We continue to grow here at Sparty & Friends, and today is just another step forward in giving you, our readers, some quality conent.

Today we have an interview with WCNYFGs beat writer, Ralph Vacchiano.  Ralph writes a  column on the team for New York Daily News, as well as his daily blogging at the Blue Screen, hosted at the NYDN site.  He also just completed his first book; Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback.  I have been reading Mr. Vacchiano for a few years now, and communication between us began shortly after our piece on the stadium naming rights controversey a couple months back.  We cordially disagreed, but that eventually had us emailing back and forth and that led into this interview.  So, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.

Sparty: Thanks again for your time Ralph, I know it is precious this time of year.  We have several loyal World Champion New York Football Giant fans (or WCNYFG, those are the only acceptable ways of referencing this team) at our site that are familiar with your work, but can you give our other readers a little history on how you came to covering the Champs?

Ralph Vacchiano: Pure luck, really. Well, mostly. I’ll try not to bore your loyal WCNYFG fans with this story: After I graduated from Syracuse — back in the days when their football team would win more than once a year — I got a job at a tiny newspaper in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The paper had a really small staff, so I occasionally got the opportunity to cover the Buffalo Bills, which technically made me an NFL writer. I eventually got another job at a small paper (bigger than tiny, smaller than a bread box) closer to home called the North Jersey Herald & News, where I really became an NFL writer. I covered your NYFG from 1993 through training camp, 1997. That’s when, armed with six-plus years of NFL experience, I got hired by the New York Daily News to cover … Hockey. Makes sense, right? A few years, and a Stanley Cup (Devils, 2000) later the Giants beat was open, and they moved me over. I started right after Super Bowl XXXV, actually. I used to say it was all downhill for the Giants from there.

S: I was just doing one of my 5 minute refreshes at The Big Lead and they have a link to an interview with you at BLUENATIC.  Man, I thought we were first on your World Book Tour?  You know what, don’t answer that.  Let’s talk about your book, Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback.  I actually just placed an order over at Amazon.  This book is really just about Eli the QB, no?  From the description, it seems to me that we really don’t get to know who he is off the field. Which I am fine with, I just want him to win football games.  But from your extensive research of him, and really observing him the last few years, does he have what it takes to really become a top flight QB? I mean comparable with Tom Brady, his brother Peyton, and former Giant great; Dave Brown?  I hated Dave Brown.  Are those realistic expectations, or just that he has to deal with it since he was the #1 pick and has the Manning name?  And more importantly, have you ever heard Eli actually say “Aw, shucks?”

RV: Well, if I had known you were going to order the book I would’ve bumped you up in the rotation! You are mostly right. The book is about Eli’s development or journey from a top prospect through his bumpy start and all the way to Super Bowl XLII. There are a few chapters on his background, but no I don’t go into his off-the-field life or habits. If he’s got any Charles Haley like tendencies, I don’t know them and I didn’t write about them. It’s also about the bigger picture of NFL quarterbacks in general. I wanted to show how much goes into finding and developing NFL quarterbacks, and how crazy it was for people to write off Eli so early in his career. Making a quarterback (catchy, isn’t it?) is a complicated process, and it takes time and patience. It’s also pretty risky. If a GM or team is wrong about a QB, it could set a franchise back five years. The Giants aren’t wrong, though. Eli definitely has what it takes to be a top-flight QB. In fact, I’d argue he might be one right now. Ever since his rookie year, really, he had shown flashes of the talent. He was never, ever in Dave Brown’s category. By the time he had started 10 games he probably had three or four that were better than any games Brownie ever threw. So the talent was there. All that was missing was the consistency. He had to stop following up two or three good games with an awful month. Is it realistic to expect him to be Peyton or Tom Brady? It’s not ridiculous. He may never string together 4,000-yard seasons like his brother, and who knows if he’ll win as many Super Bowls as Brady? But I bet he’s got multiple Pro Bowls in him and maybe another Super Bowl (or two). And no, I’ve never actually heard him say “Aw shucks,” but I’m pretty sure he says it with his eyes.

S: Tom Coughlin. The man sure does seem different since the first couple seasons at the helm.  Do you think the new “friendly” TC attitude has helped you do your job better?  Or is the access still very limited?

RV:Tom is friendlier? I hadn’t noticed. Actually, I do think he’s loosened the reins on the media a little, and every little bit helps. It hasn’t been a huge change. We get a little more access to his assistant coaches (though the league mandated some of that) and Coughlin is a little more open to being questioned than he used to be. It’s made my working environment a little more pleasant. And it definitely helps when the coach is more willing to talk and explain things. Trust me, you and the rest of my readers are better off with me relaying his explanation of what happened on the field than with me just making a guess. So yes, I’d say it’s helped. We’re not back in the Jim Fassel days, when I could call the head coach at home or just walk into the locker room during the offseason whenever I wanted, but I suspect those days are gone forever.

