Championships usually tend to give people trophy goggles -- the romanticized sense that a player is better than in reality. Kevin Boss, in particular, was a pleasant surprise for the late-season Giants. During the stretch leading them to Lombardi, almost everything went well for him. But that's the thing: everything went well for the Giants, period. You can't use that sample size to project the future, because that sample size was probably an anomaly. An exaggeration, at the least.
Which is why I winced when the Giants hitched their apple wagon to Boss' star, shipping Jeremy Shockey off. And though I guess it's true that they had to dump Shockey no matter what, it seems a bit dubious of the team and its fans to expect Boss to live up to the myth that has built around him.
So it's not surprising, to me, to hear offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride pepper his enthusiasm with a ton of caution in discussing the position. You would never expect Gilbride to flat-out criticize the group, but he makes it clear that they have a lot of improving to do, noting that they don't have one guy who can "do it all."
Of course, they had one of those guys. And they decided that it was best for the team to go with Boss. Which is fine, morale plays a large part in team success, and Boss helps it. If you're expecting him to be an elite tight end this season on top of that, well, you're probably setting yourself up for a let down.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2008 @ 10:23PM
Shane said...
Expectation quite often leads to letdown!
Boss will be a solid tight end.
No he is not the athlete Shockey was.
No he is'nt the blocker Shockey was.
However, Boss has better hands, is a better route runner, and is conducive to a more consistent offense,
He is a bigger guy who can become as good if not a better blocker with the extra arm length he has.
So, yes, he should be a better tight end for the Giants when you consider the "other" aspects .
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8-12-2008 @ 6:03AM
giant fan since 57 said...
The Giants tried to win it all with a guy named Tiki who could do it all. In the end it was the team "doing it all" that won the Super Bowl.
There is no myth associated with Boss. He simply does his job to the best of his ability and his head fits nicely into his helmet.
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8-14-2008 @ 1:14PM
Will M. said...
Everything went well for the Giants? Went well?
This is professional football your commenting on, not Texas Hold'Em where you might have a good hand dealt to you.
Went well? What went well? They had extra pillows on the flights to the three playoff victories as visitors? The Bucs, Cowboys, Packers and Undefeated Pats all didn't sleep well before these games? What a stroke of luck! I guess the endless preparation, hard work and focus was the icing on the cake.
I defy you to intellegently defend this statement "went well" for the Giants.
If not, stop blogging and go down to the corner bar and yell these moronic statemnts at the TV with the rest of the yahoos.
You sir, are doing a disservice to the NFL, not just the Giants.
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