Michael Strahan of the New York Giants shows off his Super Bowl ring.

Better late than never? Four months after they defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 to win the 2008 Super Bowl, the New York Giants finally received their Tiffany & Co. Super Bowl rings, valued at over $25,000 apiece.

In a private ceremony held at Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Eli Manning and his band of brothers walked the blue carpet to pick up their much-deserved bling.

“We did it together and won it as a team,” said Manning. “Every game was different and in every situation someone else stepped up and contributed to us winning. It’s all about the Giants.”

Co-owners Steve Tisch and John Mara addressed the team and Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin handed the 1.5-carat Super Bowl XLII rings to each player as he was called up.

“Having the opportunity to look every player in the eye as they came up and the joy and excitement that they demonstrated as they came forward to receiver a memento of a world championship was special,” Coughlin said. “It’s a feeling the players will carry in their hearts forever.”

So…now that the guys have their rings, what are their chances of getting another one next year? Well, according to the Sportsbooks the New York Giants are listed at 16/1 odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl.

If every drunken football fan looked this good misbehaving there would be no need for a fan conduct code. Unfortunately, the majority of the drunken idiots at fault are far less attractive.

Oh behave! If you continue to double-fist your way from the beer stands to your seat through four quarters of football, getting hammered and making a complete ass of yourself in front of hard-working folks and families who paid good money to see their team play, then it’s going to cost you. Actually, it will become the club’s responsibility to ensure their fans aren’t getting violent in the stands and if anyone is caught violating that policy the team will be fined. (You really don’t want your team’s number-one linebacker escorting you out of the stadium, do you?) Here’s the deal: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a fan conduct policy on Thursday that will come into effect at the start of the upcoming NFL pre-season.

“We want everyone to be able to come to our stadiums, behave properly, enjoy this experience but don’t ruin it for others,” said Goodell. “We will be focusing on that, including the implementation of an NFL fan conduct policy which we will have out prior to the season.”

What does that mean? It means no more stabbings, no more beatings, no more bare-breasted strip acts…essentially no more idiotic behavior. Face painting is still a go, but face pulverizing is a big no.

That leaves plenty of fun to be had in the sportsbooks, where NFL Super Bowl odds are getting ripe as we speak!

Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Tuesday signed running back Marion Barber and cornerback Terence Newman to long-term extensions Tuesday, beating the NFL’s salary cap deadline. Barber inked a seven-year deal worth $45 million with the Cowboys; while Newman signed a six-year, $50.2 million extension with the Cowboys. Over $22.5 million of the contract is guaranteed over the first three years of the deal.

Do you think the Dallas Cowboys can make up for last year and win the 2009 Super Bowl? Bet on it. At 8/1 odds to win the Super Bowl there may be some value in those Cowboys this year…

1 Miami
Long, Jake OT
2 St. Louis
Long, Chris DE
3 Atlanta
Ryan, Matt QB
4 Oakland
McFadden, Darren RB
5 Kansas City
Dorsey, Glenn DT
6 NY Jets
Gholston, Vernon DE
7 New Orleans
Ellis, Sedrick DT
8 Jacksonville
Harvey, Derrick DE
9 Cincinnati
Rivers, Keith LB
10 New England
Mayo, Jerod OLB
11 Buffalo
McKelvin, Leodis CB
12 Denver
Clady, Ryan OT
13 Carolina
Stewart, Jonathan RB
14 Chicago
Williams, Chris OT
15 Kansas City
Albert, Branden OG
16 Arizona
Rodgers-Cromartie, Dominique CB
17 Detroit
Cherilus, Gosder OT
18 Baltimore
Flacco, Joe QB

Obviously, there is still more action to come as Round One of the NFL Draft continues…

Draft Day 2008: April 26 & 27 New York, NY

Draft Day is a big day for football fans. Are you ready? Rounds One and Two go down on Saturday, April 26th starting at 3:00 p.m. EST; while Rounds Three through Seven play out on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. EST. Have you filled out your Mock Draft? Who do you think will go first this year? Do you even remember who went first in Round One last year? Which NFL team had first dibs? Here’s what Round One looks like this year:

1 Miami Dolphins
2 St. Louis Rams
3 Atlanta Falcons
4 Oakland Raiders
5 Kansas City Chiefs
6 New York Jets
7 New England Patriots
8 Baltimore Ravens
9 Cincinnati Bengals
10 New Orleans Saints
11 Buffalo Bills
12 Denver Broncos
13 Carolina Panthers
14 Chicago Bears
15 Detroit Lions
16 Arizona Cardinals
17 Kansas City Chiefs
18 Houston Texans
19 Philadelphia Eagles
20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21 Washington Redskins
22 Dallas Cowboys
23 Pittsburgh Steelers
24 Tennessee Titans
25 Seattle Seahawks
26 Jacksonville Jaguars
27 San Diego Chargers
28 Dallas Cowboys
29 San Francisco 49ers
30 Green Bay Packers
31 New York Giants

The Bodog Sportsbook has all your NFL Draft betting props…

Although he’s denying the rumor currently floating around soggy Seattle, 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander could be released by the Seattle Seahawks as early as later today. Reports that the running back was going to be let go surfaced about a month ago when it was learned that the Seahawks had signed Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett in free agency. Still, Alexander is sticking to his story that he’s not going anywhere.

“I haven’t heard that,” he said. “I’ve just seen the stuff that has been in the paper lately.”

In 2005 Alexander scored a then-record 28 touchdowns and led the NFL in rushing with 1,880 yards. But his numbers have never been the same. Alexander ran for 896 yards and seven touchdowns in 2006, when he missed six games with a broken bone in his left foot. Last season, when he missed three games because of a sprained left knee and played the rest of the season with a broken bone in his wrist, Alexander ran for 716 yards and four touchdowns.

Great news for football fans: the NFL announced today its full 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2008! (Doesn’t it seem like it was just yesterday…when the Giants beat the Pats to win the Super Bowl?)

The 2008-09 season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC between the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. The final week of the regular season will be played out on Dec. 28th with 32 teams in action.

Like last year, the NFL will play one regular season game over in London, England at Wembley Stadium. But the League will also take two teams north of the US border into Canada where on Dec. 7 the Buffalo Bills will host the Miami Dolphins in Toronto at the Rogers Centre.

And of course, Super Bowl XLIII is scheduled to go down at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009.

It shouldn’t take the sportsbooks long to get up some great NFL props and odds!

Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and Abby McGrew (Manning’s college sweetheart) are reportedly getting married later this month.

Abby McGrew’s father told The New York Post that Manning and his daughter would tie the knot later this month. Manning’s oldest brother, Cooper, also confirmed to the paper that his brother and McGrew were planning to get married.

Apparently the young couple was recently spotted at the Office of the City Clerk (getting a marriage license, maybe?).

Let’s hope the odds on this marriage succeeding are better than the odds on the New York Giants repeating as Super Bowl champions (they’re currently at 5/1, which isn’t too bad).

It’s never too early to start thinking about next season, is it?

The complete schedule for the upcoming NFL season won’t be released until next month, but the NFL did announce the teams, date and time for the season opener.

The Thursday night season opener will match the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants and the Washington Redskins at 8:30 p.m. EST on NBC on Sept. 4th. As is traditionally the case, the defending Super Bowl champs kick off the season at home. You can expect a raucous crowd to be on hand to give thanks to Eli Manning and his team, for pulling off the upset of last season by handing the heavily favored New England Patriots their first loss of the year.

At the sportsbooks, the New York Giants are listed at 16/1 odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl, while the Washington Redskins are 35/1 odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl.

The USC Trojans have been called Tailback U ever since they were churning out elite NFL players like O.J. Simpson and Marcus Allen. But when it comes to breeding star quarterbacks, the Trojans have to take a back seat to the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan’s move away from Bo Schembechler’s ground game following his 1990 retirement delivered Tom Brady, currently working his way up the food chain toward Greatest of All Time status. The Wolverines have also produced starting QBs Todd Collins, Elvis Grbac and Brian Griese. And that’s just recent history.

USC would still be on anyone’s Top 5, thanks to Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. Boston College will be forever linked to Doug Flutie, unless Matt Ryan steals the show, but don’t forget Matt Hasselbeck was an Eagle. Under Jeff Tedford, Cal has sent Aaron Rodgers and Kyle Boller to the bigs, and Washington (Mark Brunell, Chris Chandler) often comes up big in the pass-happy Pac-10.