S: In that vain, how in the the hell did the NY media miss the constant fining of Plaxico Burress?  It also seems like the players were quite satisfied that he finally was held accountable for his actions with the suspension.  Does that seem to be the case?

RV:You know what? We didn’t miss it entirely. We just missed it a little. That’s not a cop out (OK, maybe it’s a little bit of a copout). I wrote a story for the Daily News before the 2007 season in which I wrote about how Burress had matured at age 30 and was becoming better at following rules (good job there, by me). I wrote about how he had been fined many times in the previous two years, and he admitted that he constantly broke Coughlin’s rules just for the hell of it. And we wrote about a few of the minor incidents in 2007, though there weren’t nearly as many. Still, clearly none of us knew he had become a bigger problem in 2008. I think the reason for that is that most of the fines were minor – a lateness here, the wrong socks there. Most of the times the only people that knew were Coughlin and Burress and whoever cooks the Giants’ books. None of them on their own were a big deal, and unfortunately none of us put the bigger picture together. Only after his AWOL day were organizational sources popping off about the “dozens” of fines he had incurred over the years, and suddenly the picture came into focus. So we kind of knew, but never fully connected the dots. And yes, the players – almost to a man, from what I could tell – were happy Coughlin came down hard on Burress. When a second-year player like Steve Smith comes out and says that he hopes Burress has learned his lesson, because he’s always skipping or being late to meetings, that’s shocking. Young players almost never take on veterans publicly. But Smith had the backing of everyone in that room.

S:  You have never backed away from Jeremy Shockey talk. What do you think really happened?  I know it became ugly in the end, but I just see it as that the WCNYFG saw that they had a young TE in Kevin Boss, with a lot of potential who was able to contribute and costs a lot less than Shock.  I don’t believe it was Shockey’s attitude, or that he made Eli a worse QB with all his yapping on the field and in the huddle.  What do you think?

RV: Well, much as I hate to do it, I do disagree with you. Shockey was a pain in the rump to the entire organization on many, many levels. Over the years he had caused many problems with his mouth, whether it was erupting that the team was “out-coached” or detailing his sexual fantasies to magazines, or objecting to the possibility of a gay teammate on the Howard Stern Show. But those were minor headaches compared to the ones he was causing on the field. He was such a disruptive personality – whether it was yapping in Eli’s ear, or stomping his feet, or cursing out teammates on the sidelines, or simply going on a rampage about not being involved in the offense – that the Giants’ coaches were literally drawing up plays to keep him quiet and happy. They didn’t want to run a TE-heavy offense. They wanted to run three- and four-receiver sets. But, hard as it may be to believe – and trust me, I was shocked when I first heard this – they felt like they had to get Shockey involved so he’d shut up. They thought it was worth it to make sure he was thrown three, four, five balls a game if it meant he’d be a little quieter. Now, you might say that’s a colossally stupid way to run a team – and you might be right — but he was such a dominating personality and presence that they felt like they had no choice. And still, despite all that, they absolutely did not want to trade him. Really. Almost everyone in the organization that I know has told me that. They were hoping and praying that Shockey would calm down after his angry off-season, that he would forgive the Giants for what he believed were their sins (though he made up most of them) and would return and be a good teammate. They like Kevin Boss, but he’s no Shockey and there’s no telling if he ever will be. Unfortunately, Shockey wouldn’t shut up, cursed out the GM, and promised members of the front office that he’d be an even bigger distraction during the summer if they didn’t grant his trade request. So, very reluctantly, they did.

S: One more question about the actual football team. Even with the Osi injury, the loss of Michael Strahan, do you think this is a better team than last years squad?

RV: I don’t know. They’re better in spots, that’s for sure. The offense is better and deeper than last year. The running game is more powerful and a confident Eli seems a lot better. The secondary seems to be playing better than last year (their Monday night loss in Cleveland notwithstanding). I worry a little about the depth on the defense, though – especially along the D-line. I love Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka, but it’s what’s behind them on the depth chart that worries me. This may not answer your question, but even though I picked them to go 9-7 this year I now believe they’ll finish with a better record than last year’s 10-6 team. Remember, last year’s team didn’t really find itself until December. This team already has. Maybe that makes them a better team than last year. I guess it probably does.

