a piece in ESPN which did not have Bill Parcells in the Top 20 of NFL Coaches.  When I read Rick Reilly's reasons for why he did not put Parcells in this list, I knew a response was needed.  There is nothing like a little Giant motivation to set the record straight.  In the process, if we expose Mr. Reilly for being sloppy in his analysis, all the better.

Let's start with why Mr. Reilly did not put Parcells on his list of Top 20 NFL coaches:

"..his regular-season coaching record was only .570, which ranks below most of the coaches in my top 20."

Really? Reilly? REALLY?  Are you kidding me?  This would be like Joe Girardi of the NY Yankees getting knocked for having a (coincidentally) .577 won loss record here in 2013 when 103% of his players are injured.  IT HAS TO DO WITH WHAT HAND YOU WERE GIVEN TO PLAY WITH, RICK!  Bill Parcells lifts franchises mired in sh*t, makes them competitive, makes them win games, gets them all to the playoffs, goes to the Super Bowl, and wins two titles.  What else do you want the man to do, walk on water?

He doesn't resurrect one franchise.
He doesn't resurrect two franchises
He doesn't resurrect three franchises.
HE RESURRECTS A TOTAL OF FOUR DIFFERENT FRANCHISES.

If that is not the mark of greatness, I do not know what it is.  Let's took at the tape.

New York Giants
In the 3 years before Parcells was coach, the team was 17-24.  During Parcells' tenure as head coach, he was 75-49-1.  Not bad, considering 1 year was wrecked by the Giants not scamming for replacements and losing 3 games pronto.  Or his first season as an NFL coach, where he went 3-12-1.  Oh, and he lost both his parents inside of 6 weeks during that season.  Bill Parcells was a NY Giants legend, plain and simple.  He ended a 30 year drought with a title.  And the second title was smoke and mirrors versus the 49ers and Bills.  Parcells was a riverboat gambler who knew what it meant to win a title or go home.  He faked 4th down with Rutledge in XXI.  He faked with Reasons on a punt in the NFC Championship in SF.  He pulled out all of the stops to find a way to win.     

New England Patriots
In the 3 years before Parcells was brought in as head coach, the Patriots were the Patsies.  They were a combined 9-39.  But Reilly is upset that Parcells only has a .570 average?!  He takes a completely awful franchise, turns them around, and brings them to the Super Bowl in 4 years.  His won-loss average here-> at 32-32 it looks positively pedestrian.  But he started with losers and left with winners.  It was that foundation of instilling a winning culture that enabled Kraft to build a successful franchise thereafter.  All of Kraft's success can be traced to the start with Bill Parcells.

New York Jets
All we have to do here is mention two words to the informed, and this case is closed.  Rich Kotite.  For the uninformed, Kotite was the NFL's version of the Titanic, who took Pete Carroll's 6-10 legacy and managed to go 3-13 the following year, not to be outdone with a 1-15 season the year after.  Yep, Parcells inherited a 10-38 mess and once again had to reclaim something from this train wreck.  He proceeded to go 29-19 in the next 3 years, taking the Jetsies to within 30 minutes of the Super Bowl.  Oh, and along the way, he reclaimed a QB named Vinny Testaverde.  And while we are talking about Testaverde, Parcells' worst record of the 3 years in Jetsville (8-8) was 1999, when Testaverde tore his Achilles in the first game of the season.  And maybe Mr. Reilly needs to be reminded that Testaverde's starting replacement for 9 of the remaining games was Ray Lucas, who went 6-3 and had more completions in those 9 games than he did the rest of his entire career in the NFL.  

Dallas Cowboys
It took all of 2 games in Dallas for Bill Parcells to undress Jim Fassel's 6 years in NY.  I was in the building on that fateful Monday night in 2003 when putzy could not put away Bill.  Fassel left 14 seconds on the clock, enough time for Quincy Carter (Quincy who?) to get a tie and bring it to OT, setting up a subsequent win.  We could stop there, but for the Reillys of the world who need to be educated, Dallas was another sewer before Parcells arrived.  Parcells' predecessor this time was Dave Campo of 15-33 ignominy.  Parcells would finish 34-30 with 4 different starting QBs before finally settling on an undrafted free agent named Romo. He watched in horror as his young QB fumbled a snap from center on an extra point, losing a playoff contest.  

Bill Parcells was no angel.  He was no Level 5 leader either, leaving teams in the lurch after he left and even leaving teams before he arrived.  If he could have stayed in one place, perhaps he would have had Reilly's better won-loss record, but that was not who Bill Parcells was.  The late George Young once said of Parcells: "Bill knows what defense he'll call during the second series three games from now.  He doesn't know what he's doing in his own life three days from now."

