Tales from the New York Giants Sideline

Few sports franchises can match the long, storied history of the New York Giants. Fewer still can match their rich tradition and legion of passionate, loyal fans. As a team that can trace its roots to the very start of professional football, the Giants have endured great losses, but have soared to even greater triumphs. Along the way, the people and the personalities who made that journey stamped their own indelible marks on the Giants. The Giants are a franchise that can boast of a founder, Wellington Mara, who as a youngster was handed ownership by his father and ended up nurturing the team, intently watching each practice as if it were his first. They are a franchise that could turn years of success into nearly two decades of failure, yet continue to sell out stadiums as they frustrated and teased a desperate fan base. From the Golden Age, when they shared a workplace with baseball's renowned Yankees and enjoyed their status as Kings of the City, through the ignominy of the disastrous play known simply and sadly as "The Fumble," the Giants continued to captivate, inspire, and frustrate their diehard supporters. In Tales from the New York Giants Sideline, memories, anecdotes, names, faces, games, cheers, and tears come rushing back, along with new twists to old fables and old remembrances revitalized with fresh insight. There have been so many great players and so many great tales--like Phil Simms, nearly perfect in the biggest game of his life; Y.A. Title, battered and bruised, chasing that elusive title; the ferocity of Sam Huff; the grace of Frank Gifford; Lawrence Taylor's heroics; and Phil McConkey's heart. There has been a coach for every season and a story for every coach.Tales from the New York Giants Sideline details the motivational genius of Bill Parcells, the highs and lows under Allie Sherman, the misery under Bill Arnsparger and John McVay, the gregarious Alex Webster, the homespun Dan Reeves, Jim Fassel making friends, and Ray Handley making a mess. Only the Giants could have spawned the careers of not one, but two Hall of Fame coaches--Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry. All of the stories are featured in this book, with reminiscences bursting back to life in the words of the men in the game. Fans will read stories about the blood and sweat of training camp, the highs of the Super Bowl, the lows of last place, the good, the bad and the ugly, the fearsome opponents, the feared defenses, the quarterbacks who could and the ones who could not, the pride of the Mara family, and the wit and wisdom of general manager George Young. The New York Giants are a flagship sports franchise, and these are their stories.