S: Let’s talk about these PSL’s.  My family has had season tickets for well over 30 years now, luckily our PSLs are of the “cheaper” variety.  With the economy the way it is, and attendance actually seeing a downward trend in many places such as KC and Tampa, doesn’t ownership feel any bit of guilt over these ridiculous prices?  I know people that have been loyal season ticket holders for 40 years and now have to give them up because they don’t have 20k per seat.   I don’t know, if Wellington Mara was still alive, I just cannot see him doing this.  Or is this just the harsh reality of not building a facility with tax dollars?

RV: Well, if they don’t feel guilty they should. It’s greed. Pure greed, plain and simple. Loyalty in sports is a laughable concept, and your loyalty is only as valuable as your bank account. It sucks, but it’s the way of the world – and particularly the way of the sports world. Personally, I think Wellington Mara never would’ve allowed this, though John – his son – says he would’ve had no choice because the debt on the stadium is so huge. I don’t doubt that the debt is huge, but I think they could’ve paid for it with private financing, loans from the league, ad revenue, naming rights, etc., etc. Plus, they’re still drawing TV money, merchandising money, etc., etc., etc. What they couldn’t have done without PSLs is fund the stadium and still made an enormous profit, which is what I believe these PSLs are truly funding. Of course, they also could’ve built a slightly less … I don’t know, less palatial stadium, maybe?. I mean, did they really need to build one that cost $1.6 billion? I know some of that is because costs have skyrocketed (the initial estimates were $800 million) but couldn’t they have cut some costs along the way? Maybe a few less solid gold shower heads in the luxury suites, or maybe not the marble entry to the players’ hot tub? (I don’t know if those things really exist, but I wouldn’t bet against it). Unfortunately, all that matters to owners in sports nowadays – and businessmen everywhere – is the bottom line. They know they could’ve charged double what they’re charging for PSLs and still sold them all, so in their minds they’ve given you a break. They also actually feel like they’ve given you an “investment opportunity.” And they absolutely know for sure that very few people are going to say “Gee thanks, but I’ll pass.”

S: Let’s change gears to the rest of the league. Al Davis. Power hungry, old school owner? Or batshit crazy? Also, why the hell isn’t he getting criticized by the talking heads like the Steinbrenners or the Jerry Jones of the sports world do?  Are people that afraid of him?

RV: After the whole Lane Kiffin fiasco and Davis’ remarkable press conference, I’d lean towards crazy. Someone said that he’s lost his fastball, but I really think he’s just lost control of his fastball. He’s like Nook LaLoosh on the mound now before Crash Davis got him reined in. He’s throwing darts everywhere, nobody knows what his plan is, and nobody’s safe. His whole organization has no clue, or at least that’s the way it seems. Sure, he’s power hungry too. And I think he gets criticized a lot for that. People have ripped him for being meddling, for not letting his head coach hire his own assistants, for apparently wanting to design and call some plays. He probably gets criticized less than the Steinbrenners and Jerry Jones because those owners are way more public with their zaniness. I mean, they provide daily material. They’re always talking to the press. Davis is like a crazy Wizard of Oz. He only peeks out from behind the curtain once in a while, so you’re left criticizing his methods and his results and after a while it’s the same old refrain. I don’t think anyone, anywhere is afraid of him – certainly not in the media. But after a while, if there’s nothing new, it’s like “OK, we get it. He’s crazy. The team stinks. … Now, did you hear what Hank Steinbrenner said today? Wow.”

S: Hank may be crazier than his father.  Anyway, has Brett Favre really pulled the wool over the eyes of everyone in the nation?  I swear, if the Patriots just tackled Desmond Howard, the man probably would have been just another Dan Marino, and nobody except those in Western PA and Miami like Dan Marino.

RV: You know, I’m kind of on your side on this one. Don’t get me wrong: I like Favre and I’d take him on my team. I’d also put him in the conversation of the NFL’s all-time best. He’s done some things on a football field that amaze me. I find him gutsy, talented, a terrific leader … almost everything you’d want in a quarterback. But as I’ve pointed out many times, he’s also the NFL’s all-time leader in interceptions, and that didn’t happen by accident. He is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward. And for that reason, I would not put him in my list of the top 5 quarterbacks of all-time, as so many people do. I’d have to give it some thought, but if he cracked the top 10 he’d be near the bottom. Too many times in big games his team has lost because of him. Now, granted, the Packers won many, many, many games because of him, but the quarterback should never be the reason a team loses. (Shamless plug alert) You’ll learn a lot more about this in my book, but the best way to judge a quarterback is by his ability to lead his team down the field for a touchdown at the end of a game, when the game is on the line. And in those situations, with Favre, I always got the feeling that he was just winging it and it was 50-50 which team was going to come down with the ball. And yes, absolutely, if it wasn’t for Desmond Howard, Favre and Marino would be in the same, championship-less boat. That’s a factor, too.