What about Parcells' legacy in football?  We demonstrated how he turned 4 franchises around, teaching them how to win.  He left a legacy of players who were molded into consummate professionals.  Phil Simms candidly confesses that not a day goes by when he is not thinking about or quoting his mentor from NY.  Lawrence Taylor is one of the greatest to have ever played the game (he'd be #2 on my list behind Jim Brown).  But where do you think LT would have been without Parcells?  LT would be the first to tell you that his career would not have been the same.  He did so, in as many words at his Hall of Fame induction:

"And I’d like to thank a coach, that without him. Man I tell you, he’s the coach of coaches, in my opinion. Bill Parcells, I have never in my life had a coach that knew the game of football as well and knew me as well and was able to put the two together and make a great combination. This guy is instrumental, and I was asked about Bill – do we talk any more? Well it’s like a marriage that’s lasted 30 years. You really don’t talk that much but you know you love each other anyway. And that’s the way Bill and myself (are) now."

Parcells stamped his winning football formula on his coaching assistants too.  He spawned a total of 9 head coaches and 6 Super Bowl titles.  Among them were Bill Belichick (3 titles), Tom Coughlin (2 titles), and Sean Payton (1 title).  You see the Parcells tree in  Payton's call for a successful onside kick to start the 3rd Quarter of Super Bowl XLIV. You see it in Coughlin's preparation.  And you see it in Belichick's linebackers and tight ends.  

Parcells began as a head coach 30 years ago.  His 2 titles, plus his coaching tree of 6 more yield 8 titles in total.  That is 27% of the NFL titles won these last 3 decades.  That is frightening. That is a legacy.  That is why he is easily one of the best of all time.  If Parcells rolled out of the bed the wrong way he would still be in the Top 20.  

Total
Bill Parcells took four different teams that were a combined 51-134 before he was there, turned them around, got ALL four teams to the playoffs, took two to the Super Bowl, and won 2 Super Bowls.  That his won-loss average was 172-130-1 is probably the LEAST RELEVANT STATISTIC imaginable.  Yet this is cited for one of the main reasons why an ESPN writer can leave him off this list.  You know what the other reason was?

Reilly: "Parcells' stature was blown up because he did his best work in New York, which is the scuba mask of the world. Everything you do in New York looks one-third bigger than it really is."  Really Reilly?  Is that the best you can do? 

Looking over the list, I would put Parcells in at #9, right after Bill Walsh.  Like the quote about Don Shula, 'he can take his'n and beat your'n.  Or he can take your'n and best his'n.'  That was Bill Parcells too. If you gave Parcells the 49ers on Jan 20, 1991 or the Bills on January 27th, he would have won with those two teams as well.

Parcells is a Super Bowl Champion who changed the game and left a legacy on the NFL.  He demanded and earned the respect of his players and assistants.  In a couple of months, the entire football community will turn out to enshrine him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  When August comes, listen to what his former players and assistants say about the man.  No one deserves this recognition more than Bill Parcells.

What is the objective in the latter rounds (aka Day 3) of the NFL draft?  Find guys with potential.  If you look at the stats, some don't even make the team as rookies.  Most are gone from the NFL after ~3 years.  You can get a roster spot by sticking on specials, but you won't make the cut after the ~3rd camp if you do not at least show some flashes of being able to be a solid backup.

Enter the 2013 draft, and we are looking for potential.  Low risk.  High reward.  The Giants did great with the R4 selection and got exactly that- QB Ryan Nassib is the right player at the right spot.  If the Giants took him earlier, it would have been too costly, as the real estate in that zip code makes the price too expensive.  Here in the 4th Round, if it does not work, next.  But if it works out, the possibilities are GI-normous.  Because of the situation with Eli, the Giants have the luxury of grooming this kid.  They have TIME. They can develop him. 

Trent Dilfer points out a mechanical issue in his throwing motion- this is the stuff that can fixed.  How did Aaron Rodgers become a great QB?  His mechanics were worked on once he became a Packer and Phil Simms barely recognized the pro Rodgers from the college Rodgers.  So think of Ryan Nassib as an open canvas that the Giants coaches can paint on. 

What is truly exciting is that Nassib has the intangibles.  He is tough.  He is natural leader.  So he has a tremendous amount of potential.  And because Eli is healthy right now, you can slide him in as your backup and hopefully he learns the system properly.  Eli is a great teammate and teacher too.  It is an incredible opportunity for Nassib.  Because of this guy's character, I think that he can make the most out of the situation.  We are as objective as we can be about Reese, so here he deserves a great deal of credit for trying to build a link from Eli to the future.  This is precisely what good managers do- they don't make an organization all about themselves or one player, they develop staff that can make it about the team.  So let's hope Eli can stay healthy and play until he is 40.  But if he cannot, maybe there is the potential to have the NY Giants' next starting QB.

In R5 the Giants selected Cooper Taylor.  He is listed a (big) Safety so he may be converted to a smaller LBer.  Wonder says this is a project, but that he does have a little bit of upside.  Let's see what he can deliver.  A guy like this certainly will have an opportunity to make a name for himself on specials. 

The R7 picks (225 and 253 compensatory) have not been picked yet.  We will share some notes on them later.      

