So what is the hot follow-up story we get in New York, in the wake of that 45-23 massacre? Shockey, the tight end and renowned intellectual leader of the Giants, moaning about coach Tom Coughlin holding out wideout Plaxico Burress for a quarter because he came late to a couple of meetings.

The Giants always have been a team of whiners, going back to the Jim Fassel days when Michael Strahan & Co. were popping off every 20 minutes about some indignity or another. But this Shockey thing, which captured banner headlines in the New York tabloids, was the topper.

Hey, Shockey, if you really want to help the team, why don't you grab your widedout [sic] by the throat and tell him to get his ass into the meetings on time?