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Hello friends. Any football fans in out there? Did y’all enjoy the NFL Draft? I happen to be a Giants fan myself, which means that the draft was very...um...eventful. But I’m not here to talk about the decision to draft running back Saquon Barkley No. 2 overall. Instead, I’m here to talk about the return of “big butts” to the New York sporting parlance:
Giants GM Dave Gettleman is happy with his Draft: "We got big butts, we got power, we got speed. Sorry if that was inappropriate." pic.twitter.com/Dv2WyMNCQt
— SportsNet New York (@SNYtv) April 28, 2018
That is the Giants’ new general manager, 67-year-old Dave Gettleman, rappin’ about big ol’ booties. Of course, big butts were all the rage for the Knicks during the Phil Jackson Era, ever since Jackson chronicler Charley Rosen ridiculed future All Star Karl-Anthony Towns for having a slender rump.
But there were many more reminders of Phil this weekend, beyond the butts. Just listen to Gettleman deride modern thinking about positional value in the draft.
Here's Dave Gettleman's response when asked about the positional value of RBs: "a lot of that's nonsense [...] someone who had this idea and got into the analytics of it" pic.twitter.com/8s23UQfoFE
— Ben Baldwin (@guga31bb) April 27, 2018
I just watched Gettleman's and Shurmur's Saquon Barkley presser. Highlight for me was Gettleman mimicking an analytics nerd by typing on an imaginary keyboard, while a half-awake Shurmur watches his fingers. Good luck, Giants fans. pic.twitter.com/tf7PvmxzvU
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) April 27, 2018
Very reminiscent of Jackson’s “how’s it goink” attitudes to the modern NBA offense, no?
I don’t know nearly enough about football to criticize the Giants’ decision-making in the 2018 draft. Perhaps mocking “the nerds” while advocating team-building strategies that seem to be several years behind the times actually works in the NFL. All I know is that is sure as hell didn’t work in the NBA under Jackson.
As the Knicks continue to move on from Jackson by hiring a new head coach and preparing for the NBA Draft, I continue to be impressed by the professionalism of the Steve Mills/Scott Perry regime. They might not succeed, but at least Knicks fans will be spared any rambling old man press conferences for the near future. Sadly, Giants fans aren’t so fortunate.