NFL Picks: New England Patriots vs NY Giants



Written by Brad Marchetti
Thursday, 27 December 2007

New England Patriots vs NY Giants will be the first ever NFL game to be broadcast on 3 separate TV networks when the Saturday Night prime-time game kicks off . The world will be watching to see if the Pats (10-5 ATS) can complete their perfect regular season against the playoff bound Giants (9-6 ATS). The line opened at New England -13 but as it has been for 90%+ of the season the public's money has backed the Patriots moving the line at SBGglobal.com to New England -13.5. Award winning sports handicapping service EinsteinPicks has a 600% GUARANTEED pick with complete power rating breakdown for the New England Patriots vs NY Giants game.
Both teams have expressed that this game will be played with their starters for a significant amount of time despite both squads already sealed to go to the postseason. The Giants are banged up on both sides of the ball and bettors need to be aware of the status of bulldozing Giants RB Brandon Jacobs who is a difference maker that may sit to rest an ankle injury. The one weakness that the Patriots have shown this year is against the run where they have allowed an alarming 5.3 yards per carry in their last 3 games. NY has a Bullish O-line that could open some holes against New England’s aging D. SBGglobal.com has the TOTAL at 46.5 points.
Eli Manning’s best target in this game will be Amani Toomer who will need to come up with some big plays to gain respect. Manning is 19-19 in TD to INT ratio and he will be facing a Patriots pass-rush that has recorded 46 sacks so he could make some stupid throws. Tom Brady is gunning for the NFL TD record but he can expect to see plenty of pressure against NY”s rabid pass-rush. Laurence Maroney has had a stellar year when healthy averaging 4.8 yards per carry and if he gets going early Brady will be unstoppable with his perfect play-action fakes. In this cold weather game stopping the run will play a factor and the Giants have proven that they have the edge in that department over New England.
Will the Patriots blowout the Giants early causing them to turn to their reserves early? Can Eli Manning play mistake free football for one game? EinsteinPicks insiders have made the most of their NFL connections by hitting 57% of our NFL releases this entire NFL season. Einstein's service just won the best Online Sports Handicapper contest for the month of November. Einstein Picks is busting at the seams ready for this weekend's action with some big NFL releases that are sure to make you significant profits including a play on the New England Patriots vs NY Giants game. Add as favourites (0) Quote this article on your site Views: 710 E-mail

Brooklyn Bridge’s Lights to Go ’Green’

(AP) NEW YORK - The famous necklace lights on the Brooklyn Bridge will go "green" next year as part of several environmental upgrades around the city, officials said Wednesday.

Changing 160 lights on the landmark bridge, which turns 125 years old next year, is expected to cost $500,000. Other city bridges, which first got their lights in the early 1970s, could also get the modern makeover, officials said.

The switch from 100-watt mercury vapor lamps to 24-watt bulbs known as light-emitting diodes will not make the lights noticeably dimmer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Other changes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions include replacing 25,000 street lights and phasing in new hybrid police and fire vehicles that use gas-electric transmission systems, Bloomberg said. The city also will test three hybrid garbage trucks.
This year, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree also has energy-saving bulbs, and an array of solar panels atop 45 Rockefeller Plaza helps power them.

Last spring, Bloomberg’s administration released a report that found the city’s carbon count was 58.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2005. That accounts for nearly 1 percent of all emissions nationwide; the U.S. total was 7.26 billion metric tons that year.

The mayor wants to achieve a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases citywide by 2030, but the projects outlined Wednesday are part of a short-term plan to see immediate, and more modest, reductions on the way to that larger goal.

The short-term projects are estimated to achieve a greenhouse gas reduction of 34,000 tons a year.

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, typically last three times longer than the mercury lights, said Jonathan Wish, chief strategic officer at LED Dynamics, which is not affiliated with the city’s project. Most mercury vapor lights endure for 24,000 hours, or about 1,000 days, before burning out, he said.

"Because of the longevity, they’re not going to have to change these lights for years, and that will save maintenance costs on top of electricity," he said.

In New York, transportation doesn’t account for as much of the total emissions count as pollutants from buildings. In the dense urban environment, building operations and the electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and steam that they consume make up 79 percent of the total, the city report found.

