"I ain't Maurice"

Well it's that time of year again.  You know, the one where professional athletes spend their nights sleeping in dorm rooms and their days sweating their (fill in your favorite "private-part" here) off.  That's right, the Giants open camp today at the University of Albany.  For me, this is an exciting time because it means two things:  football season is rapidly approaching, and the greatest show on television (Hard Knocks) will be on again soon.

In case you missed my tweet--and judging by my lack of followers, you did--the Giants were able to come to agreements with 1st and 2nd round picks Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph, who were their only remaining unsigned rookies. It's the fifth straight season the Giants have been able to get all of their draft picks into camp on time.

Quick story about training camp:  When I was a kid, my father used to take us to watch training camp every year when the Giants still held camp at Fairleigh Dickinson University.  In 1991, the Giants took RB (and soon to be bust) Jarrod Bunch in the first round of the draft.  Now Bunch wore #33--the same number fellow RB Maurice Carthon wore when he played for the USFL's New Jersey Generals.  At camp that year, the very large Bunch walked by us wearing #33.  My father, mistakenly associating the #33 with Carthon, lifted his camera and called out, "Hey Maurice!"  Bunch, who judging by his website is a little full of himself to begin with, was clearly not pleased that someone did not recognize him.  He turned, scowled, and in a intimidating and disdainful tone said, "I AIN'T Maurice!"  I think my father actually snapped a picture of him as the response came, before he realized his mistake.  Of course, calling Bunch "Maurice" was about the nicest thing my father ever called the first round bust.  I think we would have got a much worse response if my father had called out his eventual nickname for Jarrod:  "Hey Bunch of S***!"