The New York Giants went for Defensive Line in Round 2 and Round 3 of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Our draft analyst Wonder gives an unequivocal opinion on both DT Johnathan Hankins and DE Damontre Moore.  And they could not be any further apart.  Huge thumbs up for Moore and a huge thumbs down for Hankins.  "As bad as the Round 2 pick (Hankins) was, the pick of Moore was equally as good, if not great," says Wonder.  It's all about scheme, and for the Giants DL, it  is part of a 4-3 defense.  Hence the takeaway on both players.

"Hankins is a space eater.  He belongs in a 3-4 to clog up the middle.  I do not understand why the Giants, who use a 4-3, drafted this player.  He's a 2 gap, not a 1 gap.  He does not have the foot speed to get between Guard and Center.  He takes up space period.  This is good for a 3-4 Defense.  For my Jets, or for Dallas, he would be an ok or good pick.  For the Giants, it is a misfit, a terrible pick."

Marvelous, who is incredibly knowledgeable about the Big 10, is very familiar with Hankins: "430 lbs of cr*p from Ohio State no less." (Wonder's initial reaction, which we tweeted, was similarly unflattering.)

As much as Wonder dislikes Hankins in blue, he LOVES Damontre Moore.  Wonder was effusive about the new DE.  "I had him at ~40 in the Draft.  He is mobile and aggressive.  He is a good solid 4-3 DE with potential to develop into a very good pro.  Whatever "it" is, he has it.  He has playmaking ability, he has some speed, he has moves, he played in the SEC, he has experience, and it is just a good solid pick.  Great value for middle of R3. 

"Moore is the best pick of the Giants draft thus far.  He enables the Giants to continue to do their DE rotation with Tuck and JPP, something they had with Osi.  As bad as the R2 pick was, the R3 pick of Moore was as good if not better."

For Wonder, so much of this is scheme.  As an example, he is confounded at how the Jets take Sheldon Richardson, who belongs on the 4-3 Giants, and the Giants take Hankins, who belongs on the 3-4 Jets.  "Maybe they can make a trade?!"  

The NY Giants selected Guard/Tackle Justin Pugh out of Syracuse.  He is an okay selection, at least filling a need on the Offensive Line.  Jerry Reese called Pugh the best guy on their board (when they selected), but our draft analyst believes there were better picks.  "Pugh has 32" arms," said Wonder.  "I am not taking an OLineman with 32" arms at #19 in the NFL Draft.  He's a Right Tackle with short arms.  He is not DJ Fluker, who is a road grader.  Pugh does not flash on film. He is a technician.  I had him at 26 going to the Packers because the Packers were desperate for OL, not because he belonged at 26."    

Wonder goes on to explain the evaluation of Pugh.  "Pugh will be an okay NFL player.  He's a 3 (solid starter) or 4 (replaceable starter).  At the college level you can get away with good technique w/o all of the necessary physical skills.  In the pros, I am worried about speed rushers beating him with swim moves, arm bars, and cutting inside of him because of the short arms.  In college you don't see the NFL DEs like Aldon Smith who are fast on the edge.  Pugh is not a Guard, he is a Right Tackle, and his arms will be a liability.  He cannot move to Left Tackle.  Pugh is an okay pick, nothing to write home about, not a lot of upside."

Mike Mayock rebutts the issue about Justin Pugh's arms.  "It's a combination of great feet and a technician. He takes great angles. He never missteps, and when he locks on he's got heavy hands. Almost everything he does he's under control.  Natural bender on the left side... I love watching this guy's tape."

Who was the pick for the Giants at that spot, given who was available?  Wonder responds: "For my draft, I do not understand why you would not take Alec Ogletree.  There is a player with upside.  If the Giants and the rest of the NFL are worried about the character issues of the DUI, I understand that, but you take a chance with a guy who makes plays.  Ogletree will make plays.  Other players there who would have been fine would be Shariff or Rhodes."

Before this draft, we were optimistic about the Giants drafting a LBer or OL.  The Giants drafted the latter, and for that we are happy.  The quick takeaway is that Pugh is not a potentially dominating prospect, but he is on the Giants now and we will root for him to do as well as he can.  For Wonder's part in evaluating other Giants Round 1 selections in the past, he saw JPP as feast or famine and ranked at 33 because of his lack of college experience.  He did not like Amukamara and was very much validated by all of the other GMs who passed on him when he "fell" (did he?!) to the Giants.  He liked Nicks, but liked Britt a little more.  He was lukewarm on Phillips, in much the same way that he is lukewarm on Pugh.

Not that this is the arbiter of success, but Pugh had the second lowest grade (73) of anyone taken in Round 1 as measured by NFL.com.  (QB EJ Manuel was lower.)  Pugh is suiting up in Giants blue.  For our part, we hope that Mayock's points are going to be what matters.  The Giants have an excellent OL Coach in Pat Flaherty, so we would expect Pugh to develop well and be a solid contributer on Offense.