Loading ...The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers have developed an intense, historical rivalry over the years. Each time these two teams line up opposite each other, you can count on a hard fought, smash mouth football game. With that, things tend to get controversial at times and extracurricular activities sometimes get out of hand. They did last season when 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers impersonated Victor Cruz's salsa routine.
As Giants fans have seen on 14 separate occasions over the last two seasons, Cruz's salsa routine comes out every time No. 80 scores a touchdown. The dance has become iconic within pop culture circles, and has even resulted in Cruz receiving and invitation to participate on Dancing With the Stars. However, it's important to remember why Cruz salsa dances in the first place.
"It's just something that I do for my grandmother," Cruz said. "It's something that's sacred to me, it's something that's due to her passing. Before she passed away, it was something dear to me. Why I do it is for her because she told me she loved it so much, and she taught me how to do it and all of that put together. Knowing that, it's just a little slap in the face."
The slap in the face Cruz refers to goes back to Week 10 of last season when 49ers cornerback Carlos Rogers made light of Cruz's salsa dance after he intercepted a pass thrown in Cruz's direction. Although Cruz got his revenge in the NFC Championship game as he torched Rogers for 10 receptions and 144 yards, he never forgot how Rogers disrespected him in Week 10.
Earlier in the week, Rogers told the Sacramento Bee that he would consider doing the salsa dance again if he made a play on a ball thrown in Cruz's direction. However, after Rogers was informed of why Cruz salsa dances, he quickly changed his mind.
"I'm not gonna do it," Rogers said. "That's a tribute to his grandmother. Once (I heard) that, I threw that out the door. It's definitely out."
There has been more talk leading up to this game than any other game the Giants have played this season. Players have been talking back and forth the entire week, not to mention Jim Harbaugh's scathing response to Kevin Gilbride's comments regarding Justin Smith. Needless to say, it's about time the talk stops and the team's play. While no trophies will be handed out to the victor, both squads have a lot to prove on Sunday.
Also…
- Be sure to like Giants 101 on Facebook, follow Giants 101 on Twitter & +1 Giants 101 on Google+
- Check out the latest line of GMENShirts, including the new pink version which supports the fight against Breast Cancer
- Listen to Gameface with The Frattman every Sunday morning at 9 AM EST on 940 ESPN Radio
Related Videos
Returning Soon!!!!No related posts.
Short URL: http://sport-ne.ws/ljd
Carlos Rogers showing some class.
And of course Gilbride made his statement to alert the refs.
Harbaugh is really doing his best to degrade the league.
Between him, Schwartz, Schiano, the league will soon be so unlikeable.
For those of us who have constantly railed against the perceived ineptitude of Coughlin and Gilbride over the years, at least they have always been classy gentlemen.
Rodgers aint dumb. Cruz can and will scrotch his azz down after down especially if his D-line is reduced to playing striaghtup football.
Harbaugh is just pissed he’s been exposed. And yes, no matter what you think of Caughlin, he’s never made you ashamed of his being the head coach.
He’s even learned to see in colors other than balck and white. Harbaugh, Schwartz and Schiano should all be in the same division. “AZZHOLZRUZ”
Yeah he’s never made us ashamed…except every team Andy Reid out coaches him and makes us look cartoonish…
Just kidding. Sort of.
Yeah, Andry Reid the coaching genius. The guy who probably left 3 or 4 championships on the field because he operates under the steadfast belief that running the ball was banned in the 80′s.
Seriously, why the heck do so many of you guys slob all over this idiot’s sack so much? Fans in Philly have wanted him fired since before the Giants quit on Jim Fassel.
Andy Reid’s coaching legacy right now is “I beat the Giants a bunch of times in a row and completely choked away every other important game I was in.” Are you guys really so jealous of that? His career record vs. the Giants is 17-13 by the way.
The Giants will win this game tomorrow:
1. Their offensive line, while not perfect, is playing way better than they did during last years championship game. This, with the combo of Nicks playing (hopefully) will allow the giants to move the ball enough. I’m not saying 35 points, but enough (21-24 points)
2. The Giants play to the level of their opponent. Although a simplistic point, its true. If you going to worry about the Carolinas of the world, you got to give them credit against the 49ers of the world.
jfunk — I hate Andy Reid. I think he’s a terrible coach and a pretty big ****.
That said, you can’t tell me he doesn’t own Coughlin on the field. Even if that’s the best thing you can say about Reid as a coach, it’s still true.
In addition to being a terrible coach, he’s a bad liar. Good coaches are either good liars or are smart enough to talk around stuff. Reid is a terrible liar.
I was reading somewhere that the 49ers are such different team than we saw last year because the offense is so much more varied: double-pronged running attack instead of just Gore; Crabtree’s healthy and productive and supported by a strong cast in Moss, Williams and Manningham (who has been doing a lot of reverses and stuff); Kaepernick adds yet another dimension; Vernon Davis is still a beast and, theoretically at least, the other options force you not to be able to double Davis all the time.
Well, from where I sit, Alex Smith can sit around all afternoon and try to throw it to Moss and hand it off to Manningham and try to get Davis in single coverage. If the 49ers were smart, they’d turn this game over to Gore, Hunter and Kaepernick. They could keep our defense on the field for days.
This is going to be a great game. A physical matchup between what I think are two of the top teams in the NFC. I’m thinking it’s going to be a game similar to the first one last year, something like 27-20. Eli needs to be at the top of his game, and we need Linval to have a monster game to help vs. the run. GMEN 27-20.
UUT