S:  So when do we start calling Tony Romo the A-Rod of the NFL?

RV: You mean, T-Rod? That’s funny, and I’d imagine that’s going to stick if he manages to choke in the playoffs again this year. He’ll earn some respect from me, though, if he manages to play through his pinkie problem. And I’m not just saying that because he’s on my fantasy football team. It’s a tough injury, though. I’ve sprained my pinkie before. It’s tough to type. But sometimes you’ve just got to tough it out.

S: Most insane player in the NFL?  We are rolling the dice with Joey Porter.  Completely unhinged!

RV: Joey Porter is a good one. But the truth is, I had a chance to sit with him for a little while at Super Bowl XL (we had someone assigned to the Joey Porter table just in case he said something stupid … really) and I found him to be oddly thoughtful. Either I just caught one of his rare lucid moments, or he’s more methodical with his craziness than you think. He was in a war of words with Seahawks TE Jerramy Stevens that week, and he really took his time and considered his options before shooting his mouth off in seemingly random directions. So, to answer your question, I have two votes for the MIP (Most Insane Player): Chad Johnson and Clinton Portis. I give half a vote to Chad because an interview with him really feels like a counseling session at the nut house. He’s rambling, incoherent, and never quite answers your question. Plus, he changed his name legally to Ochocinco, which isn’t even Spanish for 85. I mean, even his wacky agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has seemingly thrown up his hands at trying to explain this guy. And the other half vote goes to Portis because it takes a special type of crazy to position yourself as a supporter of both Michael Vick and Pacman Jones. He’s one concussion away from wearing a headband that reads “Free Charles Manson”.

S: I would ask you a question about Lupica, but I figure you love your job too much.  So I will ask you about someone else.  Is Ray Barone from Newsday really as big of a tool as we all think he is?

RV: First of all, I love Mike Lupica. And I’m not just saying that because I love my job. He was an idol of mine when I was a young sportswriter, he’s treated me well since I’ve been at the News, and he’s a pioneer in this business. All the extra money I make on TV, radio, and wherever is because he paved the way for sportswriters crossing over into broadcasting. He was the first celebrity sportswriter. (P.S.: Please feel free to forward this to my editors). As for Barone, yeah he’s a pretty big tool. I actually hated that show at first. The very first episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that I saw was the Super Bowl episode when he went down to the game, played golf for a week, got tickets to the game and was bringing his wife. And I think I saw it right after I got back from the Super Bowl, which is really a 10-day marathon of 10-hour work days. I was so aggravated that he was portraying a sportswriter as someone who never actually writes or works or does anything, really, that it was two years until I watched the show again. I mean, I know the image of a sportswriter is of a big, fat, sloppy guy who never played sports in his life, has a Super Big Gulp of Mountain Dew on the table in front of him, a jelly donut in his hand, and pizza sauce stained on his shirt, and sits in a chair in a comfy press box watching sports and shouting out mean and unfair criticism even though he has no idea what he’s talking about, but … you know, I actually know a few sportswriters like that, come to think of it.

S: Speaking of of the Devil, do you know who Dan Shanoff is?  If you are puzzled I understand, he kinda writes as if he knows something about sports and you can sometimes find him up Will Leitch’s rear. (i will most definitely have a followup question or statement regardless of your response, this website was founded off his ignorance).

RV: Dan Shanoff? Of course I know who Dan Shanoff is. He’s a legend. He’s one of the greats. He’s brilliant. He’s … he’s … OK, I had absolutely no idea until I googled him just a few minutes ago. Now I know there’s a Danshanoff.com and he used to write for ESPN.com. I’m not as well-versed in the internet and blog world as I really should be. I’m also guessing that Dan Shanoff has no idea who I am. Nor should he, really.

S: I recently read on one of your Blue Screen posts, and I am paraphrasing here, that you have a hard time controlling the urge to pop WCNYFG PR guru Pat Hanlon.  I think the guy should be working PR for one of the Presidential candidates.  But that is one man that I wouldn’t want to anger when he has had a few too many drinks.  No real question, but you can feel free to add anything.

RV: One of the first classes I took at Syracuse was “How to control the urge to pop a PR person.” It’s one of the most challenging aspects of being a sportswriter.

