Afternoon Baseball

ESPN.com -- Len Pasquarelli

The death of Wellington Mara truly is an event in itself -- not since Chicago Bears' icon George Halas' death in 1984 has such a man, so synonymous with everything the NFL is, was and has become, passed on.
The Giants responded today, with Mara favorite Tiki Barber having the best game of his NFL career. Two electric runs of over 50 yards, his 1st 200-yard game and a touchdown led the offense and the defense forced about 123 fumbles, had 5 sacks and shut out Joe Gibbs for the 2nd time ever -- the first being a Giants' 17-0 win in the 1986 NFC Championship game.

Meanwhile, the Patriots-Bills game is still on, but Teddy Bruschi, months after a stroke, is back on the field. The Pats haven't been the same without him (and the countless injured stars), and while he might not be able to save the day, it doesn't matter. The owner, Robert Kraft, is just saying how he didn't make Bruschi sign a liability release, saying their relationship is "not about signing liability papers." Class act towards a class act who may yet reclaim his title as the most important defensive player in football.

Giants win, quality run, dominating on Madden, finalizing a job tommorrow. It just doesn't get better than this.