The city’s short-term plans for improving building operations include replacing interior lighting in some schools, police precincts, sanitation garages, firehouses and other municipal office buildings.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights

Christmas Without Lights

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (AP) -- An official with an electric cooperative in Kansas says the utility hopes everyone who lost power in the ice storm more than a week ago will have electricity back by Christmas.
Line crews work to restore electrical power Monday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But he said that may not be a realistic goal. About 24,000 rural customers in Kansas are still out.
More than 88,000 homes and businesses across the Midwest remained without power early Tuesday. Overnight temperatures in the past week have dipped into the teens.
Rebeca Rascon's two children were bundled up against the brisk wind when she went to report power was still off at her south Oklahoma City home.
Rascon speaks little English, but her 7-year-old son, Josue Velasquez, described the house Monday as "very cold."
"We've got eight days without lights," the boy said. "We just sit on the couch and wait for the lights to come on. More wet and cold weather was on tap for the West early Tuesday as a series of Pacific storm systems push through.
Up to 3 feet of snow was possible above 3,500 feet to 4,000 feet across the California and Oregon coastal ranges, southern Cascades and the Sierras.
Rain showers were expected to spread across southern California and the Four Corners region by Wednesday. More coastal rain and interior snow was forecast Wednesday from the northern California to the Northwest.
Back in the Plains, residents struggling to get by have a new problem to rival dwindling temperatures: dwindling bank accounts. Many have depleted their money on food that has now spoiled, or on hotels.
Some stocked up on food before the storm, while others used money to stay in a hotel, thinking power would be restored within a day or two.
"We've had people using generators who ran out of money for fuel to operate the generators," said Vince Hernandez, chairman of the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma.
Hundreds of people found a place to sleep and hot meals over the weekend at a temporary shelter established at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.
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Oklahoma Gas & Electric, the state's largest electric utility, set up temporary walk-up stations in nine central Oklahoma cities for customers to report power failures. Officials are projecting crews to have restoration completed by late Wednesday or Thursday.
Margy Knight, who owns several rental and commercial properties in south Oklahoma City that are without power, said she's getting frustrated with the lack of progress.
"I'm trying real hard not to be tacky," Knight said. "I think they're doing the best they can, but they need more manpower."
Jerry Odom said he's tried to make the best of the situation, attending a Blazers hockey game at the Cox Center and taking a walk through the nearby Oklahoma City Botanical Gardens.
"I'm trying to make a vacation out of it," Odom said. "I'm dealing with it the best I can."
The state medical examiner's office said the ice storm that struck the Midwest and Northeast last week hit Oklahoma hardest, contributing to at least 27 of the 38 total deaths.
In Kansas, restoration of power could be hampered by another storm expected later this week, said Larry Detwiler of the Kansas Electric Cooperatives.
"We all hope for everybody to be back on by Christmas," he said. "I'm not sure that's a realistic goal."

Celebrating Kwanzaa

PreparationThere is a traditionally established way of celebrating Kwanzaa. We should therefore observe these guidelines to make our Kwanzaa the most beautiful and engaging one and to keep the tradition. Without definite guidelines and core values and practices there is no holiday.

First, you should come to the celebration with a profound respect for its values, symbols and practices and do nothing to violate its integrity, beauty and expansive meaning. Secondly, you should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or its symbols, values and practice with any other culture. This would violate the principles of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) and thus violate the integrity of the holiday.

Thirdly, choose the best and most beautiful items to celebrate Kwanzaa. This means taking time to plan and select the most beautiful objects of art, colorful African cloth, fresh fruits and vegetables, etc. so that every object used represents African culture and your commitment to the holiday in the best of ways.

GO TO CELEBRATION PROCEDURES

Mrs. Clause visits the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel

Santa and Mrs. Clause stopped by The Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel in East Rutherford, on December 7 and 8, 2007 to celebrate a magical night with children young and old.

Guests checked in on Friday December 7th and were escorted to a deluxe guest room, then everyone gathered around while Mrs. Clause read stories of the holiday season to children young and old. Afterwards, everyone sat back and enjoy a favorite holiday movie while enjoying popcorn and finished with Santa’s favorite, cookies and milk.

The next morning, everyone enjoyed a fabulous breakfast buffet and pictures with Santa.

NEW YORK GIANTS vs. WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Giants Stadium
Sun. December 16 8:15 PM»

BUY TICKETS «
Parking Lots Open:2:45 PMParking Fee:Cars-$15- Buses-$20Doors Open:6:15 PM



NEW FOR 2007 FOOTBALL SEASONAll parking at Giants Stadium will require a prepaid parking pass for all Jets and Giants games (including preseason). Any ticket holder without a prepaid parking pass will be required to park at an off-site location. NO TAILGATING will be permitted at the off-site parking location or in Parking Deck 23 (Arena side of Complex).
We strongly encourage guests to carpool or take mass transportation if possible due to the various construction projects on the Complex and the impact on available parking.



