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The Giants had a special, though not unfamiliar, guest at practice today. General Ray Odierno, the commanding general of the multi-national forces in Iraq, joined behind the line of scrimmage during practice and then addressed the team afterward.
He's a big Giants fans, having grown up in Rockaway, N.J., and has been a frequent guest of Tom Coughlin's. He told the squad that there are plenty of servicemen and women out there who are keeping tabs on them.
“I think about you all the time,” said Odierno, who watched the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII victory over New England in his Baghdad office. “And all the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines think about you guys all the time. On Saturday afternoon, the conversation starts about whose team is going to win and it goes all the way through Tuesday morning when the Monday night game is over. And it means a lot to them as they have that discussion.
"All I ask you to do is go out there this week against the Eagles and depend on each other. And when you come off that field, no matter what happens in the end, you can say, ‘I’ve left everything I possibly could have done on that field.’ You only get so many opportunities in life. As you get older, like me, you realize you don’t ever want to have missed opportunities. So with that opportunity, do and work the hardest you possibly can so you can carry through with that opportunity.
"I want you to know that in Iraq right now there are 115,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who love watching you all perform. But what they like to see most is the compassion, the excitement and the downright toughness that you show every day. I always talk about mental and physical toughness. … Good luck. I know this is a big game for you this week. I will be rooting for you hard.”
EP
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Reading that got me fired up. Hopefully it did the same thing to the team listening to him.
ReplyDeleteOsi was probably yapping to the guy next to him while this guy talked. Ern, what's up with the video? I need my VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a football blog, but I'm going to change gears for a second.
ReplyDeleteAnyone catch the CBS Cares PSA for the holiday season? At first I thought it was a joke, but I think they're serious. Pap smears? I couldn't stop laughing.
And what makes it even better is the fact that CBS has two different ones - one for Christmas and another for Hanukkah.
If you haven't seen them you have to go to youtube and search for them.
I thought with the way the Giants season has been going we needed something to lighten the mood.
Hopefully, that inspired the team. It inspired me! This game is much like last week's game - same scenario. Have to have the win. I'm glad these 2 games are in Giants stadium. It sure would be nice to see them say farewell to the stadium with a flurry of wins!
ReplyDelete