On July 11th at 9pm the ESPY awards will take place on ESPN.  Your New York Giants are nominated for three awards.

Here are the nominations and who they’re up against:

[Click the links to go to the voting page]

BEST TEAM
New York Giants
Alabama Football
Baylor Women’s Basketball
Kentucky Men’s Basketball
Los Angeles Kings
Miami Heat
St. Louis Cardinals

BEST COACH/MANAGER
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
John Calipari, Kentucky Men’s Basketball
Kim Mulkey, Baylor Women’s Basketball
Patrick Murphy, Alabama Softball
Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat
Darryl Sutter, Los Angeles Kings

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Eli Manning, Super Bowl
David Freese, World Series
LeBron James, NBA Playoffs
Tony Steward, Sprint Cup
Jonathan Quick, Stanley Cup

After winning Super Bowl XLII the Giants won three ESPY awards:  Best Game (Giants vs. Patriots in the Super Bowl), Best Play (Eli Manning’s pass to David Tyree in the Super Bowl), and Best Upset (Giants over Patriots in the Super Bowl).

The Giants have some pretty stiff competition this year.  So, Giants fans, if you want your guys to take home some more trophies, VOTE NOW!

Cue the Andre Brown song!  The Giants got their rings!

The New York Giants received their rings Wednesday night from Tiffany and Co. in Manhattan.

Players were posting pictures of their rings and party on Twitter, including the below from punter Steve Weatherford:

The Giants defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI and this ring ceremony marked another celebration of that victory.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The New York Giants kept very busy this week and signed some players to return for the 2012 season.

A source confirmed last night that middle linebacker Chase Blackburn came to terms with the team to return.  Blackburn was a major contributor to the team in 2011.  His most notable play of the season was in Super Bowl XLVI when he grabbed an interception off Tom Brady while covering TE Rob Gronkowski.

With linebackers like Mathias Kiwanuka and Michael Boley, Blackburn will only help strengthen the position.

Blackburn wasn’t even on the roster at the start of the 2011 season.  He was called to rejoin the team before Week 13 due to injuries that benched players.  He was a key contributor to the Super bowl run and of course the championship.

The Giants really need to hold on to Blackburn for as long as they can.  He has more talent than they originally thought.

The Giants also traded a fifth round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Keith Rivers.  Rivers has the talent to be a powerful linebacker for the Giants…that is if he stays healthy.  He missed all of 2011 with a wrist injury.

The Giants signed offensive linemen Sean Locklear and cornerback Antwaun Molden on Wednesday.

Locklear will give a verteran presence for the line and should be a key contributor to help protect Eli Manning.

Molden was a part of the 2011 New England Patriots team and joined the team that denied him a ring.  However, he is reportedly “glad to be a Giant”. Molden was a big contributor in the Super Bowl for the Patriots and will help strengthen the Giants weak secondary.

All the moves the Giants have made this week are going to be very key.  They strengthened the linebacker position and already started to build a strong offensive line.  This will bring more anticipation for the upcoming draft to see how much further Jerry Reese can build for 2012.  It should be a fun season.

Simmons/New York Daily News

After the NFL lockout of 2011 came to an end and free agency officially began, teams were signing players left and right.  The Philadelphia Eagles seemed to get to a fast start when they took in Nnamdi Asomugha to improve their defense.

New York Giants fans waited to see what Jerry Reese had up his sleeve.  They waited.  They waited.  They waited.

….Nothing happened.

Instead of gaining, they lost.

Giants former tight end Kevin Boss left for the Oakland Raiders, and fan-loved wide receiver Steve Smith left for the Philadelphia Eagles.

All fans, myself included, all thought the same thing:  What in the world was Reese doing???

All we did was shake our heads, while fans of the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys pointed and laughed.

After all the complaints Giants fans and media had surfaced, Reese went public and announced that he believed very highly that the 2011 Giants team as it stood was more than capable of winning the Super Bowl.

At the time, he seemed to be the only one that believed it.

I wasn’t even thinking about the Super Bowl.  I just wanted them to make the playoffs.  I couldn’t bear to watch them miss the playoffs for a third year in a row.

Even all the way up to Week 15, after they lost a second time to the Washington Redskins, I had a lot of trouble believing they were playoff bound.

Well, they proved me wrong.

The Giants immediately went into playoff mode and won every single one of their games and eventually won Super Bowl XLVI.

I didn’t start to believe they would win the Super Bowl until they reached the playoffs.

Reese believed it before the season even started.

So, Jerry Reese, I think I owe you an apology.  I said a lot of bad things about you before the start of the season.  Things I won’t dare to repeat on here.  I was angry.  I was upset.  I didn’t think you did your job.  I was wrong.  I’m sorry.

If there is ever a moment were I don’t agree with a move you make, I will keep my mouth shut.  I trust my general manager.  I believe in Jerry Reese.