The parking fees for Jets or Giants games are as follows:$15 (prepaid permit) for parking at the Sports Complex$75 Limos/RV’s ($15 credit will be applied if in possession of a parking permit) $100 for buses ($15 credit will be applied if in possession of a parking permit)For more information on purchasing prepaid parking, please call the Jets at (516) 560-8200 or the Giants at (201) 935-8222.



Shuttle bus service will be provided to ticket holders from and to the offsite parking lots. For shuttle service times and locations, go to GIANTS PARKING INFORMATION or JETS PARKING INFORMATIONFor Guest Services policies on parking, tailgating and general information go to Fan Information - Giants Stadium

Expansion of Javits

Gov. Eliot Spitzer declared in a speech eight months ago that he would build a “thoroughbred” of a convention center in New York City and scrap the $1.8 billion plan he had inherited to expand the black-glass Javits Convention Center on the West Side.
Since then, state officials — struggling with escalating costs, competing demands and limited land — have had to shrink their ambitions, devising a series of alternative plans that provide a far more modest expansion than envisioned three years ago.
Now, in the latest blow to the governor’s ambitions, the city’s hotel association is balking at requests to triple the hotel tax earmarked for the expansion. That could force state and city officials to abandon plans for an expansion and settle instead for simply renovating the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Last Tuesday, the hotel association, which had sought to expand the Javits Center since it opened in 1986, wrote a letter to state and city officials saying that under no circumstances would its members agree to a penny more than the $1.50-a-night room tax the state started collecting in 2005. State and city officials had suggested raising the tax to $4.50 per night to pay for the increasingly expensive expansion.
If government officials cannot stay within the original budget, the association said, they should just fix the leaky roof on the convention center, install a new air-conditioning system and put on a new facade. Forget about the additional space for exhibits or meeting rooms.
“The hotel association has decided that the project has become much too expensive, and any further contributions from the hotel industry would, in our judgment, be counterproductive,” said Joseph E. Spinnato, president of the Hotel Association of New York City. “The association would rather that the money already budgeted be used to repair and renovate the existing center.”
Trade show operators and producers have also criticized some of the proposals drawn up recently by state and city officials.
When the price tag for one plan soared beyond $3 billion this summer, some producers said it could not be justified. They recommended that officials renovate the Javits Center and consider building a new convention center at Sunnyside Yards in Queens.
“To add marginal square footage and spend $3 billion or $4 billion seems like a prohibitive solution,” said John F. O’Connell Jr., chief operating officer of Freeman, a general contractor that moves many of the trade shows in and out of the Javits Center.
Officials said that they were still reviewing five smaller alternatives with varying amounts of meeting and exhibit space, with price tags ranging from $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion, and that they hoped to wrap up their review in January.
Patrick J. Foye, a co-chairman of the state agency overseeing the expansion project, the Empire State Development Corporation, declined to comment on the hotel association’s letter, saying he did not want to negotiate through the newspapers.
The expansion of the Javits Center, which stretches along 11th Avenue from 34th to 38th Street, was approved by the Legislature in 2004.
The state and city agreed to provide $350 million each, while the hotel industry agreed to the room tax, which enabled the state to raise $645 million in a bond offering.
Manhattan hotels have enjoyed record occupancy and rising room rates in the past five years. One major hotel operator said trade shows accounted for no more than 6 or 8 percent of annual revenues at West Side hotels, and so there is less interest in a very expensive expansion partly financed through a hotel tax.
The original $1.8 billion expansion plan was developed by Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff and Charles A. Gargano, who was Gov. George Pataki’s top economic development official. But it came under fire from trade show producers and their contractors as unworkable.
In March, Governor Spitzer issued his pledge to come up with a bigger and better plan than the previous one — which state officials say had a true cost closer to $3 billion.
In the meantime, the review dragged on, with an estimated $35 million spent on consultants and architectural plans over the past year. The hotel association said $109 million had already been spent on the project.
At the same time, the constantly rising price of construction materials has driven costs up by an estimated $17 million a month.
State and city officials are also dealing with competing demands for space. The hotel industry favors additional meeting rooms to attract trade shows that bring visitors to New York, who book hotel rooms. Javits customers like the Auto Show want more exhibit space for consumer shows that attract more local residents.
State officials say they could raise $1.5 billion more for the plans now under consideration — all of which are smaller than the original — by doubling the hotel tax for the expansion while the state and the city increase their investment by $250 million each.