S: So you went to the Cuse?  Yeah, their football team sucks. You may want to have the NYDN erase that portion from your bio blurb.

RV: I was thinking of running a contest on my blog to choose a new alma mater for me during football season. I felt like I needed to root for a new college football team because I just wasn’t enjoying my Saturdays anymore. Then I discovered the joy of rooting AGAINST Syracuse to ensure that Greg Robinson will be fired. It’s actually even more enjoyable than rooting for the Orange.

S:  How do you feel the blogging world has impacted your line of work?  Do you see it as a vehicle that has dummy downed the sports fan? Or that is has actually educated people even more than ever?

>RV:The blogging world – and the internet in general — has had a bigger impact on my line of work than anything that has happened during the 17 years of my career so far. When I started, not to sound like an old man, but I didn’t even own a computer. And the newspaper world was simple. Once the paper went to press, a new day basically began. If the presses started at 3 a.m. and news broke at 3:30 a.m., that news would have to be held for the following day. Even as recently as four or five years ago, if I heard the Giants were making a trade at 10 a.m., I could go about my day, see my family, do work around the house, whatever, and then come home at 6 p.m. and write the story. Now, of course, if the trade happens at 10 a.m. it’s all over the planet by 10:05. Newspapers were realizing that their papers were starting to contain “old news” so they were forced to jump feet first (and late) into the internet. Now I spend more time “blogging” than I do writing for the next day’s paper. It’s good, in that I enjoy blogging. There’s a different tone to it and it promotes interaction with readers (something I never really had before). It also gives me a chance to voice my opinion. But it’s bad because the actual paper is why I got into this business. Newspaper blogs are often quick hits, almost like soundbytes. And the emphasis is on immediacy, not content. I prefer the deeper, longer stuff where I could go into more detail and find little tidbits you didn’t know before. That takes time. (Shamless plug alert) Like with my book. I covered Eli Manning for four years and I still learned things about him and his career that I didn’t know when I did my book, because I was able to take three months to investigate things. I never would’ve found those things if I had to rush every tidbit I got up onto a blog. Doing my job, nowadays, is much different than what I had been preparing to do. Do I feel it’s dummied down the sports fan? No. Not at all. Sports fans are prone to overreaction. Always have been, always will be. We pursue our teams with passion, and if things go right (or don’t go right) there’s often an explosion. I was at Shea Stadium for the Mets’ finale this year and when I saw Carlos Beltran make an out early in the game, I yelled “He sucks. He’s so overrated” and I booed him off the field. A few innings later he hits a big home run and I was jumping up and down saying “I love Beltran!” It’s what we do. Being a sports fan is the ultimate mood swing. Do blogs contribute to that? Sure. So do big, bold newspaper back pages. A lot of people think tabloid journalism dumbs down sports fans, too. I think blogs just put more of a spotlight on the voice of the fan than there used to be. It’s sort of like what sportstalk radio did when it was invented, only on the internet anyone can have their own show.

S: We are just not anyone here.  Any blogs that you frequent?  I don’t see Sparty & Friends on the side bar of the Blue Screen.

RV: Are you sure? Somebody must have taken it down because I’m positive it was the very first one that I put up there. … I promise, I will correct that mistake immediately. If you’ve taken the time to ask me 18 questions, the least I can do is honor you with a place on my Blog Roll. And to be honest, my life is so consumed by the NFL during football season that for the most part football stuff is all I read. I, of course, read all the Giants blogs written by my fellow beat writers. I check in for national news at all the sites affiliated with networks (all of which have blogs, or something like it), at ProFootballTalk.com (Is that considered a blog, or a website? And is there a difference between the two?) and at NFL.com. For the rest of my sports news … well, as a beat writer, it’s very easy to lose track of the sports world around you because you’re so focused on just the one track. And after reading all those blogs, all the newspaper articles each day on the Giants, and spending the day talking and writing about sports, the last thing I want to do is read about more sports when I’m done. From now on, though, I can promse you I’ll be reading Sparty & Friends every night before I go to bed.

S: Late night reading, great, we will put you to sleep.

Finally, any chance you can set up a face to face meeting with Kate Mara?

RV: That is the third-most asked question I get when people find out what I do. No. 1 is “Do you get to see the players naked?”. No. 2 is “What’s it like to work with Mike Lupica?”. And No. 3 is “Can you set me up with Kate Mara?”. If I ever do meet her, I promise I’ll direct her towards your blog. I’m confident you can take it from there.

Again, we want to thank Mr Vacchiano for taking the time out his hectic and frantic schedule, and sharing it with us.

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