Poking bears. Seems like a fun time until you have to stare into their wide open gaping mouth. In the NFL this season, we’ve seen various teams poking the proverbial bear that is the New England Patriots only to eventually end up like that guy in Grizzly Bear, half eaten and spewed over some grass (or astroturf). Maybe that’s why Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin is mightily pissed at his receiver, Plaxico Burress, for saying they’re going to win on Sunday. Hm. Maybe coach is taking New England with the money line?

“I don’t understand what the problem is,” Burress said. “The goal is to come here and win, not just to step out here on Sunday and say, ‘Yeah, I’m playing in the Super Bowl.’ You can say that with more arrogance and more confidence, that were going to win the football game. The goal is to go out here and win the game.”

No matter how Burress’s words were interpreted, Coughlin was not pleased.

“This is not how we’ve done things all year,” said Coughlin, sitting in one of the dunking booth-type podiums near Burress. Whatever conversation he planned with Burress after the session would remain private, Coughlin said.

Now, we don’t usually support boasting, but during the Super Bowl? We’re going to go against coach Coughlin and give Burress a “Hell yeah!” We want our guys to have no doubt they’re going to win. For as the great philosopher Vince Lombardi once said, “He who is wishy-washy with their confidence is a man who is afraid to go over the middle to convert a third down.”

On a Day of Talk, Burress’s Words Anger Giants Coach [NY Times]
Image [cbs.com]